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Chapter 490 - A plan never to be used
🕑 Added 2022-07-23 13:01:03 +0000 UTC
The meeting lasted a long time. For starters, they discussed ways to show the humans that they were friendly and had no intention of harming them. Ogryn suggested doing something to help locate the centaurs, but Hera advised against it. If they took action themselves, it could be seen as the dwarves trying to contact them to join forces. Her suggestion was to offer supplies, armors, weapons, and other things like that. There was a chance that they wouldn't trust the items, but if that was the case, Boothudurn could just offer money. Rutigan never told Hera how much gold they actually had, but they had more than a thousand years' worth of gold in their vault, meaning that they should be able to help with the fees of the operation to find the centaurs without much issue. Another suggestion was to show the new labs and forges to the humans, give them discounts, and even have classes showing some of the techniques of the dwarves to make items and spells. They wouldn't have to show their more advanced or experimental projects, but just having a place where people could come to learn their 'secrets' could go a long way. Lastly, they could give a position of power to a human. It doesn't have to be something big, but it had to be a job that would give them a certain amount of power.
Her first two suggestions were praised by Rutigan and accepted by the group, but the last one would cause too many problems. For one, they couldn't think of any jobs that a human would be able to do. Boothudurn still had a very unique society compared to the rest of the MAZE, and they would need someone who knew them well to do anything like that. Another problem was who to pick. Risli suggested Hera, but she refused to do anything that made her obligated to be stuck in a specific place. She came to the MAZE to explore, and she was going to do that. Accepting any position in the city would make her dreams almost impossible. Not to mention that this was the main issue she had in her relationship with Silah, and saying yes to something like this would be like a slap on her face. With Hera not being a possibility came yet another problem. Who could they give a position to? There weren't any humans that they trusted enough to give an important job like that.
Putting that idea aside, they discussed what else they could do. Ogryn suggested reaching out to the other races to see what they were doing about it. They could hide their intentions by saying that they wanted to know more about other dwarves and start from there. Everyone heard the news about this kind of situation happening everywhere. Since Boothudurn was a city very close to the entrance of the MAZE, it attracted a lot of attention from the humans. It was likely that the other races would sympathize with their situation and give some insight on what they could do to reduce the issues.
Surprisingly, Naka also had another suggestion. They could make a tournament and invite people from all across the MAZE. After they got access to the internet, she started to enjoy those types of movies and comics. Another benefit of doing something like that was that watching how people fight would give them an idea of the strength of those who might one day become a threat. Naka herself wanted to participate in the high-level group, but she would keep her strength hidden during the fights. Ogryn and Kahala were excited about the idea, but Rutigan shut it down. A big event like that would surely be a target for any organization, be it those terrorists that attacked Union City, the centaurs, or some other group that didn't want those things to work out. Having a tournament was a risky plan. If things went well, they might get some points with the humans, but if something went poorly, they could be in a much worse situation.
Other options were also thrown out, like having a healer group reach out and travel around helping human cities or having the architects go around making houses for whoever needed them. However, any idea that included sending people to do something would also require a security detail, which sounded like an unnecessary risk for the people. Risli suggested learning more about why people were afraid. Was it just the attack, or there was another reason behind it all? Knowing that would allow them to come up with a better plan. This was also their first discussion about this, and if anyone came up with some other idea, they would gather again to discuss it. When no one had any more ideas about what to do to avoid being enemies of the humans, the topic changed to what to do in the worst-case scenario. If there was a fight, how could they fight back or just survive?
For starters, Hera told them that the easiest way was to lock the room. Boothudurn managed to survive for centuries, isolated from everything else. Returning to those days wouldn't be the worst thing, especially since some of the modern tools would be available to them. If any humans, elves, beastmen, children of the sky, or anyone else was inside, they would have to stay. Maybe it would be possible to send some away at certain times of day, but if that was too risky, the dwarves would have to accept keeping them as prisoners, even if they had freedom inside the room. The only issue was the doorway in the middle of the mountain. But one option was to close it from this side by covering the entire area in stone or ice. That way, even if someone tried to send an assassin through the Kobold Field, they wouldn't be able to come in.
Forcing people to stay in the kingdom didn't seem like the best idea, but everyone understood that in some situations, it might be necessary. Maybe they would even be able to open the doorway so they could leave after a while, but there was no way to know if doing so would allow an army to walk in. Either way, this was the best of the worst-case scenarios. What they wanted to discuss was what to do in case the key to close the room off was stolen or if the guild pushed Rutigan to give the key to them as they were already doing for a while. Basically, the guild argued that since they knew what could pose a danger to other rooms, they should keep the key to lock the room at a moment's notice. So far, the King was adamant against doing that. It would mean that the fate of his people was in the hands of someone else, and he didn't like that idea one bit.
Naka was in favor of fighting against the people in case of an attack. She started talking about strategy and where they could place barriers or defensive positions. However, it didn't matter how good her plans seemed to be. Most of the people of Boothudurn were non-combatants, and if they were invaded, as far-fetched as that sounded to everyone, they needed a way to protect the citizens. Hera suggested turning this hidden place into a bunker. No one told her exactly where they were located, but thanks to her [Treasure Map], she could see they were right under the city. A few hundred meters under the rock of the mountain. If they increased the space enough, they could house everyone for some time. They had a few mana cores that could create clean air for them, and the two main issues would be water and food, but moss and mushrooms were an option, and most people were able to cast water spells. Although it would take 2 to 3 times more magic-made water to quench one's thirst, it was still an option nonetheless. Ogryn also suggested making a larger rune circle under the central square to teleport multiple people. They might be able to hide their plans by saying they were making a new square. The scale of the project would allow more people to be teleported at once. If they managed to prepare correctly, he could even make another spell underneath it all that could be triggered at a distance to destroy all the runes. Other ideas were thrown around, including using the bunker to hide their equipment and even making a few training rooms here so people could hide their strength from the humans. But Hera realized that every single option was similar in a way. They were all about staying in the room.
"Can I say one thing? Another option you really should consider is evacuating the room completely," Hera looked around only to see confused expressions, "I know this is your home, and you have a lot of history here. But if things get bad, really bad, that might be the best way to save the people. I know it's cruel, but you guys have already started a new life once. I'm sure you can do it again."
There was a long pause, and everyone was looking at Hera with a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion. Eventually, Rutigan nodded, "What Hera says is true. We are more than the mountain, more than this place. I don't like that idea either, but if everything gets to the worst-case scenario, that might be the only option we have to survive."
"My King! You can't possibly mean that" Naka gasped.
"Rutigan… are you sure about what you are saying?" Ogryn had a severe expression.
"I am. I understand how hard it would be to abandon our home, but we are survivors. We all know the stories about how we got here, and we all participated in the Weeding Disaster hard mode. We know what we escaped and what we can do to survive. The kingdom of Boothudurn is not this place. It's not this mountain but the people who live on it. Even if I am to be called a coward or that history remembers me as the worst King of our people. I want to make sure our kingdom still exists," Rutigan continued. His face wasn't showing happiness but sadness and resolution. It was clear that he understood how horrible what he was saying was, but it was something he was willing to do for the greater good.
"That was a nice speech and all, but where would we go? Or are you asking us to figure that out later?" Kahala asked.
"I admit I do not know. Maybe we can talk to other dwarves and see if there is a room they are willing to give up. That might not work, but surely there is a place for us to live in the MAZE," Rutigan sighed. Clearly caught off guard by the question.
"How about Hera?" Risli turned to the explorer.
"What about me?" Hera didn't understand what the shaman meant.
"Do you know any place that could be our new home? An empty room or something like that," Risli asked.
"I'm sorry. I don't. This was the only 'new' room I ever found. Well… the White Desert and the places beyond it too, but I wasn't the one who went there first."
"Ok, but can you?" Kahala picked up what Risli was trying to say.
"Can I find a new room? Maybe. I really don't know. It's mostly about luck and, well, exploration. I never went out actually trying to find something like that," as soon as the words came out of Hera's mouth, she realized that they were technically lies. She might never have tried to find a new room, but she did find something even harder to come by. A legacy, "Then again, I might be able to, but it would be much easier to find a place if I had a group of people working together. Not even traveling together, but just to send a bunch of them in different directions. I can only cover so much ground on my own."
The idea of finding a new place for the people of Boothudurn was daunting but, at the same time, exciting. Doing that would allow her to be an explorer to the core. Even if people talked as if explorers were mostly people who wanted to do a bit of everything, what she wanted to do more than anything was find new places.
"I have a suggestion then. Hera, you told the King that you might have found some traces of more people from… what was the name of the kingdom we used to live in? The one we see in the dungeon," Risli turned to Ogryn.
"It was Kul Dorul. Or at least, that's the name that the dungeon uses," Ogryn replied.
"Yeah. So you have found something that can be from the same people who left Kul Dorul. Some might have died, but we can't be sure about that. Maybe there are still more of our people out there somewhere. Either way, it doesn't matter if that's true or not, but what matters is that this gives us an excuse to make a group of dwarven explorers. People who can travel the MAZE and look for something. We can even tell them to be searching for new rooms and places where we could make a new city. Or we tell them the full story if we think they can keep a secret," Risli explained.
"That is a very good idea. I know some people who want to travel, which would help us know more about the MAZE in general," Rutigan nodded.
"I didn't even get to the best part. We make this group and put Hera here in charge of them. That way, we can have a human in a position of power here, people looking for a place where we could run to if everything goes to shit, and Hera can still have her freedom," Risli smiled at Hera.
"That… is actually a good idea. We would be appeasing the humans while at the same time having someone trying to find a safe haven. It's not such a vital part of our plans that I feel uncomfortable with her knowing or being in charge of, and it allows us to start training people on other jobs," Naka nodded.
"Wait, what?" Hera gasped. She was trying to help them make a plan. Now, all of a sudden, they wanted her to be in charge of an exploration team?
"I wholeheartedly agree with that idea. You would be a great chief explorer. What do you say?" Rutigan smiled.
Hera hesitated for a moment, "Can I have a few days to think about that? I mean, it's a big responsibility."
The King nodded, "Of course. Would a week be enough? The longer we wait for this to start, the less chance of finding a possible new home we have."
"Sure. I'll let you know before next week. Can I talk to my friends about it? Not the whole 'humans might be dangerous' thing but the new job."
"I don't see a problem with that. As long as you are discreet with the more… sensitive subjects," Rutigan took a sip of his drink.
"Also, it would be wise for us to explain exactly what we expect of you if you take this new seat in the council," Ogryn turned to the King, who nodded in agreement.
"I would be part of the council?" Hera gasped.
"Of course. The idea was to show that a human is in the seat of power of the kingdom. You don't have to worry. Because of the nature of your work, you won't have to participate in our periodic meetings. You can just send us a report when you can, and we will support you as much as possible," Rutigan continued explaining what they would expect of her in that position. All the while, her mind was going nuts, trying to process what they were asking her. It's been just a couple of years since she started traveling the MAZE, and she was going to be a central part of a kingdom?
