Doyle isn’t the only one having to put off some things for the future. Out in the town, Ace is having problems. The shock of losing a founder is still heavy on the inner circle, but the same isn’t true for the normal people.
In fact, troublesome elements have begun to make themselves known. At this point, the benefits of being the system recognized leader of a town are becoming well known and some people don’t think Ace should have that privilege. More specifically, with Bill’s death, the founder’s aura of invulnerability has been shattered.
While people in the outer ring don’t really have any idea of how tough the deeper floors are, they don’t particularly care. To them, the dungeon just is and so instead of chalking the death up to the dungeon being tough, they see it as the founders being weak. After all, no one has actually seen them fight.
Since before anyone was living in the outer ring, all of the people in the inner ring have practiced behind closed doors. Sure, their presence can pressure others to a degree because of magic and psionics, but others see that as a parlor trick. Which, to be fair, anywhere besides a newly integrated world, it could be.
However, without someone stronger to borrow from, such pressure is purely the result of a person’s own strength. The pressure they put on reality itself. This sort of effect has many names and maybe if someone in the inner circle has the most classic version, people would be more willing to believe.
Both sadly and to their relief, no one in the inner circle has this most common form of pressure. That of bloodlust. The palpable feeling of a person’s desire to fight and kill. Most common because it doesn’t take any particular discipline or amount of power. A person simply needs to have killed a lot and desire to continue to do so.
Such uncontrolled desire is counter to the sort of people Ace would trust. It represents a person who has not only accepted the need to kill, but revels in it to a degree. Not that Ace is against someone like that, but rather, he wants someone in control of it and thus having the more defined and controlled version, killing intent.
Instead, their low levels and even the Barrais' low desire to actually kill things, they all just have an undefined pressure as a result of being the strongest in the area. Which, maybe if people believed in that sort of stuff, might have helped. However, despite there being literal magic, the general populace is still holding onto as much pre-system normalcy as they can.
Ace can’t even blame them. Too much has changed and at this point people just want a moment of stability to rebuild. They don’t want their assumptions continually challenged.
However, there was no way Ace was going to allow people to take what he had built. Yes, he realized that he was treading down the path of being a dictator. That didn’t change the fact the town was his.
Unlike with the large nations of the past, if someone didn’t like how he was ruling they could just move elsewhere. Just one town over and they wouldn’t be under his rule anymore. Ace didn’t want a kingdom after all, he wanted Wolf’s Rest.
Though what he was planning on doing next certainly wouldn’t help things. It had been in the works for a while, but the fact he was going to invite the Sela family to join the inner circle would certainly stir the pot. Ace’s reasoning for doing this was solid enough.
However, people had a hard enough time pre-system when it came to handling other humans who looked differently. And here Ace was, inviting a family of wolfkin to join the inner circle. Yes, they were basically the ruling family for the wolfkin that had appeared in the area. That wouldn’t change the fact a bunch of bigots would come crawling out of the woodworks when this was announced.
This was especially true with the fact that people had begun to doubt the power of those in said inner circle. Now, there were things Ace could have done to alleviate these feelings. Even something as simple as doing a quick demonstration to show off would have been enough to reveal their strength.
Ace wasn’t doing that. In fact, he had forbidden others from doing so. You see, Ace had a plan.
Integrating the wolfkin had gone smoothly enough, but there were some problems. It is just that those causing said problems stayed out of the light. Now, Ace hadn’t been planning on using Bill’s death for his plan.
Ace had actually decided to put things off out of respect. Tess had other plans. When she was at her lowest, it was actually Camila Sela who had provided the most comfort. Camila was by far the oldest person in town and had seen her fair share of loved ones pass on and so provided a warmth and understanding that the others lacked.
So when Tess heard that Ace was planning to delay, she pushed for him to instead accelerate. Camila, her family, and her people in general shouldn’t have to wait. Ace could only shrug and adjust his plans.
And so it was that about a month after Bill’s death, it was announced that the Sela family would be joining the inner circle. Of course, they couldn’t just join right there and then, so the official ceremony would be taking place two weeks later.
At least, that is what the rest of the world was told. Even before anything was announced, the Sela family had already been sworn into the secret. The inner circle was throwing out their nets and they planned to catch not only those in town, but those from out of town as well.
After all, it isn’t like the wolfkin just showed up at Wolf’s Rest, no matter how thematic that would be. No, they had appeared in all the connected towns. Maybe elsewhere as well, but no one had found a settlement that wasn’t connected, at least not yet.
We’re the wolfkin still in all the towns? No, there were some problems spots at the edges. Problem spots that Ace planned to work on with this trap.
And so time passed. Those vocal about Ace not being fit to rule soon found themselves joined by a more malicious group of people. This, quite outside of Ace’s plan, actually caused much of the original people to actually leave.
That didn’t stop the group from growing. It just went through short cycles of shrinking as well until all that was left were those most toxic. Ace had accidentally grown a Gu of sorts.
Even better, those who actually cared from most of the wolfkin-less towns had shown up in Wolf’s Rest. This left their homes free and without those people, the wolfkin were able to rejoin those communities. It was honestly all quite odd to Ace and not how he expected it to work at all.
Though work it did as only a couple of extreme settlements were now left on the fringes. Perfect for a future step of the plan. Right now, though, Ace had to take care of the cancer within his own town.
So the ceremony was announced and the details spread. People showed up for both good and ill. It was a right ol’ mess and Ace made sure to stir the pot every chance he got.
Then it was the day of and the town was like a powder keg soaked in nitroglycerin. The ceremony was simple enough, though Ace was sure that given time it would balloon into an unwieldy mess if he wasn’t careful. For now, it was a simple procession from the outer gate to the inner gate. A quick speech or two on a platform. Then the people being accepted into the inner circle of town would be guided through the inner gate and into the living area of the inner circle.
Sure, there were some decorations and flowers spread around. Yes, Ace paid for the system cookshop to supply everyone with a decent meal if they wanted it. And of course the dungeon was closed during the event because it was taking place on dungeon road. That also meant that the ceremony was happening during the morning so they didn’t have anyone hidden in the dungeon.
Not that some didn’t try that. If only Jim hadn’t already purchased the ability to know when someone is in there and on what floor. Then, like magic, three different teams of people who decided to stay in the dungeon overnight were never seen again. Google seaʀᴄh novel(ꜰ)ire.net
Now Ace did want to limit such things. Humans were a bit thin in the ground at the moment, after all. That was why those few remaining strongholds of his opposition were so important. It gave them a place to retreat to.
And so the ceremony started at dawn. The Sela family being guided by Tess and Jack down dungeon road. It is a “miracle” that they don’t end up attacked or run into any traps along the way. A miracle enforced by Jeremy and Susan who weren’t founders and so didn’t need to be a part of the ceremony. So, despite Ace’s wishes, more people vanish.
Not too many, though. While a few people are watching the procession, most are gathered by the inner gate. Maybe someday the town will be big enough that the path will be long enough and the population is big enough they need to spread out. That time is certainly not today.
Camila and her family easily make it onto the platform with the nine founders and Jim steps forward to begin the first speech. It is short and to the point with him pointing out that the Guild is a pan-species organization. So with this, he hopes the wolfkin can feel like they have been truly accepted here. Kelly is next, though her speech is even shorter. It is mostly just talking about the potential for discovery that comes from having multiple viewpoints.
Then it is time for Ace’s speech, the last of the founders to speak with only Camila having a short bit before the ceremony moves on. This is when everyone’s plans come to fruition. Right when it sounds like Ace is about to formally accept them, chaos erupts.
Out in the crowd, a section of it near the front turns aggressive and charges the platform while gunshots can be heard from the roof of two nearby buildings. Because of course, this crowd would also be the type to stick with guns despite them being worthless at the moment. As shown by the fact that the first few shots shatter against the Sela’s clothes and fur without any major effect.
It is only the first few though, as the rest are met by a wind spell that stops them dead in their tracks. The now motionless bullets hanging midair for a moment before falling to the ground. And the small mob of people charging the platform?
Well, they reach the wooden platform. Or rather, as they approach the wooden platform, the platform reaches for them. With a single stomp, Ace finished the spell he was holding and animated the entire thing.
Those trying to attack with swords and magic are quickly bundled up. As for those on the two roofs? Well, they were technically a separate group, being the last gasp of those who had once controlled the settlement upriver. After all, only the anti-system types would use pre-system guns like that. Oh, and the Barrais made it so that there weren’t any more gasps.
Then Ace continued his speech as if nothing had happened. The crowd was a bit restless for a moment, but things happened too quickly for a real mob to form. Though it certainly helped that a couple people from the inner circle had been in the crowd and just happened to be standing next to people that tried to rile things up. Those people soon found themselves joining the others up front.
After that, everything else went off perfectly and after a quick thank you speech from Camila, the Selas were guided towards their new home. A home they had actually already been living in for a couple weeks now, but the general populace didn’t need to know that.