We received a reply from King Doma and set out for the royal capital. Well, “set out” might be a bit of a dramatic way to put it, when the first step of our journey was warping from a teleportation circle I’d added to the dungeon.
Technically, it was part of a pair, and each transported people to the other. This was a relatively common feature in video game dungeons, and one of the most convenient. I brought Gin with me for this trip because I planned to inform King Doma about his transformation. Gin was disoriented and confused at first, but I explained what had happened, and we moved on.
Even though I was able to place teleportation circles that could warp people from one part of the dungeon to another, that wouldn’t work for towers that weren’t connected to each other with Adjoin. In the end, I created a warp circle in one of the towers near Duke Finlaud’s city, which I’d learned by then was called Finnelbraugh, and a corresponding circle at the main tower. Then I warped my guards and carriage, complete with fluffy doggies, to Finnelbraugh, and made ready to start my journey to the royal capital. I’d promised not to make any more towers until the king and I had a chance to negotiate, but I really wanted to. If I linked Finnelbraugh’s towers with the royal capital, it would revolutionize travel. I’d have to see what the king thought of that idea.
It was a long carriage ride, and Doma didn’t exactly have a great road system, so it was pretty bumpy too. Fortunately, my carriage was made for comfort. I didn’t have a fancy royal crest, so it was pretty plain on the outside, I supposed... Although, according to Gin, it still looked plenty fancy. Inside was a whole different story. You could tell by the absurd amount of plush cushioning that it was an extravagant carriage. Normally, monsters like Faewolves wouldn’t be able to leave the dungeon, but I guess hooking them up to the carriage allowed them to move with it. The game didn’t have mechanics like that. I did purchase the carriage with dungeon points, though, so I supposed the Faewolves were counted as being in the dungeon as long as they were connected to it.
To pass the time during the trip, I taught Gin how to use magic.
“You should be able to feel the power flowing through you,” I explained as I pushed and pulled at the energy within him with my own.
We were sitting across from each other, with my palms pressed against his. This was a legitimate way to circulate energy through his body, so he could learn the feel of it. I definitely was not just trying to score some hand-holding time. Seriously, I mean it. If that was the goal, I would have had him interlace his fingers with mine. Then I would have overheated and passed out.
Anyway, he was able to move his energy around pretty well by the end of the first day, so I taught him how to use light magic once it got dark. I played around with my orb of light until he was able to make his own. Then I helped him practice his control by moving my orb around the carriage and having his chase it. Okay, there was a lot of giggling, and it was really fun, but he was still learning.
I warped back to the tower once the guards made camp. Gin had to sleep in the carriage, but I needed to sleep in my own bed. The carriage was probably comfortable enough for both of us to sleep there, but that was a dangerous arrangement. Who knew what would happen if I was left alone with his adorable sleeping face. At the very least, I would have poked his cheeks.
During the rest of the trip, I taught Gin more magic and explained various aspects of Sprigian culture, such as why we usually went barefoot. Speaking of which, since the carriage counted as part of the dungeon, we could use magic in it just fine, but a normal carriage wouldn’t have been as connected to nature. I explained some other things about Sprigian lore as well. I figured he deserved to know since he kinda was one now.
“Because we live such long lives, Sprigians don’t get married,” I said. “We do form monogamous pairs, and those couples can stay together for extremely long periods of time, but we don’t ever mate for life. Sprigians prefer to avoid being constrained, and it would be miserable to marry someone and then grow bored of them a hundred years later and feel like you have no choice but to stay with them.”
Gin looked a bit surprised by that one. “Couldn’t they just divorce, then?” he asked.
“Sprigians take vows very seriously. If they swear to be with someone for all eternity, they’re going to do it, no matter what.”
“What about courtship? Do Sprigians have special customs or rituals for expressing their interest in a mate?”
Oh? Might there be someone you’re oh-so-very interested in courting? You can tell me, I promise. If it’s me, though, my heart will melt, and I’ll pass out as soon as you say so.
“I’d say it’s probably pretty similar to human courtship, minus the marriage part,” I said. “The couple spends time together whenever they can, and eventually they declare their intent to form a monogamous pair. They’ll remain together until one or both parties decide it’s time to start seeing other people. They might have children during their time with each other, and if they do, it’s customary to remain together until all of their offspring are adults. There have been cases of Sprigian mothers and children leaving the father’s home on the same day. It’s kind of sad to think of losing your whole family at once like that, but Sprigians seem to prefer that over the alternative. When you’re young and inexperienced, it’s easy to say you’ll love someone forever. Once a few hundred years go by, though, I could see how one might feel trapped, and wish for a change of pace.”
“How do you feel about it?” Gin asked me. Okay, so my heart might have leaped into my throat when he asked me so directly.
I laughed. “I’m only in my twenties, so I still think being with one person forever sounds romantic. I know it may not be practical, though. Plus, as the Arbiter of Balance, I can’t allow my personal feelings to bias my judgment.”
“Arbiter of Balance? What sort of position is that?” He leaned forward in his seat a bit; I had his full attention. Would it have been so wrong if the carriage had hit a bump at that very moment, and launched him right into my lap? Asking for a friend.
“Oh, I guess I haven’t mentioned that yet, huh? I’m tasked with maintaining balance in the mortal realm. For example, if a group of people are being oppressed, ideally, I’d intervene and stop the people exploiting them. Perhaps if one person was hoarding more food than they needed while others starved around them, I’d be tasked with convincing the hoarder to share with their fellows. Those sorts of duties.”
“So your duties are the sort that may bring you into conflict with other countries, then?”
“Only if they’re disrupting the balance in a substantial way. It’s not my job to nitpick every little thing, but when countries engage in things like slavery and war, I’d say I’m required to look into it.”
“Slavery disrupts the balance?”
I thought back to the history of slavery in the world I came from. “It does when it’s one group of people oppressing another. Forced labor for criminals is fine, as long as the punishment is justified, but enslaving someone just because they’re different from you is a no-go. Now that I think of it, what are Doma’s laws on slavery?”
It could really change the focus of this trip if the upper classes of Doma were enslaving people in the lower classes, so I had to ask.