"Wait, wait, tell me again about transformed turtles that fight again! Why does their age matter so much?"

"We had airplanes. Instantaneous communication anywhere on the planet. We went to the moon. And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is what you want to talk about?" I asked, incredulous.

"Well, first, we have to complete the tradition," she said, with an eyebrow raise.

I leaned across the small shared space and kissed her. It was relatively chaste but it felt good every time she demanded we 'complete the tradition'.

90% sure this 'tradition' is bullshit. Wonderful, but still bullshit.

"Is this really a thing? That when you're getting to know each other here, people tell stories and kiss after each one?" I said, unable to not ask the question for a third time.

Ileana held her hand to her chest, mock offense written across her face. "You dare accuse me of making up a tradition just to kiss you? I don't know if I can withstand the indignity."

We were sitting on cushions in her roomy enchanted tent, facing one another. The noise of the night outside was magically dulled and even though the flap was open, no one could see in. Despite the flurry of movement outside, other people celebrating or getting ready for the next day of delves, I only had eyes for Ileana.

The small incense burner she had in the corner made for a nice and warm scent, like the smell of a good wood fire with hints of something like vanilla and lavender mixed in.

"If you made it up, I think I'd be more impressed," I said with a chuckle, squeezing her hand. "I haven't asked you anything too deep. What about your first love?" A dark look crossed her face so I quickly interjected, "Veto, veto! Let's go to a different—"

"No, I think I want you to know," she said with a small but tight smile.

We had danced around the topic that I wasn't really looking to 'date' but we had still been sharing more and more intimate details, TMNT aside.

Ileana took in a deep breath. "When I was seventeen, I was still pretty low in Tier 1. My earlier years were… tough… I was just figuring out I wanted to delve and… I was desperate for someone to believe in my dream, in my ability to achieve it. I didn't believe much in myself so I looked outside for that."

She looked into my eyes, a slight beginning of tears.

God, I just want to tell her to stop. I hate when people go through pain on my behalf.

Isekonsultant Tip to Thriving #75: People know themselves better than you do. If they want to do something for you, to go through something for you, unless it's insane like a life debt, let them. Give them the respect of deciding for themselves.

I squeezed her hand again in support.

"I met a man. He was older—" She cut off at my look. "It's not like that. He was barely twenty and that age gap is very normal here. He believed in me in a way no one had before. He wanted to delve too. Seemed like a really nice guy, though rough around the edges in just the right ways." She grinned in a way that showed fond and painful memories. "Cute from what other people told me— I have a thing with faces where I can't really tell too much more than symmetrical and do I like this face. Age is always hard too."

That actually explained some things, like why a 26 year old woman wasn't at all hesitant that I was in a body that was eighteen or so. And why she always gave me a slightly odd look each time I approached, not exactly sure if it was me despite my towering height. It wasn't quite the typical face blindness I was used to but I nodded. "We had something similar on Earth."

"Aearth," she said, not quite getting it right. "Ha, such a silly name for a planet. And it also translates to just dirt." At my look, she smiled again, squeezing my hand this time. "I am allowed my digressions. But yes, this man, he was the first to really believe in me. I was working at a brothel, though only as a hostess. Sex should be for pleasure, not coin, at least for me."

"Yes, yes, more innuendo. You aren't going to get anywhere until you finish your story," I said with a smirk.

"Well, a friend had dragged him in one evening and instead of using his coin on my coworkers, we stayed up all night talking about our hopes. We decided to form a team, then and there. One of the regulars loved me and had offered to teach me to fight and smith – he retired a few years before – so we had a bit of backing and some basic equipment. We found a few others and set out without a clear plan in place. Not the smartest move but alas, what seventeen year old is great at planning?

"Well, we focused more on making money early than advancing, often tagging along with larger groups where I could help with armor repair and the like. He fancied himself a bard and took down their stories to share with others. The groups paid us and taught us more and more about delving, sometimes even carrying us through rifts when we couldn't clear them ourselves. It was lovely. And I grew to love him, saw him as my rock."

She looked wistful and then seemed to come to herself. "Do you really want to hear about this? Me with someone else?"

I nodded. "I like getting to know people. Maybe skip the sex parts though," I said with a laugh.

"So we did that for nearly a year. Not sex, I mean. Well there was that but…" she said with a giggle. "We traveled with many different groups, saw a lot of the Kingdom, had a lot of fun. Then, I got hurt." She pulled up her shirt quite a ways and snickered at my glancing not at the scar that started by her right armpit all the way to just shy of her mid back, a few fingers from her spine. "My scar is over here," she said in a deadpan.

I rolled my eyes. "So, he abandoned you in a city?"

"Worse. In a rift. We killed the rift boss but I took this. He just missed his block and I got a claw strike that should have ended me. The rift was beyond us, we all said that, but it hadn't been cleared in a while and he was always greedy…

"Anyway, he told the others to run out and go get help while he paced after pouring his last shitty potion on my wound to stop at least some of the bleeding. The second you start moving someone with a wound like this, it tears back open, so he was waiting <a few minutes> for help to arrive outside the rift. It was the best chance to save me. He hit the reward distortion in his nerves. A skill shard dropped…"

I shook my head sadly. "Let me guess. That changed him from concerned to calculating."

She nodded. "Yup, absorbed it within maybe <ten seconds> of it dropping. He raised his sword to end me but was even too cowardly to do that. Instead, he rifled through my pockets. Didn't even look at my face though my head was turned towards him, my eyes pleading when my mouth couldn't. Got maybe three gold? Can't imagine selling your soul like that for so little…" She shook her head again. "He didn't seem to even notice there was a gold ring in there. And then he left."

"That's just… I'm sorry," I said, not knowing how to express my condolences for that level of betrayal. "Wait, what was his plan? He didn't bring out your body. That seems… weird."

"I have asked myself that question. Many times. Some delvers that die in a rift want to be left there. It's something about returning the essence in some spiritual cycle. I don't get it. But I assume that was his planned lie. Taking a dead comrade's equipment if you leave them in the rift is considered terrible form so at least he didn't move me around to loot me. I was just glad I didn't have a spatial storage sack or he really would have taken everything and just hid it."

"Hey, you don't have to continue. I get it." While I was curious, it was clearly not a pleasant memory.

"No, no, it's fine. When he was taking my money, he didn't want to actually touch me. That much was clear. He missed the healing potion in my hand. Not sure when I pulled it from my belt but was in too much shock to have used it. Once he left, instead of crying like I severely wanted to, I very slowly moved the potion to my mouth. It took at least <a few minutes>, though they felt like bells. I waited until I recovered enough to not rip my wound back open before leaving. It was nearly half a day."

"So what happened with this man? Did you track him down? I assume you have his name."

"I'm not sure what happened to him. He left before the others returned with help. Took a month of recovery and the debt was terrible but I powered through it. Never really cared about him, he's dead to me." Then she paused dramatically.

"What was his name? Selim Koval." She gave me a significant look before cracking up. "You should see your face! No, it was Kemal, just some random asshole who I haven't heard of since." Ileana couldn't help but shimmy her shoulders a little in pride at her joke.

I shook my head in exasperation but still 'completed the tradition' before preparing to answer my own question.

"Now, you have to tell me about all the people you've ever been in love with," she said with a smile.

I started recounting my love life woes, Ileana giving me grief the entire time.

***

It had been a lovely and intimate night. True to my word, we really had only kissed and talked but just opening up to someone, even more than I had in every relationship for the last few years, had me feeling lighter than I could ever remember. Once I realized it was well into the night, I panicked a little and checked my messages. Tiesa had sent a simple [Going to bed, Steve is sleeping with me. Do not wake me. Enjoy.].

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Really appreciate the lack of judgement. I need to do something nice for her.

As I emerged from Ileana's tent in the morning, both Tiesa and Inara were waiting outside. Tiesa with a slightly grumpy Steve who had to use a substitute pillow for the night and Inara with a shit-eating grin.

I yawned, reaching out and taking Steve while Inara bounced from foot to foot.

"Nothing happened," I said to my teammate. "Well, we did this tradition of telling each other stories and—"

Inara cooed. "Oh, that is so cute. That's for like fifteen year olds! Oh, my little Terry is growing up so fast."

"Beat it, Inara," Tiesa said. "Now isn't the time for joking. And it's also not a great subject to tease about." Tiesa stuck out her tongue slightly as she paused, her telltale sign she was messaging someone. Inara left without another word though did let out a small huff.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem there. But we do have a problem. Apparently, Selim Koval threw a wrench into everything. Again. We have to talk with Inga and Norbert, who showed up in disguise." She gestured towards her own, rather spacious tent.

"Ugh, that guy sucks. But also, I just want you to know, nothing, well beyond the kissing, happened. I don't think you care but with our talk the other day… It was nice but I think we're more friendly than—"

"Terry, you're old enough to make your own decisions. Even if they don't follow what you said. You don't need my approval to go after what you want."

Ugh, if I could figure out what I actually want, wouldn't life be easy? Or at least easier.

Tiesa pointed me in while sending off for food for both Steve and me.

The Mayor of Pitola, disguised as a plain-looking woman in her late 50s, and her assistant Norbert, using the body template I had used just a few days prior, were sitting in comfy chairs at a table.

We exchanged all the necessary information to confirm they were who they said and I was too. I knew Tiesa already did it but it was good protocol to always follow.

"So what did Selim do now?" I asked grumpily, setting Steve on the table.

Inga laughed, though it was raspier than normal. "While the timing isn't great, he didn't have much choice. At least not all that much. He is leveraging it to cause you some issues of course."

"So what's the situation?" I asked as Pavel brought in two plates before leaving. [Thanks] I sent to him.

Norbert started speaking in a voice I'd used recently. It was a bit surreal to hear it from another person. "As you're more than aware, The Monetary Might Kingdom is upset. They were before a noble was slain in a protected space and tensions have only escalated since. Our experts believe there is an elevated chance of war, though likely it will not go beyond a smaller border skirmish."

I tilted my head. "What does that have to do with a bunch of delvers?"

Inga nodded. "Only our military personnel can be forced to fight in a war. It's in the treaties between the two Kingdoms. But the military also does a lot domestically, including tackling problems and patrolling the borders, even sometimes working as city guards. Anyone in any of the registered guilds, but especially the Adventurers Guild, can be called for a mission. And many will be recruited as mercenaries for the war."

Seeing where this was going, I said, "And there is some kind of paperwork or something the Kingdom is requiring people to do?"

"Correct," Inga said, stealing a piece of bacon off my plate. "The information is due by the end of next week but Selim is forcing people to submit it today. Anyone registered with the Pitola Adventurers Guild – which is most of the people here despite many being on the outs – has to follow his order or face penalties. Of course, he's doing it one question at a time and forcing people to answer within half a bell so no one can delve and still make sure they can submit their answers on time. It's exceptionally petty but—"

"No, this is perfect!" I said, cutting her off. At all four people, including Steve, giving me a confused look, I explained. "I'm assuming our contracts are a bit flexible, right? We can delay today's delves to tomorrow? And then do that for all our delves, push out a day?"

Norbert nodded. "I can't see anyone objecting but I'll make sure." He started working on his AAI, his eyes glazing over.

I enthusiastically said, "Awesome. Then we just tell the second set of teams meeting up with us to come a day later and today is a 'rest day'. People can use the portable fighting arena, get their gear repaired, rest up so we're all closer to full mana, all that. We might even be able to do a few more delves tomorrow since people will be able to use far more mana. I think we can spin this, keep morale high, and entice teams to travel with us in the future."

Tiesa slapped me on the back. "I know what you'll be doing today then."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Did you come out here just to talk about that?" I asked to Inga and Norbert. It seemed like a very excessive trip for a minor inconvenience, one that could be easily discussed over AAI.

Inga waved her hand. "Yes and no. We wouldn't have come today if not for the issue but we have something that can only be discussed in person so we decided to slay two frogs with one slash."

Must be a weirdly similar idiom.

Norbert took out a familiar orb, similar to one Vana had used in my room in her inn when she discovered Gabby's dungeon core under my bed. Inga started to explain what it was and I almost cut her off before realizing how suspicious that would probably look.

The anti-scrying orb in place, Inga looked me in the eye. "You are only in on this discussion because I don't want to be on her bad side." She pointed to Tiesa. "There's an opportunity here but it could lead in… interesting directions. If I crossed a line, even a minor one, she might send Ms. Zupan after me. Whether Jasna could successfully kill me would be a question but I'd say there's a decent chance."

I was suddenly wary as I couldn't think of a good reason Tiesa or Jasna would want to kill Inga. "Great to know I'm so important here," I said wryly.

"I like you Terry, but you're quite small in the grand scheme, at least for now, despite how much time you've been taking on my schedule. I just want to set things straight. We have identified most of the people involved with The Church of Unullification. Despite how decentralized it was, the people running it were dipshits and cowards, so it was easy to piece together.

"However, 'The Cardinal', the mysterious leader of The Church, turned out to be bullshit, just a group of nobles leveraging gullible people. The leaders of the sects of The Church either went along with the ruse or genuinely believed and were just hoodwinked. So that leaves us with a few options…"

I chuckled darkly. "Either dismantle or use it yourself."

Tiesa asked, "Even if you used The Church for your own means, why would that piss me off enough to want you dead?"

I answered before Inga could. "She's not going to target us. At least not unless she's so much dumber than we think. But say it comes to light that Inga was the one behind The Church. Would you have thought it was her from the start?"

Tiesa spent a few seconds thinking before shrugging. "I'd hope not, it wouldn't make sense. But then again, nobles do dipshit things. Okay, I get it. She's covering her ass as usual." She turned to Inga. "You want our permission to use the idiots to make you richer?"

Norbert bristled but Inga put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "In a word, yesno." She laughed. "I would love if you said we could use it. I'm still not sure exactly how I would but the option would be a great help to me."

Before getting to a decision, I asked the thing still bugging me. "And the nobles who were involved?"

Inga sighed and gestured to her assistant.

Norbert sent me a list of 32 redacted names and punishments along with a bit of info on their dealings with The Church. Nearly half were getting off with a finger wag, which really pissed me off, and all but three were getting off with a fine of 30 gold or less. The last ones were paying large fines as they could be directly connected to major crimes committed by one sect or another but none of the punishments went beyond hitting their pocketbooks.

"This sucks, you know," I said to the room.

Tiesa nodded. Norbert stayed stock still. Steve ate.

Inga sighed. "Privately, I fully agree. These people knowingly orchestrated major crimes. I don't like the outcome but if I press for more—"

"You risk your own power," I said. "I get it. I don't like it. But I get it."

"No, I risk my life. And it's not a small risk either. If I really pressed for bigger punishments and went public, I'd quite likely be dead within ten days. And if not, removed from office somehow in under half a year. I don't like it, but it's the political reality. However, I do plan to slowly chip away at these assholes' power and protection. This was not okay but—" She stopped and pointed to me.

"We have to play the long game," I said, agreeing despite the groaning tone to my voice.

We spent the next twenty minutes going over the decision as to whether to let Inga take over The Church for her own purposes. We told her to keep the organization alive but not move until we could speak further after our delving trip.

Tiesa stepped out to speak with Inga for a bit and the Mayor stuck her head back in. "Fine, I'll send you a damn battery," she said to my confusion.

After they left, Tiesa and I still couldn't come to a conclusion. Eventually, we decided to ask, with Inga's permission, the heads of the Struva and Velez Councils to come to Pitola and help us decide since it felt like a bigger decision. I hoped Zita Bartko and Nina Asani could provide us with counsel to come to the right decision.

***

After the annoyance of having to answer random stupid questions every few hours wore off, the vibe in the rest area returned to a festival once more, the delvers excited to take a bit more time to themselves.

The local village was both happy and exasperated. Thrilled at the even larger influx of coin from selling things to the delvers but also annoyed at what we did to the rest area itself, transforming it into a bit of a playground.

I explained the concept of a family picnic day, with three-legged and potato sack races, face painting, an obstacle course, and more.

The delvers made use of some of the local 'supplies', including chopping down trees, to create something more akin to American Gladiators than a fun set of impediments but it was still all a good time. Seeing someone whip a ball at a speed that would kill a normal human and the target dodge or even catch it never got old.

Steve spent the day at the fighting arena, taking part in over twenty short spars. Tiesa herself couldn't actually enter the arena because the enchantments would break trying to hold back her strikes, even practice ones, but she instructed him from the side. It was clear he didn't fully understand everything she said but he tried enthusiastically all the same, like a labrador doing training when treats are involved.

Pavel came by and helped as well, working with Steve on spotting openings. By the end, the sugar glider was mildly proficient with his magical stick, able to get in a hit every few tries. The fact it was still far longer than he was tall didn't seem to dull his enthusiasm.

His defense was still atrocious but it was something to work on for later.

Most of my day was spent either speaking with other delvers about their skills and fighting styles or assisting with smithing and enchantment repair, learning from Ileana and her enchanter/mage teammate Roksana.

I was even given the chance to help repair a minor enchantment. Roks had to step in at the last second to finish it but she said it was better than most people's first attempts. I was just glad I didn't break it.

While I was worried the vibe with Ileana would be different somehow, her easy-going nature made it clear we had spent a fun night but there really was no expectation. I did my best to not worry about it.

Both Ileana and Roksana went over my gear with a fine-toothed comb. In Roks' case, that was literally as she was checking for striations that could impact the enchantments. My self-repair enchantments were a little rough so Roks 'gave me a family discount', laughing all the while. They did the same for my team and Vesna's as well.

My conversations with delvers took me back into what skills I might want next. While [Hasty Retreat] was great, I was still on the lookout for a taunt skill, a defensive skill, and probably something for increased stamina or strength. My plan was still to wait a while to add any additional skills, but it was fun to plan things out.

We held a bigger fighting tournament after dinner and I finished with a respectable 2-2 record, losing in the first round of the knockout stages after going 2-1 in the seeding stage. I still managed to lose almost two gold on bets but it was worth it to me.

Ileana lost in the quarterfinals, as did Inara, while Pavel barely made it to the semifinals on a controversial decision. An absolute mountain of a woman took home the crown, her wide range of mage skills and high dexterity making her a nightmare to deal with.

As I headed into my tent that night with my companion in my arms, I sighed contentedly. "That was a fun day."

Steve cooed and snuggled in, ready for a story before bed.

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