Knowing more or less what was coming, TJ shrugged. "Sarah, Farid, if you'll wait for me. I won't be long."
"Are you sure?" Raya asked, her face studiously and deliberately kept from emoting. "There might be more that I would like to—"
"We won't be long." TJ nodded.
Raya understood and nodded her head, not nearly so humbly as before.
"You have come to a decision, then, about your place in Sven's pantheon." It wasn't a question.
"I don't think that he ever expected any outcome different from this." TJ shrugged. "Maybe he hoped I'd bend the knee, but he know."
"I suppose he did." Raya's mouth puckered ever so slightly in displeasure. "If that is your decision, I will be brief. You and your people are welcome to spend time here without condition or requirement, but never for a longer period than 24 hours. After that time, you will be expected to leave to your own dwellings outside of the territory formally claimed by the New Republic. If you are here to engage in trade or commerce, you are free to do so, and as long as negotiations are continuing in good faith, you will be permitted to stay within the boundaries of the New Republic until 24 hours after the conclusion of your trade negotiations.
"While you are within the bounds of the New Republic, you and your people will be expected to act in accordance with the standards of honored guests. If any of those you claim as yours or those who have entered the New Republic's lands under your leadership act in a way that is contradictory to the expectations of what is to be expected of a foreign emissary, then you will be censured accordingly, in keeping with the severity of the crimes committed. While within the bounds of the New Republic, whether you are a citizen or not, you will be expected to participate in emergency calls to arms, and you can trust that such calls to arms are only made in the most dire of circumstances.
"In exchange, the New Republic will treat you with the respect that befits your station and your continued positive relationship with the New Republic and her representatives will be preserved.
"Do you have any questions?"
"Nope." TJ shook his head. "Now, if you would, regardless of if these people will unite with the New Republic or not, they should be treated as befits their station. Those behind us all need to be fed, while these two with me are Copper tier and, for the next 24 hours, should be treated in a way that Copper tiers should be."
"Very well." Raya replied. "However, I will let you know that, with each passing day, the station and benefits provided to those who have ascended to Copper tier are being reduced. Only those who reached Copper tier during the Tutorial or immediately thereafter are considered to be of a caliber comparable to yourself."
"That's fine!" Sarah jumped in, a wide, insincere grin covering her face and faux excitement dripping from her every word. "I'm happy to report that I evolved during the quiet time right after the Tutorial ended! Getting pretty close to level 30, too!"
"As did I." Farid smiled in a way that was more threatening than Sarah's forced positivity. "Now, would you show us to our quarters? We have much to discuss, and I would hate to lose any of the amenities that a man of my stations deserves."
TJ swore he saw Raya's eyelid twitch in response to being challenged this way. After working her jaw for a moment, she nodded once, met TJ's eyes, and spun on her heel to walk away.
"So, is she the secretary around here?" Sarah asked in a normal tone. "Acceptable service. Maybe she's a better fighter than a customer-facing professional? Or maybe there's some other facing she does, like face down?"
Despite her actions, it was obvious that Sarah was needling at Raya even as the other woman walked away. With a quick thought, TJ established a curtain of wind that surrounded them in every direction. Then, as he turned to look at Sarah, he couldn't miss the signs of mirth in the tilt of her head and the quirk at the corner of her mouth.
"Did you have to insult her? And really, calling someone in charge of everything a slut?"
"Did she have to have a stick so far up her ass that she can taste it? If that's the case, well… that's how it's gonna be." Sarah did not look even the smallest bit apologetic as she spoke.
TJ grunted. "She's the second in command here. I'd guess she's the primary driving force of all things administrative and organizational. And you just called her a glorified secretary."
"Really? That high up? I'd say it's impressive, but I really don't care." Sarah looked at TJ. "So, tell us. What's the deal with her being all pissy with you?"
"There's a lot more to it, but basically, the boss of this settlement wanted me to join as one of his right hand guys. Take care of business, you know, the works. I never really wanted to, but I don't mind getting the benefits of living in a place and reaping the benefits of a civilization. So I've stuck around. He's gotten pushier about me joining the pantheon with him as supreme god or whatever, and I haven't engaged. Raya there was going to give me an ultimatum or something about making you guys join under their control, and some of the main reasons why I was sticking around have kinda sorted themselves out, so I'm happy to move along."
"I'm happy to have a conversation with you about whatever the reasons for you to stick around are." Farid said, looking at the faintly visible wind wall that surrounded them. "However, I am more curious about the reason why you have decided to use this wall at this time. And why you learned to use your Skill like this."
"We'll have plenty of time to talk about the specifics later, but the long and short of it is that I saw Sven use a Skill kinda like it. Makse sense that, if they're hiding what they're talking about, we might want to keep that same level of confidentiality, especially since we're only going to be allies in the loosest sense of the word from here on out. We'll keep our Skills, Bloodlines, Occupations, Classes, and so on secret. There's no reason to provide more information when the're baring their teeth now. They push, we stand firm. They get violent… we show them what happens to people who get in the way of survivors of Tutorial 107.48.891."
"You… have changed." Farid said, meeting TJ's eyes. "It is good to see who the 'leader' TJ is. Firm, but not violent without cause."
"I don't know if I agree with that." TJ smiled a little. "But I appreciate it, I suppose. Now, I think I know what Sarah's choice is going to be, but I figure I may as well ask all the same—do you want to stay here or come with me as we eke out a liveable place somewhere in the wilderness?"
Sarah laughed. "You think I can stick around here after that introduction? I'll find a knife buried in my back before I get another level!"
"I doubt it." TJ shrugged. "Despite how overbearing he is, Sven seems to generally be a benevolent Moncarch, and yes, that's his Occupation. Admittedly, I don't have any real exposure to the way he will treat people long term, but it's been about two weeks, and I haven't heard or seen anyone who's really unhappy with his leadership. Though I don't wanna join the country he's making, I think it could potentially be an ally in the longer run. Anyways. If you wanna stick around, I'm more than happy to give my blessing to whoever wants to. That's all.
"This place… it's too clean." Sarah shook her head. "It's like those fancy restaurants you walk into but they're too well lit, smell like bleach and Pine-sol, and the staff's too efficient. It's just shady. Gimme our scuffed hole in the wall restaurant, and I'll be eating happily every day. Did that… yeah, that kinda fell apart towards the end of the comparison there."
Farid chuckled. "I understand what you're saying. I prefer when I know how everything works behind the counter. Figuratively speaking. I will continue to follow you, TJ, because I haven't seen you hide anything from people you lead. At least, nothing pertinent."
Despite himself, TJ felt a warm glow of pride at that. Then, when he wondered why he was happy to be told he was someone's version of a trusted leader, it was just that. He was trusted. And trust could lead to worship.
TJ dismissed the wall of wind, and instead of walking forward, he turned to the confused people who'd followed Sarah here. Raising his voice, he spoke.
"Here's the deal. I'm not going to be here long term. I know you didn't come here to follow me, but them's the breaks. Sarah and Farid've said that they're gonna follow me when I leave tomorrow. If you wanna stick around here, go ahead. The New Republic's been taking care of people, getting them jobs and levels and making sure they're fed. There's some stratification to society, but frankly, that's life now. If you're gonna join in with them, follow in the direction that woman there went. Her name's Raya, she's the second in command around here and she'll get you to wherever you need to be to get integrated into this city."
"Why are you leaving?"
"Leave our saviors here!"
"You don't deserve to steal them from us!"
"Yeah, you—"
"Oh shut up." Sarah shouted over the din, making them go quiet. "It's no fuckin surprise that I've been reluctant to lead you all. It's not anything I've done because I enjoy it. I'm happy to leave you here. And I'm sticking with TJ because he saved my life in the Tutorial a dozen times over. So there." Sarah didn't say another word, just turned back to TJ before saying, "Lead the way, bossman."
TJ shrugged, looked at Farid, who surprisingly didn't say anything to the people who'd followed him for who knew how long. They walked in silence away, though TJ heard that over half turned to walk in a slightly different direction than he, Sarah, and Farid did. That a third of them decided to follow him was strange enough, considering he was basically a monster to their view.
"So, what have you been up to?" Sarah asked as she strutted along beside him. She wore the damaged ironhide javelina armor from the Tutorial, her shield and axe hidden away and dismissed until she needed them. "I figure you've got the gist of what we were doing. Killing monsters, protecting some people. You had something around here that was keeping you trapped, so how did it get fixed?"
"Well…" TJ trailed off, wondering how he would answer. "Basically, I couldn't leave two teens alone when they broke into my house in the middle of the night."
Sarah met his gaze. "I'm gonna need more information than that."
"I guess that's fair." TJ chuckled under his breath. "I'll tell you after I get this next level though. I'm off, you get some rest."
"Fiiine. I wouldn't mind getting sleep in a place where I don't also have to keep an eye on everyone else while I'm at it."
TJ nodded as he pointed at the building where the dorm was. "Ask there where my room is, and they shouldn't give you too much trouble. I'll be back by nightfall."
"Bye! Have fun!" Sarah laughed as TJ turned and sprinted, ready to finally get this next level.