Misbegotten Memories

Chapter 280

The next day they made their way to the site of the auction to see what kind of reaction their fertilizer lots would get.  Bustling crowds amazed at miraculous fertilizer failed to manifest.  Because it was a silent auction, they couldn’t even determine what the highest offers were.  At one point Mei snuck a peak at the ledger maintained by an attendant whose attentions were seized by a novel held in his lap.  She couldn’t read the numerals, but that at least gave her an idea for how many bids had been placed for one of the lots.

Seventeen bids before noon.  That seemed promising.

“The best farmers in the world should know the value of fertilizer,” Isabel said.

Darius snorted.  “But does Wayne possess any competence?”

“He uses Jinn methods,” Isabel countered.

“Jinn magic.”

Isabel shook her head as if gravely disappointed in Darius.  “The methods Wayne used did not rely upon the powers of the Jinn.  In the sect, we were taught that Xian do not use foreign methods because we need to remain pure and embrace the unique strengths of our own kind.  I now know this to be ignorant nonsense.  Jinn technology could improve life on Tian for everyone if those in power did not fear how it might change the world.”

“You have been listening to Wayne’s ideas,” Darius complained.

“His assistance was invaluable in Oceania.”

Hector moved away from those two as it became clear that they intended to have a disagreement.  He found Dorian nearby, the man enraptured by the sight of Mei as she bossed around their interpreter Owam.  “There’s something special about falling in love,” Hector mused.

Dorian smiled.  “They say the wise become fools and the strong grow weak.  I have never been particularly wise or strong, so I should evade the most severe symptoms.”

Seeing the uninhibited expressions of the other man, Hector found his thoughts drifting back to his past entanglements.  He’d felt all the feels once upon a time.  Falling in love wasn’t a challenge.  Even someone as self-absorbed as him could manage it.  Staying in love was the real accomplishment.  Sadly, being stubborn didn’t help with that.

“I hear that you think I am the best man you know,” he teased.

The man closed his eyes for a count of five before blowing out a loud breath.  “Isabel speaks six languages but can hold her tongue in none of them.”

Hector laughed.  “It’s not so embarrassing as you make it seem.  Though I think you may have a skewed perspective of my nature.  I have many flaws, Dorian, and I make a lot of mistakes.”

“If you talk back to Lords, then I must conclude that any kindness you enact is authentic.”

For a moment, Hector wasn’t sure what kindness the man referenced.  Then it clicked.  “Is this because I loaned you some funds at the Zing auction?”

Dorian stared at Hector like he was an idiot.  “The ‘loan’ you never mentioned again until just now is only a small part of it.  Who am I to you?  I’ll answer on your behalf since you would get it wrong.  I’m the man who coordinated your entrance into a false tournament on behalf of Lord Andrew, almost costing you your life.  I’m also the man who took your dear friend hostage to force you into a dangerous treasure hunt.  I’m also the boy you remember from the fifth household.

“You should hate me, Hector.  If there was any part of you that was sane or rational, you would.  I have shown you only pain and treachery.  Yet you treat me like I am an ally or even a friend.  After the cookout you were kind to me.  Then the loan.  And on Union Central you set us up to live in comfort.  These are not the acts of a normal man.  Most people from Tian would see a sissy or a fool, but I know you are neither of those things.  I am not surprised you gained an insight into morality.”

Rather than point out how twisted Dorian’s upbringing had been that he would see basic human empathy as a sign of sainthood, Hector decided to tackle the misunderstanding from a different angle.  “People misunderstand insights with moral components.  Funny enough, the Arahants are most likely to get it wrong.  They think the insight enforces moral behavior.  But that’s not it at all.  The type of person who obsesses over a moral issue is the only type who can achieve that kind of understanding in the first place.

“Receiving an insight isn’t a revelation, I don’t think.  You get most of the way there on your own, then see the glimpse into ultimate reality.  It’s more a validation of what you’ve already figured out.  The details get fleshed out a ton, but you already climbed high enough to see the big picture on your own.  You already believe it with the purest faith.

“And the moral component that makes up a small portion of my insight isn’t even about being a good person.  It’s about how intentions can be mapped onto spatial topologies – about actions literally carrying meaning.”  Hector watched as a woman studied the fertilizer and wrote a bid on a slip of paper that she presented to the attendant.  “And also I know about spite.  Not from my own life.  I was always too… task focused, let’s say, to fall into that trap.  But from Volithur’s life.”

Dorian’s voice came soft when he next spoke.  “The things I did… were they part of the reason why he….  Did I play a part in the death of so many friends and family?”

“No, Dorian.  The blame for that falls entirely on your grandfather.  Innocent people pay with their lives so that he can play at war.  He fancies himself a general but I don’t think he has any great tactical skill.  He simply fields the largest army of Xian in existence due to the size of his transit sphere.  That’s the secret to all of his ‘success’ at murdering unempowered civilians.”

The heated words caused Dorian’s eyes to go wide.  “You really should not say such things around members of my family.”

“Trust me, I know.  But I’m not willing to let you carry the weight of Thrakkar’s sins.”

“You’re not going to go after him, are you?”

“Weren’t you listening to me just now?  I don’t do spite.”

Dorian scratched his head.  “But if you believe he is harming innocents, does that not mean you also believe the world would be improved by his death?”

“He’s fighting monsters now, Dorian.  Even if that were not the case, my efforts are going towards the Reconquest.  Quite frankly, ever since my final dream I’ve been terrified that my own life might be as meaningless as Volithur’s.  We are all mortal creatures in the end, so I think we have to live for something greater than our own benefit.”

“You haven’t convinced me you aren’t a good man,” Dorian said.

“I guess my point is that while I’m trying really hard to be one, I’m not there yet.”

“I am trying as well, Hector.  I regret that I wronged you in the past.”

Mei punched their interpreter in the kidney, causing the man to grimace as he stepped forward to peek at a bid in the process of being placed.  The attendant shooed them back, but Owam managed to observe a number which he shared in the Zing language.  Mei clapped her hands and pranced towards Dorian in a playful fashion that seemed utterly out of character for her.

“Three hundred of their big money,” she announced.

Dorian’s gaze turned soft and dopey as he gazed at his lover.  “There may be even higher bids.”

Hector began doing the math.  They’d brought ten boxes of fertilizer, each of which was being auctioned as its own lot.  Assuming the three hundred coin bid was a reasonable price, then they should be walking away with three thousand of the large denomination coins at the end of the day.  That was a lot of money.  Not enough to buy level nine produce, but they should be able to afford a small amount of level eight Fufu flour – or a lot of the same product at level seven.

His mercantile pondering was interrupted by a public display of affection between Mei and Dorian.  He moved away from the couple, uncomfortable to be intruding on something that should have been private.  The hostel segregating guests into male and female dormitories had allowed too much build-up of desire.  Either that, or the two of them had no concept of what was appropriate.

Which… was this considered inappropriate to the people of Bentley?  A quick survey of his surroundings suggested that no one cared.  Isabel sidled up to him, leaving Darius behind.  “They are pressing their faces together again?”

“They certainly are passionate,” Hector said.

“Dorian has taken away my last surviving sister.  I cannot return to the sect, so I do not know what to do with myself.  Do I join the retinue of Zara in truth?  Or am I to run the dungeon and live among false Xian?”

After only a moment of hesitation, Hector made an offer.  “Come with me to Aes.”

“You want me to fight in the infamous Reconquest?”

“They pay well and the cultivation environment is excellent.”

The woman folded her arms.  “Are you not going to argue it is a worthy cause?”

“Would that make a difference to you?”

“You assume it wouldn’t?”

Hector raised a brow.  “You have never struck me as someone interested in service.”

“I have always served my sect and my sisters.  Volunteering for the sake of strangers would have meant abandoning those closest to me.  With Mei no longer interested in cultivation… I believe you are an associate I can trust.”

“Then welcome to the Aes Reconquest.  We’re losing at the moment, but if things go well that might change.”

“I do want the pay you have spoken of.”

He smiled as he thought of the financial turnaround brought about by the System.  “You’ll get the pay.  And I’ll make sure you have plenty of cosmic energy.”

An employee of the auction arrived to chastise Dorian and Mei for their behavior.  After that, it wasn’t long before the auction ended.  Owam translated as the officials announced the winning bids and gave the bidders the rest of the afternoon to pay their debt.  The money would be made available to the sellers the next day – minus the import tax, which was being withheld by the authorities.

As their group was exiting the auction to search for dinner, Fiona found them.