Chapter 1417 (2/2)

Commissioner Arrietti shrugged. “Heh, won’t the System take care of it?”

Chuckling, Tatiana pointed out the flaw in his thinking. “Won’t the System also take care of the nicotine high? You’d just be inhaling smoke.”

“Er… well… the familiar sensation…” The Commissioner mumbled, but Tatiana could tell that he hadn’t thought about this issue before.

Naffur shook his head and looked at Austin to get the conversation back on track. “We aren’t idiots. Yes, your company was a significant driver of growth for the past six months. But those initial expansions are the easiest sort of growth to achieve. Besides… don’t act like you are unilaterally improving Kharon’s situation. We are aware that you attempted to develop fields outside of Kharon and found the result… less than satisfactory. Do you want to guess as to the reason, or should I?”

Austin sighed. “...although we have no proof, we suspect it is due to the moss spirits. They… provide ambient energy that is very useful to the growth of the plants we use for our scents.”

“Exactly,” Tatiana steepled her fingers. “You’ve grown so quickly because of Kharon. You want more space because Kharon’s space is valuable. Not just to you, but to the entire city. That’s what it means to be the Wandering City under Randidly Ghosthound; every scrap of land carries significant benefits, even if they are easy to miss at first. Let me say this, Austin. So far you’ve been enjoying the benefits of the Ghosthound’s land. But those benefits come with responsibility. That’s why you are here tonight. So you can see the hard work that goes into making this city a reality.”

Austin was silent for several seconds. He took another sip of his martini. Then he slowly nodded. “...I understand.”

Commissioner Arrietti glanced around and frowned down at his empty cup. “Where the hell is that waiter…? The beer here is excellent. Ah, but does that mean we aren’t going to talk about immigration? There is still some room in the cheap housing; having youth is all well and good, but if we recruit capable individuals now it will benefit us in the long run.”

Naffur scratched his chin. “That would be great but… we can’t keep stealing away the best and brightest from other Zones. Even if Kharon has the Ghosthound standing behind it, we don’t want to go out of our way to antagonize the various States. Most of our income comes from shipping out high-end goods. Tariffs would devastate us.”

“Plus, the lurking issue of bringing in more people is the integrity of Kharon’s spirit,” Tatiana said. Everyone else at the table turned and looked at her. She wasn’t sure whether these power individuals had put it together yet, but this was the reason that they had set up such strenuous requirements for entry into Kharon. It wasn’t necessarily in order to make sure these people could use images, but the image training would temper their Willpower and let the Order Ducis nudge them in the right direction.

Seeing that she had their attention, Tatiana continued to elaborate. “Randidly Ghosthound has emphasized time and time again how important it is to cultivate the right sort of image for the people of Kharon. The reason that the immigration process is so slow is to partially condition the applicants to possess that sort of image. “

“Can we speed the process up?” Austin asked, looking over at Naffur.

Naffur chewed on his lip. “Well… possibly. But not in a way that will matter. Instead of taking three months to get their image in the right spot, we might be able to do it in two and a half. But that ties up more of the Order Ducis operatives.”

“Isn’t that better? Basically all the Order Ducis seems to do when you let them out into the borderlands is to bring more people to Kharon to train anyway.” Commissioner Arrietti pointed out.

“But rescuing those that need help will be the basis for our inviolability as an organization for when the Ghosthound leaves Earth,” Tatiana said quietly. “We need to be the most active force in the Borderlands. Besides, that’s how we spread the word about this city’s image to Earth’s population. If we back off, the mystique we cultivate will weaken. We have no choice but to embrace it.”

“Is this truly necessary? What happens if the image of Kharon isn’t so… ideal?” Austin said after a moment of hesitation. He too had finished his drink by now. “I know it is important to the Ghosthound, but…”

Spoken like someone who doesn’t understand all the hard work that has been done by someone else for you to have this opportunity, Tatiana thought quietly as she looked at the young owner of the fastest growing company in Kharon. But that combination of capability and naivety was why she had decided to pull him into these sorts of meetings. They needed an actor with Austin’s influence to be aware of the consequences for Kharon as a whole.

“Without that image the Ghosthound has cultivated, Kharon will collapse,” Tatiana said quietly. “It won’t be a quick thing, and Kharon might even become more powerful by switching its image for dozens of years. But that image we have right now… is the spine of Kharon. Built to last by the Ghosthound. Everything else we do grows from there. Altering our spine right now… is not a smart decision.”

Naffur and Commissioner Arietti both constantly interacted with people and helped normalize Kharon’s image in their lives, so they understood the subtle distinctions it created in people. The way it made them stand straighter and take more risks. The way it made people willing to try something and fail without being consumed by bitterness. Because Kharon was the city that wandered the edges of the world. They didn’t need to be perfect, they just never needed to surrender to the unknown.

They were always the first, blazing a Path. That gave the people of Kharon pride.

Austin was clearly confused and unsure, but he ultimately nodded. Satisfied, Tatiana smiled. “However… we can look into more efficient methods of immigration. We don’t want to be bottlenecked by this in the future. Preparing now can become Kharon’s strength for years to come.”

Heh, finding more willing grunts to accomplish tedious paperwork has a certain sort of satisfaction to it...

Before the conversation continued, the waiter finally returned. Trailing behind him were two women.

Helen jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Figured it was easier just to bring her.”

Clarissa’s eyes were sparkling. “And I absolutely adore hibachi.”