Chapter 1671 (2/2)

Randidly was initially very enthusiastic about helping Tatiana, but his expression turned somewhat awkward at her request. “...Ahem. Well, as you know, I’m currently in a translation between jobs, so…”

Tatiana grinned at him. “No, I didn’t expect you to empty out your wallet for me; I need Expira money, not Nexus bucks or whatever. And you are the type that barely notices the role of money in your life anyway. But you have assets here, the controlling stake in Kharon, which has been accumulating capital for you for the past five years. It is… a significant amount of money. I just need your permission to use a portion of it to make an anonymous donation toward Kharon’s Guardian Visas program.”

There was a knock on the door and Tatiana bid them to come in. Six steaming trays of food were wheeled in my metal beings with featureless faces. After arranging the tray trolleys in a semi-circle, the brass beings bowed and then left. Randidly looked at Tatiana and raised his eyebrows.

“Automatons. Kharon makes them. Neveah figured out how to tap into the System’s translation functions, so they naturally understand orders,” Tatiana said. Then she pointed at the food. “I assume pleasure before business?”

“Tell me about the visa program while I eat,” Randidly responded as he lifted the lid off of the first tray. The fragrant spices of a shrimp jambalaya wafted up toward him. Immediately, his expression brightened and he snatched up a fork, beginning to eat directly from the party-sized dish.

But after a few bites, he paused. “Do the automatons cook the food too?”

“Generally. Is that a problem?” Tatiana asked.

Randidly chewed thoughtfully for several seconds. “...no. But you can definitely tell. There isn’t any life in the food. The taste… is just fine.”

Despite the fact that the food was simply serviceable, Randidly’s powerful new Grim Chimera body hadn’t been full in its entire existence. So the six trays of food became sacrifices to please his cells. In the meantime, Tatiana explained the Guardian Visas, and how the initial program was forcibly expanded way beyond its original scope due to the rapid growth of the Kharon Academy.

That earned a pause in Randidly’s feast long enough for him to grin; he liked to hear that the Kharon Academy was doing well. Not that he truly needed to be told, as the spirit of Kharon was mostly anchored in Kharon Academy at the point. The student and teachers were its loudest proponents. But to hear that the foremost institution of learning on Expira was his Academy, built to teach the young to challenge the unknown and seek redress in our world’s greatest flaws, filled him with a feeling of satisfaction that Randidly had rarely experienced before.

But with the good came the bad. As Tatiana continued to explain the problem with Kharon’s Council, Randidly’s expression sank. Kharon’s development in five years wasn’t all good. There were significant portions of Kharon’s population that were happy with their current position and somewhat unwilling to continually head to Danger Zones to blaze a path for the rest of Expira.

As they aged and escaped the chaotic arrival of the System, some people wanted to rest and enjoy the benefits to which they believed they were entitled.

Randidly pressed his lips together. Nothing remains the same forever… But giving people the opportunity to choose how they want to live is part of the reason that I need to grow even stronger. This seems like the sort of problem that should be left up to Kharon to solve.

After she finished her explanation, Randidly tilted his head and looked at Tatiana. “Will the money you’ve set aside for me be enough to cover the program?”

Tatiana nodded. “Oh, for sure. Compared to how much money is in your name, this amount isn’t even noticeable.”

That caused Randidly to pause. “Wait, I’m rich?”

“Randidly, how could you not be?” Tatiana retorted with another eye roll. “Do you know how success Kharon’s industries are?”

Randidly tapped his cheek and considered this news. “How rich?”

“Scrooge, caves filled with golden coins rich,” Tatiana said wryly. “So rich that, if you walk around Kharon and find something that you want to buy, you’d probably be informed that you already owned it.”

Randidly pointed at the six empty trays of food. “Then I want another six trays of food. But have them made by chefs with high Cooking Skill Level this time.”