Chapter 30: Vote.
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"Bud, come here," Geralt suddenly commanded.
Looking at the distance to where Geralt stood beside Yennefer with a sullen look on his face, Richard was puzzled but followed his instruction anyway.
"Geralt. Let them be. It's their story," Yennefer interjected.
Stopping in his tracks due to Yennefer's interruption, Richard unknowingly sighed in relief. Although puzzled by his instinct blaring an uncomfortable alarm, he didn't have time to ponder as everyone had already gathered.
"Let's go. Let's fix all of this mess. We've delayed it enough," Yennefer said to the three of them.
Walking closer with Ciri beside him, Richard sat at the round table recently built by the Aasimar people for their discussions. Looking ahead at the two rotating globe schematics in the Physical Realm, tuning his vision to the Cognitive Realm to see a big ship, and finally a big tree that, according to Eir, was still small in the Ethereal Realm, Richard heard Yennefer officially start the discussion.
"Everyone finished with their personal matters? Good. Now let's start discussing the wish. Let me first say something. From the list of fixing the Conjunction, I want to add one thing to the list, which is reversing or resurrecting anyone who died because of that Conjunction. But the drawback is that the ghosts of the past might be resurrected along with the others. Any objections?" Yennefer said.
"Absolutely not. Are you nuts, Yen? Do you have any idea what that would entail? Not to mention Vilgefortz. There will be many individuals like Eltiabld or even Cosimo Malaspina who will disturb the common peace. Do you not think that even one of them would be a headache if they were resurrected?" Triss Merigold questioned.
"Triss is right, Yen. First, there will be the Order of Witchers appearing like a disease. As you see, they will mostly continue their practices seeing many monsters. Even though we don't know their motives after they are resurrected—whether glory like the first era or coins like the last era—one thing I know is that this guy doesn't want that to happen," Philipa reasoned, looking at Richard.
"If it were just that, I wouldn't care since they are not a threat to our group anyway. And I don't really mind their goal to rebuild that order since it is not aligned or in conflict with ours. But you clearly forget the Aen Saevherne who were either killed by humans or whose descendants were massacred. Imagine not only one Vilgefortz but five or even dozens of them appearing one after the other, with the motive to erase humankind from existence. If I were in the past before having Yggdrasil, I would probably have already cast artifact compression on you, Yen, just for suggesting the idea." Philipa calmly stated.
"But that's not all, my dear. Don't you remember the Chapter members throughout history? Do you think they would sit idly by, seeing our creation? Maybe the founders still had common sense, but the subsequent members? Even in the very last generation, we had a hard time dealing with them, resulting in the Battle of Sodden Hill and subsequently the Thanedd Coup," Philipa exclaimed, knowing their greedy nature like the back of her hand.
Not realizing the impact of the drawback and unable to contemplate the concerning future if that drawback were likely to happen, Ciri couldn't retort and simply clenched her fist in silent indignation. Luckily, most of the members here were not from this world and did not have any attachments, nor did they harbor prejudices toward any particular group of people in this world.
Even if there were any, it was probably similar to Richard's stance, condemning anyone who lacked basic human decency when judging others. Starting with Jahar Narishma and ending with Moiraine Damodred, each expressed their opinion and cast their vote for the additional wish that would later be added.
"The moment we created this Genie, as you people call it, there will be much opposition. It will just be a matter of time before we face them head-on. One or a dozen more doesn't make much of a difference. I concur with Yennefer's wish," Jahar Narishma voted.
"The more enemies we have to deal with, the more our bond will strengthen. These Chapters will serve as examples that motivate us to remain close, especially since we'll be too busy to engage in internal conflicts. Besides, we each possess a portion of three Sa'angreal, each with unimaginable power. With just one-quarter one of them, I could defeat a hundred versions of myself from the past without breaking a sweat. For these reasons, I concur with Yennefer's wish," Logain Ablar voted.
"As the only elf in this group, I want to preserve many of my cousins' heritage from another world. It doesn't matter if they are enemies or friends. I think there will be many of my race who were thrown into this world too without their memories. Other resurrected elves from this continent will be a good extra hand, since I only have myself to work with. Because of my selfish reason, I concur with Yennefer's wish," Faralda voted.
"I don't have much reason to begin with. Only that the more magic-able people there are, the more students that will attend the College of Winterhold that I want to build. So, I just follow Faralda's decision," Mirabelle Ervine voted.
"According to what I read in the History of this world in the Huginn and Muninn database submitted by Margarita, it's not solely the elves' fault that they chose to take up arms against humans during Aelirenn's Uprising. The human disciples they trained with became corrupted, seeking to expand their territory. For this injustice, I align with Faralda and Yennefer's wishes. Moreover, if there is a chance to restore what damage has been done because of the Conjunction, I will gladly do it since it is the right thing to do," Moiraine Damodred voted.
Seeing that seven out of eleven creators, plus one contributor, had already voted, making his vote not particularly impactful, Richard asked Faralda first, "Faralda, do you have confidence that only adults will be implicated if a war between races arises?"
"I will try my best to send the afflicted innocent parties here for protection," Faralda stated. She then continued with a heavy heart, "But if a day ever comes when my own people do some heinous things, and justice reasons stack against them, I don't think I can do it. I don't think I can kill my own people. I don't have the conviction."
Silence once again prevailed around the table, with thunder and rain complementing this heavy discussion. Then they heard Jahar Narishma's declaration—a declaration that not many people had the courage to make, a declaration that told everyone here he didn't mind becoming enemies with each of them, a declaration that even Richard, as a protector of the weak, would not have the strength to implement, knowing that sooner or later he would form attachments.
"Let me do it," Jahar continued, "Let me be the one who ensures the law of this world remains just and impartial. Let me be the one who bears this responsibility," he said, looking at the Highspren that took the form of black slits in the air. He swore the Second Ideal, "And because of that, I swear to seek justice, to let it guide me, to the most perfect ideal that I can find."
As Jahar floated in the air, Richard saw everything he touched turn to dust. The molecules that were once there as a chair and table transformed into nothingness—no, more accurately, they transformed into single individual atoms floating freely without any chemical bonds. Flipping his wrist to reveal an ashen-gray watch, Richard activated one of the programs he created and deduced what kind of magic it was.
[Magic Surges: Gravitation and Division.]
[Detail: Surge magic owned by every Highspren. Gravitation - Can manipulate gravitational attraction. Division - Can split molecular bonds between atoms.]
After the Jahar phenomenon was over, Richard turned to Lanfear with a heavy heart, "Lan, edit the firewall—I mean, the brain of the ships—to attract every Spren it can find when we deploy the Skidbladnir later."
Turning to Yennefer, who was in charge of making the wish, he then said, "And Yen, add to the wish that every Spren in this world feels the urge to go into the Skidbladnir. Don't worry about the calculations and the drawbacks; I will be responsible for it."
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