Ball of Nothing

Thomas worked diligently and even so, it took the gnome two weeks to finally repair the Crafter's Suit. Dorgon assisted in the testing and also closed the workshop to hone his skills, testing out a few small-scaled sculptures for the actual Freya statue. Zero helped out by giving accurate comments and showing Dorgon an actual image of Freya that he found on his i-communicator with his limited mana.

In the abyss, Axel was having the time of his life. Lovina and Qin Yun dropped by to see the spriggan and Zero heard from them that the abyss terraforming project was progressing faster than before. With Axel acting as a boost for the Tree of Life, they were able to not only produce enough mana to repel the attacking miasma but convert chaos energy into mana to pump it into the broken plane. Zero didn't know how the Tree of Life was able to convert chaos energy into usable mana but he heard there was a strange by-product of the synthesis that Wiser was still unable to figure out. He sent a mail pigeon back to Half Moon Village, telling them to get Lovina on the case. He wanted the by-product as he had a feeling they could be chaos energy crystals that he needed to create Solo's sanity orb.

It didn't really matter. Zero was confident that Wiser would be able to figure out in due time with the help of Pepper and Wesley. He had faith in their abilities and Zero decided he would truly be over the nova cannon incident if the gnomes could develop a chaos energy to mana converting device. They would redeem themselves completely if that truly happened, Zero could bury the incident behind him without hesitation.

While things progressed steadily in the abyss and on Truen's end, Zero was getting ready to return to Magnus Hilda for the last part of his lengthy quest. The giants were coping well and recovering just fine from the coma plague. In fact, King Richard regained his former health and the power couple ruled over Magnus Hilda with passion. Zenobia and Schaf told Zero that they had troubles securing the trade agreement and alliance treaty because Queen Rosalind was a very careful person.

Hence, this time, Zero would be travelling to Magnus Hilda with Bob, Dorgon, Thomas, Zenobia and Schaf. The Crafting Suit was too heavy and bulky so no ordinary beast mount could carry it. It also consumed too much electricity to operate so Zero had no choice but to trouble Bob to act as the carrier seeing as Pegasus couldn't get the metal wagon to budge.

Ignoring the unusual entourage of a dragon acting as their mount, the group successfully departed from Rocket Mountain. Bob tried to travel quickly but after Thomas and Schaf threw up a few times from extreme motion sickness, Zero was forced to admit. The disadvantages of not having mana were getting from bad to worse. Normally, a spell to cure motion illness would easily take care of such things. Now, he could only hope that his traditional consumable pills would take effect soon. Bob slowed to a walk and constantly looked back to check on his master and the other travellers.

With Zenobia around, Truen felt slightly more reassured. The chieftess was rather experienced in camping in the open without the need for magic. Zero thought it was nice to camp in the open instead of sleeping in the lamp. It was also a nice change to scavenge for food and make a hot meal instead of retrieving 'preserved' meals from his inventory. While they spent most of the time hitting the road and camping, Zero took the opportunity to discuss some matters in the village that were weighing on his mind.

One of the matters Zero was worried about was the new influx of people coming into the village. New Moon Village was an ally but they had more villagers than Half Moon Village ever did. Not to mention, Jermine was going to bring back the people from her hometown to join the new village at the foot of Endow Hill. The manpower shortage might be resolved for now but Zero was afraid that they didn't have enough resources to keep everyone warm, healthy and safe. In addition, they might have to host demons who had working visas to help with expanding the village.

"How would you resolve conflicts between people who are strangers?" he asked.

Dorgon and Schaf were still looking rather ill in the back of the carriage but they perked their ears in curiosity at Zenobia's answer to Zero's question. For such a situation, there was hardly a right or wrong answer and it was always interesting to know what other people thought.

The chieftess didn't answer immediately. In fact, she had a similar concern about having so many different kinds of people suddenly joining them. While Half Moon Village never turned anyone in need away, it would be difficult to get along with so many people on short notice. Civilisations took years to build and the group of villagers in Half Moon Village spent many years together with each other to tolerate and get accustomed to each other's characters. She had to admit, being the Chieftess wasn't an easy task because ever so often, a small issue could lead to a huge fight and the villagers in Half Moon Village were certainly not easy characters. It wasn't like a children's fight because they were taking in deadly assassins, mixed-blood mythical monster descendants and even legendary magicians.

"I suppose it depends on the nature and cause of the conflict," she replied Zero at last. "However, rules and laws are important when we're talking about getting a large number of strangers to live together in the same place. The only right way to resolve a conflict in such cases would be to quote the law for fairness. In a regular conflict, understanding both party's perspectives and coming to a middle ground is easier but that's subjective. Somehow, there has to be concession or sacrifice in order for everyone to get along even between friends and family. Does that answer your question?"

Zero nodded. As expected of someone more experienced, Zenobia was really a good leader. Rules and law were things that existed but Zero never took the time to think why they were there or how it got there. In Half Moon Village, no conflict couldn't be resolved by sitting down and talking it out. However, Zero didn't know if the same could be done with the villagers of New Moon Village, the demons and Jermine's village.

Then, Zero turned to look at Dorgon and Schaf who craned their necks too far out to listen. "What are both your opinions about it? Assuming Half Moon Village is going to be a very busy and bustling place in the future for all sorts of people, how should conflicts be resolved?"

Schaf snorted and looked smug. "The one in power has the final say. I don't believe in a fair trial system anyway. It has always been the question of the fittest to survive."

Dorgon hummed. He agreed with Schaf but he also understood Zenobia's views. "What do you want to do, Zero? There really isn't a right or wrong answer. Personally, I go with what feels right at the moment."

"What if you're wrong?" Zero asked. His biggest fear was being overconfident and not listening to the people who mean well. Thanks to the memory fragments of his divine entities, Zero was able to understand more of their fears and regrets, especially Venn's. He didn't want to follow in Venn's wrongful leadership example.

Bob who was walking and pulling the carriage outside heard everything and smiled. His master was indeed growing up quickly.

"That's what friends are there for, master. You ask for second opinions and help. Friends pull you back from the edge when you lean too far out and slap you when you need it."

Dorgon laughed at Bob's reply and agreed. "Well said! I couldn't say it any better myself."

Just like this, they engaged in interesting debates and made their way slowly to Magnus Hilda.