Decision

"Hey!" Jacob waved as Tau and the cart came into view, "We've got survivors here!"

There were only three of them, all men. They were wrapped up in several layers of tarp which had been roughly cut from the covering of the merchant wagons. Most of the other farmers were sorting through the boxes and bags of goods in the carts while just a few stood guard at regular intervals at both sides of the road.

As Tau and the cart got closer, the farmers started shouting and waving to one another and soon gathered by the first wagon to greet them. Lined up before her, Tau could see that their number had been reduced by about half. Although, that wasn't saying too much, considering a sizable chunk managed to escape by cart and were currently helping out with other tasks at the village.

To her surprise, the farmers all bowed to her.

"Thank you for fighting for us," They said in unison.

Before Tau could say anything in response, the farmers dispersed, most returning to their prior duties and a few now working on turning the cart and loading the survivors and some goods onto it. Awkwardly, she mumbled, "your welcome," under her breath before joining Jacob in examining the survivors.

"These guys were pretty lucky," Jacob explained to Tau as he helped arrange sheets on the cart for the placement of the three survivors, "Most of the bodies were actually on the other side of the road, all torn to pieces and rotten. These guys just got off with a little sweat and nausea."

That said, the three of them weren't looking all too well either. They were all halfway conscious and shivering uncontrollably. Their skin was cool and dry, and their breathing was quick and short as if they were running out of breath.

"Dehydration," Jacob said, seeing Tau looking at the survivors.

"Pretty severe too. That's what happens when you stay near a water-type for too long. Better than being torn to pieces and rotting away though. We at least have a chance to save them," Jacob concluded hopefully.

Just then, a shout came from one of the farmers who was sorting through the supplies. Several bottles were passed around, and one made its way up to Jacob, who uncorked it, took a whiff, and started feeding it to each of the shivering survivors in turn.

"Is that medicine?" Tau asked.

"In a way," Jacob grinned, offering her the bottle. Tau took a whiff; it was a little fruity, but mainly had an aroma that she could only describe as dry. Jacob gestured for her to take a drink. Cautious, Tau took a sip, only to immediately gag and spit it out. The taste was a weird combination of bitter and sour and sweet that just made it repugnant.

"Yeah, I don't have much of a taste for wine either," Jacob admitted, laughing as he took back the bottle and corked it before passing it back to the other farmers, who seemed to be enjoying themselves with the other bottles.

With the cart turned and loaded, the cart driver handed the reins to Jacob and got off the cart, much to Jacob's confusion.

"Your mother's worried sick about you," the man explained, "Just hurry and bring these survivors back to Father Dawson. The rest of us can take care of things here."

"But..."

"Don't waste time. Their lives could depend on it!"

The man slapped the horse on the side, and it shot forward.

"Hey! Guards shouldn't drink too much!" Jacob shouted back towards the farmers, nodding in thanks towards the cart driver.

Tau stayed sitting in the back of the cart. The mention of Mrs. Bently made her determined to see her promise through to its end. With her conversation with Father Dawson still fresh in her mind, she decided she would personally make sure Jacob safely makes it back to the village.

{But then what…? Nowhere is guaranteed to be safe. Not even the village...}

Then she remembered Father Dawson's parting words.

"Hey, Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"What is the legend of King Solomon?"

"Ah, that. It's one of those childhood stories that everybody listened to growing up. Actually, it's more of a collection of stories, all taken from various points in King Solomon's life as he builds and expands his kingdom. Honestly, I don't even remember most of it."

"Do you remember anything from it about a curse relating to demons?"

"A curse…? I don't know about that, but the stories of King Solomon and the Demon Kings were some of my favorites."

Tau waited expectantly.

"Well, these stories are all from before King Solomon becomes a king. At first, he was just a prince from a tiny kingdom. Although things weren't bad, the small size of his kingdom meant that they were always short on certain resources and an easy target for manipulation by their much larger neighbors. Anyways, there are a total of four Kings. First, Solomon meets Oriens, the King of Spirits, in a dream. For the next month, they argue about various things like what is happiness, the responsibilities of a ruler, individual free will, and other boring things. At the end of the month, Solomon shares with Oriens his dream of a prosperous kingdom which he refined over this month of discussion. He recognizes Oriens as a being of great wisdom and asks for its support in creating this kingdom. The King of Spirit then challenges Solomon to find and earn the support of its three siblings, after which it will naturally share its wisdom with him and support him in building his kingdom."

"This Demon King Oriens doesn't sound anything like the demons we had to fight."

"Yeah, all the Demon Kings are very intelligent and powerful in their own way. They really can't be compared to the animal-like monsters that exist just to kill people."

"So, what happens next?"

"Well, I don't remember the order, but Solomon eventually finds and meets the other three demon kings. The journey just to find them was a challenge in itself, but each king makes an additional request of Solomon before lending him their support. Amaymon, The King of Earth, asked Solomon to let it experience the sensation of flying through the air like a bird. Paimon, the King of Waters, asked Solomon to let it experience stillness and rest like a stone. Lastly, Egyn, the King of Sky, asked Solomon to show it what was at the bottom of the sea and below the surface of the earth."

"The second part of that last one doesn't sound particularly hard."

"Yeah, that wasn't the best way to describe it... It's more like far below the surface of the earth, or something. Just digging a small hole was the first thing Solomon tried and it wasn't enough to count as fulfilling that request."

"And what's with the King of Waters request? Experience stillness and rest like a stone? What does that even mean?"

"Well, I guess since water is always moving, it just wanted to experience something different?"

"So, how does Solomon fulfill these requests?"

"For the King of Earth, Solomon first asks it to transfer part of its consciousness into a stone and then throws the stone into the air. But Amaymon was not satisfied with that, as unlike the birds, he had no way of controlling where he would go."

"Hmm… yeah, I guess it couldn't be that simple."

"So next, Solomon visits one of the neighboring kingdoms and enlists their help to build a flying machine, convincing them it would be extremely beneficial for their military and using it as a means to establish closer ties between their kingdoms. His second attempt involved scaling up a festival lantern enough to hold a person."

"A festival lantern?"

"Ah, like a paper lantern with a wireframe and a fire at the base. We usually have some at the winter festival. Something about having a fire lets it float."

"Interesting… but that doesn't sound very bird-like."

"Yeah, and Solomon knew it wouldn't be enough, so they also built a glider which could ride the wind and steer through the air like how a boat steers itself when on the water."

"Kind of like my sword?"

"Kind of, but not really. It can't go up on its own, so while you can steer, it's more like a controlled fall than controlled flight."

"I see, so that's what the lanterns are for."

"Yeah, Solomon used them to bring the glider into the air. With the rock which held the King of Earth's consciousness with him, Solomon would steer the glider as the king demanded, allowing the king to experience flight. And so the King of Earth was satisfied."

"But wow, being able to build such machines is pretty unbelievable. I would think that testing and refining them would take quite a while. Especially if it was all being designed from scratch."

"It's just a story. In general, King Solomon does some unbelievable things."

"I guess I can accept that..."

"Anyway, for the King of Waters, Solomon first tried placing a bowl of water within a wooden box in the hopes that it would be able to be still. The King of Waters was not satisfied and explained that even if the water appeared still in the bowl, it was in actuality still moving, swirling within itself with every tiny vibration or change in temperature. King Solomon then recalled his journey to find all the Demon Kings and remembered the white stones atop mountains from which the waters flow. So, Solomon decided to reach those peaks in the hopes that the stillness the King of Waters desired could be found in the white rocks that were there. To do so, Solomon recruited a team of adventurers with which he would attempt to reach the peak of the mountains. After a long struggle during which several of his team members lose their lives to the environment, he eventually reaches the top and the bowl of water he brought with him becomes a block of white rock, and the King of Waters deemed its request fulfilled."

"That's an oddly convenient way for its request to be fulfilled: just travel there and you're done?"

"Apparently, it's supposed to be a property of water to turn into white rocks when it becomes cold enough, not that I've ever seen it."

"Still oddly convenient if you ask me."

"Well, moving on, in order to fulfill the request of the King of Sky to see the bottom of the sea and deep within the earth, Solomon had to find a way for air to reach both of these places. Of course, he first tried digging a small hole and damming a small stream to show the riverbed, but the King of Sky did not consider such results to be acceptable."

"Of course that wouldn't be enough. You would think he learned that after dealing with the requests of the other Kings."

"Well… I mean, I'm telling the story as it relates to the different kings, but if we're going through the story in order, there is a period where he tries to fulfill the requests on his own, but he eventually asks for help from others as he discovers he is unable to fulfill them on his own."

"Hmm… I guess that makes sense. The lesson for him is something like how he has to rely on others or something?"

"Something like that, I guess. Anyway, this story was the most boring out of the four, so I don't really remember most of the details. Long story short, Solomon had artisans make a hollow glass bead, which he then dropped into the ocean, allowing the King of Sky who placed a part of his consciousness within the air within the bead to see the bottom of the ocean. To show it the depths of the earth, Solomon created a massive quarry which dug a hole deep into the earth, until the King of Sky was satisfied."

"Huh… I thought he would have done something more creative with that last one, instead of just digging a bigger hole."

"That's one of the reasons that story isn't my favorite. I have been summarizing all of it, but talking to artisans and digging a big hole is nowhere near as exciting as climbing a mountain or flying. But yeah, after Solomon fulfilled the requests of all the other Kings, Oriens returns and blesses Solomon with its wisdom, and with the blessings of the other Kings as well, Solomon gained the power to reshape the entire world as he so desired, and he used that power to unite all the kingdoms in the world under his rule."

Jacob paused, suddenly remembering something.

"Come to think of it, there was something of a curse at the end of the story, or rather, it was more of a promise or warning. After uniting the world with the blessings of the Kings, Solomon dreaded the idea that his death would mean for his kingdom since the Demon Kings had specifically blessed him, and not his people. In response, the Kings of Earth, Waters, and Sky guaranteed that as long as the people respected and worshiped them, they would continue to extend their blessings to the kingdom. The King of Spirit said that he always did and always will extend his blessings to those who could receive it. After the other Kings left, Oriens gave Solomon a word of advice: 'Spirit has no power without form, but the form has no meaning without spirit. Should the spirit of your kingdom lose its vigor, its form will surely deteriorate as well. Take care to make sure your people remember that, always.'"

Jacob gave Tau a moment of silence for that phrase to sink in.

"I guess at some point, they forgot. And so we were left with the world we have today," Jacob sighed.

Tau was going to ask about the meaning of the phrase when a sudden chill streaked down her back.

{Sharp...}

"I see you have been through quite a mess," Kant remarked in Tau's head.

Tau looked around, Kant's physical form was nowhere to be seen. All Tau could feel with her domain was a line of Kant's domain, connecting with hers from somewhere outside her perception.

"Have you reached a decision?"

"Huh…?"

"Are we staying for a while longer, or should we leave for you to begin your studies?"

"Well..."

With everything going on, Tau had forgotten to consider this choice that she was given. Seeing her hesitation, Kant continued.

"Let me rephrase the question. Are you enjoying yourself? Do you think this world is interesting?"

Tau thought about the time she spent here. Although it hasn't been very long, Mrs. Bentley, Jacob, Father Dawson, and Rebecca had already started to feel like family. And, with the recent demon encounter and its aftermath, she couldn't help but worry about their future.

{Neu, what do you think?}

[There are questions that I want to have answers for. And the only way I can think of getting them is to continue exploring this world.]

{Yeah, I agree.}

Tau smiled, satisfied with their conclusion.

"Kant, I would like to stay awhile longer."

"Very well."