From Bookish To Goddess

The next morning, I decided to actually take a shower rather than just using magic to clean myself. I mean I would still cast a spell after because it was better at cleaning, but a warm long shower just feels so good and shower thinking was great.

That previous night’s research was pretty intense. I had to go through a lot of my old papers on what a moral society should do. I had complicated feelings about sending the traitor into dungeons till the end of time. On the other hand, I could shorten his stay by clearing it at some point. Maybe he could reform while in there? I wasn’t sure what to do about it, but he’d totally have to wait till anyone that remembers him is long gone. So I guess if he lasts that long, then I will free him if he has changed.

The trip to the council room was pretty uneventful. My people were smiling and nodding at me. I had gotten used to the attention. I started nodding back to them, which was a step up from when I just ignored everyone in the library. The anxiety I was used to feeling regularly started to subside.

The council was working on their plans but Lian was struggling to stay focused. “Hey Lian, please go home and get some rest. You went through a lot yesterday. Please take some time to process all that." I said to her, causing everyone to sort of look at me and her.

“I can keep working. I need to prove myself.” She said, trying to sound resolute with a determined face, but came off rather meek.

I had read a lot about parenting to make up for the things I never got a chance to experience. She needed to be there for them, that is what really mattered at the moment. Their father just went away forever. “That can be done by taking care of your kids. If your kids are suffering emotionally, then you are failing as a parent.” 

She blinked and shook her head, snapping her out of whatever funk she was in. “Yes, thank you Lady Astrid. I should be there for my kids.”

She left without another word. There was a lot she needed to come to terms with. Mistakes in relationships happen. Heck, I never even deal with relationships. Not that I was ever attracted to anyone. Even those princes and princesses in romance novels did nothing for me.

Once she was out of earshot, I said, “Add a job of talking to people to the list of things we need.”

“You mean therapists? Those are very expensive.” Firth said, looking a little worried at the budget page.

“Let's get the books and look into hiring a teacher and start a course. I would be interested in reading the books and taking a course.”

“If you're joining, we can probably get paid to do it. Once word of your greatness spreads around, people will come flocking here. The reputation one gains from being able to say you taught someone important is worth a lot. There aren’t many formal therapists in the kingdom, but we can put the word out that we are looking for one.” Mais said, adding to the conversation.

It was weird that I was being considered some sort of commodity. Then again, it’s just like Astrid’s Mushies. Thinking about my image was rough. Maybe Kobric could handle it. “Kobric, can you help me manage my public image? Since it isn’t a function of Astraville, you don’t have to.”

His eyes beamed with pride and excitement. He looked like he was about to jump with glee. “It would be the highest honor, Lady Astrid. Are you thinking of a full campaign? Do you want to do concerts in your honor? Giveaways, spy on those who say anything against you, town criers, music festivals? Oh, I know bookfest—”

“Please, hold on,” I said putting my hand up while he spoke and took a few deep breaths. He looked worried. My head started to whirl with all the suggestions he was making. I wasn’t sure what else he had in mind, but that was a lot. I liked the idea of bookfest though. “Bookfest sounds good, but come up with a formal plan after we focus on Astraville. It is more important.”

He seemed very excited and started scribbling down notes. I should make them all some custom notepads. That would be a great way to reward them. I am sure Mezzis would love one.

“Today is about getting our expansion built.”

“Yes, I have those plans ready. Would you like me to go over them?” Minnete said.

“Yes, please.”

She pulled out a set of designs and spread them across the table over everyone else’s work. “Here is the standard house plan. I got the Valwrecks’ consent to use their home's design.” She said pointing to a design of a house layout that looked exactly like the Valwrecks place.

“I like the setup, but does everyone need one? What about single people?” I asked, confused about the layout.

“That was brought up by Liz but I disagreed. If we make the houses big enough for a family, then when people get together one person can just move into their partner’s place and that frees up their old place for someone else or another family. We won’t have to deal with shortages. For a long time. Also, people can be roommates if they want. It really makes it so that whether a lot or a few people come we can accommodate them.”

I thought about it while looking over all the documents strewn across the table.

“That’s a fantastic idea. I see we have done the other design plans for law enforcement, jobs, mushy farms, and community spaces. What I don’t get is the railcar system. Why do we need that?”

“We discussed it and thought it would make travel from one district to the next easier with how massive our expansion is with all the people coming.”

I was puzzled at how a massive amount of people would come here. This place really isn’t that great with the upgrades. It doesn’t have any books or stuffed gear guards or a bearista. Things are bad in the kingdom but once enough leave the ones left over should be treated better because they need them to get the job done and they won’t be expendable. "Wait how many people are coming? I thought we were only getting a few thousand."

Minnete shook her head, laughing a little. “Haha, Oh no, people have it terrible over there. We are projecting around twenty thousand, but that will probably increase en masse after they realize how great it is here. The reason for it is—”

The words coming out of her mouth weren’t making sense. I couldn’t even hear her. HOW AM I GOING TO DEAL WITH THAT! I started taking deep breaths repeatedly. TWENTY THOUSAND!!!!!! I started feeling a wave of anxiety come over me, causing me to shake and wobble a little. Flooding thoughts of responsibility and problems caused me to feel dizzy and fuzzy, but one thing that came through clearly was;  WHEN WILL I GET TO READ!

Highthorn came over and put his hand on my shoulders. Guye brought me a chair to sit on, which I gladly accepted, by plopping my butt. I sat there and breathed in and out while tapping my fingers on my thighs. “How—How are we going to handle that? It’s just so, so much to deal with.”

“That’s why we have only been resting three hours a night. You have been working so hard we can’t do our best for our Lady of the library.” Lukias said, sounding proud.

They are all working way too hard. This is my thing, not theirs.

“That's not helping Lukias,” Guye said, chiding Lukais before using a calm voice. “Your zone of truth will make it easy to see who is safe.” Guye said.

“Also, we can use it to find the most suitable jobs for people,” Firth said

My mind was racing, fumbling, and bumbling around like a malformed golem. “This is my project, not yours. I assigned all of you all of this stuff to do. I didn’t even take your health into consideration. I can do more I—”

“No! This is all of our dreams coming true. Our prayers are being answered. So please don’t worry.” Guye said, voice going from stern to a lurch in his throat like a frog.

That had helped my breath to steady as I regained control. I sat there breathing for a few moments before I even considered speaking. “Okay, if you all are sure. You are my counsel. I trust you. Please go over the details a few times so we can look for issues.” I said, looking around and landing on Minnette.

While she was going over the finer details, I thought about using ominimancy but messing with the fabric of reality is dangerous. There was that time I nearly messed up the library after practicing spells from “WARNING ARCHMAGES ONLY A Guide to Omnimancy and its theories. NOT FOR NEOPHYTES”. Plus, it would also attract a lot of attention. If redesigning Astraville the last time attracted those calamity beasts, then omnimancy would surely attract a colossal calamity beast.

I would need to do it slowly, piece by piece. So like five days with the assistance of golems, though I had remembered it being a pain. Even if it didn’t work, though, ominimancy was an option, I would just have to remove whatever threat came. They need to get this done both for the otherkin and me. It was getting out of control, they couldn’t wait for safety and I couldn’t wait to read.

I would need to re-read all the leadership books I had and the kingdom management books I had. No time for new books, which saddened me. Being a leader is tough. No wonder most archmages let royalty handle it, even though they could take over. That was something that had perplexed me till now. It was really easy to pick on royalty, but try being one. Well, that didn’t excuse their bratty kids.

We spent another few hours going over the plans before we headed to the start location and went to begin construction. They had decided we could break it up into communal blocks with underground connected train ways.

One feature I liked was escape routes in case of emergency tied into a security system to prevent intruders. They had really thought of most things people needed. What was nice about the setup is we could go down a level if needed. If I got a hold of those dome plans, then I would make it so we could build up. Into the fresh air, I could even make grass for people to touch.

I made a plan that should only take four days to get done. I would need to work my way through golem crafting books again, but the summaries I had previously written should help. Once I got done, I would need to write down my process. I had a feeling it would be of great use out here.

“King Al’Don is having problems with his leadership, the nobles, and the corporations with passing the laws. He can pass them, but they won’t go into effect or really work without the others’ support.” Firth said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

This was troubling, but he was following through on his end. I decided it would be good to help him since it would help the otherkin. He had also been good to this place. It wasn’t his fault his daughter was in deep with the corporations. Which I needed to look into later. So much to do, but no time to read. I will just wait a few more days, I feel like I am losing my title of being a bookwormy book lover.

“Tell him I will come in five days when we are going to open up. Also, have Kobrick get some plans ready for the announcement and public display. I plan on using fireworks after building the entrance. Maybe letters are flying to everyone talking about Astraville. Also, have everyone finish off their plans to the best of their abilities. It’s okay if we have to change things later.” I said, spewing out a list of commands before I went off to do research on golem crafting.