Chapter 214: You listened to me for ten minutes just to ask if I was done?

Chapter 214: Chapter 214: You listened to me for ten minutes just to ask if I was done?

Swanly stared at her.

"That phrase could mean salvation."

Thalara said nothing.

"Or apocalypse."

Still nothing.

Swanly stood there for several breaths after Thalara finished speaking.

Hundreds of creatures.

Different races.

Different monsters.

All moving toward one place.

Ironwood.

And that sentence.

When the Heart opens, the old world returns.

Nobody knew whether that was supposed to sound hopeful.

Swanly certainly did not.

She turned around without saying a word.

Kael watched her walk away.

Soren’s silver eyes followed her.

Raku opened his mouth.

Kael lifted one hand.

"Don’t."

Raku looked at him.

Kael shook his head.

"She has that face."

"What face?"

"The one before she starts arguing with her magic."

Raku considered that.

Then wisely remained where he was.

Swanly marched across Ironwood until she reached a quieter patch behind the storage shelters.

Then she stopped.

Put both hands on her hips.

And hissed:

"System."

Nothing.

Her fox ear twitched.

"System."

Still nothing.

Her eye narrowed.

"Come out before I start insulting you."

Golden light flashed instantly.

The tiny fairy appeared.

"That is an unhealthy communication style."

Swanly pointed at it.

"You know what?"

The System blinked.

"No."

"I am done."

Another blink.

"With what?"

"Everything."

"That seems broad."

"I am not doing season two."

The System slowly lowered the tiny piece of dried fruit it had been chewing.

"What?"

Swanly started pacing.

"I am not doing this again."

"Doing what?"

"This!"

She flung both hands outward.

"Whatever this is!"

The System floated silently.

Swanly kept walking.

Back.

Forth.

Back.

Forth.

"We already have infected."

The System nodded.

"They are still spreading."

Nod.

"We still have Rot nests."

Nod.

"We have creatures pretending to be beastmen."

Nod.

"We have ancient flying people camping outside my home because they apparently refuse to leave."

Nod.

"We have something sleeping underneath Ironwood."

The System nodded slightly slower.

"And now I find out that hundreds of other creatures are marching toward us because something under my feet decided to announce itself to the entire world?!"

Nod.

Swanly stopped.

"Stop nodding."

The System froze.

Swanly resumed pacing.

"I don’t care whether the old world returning is good."

She pointed one way.

"Bad."

Pointed the other.

"Wonderful."

Another direction.

"Beautiful."

Then straight down.

"Terrible."

She threw both arms up.

"I don’t want it!"

The System opened its mouth.

"No."

It closed its mouth.

"I don’t want to know what ancient civilization is coming back. I don’t want to meet anybody’s long-lost ancestor. I don’t want another hidden race. I don’t want another creature crawling out of somewhere it should have stayed buried."

The System’s wings fluttered.

Swanly was gaining speed now.

"I have five children!"

The System nodded before remembering.

It stopped itself midway.

Swanly saw.

"Good."

She continued.

"Three panther boys who apparently believe surviving danger means they should search for more."

Somewhere far away, Miko sneezed.

"And two daughters who learned venom before they learned proper sentences."

The System raised one finger.

"Technically—"

"Do not technically me."

Finger lowered.

"I have a settlement."

Swanly pointed toward Ironwood.

"People finally have food. Children are playing. Nobody is starving. We have crops. We have walls. We have storage."

Her voice climbed.

"We just made butter!"

The System blinked.

Swanly pointed harder.

"Butter!"

"I heard you."

"We reached butter!"

"I understand."

"Do you?"

"No."

Swanly grabbed her own hair.

"We finally reached the stage of civilization where I can sit down and spread butter on something, and now you’re telling me the ancient world is returning?!"

The System floated quietly.

"That feels personal."

"It is not personally targeting your butter."

"You don’t know that."

"...Fair."

Swanly continued.

For five minutes.

Then seven.

Then possibly ten.

The System stopped attempting to speak entirely.

It simply floated there.

Hands folded.

Watching her.

At some point Swanly started walking in circles.

"So what happens next? Everyone comes here? Then what? Do we build another wall? A bigger wall? Ten walls? Do I start putting warning signs around Ironwood saying, ’Hello, ancient creatures, please go somewhere else?’"

The System tilted its head.

"That probably would not—"

"Rhetorical question."

"Oh."

Swanly kept going.

"What if they attack each other outside the settlement?"

Silence.

"What if they fight over the Heart?"

Silence.

"What if they break the boundary?"

Silence.

"What if the thing underneath wakes up before any of them even arrive?"

The System’s expression changed for a fraction of a second.

Swanly did not notice.

"And nobody knows whether this old world returning means salvation or complete disaster!"

She threw her hands up again.

"I don’t care!"

The System blinked.

"I don’t want salvation!"

Another blink.

"I want quiet!"

Swanly jabbed one finger toward the settlement.

"I want my sons to stop losing teeth."

Another finger.

"I want my daughters to stop biting people."

Another.

"I want Soren and Kael to go three consecutive days without turning something into a male competition."

Another.

"I want Nerin to stop apologizing every time he breathes near me."

The System’s mouth twitched.

"And I want Azren to stop appearing upside down in trees!"

It finally burst out:

"That one may be beyond system authority."

Swanly stared.

The fairy immediately straightened.

"Continue."

She narrowed her eyes.

Then continued.

"I am not going into another apocalypse!"

The System waited.

"I already died in one!"

Silence.

"I am not dying in a second one because some ancient idiot buried a Heart under my house!"

The System nodded.

Swanly’s eye twitched.

It stopped.

Finally she ran out of breath.

She stood there.

Chest rising.

Fox tail puffed.

Hair slightly messy from pacing.

The System stared at her.

Swanly stared back.

Several seconds passed.

Then the tiny fairy asked:

"Are you done?"

Silence.

Swanly slowly bent down.

The System’s eyes widened.

Her hand closed around a stick.

"User."

"I’m going to kill you."

"That seems excessive."

"You listened to me for ten minutes just to ask if I was done?"

"I needed confirmation."

Swanly raised the stick.

The System shot backward.

"WAIT!"

"Give me one reason."

"I HAVE INFORMATION."

The stick remained raised.

The fairy swallowed.

"Useful information."

Swanly narrowed her eyes.

"Talk."

The System cautiously floated closer.

"First."

It cleared its throat.

"There is a very high possibility that the phrase you heard is not good."

Swanly’s face flattened.

"How not good?"

"Bad."

She stared.

The System shifted.

"Very bad."

Nothing.

"Bad bad."

Swanly’s grip tightened around the stick.

The fairy hurriedly added:

"Potentially bad bad bad."

The stick flew.

"AAAAH!"

The System vanished.

The stick passed through golden dust and struck a storage post.

"YOU CAME BACK FROM AN UPGRADE TO TELL ME BAD BAD BAD?!"

The fairy reappeared above her head.

"THAT WAS NOT THE IMPORTANT PART!"

"THEN START WITH THE IMPORTANT PART!"

"I TRIED!"

"You asked if I was done!"

"YOU WERE TALKING!"

"YOU COULD HAVE INTERRUPTED!"

"You threaten me when I interrupt!"

Swanly paused.

That was true.

She pointed anyway.

"Not relevant."

The System muttered something.

"What?"

"Nothing."

It straightened its tiny body.

"The upgrade gave me access to new defensive functions."

Swanly’s anger stopped.

Completely.

"What defensive functions?"

The fairy brightened.

Now it had her.

"Settlement reinforcement."

A translucent golden panel appeared.

"Improved boundary monitoring."

Another.

"Detection structures."

Another.

"Defensive traps."

Another.

"Reinforced gates."

Another.

"Early-warning systems for underground movement."

Swanly’s eyes widened.

The System smiled smugly.

"And more."

Her stick slowly lowered.

"You can help me build these?"

"With sufficient points, materials and labor."

"Of course there’s a catch."

"There is always a catch."

Swanly ignored that.

She stepped toward the floating panels.

"Could we protect the entire settlement?"

"Better than now."

"Could we detect things before they reach the wall?"

"Some things."

"Underground?"

"Depending on depth."

"Above us?"

"Depending on range."

Swanly looked toward Ironwood.

The shelters.

The walls.

The fires.

Her family.

Her people.

Something inside her settled.

Fine.

If the world wanted to become worse, then Ironwood would become harder to kill.

"Okay."

The System blinked.

"Okay?"

"We build."

Its tiny wings lifted.

"We strengthen everything."

Swanly looked back.

"Every weak wall."

The System nodded.

"Every entrance."

Nod.

"Every drainage path."

Nod.

"Anything that can warn us before something reaches the children."

The fairy smiled.

"Now you are thinking like a proper settlement leader."

Swanly raised the stick again.

"Do not ruin the moment."

The System immediately backed away.

Swanly looked at the floating plans.

"Show me what we need first."

The System did not move.

Swanly waited.

Its expression had changed again.

The excitement disappeared.

Its wings slowed.

Swanly’s stomach tightened.

"What?"

The System looked down.

Not at the panels.

At the ground.

At Ironwood.

At whatever slept beneath it.

"Before we start building..."

Swanly went still.

The System hesitated.

Then said quietly:

"That sleeping creature underneath Ironwood..."

Swanly’s fingers tightened.

The fairy looked up at her.

"...might as well just be the little problem."