World Keeper - Chapter 1267: Top Dog’s Protection
While Dana was dealing with the memetic threat to the Dead Script guild, Tsubaki was busy studying the effects of her newest contract, while also going around and bestowing these contracts on appropriate figures of leadership.
What she learned was both far beyond her expectations, and at the same time somewhat disappointing. For the former, she learned that the entirety of Deckan’s inhabited planets had been protected just with the one contract with Udona. Her authority was so powerful and wide-reaching that it encompassed every single inhabited planet in that universe, as they all ultimately answered to her.
As for what was disappointing, that came when she tried to make this same contract with the High Mother, who had a similar scope to her authority. However, upon closer inspection, the contract with the High Mother only protected the planets directly occupied by the Metong, as well as the few remnants of the March. As for the rest of the colonized worlds within the Network, they were unprotected by the contract.
In fact, because so many other planets had suddenly become off-limits to monsters, these other planets actually experienced more danger. This was because the High Mother’s authority was not as absolute as Udona’s. Because the various civilizations within their network had the right to self-govern, Tsubaki had to visit each individual planet and discuss with their local leader.
The worst part about it came with planets who did not have a single leader as the highest figure of power. For instance, if there was a council, or a group of independent nations, Tsubaki had to go through considerably more work. It got to the point that she began splitting off more and more avatars of herself to cover more ground.
In the case of multiple nations, Tsubaki had to identify the nations which held the greatest power in that planet, and gather all of their leaders in one place to make them agree to this contract. These nations were often not allied, and would have their own agendas, sometimes asking Tsubaki for discrete favors against their neighbors. Naturally, Tsubaki refused these, and made it clear that this contract was entirely for their own safety.
If the native nations could not come to an agreement about signing the contract, Tsubaki assured them that she would move on and leave them to their own devices. At the same time, she emphasized the dangers being faced, monsters so powerful that they could annihilate a planet before the residents even realized anything had happened.
Sure enough, most countries capitulated when she mentioned this. It helped that she did not give them much time to think, as there were far too many planets that she had to visit. She couldn’t afford to waste time on petty, uncivilized squabbles. As far as she was concerned, those who did not understand the necessity of this contract did not deserve its protection.
Thankfully, the Metong universe was the most difficult to deal with. There were far less planets that needed to be visited in any other universe. This was both because their authority was more centralized, as well as the fact that there were far less inhabited planets.
In total, it took her three days to finish handing out the contracts to the allied universes. All that was left was Hal Tua, where she was unsure how they would accept it.
However, Tsubaki did have a way to make it more easily accepted within Hal Tua, utilizing Lena’s current position as master of the Administrator’s Tower…
“Finally!” Lena called out with a groan, slapping a hand over her face. She had finally finished setting up avatars that could reliably automate the normal tower’s functions, allowing her to return to Olympus.
Just as she thought that, and was turning to leave, she froze. A request from Tsubaki appeared in the back of her mind, causing her to let out a loud groan and turn around again. “Why did I have to say anything…”
The Master of Travel blinked as he saw a new alert published by the Administrator’s Tower. “A special new item has been added to the guild shop?” He muttered, opening the shop to take a look.
Contract of Protective Authority |
A special contract created by the Master of Contracts. This contract is intended for the leader of any interested guild, and its contents may be reviewed before signing. In summary: By signing this contract, a protective aura will be generated around the signatory’s territory, however large that may be. The strength of this aura is determined by the level of the signatory’s authority, and is designed to deter high-level monster attacks. If authority is shared jointly between multiple parties, it is necessary to have all relevant parties sign. |
Price: Free |
The Master of Travel’s eyes widened in surprise as he read the description. Naturally, he was aware of the protection offered by the Master of Beasts, and even the foreign Master of Plants. He himself had eagerly accepted both forms of protection, not wanting to take any undue risks.
However, this contract seemed to be on another level, and offered protection against all forms of powerful monsters. Without hesitation, the Master of Travel purchased this contract and immediately inspected it to review the exact details.
He was delighted to find that there didn’t seem to be any loopholes in the contract. It was impossible to say if the energy structure of the contract hid any secrets, since this was not his area of expertise. However, this was something presented by the Master of Contracts. If it was found that their contracts were deliberately misleading, that would immediately prevent anyone else from being willing to sign their contracts in the future.
That said, the Master of Travel had never heard of there being a Master of Contracts. Most likely, this was someone affiliated with the new administration, since the information about this contract was released directly from the tower.
Still, there was nothing more that the Master of Travel could do, except for agreeing to sign the contract. However… his authority within his own territory was actually not that extensive. Because he wanted to enjoy a life of abundance, he allowed others to manage the territory in his place, while he served as a master behind the scenes.
Clearing his throat, he held the contract in his hands, quickly making his way towards the council of officers. Surely, they would appreciate a more robust method of protection.
The appearance of the contract sent an uproar through the various guilds, especially those that had yet to agree to the previous protective measures. To many people, the biggest selling point of this contract was not the fact that it was effective against all types of high-level monsters. Instead, the greatest selling point was the fact that it did not require them to disable their territory’s privacy field.
This simple fact alone already made it more appealing than any other protective method that had appeared to date. If anything, its robust effect was just icing on the cake.
Of course, there were still several guilds that refused even this. These guilds seemed to form some sort of strict anti-Administration alliance, refusing to accept any form of assistance that originated from the new Administrator.
Their disdain of the Administrator was plain to see, and several other guilds watched from the sidelines, eager to see if the Administrator would tolerate such treatment. It should be known that in the past, anyone that directly rebelled against the Administrator was thrown into the furnace beneath the tower, their souls suffering for countless years.
However, no such punishment befell these guilds, as if the Administrator didn’t have the time to care about them. This caused a mixed reaction from other guild masters, some of whom became hesitant for various reasons.
There were those who, naturally, believed that the Administrator didn’t care about the opinions of a few guilds. If they took any meaningful action against others, perhaps the Administrator would rise up to stop them. They had even heard that the Administrator rarely got directly involved in the affairs of his own land.
On the other hand, there were those who saw this lack of response as a sign of weakness. Rather than thinking that he chose not to respond, they believed that he lacked the power to enforce his will in the same way as the previous Administrator. Perhaps he had never managed to win the enforcers of the tower over to his side?
These all seemed to be normal reactions among the residents of Hal Tua, where the idea of true unity was a dream held only by those without the power to take what they wanted for themselves. However, one thing was certainly true. Among those who did sign the contracts, they faced an immediate decrease in the number of monster attacks that they had to face.
Back in Olympus, Lyrica was controlling her ki to manifest numerous hands, allowing her to perform her daily chores within the tower. Despite being hailed as one of the strongest fighters to ever be seen, she hummed happily to herself while wearing her maid uniform.
“Lyrica.” Tsubaki’s voice spoke up, causing Lyrica’s canine ears to perk up. Immediately, she set down what she was doing and turned to face Tsubaki, who was standing at the other end of the hall with an inquisitive gaze.
“Yes, Alpha?” Lyrica asked with a curious tilt of her head, causing Tsubaki’s brow to twitch. She had tried to get Lyrica to address her normally, but Lyrica insisted that this was a part of her culture. Tsubaki had thoroughly bested her, and she had shown submission to the kitsune. Thus, Tsubaki had become the Alpha in Lyrica’s eyes. She would relent to calling her ‘Miss Tsubaki’ in front of others, but in private, she could only address her as Alpha.
If she had known that would happen ahead of time, maybe she should have had her Keeper be the one to face Lyrica? No, that would have been too dangerous, as the Keeper couldn’t use the educational streams like she could.
With a sigh, Tsubaki shook her head. “I noticed that you hadn’t used the new contract yet.” Tsubaki spoke up. “Are you not planning to use it to protect your territory?”
Lyrica’s grin broadened, and she chuckled. “You don’t gotta think of it that way. Actually, I don’t even have the authority to use the contract in the first place.”
Tsubaki blinked in surprise. “What do you mean, don’t you have the highest level of authority among your people?”
Lyrica simply snickered, shaking her head. “Not anymore! Now that I’m livin’ here, I made sure everyone back home knew who the new Alpha was. Yeah, you might not be in the guild, but far as anyone back home’s concerned, your word’s law. My own authority doesn’t really mean jack anymore, aside from some local businesses.”
Seeing Lyrica shrug like that, Tsubaki looked confused. “Shouldn’t you still have the second highest authority, even if there is a higher figure?”
“Nope! Not how it works with my lot, Alpha!” Lyrica announced, patting a paw against her chest. “We’ve got a different sorta system set up. See, uhm… how do I explain this? Ah! You got your neighborhood packs, with an Alpha that protects a small population. Then, you got your city packs, where the Alpha is equivalent to what most people’ve got as a mayor. They protect a single city, and command the Alphas of the neighborhood packs.”
“Next, you’ve got your county packs, and then planet packs, each with their own level of Alpha. Then, the last two are the universe pack, and the ‘guild’ pack. Each of the universes under my guild have their own main Alpha, and previously, I was the guild Alpha.”
“Now that I’ve submitted to you, and that position passed on to you, I don’t actually have a shred of authority left!” Lyrica announced in a proud tone. “I could throw my claws around to get people to do what I wanted, but that’d be breakin’ the rules, and they’d be able to take up any grievances with you to have me punished accordin’ to our race’s law.”
“Basically, if you’re not the top dog of a pack, you don’t have a leg to stand on. The only way to change that is to challenge an Alpha and take their place, or go somewhere to start your own pack. ‘Course, if an Alpha’s caught abusin’ their people, then whatever Alpha is directly above them in rank has to go punish them.”
Tsubaki’s brow twitched as she realized the essence of the problem. “In other words, for your people to be protected by this contract, I would have to sign it myself? Also, since I have submitted to my Keeper, why is he not the primary Alpha?”
Lyrica shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, you could make him the top dog if you wanted, but I’d really suggest not doin’ that if I were you.”
Seeing Tsubaki’s confused expression, Lyrica explained. “All Alphas are subject to challenges, and must face those challenges themselves. If an Alpha sends someone else to fight for them, it’s the equivalent of handing over their authority to that person. Meanin’ that for the boss to be the Alpha, you’d need to be willin’ for him to face the Alpha of every universe under my guild in death battles. Figured that’s not the kinda thing you’d be keen on happenin’, right?”
Reluctantly, Tsubaki had to agree that Lyrica had a point. Additionally, she did appreciate Lyrica going out of her way to present Tsubaki as the leader in this case, rather than defaulting to Tsubaki’s own superior. “In that case, I have to ask… why have I not received any challenges?”
Lyrica snickered lightly. “Because I made it clear to them how strong you are. You could have killed me even while you were holdin’ back your biggest moves. Nobody will willingly challenge you unless they’re confident that they could do the same. Not to mention how you literally ripped out the throat of a renowned Master before your ascension in front of everyone. However, if you handed the title over to the boss without any battle records to back it up, the challenges would start pourin’ in.”
