[Null POV] Year 5, Day 206 (1 day until race)
People headed out toward the training area. Dragons launching, formations organizing, controlled chaos beginning.
Null and Lucifer stayed with the cooking. The daemon meat pie needed hours of attention. Couldn’t be rushed.
Lucifer adjusted the fire, checked temperature. “Boss got everyone here he could without disrupting sanctuary operations. Actual race tomorrow starts with thousands of riders. Here we have fifty. Void and 22 volunteered to help – more bodies makes it more realistic.”
Null processed that. Master volunteered? Master usually didn’t volunteer for things.
Interesting.
She glanced toward the training area. Found Master Void quickly. Mounted on his wyvern, flying formation with others, maintaining position.
Looking… confident? Decisive?
That was strange. Master usually looked uncertain. Hesitant. Constantly second-guessing himself.
But up there? Different. Commanding the wyvern with clear authority. No hesitation. Just decisive.
Hard to believe it was the same elf who apologized constantly and couldn’t make decisions without checking with her first.
Lucifer noticed her staring. “He’s good at it. Natural skill showing.”
“He looks different,” Null said. “More decisive. Confident. Almost like different person.”
Lucifer smiled slightly. “Dragon riding does that sometimes. Dragons don’t accept weak riders – need authority, clear commands, confident leadership. Forces you to be decisive.”
He continued while checking the pie. “High society and nobility learn dragon riding specifically for that reason. Self-control exercise. Training in command and authority. There’s a saying – command a dragon, command anything.”
Null watched Master fly another pattern. Commanding. Clear. Confident.
Maybe this was who he used to be before slavery. Before two hundred years of being broken. Before learning to survive through never asserting himself.
Maybe the dragon was bringing it back. Making him remember.
She felt something. Hope. That this version would stay. That confident Master would keep being confident.
Confident Master was happy Master. And happy Master was everything.
“What are they practicing exactly?” Null asked.
Lucifer glanced over toward the training area. “The start. Only place Kira has any real shot tomorrow. Opening’s so messy even terrible riders can get lucky if they’re aggressive enough. Or that’s the plan anyway.”
Null wanted to understand more. “What happens at the start?”
Lucifer settled into explanation while adjusting the fire. “Start is basically massive mess. Starting order for all the riders – thousands of them – gets drawn by lottery. Random. Then at end of the stadium there’s a section literally named the Jaws. Flight path over the stadium is wide, but the exit narrows hard. Not everyone can fit through together.”
He checked the meat layers. “So from start until Jaws, it’s more fighting than proper racing. Everyone trying to get better position for the exit. Weapons allowed, killing allowed, everything goes. Kira needs to hope she gets drawn in the order before her sister. Then she can mess with her. And since her sister is crazy anyway, maybe Raja joins some stupid fight where Kira can get her out of the race.”
“If her sister gets canceled or forced out, doesn’t matter if Kira finishes last. But if both of them get out of the stadium…” He shrugged. “Unless her sister self-destructs somehow, Kira won’t win. She’s just baggage on top of a highly motivated dragon. But that doesn’t change the fact the dragon has to work alone. No real partnership.”
Null thought about that. “So we just hope Kira gets better draw in starting order, then gets her sister out during the fighting?”
Lucifer nodded. “More or less, yes.” He looked toward where the training was happening. “Oh, I see Kira’s trying ranged weapons now. Makes sense – if she ends up behind her sister, can just throw everything she has at Raja. Hope sister commits to some stupid fight she shouldn’t.”
He added after moment, “It’s definitely going to be entertainment to watch.”
Null didn’t really know what to think about all this. Too many variables. Too much luck required. Too much chaos.
Then Lucifer remembered something. Expression shifting. More serious. “Oh, and if she loses… let’s hope she doesn’t have some mental breakdown during name removal or something. That kind of thing can make everything so much worse for both her and Void.”
Null felt alarm. “Worse for Void? Master’s not riding tomorrow.”
Lucifer pointed at Null’s dress.
Null felt confused. Lucifer’s mind didn’t give hints either – like what he’d just indicated was completely obvious.
“I don’t understand,” Null said.
Lucifer asked, “Kira uses proxy powers, yes? She looks like someone who’s used to giving commands.”
Null nodded. “She runs most of the household. The maids back home. Does all the business. Even has name among local community for her hard-hand business practices. The Tigress.”
“For example,” he continued, “you need to ask permission to speak when Master is present, correct?”
Null nodded again.
Lucifer went into more detail. “See, this is example of how masters control their servants. Everything here runs on traditions and laws. Traditions especially. In many cases, traditions older than the Republic itself are way more important than current laws. How power actually works.”
He paused. “Republic is meritocracy – you win, you succeed, you get power and freedom. But it amplifies traditions to extreme. Kira is servant. This dress you both wear shows it clearly. By law she probably has not much more rights than a slave.”
Null could feel something in Lucifer’s head – that the slavery comparison was exactly correct legally. But he was making a point.
“However, Void’s been kind master. Given Kira lot of power – proxy authority, allowed her to keep family name that clearly only causes issues. She can do more or less everything as long as she doesn’t lose or fail. That’s the Republic way. As long as you win and are successful, doesn’t really matter who you are or what is your status.”
His tone got heavier. “But if you fail or fall? Your status becomes much more relevant. You have much deeper hole to fall into.”
He gave example. “Let’s say Kira loses tomorrow, gets name removal – but keeps nice face during it. Thanks the ceremony publicly. Says the weight of her past is now removed, so she can put all effort into being better servant for her master.”
Pause. “Nothing really happens. If anything she earns more respect. Dedication. Ability to keep solid mind under extreme pressure. People approve of that.”
“But.” His voice went serious. “If she has mental breakdown during name removal? Fights with someone? Tries to escalate or escape? Anything that doesn’t look controlled and dignified?”
Weight building. “This gets done in the stadium. In front of hundreds of thousands of people. Organizers want a show – they’ll make sure everyone sees how it resolves. Void would need to punish her publicly. If he doesn’t?”
Lucifer met her eyes. “He more or less destroys himself as worthless master who can’t control his own servant. And Kira might still get punished worse anyway. Someone from her old family could step in. Call for execution as useless failure. And they might actually do it. Legally. Properly. With full Republic approval.”
Null felt actual horror. How wrong could this go tomorrow? She hadn’t understood the full scope. The ways it could spiral. The public nature. The consequences for Master if Kira couldn’t hold herself together.
She needed to make sure Kira understood. Needed to make sure Master was prepared. Needed to ensure—
Lucifer noticed. Saw her making decision. “I know you want to help. But Kira’s probably already under extreme pressure from every direction. You going to threaten her not to disrespect Master? Will probably only make things worse. Increases chance of mental failure.”
Null stopped. Thought about that.
He was right. Kira was under extreme pressure already. And Null wasn’t even sure what to say exactly. What to do. Seed commands wouldn’t help against mental instability – if anything could make things worse if more weight came crushing down. Plus they’d be in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Someone might notice that Kira is brainwashed. Too many unknowns.
She decided. Would let it run however it went. Wouldn’t interfere before. Could punish later if needed. Could handle aftermath. But trying to control this beforehand? More risk than benefit.
For Master’s sake, sometimes doing nothing was better than doing wrong thing.
By evening, the dragons started returning. Training ending. Everyone gathering back at the cottages.
The daemon meat pie was ready. Lucifer served portions to everyone. People settled in, eating, talking about the day.
Null tasted it. Quite awesome actually. Definitely among her favorites. They’d had lot of time during the day and most of it had been spent talking about food. Lucifer clearly avoiding more problematic topics like tomorrow’s race. Null had tried many interesting things, ended up with lot of recipes to try later.
22 looked like she’d had a nice day too. Mostly orbited around X – quite literally, flying on wyverns high in the sky. For a moment Null actually felt strong pulse of happiness from 22 through the seed network. Quite rare given how controlled 22’s mind was. Blank twenty-four seven usually. Bit curious what got her so excited.
Kira had failed a lot from what Null observed. But all the practice today seemed to have given her some confidence about tomorrow at least. Less panic visible. More acceptance maybe.
Then Null saw X, 22, and Void approaching together. They were talking – in elvish. Null couldn’t understand directly but could use Void’s translation through the bond. Seemed to be about riding today. X suggesting Void continue training. Had clear skill but seemed rusty.
When they reached the group, X looked at Lucifer and Null. “Oh, Scholar Daemon made new friend?” He pointed between them.
Lucifer made some kind of evil smile. “DON’T. I’m not that anymore. I have a name now. Proud and proper one – Lucifer.”
X looked shocked. “What? How?”
Lucifer pointed at Null.
X still seemed hard to believe. “You accepted? Everyone here tried naming you for centuries and nothing. You rejected every offer with some silly excuse.”
“Those weren’t silly excuses,” Lucifer said. Null felt him almost hurt by that comment. “I don’t need some pity name.”
X saw the conversation going wrong direction. Changed course quickly. “Well, congratulations Lucifer. About your new name. I’ll use it from now on.”
Then his expression shifted. Calculating. “So you two are like best friends now? Have you agreed how to keep communication? Null lives far in Borderlands and you’re quite busy here, Lucifer…”
Null didn’t know what to answer. This was topic both had avoided during the day. They needed to get back to Borderwatch soon. The courtesans’ contracts were waiting. She’d informed Canary and Flower through the seed that they had contracts signed. They were happy waiting. But she’d also heard that Courtesans 1-3 had packed and bought tickets back. Needed to return with contracts so everyone could sign or more issues would follow.
X saw the confusion. Offered suggestion. “Letters perhaps? I always find those handy. Me and 22 used those for centuries.”
Both Null and Lucifer agreed. Not bad idea.
X saw his opening and continued. “Cool. But perhaps not best idea to use regular Guild messaging. Who knows what secrets you two share.”
He thought briefly. “So… 22 can play mailboy. Or in her case, mailgirl.” He grinned. “Keeps it nice and secure. Plus there’s some nice places of scientific interest around here. Would definitely benefit 22 to increase her knowledge, be more useful servant to Void.”
Pause. Building justification. “Oh, I heard she’s helping prepare some hot springs. Union has entire warehouse full of papers and plans for various ley line related research. Who knows what she might find useful there to make those hot springs better.”
Null nodded immediately. Looked like win-win.
Through the network, Spy’s voice came. Amused. «You know you’re getting manipulated, right? X just wants more time with 22. Finding nice reason to get her here more often.»
Null shrugged it off internally. 22 didn’t seem to mind.
X turned attention to Void, who looked bit more controlled now. “And perhaps you can do small favor for a guy here. 22 promised to check some of the alchemy—”
X couldn’t finish. Void cut him off, talking to 22 directly. “Sure. Just make sure you get Null’s hot springs done or we’ll hear no end of it.”
22 promised again. “It will be done as soon as possible.”
Null watched everyone. They’d all “reasoned out” that X just wanted excuse to spend time with 22. Made this elaborate plan around mailing and research access. But she totally approved – worked for her. Got to keep friendship with Lucifer. Got 22 help for hot springs. Master was happy.
Master looked happy though. She decided to make him bit more happy.
She had this nice picture Lucifer made today. Master had no pictures of her. In this world they were kind of rare – there were some magic tools and painting but they’d never made anything. Looked like nice gift.
She pulled the magical plate from her Item Box. Handed it to Void.
Void went totally wordless. Just staring at the picture. Frozen.
The painting showed Null in the river washing. Lucifer had used some artistic freedom with it. The other picture he’d made was more literally her washing clothing, but this one was more… her in the river, water around her, morning light.
Through the bond, Null felt Spy comment. «In your old world, Host, this picture probably would have gotten age-rated.»
Both X and 22 moved closer to look. What picture had Void gotten that froze him like this? 22 made some funny face when she saw. X clearly having hard time keeping laughter in.
Finally Void managed words. “How? Where? Who?”
He couldn’t understand where this picture came from. Looking around like maybe it was done somewhere nearby.
Null explained simply. “Made at river not far from here. This morning. By Lucifer.”
Void went into some crazy thinking spiral. Null read it all clearly.
Null was basically exhibitionist – shame didn’t exist in her dictionary. Well, her body was kind of “fake” anyway as X had proven. So daemon following to watch her washing wouldn’t be that strange. As long as he didn’t try anything, Null probably wouldn’t react. But still – a picture? Couldn’t get the logic behind it.
Null felt bit of happiness. Master knew her well. She didn’t really like walking around naked. But everyone clearly made too much fuss over the whole dressing thing. However, she really liked her maid dress. It gave purpose.
If there was something she really hated, it was males watching her with happy thoughts about having fun. That looked wrong. Only Master could watch and have happy thoughts like that! Well, Master was too shy to look anyway.
She had a list actually. Biggest offenders back in Borderwatch. In Republic generally, nobody really counted few lost adventurers if no evidence was left behind.
X decided to finish this. Grabbed Void and started walking off. 22 followed. He was laughing while saying he’d sort this out. “Lucifer is harmless like a kitten.”
Null felt about ten minutes later through the bond – Master had calmed down. X seemed effective when needed.
Null and Lucifer went back to the kitchen area. The daemon meat pie needed serving. Dinner for everyone who’d spent the day training.
They worked together efficiently. Lucifer cutting portions, Null plating and serving. Everyone gathered. Eating. Talking about the day’s practice. Discussing tomorrow’s race.
Master returned with X and 22. Settled at the table. Still looked happy. Confident even. The dragon riding had done something good for him.
Null served his portion carefully. Made sure everything was perfect.
This was good. Master happy. Friend made. Training completed. Tomorrow would be complicated. But tonight? Tonight was peaceful.
She stood beside Master’s chair while everyone ate. Watching. Observing. Ready if needed.
Just another evening. Just another service. Just another moment of doing what mattered most.
Taking care of Master.
