LENIN

  When I arrived at the Village of Facia, I expected the usual welcome back, Lenin. It's so good to have you back!

  But instead. . . All I got was everyone's eyes on me.

  Now, what did I deserve to get all of this attention suddenly? I love it, but the spotlight can't always be on me every second of the day, can it?

  "Explain what you said again to us?" Felix asked as all of their eyes continued to latch onto me.

  "Zac and I tried to go to the markets, but it turned out that they were in ruins," I explained to them as they listened intently. We found someone, and they turned out to be a bandit, and we got led into a trap in their camps."

  "Wait, trapped? What do you mean by trapped?" Felix continued to question me. "It's tough to believe that someone like you could be trapped."

  Seriously, what was up with these questions, huh?

  I could see Kassie from the back with that gentle smile worn on her face, but I knew damn well that behind those eyes, my wife found this whole situation amusing to her.

  I will have my revenge.

  I chuckled lightly, raising my hand in the air. "Alright, you got me. I thought there was something else going on in those camps."

  "Did you find anything?" Rickston asked.

  I slowly nodded, "This guy, named Pam. He's an absolute genius; he'd be a pretty useful guy to have around."

  "So what are you going to do with the hundreds of people that are currently here? We have no space for them." Felix rubbed his temple.

  "Let me handle that." I declared, "Trust me, it'll be fine."

  Felix reluctantly nodded, waving his hand, "This meeting is dismissed."

  Felix was the first to leave the room, while Kassie and Rickston approached me.

  "What's up with him?"

  Rickston shrugged, "You know him, being the leader and all. He's been getting a lot more stressed with both of you gone. He has more on his plate."

  "I see."

  It was understandable. Operating this village was no easy job, and it was something that I would never want in my life.

  "But seriously, what will you do with all of these people? The Village can't hold that many people."

  It was a good question, but thankfully for him, I had an excellent answer to that as I wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

  "Think about it, my dear old friend; you know how I told you that the market was destroyed."

  He nodded, "Yes. . . Where are you leading with this."

  "Why don't we make a new market?"

  He raised his eyebrow, "A new market?"

  "Did you not hear me the first time?"

  "I did!" he chuckled. But you realise the logistics of creating a new market, correct? It's complicated. . ."

  I knew that would be the case, but I also knew I needed him to do this.

  "Are you saying that the best architect that Juvo has can't even do something like this?"

  Now, there was a fire in his eyes, a glint of determination that spread throughout his face.

  It was exactly what I needed to see.

  "I'm sold." He declared.

  I punched him playfully on the shoulder, "Now that's the spirit!"

  "I will never understand how that's a good argument for doing something." Kassie smiled, shaking her head.

  I pointed at her, "How dare you belittle my argument!"

  She smiled instinctively, trying to bite my finger as I pulled it away.

  "Not this time." I wiggled my finger at her as she rolled her eyes.

  Kassie linked her arm with mine, "Rickston is right, though; where are you planning to do this."

  "I was thinking the middle of all the villages."

  "The middle?" Rickston raised his eyebrow again, "You know. . . That's not the worst idea ever."

  "Why thank you?" I joked with him. It would be suitable for commercial gain. After all, most of the people who were at the camps worked at the markets anyway.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Kassie poked my cheek, "Not a bad idea, but still, you need permission from Felix, and I'm assuming you'll have to meet with the other leaders."

  I nodded; I knew that would be the most challenging part.

  I would have to have all of them agree to my proposal for a local market that we could share collectively.

  "Alright then." Rickston added, "I'll start making the blueprints for a new market while you do what you must do."

  "Right."

  Rickston smiled as he patted me on the shoulder. " I almost forgot to say, it's good to have you back, " he said as he left.

  Success!

  At least someone said it was good to have me back.

  "You were waiting for someone to do that, wasn't you." Kassie nudged me on the rib.

  "How did you know?" I chuckled as she shoved me away.

  "Hilarious Lenin." Kassie pouted, "I should probably go now; I wouldn't want Rachel to be babysitting two babies."

  I nodded, giving her a quick bump to her waist, "Enjoy!"

  She chuckled as she left the room.

  It was always good to see her again, but there were more important tasks to deal with now.

  Surprisingly, it didn't take me long to find Felix because who would've thought he was at the science lab again?

  I cleared my throat, grabbing his attention.

  "Oh Lenin, about what ha-"

  "Don't mention it." I waved my hand in dismissal, "You're stressed out; it happened to the best of us."

  He chuckled lightly, "Stress is the understatement of the century."

  I returned the chuckle and touched his shoulder, "Then I might be adding to that stress."

  He sighed, "Like you don't do that enough."

  I smirked, patting him on the shoulder, "I'll give you that one for free."

  "Alright then, hit me with your suggestion."

  I went on to tell him exactly what I had said to both Kassie and Rickston.

  He occasionally asked questions about my market idea, and it seemed he was considering it.

  Felix's listening was more than I could ever ask for.

  It would have been understandable if he had rejected my offer; besides, he had a lot on his plate.

  "So all the villages will be included in your plan?"

  I nodded once more, "It benefits all of us." I declared, "We can advance quickly as a village if we do this."

  Felix stroked his chin as he nodded, "You think you can pull this off?"

  I smirked, nodding, "Oh, I know I can."

  "Then do what you have to." He smiled, "I wish I could help, but thanks to you, I have to focus on managing the people who just arrived."

  I chuckled nervously as I scratched my head, "As I said if we manage to pull this off, we'll the skies the limit."

  "Alright then, let's get to work."

  ———

  There was one thing that I had been meaning to do.

  While everyone focused on keeping the village strong, I had my little task. I had been trying to find someone for the last minute or so.

  It didn't take me long to find him, as he was writing on the walls.

  I watched closely because I didn't want to interrupt his work, which was also interesting.

  But I didn't need to talk to him for him to realise that I had been watching him.

  He placed his equipment down as he looked over me.

  "Lenin."

  "Pam."

  We both exchanged looks at one another.

  "Could we have a chat?"

  Pam nodded as we crept so no one could hear our conversation.

  I broke the twigs with my hands, playing with them as I prepared for our little fun conversation.

  "So, how are you feeling about the Village of Facia?"

  "It's interesting; it seems like a growing community here."

  I smiled at his comment.

  A community is all I ever wanted to hear people say about this place I lived in.

  "I'm impressed."

  "Impressed about what?"

  He looked at me, "How you managed to slaughter hundreds of those bandits without sweat."

  I chuckled at his remark as I looked up at the clear blue sky.

  "Well, your gamble worked, didn't it?"

  Pam looked confused as he tilted his head slightly, "What gamble."

  I waved my hand in dismissal, "Don't play dumb with me; you strong-armed me there."

  "How so?" He continued to feign ignorance.

  I suppose I would indulge in this little game of his.

  "You gave me an option, a revolution, or to kill them on my own. You knew I didn't want to kill them, but if I didn't, they would slaughter everyone and vice versa."

  He applauded me, "Smart and strong, huh? That's what makes you dangerous."

  I chuckled lightly, "Then you know not to put me in a predicament like that ever again."

  Pam smiled lightly, "That will be my first and last time doing that; I just wanted to see your potential. But even so, it feels like I haven't seen anything."

  "Because you haven't."

  "A pity." He muttered, "But my talents and skills belong to you, a token of my appreciation for freeing them from those bandits, so what would you like to know?"

  I went on to tell him about my market idea, and I was curious to hear his thoughts.

  "Your idea is good, of course. There will be few who would disagree, but they are not at the level yet to incite hatred amongst the collective."

  I listened intently to his words. While everything did sound good, I knew there would be a problem.

  "Economic-wise, it's an excellent choice. However, publicity-wise, not a great one in the slightest." He paused momentarily, "I know you're a part of the nobility, but I'm unsure which part you're in. But one thing is certain: if you go on this path, you will only expose yourself more."

  Pam was saying the same thing the dungeon's core was discussing.

  The more I pushed for the Village of Facia to become more modern, the more the Kingdom of Juvo began to notice what was happening in the outskirts.

  "How many more years do I have left?"

  Pam thought about it, calculating whatever variables were going through his head.

  "You have eight years left at this place, twelve if luck goes your way."

  "What if it's bad?"

  "Then you'll only have two years to spend here."

  The years he gave me weren't very hopeful, but if I played my cards right, we could be here for twelve years, and that was already a decent amount of time.

  "Thanks, I needed that advice." I stood up from the ground as he did the same.

  "Don't you have places to go, you know?"

  Pam shook his head, "Where you go is where I go. I am your adviser, after all, no?"

  He made a point there, but I was still surprised at how quickly this dynamic between us happened.

  With all of this information, I wanted to ask him one quick question.

  "I know you're my advisor because I helped you out, but what's your reason, seriously."

  Pam looked me straight in the eyes as he declared, "I want to be on the winning side of history for once."

  "The winning side? How do you know that I'm on the winning side?"

  He shrugged, "Something tells me that you are, and knowing you, you're not going to tell me otherwise, are you."

  I chuckled as I began pointing to myself proudly, "You're damn right about that!" I patted him on the back, "But seriously, as your first task as my advisor, just spend some time examining the place."

  He nodded, "If you wish."

  As he left.

  The crazy genius, huh?

  I had to do a couple more things before I could call it a day.

  There was one more person I needed to see, and quickly enough, he was only a couple of meters away.

  I made my way to see both Louis and Zac talking to one another.

  "Mind if I'm still your boss here."

  "Boss?" Louis smiled. "Uh, yeah, sure." He stepped aside and began minding his own business.

  He was far enough to avoid overhearing this conversation we would share.

  "Seems like a good guy you have around you." I chuckled lightly, nudging him on the rib.

  Zac smiled, "He is; he's one of the reasons I was still sane at that camp."

  It was funny that we barely saw one another at the camp, but it seems like today would be the say we caught up with one another.