D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

[I have… very mixed feelings about Nixilei’s past. I mean… I get why she’s so willing to defend it. Things worked out well for her and it has been basically only positives… but she had a chance to go her own way and by the sounds of it she didn’t even consider leaving and making a name for herself. Plus… part of me wonders if they were even her real parents? How hard would it be to fake something like that…]

*I dunno Lilly. As someone who grew up in an orphanage I know I’d do anything for Gramps. He took care of not just me, but also a tonne of other kids. He made sure we could all eat well, we went to school, warm blankets, and a roof over our heads. He also made sure to vet the parents who adopted out kids rather well. He’d always meet them personally and wasn’t above telling them they weren’t allowed to take kids. 

Most of the adoptions came through Gramps’ network of contacts that he built up over time. Always looking for couples that would love and care for kids. I’d happily work at the orphanage for the rest of my life if I thought Gramps needed the assistance. Heck I sort of did work there for years. And when I finally got adopted, I received this wonderful kimono from his wife. I wear it literally all the time. I think Nixilei made the right choice. 

They didn’t just raise her. They educated her, fed her, protected her. They gave her a chance to seize the best life possible… and then let her walk away. I think I’d be disgusted with her if she did return to her parents regardless of what they were like once she met up with them. They aren’t real parents, just biological ones. It’s why I have such difficulty working out how to treat Vivian. She isn’t really a mother to me, but she at least tries, especially for Sylvie. It’s hard because of my age. Still, I’m getting off topic now. My point is, I think Nixilei made the right choice. Family over biology.*

Kat could feel Lily’s unease through the bond so Kat added a bit on. *Well think about your parents. Would they ever give you up for a years with of bills?*

[NO! Of course not! Even… even if I haven’t been the biggest fan of them in recent times, especially since they never liked you… they would NEVER sell me for something like that. Especially not when education was already on the table. Damn. I guess I see your point but I still don’t really like it. I wish this world wasn’t stuck in the feudal era but it’s probably going to stay that way.]

*Why? Isn’t this like a fantasy trope? I just assumed we ended up in this world during the feudal era. Even though I know from little bits here and there that it’s lasted quite a while surely it’ll end eventually?*

[Maybe? I suspect it’s more complicated than that. See, the issue is with personal power. In the past, it was based on your strength of arms, and catching more food because it let you expand your family. After that it was about making the most money to increase the size of your family, and eventually your family became a country.] 

[That was the height of the feudal era, kings and queens and lords aplenty. They had a lot of power over other people. They controlled a lot of the important things and could essentially do as they wished because they had the political power to do so. Here though… people have the magical, or martial power to do as they wish. I imagine that noble families are stronger on average and tend to marry power people, making their kids stronger on average.]

[Over years and years, a bonus like that adds up. Along with the fact that at least some of them are smart enough to train up others with potential and have them work for their ’house’ to further increase that power. What things like the enlightenment and the technology age did was even out that power curve. Here though… where knowledge isn’t the only kind of power… it’s a lot harder to move past the feudal age. Especially if there are monsters or something like that. You need powerful people to keep everyone safe, and not everyone can be strong enough to truly stand up for themselves.]

*Well… I guess that makes sense… though now I feel bad for ignoring Nixilei. Shall we get back to that? I’d be happy to listen to you talk about why fantasy like settings are stuck the feudal world another time.* 

[Woops. Sorry. You’re right we should get back to that.]

”Sorry about spacing out on you, we were just having an internal discussion about a few things. Didn’t mean to ignore you, the bond is still kind of new,” said Kat.

”That’s fine, though if you don’t mind my asking… what were you speaking about?” asked Nixilei, curious.

Kat felt a sense of approval coming from Lily, so she nodded and said, ”A couple of things. The first was weather or not she approved off how things turned out with the orphanage-like place you grew up in as well as mentioning there was a chance the people you were asked to watch weren’t actually your parents…

”I counted talking about my own experience growing up in an orphanage,” Nixilei’s eyes shot open wide and Kat nodded, ”yes I grew up in an orphanage as well. The old man who ran the place went by Gramps’ and looked after everyone quite well. I was the rare exception and didn’t ever get adopted out even though I was one of the youngest brought to the orphanage and the oldest after I’d been there for over a decade. Still, I agree with how you did things. I know if Gramps asked me for a favour I’d help without hesitation.”

Nixilei swallowed heavily. ”Yes… yes well… it’s nice to know someone who understands. Even Kress doesn’t really. Gareth and Green certainly can’t… and even some other kids I grew up with don’t really understand. Not the way I do. To answer your friends question though, I didn’t necessarily believe they were my parents either… but I do look a great deal like my mother. Furthermore they gave me the contract they signed handing over my care and it was certainly her signature.

”I know this because I checked a bunch of the contracts she had signed as part of my investigation. Furthermore, we were encouraged to talk to the other kids about there parents. Most… weren’t great but a couple were in much better places, some even had new brothers and sisters the family was able to raise because of the money there were given. A small number even went back to their parents… with mixed results. I won’t talk about those stories they aren’t really mine to share… but suffice to say, I have a hefty amount of evidence to believe they are my real parents. I do wonder where I got my healing affinity from. And my intelligence… and a few other things,”

Kat nodded satisfied with the answer, while Lily was still mulling it over. ”Well, other than that, we were also talking about how you all still operate on the feudal system of lords and ladies. We’ve advanced past that somewhat… though it came with a whole host of other problems. Lily pointed out the big difference is that Nobles here are quite a bit more powerful than your average citizen, unlike back at home.”

Kat wanted to mention the fact there was no magic, but that would just raise a huge number of questions like, why was Kat a demon, why was Lily a cat and potentially others. So Kat implied more that the power difference was nothing major instead of explaining there was no real power difference, just who had the most money.

”I suppose that would help…” said Nixilei thoughtfully, ”but I can also imagine how it could cause problems. How do you do things? Is it one single ruler for everyone? Or perhaps a council of some kind? I doubt you all rule yourselves?”

*Oh God. How do I explain our mess of a political system to someone from another world? I don’t even know how to explain it properly to the orphanage kids! It makes such little sense sometimes… Lily ideas?*

Lily started to relay her explanation through Kat, ”We essentially draw up lines around certain areas and then have people vote for a temporary lord. We do this at a town level, a state level, and a country level,”

”Well… I suppose that makes sense. If the Lord is only temporary though how do you manage long term projects?” asked Nixilei.

[Ha ha. That’s the kicker Nixilei. We don’t. We also like to blame all the problems on the previous guy and leave another batch for the one after. Not sure we should tell her that though…]

*Lily are you sure the feudal system is worse?*

[Honestly Kat… the more I think about it… the less sure I am.. I wonder how demonic taxes work? They have amazing Healthcare.]