Chapter 36: Stress
In Ariel’s room at the inn,
Sam:
“So, why did you want me to stay?”
Ariel:
“... hold me.”
Sam:
*pulls her into an embrace* “Like this?”
Ariel:
“Thanks. I… I’m getting a lot more stressed out than I expected. I tried examining my abilities and traits, and couldn’t find anything to explain it. I just need extra care and comfort to help me relax and calm down. It’d probably be better if my main body could be with you like this, but she needs to do the work in the field. We clones can’t create all the things that need to be made.”
Sam:
“Maybe it’s not something from this world? You said your soul was originally human from another world.”
Ariel:
“I… I guess that would make sense. Maybe I was wrong about having total control over myself. Perhaps there are still traits from my past that I’m stuck with. Perhaps the reason I’d thought my anxiety was gone was simply because I had nothing to worry about.”
Sam:
“Is there something to worry about now that you didn’t need to worry about before?”
Ariel:
“It’s the responsibility. This project I’ve been given by Fenix… I have no idea what she actually wants from me. I also have no idea how she’ll respond to it. I do know that whatever I do is likely to have a big impact on people.”
Sam:
“You’re afraid?”
Ariel:
“Yeah, of Fenix, of myself. I wasn’t afraid of Fen Ger. He seemed easy to understand, and simple, and helping you and your friends didn’t seem too complex. Fenix doesn’t make any sense at all to me, and this project is huge.
“It’s not just that I don’t know how to do things, but that I don’t even know what I want to do. I just said something random, without thinking about it. I never thought I’d be told to make it so.”
Sam:
“What sort of things are you concerned about?”
Ariel:
“Well, for starters, I expect a lot of people to want to sign up. I need to figure out how to handle all the people, and make sure they have places to sleep, rest, train, and practice. Not to mention food concerns… and that’s just the start.
“In the long term, I need to think about what happens with the field, and other infrastructure I build for this. Whatever I setup here could have a huge influence on the future of this sport and any other sports that might start. Not to mention that I really don’t want to get saddled with managing this all long term.
“If I have to leave behind an army of clones to take care of things, I’d consider that a failure to build things properly. Whatever I leave behind, I want it to be something that doesn’t need me to sustain it. I’ll have to teach people and devise solutions to problems that normal humans can use.”
Sam:
“Maybe it’d be more relaxing to lie down with me instead of standing here? The bed is really comfortable.”
Ariel:
“Yeah, just… don’t stop holding me. I need enough comfort to destress all the me’s running around.”
Not long later while relaxing in bed…
Ariel:
“Oh no, there’s already people waiting at the field I’m getting setup. They heard about the hero selection from Fenix’s church.”
At the field:
Ariel:
“Is this the entire Fenix Order?”
Man:
“Of course! It’s the dream of everyone in the Fenix Order to become a hero!”
---
An innkeeper’s troubles:
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. It’s stressful enough to know I’ve got such an important lady staying in my humble inn, but on top of that other wealthy merchants and nobles started demanding rooms too! My whole inn is full of people I dare not offend now, hoping to see the daughter of Dina.
It wasn’t too bad at first, but lately she seems to spend a lot of time in her room with her boyfriend, coming down only to eat meals, and sometimes not even then. That on its own isn’t a problem, but all the guests seemed to get bolder and have started listening in on whatever two of them are doing in there. There’s always a crowd of people by the door to her room, as well as people in the rooms next to it.
Perverts the lot of them… I wish I could spare the time and attention to listen too…
Really though, the worst part, is that all this stress is giving me problems in bed. At the end of the day, I’m too tired and stressed to make love to my wife, and it’s clearly making things hard for her too... especially after we both have to spend all day listening to guests having sex and masturbating, and smelling it whenever we go past those rooms.
