CH724

“Hello there, hope you’ve all enjoyed the food,” He said brightly as he made his way to the group of five, taking a seat on the ground with them before they could answer, with one speaking up after he’d joined them.

“It was delicious, thank you. I didn’t think adventurers would eat so well.”

“Only when they’re with me, it’s the benefit of bringing along a guy who can cook,” He laughed, trying to create a good atmosphere to get them to open up a bit and largely failing, with each person he was with mostly wanting to keep to themself and leading him to switch his approach to something a bit more direct. “Now, as you’re all aware, I’ve been asked to evaluate you guys so I hope you don’t mind me asking you all a couple questions. I just want to get a sense for how you feel about things.”

“Go ahead,” The same one answered as the others nodded, all willing to give him some time since they’d been instructed to be cooperative, making things a bit easier for him on that one front.

“Cool, in that case, let’s start with the obvious. Do you regret agreeing to let Vividus alter you?”

“No.”

“I don’t.”

“No.”

“No.”

“Uh-uh”

“Okay, would you reverse the process if you could?”

“No.”

“Me neither.”

“…I don’t think so.”

“No.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Have any of you suffered any psychological effects that you think might stem from having your body changed?”

“I haven’t.”

“Nor I.”

“I don’t think so.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“No.”

He continued asking more questions, trying to probe them deeper for what answers they would give and on the surface, they kept insisting that things were fine, that they’d wanted the results they’d gotten and that anything would be worth it if it meant they’d be able to kill whatever demons they found, but that was only on the surface. Their minds told a different story, a subconscious reaction they thought was safe in their heads if not for the mind reader secretly at their sides.

From that perspective, each question gave different answers. Discomfort from seeing how they’d been changed and a general feel in their bodies they couldn’t escape, with the alterations not unpleasant but alien in a way that required far more time to adapt to than they had gotten before being sent out.

As for the questions of if they regretted it or if they’d undo it, what that brought was waves of complicated emotions as they struggled to manage what they’d thought they’d wanted with what they’d received and whether it was worth it in the end. The deeper he looked the more he was sure the answer was a firm no but in the surface levels of their thoughts they were doing their best to justify it, convincing themselves that they’d made the correct choice instead of alienating them from the very images they had of who they were, with those themes being consistent as he went from group to group.

Sure, there were a few who were strangely fine with it no matter how he’d probed, even one that reveled in it, but by and large he would describe what he was seeing as a negative in the majority of their lives that too many were trying to convince themselves was actually fine now that it was done. They’d made their choice and for whatever positives and negatives it held, they’d have to live with it.

Okay, my main takeaway is that if Vividus wants to do this on a bigger scale in the future then she needs to do a mass psychological evaluation on all of her potential subjects. I think I’ll recommend she get Funa’s assistance for that. I don’t know if Vividus would listen but it would let her get someone who is actually somewhat more specialized in dealing with mind issues and who also has enough basic morality that she’d stop her from doing anything too unethical.

Once he was done he found Thera and took a seat beside her, laying down on the ground to try and organize his thoughts. He didn’t like what he’d seen in any of the ones he’d spoken to and they’d clearly been taken advantage of when they were vulnerable but who was to say it hadn’t been worth it in the long run? No matter what they were going through as a result of it, Vividus had objectively improved their survival odds. Each chimera was immediately more equipped to withstand whatever would be thrown at them, couldn’t that justify it in the end?

“God, I don’t know,” He muttered as he covered his eyes, taking what small time to relax he had until it was time to deal with the next group of demons, with Thera feeling largely the same.

“Yeah, this is a bit less exciting than I thought it would be.”

“Ha, the wonders of a first-ranked quest. You ready to retire? We could enjoy our next few months of life without needing to worry about being dragged by someone else’s whims.”

“Pass. One day they’ll call us for something a bit more exciting and a bit less… Well, whatever this is. I just know it.”

“Ha, then I guess we’ll see.”

Not like I actually get to just sit back and do nothing for months, adventurer or not.

Too much to do, trying to fit what most would consider a lifetime of work in the months they had left, all to reach his various goals. He could quit the guild then and there but that wouldn’t reduce his workload by a drop in the end, all it would do was change how he used some of his time.

It was as he was thinking that some others approached the two of them, with the four girls within the one full party coming over.

“Hello, thank you again for the food earlier,” The half-elf Galda said with a small bow. “We don’t usually get to eat so well but it was delicious.”

“Ah, no problem, glad to know you guys enjoyed it. If things end up stretching long enough that we stop for a second meal then I can cook again if everyone wants me to.”

With ‘if’ being the main question. Even if there had been a hiccup in the last fight, the chimera group had still gone above and beyond expectations, ending things fast enough that what should have been a multi-day expedition could very well end sometime into the evening if the rest went smooth enough, even if those four still seemed to appreciate the offer.

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“If we get the chance we’d enjoy that,” She smiled. “But we were actually hoping we might get the chance to take your partner for a bit to chat. If you’d be willing of course, Miss Thera, given the sheer number of magics you hold, Twee and Azeezol were hoping to get some advice and myself and Buwth both have an interest in the topic as well if you don’t mind letting us pick your brain.”

“Hmm? I don’t mind but you’re honestly going to want to be asking Ben for advice more than me. He gained access to the full magic library and I can say with certainty he would know more about both water magic and corpse song than I do no matter what levels I have.”