Luna guided John to one of the backrooms between their two lodges. After opening the door, she demonstrably stepped away. A thankful nod and three steps later, John closed the door behind himself. He was left inside a chamber that only possessed two stone benches because Romulus had made them. The room’s existence was one of purposeless use of excess space.

Now it was a chamber where two of the world’s strongest men sat across from each other. “You overheard?” John asked and Romulus nodded. It had been expected. Nightingale wasn’t there to, like Luna did, further strengthen their obfuscation. In the back of the chamber, they probably were safe, since he expected Romulus to respect their privacy. The talk that they had right there at the edge, practically in view of each other, the Apex probably could not help but listen to.

“I believe I have some words of wisdom for you, if you are interested in hearing them?” Romulus asked.

“Can’t hurt,” the Gamer stated and leaned back.

The Apex looked at his folded hands. “…A man of hindsight, that is what Atlas called me… Remus also always insisted that I was too stuck in my ways… They both had and have a point. I was never good at making out the next great development… but I think people give me too little credit sometimes when it comes to being adaptable.” Romulus inhaled. “Do you know what the most prosperous states in the world were?”

John did. “Republics with a limited franchise.”

From the Greek city states to medieval Venice all the way to pre-modern USA, in history, republics with a focus on meritocracy had a track record for generating incredible amounts of wealth in a very short amount of time. “And do these nations last?”

The Gamer sighed and shook his head. “Not for long. As the Founding Fathers said, democracy works until the people realize they can vote themselves free stuff.”

“A critique you can expand to monarchy,” Romulus spoke, to John’s surprise. “I have seen many lords and ladies in my time that took from those few that earned much to give it to those who earned little. Long before then, in the days of the tribes that so few now remember, it was common that those that governed the tribe never hunted themselves. They were the warriors that protected the women and forced the hunters to give their game to those less capable. They were not the strongest tribes, but they were tribes and that alone made them stronger than those around them.”

“Who were the strongest tribes?” John wanted to know. He only now noticed that he was leaning forwards, elbows on his knees.

“Those with a legitimate ruler,” Romulus answered and chuckled at John’s raised eyebrow. “I’ve seen the concept be forgotten and rediscovered by young people like you many times. For all the erudition you possess, I believe this is a factor you only understand in rationale, not spirituality. I believe this is what a republic, for all of its benefits, ultimately robs from you.”

John wasn’t sure if he could confirm or deny that. ‘Let’s listen a little more first,’ he thought and gestured for Romulus to please continue.

“Legitimacy is… like an oversoul. It is no accident that the religions of the world, mundane and Abyssal, claim that it is derived from the gods. It is every bit as nebulous as the constructs of spiritual, not magical, faith that exist in the heads of every man, woman and child. Legitimacy cannot be defined by just governance alone, nor military might or prospering economy. It is the sum of the parts, too great to be described.”

Romulus waved off and shook his head. He gathered his thoughts for a moment, then let out a frustrated sigh.

“I am stating words whose meaning you know. I apologize for the disrespect of explaining concepts to you that you would already have explored.”

“It is good to hear them from another mouth sometimes,” John assured.

“Still… the tribes… the strong tribes, those only I can tell you about.” Romulus rubbed the back of his left hand with the thumb of the right. “There was no one specific way those tribes were organized. It always mattered the most that everyone did and knew their part. I have witnessed tribes with leaders that tried to wrangle a lazy populace into improving their lot in life, failing because they refused to use force. I have seen an army of lions get led by a donkey, getting everyone involved killed. For a great tribe, you need good people and a good leader… and good leaders are rarer to find.”

John’s heel bounced on the floor. He needed an answer. “So… what is the ideal form of government?”

“A monarchy,” Romulus answered directly. “This is the ultimate answer I have come to. One king, so all know who is in charge. A council, so that the king may know his weaknesses and spread his influence wide. Local representatives of the crown, so all know where to turn to, and then – a loose grip… However, this answer is because it is in response to another question. I assume you are familiar with Aristoteles and Plato?”

“I haven’t met them when they were alive,” John said, half-jokingly.

“Neither have I had that pleasure. They were mundane, as far as I know, and I only discovered their works after their demise.” Romulus rolled his shoulders. “Their work illustrated what I already knew. Plato’s Republic was a statement of futility, chasing the perfect system that can be eternalized. It is Aristotle and his wish for the people to be free to be good that must be listened to. We do not live in an eternal world.”

“And the question becomes not what is the ideal form of government, but what is the ideal form to react to a changing world?”

“It is on that question that I declared myself emperor,” Romulus answered. “I had my co-rulers and my powerful vassals. I oversaw, as figurehead, republics, oligarchies, monarchies, stratocracies, and all manner of states. All had their benefits, all had their downsides.” The dark eyes of the Apex fixated on John’s. “I am a man of hindsight,” he admitted once more, “but I have a long life to look back on. The republic is not a state that lasts, especially not in the Abyss. You can prove me wrong. I encourage you to do so. I have been wrong many times before… but I also have been right many times before. I foresee this system of yours working until your popularity comes into question. On that day, because you have given legitimacy to the representatives elected by your people, the parliament will decide that they own you. They will make Fusion theirs, because they perceive that their authority is more righteous than yours.”

“And at that point I only have two choices: declare that they serve me or obey their demands,” John finished the thought. He had to wonder how much Romulus knew about the current internal situation of Fusion and the early showings of this exact phenomenon.

“I have always found the idea of democracy a noble one,” Romulus continued. “I do not fault you for trying to perfect it.”

“…I believe I’ll try to prove you wrong for a while longer,” John responded.

The Apex smiled warmly. “As you should. Being old and wise does not make me correct, only well-informed.”

“One of your windows?” Romulus asked. To him, they were invisible, but John wasn’t even hiding that his attention had been grabbed by something between them.

“Yeah, a Quest,” John answered, still contemplating if it was even worth asking if Romulus would be interested. The reward was enormous, but that was largely because, with Romulus in the party, John would lose out on the EXP from all of the bosses and other encounters in-between. The reward was therefore compensation for what he was going to lose out on. “Weird question, but would you be interested in letting loose for once?”

Romulus hummed in his deep voice, a noise like a landfall in motion. “Could you explain it in more detail?” John did. He told Romulus what Raids were, what partaking in one would entail, and how long he expected it to take. At the end, the Apex rubbed his chin. “You would benefit from this arrangement… so I am free to take items for my treasury?”

“Let’s split 50/50?” John suggested.

“I choose first,” Romulus haggled.

John hesitated for the appropriate amount of time, before agreeing. “…Fine.” ‘If something shouldn’t be in his hands, I’ll just lie on what Observe says about it.’ What that something was, John struggled to imagine, but his powers had a tendency of providing him with weird things.

“Then let us engage in this Raid once the tournament is through,” Romulus said and got up. “I apologize if this talk was less enlightening than you hoped it to be.”

“I rarely get enlightened by other people’s advice. I’m not the type to take anything on immediate value, for better and for worse,” John answered with a thankful smile. “If nothing else, I do appreciate that you took the time for me, Apex.”

“It was my pleasure. You’ve brought much change to my life, John Newman; it is only fair that I bring stability to yours.”

Romulus began to take his large steps towards the door, when John remembered something. “A question, if I may?” he asked and continued when the Apex faced him again. “Are you that large because it gives your women more area to cuddle?”

A surprised snort was followed by genuine and roaring laughter. “What a useless question!” Romulus stated and pushed down the handle. “Obviously yes!”

John laughed in his own right, as the Apex left.

_________________________________________________________________________

“Father, I assure you, there is nothing between me and the Gamer!” Moira spoke into the phone.

John did not even have to ask. He had prophesied this would happen and now it had. After what had happened earlier in the day, a scandalous new relationship between the Gamer and the Warden was all over the papers. In his second body, John had already arranged for an interview in the morning where he would put that story straight. He expected at least a quarter of the population to not believe him. The only reason why most would think he was telling the truth when he said he wasn’t in a relation with the Warden was because he was the type to boast about it publicly if he had been.

‘Prophesied…?’ John repeated the word in his head, then it clicked. “AH!

In days of peace, when the Abyss is bright, a naïve one will rise.

He’ll test and he’ll prod; he’ll think that all the wisdom he has brought.

For all the entertainment that will be derived,

At a lesson, everyone will arrive,

Naivety chokes,

Cynicism strangles,

And only the wholesome are truly free!”

The rest of the room looked at him as if he had suddenly gone insane. Momo remembered those words first. “Oh, that’s the prophecy you spoke on your birthday, yeah?”

“Yes! It’s Justinian!” The Gamer smacked his forehead. “Of course, grown up when the Abyss was getting clearer… maybe his ‘holier than thou’ attitude is because he’s not gotten any reality checks?”

“Now you’re just speculating,” Ehtra stated. “I think the proper course of action is to smite him for his insolence.”

John chose not to comment further on that and instead turned his attention to Nahua. As his newest haremette and a woman that was integrating both into his life and the wider society, she deserved some special attention. “How was your day?”

“Horrid,” Nahua stated, her voice dripping with villainous intent. “Your government is a bloodless, soulless institution that worships paper and names! In the worst temples of the Incas, never did I witness such extensive an apparatus dedicated to controlling people.”

“Listen to her, she thinks Fusion has a bad administrative state, isn’t that adorable?” Momo teased.

“We don’t even have that many forms,” John muttered and put together what the average person had to deal with. “Registration of primary residence, business registration, and government id… I think that’s it?”

“Horrid. Horrid. Horrid!” Nahua declared and sat down on John’s face. More aggressive a motion than John was used to, especially from one so submissive as Nahua, but the butt was a cushion and the thin strip of beige cloth separating him from her womanhood scarcely an obstacle. What did she have him for if not to sit down on his face at her leisure?

Usually, John would have obliged his bottom-heavy tribal woman quickly, but he wasn’t quite done talking yet. He lifted her up, so she squatted above him on the couch instead, and ate her out without the whole of her round derriere filling out his field of view. The benefit of that position was that he could pull back when Moira ended her phone call.

The redhead regarded him and Nahua with a chastising glance. It was weakened considerably by the guilt she very much should be feeling at the moment. “Just so we’re clear, you’re staying here until you at least try to clear things up to Justinian,” the Gamer told Moira. “I mean, I can’t stop you from walking away, but we’re not using the teleporter to get you home.”

“I’m honour bound to correct my mistake,” Moira relented quickly. “Additionally, my task is your oversight anyhow.”

“You weren’t withdrawn?” John asked and gave Nahua’s cunt another lick.

“Even if my father would try to recall me to the headquarters, I would deny him. He has been overbearing as of late.” Moira tossed her phone into the pocket dimension in the back of her shield (currently a pendant around her neck). “And I truly am sorry for this mess. Just… so creepy.”

“Ya should get along with him, he has major you vibes,” Rave stated.

Moira gasped, scandalized.

And the evening ran its course.