A few seconds later, Al darted into his study and bolted the door behind him. He was drenched with sweat, and his pants felt uncomfortably tight.
'A distraction. I need a distraction!'
He had no intention of looking like a fool in front of those he was supposed to command. That meant staying away from women and the paradise he had unleashed, and even though others may have felt sad or unhappy about this, he was perfectly satisfied with finishing the odyssey and taking care of such things later.
Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't taken a footstep into the matter, either…
'What must she be doing now? Is she in an odyssey, too?'
In front of his eyes, the image of a little girl skipping around a park took center stage. She was wearing a yellow frock with a matching yellow hat, and her freckled face was overflowing with joy while she kept shouting to Al to catch her.
'You can't get me! Oh, Al, you never win…'
He had always lost on purpose to see that smile.
The image was soon replaced by one of a slender woman. The freckles were still present, and she liked to joke that it was an imperfection that looked perfect on her. He hadn't talked to her in months, but because she was from an affluent family much like his best friend, he didn't worry about her well-being at all.
'After entering the government program… maybe I'll have enough clout.'
One of the hardest things he had had to deal with after their downfall had been that he might never be good enough for her. He had never made too many plans about them, but still, the idea of not being able to spend time with her had rattled him so much that he had had to cry himself to sleep every time he thought of her.
The sound of high-pitched giggling made him come back to the present. Shaking his head to put all such thoughts out of his mind, he bent on to the book that lay open before him and began to think about the topic he had used as an excuse: the women of the town.
There were certain positives and negatives about the setting, and he had already used the positives to his advantage. All of the brothels had been directly under his command, so it had been easy to use his authority to have them charge nothing. It had been a bit harder with the winehouses, but after being given an advance, their owners had been more than happy to open their doors to all the people of the town.
From the records, he had seen that 60% of the population were male, and he was certain that he had engaged most of them in these two activities. But what about the women? Even if the exceptions were taken into account, at least 40% of the population were sitting in their homes, cursing him.
If the hero was smart, he would target them. After all, it was true here, too, that a woman of a household held much sway.
Bending back on the wooden chair and hearing it creak in protest, he scrunched up his eyebrows and looked for a way ahead. The first idea that came to him was… a fair. He just needed them to be busy, so why not engage them all in a period of fun and frolic that typically only came around once every few years? He could even set up food stalls to ease their burden of cooking, and special places where kids could be sent to play and learn. He would pay for everything, so wouldn't they forget themselves for an entire month with nary a care in the world?
It was promising, so he jotted it down in the book in front of him. He had always had a habit of writing down his thoughts to perfect them and give them substance. He got a few more ideas, but this was still the best one. The main problem was that they might all be angry with him because his actions could have led to their husbands cheating on them, so the first thing he wanted to do was appease this sentiment, somehow, so that the hero would have no anger to tap into.
Any implementation would come the next day, so standing up, he decided to take another tour of the residence before going to sleep. Before walking out the door, he mentally prepared himself for any other… 'uncouth' images that he might see.
'There's no difference between them and what's on the Internet. It's not like I could go into a room with them if I wanted… wait, no! Don't think of that! There is no difference, there is no difference, there is no difference… Oh, yeah! I should keep thinking of all those that got viral for dying in bed!'
That last thought worked wonders. All odysseys were perfectly recorded by the government, and just recently, an act had been passed that allowed organizations to take these recordings and convert them into stylized movies. It was incredibly profitable, as all sorts of scenes that would have needed expensive CGI before could be obtained now with no extra cost. The government would take a share of the profit, so all parties were happy… except those who became famous for dying stupidly.
A subset of these videos were of those who foolishly allowed themselves to be distracted by the avenue of satiating their lust. More often than not, this would result in a comical end to an odyssey, and with silly music in the background to boot, the videos had become extremely famous while those that had lost their pride due to them had started to petition the government to withdraw this act.
Thankfully, his tour did not bring him face to face with any more distractions. Wooden doors were not very good at keeping in sound, though, so he did hear many engaged in the act, but it was easy to close his ears to them. He also managed to occupy himself with food. This was one area that one could enjoy in odysseys if they were a bit careful. This was especially true for indoctrinated odysseys, where the chefs would be actual experts.
After appointing a taster, Al enjoyed a five-course meal that was fit for a king. The mushroom soup was thick and creamy. The roast boar had a tartness to it that gave it a wonderfully rich flavor, and the turkey boiled with leeks and onions was so succulent and soft that it melted in his mouth. There had been many times when he had had to go to bed hungry, so he had never called himself a foodie… but slowly, he began to wonder whether he had been wrong about that.
They ended the meal with an apple pie and lemon tarts, and with his stomach unbearably full, he once again retired to his study. After posting six guards outside, he locked the door and windows securely and prepared to go to sleep.
It didn't take long for him to travel into the land of dreams. He was tired from walking all day, so he welcomed the rest with open arms.
He awoke to the sound of someone banging on his door. Groggily, he woke up and looked around, his mind still half asleep. The commotion that could be heard outside roused him quickly, and after putting on the cloak and mask he had taken off, he hurried to the door.
Without removing the chain that connected the door to the wall, he opened it a sliver and saw the face of one of the guards he had sent away before.
"Sir! There's a fire in one of the rooms! It looks like someone knocked over a lantern while they were…uh, busy! It's safer to leave in case it spreads, Sir!"
He cocked one eyebrow up suspiciously, but the sound of water being carried and thrown let him see that the guard wasn't lying. The sharp smell of burning wood soon reached him, too, so with a nod, he opened the door.
As soon as he took a step out, all six guards spread themselves around him. After looking around, he prepared to head down the stairs to his right… but a sound that was completely out of place made him turn around.
It was that of a knife being unsheathed. Due to the haze of having just woken up, he hadn't really studied his guards as they had all seem familiar…but he saw now that one of them was wearing a hood, indoors.
Within that hood, he saw the shape of a familiar jaw and a flash of teeth characteristic to a grin. Then, his eyes zeroed in on the knife that was being thrust towards him, with its shiny length reflecting the fire, and its point poised to pierce through him and end the odyssey in one quick stroke.