Ero Skill Tree

Chapter One Hundred and Ten: A Serious Discussion

The atmosphere in the room changed somewhat. No one seemed quite sure what to make of what seemed to be an issue of contention between the two catkin. The rest of us remained quiet, it felt like the right decision. None of us wanted to get involved.

"I only have two choices. Bring an innocent here, with all that entails. Or don't and have that thing removed, we all know what that means..." Altria said, before trailing off.

"I know, after what happened with my sister, I should never have let you become one of the summoners... Not that we have a choice." Olentri replied.

"It's a similar choice to what we have now though isn't it?"

"It's not the same, you could continue summoning for you entire natural life and come to no harm. If we hadn't let one of our line become the summoner for our race, we would have been thrown out of the alliance. That could mean war with the other races again. It would mean we would face the demon lord alone, with no way of fighting them. But your refusal to summon makes matters much more complicated."

"You mean, because it's my life in the balance and not someone you'll likely never meet?"

"Because I will have to choose between you or the kingdom..."

"That's your decision to make."

"I know. This is getting us nowhere. There was a reason I brought all of you here." Olentri said turning her gaze from Altria to the rest of us. "I was hoping that you might be able to talk some sense into her."

At first Olentri's proposal was met with a stunned silence from all of us. We could all see why she would ask that of us, but it wasn't that simple. We all also knew the reason why Altria was holding back on fulfilling her duty all too well. Just as Olentri didn't want to be in the position to choose between the life of her daughter or the wellbeing of her own kingdom, Altria didn't want to choose between her own life and that of another.

Finally, it was Serin spoke up.

"I understand why you would ask that of us, but it doesn't seem right for us to try and sway Altria in a decision like this. It is her own life on the line, and it is her that will have to live with the consequences of her decision."

"I'm not asking you to talk her into summoning someone and leaving them to their own devices like many of the other summoners. Of course, I would hope that you would all support her and the one summoned, much like you are doing with Theo here."

"You would ask that, despite not knowing how Theo feels to have been brought here against his will?" Asked Altria.

"Then let me ask him... Tell me Theo, is it that bad being brought here?"

I thought for a moment before answering.

"No... At least not so far, but my experience doesn't mean it will be the same for anyone else. The life of someone else brought here will be completely different than my own. There's no telling how someone else would feel about going through that."

"Would you be happy for Altria to lose her life over it?"

"No, the last thing I would want to happen is that. But at the time, it's her choice to make. I wouldn't want to force her to summon and live with someone else's death on her conscience..."

"I see... No, you are right. I couldn't ask that of you. I won't press the matter any further."

"Look, I'll summon again, but not until I have no other choice. When the council is called, I'll do it then, but not before." Altria said out of the blue.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you." Olentri said sighing in relief.