Books lay strewn across my bed to the point I could barely crawl out, not that I had wanted to. I had stacked them to the ceiling like a protective fort. The musky to sweet smells of various paper types made moving from my comfort challenging, to say the least. As soon as I left here, there would be so many things to do. 

Over the last few days, I had been thinking about all of my actions. My brain finally had time to decompress as I lay there and read most of my new books. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. When I arrived back, I thought I would just be able to go on an adventure. Not that this hadn’t been unusual to my more normal bookworm state.  

There was me being worshipped and being given free books. I had fought epic monsters and stopped disasters. I had revolutionized a village. There was all the new technology I had learned about but that I had apparently invented. Most people knew me, but I knew nothing of them. The anxiety caused by the unknown was causing me to act brasher. I had to act fast when something occurred, causing additional problems rather than solid fixes. Usually, I could take as much time as I wanted to solve an issue in the library or to discover something new, but here it’s happening so fast.

Then there was the attack on me that the Valwrecks had been looped into. I had flown into a panicked state, fearing the worst for my friends. If I had just directly checked them, I could have avoided using a mental affliction that affected many non-combatants in the corporation dome. No one was directly hurt, which is what I had aimed for, but they had probably had a significant shock. The consequences of which I hadn’t seen yet. It was too much to think about without actually observing the situation.  

At that time, though, I selected some books that needed to be copied and provided to the people. Their knowledge would hopefully help the social shift was aiming to trigger. It would be more natural than me just trying to force it by saying it is my word as the goddess, and definitely better than using actual force.

“J. Corbins’ Corporations and Cronies” was a rather obtuse outtake on how the corporations worked and how they treat the people that run them. It only reinforced my views on how profits shouldn’t matter and the people and progress should come first. Every standardized job in a company had a fun scum rating system. It rated how bad the company was taking advantage of that worker. Though I disagreed with the author that all workers, including base-level, were contributors to the scummy system. It argued that they contributed to the system and thus perpetuated it. People have to get by somehow. It was better than violence.

It had some horrible examples of management getting extra benefits for pushing their workers past their limits. It’s like they were giving themselves a pat on the back for making those beneath them suffer. They also separated humans and otherkin so that the humans wouldn’t sympathize with the otherkin. If you treated the humans better, they wouldn’t side with the otherkin because they wanted to keep what they had. There were other examples of division as well. This book was just another example of how the otherkin bias was created. 

“Othority On Otherkin By: Oberhiemer” discussed various methods of handling otherkin. With such a cute way of spelling authority to make it all O's in the tittle, but it had a much darker topic inside its cover. It was a cruel book but perfectly laid out all the ways otherkin had been targeted for the last 400 years. Everything from sterilization to isolating whole areas was tried to stop the spread. They also tried surgical methods, hoping evolution would sort it out. Once the data showed, you could mitigate their spread by ensuring humans didn’t have children with otherkin. It quickly became law in most regions to block intermixing. The only reason otherkin were even allowed to reproduce was that they were a strong workforce. That book left me feeling particularly disgusted.

“Goddess Astrids Graciousness” was all about the benefits I provided society with, which was news to me because I hadn’t provided anything as far as I remembered, but apparently, I was wrong. Apparently, people had collected my papers and discussions I had with fellow library members for the last four thousand ish years. My papers had turned into divine scripture, and they had canonized my passing conversations into divine messages. My fan club probably had something to do with that.

It was heartwarming that so many people had been positively affected by what I had done but, at the same time, way overwhelming that my random thoughts became so important. Apparently, though, there were several citations of times people had prayed to me in their time of need, leading to them overcoming their challenges. Even commanders would gain inspiration when praying to me before battle, which left me quite baffled since I wasn’t a fighter type. Well, other than dungeon delves.

This left me unsure of how to move forward with my supposed divinity. I could keep up the ruse by using various spells to grant people the needed abilities, but that felt wrong. It would benefit the otherkin because I could use that to sway people’s beliefs, but again, that also felt wrong, even if it was for a good reason.

There were stories of old when the gods had walked among us of doing similar things. I wondered if their divine empowerments were just confused spells, like my supposed divine scriptures.

There was mention that praying to a false god would get you whisked away when you were at your peak, leaving your family behind, but I hadn’t the slightest idea what that was about. Maybe it was some sort of forced teleportation, but why?

All of this was a lot to think about, and I didn’t even know where to begin. Let alone finding someone. Anyone I really broke it down to may have their worldview shattered when they find out I am not actually a goddess. Liz may have been my best bet, or possibly Firth, since they were pretty realistic and interacted with me the most. Maybe one of the POW I have since I don’t really care if I have to snip their memory after.

“The History of Our Great Kingdom” was a run-of-the-mill propaganda piece that discussed the kingdom’s lineage and glorious victories. The only really notable part was that when the kingdom was founded, it was because it was near a gem mine that had been constructed on a ley line. 

Later, when the apocalypse came, they went inside the mine, praying someone would come to save them, which the corporations did in my name. This led me to believe the corporations had some connection to my fan club. Which may come in handy someday.

Once the deal was made, the corporations would build two separate domes, while the kingdom would rule the people and get a small cut of the gem mine. The corporations would get the other dome closer to the mine, where they would get direct access to the gems and make some products employing people in the kingdom.

This was used to stimulate the economy and give corporations a stable workforce. It also meant the corporations would bring goods and resources during gem transportation. But, unfortunately, the kingdom had paid a heavy price for its own dome. Not that there were in a position to make any demands. From the looks of it, the corporations could have cleared them out of the caves and kept it all when they first came. 

It was also interesting that King Al’Don had married into the kingdom. They tried to spin it positively, but he was the 8th son of royalty from a distant, more advanced kingdom. But it really sounded like he was a forgotten son sent to a backwater village. On the other hand, it probably explained why he was nicer to otherkin since he came from somewhere else. That gave me hope that not all countries are horrible to otherkin. I needed to read this, especially after what other books said to do with them.

The last book I wanted to be copied was more like a journal of the latest technological breakthroughs in magic research. It was outdated, but it was probably hard to get out here. There had been a lot of agricultural breakthroughs allowing more people to be fed in a small space. There was also an entire building that had controlled heating/cooling. It even mentioned flying cars that could be used in some of the more giant domes. It made this place seem even more backwater and left me urging to travel, but I had so much to do here.

Most books I wanted to be copied were chosen to show how divisive and fake the rhetoric against otherkin really was. That it had been created here with the intention to control. This would help in my plans to change the view of citizens in the kingdom and hopefully bring unity. Though mass manipulation wasn’t off the table if people got violent.

When I thought about all that had to be done, I rolled around in bed, wrapping myself up like a baking potato. The guilt had been eating at me the last four days, but I didn’t want to deal with the kingdom or its people. The responsibility just kept piling on, bringing stress to my shoulders.

Like I had been speaking out loud, a knock came on the door. It surprised me that anyone would have the courage to bug their goddess. I used quick cast short teleportation so that my bed book fort would remain unchanged. Luckily before I opened the door, I realized I was still in my comfy moss-green pajamas. My beautification spells made quick work of that. Unafraid of what lay on the other side, I readied myself to open the door. I had armed myself with new books and was now full of knowledge.

Liz was standing there by herself, eyebrows lowered with pursed lips. “Do you need any assistance?”

“No, why?”

“Well, we first thought you had been injured, and we were terrified. Then you sent Firth that message about being knee-deep in books. We figured you just needed time to recover, but we are getting desperate about the situation with the kingdom. I even went looking for you in the library. Talks of you moving on were becoming rampant. People even started whispering about us being at fault. It was then I decided to come and find you.

“Now that I know you’re okay, let me tell you a few things before you close up. We have plans to handle them but don’t know which one to choose. Those may need to be redone once we talk to the prisoners of war you captured. We have all been on edge the entire time.” She spewed out to me, not breaking eye contact or blinking.

Each point she made sent shivers down my spine, making me regret ultimately shutting out the outside world. It made me wonder how people would feel if they knew I was in the library while the world fell apart without a care in the world, like a bird flying over a battlefield. Well, I would have if I had known, and not just for the loss of new books, either. They ended up worshipping me, so I had indirectly helped, but that was my fan club, not me.

It was time to solve things, so I could get back to reading more. I readied myself mentally for more social interaction. “Do not worry anymore. I am ready to go. What needs my attention first?”

“That will be explained at the council meeting. The list is too long for me to remember it all. What’s most important is that people need to see that you are okay.”

Can I dive back into the library?

“We have a lot to do, but we are all here to support you. Would you like me to be your secretary? I don’t think I’m qualified at this scale, but I used to help my husband manage his affairs. I—”

“YES!” I blurted out, excited to finally have someone to help organize what needed to be done. I might even be able a push off some of the work onto her. No, the correct phrase is to delegate it to her. “Managerial magic” was an excellent book about how to manage the people you lead. At first, I thought it would be filled with fantastic new spells. Instead, it laid out a wondrous leadership system that would give me time to read if implemented.

It was time for me to make my people on the council head of their own departments, and I would check on them when needed. I had definitely been in error, thinking I could do it all on my own. Most modern leaders delegated more to strangers than the kings of old. Since huge royal families weren’t around anymore, most kings had to figure out how to lead with so few relatives to rely on. 

Taking them as an example, I needed to expand the number of people around me. Although, as a bonus, if it was the same people, I would be less anxious around them, who wants to meet new people all the time? The only new thing I wanted to meet was new books to curl up with.

“Lady Astrid?”

I shook my head and snapped back to the now. “Yes, let’s move forward with that plan. Please be my personal secretary. I would be grateful if you managed my time. Please add times for reading when possible. Do not worry about Astraville overall. I will be assigning more responsibility to the council.”

She covered her mouth and gasped slightly. “Thank you, Lady Astrid. I am grateful for your recognition.”

With that out the way, I had another matter to clear up before we took off to tour Astraville and meet with the council.

“There is something else I want to try out. I want to try speaking to you.”

She tilted her head. “You are right now?”

“Sort of. I have been using magic to translate for me. However, now that I have had time to read books from the modern language, I think I can finally stop using that spell.”

Her head pulled back slightly. “Oh, really, please do.”

I released the spell I had channeled for so long and felt its drain disappear. I cleared my throat and tried to speak with my own non-magical voice. “Ho— how do I sound? I am sure I sound really different since the spell I had been using just gives the listener an average-quality impression. It’s been useful, but I would rather conserve the mana and also be prepared for times when magic isn’t available.” I was nervous because it meant I would have to pay attention to my own tone from now on unless I decided to manipulate it with magic. Which may happen.

She looked at me, eyes wide and filled with sparkles. “Wonderful, your words flow rhythmically. It is like an old like stories of the elves. I hadn’t realized you were using magic. You seemed to be speaking just like my parents had.”  

It took me a moment to translate what she said, but I got the gist of it and then, upon review, fully understood. Her accent was relatively short and fast. I had yet to realize everyone talked so fast paced. It made sense. Even through the translation magic, everyone was getting to the point quickly. I kept the translation spell handy in case things got too hectic while trying to listen to too many people at once. Like another royal meeting though, I would be using my own voice from now own

“Yes, from what I read, the Elves Spoke wistfully as well. I didn’t realize that everyone spoke so fast. The spell makes you sound who the affected targets are most familiar with.”

We headed out toward the council room. It felt like a procession because my people had their hands clasped toward me. There was an occasional cheer. Aren’t they supposed to be more worried about war?

I sent a mental whisper to Liz. -Aren’t they worried about war?-

She froze, looked around, then at me, and tilted her head. “No, the council just doesn’t know how to respond. Now that they know you are okay, they are excited to return to the kingdom. They heard about how you handled the calamity beasts. “

That was a dangerous line of thought. I wasn’t here to get vengeance for them, only to bring peace. In peacetime, more books could be written, and more knowledge could be consumed. How else can a book series with over ten thousand chapters be written?

That confused look at what Firth must have gone through when I first made mental contact. I should probably give everyone a warning about that. I should also work out a way for them to respond with gem magic. The communication gems should enable me to speak directly through mental communication. Interfacing with them may be hard, though. It could be a sender and receiver system.

“Please give a warning to the council about my mental messages. I will work on a system for dealing with mental communication later.”

She nodded, and we continued making our way to the council room. It was finally time for the war council.

“They are like divine messages, so no one will care.”

I wanted to cringe, but stayed silent as we made our way to our destination.