"What I'm saying is that what you consider an act of kindness is going to backfire in the long run." Salaark replied. "It's been countless millennia since the rfolk have set foot on dry land for longer than a few minutes."
"They claim they want to be here and recreate the glory of their past, but they have yet to fully grasp the price that fulfilling the dream of their ancestors demands. The rfolk have lived all their lives in the dark, surrounded by the roiling tides of the oceans that carried their songs.
"In more ways than one, they are like newborns, but with the mind of an adult. Our world is bright, dry, and noisy to them. They don't like wearing clothes, everything is a mystery to them, and the only thing they really like about this place is the food."
"They do sound like Elysia." Lith couldn't help but smile at the mory of the baby girl shredding her clothes with claws and fangs until he had covered her with a Skinwalker armor.
"The rfolk are much more reasonable than your daughter, but they are still tourists to the Blood Desert, Lith. They don't belong here, and they never will unless they are willing to make sacrifices, compromise, and accept that life here is always going to be different from what they are used to.
"More importantly, rfolk are not humans, but they are still people. And people can never truly appreciate sothing that's just gifted to them. To learn to value their place on the surface, they have to earn it. Fight for it.
"The rfolk must face every challenge that this new reality throws at them and decide for themselves if getting out of their comfort zone is worth so much effort. If I step in every ti they face a hurdle and solve it for them, I'll make them happy only in the short term.
"In the long term, the rfolk will co to resent all the small inconveniences that not even a Guardian's power can fix. At that point, they'll return to the ocean because they never felt like proud citizens of the Blood Desert, but as eternal guests in soone else's ho."
"I can see that happen." Lith nodded. "Do you want to tell Rem I can't help her with the Sea Heart?"
"I didn't say that, Featherling." Salaark gave him a warm smile, hoping he would treasure that lesson. "Helping the rfolk is fine. I only suggested that you don't solve the problem for them. There's a big difference."
Salaark put her index and middle fingers on Lith's forehead, sharing a detailed image of the first village the rfolk had built in the oasis with Lith via a mind link. The current one looked like the fever dream of an architect, but it was a work of art compared to the first.
The re sight of those architectural monstrosities made Lith recoil.
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"Ugly, I know, but it served my purpose." Salaark explained. "As I said, the rfolk are adults, but here on the surface, they are as naïve as newborns. It's the reason I provided them with an empty oasis they could shape however they wanted instead of building a nice-looking village with perfect acoustics for them.
"Sure, it would have helped the rfolk to acclimate to the Desert by making them feel at ho, but it would have also reinforced their status as guests and taught them nothing about how to earn their place in our world.
"They would have shut their brains and followed my lead. This way, instead, the rfolk made a mistake and didn't need any external input to understand how big it was. Their own eyes did all the work, and the following visits to the cities did the rest.
"It beca an opportunity for the rfolk to expand their horizon and let them discover what they liked and disliked about their new ho. The village is still a ss, but in ti, the rfolk will grow as a community and realize they need standards for their buildings.
"I'm stepping away, not because I don't care for them, Featherling, but because I'm giving the rfolk the opportunity to grow. Every decision they make is their decision. When sothing goes wrong, they have only themselves to bla.
"When sothing goes right, instead, they feel proud of themselves. Every achievent they make reassures the rfolk that no obstacle is insurmountable and strengthens their resolve to stay here.
"They conquer this place bit by bit, and it's overcoming the struggles that will make this place their ho. Without these small victories, no matter in what country the rfolk try to settle down, our world would always be an unpleasant place full of jerks."
"I'm new to this weird wise ruler role you are assigning , Grandma." Lith said. "How can I help the rfolk with their Sea Heart problem without becoming their savior?"
"Just treat them like your students at the White Griffon." Salaark replied. "Explain the problem to the rfolk, give them the ans to solve it, and then wait for them to do the rest. Be their teacher, not their nanny."
"Thanks, Grandma." Lith gave her a small bow as she lifted the Scrambler spell.
"No problem." She said with a smile. "I'm always happy to exchange cooking recipes with you."
The last phrase helped him to decipher the baffled gazes of the people around him.
'They must have heard us talk about food the whole ti. The kind of conversation you don't expect an Overlord and a Magus to have.' Lith thought, and he was right.
"I agree with Overlord Salaark." A young rfolk with a thick mane of yellow hair said. "Ice cream is one of your greatest achievents, Magus Verhen."
The man took a huge spoonful of chocolate-chip ice cream and shuddered.
"It's painful to eat, but delicious. It's worth every headache."
"Thank you, but there's a misunderstanding." Lith was flabbergasted by the naivety that the man and many other rfolk shared. "Eating ice cream isn't supposed to be painful. Slow down a bit and take smaller bites."
The rfolk followed the advice, and the brain freeze passed, leaving only the sweetness of the dessert filling his mouth.
"By the sea gods, ice cream is even better without the headache." He said.
"I'm glad it helped." Lith needed sheer willpower to keep smiling and not slap his forehead. "Do you mind showing the Sea Heart? Rem asked to take a look at it and see if I can figure out what's wrong with it."
The stone seashell was perfectly visible at the center of the village, and Lith needed no help to find it. Yet he knew the Sea Heart's importance for the rfolk community and requested a chaperon in deference to his hosts.
"Sure." The rfolk's joyous expression soured in a heartbeat. "Just be careful not to sound it. It produces a terrible noise that would ruin everyone's mood."
"Is it so bad?" Lith asked after noticing many rfolk grimacing at the ntion of the Sea Heart.
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