I CONTINUE TO try to get my Kingdoms in the South of Corin into some sort of financial shape. I also continue to work out nights, mostly in either dimension 4 or in dimension 5.
One night, I realize that I have been an idiot. I work out in dimension 5 that night and leave a fancy, carved wooden stake in the ground for the dimension 5 people.
That night, the pretty lady from dimension 5 appears in my dreams. She says, “You left a wooden stake in dimension 5.”
“I have been working out, many nights, in dimension 5. I would like to take back with me a sack of your dimension 5 farming area soil. I would also like to get a summary of your dimension 5 weather.”
The lady thinks for a few moments and then asks me, “For what purpose do you want those items?”
“I have agricultural experts in dimension 3, and I can get expert opinion as to what crops might be profitably grown in dimension 5 soil and weather.”
The lady again muses for a few moments. “It’s not that simple. If we were to grow new crops, we would also grow new insects and new micro-organisms.”
“True, but you could sample the fruits of the several options and pick just one. You could then evaluate the first test crop and then decide what to do next.”
“That might work. What would you want, in return?”
“I work out many nights in dimension 5. Now I can pay back a little. The little amount of seeds and fruits that I offer, harms dimension 3 not at all and should be something that you can enjoy in dimension 5.”
“Unlike dimension 4, we do not live on basically just the one food, here in dimension 5. However, a few new foods should be a welcome addition to our diet.”
I laugh. “As I have told you before, I suspect that the source of many of my problems with dimension 4, and I suspect with dimension 5, is something like breadfruit. Breadfruit is the edible fruit of a plant that grows in at least some of the tropical regions of Corin. Breadfruit requires no real work of the natives of the tropical regions. Thus, the natives tend to be lazy and do very little to improve their lives. I suspect that the denizens of dimension 4 and your people live mainly on something like dimension 3 breadfruit.”
The woman pauses for a bit and then says, “What then do the people of dimension 3 do with breadfruit?”
“In my kingdoms, I allow only limited growing of breadfruit. I tax the breadfruit heavily, except for orphanages, monasteries, that sort of thing.”
“What then of dimension 4?”
“The people of dimension 4 raise what they call life fruit. It’s a dimension 4 breadfruit. It contains all of the necessary elements for nutrition for the inhabitants of dimension 4. You told me that it had become almost the only food that the dimension 4 people ate. They are now raising other food plants as well, apparently including some spices originally from dimension 3. However, at least some of the dimension 4 people want to kill me. I don’t like working with people who want to kill me.”
“You want to establish a better relationship with us of dimension 5?”
“In order to prepare for my inevitable fight with the rogue from dimension 4, I need to train in dimension 4 and/or dimension 5. If I train in dimension 5, it seems only fair that I should give something back, in payment for my use of dimension 5.”
“The current situation in the higher dimensions has escalated.”
“You tell me that you, of dimension 5, don’t really know who Gagoah is or at least was.”
The lady looks hard at me for a while. “As I told you before, the question of Gagoah goes back to the creation of the universe. Exactly what happened and who caused it to happen are very complicated issues. Even among the people who live in the higher dimensions, there are arguments as to exactly what happened and who made it happen. Some do believe that Gagoah was involved in the creation of the universe.”
“The scrolls that more or less define dimension 3 were stored in dimension 4. Those who live in dimension 4 tell me that the dimension 3 scrolls were stolen and that they think that Lord Vorell had the scrolls and now has at least the sixth scroll. One thing that I can tell you for sure is that Lord Vorell did not steal the scrolls.”
The lady looks at me for a while. She then says, “You seem very sure of that last.”
“If Lord Vorell wanted to steal the scrolls, he would have had to go to dimension 4 in order to steal the scrolls. In order to get to dimension 4, Lord Vorell would have had to first have the scrolls, in order to get to dimension 4, to steal the scrolls. Logical disconnect.”
The lady again looks at me for a while. She then says, “Yes, that is an impossibility.”
“The dimension 4 rogue must have stolen the dimension 3 scrolls, if indeed the dimension 3 scrolls were stolen. Then how did the dimension 3 scrolls get to dimension 3? No, wait! The author of the scrolls may have moved them to dimension 3.”
I pause, then continue, “It seems that everyone involved agrees that the dimension 3 scrolls were stored in dimension 4 and then transferred to dimension 3. Some being must have authored the dimension 3 scrolls. The being that must have authored the dimension 3 scrolls must be, at least had been, a very powerful being. If I were the being who must have authored the dimension 3 scrolls, I would be very angry if someone stole the dimension 3 scrolls from me. It’s not impossible that Gagoah is the author of the dimension 3 scrolls. It’s also not impossible that some other very powerful being is the author of the dimension 3 scrolls. Why would the powerful author, if still alive, not seek revenge against the thief?”
The lady again looks at me for a while. She then says, “The rogue was obviously the thief or at least in a chain of thieves.”
“Which leads us to the question of why the dimension 3 scrolls ever ended up in dimension 4?”
“The dimension 3 scrolls define the dimension 3 universe. It seems unlikely that they were just left lying around some place where they could be easily stolen.”
“As you know, I have had access to the first five of the dimension 3 scrolls. I have learned a great deal from the dimension 3 scrolls. I could learn a great deal more, if I could get access to the sixth of the dimension 3 scrolls. I then came into contact with the Talisman of Gagoah. I was. for a while, trapped in the world of the Talisman of Gagoah, before I was able to escape. While I was trapped in the world of the Talisman of Gagoah, I found some items from the sixth of the dimension 3 scrolls. I know that the items were from the sixth of the dimension 3 scrolls, since they were extensions or resolutions of things from the first five of the dimension 3 scrolls. That tells me that Gagoah was at least involved with the generation of the dimension 3 scrolls. The dimension 3 scrolls and the Talisman of Gagoah were stored in dimension 4 and then they were stolen, apparently due to a lack of security in dimension 4.”
“Where is this leading?”
“It seems obvious that Gagoah, or some being at least on the level of Gagoah generated the dimension 3 scrolls. What then if Gagoah, or some being on the level of Gagoah or above the level of Gagoah generated dimension 4 scrolls?”
The lady again looks at me for a long while. She then lectures me, “You have used the knowledge that you gained from the dimension 3 scrolls to effectively conquer pretty much all of planet Corin and also what you call the Priceps’ world. If you were to gain control of the dimension 4 scrolls, the same kind of thing could happen with dimension 4.”
“The inhabitants of dimension 4 are keeping Lord Vorell on the run. Thus, I can’t get access to the sixth of the dimension 3 scrolls. Does this seem sane to you?”
The lady again looks at me for a while. “Perhaps I can talk with the inhabitants of dimension 4.” (I can see in her face the fear that what might happen to dimension 4 might also happen to dimension 5.) The lady is then gone.
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