I write an Isekai about communist revolution until an anime is made out of it

Incoming

I spent a good half-hour after waking up the next morning just shaking off the side-effects of the night before. Casting off that warm welcome to the day, I made my way towards the vault-library to keep searching for anything of use when I entered the preceding vault to find Hadlon, looking to me from the trinkets around him.

"Welcome, offworlder. I have need of your advice. It's this very room; look at it. It's beautiful, in a vain and decadent sort of way. A disgusting sum of wealth, and all ripe for the taking. Being the just due of hundreds, it's no longer possible to hide; any who care to steal it will soon discover it, and then what? Conventionally, theft would incur ambush and retaliation from the owning lord, to the point where only the most cunning would dare try. But I am no great warrior; my strength is minimal in proportion to the value you see around you, and what strength we do possess lies in numbers and in order. Amassing to full force would take hours even now - more than enough time for anyone sufficiently greedy to storm - or even sneak - inside, kill any who stand in their way, and make off with all that they can carry to somewhere outside our grasp. I expect you knowledge of a world without true lords contains some way of preventing this."

"Well, you could start with fortifying the door, and on top of the guards already posted around here a quick response team, or even just some remote explosives, would work well. We could just move it all into the library behind the vault door that already exists, if we need to."

"Only if we absolutely must, and I doubt even that would be enough."

Alright gulag-boy, now you're in for it. I've spent actual years preparing for this, and now I get to play Civ with magic. I mean those are gross and gimmicky oversimplifications but I've played dozens of them, that's got to count for something all combined.

"Well, we could always just spend it"

"You'll need to be more specific, offworlder; I doubt you wish for us to squander it all on luxury."

"No, no, nothing like that. I mean there are useful things to buy. The soldiers used most of their ammo yesterday, but that's a problem we're already solving by paying them, so instead we should focus on anything too big to buy alone."

"Do you refer to that 'artillery' you often describe? I'd love to see such a weapon, but I doubt one would be much use against a thief."

"Well, no, they won't help there, but they should be great on the offensive, or against anything big. The point is that a cannon is much harder to steal than the gold it's worth. On top of that, the roads here need a lot of work, and I'm pretty sure this place has sewers. Getting those back in shape will go a long way to making this a proper city.

"A proper city, you say? Such a place would surely attract far more than the sons and daughters of Valkheim."

Here he made a long pause to think, leaving me with several seconds to toss around the dilemma of accidentally inventing the ethnostate.

"The return from refugee to refuge will be a welcome one. Your words ring true, offworlder; our strength now lies in numbers and in order. We must foster those if we hope to prevail."

With that affirmation, I turned back towards my room. Hadlon asked why I wasn't heading into the library with his eyes but went no further.

Oh god, oh fuck, we're in the big leagues now, buddy. As if I didn't have enough to worry about as-is, now I'm basically leading a country. Actual politicians have no idea what they're doing even on earth, how will I stand a chance?

I was in the midst of an internal joke about golfing when I swung open my room's door to find Vay leaning against the wall beside me. This time, I barely raised my hand towards the holster before sighing and turning to face her in the path of the opened door.

"I'd like a word with you, offworlder, in private. Can you close the door?"

No, I'm afraid I can't just let you do that; the English language is all the privacy I need. You know, if she wanted me dead she'd have done it already; please calm down. Unless - I've finally done it, I'm rejecting advances because I expect to die. Slow down, coomer, we have no idea what this is even about.

"Fine."

I stepped out of the way and shut the door beside me, not that there was much of anyone nearby in the first place.

"I want you for an adventure. The sword of legend is still out there, waiting for you. I can take you there, now that we're finished here. I can handle food, but you'll need to bring anything else you want - and weapons, of course. Oh, and - don't bother bringing Honse."

That's all you've got for me? No confessions, no nothing? What about why you brought me here, or whether you were trying to infect me? Have I outlived my usefulness, and now you'll try to make me disappear? Is Hadlon behind this, or anything you've done?

"I, uh, I'll think about it"

Left with the awkward situation of her already standing where I wanted to leave to, I paced back to the vault with a renewed sense of dread, finding with great relief that Hadlon had left. Back in the library, I tried to lose myself in books until one finally commanded my attention. I'd seen all manner of illegible garbage wedged between several varieties of paper, but this one was utterly unremarkable save for how almost violently incomprehensible it was. Words and letters I recognized seemed to form, only to be gibberish under closer inspection. I could distinguish nothing, save for scattered letters that looked legible somewhere in my peripheral vision, but always turned out to be worthless. I stared helplessly into page after page, until, shortly before relegating it to the "illegible but interesting" pile, I felt something. A presence, directly behind me. Reflexively, a hand dropped the book and twisted around the grip of my revolver before I told it off; I was past the point of shooting my way out. Slowly and deliberately, I turned myself around while staring to the floor and begging for this to only be schizophrenia, and was faced with - something. It was vague and black - a standing shadow, like what you'd see in the corner of your eyes, only this one was only visible if I stared directly at it; clearly obscure. I lightened up a bit when trying to speak to it - common, Valkheim common, English, Konichiwa, Bonjour, Wie Gehts? If it had senses, it was ignoring me. So, I resorted to trying to touch it, reaching out a hand slowly, ever so carefully, on the guess that it stood within reach, until it vanished. No feeling, no sound, it just completely ceased to exist. After a few glances in all directions returned nothing, I was leaving.

Ha - haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I'm looking at a fate worse than death, aren't I. Fuck this, fuck this and all of its facets, I'm - I'm getting something to eat. that's something simple that I need done, isn't it?

I nearly jogged out of the keep, down the hill, past the decaying walls and through a maze of streets to the city center where I'd surely find something for sale. I'd nearly made it before stepping into another, all-too-familiar shadowy presence.

"So, have you considered my offer?"

Fuck it, I'm damned one way or another. Maybe if I do this she'll tell me a damn thing.

"Erm, yes. Just let me prepare, will you?"