Kael took a few seconds to answer.
Not because he had no answer.
Because the first one that came to mind was bad.
Forty-three thousand people depended on that climate. Entire fields could be destroyed by an abrupt transition. Irrigation systems, crops, trees, and even ecological cycles had grown for generations inside artificial stability.
The easiest answer would have been simple.
Continue.
Continue because we need you.
Continue because stopping now would hurt people.
Continue because, for one hundred thirty-five years, everyone learned to depend on you.
Kael knew that logic far too well.
And he had just spent weeks dismantling different versions of it.
So he remained silent.
The rain continued falling perfectly vertically.
Sylphie looked at him.
Did not pressure him.
Neither did Umbra.
Finally, Kael asked:
"Do you want to stop?"
The voice answered from every raindrop around them.
"Yes."
Without hesitation.
Kael nodded.
