StarChaser: Another (18+)

___

Cataline was what the earthlings would call a rabbit-folk, the proper name for her species was a Maiyea, which depending on someone’s accent would either come out as “May-yeah” or “Mai-yuh”. Cataline’s accent however made the pronunciation seem like a combination of both. 

As Maiyea’s go, they either looked like anthropomorphic rabbits or in her case, looked like a human with rabbit ears, hers were big, long and droopy, and thankfully natural so she didn’t have to deal with concoctions to soften the tissues around the base of her ears when wearing a witch hat.

When the fighting broke out with the bandits she quickly tried to stop them as her wagon had quite some volatile substances which would have caused harm to everyone if someone had accidentally broken their containers. That earned a backhand, knocking her to the ground. 

It was through some dark intervention that Kirtus then lashed out and was subjected to a brutal mauling that prevented the spillage of her laboratory work, though at nearly the cost of his own life. 

 

The existence of Red Moons used to be of little trouble to her, but she had been seeing the signs as the years passed; the herds of monsters have been getting closer and closer despite her obfuscation spell. After hiding out in her basement that time, she found some of her laboratory having been broken into and she decided it was time to pack her things and leave.

That was when she had tagged along with a friendly group of travelers along the way. A jolly minotaur named Kirtus led the group and she felt safe in his company. That feeling of safety was shattered in only two days when they were accosted by bandit and Kirtus was then brutally mauled, not too long ago she was in the company of newfound friends singing songs by the campfire, now the same voices were twisted by horror and pain as the bandits assaulted them. 

So when Kvaris proposed the idea of taking in villagers to settle in this arcane pasture, Cataline was the first to raise her hand. 

Cataline was no fool, she knew that whatever services she could render as a witch were probably scarce given that she only had a fraction of her things when she left her home and some of those had been damaged along the way, but considering the dangers she had faced today, it was worth taking the chance. Surely, these adventurers could do with some household assistance and Cataline who frequently had to make sure her laboratories were free of any contaminations; be it filth or leftover substances that could cause unwanted consequences, was confident she could keep their house clean. 

Eight other people raised their hands and she was glad she was not alone, further strengthening her conviction in staying. As Kvaris continued to sell the idea of the advantages one could have here, she then noticed that Kvaris and Kinu, and belatedly, all other members of this team of adventurers called The Whales, all wore the same set of charms on their head. She first saw it on the Nemesis-Stalker Ingrid and assumed it was just some personal decoration, then she saw it on the other members of the team.

Everyone wore a charm clipped to their ear, and some of them emitted a blue dot of light. Everyone also had affixed to one side of their head a beveled rectangular box with one end sporting multiple round lenses, which reminded her of unblinking eyes. She had noticed on several occasions how the members of the team would occasionally pause and act as if an unseen servant whispered dire news to their ear. She then remembered that after Ingrid had appeared, she too had shouted to nobody in particular and her team began to act as one, making Cataline wonder if these charms were responsible.

As Cataline sat there, she noticed that Kinu, who had sat some distance away, frequently touched her ear-charm and occasionally spoke a few words to some unseen conversation partner.

At one point, she then noticed both sisters pause. Kvaris, in the middle of an enthused sales pitch of what one had to gain from living in this arcane pasture stopped, and both sisters simultaneously looked in the direction of the house, as if feeling the presence of something malevolent manifesting inside.  Kvaris composed herself quickly and then resumed answering questions others had regarding living in a town whose borders could lead to anywhere every few weeks, if not days.

___

A few minutes after:

“Is this…what’s left of them?” Sammy asked as Philia handed her a few sacks of canvas.

“Yes.”

Sammy shrugged and quickly carried the cloth sacks outside of the Autumnhollow house, it seemed too few to contain the remains of about ten men but it was none of her concern. Mindful not to step out of the border, she tossed them out, making sure that they ended up in a pile as Philia instructed.

The last item was a strange charm of some sort. 

“What was that?” Sammy said as she effortlessly tossed it atop one of the cloth sacks.

“A warning for the Guileheads.” Philia said as she surveyed the neat pile of sacks “once activated they will bear witness to their comrades’ ignominious ends.”

“Guileheads? That’s the name of their group?” Sammy asked.

“Yes. And now I have to go back and clean the basement.” Philia said, walking back with a new spring to her gait. 

Sammy was no fool, and felt no disgust at what Philia had done. She was born and raised in Elion-Nosco, a brutal kingdom with barbaric practices and she was merely a product of their indoctrination. The bandits’ dishonorable treatment of a man merely trying to protect his friends made them in Sammy’s eyes, deserving of equal barbarism.

As Sammy related this to Ingrid, she laughed darkly, a hopeless laugh someone does when they realize there is no way out. 

“No Sammy… it’s not because of her being a princess of Elion-Nosco, I can assure you…what Philia did…”  Ingrid sighed “If they simply killed this man on the spot, or broke his legs, she would have ended their lives with due dignity.”

There was a long pause on line as Ingrid seemed to be considering her words.

“I saw the look on her face when she saw Kirtus’ horrific wounds. I can only imagine she decided to return the favor with our world’s own. Don’t get upset with her, Sammy..” 

“I’m not, the Valiant God does not abide by dishonorable miscreants like those Guileheads anyway. I can’t say I relish the thought of whatever happened to them, but I would say their actions surely have brought about His wrath and in a way Philia enacted that judgment. But if I may ask, did something happen to King Fish or her tribe?”

“Oh, no no. Nothing directly.” 

“Very well, Night-Rider out.” Sammy said, as she walked back to the portal, Philia spoke up.

“Man, I'm tired.” Philia said wearily over the line.

“This is why you just shoot them, Philia.” Cecil said, but his tone had a tinge of approval.

“Actually that wasn’t the tiring part, it was when I had to summon a wood chipper.”

“Is this after or… you know what…TMI.” Zefir said.

“What’s Tee-Emm-Eye?” Kinu asked. They could hear Kvaris animatedly talking to the travelers and it seemed like she was pitching to them the idea of staying in this dimension.

“Too Much Information.” Zefir replied. 

“B.” Philia said.

___

“What happened back there?” Zefir asked as he drove the ATV out of the forest. He was once again cuddling Arthur on his lap while the mouse tended the steering wheel, leaving him in charge of the foot pedals. Arthur squeaked happily as Zefir with one hand scratched behind his ears. The plains ahead of him were starting to look more golden, the sun was almost half-sunk into the great mountains in the horizon. 

Ingrid had laid Selphie next to Kirtus, at the very least she was breathing evenly.

“Selphie must have been to a dungeon before and a baatezu had parasitized her.” Siria theorized as she sat Sully on her lap and proceeded to give him cheekrubs. “Or it could have been one of the monsters in a red moon that  escaped and hid inside her.”

“Or, she’s one of those experiments of the mages back in Elion-Nosco.” Philia said, and everyone could hear the sound of a vacuum cleaning letting out a keening wail, the terragalians imagining whatever machine Philia was using at this point must’ve have gotten a will of its own and was screaming in protest over whatever it had to clean up.  “I’ve heard of them putting spirits into living people though the reasons differ. Some rumors say it’s to make them stronger, others so the spirit takes them over which in turn is made malleable to their deals, and others is to sow terror and destruction by releasing them into other countries. And no, I’ve never dealt with those.”

“You did a great job with doing graft and corruption then, Philia.” Ingrid deadpanned. “Set them back for how many years, probably.”

“I hope so too,” Philia replied. “I may have to write to some friends back in Elion-Nosco and see what the news is.”

“How do you do that? A carrier pigeon? Do we need to build a little pigeon house for them?” Ingrid wondered.

“It’s not hard to register them to Autumnhollow.” Zefir said, cranking up the acceleration as the road got smoother ahead. “But I’ll need you guys to decide on that. For all we know they could bug our pigeons.”

“If you mean they could put some kind of malicious spell on them, unlikely, and I could put some counter-measures.” Siria volunteered. 

“Alright, let's have some pigeons!” Ingrid said.

___
The town of Selfir was composed of houses of thatched roofs, with sturdy stone bricks providing a foundation for stout wooden walls. The few that stood more than one storey tall had tiled roofs. Every house had some long banner wrapped along its entire length with breaks for the doors. These banners were colorful and bore decorative patterns. The locals looked on curiously as they beheld a big armored wagon that trundled about all by itself, grumbling like an overworked beast of burden as it approached the town. 

Following it was a hovering portal leading to some colonnaded courtyard somewhere. At least that's what most thought. The portal flew ahead, strange arcane accouterments hung above the upper edge, with some resembling unblinking staring eyes of some great insect and one trumpet which was the source of the voice that spoke to them.

“Good evening! We’re the Whales from the Fenrir Guild! We have a badly injured man, do you have a healer?” The slime spoke. 

Some of the bystanders quickly turned to address each other and some scrambled quickly, hopefully to fetch a healer. The portal continued to fly in closer, allowing everyone to see an adorable slime with cute beady eyes sitting on a footstool, it might as well have been a throne considering how pretty it looked, and his stately image was reinforced by the company of swarm mice wearing lamellar armor and bearing odd-looking staves. Either a graft of the slime or a lesser minion stood ahead of the slime, its stage mage’s staff mounted on a bipod, and it was pointed away at an angle.

“I’m Cecil, on the way here we saw a man being viciously attacked by some bandits, we need a healer!” Cecil said urgently. Sticking out of his blue body was a silver guild badge.

“Looks like they’re getting him now.” Said one farmer who looked like a lizard in farmer's clothes. “You talking about the Guileheads? They’re a troublesome bunch. I’m guessing you drove them off.”

Cecil paused, the sounds of the chainsaw and screaming men an hour ago, Arek’s sounds of disgust and horror when he tuned into her feed not too long ago, and the mention of a woodchipper made him decide not to complicate things too much.

“Y-yes we did, but a man was seriously hurt. By the time we had arrived they were already viciously attacking him.” Cecil paused suddenly as if hearing voices.

“Overlord confirms medevac possible, proceed, Starchaser. Out.” Ingrid said over the radio.

The wagon, which had slowed to a crawl, lazily turned around as it changed it’s mind, only to halt and a door from behind it to open up. Many gasped in wonder at seeing a Nemesis-Stalker dressed like a Drow assassin, causing others to wonder what sort of greater slime they were looking at to have a Nemesis-Stalker as its henchman.

The Nemesis-Stalker hopped out and took on a stretcher on which lay a big burly minotaur covered in bandages. A spider-like construct carried the other end and it effortlessly climbed down the wagon while keeping the stretcher held up. A felmoon cleric hopped out next, no doubt the one responsible for keeping the man healthy. 

“Deploy!” The Nemesis-Stalker barked, causing more to stare in surprise as they realized she could talk. Wordlessly, the wagon grumbled to life like an annoyed beast being ordered around past its mealtime and ambled towards some trees in the nearby forest. 

 

“Where’s you folks from?” one asked.

“New Gorpisal,” Ingrid replied.”This man was defending his companions from the bandits and then they set upon him. He’s badly hurt. Where’s…” she then looked up and saw what looked like some badger-folk in cleric robes hurrying over .

“Blessings of Saint Ygris, brother.” Iohann bowed. 

“Blessings of Althea, sister.” The head badger bowed in return. “Please, let’s take him to the church…”

With that, Ingrid and Neith carried the injured minotaur. As they passed she heard one say in horror “They even broke his horns…those Guileheads are such savages!”

“What kind of animals are those bandits to do this!?” One outraged farmer said.

“Please tell us you’ve delivered them a king’s justice!” pleaded another, hoping that the mighty Nemesis-Stalker was used to punish those criminals.

“Uhhmmm… y-yes…” Ingrid said timidly. “They’ve… our Daos-folk companion has meted out… justice.”  She remembered that Sammy mentioned about Philia leaving behind some kind of artifact that casts an illusion, which was the fantasy world’s equivalent of a holographic recording.

A very graphic recording, Ingrid thought. “She’s even left behind a stern warning...”

 

Zefir parked the ATV behind a grove of trees, and while it wasn't a fully enclosed glade it would do for now. Soon he had Autumnhollow set up and the rest of the party started guiding everyone to town, with Neith’s drones making sure nobody was left behind. 

Ingrid, who had heard on the radio that the caravan was now taking its ten minute walk towards the village, dialed in.

“Anubis, Amarok, what’s your verdict?”

“About nine possible villagers.” Kvaris said as she scanned her eyes on the road leading back, making sure that they hadn’t been followed. “Two carpenters  by trade, three vegetable farmers, two cattlemen, a blacksmith, and… a witch.”

“You mean a sorceress like Viel or Siria?” Ingrid asked. 

“More like a potions expert or a jack-of-all trades in magical things.” Philia said, sotto voce “they’re kinda like…” she considered her words as she was near the witch, who was still nervous from the display of violence meted out against her companions. “The tinfoil kind.”

As the caravan made their way, Arthur and Sully walked together, alertly looking around and making sure nothing came to  ambush the caravan. Two made steady squeaks in regular intervals. To Zefir, it reminded him of meerka’ lookouts.

“Ohhh… but surely she could help around in some respects?” Ingrid inquired.

“Oh definitely.” Siria said. “Despite what people say, it’s not all Broomhilda antics.” 

“What’s their motivation to stay, did you broach the subject directly?” Cecil asked. The party could hear Kirtus’ groaning in the background, at least he was still conscious.

“We asked them if they were fine with staying with a team that could be anywhere and could be fine being in some place far from civilization for extended periods of time.” Roofe spoke up.”Like us, those who chose to stay were just weary of having to deal with Red Moons wrecking their villages every year.”

“Our possible cattle men report that they’ve experienced one too many arguments over who’s livestock belongs to who when people huddle up all their animals in makeshift corrals, and one of them mentioned that the town he had to retreat to periodically had a shortage of space, so he doesn’t mind having to deal with such things.” Mink added.

“One farmer says he would appreciate not having to deal with the looting he sometimes experiences, he’s also a wine-maker by trade while waiting for his crops to grow, and some of those carpenters are also craftsmen by trade. A shame to see their hard work get trampled under.” Roofe continued.

“I could imagine the witch’s laboratory also needing to be built up everytime.” Ingrid said.

Philia spoke up “I’m sure we’ll get along just as well.”

“They are aware of course that since they’ll need to build from scratch,  it’ll take them time to get anything going?” Ingrid pressed on. “I imagine procuring Red Moon fertilizer isn’t exactly going to be easy or cheap considering everyone will be wanting it to quickly regrow their devastated produce?”

“They are aware of it.” Sammy answered. “As a matter of fact, five more farmers did volunteer but the prospect of having to start from nothing did make them consider.”

“Very well, I’ll have Iohann come over later and we’ll swear them in under the auspices of the Gods.” Ingrid said.

“How’s Selphie?” Gwen asked.

“She’s stable for now but she needs rest.” Siria remarked. “She mentioned something about wanting to join us but she passed out.”

_

As Cataline sat down with the Whales and the other possible refugees, she was surprised to see the Nemesis-Stalker take the leader’s place at the head of the table.  She had assumed the Nemesis-Stalker was simply their heavy hitter, but then again, in hindsight, the way she took control of the situation when the Whales arrived should have been the hint. It also then occurred to her that she was wearing a Drow Solenrala, which elves wouldn’t give to a war-beast simply because it was stronger than the rest. This Ingrid must have earned respect not just from strength alone…

___
As Ingrid took her seat she nodded at the short Ciltran mage and said “Viel”. The short mage raised her wand staff slightly and the sounds around them were muffled. Meanwhile, one of the flying constructs hovered outside of the muffled area’s area of influence, possibly to listen in to what anyone outside had to say. 

“The good news is, Selphie and Kirtus will be doing alright.” Ingrid began. “Kirtus will be staying here until he recovers. Selphie will be regaining her strength soon and wishes to join us.”

Ingrid paused as Philia flagged down a waitress and made her order. Ingrid had learned that the idea of adventurers using a muffling spell around their table was not a strange sight, though some did have reservations about using such a spell as it usually made onlookers thing they had secrets to spill out. But in Ingrid’s case, she just wanted to make sure everyone had could hear her clearly. 

Philia didn’t take long to order as she simply asked for the recommended dish which consisted of a dry, grainy potage and meaty lamb-like stew, accompanied with a vegetable soup.

“We’ll take that, thank you.” Philia said. “I’ll pay that out of my own pocket.”

“Let’s continue, first thing to get out of way, I’m Ingrid Lily, and as you already know this is my team The Whales. Yes, I’m smarter than the average human here, cheekrubs, headpats, and handholding is appreciated.” Ingrid paused as Philia, Zefir, and Cecil snickered. “Ever since we’ve acquired that pocket dimension in our house Autumnhollow, we have been considering taking in lodgers.”

Ingrid paused a bit, frowning at the sight of Philia sitting across the other end of the table, she was wearing military fatigues complete with patches and she knew when she put those on…

“Anyway…” Ingrid continued, “...our itinerary was to head to Teth-Odin and spend time in the dungeons there. However, it appears we will probably stay in this village for maybe… a day or two. What are your plans considering it will take time to establish your lodgings in our pocket dimension?”

“She’s talking about the arcane pasture.” Kvaris said.

“We have camping gear, and the place was quite pleasant to be in while we waited…” Cataline replied quickly.  “I’m Cataline, a witch.” 

“We saw some forests nearby…” a red fox-kin (Ingrid would later know their species as a Vulpei) remarked. “In a few days, we can get to work building ourselves a cabin. At least for me, I’m willing to work to build myself a home. I’m Farlan Redtail. I’m a carpenter and craftsman by trade.”

Ingrid nodded. “Very well.”

“It’s worth the effort,” cooed a birdfolk that resembled a bird of paradise with a scarlet throat crop. “I’m Scaine De-Molin, a Paseri as you can see…” he said, referring to his species. “...I’m a farmer by trade, I also make wine and ale.” 

“Wine and ale’s always welcome, Scaine.” Ingrid said. “When we get to Teth-Odin that would be a good time to stock up on your ingredients.”

“We do have to consider how to feed our villagers.” Philia said. “Growing crops and livestock need more than just overnight and we have no livestock.”

Ingrid thought for a while.

“Iohann? This is going to delay our visit to Fairhaven, what are your thoughts?”

Iohann shook her head. “Fairhaven’s troubles have been going on for long before I was born. If anyone has been remiss it would be the local lords, Ingrid. My hometown’s problems aren’t the product of anybody’s  negligence here.”

The would-be villagers murmured amongst each other at the implications of Iohann living in such a crime ridden town, which hinted at Ingrid that it was much more worse than she thought. Pushing these thoughts down, she took her HT (Handheld Transciever) from her bag. “Starchaser Actual to Glados, get me Arek. Over.”

The refugees looked at the boxy HT in surprise as it let out a yellow dot of light and spoke. “Copy Starchaser Actual, standby.”

Philia looked at her hands uncomfortably, they were going to ask for help from Arek again so soon and she still hadn’t figured out how to pay him back. 

“I could buy from this town, Ingrid.” Philia said, hinting at her stolen gold from Elion-Nosco.

Ingrid shook her head “We need our people fed now, Philia. It’s already rough having to camp out there, pleasant temperature or not. It’s the least we can do.” 

Cecil then spoke up, “Anyway, what were you guys’ plans? It doesn’t look like any of you can get started with your livelihoods immediately.”

“Zacad,” The hobgoblin introduced himself, he was tall as a human and had more goblin-like features. “I’m a farmer and an arborist by trade. If we hadn’t met you folks and survived to Teth-Odin, I would be seeking work around town, there’s jobs for repairing houses, working farms, tending livestock and so on. I have some rations and money with me for the meantime.”

“You’re in luck Zacad, because we’ll be in Teth-Odin in a few days anywa-” Ingrid was able to say before Arek’s voice came onto the line.

“Yyyellow!” Arek greeted everyone. “I’m keeping my cameras off in case Philia Montana is still going at it.” 

“I got nine people that could use some food, Arek.” Ingrid said quickly. “Looks like we’re going to try out our village plan.”

“You know I got some surplus balkan nation MRE’s I was planning to use in my Vlogs.” Arek replied. 

“You’re back to v-tubing, Arek?” Philia asked.

“You’ve missed a lot when you got corrupted, Philia.” Arek told her “But yeah I’ve been v-tubing or rather, livestreaming and everyone thinks I’m just a really fancy 3D model. Anyway, yeah, I got a quite a bit of MRE’s for your crew. It’s not much but those I can send over as soon as you’re ready. I’m assuming they’re omnivorous…”

“Yes they are.” Cecil said. “We’re having lamb and Iohann doesn’t mind.”

“Cecil, to them, it’s like comparing a monkey to a human, and those are in the menu for some of our own cultures.” Zefir said.

“What’s a monkey?” Viel whispered to Zefir beside her.

“They’re creatures that vaguely resemble humans.” Zefir whispered.

“Fair enough, lobsters to me are as far as sheep to people, Alright then, what do you have in mind?” Arek asked, his mandibles clicking in excitement.

“We don’t have facilities for them cooking yet, outside of starting a wood fire.” Philia paused… “Ingrid, I’ll take care of this, you discuss with the rest of the team.” She then pressed her earpiece to take the conversation one-on-one with Arek. 

 

“There you have it. “ Ingrid said as she switched off her HT. “By tomorrow, there’ll be additional rations for you folks to make use of, and in two to three days, hopefully, something more filling and nutritious… that should take care of everyone’s food security long enough for all of you to get started.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Ingrid thought for a bit. “And what about the rest of you?” 

“I’m a farmer too, and a chef as well, Lyoco’s the name.” the dove-folk (Hattun, as Ingrid would later learn) lady cooed. “I planned to go Teth-Odin after my previous town of Panatolia suffered a lot of damage from the attack, there just wasn’t enough to go around there anymore…” 

Ingrid nodded understandingly. “That makes three farmers, and a carpenter, and a witch.”

“I’m Rell, and he’s Lohak” the cat-folk, Serval (huh, interesting. Ingrid thought) said, addressing himself and his companion. “I’m a carpenter and he’s a shepherd. There wasn’t enough room in our town and he was forced to disperse his flock, figured it was too much to locate them again, assuming they survived and I didn’t like how our town pretty much just left us to our devices so we decided to find somewhere else to stay.”

“It’s fine if we can’t buy some heads of cattle for now.” Kinu said. “There’s still other forms of animal husbandry, also there’s a matter of having a good supply of milk and eggs, or honey.” 

“Oh right, you have something like bees?” Ingrid asked.

“They’re pretty big and well-mannered here.” Zefir said.

“I’ve helped tend bees.” Lohak said.

“Deig Sadinia” The golden retriever-like kobold introduced himself, his tongue also lolling out like Mink and Roofe. “I was a shepherd, however our flock had been devastated by something kind of livestock plague and since last year then I’ve been working as a farmhand. After the Red Moon, I planned to seek work in Teth-Odin.”

“Russet.” said the man that could only be the blacksmith. He was surprisingly, a human. “I came from Batlea valley, and I was bought by slavers from Elion-Nosco when I was young. I’ve been working there as a blacksmith’s apprentice ever since and then I was brought back to Veles when a man from Freid bought me to work as his assistant. I was on an errand from him to Teth-Odin when we got attacked.”

Ingrid frowned “...but if that’s the case, why stay with us? Are you not being treated well?” 

Russet hesitated, then produced a rolled parchment from his tunic. Its seal had already been broken.

“Because when I got pushed around during the fighting the letter’s broke and I saw no harm in reading it…” he passed it over to Ingrid, who read it quickly and saw why. The letter stated that Russet was a free man and Teth-Odin was a good opportunity for him to find employment.

“There is no guarantee you’ll get it from us, Russet.” Ingrid said “and I’ll let you know I don’t give preferential treatment simply because you’re human. Where I’m from, we focus on results, not origins.” 

Russet looked glum. Philia, who overheard the conversation, suddenly asked Arek to pause for a while.

“Who did you work for in Elion-Nosco, Russet?”

“Danuve of house Snorri.”

“I don't know them personally but they make good quality steel. And since it’s Elion-Nosco, him holding a job as an assistant and not some menial household job is a definitely good baseline. He’s got my approval, Ingrid, he’s good.” Philia said, deactivating her fake horns. Russet recognized her face immediately.

“She’s…or rather she was, the Princess of Elion-Nosco.” Gwen explained.

“Don’t bow.” Kvaris said quickly before Russet could do anything. “Officially speaking, Philia Elion-Nosco died a week ago. What you’re looking at is simply Philia Lovelock, just a regular daos.”

“Well then, it’s settled. Welcome to Autumnhollow.” Ingrid said, thanking the waitresses as they brought in dinner. 

 

“So why are we staying another day here, instead of leaving at first light?” Cataline asked. 

“I wonder about that too.” Zefir said, turning to Philia “your videotaped….”

“Impression Totem” Philia corrected him. “It casts an illusion spell depicting what happened while it was on.”

“Right, your holographic recording would have frightened them into relocating. If we’re planning to attack them they would have long gone by now…”

“That’s one of the concerns I’ve had, Philia. You could have spooked them and now they’ll be harder to find.” Cecil said.

“They shouldn’t,” Philia replied. “I told them our… “group” called the Braves are taking over the highwaymen business. Told them we’ll kill any and all who try to dip into our business… in other words…”

“You’ve taunted them into standing their ground.” Sammy smiled. “So instead of filling them with fear, you’ve provoked them into showing themselves.”

“There’s more.” Philia said. “One of their boys hinted they were keeping slaves to sell on the market. So it’s not something we can just leave alone. If we hadn't arrived, these people wouldn’t have just ended up in Teth-Odin or Selfir all bruised up. Some of them would probably end up somewhere, like in Elion-Nosco.”

Philia and Ingrid looked at each other.

“What did you record, Philia?” Ingrid asked.

“Just getting them to admit their names and position, their group, as well as the admission of their role in the maiming of one of the travelers. I worded it so that we’re brazenly taking over their business on their own turf as opposed to hunting them down. Told them to sit put  in their little hovel and watch as we rake in thousands of gold from travelers.” Philia related.

“Afterwards is their disposal I guess.” Cecil remarked.

“Well not yet, I hammed it up by saying the name of our outfit ‘The Braves’ and that we’re the best. You know, something to get them seething over, followed by a threat of what we’ll do to every Guilehead we catch.” Philia emphasized by taking a bite of meat from her stew with a grin.

“We’ve got them then, we’ll return to that same spot and deal with whoever we find there.” Kinu said.

“Or, we could get them in their hideout, Philia did ask where it was…” Sammy said.

Iohann thought for a while. “I’ll have to come along then. If they’re keeping prisoners there’s no telling who may be injured or ill-kept. Selphie and Kirtus’ conditions are stable for now and they’re under the care of other clerics.”

“Gwen, Zefir, and I can stay behind.” Siria volunteered.

“You’re coming with us. Siria.” Ingrid said. 

The mice, who had been getting more bites while others were preoccupied with talking, suddenly stopped and started squeaking in unison, indicating their willingness to fight.

“Someone pet them for me please… cuddly little mice.” Ingrid chuckled. Kvaris, Kinu, Zefir, Viel, and Sammy obliged by ruffling their head fur or scratching their back.

Ingrid smiled as her mice squeaked in joy “We’ll need all hands on deck for this one. Our villagers should take lodging at the inn right now. We’ll pay for it. Right now you folks tomorrow morning should get to work building a cottage or small enough home. Viel? Are you capable of item boxing it?”

“Should be no problem.” Viel said, continuing to scratch Arthur’s ears. “I’ve taken bigger things, and it’s not like something I have to bring in and out of my box every time, that’s pretty much the only reason item boxers don’t carry a house.”

“Alright then, it’s settled.” Ingrid told everyone. “Now let’s eat up before our mice get a lion’s share…”

___

Nod Orkalia had a long day today. After all that trouble while traveling he had expected to go back home safe and sound. Then, an adventurer group led by Kvaris and Kinu Enthana turned everything upside down. What he saw was nothing short of extraordinary, they had at their disposal an arcane space that one could set up anywhere. It was definitely worth the trouble, he thought. 

The only question of course was when he could start moving. Considering everything that happened today, he was nine hours away from where he needed to be.  He wondered if he had the strength left considering he had been traveling the whole day and his companions had accidentally kicked him in the ribs, that definitely hurt and he was lucky he hadn’t broken anything.

He decided to make up his mind and leave quietly. No sense endangering himself by staying here. He saw that others, and the knew that it was very likely the others would be looking for him as well. As he quietly began to pack, the room suddenly got brighter. The Nemesis-Stalker was now in the room with him, and her slime familiar was shining a bright light in the room.

Wordlessly, the Nemesis-Stalker drew up a chair and sat herself across it, leaning forward at the back rest. Then, one of the windows opened and the daos-folk Philia quickly mantled up. 

“We interrogated your Guilehead friends and they revealed you as the informant.” The Nemesis-Stalker stated flatly. 

“Yarmir said ‘Nod Orkalia’, the garm-folk is one of the Guilehead’s plants. Says your job is to find groups worth stealing from and then make a signal to let the gang know they’re worth taking from.” Philia said, sitting herself on the bed. 

Nod pressed himself against the dressing table. The Nemesis Stalker looked the most dangerous of the group and he’s seen the slime’s magic at work. But there was also something eerily malevolent with the daos-folk girl. Something about her made the other two look at him as if to wordlessly say “we’re not the ones you should be afraid of.”

“Please don’t ask us how she got that information out of Yarmir and his friends.” The Nemesis-Stalker said, as if her tone was genuinely concerned about him.  “I can assure you, they did not die well…”

“W-what do you want from me?” Nod gulped, worried if he was going to be eviscerated right here and now. He was cornered and he had nowhere to go.

“Stay in this inn tonight.” The Nemesis-Stalker said. “Tomorrow morning you’ll guide us to their hideout. Afterwards, I recommend you stay with us.”

“You mean kill me afterwards.” Nod nervously said.

“After I loosened Yarmir’s lips a little…”  Philia replied by Cecil snorted and cut her off

“A little.” he chuckled.

“Okay, I took out a lot,” Philia admitted. “He seems to suggest that you’re some fresh-faced recruit down on his luck. So apart from this assignment, you really hadn’t done much. If this was Elion-Nosco of course, you’d lose your hands just from association alone.” 

“Come with us.” Ingrid urged. “You won’t be hunted while you’re under our protection.”

“I suppose… I mean, you’re adventurers, not crooks.” Nod hesitantly said.

“What was your occupation before you joined?” Ingrid asked.

“I was a fisherman.” 

The three adventurers looked at each other.

“Well that just about rounds things out.” Philia said first.

Ingrid got up and turned around.

“Alright, let’s get our beauty sleep. You too, miss war criminal.” Ingrid said, taking the door like a normal person this time.

“War criminal?” Nod said, wondering what that meant.

“Philia here she…” the slime considered his words. “A few days ago she admitted to possession of enough deadly spores to kill milllions of people if released into the air. A serious crime where we’re from. I reckon if she released those spores here, it would envelop all of Teth-Odin in a few days...”

“Enough to envelop Elion-Nosco.” Philia added as she stood up, Nod knew that Elion-Nosco city was one of the largest in the world, though half of him wondered if she meant the entire country itself. It sounded like a gross exaggeration but the slime’s mention of her possession of being a “serious crime” implied it could have been. 

“Good thing Ingrid keeps me in line…” Philia said as she walked out of the door. “...but the reverse is also true. If something happens to me, only the Gods know what Ingrid will do with those weapons…”

“I don’t want to set the world on fire…” Ingrid sang as she walked down the stairs.

___

As the three walked back, Cecil spoke up.

“What do you think?”

“They had nothing good to say about him.”  Philia said.

“Is that a good or bad thing?” Ingrid asked.

“It means he’s a bad crook. He’s just some newbie who turned to them to save his own skin.” came Philia’s explanation.

“What’s stopping him from poisoning the villagers or putting a knife to their throat?” Cecil pressed.

“Because I’ll make him part of my next vlog…”

“Vlog?” Cecil asked.

“The Braves Vlog.” Philia said flatly.

“What vlog? Ohhh..” Ingrid said in realization. “...you plan to kill him?” she asked, scowling in disapproval.

“No, he’ll be my assistant, making him a rat to them, making him a wanted man. Now he’ll truly have nowhere to go.”  

“All hail Dark Queen Melrondia!” Ingrid and Cecil chorused in a comical monotone voice.

“All hail Dark Queen Melrondia!” Neith echoed over the radio.

___

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INDEX: The Whales' Party Sheet