Chapter 117: Chapter 109: Scorpio’s way of helping.

"How is your wing, wolf hag?" Ivar looked down at Leila, blinking with his tired eyelids.

Scorpio smirked, enjoying the fact that his rival was worn down and tired. The siege was over, some enemy forces still tried to resist somewhere in the city, but their efforts would fail soon enough. After Governor Kurt declared the surrender, Ivar issued the order to hang anyone who dared to fire a shot. Scorpio simply called to his excellency, allowing the Wyrm Lord to execute his authority and give orders to capture the enemies.

Right now, he and Ivar were busy listening to reports. While Valerye was busy hunting down the enemy struggles, Ashbringer was in the field hospital, trying her best to survive after the elder pierced her lungs. The warlord finished off her opponent, simply melting her way through the enemy’s chest. Everything—the armor, the brain case, the steel insides—was turned to liquid with her last attack. Till Ingo later contacted Scorpio, saying that Ashbringer should show greater restraint later, otherwise the warlord will set the atmosphere on fire.

Zero fared better. Her duel with the elder lasted for three hours, with neither giving an inch. Shooting at each other in the depowered tunnels of the outer wall, the two somehow kept perfect track of each other despite being separated by a hundred meters of stone and being on different floors. At the end of the fight, the elder was captured alive, her metallic frame damaged beyond all repair. Zero came back none the worse for wear, albeit slightly bitter at Scorpio’s involvement.

The Moon City was slowly coming back to life. The scared people showed up from their homes or secured bunkers, and the officials of the Reclamation Army were busy making sure that all locals had anti-heat suits and that schools were ready to take in the kids. Giving out the new documents to the locals or explaining their rights will wait for a while, but right now the state’s officials were doing their best to make sure that everyone live long enough for this to happen. Luckily, there was no shortage of medical personnel, soultakers and a few captured flesh carvers were working side by side with the state’s doctors and the Free World’s medics.

"It is healed, captain," Leila saluted Ivar, speaking in an even voice. "May I leave now? I volunteered to help in the hospital."

"And your pack, wolf hag?" Ivar tilted his head, earning a gaze from the black wyrm. "As an officer, you have a responsibilities to your people. For their training. For their well-being."

"I already assigned them tasks about helping with the restoration efforts in accordance with their abilities, sir. Every other soldier in the pack is either in the infirmary or in need of rest, none is wasting valuable time. M… The soldiers performed exemplary work, helping warlord Annie suppress the enemy forces close to the armory," Scorpio opened his mouth in a predatory smile and blinked several times at Leila, speaking the words through sign language. Leila’s lips moved slightly, forming a cheeky smile. "Sir! If I may be so bold, my soldiers earned a reward for assisting a warlord!"

"Naturally," Ivar gave a tired nod, "Every soldier involved in the siege will receive a medal."

"Something more substantial would do wonders for the morale, sir. Tokens are always good."

"I will see to it. On with your duty, wolf hag." Ivar responded, straightening himself up.

Scorpio noted how Ivar’s eyes trailed after Leila, along with the fact that the blue wyrm failed to notice his stunt. If Ivar allowed himself to slip like this, the siege had taken its toll... or he was showing his emotions.

"Getting soft?" Scorpio asked innocently, hoping to twist the knife in Ivar’s cold heart. The black wyrm prayed to the gods, the Spirits, and the Planet to find a way for him and Ofelia to have at least one child. There was nothing he could do; the doctors said his seed would kill his love just as surely as the most lethal poisons. And here's this jerk, blessed with the greatest gift in the world, attempting to kill his daughter! Twice! "Regretting what you have done, by chance? Or are you regretting something you didn't do?"

"Regret is for weaklings." Ivar locked his gaze with Scorpio’s.

The black wyrm was the first to break eye contact, unwilling to waste any more time on this trifle. Instead, he looked toward the main gates, seeing how the soldiers were escorting former governor Kurt toward the armored car.

"Only fools never reflect upon their actions. Regardless, why are you freeing our prize?"

"Kurt is popular with the locals. Leaving him here is like leaving a flame next to a barrel of gunpowder. We can’t execute him, nor can we leave him. Better to let him go." Ivar turned to look at the leaving man.

Scorpio circled the blue wyrm, coming to a stop in front of him as quickly as lightning. He moved his neck forward, bringing his forehead against Ivar’s. The smile disappeared from Scorpio’s lips.

"And why are you leaving out the fact that Tehuoto is alive, hmmmm? Why did you give Kurt the photos of his ‘deceased’ nephew?" Scorpio inquired. "You promised to trust me, remember?"

"If you can’t figure out why we gave out the false information, then you do not deserve my trust." The blue wyrm replied coldly.

Scorpio sighed, standing away and circling around the blue wyrm to return to his original position. Sometimes he wanted nothing else but to grab the captain by the nape of his neck and shake him until the bastard either died or conceded to the fact that they needed to work together as equals. But this was against the law. And his own childish behavior right now might take a toll on the morale.

Of course, he knew the reason! Jekaterina was not fully sane, they captured enough messages to know about her medicine and therapy that she was undergoing to deal with her chronic distrust of others. Losing Tehuoto and her mother is bound to beat at least one of the pillars out of her legs, prompting her to take rash actions.

Spirits are my witnesses, I tried to save her. Scorpio thought sourly, lamenting the loss of a potential recruit and a leader for the state. He ordered the deaths of so many people that he has lost count by now. With his own hands, he crushed the life out of hundreds. He manipulated people into betraying others, he lied and misdirected the enemies. And still, this situation felt wrong to him. To win in this manner left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

"Tehuoto will stay in my crawler. Ofelia took a liking to the boy. Her gentle heart will break if something happens to the kid," His purple eye observed Ivar’s calm posture. No surprises here, hopefully. "I will take care of the west. The east is yours."

"You have no chance against King. You can’t even see the pattern behind his actions." Ivar kept looking at the city.

"If I was in Belaz…" Scorpio chuckled. "Well, I would've taken the city down in another way, Ivar, avoiding the drag you call a siege," Scorpio spread his wings, covering Ivar in his shadow. "You allowed our soldiers to die in vain to entice King to come out. You allowed Martyshkina to get injured at a time when we could have used her help. There is no pattern or grand plan behind King’s move, he acts like a typical tyrant. Killing those who might pose a threat to him, tying others to himself with grief and rage towards us, all the while looking for a miracle weapon to defeat us. There is nothing more to it, no hidden meaning. "The time has come for someone to show you how to win wars properly, my friend," Scorpio's wings beat, temporarily removing the air around them and allowing them to hear only each other. "Have a rest and a shower, Ivar. You look like a disgrace."

The black wyrm jumped in the air, making a full circle around the city, noticing the breaches in the wall that were beginning to get fixed. The workers from the Core Lands were already arriving in mass, helping to clear the rubble. Till Ingo and his weird ship arrive as well, bringing much-needed specialists with them. Scorpio had already agreed to give the man full custody of the captured bento's elder.

The crawlers formed a circle around the city, ready to repel any attack that might come upon them. Drones were unleashed, filling the air with their buzz, and scouts from the ranks of the regular army were busy keeping an eye on the soultakers’ main host. Everything seemed under control…

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If you ever put my subordinate in danger again, I will kill you. Scorpio smiled, reading the message from Alpha. His promise to Aranea was fulfilled. Now to build up the trust…

"Warlord?" Scorpio called Aranea, seeing her image through the visor that slid over his left eye. The woman was busy dragging away the rubble from the street, helping civilians get out of bunkers, "We started on the wrong foot. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the way I have been treating you. If there is anything I could do…"

"Yes, there is something," Aranea coughed, wiping dust from her lips. She quickly walked away from the workers, getting some privacy. "One of my wolf hags, Sonya, has a brother. His son is a little bit… special, so the man plans to get himself exiled to watch over him."

"Are you talking about Hubert?" Scorpio raised a brow, "But the boy already lives a happy life with Kassandra Trugh, and in time he will…"

"No, we're talking about another boy," Aranea checked around herself and whispered. "His name is Jacen. He… He will not get better. This is why Sonya wants to get him exiled, this way the shamans will be obligated by the law to protect him from being dominated."

"Oh. My condolences."

"Shove them down your ass! The boy has a loving family, he is not some burden to be mocked…"

"This was never my intention," The black wyrm told Aranea calmly, ignoring the insult. Instead, he made a note in his head about the fact that Aranea cares about the males. Good. He can rely on her to keep the soldiers alive. "Tell me what you need."

"Roggo is a traditionalist and stresses out about leaving the village for good. The man built his house there! If he gets exiled, the shamans will only help him with tokens, medicine, and free food on the condition that he leaves the village. The problem is, Roggo does not have any other option aside from getting exiled, he is getting close to the age when the culling happens. If you can get him on some subsidiary state’s program to help him stay away from the army and be able to pay for stuff, I will really…"

"Say no more. I will pay for a rejuvenation shot. And leave the rest to me as well. We will find a way for him to be exiled, safe, and with enough tokens to stay in his village, trust me on that one, Aranea." Scorpio stopped Aranea’s questions with a raised claw, smiling one more time before cutting off the communication.

The black wyrm changed his course, flying toward his personal crawler, feeling a little better about himself. Finally, a job that doesn’t involve killing or betrayal. The state had several programs meant to help disabled kids and single parents. But choosing this option was so… mundane for someone of his skills that Scorpio immediately dismissed this route. A more exquisite choice will suit better.

His wings carried him above the crawler, stopping his massive body above the landing pad. Seeing how the massive steel doors below him were sliding aside, Scorpio formulated a plan. It was really simple, all things considered.

Landing inside, he lowered his head, allowing Ofelia to grant him a kiss on the cheek. His tail moved, giving the love of his life a careful and gentle pat on the head before sliding down her shoulders and tickling her a little, earning him a smile. The captain excused himself, promising Ofelia that he would spend the entire next night with her and stormed to his private room, shaking the vehicle a little with his thunderous steps.

Once inside, he immediately contacted the Ice Fang order, calling two people. Camelia Wintersong and her son, Nofre Winterson, a deceptively young-looking lad who managed the finances of the Wintersong household. To Scorpio’s great pleasure, both answered at the same time. Camelia was dressed in a crimson bathrobe. The sword saint was sitting at the edge of a gigantic hot spring, allowing her maids to trim her elegant claws and comb her magnificent hair. Her long-sheathed blade was resting near her elegant legs.

Nofre, dressed in only shorts, was relaxing in a deckchair, enjoying the sun, with a nice-looking malformed sitting on his knees. Her tanned skin was enhanced by her long bony ribs and bone ridges across her spine. The woman gave the wolfkin a kiss before vanishing from the screen. Unlike his mother, Nofre had no weapon in sight.

"Lady Camelia, Nofre, it is good to see both of you in good health."

"To what do we owe pleasure, Scorpio?" Nofre asked, saluting him with a cocktail that the malformed brought to him.

"Nofre…" Camelia almost sang his name, a hint of warning could be heard in her melodic voice.

"Dearest mother, we are on our honeymoon. Pray, forgive me this happiness of mine." The smaller wolfkin wrapped his arm around his strange wife, kissing her.

"Lady Camelia, would you like to accept help from your missing relative?" This earned Scorpio the full attention of the sword saint, while Nofre only sighed, dreading the loss of tokens. "Nofre, care to do some charity and earn a small cut in taxes?" Nofre’s ear twitched, and he quickly passed on the cocktail to his wife, standing up and taking a personal terminal in his paws.

Now I have you.

"Here is the idea. You know that the villages of your kin have general stores, but all the treats are usually too expensive for their cubs? Well, how about opening a store that would sell some candy and such at almost zero price, getting on board with the state’s charity program to help developing tribes? This way, you'll get government funding, good PR, and a tax break."

"And how exactly is Aranea involved in all of this?" Camelia asked with suspicion, quickly losing her interest.

"Mother, please!" Nofre begged her, "I feel for my lost cousin and all that! But please, let us concentrate on the opportunity. Scorpio, we tried to do this in the past, but you know how stingy the shamans are with whom they allow to trade in the villages…"

"Indeed, we do! Knowing of your plight, Aranea personally took it upon herself to find and persuade a perfect candidate who will suit the shamans and will manage the new store…" With a gentle smile, Scorpio started lying and explaining his plan to the ice fangs.

At the end of it, he also weaseled out of paying for Roggo’s rejuvenation shot, allowing Camelia to cover this expense, and earned himself a permanent discount at one of Wintersong’s restaurants. Tax evasion was a thing that united all entrepreneurs in the Reclamation Army, be they wyrms, normies, or wolfkins.

And the Wintersong household felt even more obligated to warlord Aranea. This was not in the request, but Scorpio decided that this was a nice way to show his sincerity in making peace with the warlord. After all, a deal is only truly good if everyone involved profits from it.

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