Chapter 56: 51: Preparing for a Speech

The choice is obvious! You're going to save your sister, whatever it takes! At the very least she has useful abilities, which you are not ready to give up that easily.

You see the muscular goblin walk past you carrying a stack of hay into the storage and call out to him, “You, goblin with hay, what’s your name?”

“Eh? Musclebob,” He answers and looks at you with a mix of fear and confusion. “Who are you? Where is Lady Ariadne? We thought she would be here…”

“I’m the one who saved your life. And finding out where is Ariadne is exactly what I intend to do,” you say. “Drop what you’re doing! Gather your goblins and everyone else who came here. Tell them all to come here.”

The goblin drops his hay where he stood and runs off. Pythia drops onto the soft sack, spreads her wings and sighs, relaxing with a smile.

"You won't be laying about here for long," you say to her. "If you want to feast on the bunny boy Xi, that is."

"Great! Otherwise, this will get boring fast," she says still laying on the hay. "What do you want me to do?"

"Fly me to the capital," you say with a smile.

"Eeeh!!?? No way!" she jumps up and protests. "I'd barely get off the ground!!"

"I know!" you say still smiling. "So, just wait patiently and wait for instructions."

Then you turn to the bunny girl who is still behind you, waiting, and say "Delta, find the bunnies and bring them here too. Beta and Chi will stay in their cells for now—Hercule!” you call out to the grizzled man when you see the giant (not a literal one, though he is compared to everyone else here) carrying a stack of torches and several leather bags under his left arm and a wooden box under his right one. “Put that in storage and go back to the dungeons. Guard the bunny girl who attacked us. Don’t say anything to her. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t try anything. If she does—come find me.”

While you wait, you decide to follow behind Hercule to the storage and see what supplies you have. Since it's connected right to the main hall, the trip doesn't even last half a minute. And it is as you expected—what you have here will last you a couple of days. You cast a spell to summon a couple of Hellfruits, making sure to keep your energy well above the minimum needed for your loyal Summons, should it be required. Might as well check how long these fruits last before they spoil.

You go to place the Hellfruits and then you notice a watermelon with stains of blood, conspicuously placed on one of the wooden boxes. The blood, that dried long ago. In the watermelon's outer layer you see a carved message that reads 'Ur Dad died for this'. Such obvious damage to the rind of the fruit should have left it spoiled long ago, but when you press at its sides it still feels firm. You leave it be for now, though it appears to be something more than what it seems. After placing your fruits next to the watermelon you return to the main hall.

It’s strange seeing this place so busy. It’s a little lighter from the new torches, but still chilly and the torches won’t last long. After the meeting is over you’ll probably have to send some men back to the nearest trees for firewood and just start up a massive roaring fire. There have to be fireplaces here. And since there is always fresh air coming you’ll need to figure out the whole ventilation system of this place, probably make some adjustments. A fire mage would come in handy. Then you notice Elza arriving with a couple of other [Submitted] bandits.

“Can anyone among you cast fire spells?” you ask without much hope.

“The only ones who could besides Xi were burned alive by the little girl monsters,” Elza answers.

“Ironic,” you remark. The only pity you feel for the burned bandits is that you can’t use their powers now. “Can you learn fire magic?”

“Maybe, with a lot of effort,” she says but it’s clear she’d prefer not to. “I have a great affinity for ice magic, spending effort on something else would not be effective. At best I’d end up a poor fire mage who destroyed her true potential.”

“No, we don’t want that,” you agree. You’d much rather have experts in narrow, specific fields, as much as you can gather, than end up with a bunch of mediocre servants who can do a little bit of everything at below-average levels.

As more of your people gather you look around and are reminded that there is no furniture here worth speaking of.

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“Probably got burned for firewood a long time ago,” you theorize while still looking around. “You’d think at least a couple of chairs would be spared.”

At that moment you see the ‘Table-san’ woman tense up and hides behind Elza.

“Let me guess,” you say in a slightly questioning manner while looking at Elza.

“Xi used to bring her on his raiding parties,” Elza explains, looking at the woman behind her with pity. “He found it funny to use her as a chair during camping.”

“He kept promising to use her as a block for executions if she performed poorly,” Epsilon speaks up while looking at the woman. You’re not convinced that the other sadistic sister would not find that an enjoyable sight.

You walk forward to make sure you’re in front of everyone and turn around. While it would be good to have a platform for everyone to see you better, there is no way you’re standing on one of the wooden boxes that were brought to the storage. The four bunnies and all seven goblins are also here, though you feel that at least a couple of faces are missing.

You look at the muscular goblin and ask, “Musclebob, is this everyone?”

“No, some were sleeping,” he explains.

“And you didn’t wake them up?” you ask.

“Of course not! That would be rude!”

Of course... Well, whatever—those who really matter are here. They might as well rest before what comes ahead.

“Listen up!” you speak loudly to make sure everyone can hear you. “Xi is still alive and I have no intention of keeping it that way for long. He also has with him one of my dear comrades. We will find them, and put an end to his reign of terror once and for all!”

Now to figure out how to do that… The journey to the capital on foot would take about two months. And you're operating mostly in the blind.

YuujiEveryleaf

I want to keep this poll up for a bit longer since it's kind of a major decision on how to proceed.

There are three sets of choices - 1 ; 2 ; 3.

Everyone gets three votes and the majority vote in each of the sets will win.

I feel this is about as complicated as your choices can get with this format.

And if you decide to go somewhere, later you'll decide who comes with you.

Oh, and, while my Patreon page does not have much to offer yet except for a chance to support my work, I do offer a tiny cameo to my first Patrons as a token of my gratitude (non-linear order, when I find a way to fit them). :)

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