“They left because I told them to, so we could trick the system into completing the quest, but they’re going to come back, and they’re going to work with us. We’re going to work with them too. That means no killing them for Power or levels or whatever. Find a dungeon, go hunt in the forest, whatever, but the dog monsters are our friends now.” I look the weird knight dude straight in the eye, waiting.

It’s probably a bad call to be such a dick to this guy, especially considering he had a lot of people behind him, but also, he’s clearly not the type to listen to people. Like, at all. He seems to be listening now, but only after he got his ass beaten in front of his people. Ugh.

I probably shouldn’t be so hard on him. He gathered a lot more people than we managed to… but also they’re all a lot less strong than we are. Lauren, Loriane, Seth, Amy, or Lynn would each be able to hold their own against Gershwin without much issue. Well, Lauren could probably take down the entire army, but that’s because I doubt they have the same depth of skills we do.

“I cannot trust them so easily. Not after what they’ve done.”

I sigh, exasperated. “Are you really the kind of man who’s going to attack allied creatures, even if you don’t agree with the alliance? Are you really going to kill them in cold blood, or provoke them unnecessarily?”

He stays quiet, but fury dances in his eyes. Likely because he’s unwilling to say any different in front of his followers, he grunts. “If… they uphold the alliance, they will be tolerated. They will not be allowed near non-combatants, but I think we cou-”

“They will be allowed where they choose.”

His fury increases substantially, as what he clearly saw as a concession is thrown back in his face. “We will not allow our artisans to be risked! They would be unable to defend themselves!”

“It isn’t a risk. You can’t understand why, but if any of them harm any of us, they’ll die. They can’t kill me, which means they can’t stop me. Plus, they’re like a hive mind, and I’m tied to the thing at the top. He doesn’t want to die, so he won’t do anything dumb. Am I getting my point across?”

“Clearly.” He responds, icily.

“Great.” I say, paying no heed to his tone. “Then you and your men will cooperate with us?”

“No. We will do things how we see fit, not at the command of some misc-”

“Then you can fuck off, and don’t come back. You clearly don’t need our village, or our army, or our protection, so handle whatever the system can throw at you all by your fu-”

“Amadeus, enough.” Lynn steps forward. Odd, I didn’t hear her approach… “You’re their leader?” She continues, addressing Gershwin.

“I am.”

“I’m Lynn, and I’ll be representing the small group of people you will meet later. We will be founding a village, likely right on top of the hill over there. It has a dungeon underneath it and plenty of supplies and infrastructure already created, making it highly defensible. We have people capable of forming stone and wood to their will, an extremely capable blacksmith, people who can create potions, bows, and very potent healing that can restore things the system will not naturally fix. You are free to join us, but you will follow our laws if you do. Your ideas on how the laws should be changed, and the overall direction of our efforts, will be considered and accepted or rejected based on reasonable thought and proof. The Carnines and their masters are now our allies, and any humans that break that pact will be known and suffer greatly, just as if they had killed a human. The same is true for the Carnines. If you do not wish to join us, we will not bother you or yours unless you continue to attack the Carnines. They are a valuable asset, and will protect us with their lives. That should be respected. Do you have any questions?”

“Just as I was telling your friend here, we do not req-”

“Actually, chief… that doesn’t sound unfair.” Someone standing immediately behind Gershwin spoke up, and others turn to stare at him with expressions varying from relief to aggravation.

“Dylan, if you want to cozy up with monsters, nobody here will stop you.” Gershwin clearly enunciated every venomous word.

Dylan immediately looks shaken, but rallies slightly. “Is it wrong to forgive them? If they really don’t mean to hurt us, we can turn our attention to other things… rebuilding… what good would killing all of them do?”

“It would ensure our safety.”

“From them, sure, but the others? Rats in the mountains, living trees in the forest… this world is vast, sir, and we could always use more support-”

“Feel free to take it. We’ll be going.”

And with that, he turned and lead… roughly half of his original number away, which only served to infuriate him more.

“INGRATES! FINE. DANCE WITH DEMONS, IF IT PLEASES YOU.” He storms away, moving at a fast paced jog, followed by the remains of his retinue.

“Pay him no mind.” Lynn gestured after the fleeing ‘soldiers’. “We are still working everything out, but we have strong reason to believe this alliance will last. They want the same thing as we do: to escape this world, and destroy those who sent us here to die. Killing us would do nothing for them, so here we are. The others will come around eventually, I am reasonably certain. Dylan?”

“Maam?”

“Thank you for speaking up. What role did you hold within your old group?”

“I… worked with leather, mostly. I made the armor everyone is wearing.”

“Ah, so you found an Apprentice’s Stone?”

“A… what?”

“You made all that without system equipment?”

“Y-yeah, we had the bodies, and I used to work with leather before we… arrived here, so it wasn’t terribly difficult.”

“Most impressive. Please, all of you, follow me and we’ll get you sorted, and see what equipment we can get for you. This way…”

And with a small smile to me, she turns and leads them away.

I close my mouth, ending the look of complete shock I had for likely the entire duration of that interaction, and scratch my head. That was incredible, but… so incredible that it should have been impossible.

That isn’t the source of my confusion, however. My head ached every time Lynn spoke, so the mechanism was clear, but… how did she decide so fast? How did she get that good that fast?

Lauren was right on point with recommending Lynn for the job… she’s a natural.