...Great Western Road…
Shalltear sat across from Zaryusu in the tent, staring down at the paper clutched between her delicate looking fingers. There was a quill sitting untouched on the desk in front of her. The lizardman wasn't watching her, he was steadily writing on a sheet of his own. She looked to the left of him at a stack of documents that was quite thick, she was sure if she laid her hand vertical to them, they would reach past her thumb.
She looked to the sheet she had in hand, then back to him. The document in her hand was an award recommendation. "What do I do with this?" She asked incredulously. He set his quill and paper down in front of him and folded his hands together on the desk. "You read it first." He said patiently.
"I've done that." She said, irritated.
He paid no mind to her tone. "If you look near the bottom of the document, you will see a pair of empty boxes marked 'approved' or 'disapproved', and below that a place for a signature. After you've read through the document, you make a decision about whether or not the soldier's achievement merits reward. If it does, you put a check mark in the empty box marked 'approved' and sign below, and then set the document to your left."
"But it is reward enough to serve the Supreme One, why would anyone want or need more than that? It is gift enough to lower life forms that they be allowed to live, let alone serve." Shalltear said, for once sounding less 'arrogant' but instead more 'at a loss', as if she could not understand anything more desirable than serving Lord Ainz… which she couldn't.
"Lady Shalltear, Lord Ainz sometimes dispenses rewards to the guardians when their work is exceptional, does he not?" Zaryusu asked, mentally wishing to slam his head to the desk.
"He does." She replied simply.
"You do not require a reward to do your work, do you?" He asked.
"No, of course not!" Shalltear said, mildly offended at the very notion of such a requirement.
"But when one is given, you feel 'special', 'valued', and you treasure what was given, do you not?" He said, guiding the thought process of the adorable monster.
"Yes, of course, he has chosen to offer tangible proof of his praise!" She replied enthusiastically, "Even the mere act of service to one so wonderful is reward enough, but when he offers some small thing of himself, we're reminded of how much he treasures us, and we know our work was truly valuable to him!" She said so happily that her eyes shone like stars.
"I see." Zaryusu said patiently, "Now take that reasoning, all the things you just said, and apply it to every living and unliving servant outside of Nazarick. It is just as true for them, as it is for you."
Her mouth fell open.
"It is that simple," he said. "May I see that document?" He asked. She mutely handed it over to him and he read through it.
"This scouting trio had two of their members fall and get serious injuries. The soldier in this report acted immediately, treated their injuries and saved their limbs and their lives, then carried them back to safety by himself, protecting his charges along the way when some of the bandits of Re-Estize attempted to rob and probably murder them. His quick thinking and skill protected two of Lord Ainz's servants, exposed a danger, and eliminated it. Should he be rewarded?" Zaryusu asked thoughtfully, "The decision is yours."
He slid the paper back to her. She stared at it as she picked up the quill. "What award would he receive?" She asked.
"Look on the back side." He said, she flipped it over, there it read that he was being offered a few acres of farmland, or the equivalent value of two gold coins.
"He's a soldier, why would he want land?" She asked dubiously.
Zaryusu reached into his desk and took out a thick book and dropped it with a heavy thud next to the document stack of his.
"What is that?" She asked, a little intimidated by the heavy book, in a way that fighting never bothered her.
"This outlines, the goals and guides of various processes and teaches all about every document in this stack. Now, you're considering an award, so flipping this open… awards… here we go, section four page seven." He flipped to the relevant segment and read it aloud to her.
"Soldiers in the past who survived beyond the conflict often became bandits and criminals because they had only one single skill, which lent itself to only two careers, law enforcers or law breakers. As the former was not in high demand, the latter was the most common choice. Therefore, soldiers departing service may be offered land as compensation, and soldiers who perform exceptionally well may be offered additional land to be worked by tenant farmers during service, or themselves after service. In this way, the Sorcerer King will populate the useful lands while encouraging tranquility and peace. Soldiers who prefer equivalent value will have the coin deposited into and held by an insured financial institution in their home of record. If they should die before their end of service or collection, then the coin will be passed to their next of kin listed in their personnel file."
Zaryusu closed the book. Shalltear gawked. He looked blankly back at her in silence, then went to a small file cabinet and flipped through it, pulling out another document and bringing it over to her. "This is his record, it lists who he is, where he is from, who his living relatives are, how much of his pay is to go to them while he is here, and what is to be done with any extra coin he is awarded for special service. If he survives to go home when this all ends, this document will be pulled and he will be given travel documents authorizing his return home at the Sorcerer Kingdom's expense. If his family moves somewhere, he will have a new document made to replace this one. Additionally, if he is mutilated or wounded, that is documented as well for end of service awards, either in expanded land holdings, additional coin, or if he is deemed mentally traumatized by the event, authorization to enter a recovery center. There are roughly twenty odd documents of different types for every soldier in the army." He said as he set the document back in the cabinet, closed it up, and returned to his seat.
She was still gawking.
"You do all of them?" She asked in disbelief.
"No, there are commanders and squad commanders and the like, and a corps of the more literate and educated persons who tend to most documents and ensure they are orderly. This cabinet holds only those who directly serve the command element, that would be ours, and these documents include material aside from them, it also has intelligence reports, training recommendations, a timeline of our advancement, and more." He replied.
She felt her head hurt. "Now, do you believe this soldier merits the award his commander has recommended for him? If you say no, he receives nothing, it goes back to the commander, and will probably be disposed of. If the commander wishes he can resubmit it in a modified state to show any additional unreported actions that may influence the decision you make, if it fails then? Well then it will be disposed of, permanently. What is your decision, Lady Shalltear?" He pressed her.
Every instinct in her screamed that lower life forms should just grind themselves away and be grateful to live to serve instead of being ground to nothing.
She knew beyond doubt that if she marked 'disapproved' General Zaryusu would accept her decision. She thought carefully as she stared at it, and then she remembered some things that Lord Ainz had said, a saying of the supreme ones, 'Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.' She bit her lip, she remembered Lord Ainz rewarding Zesshi for her service, his gifts to the combat maids and to her fellow guardians for their work. Rewarding good service seemed to be thoroughly emphasized even when the service itself was all that they desired.
Zaryusu was still looking at her. "I will do as Lord Ainz would." She said, her voice full of the confidence she lacked earlier. She marked 'approved', and proudly signed her name below, placing the paper next to her. After making her first real administrative decision, she could not help but preen as she said, "Give me the next one, General Zaryusu."
"As you wish, Lady Shalltear." He replied, and as he said it, she felt there was a different undertone to his voice than there usually was. And though she couldn't quite place it, it felt like a good change.
…Fortress Igan…
Zesshi received word quickly that Yaksun had fallen to Queen Draudillon, and unexpectedly felt a smile creep onto her face. Despite the poor first impression that the Draconic Queen had made on her, the woman had turned it around and Zesshi found herself very 'pleased' for the Queen. The message included the option to come and seize part of the supplies the city held, to further sustain her as she moved towards the Elf Country and a reckoning with her father. That merited some thought, but ultimately she rejected it. She dashed off a note of congratulations to be rushed to the city and had her soldiers utterly empty the entire place of anything even remotely useful before signalling for the fleet of Ys to return.
Reboarding the ships did not make any of the elves happy, but when they did finally return and set underway again, they were filled with savage eagerness. The ships almost flew over the water as magic casters kept wind in the sails, they would inevitably run out of mana, but working in shifts and thanks to a steady natural wind, progress was made quite steadily.
Within a few days, they were passing an area that she knew held the southernmost Theocracy fortress.
She gritted her teeth to bite back the urge to disembark and seize it. Briefly she ran through what she knew. 'Fortress Tear, holding five thousand laborers supporting fifteen thousand soldiers, responsible for protecting the southernmost city of Tearliis and drawing most of its soldiers from their citizens. All adult male residents did two years service there in some form and it had a large enough space in its walls to house the entire evacuated city.' She briefly indulged a fantasy of threatening the city, then when they evacuated to the fortress, putting the entire city to the torch. 'How would you deal with that problem, Dominic?' She wondered smugly.
She dismissed the thought however, she had a different goal, Fortress Than. The easternmost Elf Country fortress. It guarded a gap in the mountain pass, make it past that, and she was marching straight toward Crescent Lake. She had absolutely no doubt that her elves, humans, and others who made up her army could make it through that fortress. However, more importantly she had very little doubt that the fortress would join her as soon as she showed her strength.
The week of sailing had not been wasted, squad fought squad and soldiers drilled on the large decks, confidence was at an all time high, even if the constant rocking of the boat made every meal an unpleasant experience. The upshot, however, was that the constant rocking of the boat made her forces ever more able to function on unsure footing. Nonetheless, when they reached the departure point, a lot of the elves were especially happy to be leaving, even more so than any of the others.
The air felt crisp and cool on her face as she stood up in the boat that carried her to shore. She made sure to stand up the whole way and show herself to her army, for she had learned some time ago that a commander setting the example was one of the best ways to ensure the confidence of their followers, and so far that had proven to be true.
She set foot on the sand, and was quickly followed by some of her elites, including the sibling vampire elves. The fortress wasn't that far, but chances were not being taken, the elites formed an immediate beachhead just in case of a scouting party or surprise attack. However, everything went smoothly, boats went back and forth from the fleet of Ys without incident until her entire army was ashore and formed up for the march. The unloading of the undead horses took only slightly longer, chiefly because they were so much larger than any one individual, but this too was done in an efficient manner that made her proud of her soldiers and their motivation to succeed. Within a few hours, Zesshi and her command team were mounted and moving. It was evening by the time she came within sight of Fortress Than, and predictably the fortress saw her as soon as she saw it. The alarm bells they rang and the signal fires they lit were clearly audible and visible to her as much as to whoever they were meant to warn.
She paid them no mind, she kept her army moving forward until they were just out of bowshot. The mountains to the north and south of the fortress were formidable, there was clearly no easy way through, save the pass this fortress was meant to secure, and from a purely professional perspective, that fortress was a masterpiece. The walls were very high and probably very thick, the mountain no doubt provided many of the materials for its construction, the ground was clear cut for miles in front of the only avenue of approach, and there were a number of towers interspersed along the side facing the pass.
Zesshi called a halt to the army, and looked to her right and left for Thirg and Tefl. "You two are with me." She said, they nodded in answer, and she spurred her horse forward at a slow trot. They kept their horses beside her, keeping a thorough watch on the mountains for any hint of a possible ambush.
As she drew closer, she saw more and more soldiers lining the walls, all armed with bows, she kept her hands up, and it was as she came closer, that she realized something was truly amiss. Those who had drawn arrows and readied them for the command to fire, were relaxing their grip.
A spokesman appeared above the gate, between two towers. "Who are you, what do you want here?!" He shouted forcefully.
This was it. "I am Zesshi Zetsumei, commanding General of the Elf Liberation Forces, I am in the service of the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown. Behind me is an army made up of tens of thousands of freed elf slaves! I am going to Crescent Lake to capture the capital, free our people, and when the chance comes, kill the King!"
Laughter greeted her. "Kill the King?! You think you can kill the King?! In centuries nobody has even managed to bruise him?!" The wall laughed, but none of the laughter was happy, it was the depressed laughter of the hopeless, mocking the idea that there might yet be hope.
"Yes! I can! I am his daughter, child of the Black Scripture woman he raped many years ago. And if you don't believe me…" She said, and rode slowly over the narrow pass to where the mountain and earth met, she drew back her fist, activating every strengthening martial art she knew, and slammed it forward. The sound of it echoed for miles as the stone shattered and an enormous deep gouge was left where once impregnable rock sat.
The laughter stopped.
"I abandoned the Slane Theocracy after learning what they have been doing to my brothers and sisters! I have joined the only kingdom in the world who sees to our freedom and prosperity, and they have dispatched me to bring that to you in turn, to overthrow the rule of an undeserving monarch! I am sure you serve him out of fear, not loyalty, but now you have seen that I have power that can match his. I will kill my father, and I will free all of our people from this endless nightmare! Open that gate!" She shouted up to the silent walls.
For what seemed like forever, nobody moved or spoke, they simply stood at the wall in disbelief at what they had just seen, and what she had just said. She wondered if she would end up having to fight after all, and then they snapped out of their stupor.
"Open the gate! Open the gate! Open the gate!" The elf at the top shouted as loudly as he could, the walls became a buzz of activity, word flew fast and before she could even trot her undead horse to the gate, elves began to pour out of it. She almost thought they were coming to fight, only to see that they were heading straight to the site of her blow, a chunk of rock thirty feet in circumference and seven feet deep was simply 'gone' and rubble and dust from the blow was still coming down from the sky, where it had all been shot to.
The crater in the mountain that she had made inspired awe, wonder, and hope, something they had not had in many a long decade, and they uniformly approached wanting to meet with her, to look into her heterochromatic eyes and at her black and white hair that hung down behind her, exposing her elf heritage in her ears as if to put it on display.
Her undead horse, once it was recognized as such, drew even more commentary and questions until she raised her hands and said, "I will answer everything you ask, but my army is tired from our journey and we must rest, let's all go inside, and we will speak there as they rest."
This was quickly accepted, but before she went further, she added as a precaution, "You will see some humans among my ranks…"
Dark mutterings and hostility began to build.
"If you cannot speak kindly or respectfully to them, do not speak to them at all. They are instructors who have helped to train my army, they are members of Black Justice, followers of Neia Baraja, who burned Wenmark to ashes. Many of them have risked their lives and died to protect and save elves from the slavery of the Theocracy, these are not the humans you know. Remember that." Zesshi added thoughtfully.
The dark mutterings ceased as quickly as they had begun, after all this time the names of both Neia Baraja and Black Justice had become famous for their efforts as freed elves made their way back to their homelands. Rumors had filtered in of a new religion, new lands, a mixed army led by a nightmare inspiring human whose eyes were such that they would haunt the nightmares of demons. A woman who destroyed the cities of their tormentors and bore with her, word of a new god that could slay impossible horrors with ease.
Zesshi and her aides went back to the army, and with a single blowing of the horn she carried, the march resumed. Elves stationed at the fortress stood aside. The ground quaked at the march, but more importantly, the stomping feet, undead mounts and massive figures in armor that would have been deemed impossible by the garrison, cracked the shell of hopelessness that had encased the hearts of the elves, and long buried hope began to widen those cracks until it burst forth as the last in the line of soldiers entered the gates, and was born in cheers and tears of joy. Zesshi's name was on countless lips and carried loud enough into the air that she wondered if her vile father could hear it far to the west.
Just as importantly to her, however, she felt something else, something she hadn't even known in the human centric Slane Theocracy, or even in the Sorcerous Kingdom with its many races that lived cooperatively.
She felt… at home.
AN: Hadn't planned on uploading till Tuesday, but hey, I've written all the way through Chapter 100 and my discord readers are all happy all the way to the end of that so... enjoy. :) Reviews would be nice by the way, authors feed on feedback!