Chapter 81

The second 'emergency' stage of setting up the new town site was set in motion almost as soon as Hagane and I got out of the dungeon. As predicted, the Rhibus were enthusiastic about the job, and with some help from myself (just to get started). Ganesha Familia had the usual sewer maintenance crew took a couple days off from Orario's sewers, to dig a new one.

The Guild, with a bunch of grumbling noises for all the paperwork this was causing, had sent some people with old building schematics. The new town would have two major buildings to start with. The first, of course, was a guild building. The newcomers might not like having an 'authority' already in place in their new 'promised land', but the Guild would have a lot of the answers they needed.

It would also provide a secure spot to stay in contact with Orario, in case something bad happened. They would have only basic knowledge for the problems they would inevitably face, and having help 'close' would be essential.

The other building? A meeting hall. The Guild might be the 'authority' but they held no 'power' past their neutrality. So it was suggested we make them a place to meet as a community, and solve their own problems without the Guild needing to step in.

But once that was set up, and I'd finished using my foxes to dig the initial trenches for the sewers, I stepped back, let people know they could call if they needed me, and went back home. A little over a week was left, and there were a mountain of things that still needed to get done.

"Yo Sister!" Welf called from behind me someplace, "Oh wow... wondered what all those buckets were for."

In an effort to make good on my promise to get better with Senjitsu along with the children, Haruhime, myself, and all our kids, were playing with water. At our feet, we had a simple metal bucket filled with water.

We had varying levels of success doing things with it. For example, Toshi couldn't do much more than make the water ripple, while Chie was able to make little fountains. If nothing else, we were all training our hand dexterity, since a lot of Senjitsu needed some sort of motion to go with the effect.

"Rest." I called out, making all the children relax, or just sit down and yawn. Haruhime, to dignified to yawn in public, went around giving proud headpats while I turned to face Welf. "Welf. What's up?"

"Odds and I came up with an awesome idea for the wagons, and they should all be ready by the time the Gate opens up again." He grinned.

"Good to hear. But what's the idea?" Odds very rarely had a bad idea, and even those usually became good ones once she figured out how to make a tool for it.

"They're all exactly the same. I mean, more or less. But they can all be taken apart easily. Get a few of them, and they break down into about enough material for a small shack. But they come apart by pulling a few metal rods." He gave me a thumbs up, "The rods are reasonable quality metal and can be made into nails or whatever, but the wood itself isn't nailed together."

"That's clever." I nodded, "It won't make a home for everyone, but it's still a great start."

"The tents you made will do for a little while. We are getting closer to winter, but we've planned for that, right?" Welf rubbed his chin, "More or less. I have to keep reminding myself they're just civilians."

"They've been through a lot. I'm sure we can come up with a few extra blankets someplace." I mirrored the chin rubbing motion.

"Ko-san?"

"Yes Love?"

"How will you get them all there?" She asked, kneeling among the children, "The train can carry many, but it is still quite a long walk."

"The City probably isn't going to like having... how many did they say?" Welf asked.

"If things keep going as they have been, upwards of fifty thousand." I said, realizing a rather large oversight on my part. I sat down on the grass with a sigh and facepalmed.

It was one thing for The People (hand wave towards the city) to hear there was a huge project going on, but another thing all together to see it, and have it interrupt your day by marching through the city...

"About one quarter of Rakia's last attempt to invade." Welf said, "It's going to take almost a week to get them all to the river from the Gate."

"Oh dear..." Haruhime and the children shuffled over a little to comfort me, "Ko-san?"

"I think it's starting to really sink in." I mumbled into my hand before reaching around to hug everyone (except Welf, though if his leg was close enough, I'd have hugged him too). "Yao's people were a big surprise, and have been a colossal help with the refugees. Without them, the tents and food we sent over would have run out already."

"A lot of different people too." Welf said, plunking his rear down across from me and resting his chin on his hand, "Won't be long before they start wanting to wander. Don't get me wrong! Lots of space to wander! But its dangerous out there."

"Well... They do have magic." I said, thinking, "Love? I'm going to have to hug Ganesha again. He's already offered a small group of adventurers to keep monsters away."

"We can help!" The children said, wiggling away and doing various Ganesha poses.

I couldn't help but laugh, "Well okay, you can hug Ganesha too." I couldn't keep being gloomy with that kind of enthusiasm around me. "I'll have to bother Marius for more stone, and maybe people to patrol as well. Get some green recruits over here... yeah..." They might even be here in time too!

"Heh, just be careful, the people might not like that either. But to be fair, Rakia is in pretty good standing with Orario now." Welf chuckled, "Hm, wonder how my old man is doing..."

"You know, you can visit. Nice road all the way there now, most of a railway too." I said, "We even have the Occulus. No excuse now."

"Except with all this extra dungeon time, we're all wrecking our equipment." Welf grumbled.

"At least call them." Haruhime smiled, "Maybe have your own Occulus delivered to them?"

Welf's resolve crumbled against Haruhime's smile, "Well... yeah I can do that. I'll warm up the glass furnace."

"I'll be there soon then." I said, looking at the children, "We'll do more after lunch. Go play for now."

One last hug, then a sudden dispersal of children. Welf wandered off as well, and I was left with Haruhime. "Ko-san?" She didn't rise, since I'd kept hold of her hand.

"Just wanted a moment." I said, wrapping her up with my arms and tails, "Can you do me a little favour?"

"Of course." Since we were 'alone', she wrapped me up too, making us look like a kind of fluffy ball with only our heads peeking out on top. But she let go, and so did I.

"I would like you to call Yasaka-sama, and ask about the element test." I smiled, remembering when I learned of my affinities, "We should have done this before we started with the Senjitsu training but..."

"I will try." She smiled, likely seeing what I was doing, getting her involved in something she was simply trying to keep up with. "Why now though?"

"This is starting to get into... dangerous territory. You saw how only an hour of training tired some of them out. It can get much worse. Toshi was trying twice as hard for less than half the effect, while Chie was trying half as hard, for twice the effect." I took hold of her hand again, "And I can't teach them anything about fire."

"You think I might?"

"Maybe. But aside from extinguishing it, or 'rejecting' it, I can't even start training them how to control it. Hmm, we should get Maki to join us. Momiji too." I mused.

"I will try." She said, standing up and pulling me to my feet, "Go help Welf-san. Perhaps Garon-san or Vil-san can help the new settlers?"

"That's a brilliant idea." I nodded, the two of us heading towards our destinations.

More things slammed, clicked, drifted or wobbled into place for the settlers over the next couple of days. With everyone in the Manor helping with things like resource gathering (money mostly), the Guild doing what the Guild did best (paperwork, grumbling about paperwork and getting things done after the paperwork was put away), and a lot of the smaller Gods of the Alliance offering what little aid they could, things were shaping up.

It was still an incredible project, but, with how well everything was organized, and the Gods starting to really see the potential 'amusement' that this would bring, I didn't need to do more than answer a few questions, and most of those questions were answered with 'talk to so-and-so'.

The Guild, in an effort to generate a little more excitement, maybe for the Gods, maybe for the 'people' or maybe even for the settlers, were starting to decorate the town. Banners of many colours. Signs with every language in the known world saying 'Welcome', not just to welcome of course, but to see if there was another common language. It was quite festive.

The 'plan' was for most of them to come in from the East gate, walk along the wide centre road to the tower, then go North. The road to the new town site had been made into a Rakia styled Road already, so it would be easy walking. A smaller portion of the settlers, the youngest and oldest mostly, as well as bulkier items, would head to the West gate of Orario, and use the train.

This would let the settlers travel light and those who were less firm than 'average' to get there safely. We, the adventurers, would do our absolute best to keep any stray monsters away from them while they walked or used the wagons.

Ah right, the wagons. The JSDF at the East Gate, amiable fellows who were starting to lose that super formal 'I AM A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE JSDF' attitude with the occasional adventurer or citizen who went to visit. Even towards the Gods, they were relaxing a little. They had probably answered the same questions a million times when asked about Earth, the Zone or Orario.

But they were very impressed by the new Wagons. I mean, not as impressed as say, if the latest model Tank rolled up or something. But in preparation for the arrival of the settlers, Odds and Puuf had delivered a dozen loaded wagons. These were loaded with enough parts to make more wagons. All anyone had to do, was take the correct amount of parts from each of the lined up wagon beds, and start assembling. So long as they could lift the heaviest part, a single person could put one together.

Then there were problems. One of them I couldn't fix myself, though I should have thought ahead on it a little better. Thankfully, Shinkage, the ironic puppeteer, had a workaround for me. It did require a little bribery, but thankfully, and Bell got a surprise headpat for this, but something interesting came in on a boat from Melen.

"You want me to take over the watch of Jarha, as she limps her way back to Telskyura?" Shinkage asked, raising an eyebrow and setting a bookmark on her page.

"My foxes will vanish when I go through the Gate." I said, "And I promised she'd get home."

She gave me the smallest of dirty looks, "You've asked Hagane?"

"He's in the dungeon working on getting money for his backup body. So I didn't ask."

"I could do this, yes. How much effort do I put into it?"

"Food, shelter, protection. No need to talk to her, though, she's been very quiet so far, and aside from a few directions for shelter or the like, I haven't said anything to her." I replied, summoning a fresh bunch of foxes, letting them have a moment of 'play' around my feet and tails before willing them to stillness.

"I expect to be-"

"Kodori!" Weine said excitedly, entering the library, "Oh, right, quiet place." She walked up to us, quietly, her maid outfit (version three, since she had worn out two of them with all the time she spent in the kitchen or around the Manor) swishing for a moment longer as she stopped beside us.

In her hand, was a cookie sheet, laden with still slightly steaming cookies.

"I did everything you said, and I think I got them right." She added, motioning with her other hand, "But just like you said, I haven't tried one yet... I resisted!"

At first glance, they looked like chocolate chip cookies. But that would be silly, since chocolate (as I knew it) didn't exist in this world. I also didn't 'import' it from Earth either. Instead, it was something very similar in taste and texture, Carob.

Weine helpfully lifted the edge of a cookie up with her spatula, and Shinkage plucked it off the thin metal sheet. Carefully, she waved it in the air to cool it a little, then took a bite. Weine and I watched as Shinkage savoured it for a moment.

And had exactly one second of sparkle.

Then the dozen foxes I had around my feet were no longer under my control, and they zipped off through the still open library door. "Accepted." Shinkage said, reaching up from her comfy chair to give Weine a headpat. She then nibbled her cookie again, stood, and started towards the door herself, "I require milk."

The next problem... I might have been able to solve it with cookies. But I was sure it would have insulted someone if I'd tried.

So, I found myself standing just outside the gate of the Loki Familia home, the Twilight Castle. Even after so long, the weird Escher styled castle seemed impossible, yet quite beautiful.

"Lady Loki. Getting along I see." I said, not stepping onto the property, since I didn't want to (yet again) fight the Amazon sisters Tiona and Tione.

Loki, wearing her usual long sleeved shirt that left her belly button exposed, 'short shorts' and leggings, was holding her cat. The once wild bubble gum pink and blue kitten, was now full grown and calmly resting in her arm while she pet it with the other hand. I was also pleased to note it wasn't overweight. She'd apparently really listened to me when I told her about how to care for it.

Unless she got someone else to care for it, and it was drugged to look sleepy in her arms. Then shame on her. But I doubted she'd do that.

"You've been really busy there Fox." Loki said, looking up at me with her usual almost closed eyes and mischievous smile. "But it's causing me a little concern."

I was starting to wonder when 'the big Familia' would start bothering me. Though, I'd been holding that off by giving them work. All except Loki and Freya. To be fair, Freya Familia wouldn't get close to me or mine unless they had no choice. But all the others, Hephaestus, Goibniu, Ganesha, Miach... They'd been getting more work, money, and 'cool new things' from this project.

Except Loki was a dungeon exploration Familia. I basically had no real reason to get them involved.

So I already knew the answer when I asked, "And what might this concern be?"

"Your project is BORING!" Well, okay, I thought I knew. "All the other Familia are buzzing around like Jamil's bees, except mine!" Ah, there it was.

Even her cat was looking at me with nearly closed eyes, though it was probably because I wasn't offering to pet it.

"AND!" She pointed at me with her free hand, "You've put a timer on when we can start scouting them for new Familia members."

I smiled, though it wasn't at her accusation. No, her cat reached up with a paw and captured the accusing hand. Loki then resumed petting it, and it settled down.

"I have. Though that is mostly to keep them together long enough to get their feet on the ground. The population for many of these races won't be stable. And if they instantly start going into the dungeon and the worst happens..." I trailed off.

Tiona, from behind Loki (and the reason I was still standing on the street) snorted, "Sounds like you're keeping a zoo."

I shrugged, looking past Loki for a moment to meet (the less busty) of the Amazon sister's eyes, "Amazon are extinct on their side of the Gate you know."

A pause, then from both sisters, "What?"

"They had Amazon over there too. But they didn't find firm enough footing, didn't consolidate like they have here with Telskyura, and now, there are no more over there." I shrugged, "So, with that in mind, and with respect, Lady Loki, I'd really like to have the Gods wait a little while before scouting new members."

"How long then?" Loki asked, actually looking like she understood now, thoughtful instead of her usual expression of sly amusement.

"Ideally, I'd say a generation. Though," I held up a hand, "I'm sure there will be people without families. Once they get used to life here, and they want to do something other than build houses or what ever else needs to be done, they might come here instead. Hopefully, it will be long enough to teach them to read and write."

Loki grumbled, but nodded.

"Now, they're going to need a little help. Protection from the wild monsters that still live outside the walls. A lot of the smaller Familia as well as Ganesha of course, have volunteered some people to help with that." I added with a smile, "Who's to say they won't advertise for their Gods? It might attract some of those stray settlers to them."

A master manipulator Herself, I had no doubt Loki saw right through my terribly obvious hints. But, even with that little smile on her face, "Yeah, alright. I suppose we can get involved a little too."

"You want us to guard a bunch of weak-" Tione (The busty) started.

"I was weak too, when I arrived." I said, "And I'm getting them all to do what I did. Learn to read and write, figure out the laws, and find a Familia." I looked down to Loki, "Was that all, Lady Loki?"

"Yeah. For now I suppose." She turned and left, bringing up the cat up a little so she could rub her face on its fur, "Yes you are just so precious..."

"Heard you have a bunch of younglings at the Manor now." Tiona said, "What's that about?"

I had already started to turn, but the question stopped me, and I turned back to face them again. "Zealots from Telskyura attacked while I was outside the walls. The Mothers, their children, the Oni, my wife and our children, were all there." I explained as simply as possible. "The attacking group had nine younglings with them, and one was killed with a spear to the back, while an Amazon tried to stab me."

My cold tone made them both back up a half step, but they recovered, their own anger with me overcoming their fear. "What are you going to do with them then?"

"The adults who survived, have returned to Telskyura."

"Survived?"

"They were warned." I replied quietly, "And since I'm trying to cure that kind of ignorance, the eight remaining children, all strong, but still level one I might add, are staying with me for a year less a day."

They grumbled a little but didn't say anything further.

"If you want to visit, you're welcome to. I'm sure they could learn a lot from... better examples of the Amazon race." I said with a smile, "Aisha's great and all, but I'm quite biased. No matter what you think of me, I think you're good role models. At least, better than Jarha, and that thing was that stabbed a spear through a child to try and kill me."

And with that, I turned and left, before I gave in to the urge to step onto the property just to start a fight.

"This is Itami calling. Is anyone listening?"

As we were just shy of a week away from the Gate opening again, I had been keeping the Occulus in one of my pouches when ever I wasn't sleeping. So, I set my tools down (yes, more armour repair) and took out the Occulus.

"Itami? What's going on?" I asked, setting the sphere down just within arms reach, and getting back to work.

"Well... I'm not sure how to say this without sounding like we're whining..." His phrasing made it clear it was a bigger problem than just 'him', "But things are starting to break down."

"How close to FUBAR are we?" I asked, finishing a stitch, then giving him my full attention.

"The Commander thinks we're still on track. I think we're screwed." He said, "I overheard Sugawara-san talking about the local nobles. They're getting a bit annoyed with heaps of their peasants leaving."

"Heaps?" I felt a little tingle on the back of my neck.

"Well, we're still within the estimate we gave you. But what it boils down to, are people are leaving."

"And when they leave, they stop working, and paying taxes." I nodded.

Then we both said, "Politics."

"You're not taking Sugawara-san at his word then?" I asked.

"Oh I am! But he's a diplomat. He's supposed to downplay things to stop them from getting upset." Itami scratched the back of his head. "So when he says 'annoyed' I hear, 'angry'."

I pinched the bridge of my nose for a moment, "Okay... But what can we do about it?"

"One of the suggestions I wasn't supposed to hear, but heard anyway, was to have you offer restitution for the lost labour and taxes." Itami said, "And because I did hear it, I'm calling you."

"Well..." I sighed, "What exactly can they do if you ignore them?"

"We're still under orders to play nice with them. While we're here, we rely on their trade for food, access to their lands for travel, that kind of thing. I think your 'bribe' might have been a bit too good." He explained, "You might have overplayed your 'wealth', and its starting to sound like extortion."

I was about to reply, but he shook his head.

"It gets worse too. Duran-san of course supports you fully, and we've even started a betting pool to see if he tries to sneak across to your world to retire. Any and all families showing the coin you made are given leave to go, with his encouragement no less." Itami chuckled grimly, "But other Lords are less willing to part with their serfs, and while some of the migrants slipped away, others are being stopped. Some of Yao's people are being turned away under threat of violence."

"Aha." I said with a smile that made Itami flinch, "That sounds like a hostage situation."

"Please don't smile like that?" Itami pleaded, "It's worse than when Rory does it."

"I don't have many 'duties' as one of Hestia's Familia. But I take those duties very seriously. I've invited those people here. The Nobles accepted my 'payment' for their cooperation. It's not my fault they feel they are losing out." I let my smile fade, "Since we are on a time limit... Can you set up a meeting in Italica?"

Under his breath, he mumbled, "damn, lost the bet." Then, "We're ahead of you on that. All the nobles who are unhappy, are already there. Since it's considered neutral ground, its basically where all things like this are held, good or bad."

"I can be over there tomorrow morning. We can open the Gate just a tiny bit early, but not to let people through just yet. They're still finishing up a sewer and water system in the new town site." I nodded, "I'll bring a couple people with me and dress up nice for the occasion."

"Some of them are pretty upset, so bring your A game for them. Remember we still have to live here until we reconnect with Earth." Itami sighed, "No disintegration." He pointed at me.

"Yes Lord Vader." I laughed, "Though, for me its 'decapitations'."

I told everyone who wasn't in the dungeon about 'the problem'. This made everyone who'd been over there with me the first time sigh, those who weren't over with me grumble about 'greedy people', and me shrug my shoulders.

"It's this, or we risk upsetting the balance between them and the JSDF. They've been supportive of us, and I'd like to do the same." I defended, "It's not like they can stop the people already at the camp site, but the ones being denied are now basically captives."

"Is it wise to open the Gate early? What about..." Maki asked.

"Both Lelei and Fels have deemed there to be no 'distortion' effects." I countered, "Thanks to Akeno keeping us informed of all that stuff before it became our problem too, we seem to be in good shape so far."

"You did well to befriend her." Takemikazuchi said with a sip of his tea.

"She befriended me. I tried to keep her at arms length." I said a little sadly. "But yes Takemikazuchi-sama, Akeno is certainly someone worthy of great respect."

"So, how do you plan on handling the problem?" Maki asked, saving me from thinking about how to somehow get Akeno to visit in person. "We don't have enough time to really... oh... hehe..."

"She gets that evil laugh from you!" Hestia grr'ed at me, though she wasn't actually mad, since her hands were still petting my tail gently.

"We have what? Six, no, five days as of tomorrow, right? Before we 'officially' open the Gate?" Maki asked.

"That's right." I nodded.

"Well, while you're trying to make nice with a bunch of people who are determined to not be nice..."

The next morning, bright and early, after we'd done a little equipment check and given everyone who was home a goodbye hug/kiss/headpat/wave/rub on their fuzzy butt/nose boop or any combination there-of... Then telling the Dungeon team what was up, and just waving. My Team and I got ourselves to the Gate.

Who was going? Myself, obviously. Hagane, since the Nobles knew him, and were impressed by his very existence. Ryuu, another 'known' member of my party. Spot, and Chime, because they said they wanted to (at least, Delly said so).

And the rookie team. Delly, Maki, Momiji and Kaede.

When we got to the Gate, introduced anyone who needed it, and asked to make sure orders had been sent across, we were given leave to enter the little outpost and wait for Lelei to get out of bed on the other side, and open the Gate up.

In the few minutes we waited however, one of the guards we were waiting with (all non JSDF persons must be escorted at all times, ma'am!), tried making friends with Spot.

"That, is a huge dog. Aren't you boy!" He said, reaching a hand out in that universal gesture of 'sniff my hand, I'm harmless'.

Spot, instead of taking offence, but also instead of sniffing his hand, gave me 'the look'. So I explained, "He's a hellhound. His name is Spot, and he's a Xenos."

Just because it was Hagane, the (fully armed and operational) nightmare cat added, "And likely smarter than your local politician back home."

The Guard looked a bit ashamed and backed up, "Oh, pardon. And just when I've gotten used to non-humans..." He gave Spot a Salute, "Please forgive me Spot-san."

Spot, sitting like a good doggo (that brought his head up almost to the soldier's shoulder) lowered his head just a little, and brought his paw up in a reasonable imitation of a salute. "Wurf."

We (the locals) laughed a bit at the show, and Maki leaned over a bit to stage whisper, "He still likes ear scratches."

Spot then got some well meaning head rubs.

"How about this one here?" the soldier asked after Spot had started to roll his eyes up happily.

"This is Chime." Delly said, holding up our heroic mini-bunny, "Also a Xenos. The two of them like to travel with us so they can tell stories to the others."

"It's good to have goals." He nodded, letting Spot's head go, pausing to give Chime exactly one gentle brush over her ears with a finger, then stepping back.

Someone chose that moment to step out of one of the little buildings, "Other side says they are starting!"

And the big magic circle floating around the Roman styled building started to slow its spinning, the golden light that comprised its make up flashing slowly.

One trip down a dark tunnel illuminated by dark blue shimmers later, and we were on the other side. Delly, poor girl, was clinging to one of my tails, not quite, but close to shivering with dread. But when she arrived on the other side of the Gate without having changed into something else, like she had when she got to Orario, she sighed, pet my tail back into shape, and let it go.

Itami and the Commander were waiting, with Itami looking like the lazy ant as usual, and the Commander frowning (also as usual). That was likely at the unannounced arrival of eight extra bodies.

"I was told to bring my 'A' game." I said with a formal fist-in-palm bow. "You already know most of us, but this is Shinonome Momiji, my part time assistant and supporter for 'the rookie team'. This is Delly. If you know your lore, she once claimed Sherwood as her home."

The two bowed/waved cheerfully, and the Commander's frown got a small addition of a raised eyebrow when I said 'Sherwood'.

"This is Spot, a Xenos Hellhound, and while he can't talk like you or I, he's got an education close to a ten year old back where you're from." I continued.

Spot, once again sitting like a Good Doggo, gave the Commander the same salute and a respectful, "Wurf."

To my surprise, and no small amount of pleasure, the Commander returned the salute. "And this is Chime, a pygmy needle rabbit. While not as frequent a visitor in class, she's still just as intelligent as you or I."

Chime gave the Commander one of her 'aggressive face cleaning' gestures as she sat in Maki's palm.

"A pleasure to meet you." Replied the Commander, sounding like he meant it too. "But if they cannot speak, are they here for 'fun'?"

"They like exploring, and they tell the others of their kind about the places they've been." Delly said, "Oh, um, yeah, I'm talented with animals."

"Hm. Well, so long as they know the rules, and stay in the yellow lines, we can clear them to explore a little." He nodded, "Itami." And the Commander turned and left.

"Sir!" He snapped to attention just long enough for the Commander's back to turn, then said, "You are still the biggest dog I've seen, Spot-san. And Hagane! I like the new arms."

"They are... handy." Hagane replied while Spot gave Itami a silly smile.

"Where's Lelei?" I asked, "She opened the Gate right?" I looked around, noticing that yes, it was only those two and a handful of JSDF on 'alert' a respectful distance away.

"She was working on something. So she opened the Gate, then went back to working on it." Itami shrugged helplessly, "She's like that every time she's got something on her mind. Anyhow, pleased to meet you, etc etc. Have you told them everything?"

"Everything you told me." I said.

"Good. Means I don't have to talk about old business. Want to see what you're in for? Or did you just want to walk through it?" Itami asked.

"We can see it from the Ramp." I said, "No need to get fancy." I paused, "Oh, Hagane? Want to show off to the Old Man?"

"Business before leisure." He replied, accepting Chime and applying careful headpats while the mini-bunny rubbed her face into his metal palm.

The walk through the Base, for me at least, was pretty uneventful. I did notice the buzz of tension in the air, the spring-like potential energy of people before a 'big event'.

Momiji, Spot and Chime however, were looking at everything. Delly as well but not nearly as awed by the 'new shiny stuff' from another world. Itami played host admirably, answering questions from 'does that move like our train does?' to 'wuff'?

We were given a salute at the security checkpoint at the base's front gate, and stepped through the metal doors and onto the ramp that sloped down to the town around the foot of Alnus Hill.

"That's..." I couldn't help but be awestruck at the sight of the former 'killing field'.

"Hmm, my sister is speechless." Ryuu teased.

"I will mark the calendar when we return."

"All of these people will be coming to Orario?" Momiji asked.

"And you aren't even seeing all of them." Itami sighed, "Over there are the wood elf camps, and Yao's people are still in the forests and such over that way. On top of our last report, we just had a tribe of lizard men appear, guarding a pair of medusa. And tomorrow, if our scouts are on point, we'll have a... whatever you call a bunch of Mermen."

I only sort of heard what he was saying. I was still taking in the view. I had seriously underestimated just how many people would be here, and the now paltry seeming efforts I'd made to make tents for them made me feel ashamed at my ignorance. But, while all of the tents I'd made were full of people, I saw all kinds of other shelters. Mostly wood, a little stone here and there, clay brick, other styles of tent...

It was obvious that this was a very serious group effort.

"Boss?"

I couldn't really describe what I was feeling. Kinda like a hug from everyone I knew (and liked), mixed with a little hint of someone running a finger up my spine.

"Hey, Boss?"

That warm tingly feeling tried to exit out the top of my head, and someone pulled on a tail, "BOSS! Eep!"

"Eh?" I felt a sudden weight in my tails, "Delly?"

"You were kinda zoned out there." Maki said as I felt that weird feeling that wasn't quite happiness fizz out over my scalp. "You were like... sparkling?"

Delly wiggled around a little, but my tails put her back down and gently swished over her to help settle her dress again. "Yup! Sparkling! It was almost like a trance." Delly said with a huff, though she captured a tail and hugged it before it could get away.

"Huh." I looked back over the huge heap of people who had nothing really in common aside from the urge to leave this backwards world. The feeling didn't return, but I could feel pride in what was before me.

"So, are we walking there, or flying?" Maki asked, turning away from me.

"I'd like to meet the people here." Momiji said, "Do you really need us with you to talk to the nobility of this world?"

I considered this, then shook my head. "If any of you want to mingle, maybe introduce yourselves, get some kind of idea on how people are, you know, without one of these 'green men' around..."

Itami sighed, but nodded, "They don't say thank you. But we haven't had anything past a yelling match when it comes to trouble. It's obvious they don't like us, even when its meal time and they get to try pickles for the first time ever... But yeah. You've got five days to do what you can with the nobility. Do you need a drive or..."

"So who wants to come with me to talk to Lord so-and-so?" I looked to everyone, who gave me a 'no thank you' wave of their hand. Then I looked to Hagane, who had his free hand in a Thumbs Up.

"Never alone, Fox." He rumbled, "We can run. Just radio ahead for us or whatever..."

"Okay. I'll tell them to expect you around lunchtime." Itami said, turning and unhooking his radio from his belt and talking into it.

"We'll meet back here in five days then, to see them through the Gate." I said to the others.

NOTES!

:)

Now if you've seen the picture of Weine and her cookies, this is where it's from.

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord! (Or just go to the Ko-fi)

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.