Chapter 86

When I gave the other teams 'the ping', they all (yes, even Maki this time) said things were going well, and that yes, they knew they'd been 'caught'. At least, caught by the JSDF. But, the JSDF had been given no orders against them, so really it was just a confirmation to the base wide betting pool of 'what will those crazy adventurers do next?' As a side note, Itami lost the bet on this one even though all 'his girls' bet against him.

Maki apologized for not answering last time. But she was in the middle of an extraction and trying to avoid a patrol. I promised to brush her tails for her when we got back home, but she declined in that adorable 'you're embarrassing me mom!' kinda way.

Then I told them about my day...

"Of course you'd try and provoke him..." Maki sighed.

"Do you think he will be a problem?" Ryuu asked, ignoring the obvious remark of me taunting him (because she would have as well).

"He's... maybe a little more level headed than Rory. He caught on to what I was doing, and grumbled about it, but didn't break anything. Even when I left the room." I replied, "But yes, I can tell he's not going to just leave things be."

All the beads lit up, as we all sighed. "Never easy with you, is it Boss?" Delly laughed.

"We are running out of people to rescue, I think." Kaede said, "Not a bad problem to have. My poor feet..."

Momiji spoke next, taunting her long time friend, "It's usually me who complains about that. But I do agree, I am proud of our work, but am looking forward to getting home."

"Are you expecting a little extra work from the JSDF then?" Maki asked.

"Probably. The problem is their fault, but letting them starve would be unkind." I said, "But this is a tricky one. I'd bet any one of us, except maybe Momiji could just walk right up to Zorzal's castle and pull it down on him. But it would involve what amounts to mass murder to do it."

I could hear the pout in her voice, but Momiji admitted, "I am not as... martial as the rest of you, true."

"It's war though?" Kaede said.

"We are strong enough to slaughter an entire army, alone." Ryuu said, "It would be even worse than the last attempt Rakia made to take over Orario."

Delly sounded sad, "They also wouldn't be able to recover like us. A good night's sleep is all we need for most things, but a deep cut or broken bone might be a death sentence for these people."

Again, we all sighed.

"When we are asked, we will plan. Until then, getting the migrants all over to our side of the Gate is what matters." I said, "Two more days."

The next morning, after getting out of my room looking as bright eyed and floofy tailed as I could when about to deal with politics, the maid minding my door (the same cat girl from my dinner yesterday), greeted me with a nearly sparkling, "Good morning, Lady Kodori. I hope you've slept well?"

"As well as I could, considering how much I don't like politics?" I replied honestly, letting her look up at me and tug a little on my clothing to settle it just so.

She laughed modestly, "If I might be so bold, your morning may be a little simpler than you expected. The Apostle of Flare, Sol, has left."

"Wait what?" I blinked at her, losing my 'Akeno Mask' in shock. "And Sol? Really? No wonder he never gave me his name...I'd have laughed at him."

"Indeed Lady Kodori. At the exact break of dawn, he simply walked out of the front gate, ah, the gate on this side of the bridge." She corrected. "And yes, we have already alerted the JSDF."

I nodded, feeling enough tension to make my tails twitchy, "I hope he leaves the camp alone..."

"It was my understanding that the Apostle, Rory Mercury was with you in this endeavour?" She asked.

"You're well informed."

She gave me a perfect bow, "It is our job, after all."

"She is." I confirmed, "But, I'd rather not need her at all. I don't know if he's the kind who isn't picky about 'collateral damage'."

"Worrying for certain." My cat eared attendant nodded, "Do you have any requests for the maids of the Fromel house?"

"Please find Roku. And ask him to get a message through to Itami. He should know what to do from there." I replied, "And if you could tell me where Sugawara is?"

"Certainly. Lord Sugawara should be taking breakfast in the main dining room. Good luck, Lady Kodori."

She bowed and left, her slender cat tail swishing as if she were about to pounce something. Hagane stepped out of my room, the hands on his new arms wiggling about as if to warm up. "Do you think we need to abort and go early?"

"I hope not." I sighed, "Suppose we should get this done then."

"Eat breakfast first." He said, poking me in the side, now that he could, "Or I will tell Haruhime."

"Yeah... Don't think I can do this on an empty stomach."

(Back at the camp)

The Dark Elves didn't move immediately after Spot had caught the scent of sulphur. Instead, the best Hell-doggo ever continued making friends. However, each time he caught the scent, he would mark the ground and change directions. By the end of the day, around the time of the 'conference call', there were several small areas where he'd picked up traces of the stuff.

The reason they didn't just start flipping tents and going through pockets was simple. Both the JSDF, and the 'refugees' from Earth (Kodori, Maki and Delly), cautioned against 'suicide bombers'. Black powder, while not near as deadly as dynamite or most other modern explosives, still had the potential to devastate the population here. A nervous trouble maker may decide to 'go out with a bang'. On purpose, or accident.

As well, the Dark Elves had the reputation for being... well... dark. It sounds silly, but they were a secretive people, and that sort of mystery made most other races distrust them, or make up stories. Their role in protecting the camp, guiding stragglers here from the other territories, and generally being nice people had settled that 'mystery' a great deal. But still, no one wanted a bunch of them to suddenly start searching people.

So, they took great care to isolate the places Spot picked up the scent of sulphur, then pretend they didn't notice anything at all.

Once the areas were marked off, and patrols increased ever so slightly, and a 'special breakfast' was announced, since the day of departure was less than three days away. Most everyone was expected to be there.

Then, that night, Chime got to work.

In the dead of night, when almost all the campfires were low and all but the most nocturnal of peoples were sleeping, Chime got down to business. While she was indeed a civilized bunny, who understood language, math, and a bunch of things you'd never expect a bunny to know... She still liked to roll about in the dirt. She did so now, making her bright white fur the colour of clean mud so she could sneak around better...

(Kodori)

By lunch, I was starting to think that Sol, the Apostle, had not bothered to go to the camp. This was good. Even if I ran as fast as I could, I wouldn't be able to get there in time to stop what might be irreparable damage to the camp. Rory being there or not, if the fighting broke out in the middle of the camp...

After lunch I was almost thinking it might all work out. Silly me...

"Kodori-sama." The honorific nearly made me drop my wineglass (filled with water since there was no way I'd last an hour if all I had was wine on hand), "Urgent message."

Turning towards the voice, it was a JSDF officer in a camouflaged patterned overall. She looked a bit out of place though, tall, pale skinned, freckles over her nose and red hair. "Oh! Mikoto-san told me about you." I said with a smile, but shook my head, "Report then?"

She nodded, "Word from Alnus off-camp. Your two best friends have found the dirt, and turned it into mud."

I blinked, frowned just a little, then looked around. She was as tall as I was, so I only had to lean in a little to whisper, "So, Spot and Chime found some gunpowder and it was cleaned up?"

She nodded, "Yes Ma'am." She smiled, "If you want the rest of the report?"

(Back at the camp, around breakfast time.)

The (expected to be) second last breakfast of the great exodus was a HUGE affair. Now, many of these people were still shaking off the shock of leaving everything but what they could carry, and in some cases, not even that, behind. But, with the help of the JSDF's ability to store food, the elves (Dark and Wood) helping with hunting, and a few generous donations (from Lord Duran, who totally wasn't hiding in the Fort Alnus hospital so he could slip through with the rest of the refugees), the second last breakfast was still pretty big.

Meat, vegetables, fruit, pickles, fish (from the merfolk who were camping at the diverted river's edge), and all kinds of beverages that people had 'planned' to save... It was a party. Sure, it still carried the hard edge of desperation, but even the most distressed had a hand reached out to them, and were asked to dance.

Little did most of them know however, this wasn't quite what it seemed. Only two types of people would miss out on a party like this. The ones who couldn't get up to attend and those taking care of them. Or those who didn't want to mingle because they had something else to do.

In ones and twos, the Dark Elves who were patrolling took down the offenders. Most protested but didn't resist. Some fought back but were overwhelmed. One even tried to light himself on fire instead of risk capture.

But all of them, nearly fifty in all, bore the mark of the Rabbit. A pant leg. A cloak corner. A sleeve. Their back. All of them had what looked like a face-print of a small rabbit-like creature on their clothing someplace. Not only that, many bags of black powder had been found, all identified the same way.

Itami stood in front of the captured camp dwellers, their disappearance unnoticed while the rest of the camp was having their last feast before 'the great cleanup' planned over the next day or so. Yao was next to him, along with a couple of her kinsmen, as well as Rory and Tuka and a couple of wood elves, who had been on hand to put many of those prisoners to sleep before they could raise an alarm.

Itami looked at a bit of paper, the report, then at the lineup. Not for the first time, he wished he had some capacity for magic. Sleeping spells, illusion, magic bindings... It would have made his job so much easier... Getting all of these people to the empty hangar where the JSDF had stored prisoners the first time, without anyone panicking, was a miracle in of itself already.

But something was off... Something... weird.

"Papa? You look troubled." Tuka, usually cheerful no matter the situation, frowned a little at Itami's expression.

"Were you expecting more, Sir Itami?" Yao asked.

"No..." He looked at the prisoners, and it dawned on him, "Y'know, I don't want to be rude, but what race are they?" He looked at his paper, then reached into a pocket for his (printed right before the closing of the Gate on Earth) 'Handbook to the races of the Zone', pocket edition. "Not Orcs, too tall for goblins, too short for Ogre."

"The word you are looking for, Itami, is Mongrel." Rory said with a feral smile, making a few of the captured flinch. "Love knows no boundary, but the children sometimes suffer for it."

More scientifically minded, though he'd much rather play games than read a boring biology book, Itami nodded and mumbled to himself, "Humanoid Mutts? Huh..."

All of them were Mongrel-folk. Twisted, ugly, with a mix of racial features that had been stunted or warped. Short rabbit ears, pig noses, half melted cat ears, a single clawed hand, hooves for feet or even 'fingers'... To call them freaks or mutants would be apt, though none of them looked bothered by it. None of them had the shifty eyes or hunched back of someone wanting to hide from what they were or what they were called. They had pride, they had purpose, and it was clear on their faces.

"What do we do with them?" Tuka asked, "Are we going to..."

Rory took a half step forward, hefting her halberd off her shoulder to grip it with both hands, "Interrogation first? Or are we skipping to the end?" She asked.

Itami sighed, "Rory..." And applied one headpat to the scary Goth-Loli. She tilted her head a little to get the most contact out of it, like an attention starved kitten, but also stopped her advance. He then took out a little bit of paper, written ahead of time and based off of some of the Manga he'd borrowed from his fellow Otaku (and can't even deny it at this point) cat girl enthusiast, Takeo Kurata.

"Ah, ahem. Your plan has failed, and even now we are making sure your efforts will bring no harm to the people." Yao and Rory at his side, took their cues to look menacing. "Instead of killing you, we will make you watch as those you have tried to oppress move on without you, to live a better life." He then mumbled to himself, "I must have been really tired when I wrote that..."

While his little speech made many of the prisoners blink in surprise, Rory was the most moved by his passionless words. "But... You're not going to let me..." She pouted up at him.

One of the Mongrel-folk chuckled, a little nervously, but it was still a laugh.

He was then obliterated by a very large lump of metal on a pole (Rory's halberd), the weapon whooshing through the air like it was made of pine, yet impacting as if it were a tank shell, and coming to a halt half buried in the concrete of the floor almost at the far wall of the hangar. Before Itami, or anyone else, could protest, Rory 'Humphed!' and just left the hangar.

Without the Apostle in the room, the rest of the prisoners might have started to get ideas, but a pair of JSDF with their rifles at the ready replaced the grumpy murder-loli to keep that idea from gaining ground.

"Sorry about that." Itami said, realizing what else was making the hair on his neck stand up, "But yes, you're all stuck here for a couple days, then we'll let you out past Italica's border." He paused, "Ah, we'll clean that up too..."

(Kodori)

"Figures." I sighed, "And this is why people can't have nice things."

The Comm Officer didn't laugh though. "It gets worse..."

After Itami and the Elves went to catch up with Rory, another pair of guards stepped into the Hangar. They would provide cover for the cleanup crew, so the 'Rory was grumpy' mess could be scrubbed away and not make them all sick with corpse rot or something.

But in the five minutes it took for the cleanup crew to arrive...

"They started killing themselves." The officer said, "With the wee Apostle's axe sticking out of the floor, some of them started to fall on it. And when the wardens tried to stop them, they charged them. Fought and died to the last, by bullet or blade."

"Suicide pact? That's..." I frowned, "Oh... Heh..."

"You've got a scary face on right now."

"What did Itami say about them?" I asked, putting my Akeno Mask back on so I didn't scare anyone passing by.

"They looked like they had pride and purpose?" She repeated.

"I'd almost be willing to bet a tail that those were some kind of secret service." I replied, "I mean, you no intelligence on them, they didn't act like prisoners when brought in, and killed themselves instead of giving up information or reporting failure."

She blinked at me, her pale face going even whiter, "That's... I will report your thoughts to First Lieutenant Yanagida." She paused, "Ah, yes, that's my report done as well."

"Thank you. When you have a moment, send a thank you to Itami, and tell him to tweak Rory's nose for me." I bowed to her, she saluted back, and we both turned to get back to work. "Little murder munchkin... sigh..."

The last 'grand debate' on what to do, for the most part, didn't even need me. Even if Sugawara wanted to kick me in the shin, and most of the nobility, even those who supported me, were panicking about the upcoming labour shortage... Well, thanks to Pina, the Emperor (who only needed to be present to validate Pina's words, much to her frustration) and the JSDF diplomat, the nobility were at least all panicking in one direction, and things were starting to move.

Initial, and in some cases, final plans were being put in place for a coastal defence. Stone, wood, metal and tools were promised. Labour, what they still had, was going to be put more on the shoulders of the military instead of the populace, and I once again had to shoulder a bit more 'debt' in Orario by promising the mass production of a few basic metal bits needed for the coastal defence emplacements. Sure, the JSDF had tools, but Orario had Odds 'n' Ends, an actual iron supply, and a fox who's reputation made her wallet very very deep (even if the only 'deep' here was just how much this was costing me... sigh...).

My only real purpose was to promise those things when asked if I would help any further. Since I couldn't... well no, I could, but would not... let these people starve over what ever winter brought for them. So, with my promise of parts to help with the 'defence effort' done, I was about to step off the platform. But then Pina and Sugawara caught my eye and I stopped.

I tried for a moment to think of why, then realized this was 'it'. So I went back to the middle of the podium, the nice red throw rug now dirty with the steps of the many people who'd stood on it the past couple days, and bowed to all those assembled. There was one last matter to address.

"I know the last couple of days have been... trying. And the next little while will be worse. But, with cooperation, and direction, you and your people will make it through."

Out of habit, I started to pace in the little space there was on the platform.

"It's said, that the only true loss, is one you learn nothing from. With the recent troubles you've all had, from the JSDF arriving, the civil war, and now those who've suffered the most leaving, it's my hope you are all learning."

A little harsh, but, I stopped and smiled, facing them all directly before anyone could grumble.

"I'll tell you something. Something you can all take a little pride in. Something you are doing even better than the JSDF, or their world."

That got their attention. I mean, why wouldn't it? The JSDF had been practically godlike in their 'advanced' ways, be it in war, diplomacy, manufacturing, art...

"Each of you represents a population of people. Big or small, you all hold responsibility for those people. To feed them, house them, keep them safe." I motioned to Sugawara, "The JSDF's world is no different. But, if you all can keep this momentum. If, after this, you can keep working together, sorting out who needs what and not bickering over every coin spent. If you can deal with every crisis as a whole, and not push the problem away when it isn't right next to you."

Dramatic pause...

"You'll be doing better than them." I said, "You'll have figured out what their 'thousand years' ahead of you has not. Or rather, will not." There was silence, and I could think of all kinds of reasons why, "They aren't perfect, they have desires just like any other person. But if you, all of you, can look past the short term gain, and hold onto the ideal of 'what will the next generation keep from what I take'... Then you will be on a better course."

I was starting to see a few guilty faces in the crowd now, some of those who didn't support me for instance, or those who had been 'bribed' by the medicines I offered in exchange for the people I was taking home with me. But the look Sugawara was giving me was almost pleading me to stop ragging on Earth and its flaws.

"Zorzal, in his short sighted attempt at the throne. At his unwillingness to learn from his mistakes. At his using the greed of his supporters... He's about to find out what real unity is. You are all against war. It's why he's over there, and you're here. But he's going to attack. You might not know when. But it's like any disaster, ground shake, floods, drought, or anything else natural or otherwise. You have rejected war, but now must shield your people from this threat."

Someone interrupted my speech, and honestly I was thankful. I was running out of personal motivation to be motivating. "What if it doesn't work?" Another picked up on it, though, it wasn't a question driven by fear, but genuine curiosity. "How long must we defend against him before it's enough?"

I considered stepping off the stand, to let someone who might actually know answer, but I held my place, "Zorzal lacks the wisdom of your Emperor. And those that follow him lack your Lord's integrity. Add that a great many of his former soldiers are about to leave with me..." I smiled, "All that's left, is to show more resolve."

Then someone asked the one question I'd been avoiding. Except I had slipped up with my wording, and didn't let 'the expert' handle the closing lines.

"Will you be coming back for those we've... been holding back from you?"

Molt, Pina and Sugawara gave me 'the look'. And since I couldn't dodge the question without looking like a fool...

"Those people were promised to me. And are already in my care." I smiled, "Like you, I shoulder the burden of caring for people, and I could not risk the delay of those I promised to save, and who were promised to me. I hope that you'll forgive me for keeping you honest."

There was a pause, and I could see some of the nobles start to get upset. But many of those who'd I'd given my medicines to 'to be fair', turned to those who I'd 'bribed'. Already, they were policing each other.

"I will have the materials needed for the river fortifications as soon as possible." I said, drawing eyes back to me, "Thank you, all of you, for understanding, and even if this is our last meeting, know that I've learned much here, and will remember your world fondly." More or less at least...

And I stepped off the podium, a polite little golf clap sifting through the room.

"Yes, you are a good tail. You too. You as well... You make this look easy."

As soon as I could slip out of the room in a polite fashion, I'd gone to find Hagane back in our room, and flopped over his back. Now that he had hands, he could do a little more than just make smug comments about things.

"At the end there, I was worried I'd have to make an example, or Hestia forbid, raise my voice." I sighed, twisting and sitting down on the floor, leaning my back against his metal flank, "Now it's just a little more coordination, and we can get those people to their new home, and hopefully wash our hands of this whole Zorzal thing."

"Finally going to meet the people then? When are you finally going to admit it?"

I started to stand up, my eyes sweeping over the little room I'd been using to see if I'd left anything anywhere. "Admit what?" Spotting nothing, I made for the door, hoping to make a reasonably quick exit so I could start the initial coordination with the other side of the Gate.

"That you want to be a Goddess."

I paused, hand on the door handle. I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, "Maybe. But I'll never take that last step. I feel I'd lose more than I'd gain."

"At this rate, you know it will happen eventually. You've been lucky, to get around the rules."

"What brought this on?" I asked, very uncomfortable with his words.

"You are about to bring fifty thousand people into Orario. You might ask them not to, you might deny it, but they will idolize you. On Earth, you'd already be doing Inari's paperwork, if she wasn't doing yours."

I took my hand off the door, turned, and put my back to it, "Because I ended up in Orario, before..." I couldn't speak it openly, but Hagane was there for my talk with Michael. "It was already a fluke Kitsune existed in Orario. Not divine, but they were basically the original Xenos from how the stories go. But then Hestia gave me a drop of her power, and took a bit of my soul."

"I've seen Gods born from less, Fox."

I felt a hint of anger, but then shame as I started to turn it towards Hagane. I took another deep breath, then, "I can't just not help people. I'm sure Shinkage told you her part of how this plan even started." He nodded once, "Sometimes, it's worse than how I used to lose my temper. I just... have to..." I sighed. "I have all this power, all this influence... And I can't let it rest."

I looked down at my hands, the two hands that could only use tools. Hands that had to get bloody, since I could hold no weapon. "Who else would do it, if not me? Those politicians? The Apostles? The Gods?"

"That compulsive attitude is the same as the Gods of Orario." He walked over to me, his new hands reaching up and patting my shoulder, "If you ever became a God, I think I'd follow you."

I put my hand over his, "Thank you. But let's get out of here." And I moved aside so we could leave.

We got a ride back, with Roku in the driver's seat and a bunch of stuff from the markets in the back with Hagane. I was riding shotgun, and getting the full experience of terrible shocks and a driver who loved an open road.

"So!" He grinned as we left the still growing 'roman road' near Italica, "Got one more bit of news for you that you might like."

"Sure." I motioned for him to go ahead while I pressed my palm to the ceiling to keep me steady. An old reflex from my old life, since I could probably get hit by a Humvee and hardly feel it. I was even wearing my Fenrir Fur armour and adamant greeves and bracers!

"The Apostle vanished. Scouts lost sight of him heading towards the desert areas West of here." Roku said, keeping control of the Humvee by what looked like sheer willpower, and not seeming worried at all.

"Tha-" We went over a pothole, then were suddenly riding on smooth road again, caught up with part of the road Aisha worked on. "That worries us."

I nodded, "Yeah."

"Don't think he walked away?" He sounded hopeful, but even over the sound of the engine and grinding of the tires, I could tell he realized what the problem might be. "Think he has a plan? Our limited intelligence on Apostles tells us they are pretty solitary."

"You've got only two Apostles to ask about it though, one now, since Giselle left." I said, "We can hope, but we may have a problem."

"Well, he's got a day." Roku shrugged, "Almost there."

"Good."

"I should ping my party members." I said, "Try not to crash."

"It's a straight road!"

"We know." Hagane and I said at once.

I hated the idea of it. That at one point, I might have divinity just... put on me. I doubted it would be in Orario, since the 'rules' of that world had me firmly set in them as 'adventurer'. But on Earth? With the power I'd gained after getting back from Kuoh and the madness there, would I suddenly be strong enough to just... qualify? If I travelled to some other world, where the 'rule' for godhood was simply a divine nature, would I just suddenly be a Goddess and be unable to interact with 'mortals' like this world? What if I went to a world without Gods? Where they were either dead, had abandoned the universe, or simply never existed? Would I lose all my power?

I put the thoughts aside as Roku stopped at the far edge of the camp and gave me a thumbs up. "Here you go Ma'am. And just so you know, I'll be one of the people directing traffic later."

"Thanks Roku. Keep up the good work. We might have one more opening after this, so last chance to request a hat." I worked the handle of the door and slid out of the seat.

"You can do that?"

"Of course. Find the handle?" I looked back into the Humvee just in time to see Hagane open the back himself.

"I wasn't paying attention to where it was the first time." He used his new arms to push the back open all the way, and once out, stood up on his hind legs to reach the hatch again and close it. "Let's go greet your people."

I couldn't glare at him, since he was right whether I liked it, or admitted it, or not. But, I did give him a Karate Chop of Justice, and a headpat. Roku continued on without us, and Hagane and I started a slow walk through the middle of the massive camp.

The sight of so many people living like this kind of hurt. I knew of course it wouldn't be for long. But after this, they'd have to live rough for a bit longer, just until they got their own houses built. When I'd planned for this, I'd expected, at most, half this many people.

Slowly, people started to notice me and point. None of them dropped what they were doing, or looked at me with any sort of reverence... But still, there was a hint of surprise, maybe some fear. No whispers yet though, and none of the children I saw were suddenly hidden away behind a concerned parent or anything.

Rows upon rows of tents, makeshift shelters of wood and cloth, local styled Yurt, tents of various makes with distinct cultural differences...

From ahead of Hagane and I, I heard a single low pitched, "Wurf!" and could practically feel the ground shake as Spot ran to meet us. His 'handler' was soon to follow, the dusk skinned Elf bowing to me as if I were a Lady of high standing, before joining my little walk behind Spot (still doing her 'job', though Spot needed no minding).

The people started to take more notice now, as if Spot knowing me was some kind of signal to who I was. More people, cat-folk, siren, kobold, volralden, elves... They all started to stand up and look at my little entourage.

Ahead of us again, I spotted Maki, Delly, Kaede, Momiji and Ryuu. They were ringed by a a diverse set of people, some looking rougher than others, some shaking their hands, others bowing, a child getting a headpat from Delly... They spotted us of course, and we gathered up in a little ring, the Rookie Team sending those they'd just been talking to away with a friendly wave and a smile.

"Boss!" Delly's voice loud compared to the 'point and mumble' I'd been listening to so far. The sassy Fox Fairy hovered over to me and gave me a hug.

I could tell she wanted to be praised, even if she wasn't asking. So I returned the hug, added in a little ear scratching, and said to all of them, "You've done well I see. Thank you."

"How'd the nobles take it?" Maki asked, not joining Delly in the hug, but accepting one of my tails as it asked for attention.

"They were a little upset when I told them they didn't need to worry about letting those who were left behind go." I shrugged, "I'm starting to hope they'll learn from all this. Any problems?"

"As far as we know, we have everyone who either had a coin, or was involved with their families." Ryuu said.

"We also cleaned out just about everyone from the Slums of every town and city we visited. Though..." Kaede paused, "No. It was a good idea."

"We will help you recover the costs, Kodori-sama, since we may have done... too well at our jobs." Momiji said, also accepting one of my tails to hug.

"urf." Spot said quietly.

"You and Chime did perfectly, thank you." I said, giving Spot a long pat down his back, then just wrapping an arm around his muscular neck, "I got the report while I was dealing with the nobles. We have a little more work to do, to even the score card, so to speak. But we," I motioned with my other hand to all of us, "Only need to coordinate, not participate."

"You have no idea how much I wanted to hear that." Maki sighed, "We haven't slept since we got here."

That surprised me, but I replied with, "Well, we're leaving after breakfast tomorrow."

"Good. But Boss? You might wanna look around." Delly said, looking around.

Yes, stopping in the 'town square' of the temporary camp had basically given everyone who cared time to come see what was going on. Children, adults, young, old, every race in this world, humans included now that I looked, though they were a clear minority here...

"Delly? Give me a hand?" I asked.

"Hmm... Might need a little help, it's a big area." Delly said after a moment.

"You just want to get wrapped up in my tails so you don't have to worry about how much magic you're using." I accused, looking around for a moment and spotting a crate.

"I could just hold one of your tails..."

"Nah, you're welcome." I laughed, giving the top of the crate a couple of taps with my palm to see if it would support my weight, then stepping up onto it. A moment later, Delly got behind me, and my tails picked her up and stuck her to my back.

My Party stood in a circle around me, and I could feel Delly start working a bit of magic. I'd seen her, and heard her, use sound amplification magic before, but she decided to go the distance, and a moment later, an image appeared in the sky over us. My head and shoulders appearing there, just like the old 'summoning circle illusions' back in Kuoh that I'd talked through.

"You're on." Delly whispered into my ear. "Fluffy fluffy..."

"People of Falmart." I started, using the name of the Continent, and not 'the Empire' or 'Special Region'. "My name is Kodori Haruhime. And tomorrow, after breakfast, rain or shine, I am taking you to my world through the Gate."

I didn't expect any cheers, but I also didn't expect total silence. I glanced back at Delly, and she just gave me a thumbs up.

"There, no matter your situation or status here, you will be given a chance for a new life. A fresh start. If my messengers did their jobs, and with so many of you here, it's clear they did, you'll know that there is a large patch of land there, waiting for you all. It's near forests, the soil is rich, the water is close and plentiful, and there is enough materials set aside there to give you a little head start on building."

I did a slow turn on the little crate, seeing that I had almost all the eyes in camp on me, even some by the diverted river.

"But past that, past the initial protection, set up, and the presence of the Guild... You are free. Education will be given to all who seek it. And aside from following the rules of a normal civilization, you'll be free to do as you like. Once you feel comfortable, there is much unclaimed land in the world."

I felt myself getting into it, that little tingle of pleasure I got when I told a story. So I went with it.

"The world however, isn't the safest. Like this one, it has a history. Of monsters, the people who fought them, and the Gods who came to help the people survive when all was thought lost..."

So, once again, I told the First Story of Orario. Of the dungeon, the monsters, the Gods, and the People. The capping of the dungeon. The Guild who did all the paperwork. The Familia. Adventurers... It took about an hour, and aside from some people absently making dinner or running to an outhouse not a single person took their eyes off me.

To them, this was 'it'. This would be their first lesson about the world they were going to. A lesson none of their ancestors got before stepping into an unknown world and settling here in Falmart.

But, like all story times, this one wound down, and there was still work to do.

"So know that the world you are going to, isn't tamed, and there is still work to do before you can stand apart, or not, from the rest of the world." I finished the story, smiling. "I have one last thing for you all to do, before bedtime tonight."

I looked towards Alnus, "If the JSDF, the 'Green Men' haven't gotten caught up in my story as well, they are coming down here with wagons."

I paused, and distantly I heard a hearty cheer of, "OO RAH!"

"They will help you all load the heavy things up tonight, and tomorrow, it will simply be a matter of eating, then packing up your tents. It will take a few days of travel from there, but you will be cared for, you will be protected, and I will leave no one behind."

I swished Delly with a tail, and with a little burst of fireworks from her fingertips, my image vanished and I stepped off the little crate.

"Well, that felt good." I said.

"fox, fox, fox..." The chant began.

"Seems the others think so too." Maki said as the cheering started.

"At least they aren't calling you Demon." Hagane said as our Party started towards the town at the base of Alnus.

"Give it a year. Maybe two. And who knows." Maki teased, fending off one of my tails when it swished at her.

"We have some more work to do before bed as well." Momiji said, slipping into her part time role as my Miko. "Eina-san will be angry I think."

"Maybe. But she already knows how far we'll go for these people." Kaede grinned, "I just want to soak my feet in ice or something..."

NOTES!

Well, now it's just paperwork and moving people in. For the moment at least.

See you next time. :)

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

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