I rest lazily on the roof of one of the recently completed houses, overlooking the bustle of the lizardman tribes. I adjusted myself on the lumber ridge, trying to attain more comfortable seating up here upon my perch as clay shingles briefly clattered beneath my feet. They wouldn't budge of course, not with the design and tar we used. The cool shade combined with the gentle gust of wind made me shiver, but I wasn't going to give this spot up just to move somewhere more comfortable. No one had managed to find me yet.

I mostly came up here to relax, really. After everything that's happened, I need a little solitude to myself. Of course, I can't get that in the hut as Todone was currently studying. I've grown fond of the boy, but there are moments where I still feel disconnected with the situation. Some days I wake up and stare at my faintly scarred hands and the mud cobble of the hut walls, wondering if I'll wake up in a sterile hospital room or a padded cell. Then I feel the tightness of my muscles and the soreness in my body, and am reminded that I made a deal with a… thing. I don't mean that derogatorily, but there genuinely isn't any other way I can describe that cloud of stars. Was it even a cloud to begin with, or is it a faded memory upon a hazy thought?

God help me if I try to leave the village for the privacy I've been craving, if I so much as attempted to piss outside the village walls I'd be guaranteed an escort. Turns out my actions have earned me some heavy eyes from all parties within and without the tribe of the Red Eyes. It's mostly exaggerating, but it's not too far from where it all stands either. An act as vicious and swift as bringing two demihuman tribes under one, even if they were goblins, isn't easily ignored. My 'fans' seem willing to give me enough space when I need it, of that I'm grateful. It's the critics that cause me stress.

The main rabble of the village seems to be less hateful and more generally xenophobic. I'm something new, bringing a lot of new things in, and they don't like it. It's something I never really paid too much attention to outside of happenstance, but after those days of marching I decided to actually dig into. And oh brother it was bigger than I thought.

Todone and Crusch both helped me hear things I normally don't, since it turns out the lizardmen are usually more mindful of their words around me. Not that I fully blame them, I'm an outsider. Todone helped me hear the warrior's side of things, while Lulu's helped with the elder's side of things. When you've earned a fighter's respect or you're the apprentice of the chief medicine woman of the tribe, you tend to hear things.

The toadman's caught wind of some unsettling words shared among Rekushio and Zuko. The chieftain is royally pissed at me for some reason. Or well, for an irrational reason. Not that I blame him, the longer I stay the more pieces I hear, and the more I understand why the lizardmen are hiding here in the first place instead of the shores of their homeland. Nonetheless, I need to tread lightly and keep my steps small in the future. In the mean time, I'll have to do everythying I can to stay in his less than wrathful graces.

Then there's the elders. In a strange sort of way, the lizardman hierarchy is more akin to a senate with an elected head. Not quite the same, in that the 'senate' is a group of wisened old men that proved themselves in wits, whereas the chieftain usually gains his place based upon a tribe's unique trials and traditions. Which is why I said 'more akin', but not exactly alike, but aside from that many instances are eerily similar. Votes, vetos, surveying the public for popular opinion, so on and so forth, albeit on a smaller scale. Would be more suitable to call them a 'neighborhood watch' actually. Anyway, those guys are split on me. Most of them are on Kukri's side, but from the sounds of it they've been slowly flaking off one by one, with Osai as their ringleader. Not necessarily on my side, but certainly not against me either.

His circle seems to be a fair bit more moderate than most of the other elders on Kukri's side, but it seems that even the more stubborn ones seem to be less loyal and more self-preserving. Sadly, I have nothing more than rumors about fear and concern on that front, as things are seldom stated outright in the court of tongues. It's still something to consider though, and maybe I should talk to Osai to try and ease things out with the chief.

I hear a yelp from below, and look over an increasingly common scene that takes place in the village. One of the goblin servants was kicked by one of the more callous lizardmen, seemingly for resting if the toppled wheelbarrow was anything to go by. A sneer crosses the lizardman's face as the waist high humanoid grovels, bowing and apologizing as he tried to reequip his load. I wanted to intervene, but… a small part of me thought he deserved it. That made me grimace, but ultimately it would have been for the best not to. Demihumans valued strength, and though the lizardmen were kinder than most they were no exception. Interfering on a 'weakling's behalf would result in nothing more than a scuffle. Truthfully, the only reason I'm even respected around here was a combination of being spoken for here and my own habit of trying to play nice until I actually proved my mettle against some monsters. As cold as it may seem, the bullying would give the goblins some options to reflect on their behaviors.

The goblins were their own camp, in their own right. Thankfully, the children and the women were spared the worst of it thanks to lizardman honor, but that didn't mean they weren't completely free. The females' lives stayed the same, aside from being 'incentivized' to breed. A recent development, one brought on by the sudden realization among the more willful leaders of the tribe that they had a new resource on their hands. I just hope the irony of this situation wasn't lost on them considering what brought them here in the first place. At least, with Marscha's help, I convinced them to use the carrot rather than the stick in this situation. It turns out that goblin females are far more fond of jewelry and make-up than the most gaudy of nobles, and a few nudges toward the alchemy labs and the smithy brought them plenty of copper baubles and lipstick. The only pain in the whole situation was trying to convince them not to bone their immediate relatives, regardless of their apparent resistance to incest.

The children themselves were being re-educated. It sounds nasty on paper, but if you put some foresight into it, it's genuinely for the best. When your culture is based upon pillaging and raping the weak in opportunistic strikes, it could definitely use some reworks. This one took a lot more work than it should have, by all rights. Most of the lizardmen were content with the situation as it was now, not looking at the bigger picture. If they didn't hit the problem at the source, the goblins would develop no differently, and we'd be back at where we started the moment they found the right time to strike.

Thankfully, I found a few volunteers in the form of some of the more motherly lizardmen or some of the younger girls looking to practice for when they had families. The female goblins were less than pleased with this, but between a few additional bribes and negotiations, it was agreed to be more of a joint fostercare than actual subsumption. The goblins would get to keep the more important and acceptable aspects of their culture, while scrubbing the more unsavory aspects. Not a perfect process, but at least the absolute worst of it was being scraped out like the grime it was.

Honestly, I don't even know how Yulg came to be what he is. Did he suffer some kind of brain damage after what I did to him? It seems more and more likely when I think about it, since there's no way in hell someone like him should've cropped up. Another miracle on behalf of my Lord and Saviour, or just dumb luck once again? Way too many things have been lining up lately, but I've seen a lot of weirder shit happen at home before I was some deity's jockey.

That poor goblin's expected to wake any time now, and I curse myself for what he's going to go through when he does. If I was thinking clearly at the time, I might have been able to restore his eye, but now that the damage is done and scarred, it's going to take a lot more than a {Cure Wounds} to fix that problem. I just hope he'll handle it mentally. Speaking of, I should probably check in on him. I peer out from the shadow of the tree that's been covering my form of the roof. Say what you will, but you'd be impressed how many people don't bother to look up. I slide to the side, careful to not reveal where I was hiding as I slink back into the crowd. Warm greetings abound the lizards, though the goblins are a fair bit more skittish around me. I briefly heard the word 'Wildman' muttered among them, something admittedly wasn't too far off of a descriptor. I don't think many humans are quite like me around here.

Actually, I'm going to have to make a stop to check in on those girls we rescued. They were given a nice little hut next to where we lived to ease them into things, so I'll have to take a slight detour. Nothing too long though, and more than worth it to make sure they're okay. Might even need to check on the ogres, see how they're doing. Would probably be a smart idea to be honest, especially if I wanna keep those big lugs well accommodated. Decision made, I make my way through the slowly growing hamlet.

"Knock knock!" I spoke aloud as my hand rapped against the would, "It okay for me to come in?"

A brief shuffle and hustle, shortly followed by a slight yelp. "Come in!"

I slowly push aside the hut curtain, revealing the insides of the hut. Six girls huddled around the table, though one of them at least pretended to show an air of confidence. There was one more, huddled in the corner, glassy eyed and dead to the world. The sight made me grimace, but I forced myself to look away and back to the main group.

"So…" I began, struggling to find the right words despite all the time I had. "I don't think we've been… properly… introduced"

I take my ratty old hat off, and place it to my chest as I bow. "Nolan Montague Potts, man of the wilds and current, eh… innovator, I guess you could say"

I keep my hat against my chest as I straighten myself out. "I work with the lizardmen in an attempt to give them the opportunities that I believe should be the inalienable rights of all sapient life, though sometimes one must take stricter methods in doing so"

The girls looked between one another, conveying different emotions through their glances. Getting no immediate response, I continued.

"Thanks to my works, though I find myself undeserving some days, I can't deny that I have pull among the tribes. Up until now, I've used that pull to request things to continue the betterment of their peoples. Now, however, I would like to use it to assist you all. Before I do so, however, may I have some names for your faces?"

There was hesitation among them. They seemed unwilling to trust, even after what I just did. Not that I blame them, that mess was… disgusting. Eventually, the more confident one stood out, nodding to me.

"My name is Cherie, I am a former caravan merchant. I handled the finances for our company"

Her voice held firm, despite the underlying shiver of fear beneath that bravado. I nodded at that, smiling softly.

"Cherie… a lovely name. You're the one I first handed that dagger if I recall. And it's great to hear you're good with numbers, we might have some use for that around here actually"

She seemed surprisingly relieved at the mention of being useful, something that made my gut turn for some reason. I turned to the next girl, who seemed to be a bit more of a stuttering mess.

"I-Itria sir…" She muttered, barely above a whisper. "J-just a cook, I prepared e-everyone's meals"

I chuckled softly, mostly to ease her. Not to say I didn't feel mirth, but it was muted at the moment by a growing sense of despair for their situation. I flexed my magic core gently to relax myself, trying to muster up the words I'd need for her. The whole room seemed to soften after my chuckle, and I opened my lips.

"Just a cook? That makes you arguably the most important part of the group. I'd be a lot grumpier if I had to march on hard as wood rations rather than a hot bowl of porridge"

She nodded meekly, muttering a 'thank you' before I continued to the next one. My eyes lit up as I recognized her finally. "Ah, you're the one that was speeding around like a devil on that ice. Ice-Skating was never my strong suit, but you make it look like an art. You are…?"

She seemed bashful at the compliment, her own worries disarmed by my words.

"Pelopie," She spoke, finding a new found strength in her stance. "I was just one of the girls that helped with organizing stock, nothing more"

"Hmmph, no less important. Something you all should consider is that we all play a great part, no role small when within the greater whole. I doubt things would have held as strongly without someone to ease the load"

The conversation continued on, each girl introducing themselves. Eria, Monia, Glia, and the mute girl in the corner was Duraye. Each of them were a part of a caravan that, apparently, gave some of the women of the world an opportunity to be more than a housewife. Something that was a rarity, if my fading memories held true. Usually, a woman's only option outside of being a wife was either to be an adventurer or a noble family's servant, outside of the farms of course.

As the conversation trailed on, the girls became less and less of a stranger to me, and soon I found myself at ease, happy that they were for the most part safe and at rest. Which made this next part hurt a bit.

"Well, now that I have your names, I suppose we need to get back to the core of my visit. As I said, I have some good will with the lizardmen of Tob I can call upon. I can use said will to bring you girls anything you might need that's within our power. With that said however, I'm afraid we can't have you girls taking resources and return nothing, especially if I'm going to stay in the good graces of some of the more militant lizardmen"

They seemed to guard themselves again, becoming cautious. I raised my hands in a placating manner, trying to ease things back down. "Nothing nasty, I assure you. Each of you girls has a skill that would more than prove useful, but I'm going to give you some options. We can utilize those skills to their fullest, and I know that having Cherie here would make it easier teaching math and calculations to the children of the tribe"

"T-teaching?" The woman stuttered, seemingly caught off guard by that.

"Math is a very important skill, financial math particularly," I spoke with a nod. "Admittedly, most of my number crunching is more in line with science than it is with money, something I am… admittedly lacking in skill on"

No small thanks to how I grew up. When you teach yourself most of the things you know, there can be some less than acceptable gaps. Didn't even know how to do my taxes until I was twenty-four. Not that it mattered at the time, but still.

"As such, teaching them the values of trade would be wonderful. Granted, the lizardmen rely more on bartering goods and services rather than any monetary value, so you might have to finagle some things. But for the most part, it would help them hold an edge in the future"

One that we were definitely going to need.

"Of course, that's more half of what I'd need help with, and we'd have to prove your skills to the lizardmen before they let you teach their younglings. I could certainly use an assistant when it came to resource gathering"

The blonde seemed to sputter at that, to which I chuckled. "Just think on it, alright? It's not the only option available"

I turned to Itria next. "As for you, the lizardmen could always use another chef. Dare I say, you might find some interesting opportunities to swap recipes. Ah, there is one thing though… some of the meat we work with is, er… insectoid"

The girls seemed to blanch at that as a whole, some of them looking nauseous. I couldn't help but try to argue for it. "I assure you it's good food, I promise! Hell, I was the one to introduce it in the first place, it's not as bad as you think!"

There was still that disgust and nausea, and I couldn't help but sigh. "Alright, fine, bugs are off the menu for you girls. That's gonna make things a little more difficult since it's necessary for a lot of our food, but doable"

I adjust my ragged coat and flex my magic again, trying to grasp onto some semblance of mental control. A trick I've gradually been growing more reliant upon as I've experimented with it. I turn to the next one in the group to address, ready to ease into suggesting my second idea for them.

"Pelopie, I know this might sound odd, but… have you considered training to be a warrior?"

The platinum haired woman's eyes widened, seemingly surprised by my suggestion. "A… warrior?"

I nodded. " You seem to be a natural fighter. You have agility and grace, as well as a seemingly natural knack for the halberd you swung"

Honestly, her movements almost reminded me of a gloves-off hockey player on the ice, never mind the way she swung her halberd. I can tell she's never wielded one, but she did at least

"Of course, I extend this offer to all of you ladies if you'd like to learn how to fight. Instead of sitting on the sidelines and standing back, I'd like to offer you the chance to train and actually grow. By no means do I consider myself a 'master' by any degree, but I know a thing or two about several methods of fighting, enough so that I'm certain we could find what fits each of you best. At least, starting from the basics"

She seemed unsure of my suggestion, all of them did. I sighed, but there was nothing else to be said on that front really, now that I said my piece on it. "Just think about it is all I ask. If you're ever ready, I'll be glad to make room for you in our morning exercises. In the meantime, you'll definitely need to find some kind of work. The same goes for all of you"

I receive nods of understanding from them, and I breath in relief. "Good. Now with that out of the way, is there anything you girls need? Additional blankets, some basic amenities, maybe some uh… cotton padding?"

"Cotton padding?" One of the girls asked.

"Uh, y'know, for your uh…" I didn't want to have to spell it out, so I simply pointed to my crotch as I made a clearing sound with my throat.

Thankfully, the girls seemed to get the point of what I was getting at if their reactions were to go by. "O-oh, um, yes actually. That would be nice"

I nodded at that. "I'll be sure to get you ladies some then, anything else?"

I looked around at each girl, looking for any more requests. When I saw none, I put my hat back onto my head with a gentle tug. "Right. Well, we're across the ways from y'all, so if ya need anything don't be afraid to holler, hear?"

More nods around, and I give a simple nod back, brushing the curtains to the hut back. The nipping chill of the air and the bustle reminded me further of the year's closing, as well as the festival everyone was preparing for tomorrow. One target down, one to go.

"Nghrah!" I heard a strained and loud grunt as I got closer to the current 'home' of the two ogres.

It could barely even be called a barn at the moment, but we were working with what we had. The stench certainly didn't give the situation any points in my opinion either, which is why the lizardmen gave them a more isolated section of the village. The ogre mom, Hugg, was currently lifting a large, tapered log, before slamming it into the cold mud with an earth-shaking thud. At the moment, it was obvious she was making at least some renovations to it to make it more suitable. She noticed my presence and gave me a death glare, to which I gave a wave to her. It made me want to wince, but as it stood I needed to try to warm things up between us.

"Ahoy there lass, care to share a word for a moment?"

She stared at me for a moment, seemingly chewing on her thoughts. She turned away from me, but not before muttering a single word.

"Stupid"

I blinked at that. "Eh… come again?"

She snorted at that. "Human asked to share word, Hugg give. Stupid"

I cocked my head at that, more confused than worried I might screw this up. "Why… 'stupid'?"

She huffed dramatically, putting down another log she'd just picked up to turn back around and look at me. "Human think he better than ogre. Think ogre be ser… serbe… slave"

I bristled at that. A part of me was hurt more than anything, but her words weren't without reason. I considered my next words carefully, deciding to sit down cross-legged in front of her to convey relaxation. The height difference made me squint as sunlight flickered on my face, but I could still see her well enough.

"Mmm, that is… not far from the situation. Yes, we see you as 'labor', but I do not see myself as your better because of it," I respond, motioning my hand out to her. "I don't enjoy this situation myself believe it or not, but as it stands…"

A brief flash of her tearing through a man's corpse for dinner made me gasp lightly in nausea, my brain forcing the image to play back through my mind.

"... you need someone to teach you there are better things to life"

Hugg grimaced. "Hugg fine before you came along"

"No you weren't," I began. "Tell me, how many more humans do you think you could have gotten away with eating before another human came by and killed you and your son for what you were doing?"

She snorted derisively. "Humans weak, not likely"

I fought the urge to raise a brow. "If humans are weak, and I defeated you, what does that make you?"

She snarled at that, to which I gave no response externally. I was, however, realizing the ice was getting thinner here.

"I don't say it to be cruel or to rile you up, I say it to try and give you some introspection on the matter. Fact is, while many of my people are very much weak, there are many more that are more than capable of holding their own against the likes of you"

I reached into my coat pocket, pulling out the platinum tags I'd been trying to figure out what to do with. "These tags here belonged to very strong human warriors, known as 'adventurers'. They're a collection of humanity's strongest, who work and fight to hunt down not just animals, but demihumans and heteromorphs alike. And unfortunately, the more harm you cause to humans, the more likely you are to call them down on yourself and those around you. Even if you were the only one to do the killing, if they saw your son, heavens forbid as a newborn? They wouldn't think twice to slaughter him"

That seemed to be a trigger word for her as she stomped forward. I held my ground as well as my bladder, and stared up at her with an unmoving face. Alright, you can do this, this isn't the first time you've had to face down an angry ogre now. Even if her smell was miasmic this close.

My neck strained and my hat was only held in place by a drawstring I used to keep the wind from blowing it off. We stared off at one another silently, for what felt like a minute before my next choice words came out firm, only held strong by the weight of grief.

"Tell me I'm wrong"

Her fist clenched, and she looked like she wanted to stomp on me right then and there. However, she seemed to be growing more hesitant. Dumb as they were, ogres weren't completely stupid either. They just seemed to have a different kind of intelligence was all.

"You're working for us, this is true. But do not think for a second I enjoy it," I defend. "Unlike most of my people, I can look beyond what someone was born as and see them on their merits before their appearance. You genuinely love your son, a mother's love as strong as yours is something I'm quite frankly envious of. If you refuse to accept me, then fine. But will you at least accept that I want to give you both a chance at a new life? To learn what it's like beyond the most base law of 'kill or be killed'?"

I could feel the growing eyes of distant lizardmen watching our interaction, no doubt morbidly curious about how this would play out. The ogress herself stared down at me, still angry. Though it had softened somewhat, and seemed to be hurt just as much.

"Think on it, that's all I ask," I suggest, getting up and brushing the dirt off of my pants. "Of course, that's not the original reason I came here, I am sorry for things taking a somber turn. I wanted to drop by and ask how you and your son are faring, and whether there's anything you need?"

She turned to look at the makeshift hut she and her son were staying in, and back to me. "Furs. Meat. Is all we ask"

I nod at that. "Very well. I'll try to get some more headed your way, I'm sure you'll want to be prepared for the winter"

I held my hand out to her, something she seemed confused by. "Er, right. I'm offering a handshake. It's a human custom"

She looks down at it, curiously. "Hand… shake?"

I nod. "You just clasp my hand and we move them up and down. It's often used for agreements, especially when agreeing that something is going to be done"

She stared at my hand, and then at me, before grabbing it. Something I didn't account for however, was the strength of her grip. A silent whimper squeaks in my throat as I feel my finger bones squeeze into shapes they shouldn't, but I hold strong and follow through. After a painstaking breath, she lets go, looking back at me.

"Did Hugg do right?"

"Yeah," I state simply, a quiver in my voice. "You did just fine. I'll be seeing you alright? Try and stay good for the lizardmen's sake"

We parted ways on good enough terms, and I stepped back into the main proper of the village, being greeted by various lizardmen that saw our interaction. With slight of hand using my free hand, I grabbed my water bottle along with an emergency candy, and drank my fill as I popped the candy in. The painful discomfort of feeling my joints and bones pop back into place was distracting, but not enough for me to keel over and stop my pace. Eventually relief washed over me, the lizardmen hopefully none the wiser that I actually had my hand crunched by the ogress.

Though, the conversation I had with her made me realize there was one more person I needed to talk to before I visited Yulg. Or rather, a group.

The green skinned children ran away, hiding and staring at me from their various positions warily. The tent itself was wide and stretched, vaguely reminding me of a circus tent actually, with dividers of cloth and furs to keep certain spots separated. Various baubles of bone and copper decorated the place, along with the occasional piece of pottery. Though 'tribal', goblins did at least seem to have an understanding of the concept 'materialism'.

I reached the center, which consisted of a gaggle of goblin ladies playing with children, their appearances making me think of 'vodka aunts' and grandmas with the makeup and jewelry they wore. It seems they were certainly indulging themselves at least. As I made my approach, some of the older children took notice, and began to slowly hide away behind the matrons. Many of the matrons themselves were just as wary of me, barring the eldest one. Coincidentally, she seemed to be the most caked in make up and pierced with jewelry.

"Human," The elder mother stated, "You visit. You stand before a former mother of 'Yee' tribe, Yoo. What do you wish?"

I get the feeling I'm ending up more like Commander Shepard with all this running around and checking on people. "I wanted to see how you were acclimating, mostly. How well you're getting along with the goblins of the other tribe as well"

She snorted at that. "We stand as one. No problems with females, males all the same"

I felt a little surprised at that. "Really? No arguments, no clash of clans, nothing?"

"We both conquered, both made into one tribe by lizards. Not first time something like this happen, often enough that we used to it, know what to do"

I couldn't help but wince internally. I look down at one of the shivering children, my brow furrowing at the sight. Still, it made me feel oddly weird about how different the males and the females were in their thought processes sometimes. They certainly seemed more willing and open to change, though the bribery probably helped. "Ah, I see. Are there any issues in general? Are the lizardmen treating you properly?"

She certainly seemed to read behind my words. "We getting more out of this than most give. We have no complaints with how you conquer us"

Yoo shrugs, gently cradling a youngling in her arms that was too young to understand the world around it. Though Yoo and the other matrons seemed a little too old for things like nursing, they were still just as motherly to their grandchildren.

"I see… well at the very least, I'm glad your people are doing alright. For what it's worth, I'm sorry"

She looked at me strangely, as though she were confused. "Stop that"

"Stop what?" I asked.

"Stop saying sorry. Don't fit you"

"Sor…" I began, before realizing where I was going with that. "Er… why doesn't it fit me?"

"You conquer us, you strong warrior. Shouldn't bow to us. Stand proud. Strong eat weak in world"

I was momentarily stunned, before I once again had to remind myself that their overall psychology was different from a human's. They all were. Not that they couldn't be kind and full of love in their hearts, the lizardmen in particular, but the differences were just vast enough that an 'us vs. them' argument would be valid enough. Something I keep forgetting it seemed.

I almost apologized again, but the words died on my tongue to be replaced. "R-right, very well then. I hope that my intrusion did not interfere with things, as well if things seemed a little short. I merely wanted to stop by and make sure you all were doing well, but I can see that you're busy with children at the moment. Perhaps we could try to schedule something after the festival to properly introduce ourselves to one another, try and learn for the sake of cooperation?"

"Come whenever, strange human! You rule us now!" The Ma-Gob barked with a laugh. "Though, before you leave, we need to ask something"

My interest was piqued, and I focused my attention? "Yes? What is it?"

"Now that we one tribe, we need to know what we call self. We of two tribes, 'Haw', and 'Yee'. Wanted to know if you had suggestions for new name. Try many names, not many work"

My lips puckered inward, realizing what was going on here. In one part, it would make sense, just mash the names together to some degree as a symbol. In another part, I really shouldn't suggest such a combination if they were to be taken seriously. And yet, a small yet mischievous part of of me wanted nothing more than for them to take the name up.

"Have you tried… Yeehaw?" I asked. Fuck it, I deserved a good private laugh.

To my surprise, the Ma-Gobs genuinely seemed to be digesting the name.

"Yeehaw, Yeehaw… Yeeeeeehaw!" The old lady shouted, and I fought back my laughter with the sound of an elephant trumpet squeaking through my lips. "Sound good! Feisty! Like it mean something for some reason! We take name!"

I want to hate myself for doing this, but honestly it's nothing compared to 'Hamsuke'. Whelp, I've already passed the point of no return, might as well roll with it. I clench my hands and steady my breathing, focusing on the elder matrons.

"Right, well I'm glad to be of assistance. We'll part ways for now," I spoke with a nod, and made my way out through the tent. Once I was out of sight, I bit my fist to muffle the coming laugh. I was probably going to hell for that. I clear my throat and contain myself, trying to ignore even more looks I was getting. Right. Visit Yulg, and then help with the festival preparations. Easy as pie.

AN: It's Brittany bitch. Hope y'all didn't mind the wait, glad to be back. The holidays make me a little mopey, but that's no excuse in my opinion. Hopefully the chapter size should smooth things over. Let's get straight to it. First of all, I'm pumped that we've gotten over three hundred follows on the story. That's something I'm definitely proud to have, and I'll be sure to use that to keep moving. Secondly, some of my friends finally managed to convince me to set up a Ko-Fi. Personally, I still feel a bit weird about doing that as it kinda makes me feel like I'm some mooch, but on the chance that any of you want to make a donation or something, I suppose I'm open to that now if ya wanna check it out on my profile page. I'm still doing this purely for the fun of it, so no worries on that front. Though uh, I'm really not sure what to do beyond that, a little new to this. And finally, let's touch up on the reviews.

Mr. Odd: Sure as hell has been. Gotta admit, I've been meaning to read Berserk but I never had the chance. Makes me smile a little knowing I accidentally made a comparison, I'll be sure to look for that when I pick it up. I'll also be sure to try and flesh the other characters out too when I get the chance. I guess no one character has held a proper spotlight aside from Nolan, mostly because I can't pick admittedly. I'll have to throw some darts at the board.

Fleece Johnson: Yeah, like I said it's a slow burn. But year one is coming to a close, and I plan on doing some actual decent time skipping come spring time in story. Sorry if it feels long-winded, but I wanna make sure everything's fleshed out too XD

Reaper200851: Nolan's seen some shit, to say the least. Poor bastard could probably use a vacation.