We arrived same as always, the former slaves with us, and they looked around, startled, as being told you would be teleporting was different than actually being teleported. That said, the moment we were there, Ben, who had probably been wondering when we would arrive, spotted us, and smiled. He waved an arm in our direction at first, before looking confused for a moment at the number of people with us.

Then confusion turned to concern, as he shouted towards some of the others, and they stopped working to run up to us. They were soon amongst the twenty or so former slaves, a human, a few demi-humans, but mostly beastmen, and they immediately began inspecting them, and even using healing skills that went beyond my own to get rid of one or two other status effects they were under.

Once they were done with that, Ben had them prep one of the tents that hadn't been setup yet for them, and then took the pair of us to the 'office' tent. The moment we were inside, he had us sit down at the table, before pulling out the bar, and quickly writing a note. I could see it well enough to see it was mostly a request to start getting supplies ready for an unknown number of disaster victims, and he'd have more concrete information soon.

"How long has it been since they've eaten?" he asked when he looked up at us.

"About an hour or so. Stew, made by Fast, Lucia, and Souka, I would estimate it had around the same nutritional value as half a ration bar, given how watered down we were required to make it," said Ray, and he nodded, rising briefly, and then shouting something outside the tent. It was a type seven event, he cried, and he got a few answers back, before he retook his seat.

"How many, and how soon can you bring the rest of them here?" he asked next.

"About one-thousand or so total, a mixture of humans, demi-humans, and beastmen in about the same proportions as the group we brought with us,these being about average of their overall condition, with some worse, and some better," I answered, and he immediately sent out a message with that, and a specific request for healing potions, food, and more tents, when he was done, he leaned back in his chair, pulled his ears down over his eyes and lot out a deep sigh, obviously not happy with any of this.

"What the Wave happened up there? We both know you were going up to those beastmen's village, the one they said was destroyed in the First Wave, so I expected a few people, but this? I KNOW that area, there are only a few hundred living there, not a thousand, and they should be in a damn sight better condition than this," he asked finally, as he let his ears go so they were pointing up, and he looked pointedly at us.

So we filled him in quickly on what our morning had been like…oh gods it was still before noon at this point, I realized with some trepidation. Regardless, he sat there and gave us his full attention as Ray laid out the things we'd seen. He was passive, not reacting to any of it, as he listened. You could tell from his eyes, however, that he was very unhappy with what he was hearing, though.

When it was over, he sat back in his chair, sighed, taking in the information, processing it, and then quickly starting to send out more messages. I chose not to read these, instead waiting as he did it. By the time the hour of noon approached, the sun high overhead, he finished his work, and then got up, walking to the tent flap, he had one of the others come over to him, and they had a whispered conversation, before he came back.

"The ones you brought are doing well, which is good. If they'd died from shock or something, this could have turned ugly fast," he said, as he took his seat, and then faced us.

"Ray…this is…," he began, and the panther woman nodded.

"It violates a lot of agreements, both those with the other kingdoms, and with the Guild itself. Do you think Melromarc knows?" she asked him, and he quickly shook his head.

"If it did, the capital would have been awash with rumors. The Queen would have already returned from her trip and invaded, despite the Waves. She might even have roped the Heroes into it," he explained, eyeing me, and I leaned forward.

"So, it's against international law to use slaves like this then?" I asked, more curious than anything about it.

"Not law persay, but most Kingdoms have had long standing agreements, with us, and between themselves, on how Slave Seals can be used. They're too easy to apply to not have rules like that, otherwise the slave trade would be everywhere, as it's just too useful for it not to be," explained Ray, tapping her own chest.

"If it weren't regulated, half the damn planet would be enslaved to one monarch or another, for the good of the nation they'd say. Luckily, the Guild, the Church, and a dozen other organizations keep them from doing that. Using them, like this, regardless of the circumstance, is enough to be declared a Monster, and thus, be given the same treatment as one," Ben added, and before he could go farther, the bar chimed beside him, and he used it to print off a page, and then, without reading it, send it across the table to me.

It was a wanted poster, of sorts. No picture, just a name, the name of the Queen of the northern country, and a bounty. It was lower than the hydra, to be fair, but still, quite high. It stipulated that there was to be no live capture. This was a death mark, and they wanted it dealt with as soon as possible, but obviously, I was being given first crack at it. Probably a courtesy of some kind.

"What about the Melromarc lord that apparently helped her with this? He's the one who captured Strong, Fast, and Shadow, and sold them," I asked, and Ben scratched his chin in thought.

"Technically, what he did was legal, internationally speaking, and he'd need to be tried here in Melromarc courts, where it's not. That said…" he trailed off, leaving the thought there. As I'd heard before, even if he could be accused, there would be no penalties for him, not during a crisis with the Waves going on…probably not after either.

"Then we deal with the problem we can. I'll bring the rest of the village here. We'll get them back on their feet, offer them jobs here, if they want. If not, once they're well enough, they can go their own way," I said, and Ben nodded, brightening up, as that was probably what he'd wanted me to say.

"After that…my party and I will wait by the village. We know from Marie that the Queen herself has to come down to take possession of the crystals they're mining…we can even bring the latest shipment here to help pay for some of this I suppose," I said, looking at them for confirmation.

"That land does belong to the village, and was mined with the help of the others under the slave seal. By rights, it belongs to them," said Ben, and I nodded.

"After we deal with her, we'll come back here. How much longer until the Hall is built?" I asked.

"It's almost there. We wanted it done first. A day, maybe two at the most, and it will be open for business. Once it's up, Sanctuary will be recognized by the Guild as an official city, and as part of your demesne. The King will throw a tantrum, Queen Mirellia too when she returns to Melromarc, but at that point taking it back will not be in their power without military action," he answered.

"Good. We'll get everyone here over the next few days then, and when the northern Queen comes by to collect her pay, we'll deal with her," I said, not darkly or anything, just a statement of fact.

"It would be best if you allowed her to make the first aggressive move, regardless of her crimes. If we can add self-defense to any argument being used to justify getting rid of her, it would be useful," added Ray, and Ben nodded at the suggestion.

From there, we mostly talked about a few minutia type details, housing and the like, and what sort of environments we'd need. He also wondered aloud if I'd be able to make anyone in the incoming group into Adventurers, something I'd debated on internally. It came with pros and cons, given how broken they were at the moment, so I'd honestly kick the can down the road a bit, and let them heal, before even making the offer.

That all settled, someone came into the tent, telling Ben they had everything ready, and when we went outside, we saw a wagon loaded up with not only food, but also potions, and all sorts of other things that would make getting the survivors back on their feet easier, before we brought them all here. A boon to be sure, and I thanked everyone involved, as I decided to return with it at once.

Our arrival back was greeted with cheers, low, barely there ones, but still, the people were thrilled to see us, and I had at least a dozen kowtowing to me, forehead to the floor and everything, as I walked by them. Trying to get them to stand up, I instructed the others to start making more food. Nothing too rich, but enough to start feeding the people right now, and keep them healthy until we could get them out, especially if we mixed potions of healing in with it.

From there, I went back to sitting on my duff with the zombies passing around me, and me using my Bow the moment I had enough SP not to pass out with each shot. Slowly, that saw the number of slave sealed in the village dropping. By sunset, it was down to only a little over half of where it had begun, and determined, I kept myself awake until the early hours of the morning, healing, and then freeing everyone.

By the time the sun dawned, it was done, and I promptly passed out in the middle of the village, my body aching for some reason, like I'd been running laps, despite not really moving much. Fortunately, exhausted sleep meant I didn't dream, and so I passed the time in a void of unconsciousness, only intruded on by the occasional sensation from the waking world as my body was moved about.

When I woke up it was to candles, and small lights all around me, making me blink, bleary eyed for a moment against them, smelling the sweet scent of tallow tanged smoke in the air, as I began to stir. Beyond my blurry vision, I could easily make out the sound of bodies, a lot of bodies, moving about, and so as I forced my sore form to rise up, I looked out and found where I'd been sleeping.

A shrine…I wasn't sure if the style was more western or eastern, but I knew a shrine when I saw one. A roof, supported by four long beams, held above what was probably the best bed in town, with a whole litany of candles arrayed around it, their light bright enough that it was hard to see beyond as I blunk against my tired eyes, rubbing them, and then, spotting a gap, sliding off the bed to stand on my own two feet.

Being just outside the candlelight showed me that the world was dark, save for a few fires that were placed intermittently amongst the crowd, their flicker flames illuminating the countryside, the only source of light save for the stars and a sliver of a moon that hung in the sky. Around the first…in fact around the whole of the 'shrine' were the people, all of them bowing, some kowtowing, others just bending in half, and some even saluting in various ways.

That was…not a pleasant way to wake up, especially given they must have been watching me sleep, and I knew I snored like a truck, so that was embarrassing, and for just a moment I was tempted to shout at them to not treat me like some demi-god or something…only to stop with the words on my lips when I remembered, there really was a church to me, to my Weapon, in the capital of Melromarc, and most every country on this planet from what I understood.

To them, we were, if not demi-gods, than harbingers of the will of the Four Cardinal Weapons, their chosen champions. We would be put on pedestals like this all the time. That sudden thought made me come up short in whatever I was about to say, and so I just stood there, waiting for someone to come up, and soon, Marie, along with Strong and Souka, did so, placing their hands on mine as they walked up, and then holding them up.

Even without words, that got a cheer from the crowd, a hoarse, weak one in some cases, but a cheer nonetheless. I did my best to remain smiling as Marie gave a speech I was only half paying attention to, as the people looked at me, staring with eyes like they expected me to sprout wings and start dispensing miracles at any second…which to be fair, I guess I'd been doing most of the day and night before.

Finally, I tuned in to Marie, who was explaining the plan we'd come up with, Ray probably having filled her in. I would, via the power of the Bow, be taking everyone in this village to the city(not town, city she emphasized) of Sanctuary, that was being built in my name right now. There, the people would be housed, fed, and sheltered, until they were well enough to stand on their own two feet.

From there, they'd be allowed to do whatever they wanted. She added that they'd be getting some money to start off with if they left, a few silver(not sure I'd agreed to that directly, but it was a good idea). Or they could stay and help with running this new place, as it would have need of labor, skilled and not, and would hopefully become a hub for trade, and a beacon of freedom not just in one nation, but in the whole of the world.

That got another cheer, and she instructed them to start assembling into their already determined groups, which were mostly families or friends. From there, I'd be transporting them to Sanctuary. Once she and my party had a few words with me. That speech over, she guided me away from the shrine, and towards the home I recognized as the place we'd brought her to recover a few days prior, with a small fire going, and the rest of the party there.

"You're awake!" said Lucia, who rushed up to me, and wrapped her arms around me. Before I could say anything, she squeezed me in a hug, and then picked me up and spun me around. It was almost as embarrassing as waking up to the whole worship thing going on, but luckily, she set me down, and we sat around the fire, listening to the noises of bodies moving around outside, getting ready.

"So, how long was I out?" I asked.

"Only most of today. Gave us time to get everyone hyped up for leaving. The people for whom this place has been home all their lives were less than thrilled to hear that, but we've always known we might be forced to leave. Better, most of those brought in don't have homes to go back to, so a place to take them in? They're thrilled with it," said Marie as she passed me a cup, filled with the same tea she had been drinking before. I took it and sipped at it, finding the taste…bitter but acceptable.

"That's good. I can take twenty at a time, and I think that will go up the more I do it. Once we've got everyone out, my party and I will wait here, and we'll deal with the queen when she arrives," I said, hoping I sounded hard about that, as I knew the type of confrontation that was coming.

"I want to be part of that, if you'll let me. My people, she hurt and enslaved my whole village, and that is a crime for which I want personal retribution," she said, her voice sounding flat, but her eyes looked like they were shimmering with an inner fire. I didn't exactly have a way to respond to that, and so I instead did something I had wanted to try for a while. Standing up, I walked to her, and placed my Bow before her, and indicated she should touch it.

The moment she did, I tried to focus on her, bringing up her sheet. Within, it had her level as Null, showing she was a person of this world, but not yet able to partake in the adventurer side of things. I had, on bringing the brothers into my party, been able to give them levels, but this time, I merely focused on that Null, and willed the system to activate, slowly but surely causing it to glitch, and then finally change into a One.

That was exhausting. Not in the same way using my SP was, as I hadn't had to use any for it, but still, I wobbled on my feet for a moment, until she caught me, holding me up, as she looked at her hands, and flexed her fingers, staring at them. Her stats, which had been about average for the people of the world, had already increased a bit. Nothing spectacular, nothing gamebreaking, but still, she was able to fight more than before.

She didn't say anything, other than to hug me once, and then started to give orders, to my party, and even to me, and this time, I listened to another's plans. In a few minutes, we were at work, me taking the first load of refugees to Sanctuary, as the others got to the business of tearing down the village, ensuring that, whatever else happened, the ones who took this land later would have to do so on their own.

It took, interestingly, only a day to empty the village, as my hops soon saw my (Fast Travel) skill go from able to target about twenty things, to over fifty in the course of using it constantly, and when it was done, we took a moment to gather the crystals into the cart Ben had given us. The thing was almost full, despite stopping them early, and as we came to Sanctuary, we saw a party-like atmosphere in full swing, as people were literally dancing around fires, and trading stories.

We stayed the evening, and I even watched as Ben did something to declare the Adventurers' Hall open for business, using his bar to…tap something into the door of it that caused the whole thing to shimmer briefly, before he, and a load of workers went inside, one of them coming out, and the adventurers, a load of beastmen and demi-humans, walked inside, coming out with slips that were explaining jobs to them, all of them bowing their heads to me as they went off to do their good work.

Meanwhile, we gathered up supplies, and even reloaded the cart with a tent like the one the workers building Sanctuary had been sleeping in. We wanted to be present the moment she came, after all. With all that done, we waved goodbye, and together, eight figures would appear where there had once been a village standing, and we would soon set up the tent, and then set down to wait for our target to come to us.