Haa~, not making any enemies, as if I were so fortunate. The matter of the Poran seemed so inconsequential that it slipped my mind. Since I hadn't actually done anything, slipping out of the city should have dissuaded them from taking action. To come all the way to the boonies, they must be chasing after something of great significance.

To their credit, from the lack of a fight this could be identified as a reconnaissance squad. Testing the waters to see what I knew, they should have tried this before straight up attacking me. Good to see defending myself didn't condemn us to an irreconcilable blood feud, otherwise there would probably be an unending stream of opponents seeking vengeance. Sending stronger people each time, I would gradually level up becoming unstoppable…

That sounded kind of nice…No! Bad Alric, no tricking humans into falling on your blade for XP! Murder is bad. Even if it does result in tasty XPs.

Very clearly not licking my lips in anticipation of such a windfall, because such an event certainly would not be condoned by a Hero, my audience with the visitors concluded and I made my way to Ross and Troy. Only a few minutes had passed, but a milliliter is still a whole raindrop.

“Hey you two, I was wondering if I could bunk with one of you two while our guests are here?” Quick and to the point, no one was around to overhear, but I lowered my voice a little just in case. “I don't really know what they want, but it might be trouble if I claim Ria’s house as mine.”

“Er, what’s going on Twig?” Ross looked confused, stopping his work. “Disciples may not be the most forgiving, but they are doing the work of the Church. Why the need to move around?”

“Come on, you really think they'll approve of Alric so easily? The Church doesn't like mages, if they catch sight of Ria, things won't go well for the two of them.”

“Surprisingly, Troy is making cogent points. There is something to keep in mind, they may not even be Disciples. I may have frustrated a few people in town, so I'll try not to drag you guys into it. We can cancel going to the deep forest tomorrow. Still, even if they aren't Disciples, we don’t want word of Ria’s condition getting back to the church.”

“Right, but tell us if things get too troublesome.”

“Haha, good to hear.” I laughed looking between the two, so ready to act. It would be better if the matter didn't spread to affect the whole village, hopefully it could remain contained. A week certainly was quite a while to gather information from one person, the Poran were certainly trying to be subtle about it all. That was good, but since I actually didn't know what they were looking for if they thought I was only playing dumb, things could escalate.

On top of that, I needed to make sure they didn't learn of Ria’s state either. Even if they weren't actual Disciples, with horns and red skin, who couldn't help but cry demon? This isolated village all but cast away one of their own; for the more orthodox city-folk, not much would be able to be done but try and hide.

I believe the only mention of demons thus far have been in comparison to Ria and from Ralph’s OGP’s stories. Demons and devils, they don't come up often in Derriad, and when they do their appearance is brief. The snippets I heard in histories from Lyssa and Dann mentioned them as humanoid monsters also capable using the flow of life. Ralph’s description of a world-shattering behemoth wasn't exact, but also not unusual. So while they may not show themselves frequently, signs of the demonic are cursed and destroyed.

Magic use also seems somewhat paired with the idea of the demonic, which is just part of why it gets such a bad rap in Derriad.

After speaking with the brothers, I moved on to find Tagalong Girl, and possibly Rion. While I dealt with the spies, Ria still needed to be taken care of. I didn't know if we would just be talking, or if I would be put under surveillance, and plans needed to be started before they spread out and started tracking me.

Spotting King of the Kids and his citizens along the banks of the stream, tossing rocks, floating sticks and leaves, doing general kid stuff.

“Rion, we’ve got stuff to talk about. The rest of you stay. Well, I suppose *Tagalong Girl* can come as well. It’s just chores from his dad, go back to being dorks, you.” Forcibly lifting him up, a feat of only moderate difficulty with my improved strength, his entourage was about to follow until I made it seem boring. Naturally rugrats wouldn't be able to keep their mouths shut. Rion was just more invested in the situation and Tagalong Girl...well she seemed more like an adolescent than a rugrat, though it was more of an oscillation between extremes of maturity and childishness instead of an even middle ground. She already acted as my doctor’s assistant the first time, so doing so again wouldn't be too much trouble for her.

“Hey cut it out! What’s going on?” Rion complained, straightening out his shirt as if that would make it look better.

“Calm down kiddo, you saw the Disciples rolling in here right?” There shouldn't have been any way for him to miss it, but he cocked his head and looked confused.

“They...rolled in here?”

“Rion, this is serious.Those Disciples aren't going to be so friendly if they find out about your sister. Since they don't like me either, I need you and *Tagalong Girl* to take care of her while they're here.”

“Huh?” Come on, be a little quicker on the uptake. Standing around in a daze like this, even if Tagalong Girl does follow you, you still won't seem anything like a hero. You can only be forgiven because it is so early in your life, but shape up!

“Ria is going to be in trouble if these Disciples find her, and they'll be keeping a close eye on me in the future. So you need to take care of her! That’s what siblings do!” When they aren't at each other’s throats.

“A-alright, I got it, got it.” Rion started stammering, the sort that only acts confident if there isn't much pressure. Well the stakes may be a little high, but the task at hand was simple. I slapped him on the back.

“Good kid. *Tagalong Girl* always seems to stick with you so she can come with, but don't tell anyone else. Remember, breakfast and dinner, and a meal at midday won't hurt. She’s getting a bit better, but help lean her up to eat. Make sure you get her lots of water, water is good for sick people.” Let’s see what else would there be...right. Tagalong Girl followed Rion for his magic power, so he probably shouldn't touch her horns. But if I say that, he might get too curious. Of course if a heroic character falls prey to curiosity things still work out. Could I really count on narrative structures in the world? Besides he might not even qualify as…

No, I'm overthinking this.

“Don't touch the horns on her head. It makes her uncomfortable and can be dangerous.” There. A bit of explanation and reason for listening should do the trick, even if I did make it up. Well it might be true, but really it didn't matter. I didn't want Ria ‘eeping’ during any of the moments of silence during my staredowns that would inevitably ensue between myself and the Disciples. Even if I don't trust in convenient narratives, Murphy’s Law has existed since time immemorial, I doubt a mere different plane of existence would put a stop to it. Better to be careful.

“Got it.” Nodding his head, Rion still sounded a little half hearted about the matter. Come on, you don't want to be a pushover MC do you? They are the kind that gets blessed with magnificent powers, but if you plan on that it surely won't happen. Take a stand, you're in the springtime of youth!

Getting Rion more composed than before, he looked like he could be counted on to take care of Ria for the time being. Looking over towards *Tagalong Girl*, she lowered her head and stepped towards Rion, acting nervous. What a crafty persona. I wondered how valuable those eyes of her really were.

Almost everything had been taken care of. Hans und Franz and friends were still traipsing about in the forest though. Were they to be encountered, not only their safety would be compromised, but the reaction of, well, pretty much everyone, couldn't be predicted past ‘quite negative’.

This time faux sneaking into the woods wouldn't cut it. There was a minor reprieve in that I only needed to shovel my minions into Inventory and that the villagers wouldn't actually care that much. Activating , I peeked around the corners of houses while nonchalantly walking among them. Noting the position of Pan and the Disciples, I moved so several houses were in the line of sight. Moving quickly into the tall grass, no one was paying attention, and I ducked down within.

Laying down and fanning out in the middle of the wild grasses; looking at the top it would be hard to discern the anomaly. Shifting in the occasional breeze, the grasses settled and my presence was no more unnatural than a fallen branch. After some time of waiting, I shook my spiritual connections to the hand spiders, calling them to me.

Only the size of two hands, and dull green and grey in color, they would be far less likely to be noticed moving into the tall grass than my going to them. Paired with the distance, one would need supernatural senses to detect the approach of Hans und freunds.

Time crawled along with my tiny fleshy minnies. Quite a ways into the forest, even if they moved quickly, their small strides meant it took a while for them to approach. Appearing in pairs, eventually Manny and Nails returned, followed by Hans und Franz, and after a long delay, CT and Birdy. Of course the cautious one and imprudent one would end up returning last. I wondered if they had gotten into an argument on the way.

I really felt excited for the other types of undead. It would be so fun to see what they were capable of. I wondered what sort of intelligence they would possess, the changes were so curious, yet wonderful. Well, I could never forget my adorable first set of minions.

Ushering them into my Inventory, if the preparations persisted then trouble wouldn't spill over to the village as far as I could see. Now I could freely deal with the guests from the Poran, hopefully without physical conflict. The hero needs to do his best to avoid that, until it is absolutely necessary.

Earlier I was trying to get Rion to be more of a fiery character, but this isn't hypocrisy. Wiser heroes are allowed to not engage in life and death conflict over little things. Just because the Poran were criminals didn't make them all bad people. Besides, they were here to negotiate. Heroes need to be able to make a courageous stand, but also need to avoid killing. Otherwise they risk becoming an anti-hero; that sort of theme would undoubtedly bring tragedy to my surroundings.

No, even if they were criminals, it was better to approach peacefully. Stretching as though I'd just gotten up from a nap, I headed back into the village. Pan should have finished up the tour of the area, and there wasn't much for them to be doing. Idling in the meeting hall was the best way to socialize, and it would be good if I Conduct Meeting before anyone started throwing a tantrum.

A/N:AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Wow! The MC slightly beats out Ruffles by 3 votes, but third place has less than half of either of them. Ria, who sat with 0 votes for a while made a comeback to tie with Hans Und Freunds for 3rd at 10 votes. Tagalong Girl and Theodore got a sad 3 each, and the others got only one.

Except Lyssa, who got zero votes.

Poor Gal.