The more frantic my monsters were - or perhaps more enthusiastic, it was hard to tell with them - the more pressed I felt to somehow contribute to their efforts.

I just didn’t know how.

Outside, with the sound of rustling leaves followed by the loud, earth-shaking thud, another tree fell down. It made me flinch in surprise. I seemed to be the only person who didn’t expect this as I heard the tireless menagerie of monsters laughing in their high-pitched voices, satisfied with her work, whatever that was.

My current company in the form of Tama, Miwah and Narita were also completely calm, and likely confused about my own reaction instead. They gave me questioning looks.

“Master?”

“What are you doing out there?” I asked, looking in the direction of the window. Since it used fabric in place of glass, there was nothing visible though, just the vague play of light and shadows. I didn’t know what they were doing, or why. Also, I couldn’t comprehend how they could work so fast. Cutting trees without modern tools was a tedious process. It wasn’t hard to assume their powers were behind that though.

“Clearing perimeter. Making traps,” Tama answered calmly.

“Perimeter? Traps?” I was confused.

“Fewer spaces humans can use as a cover, the better. They got too close last time. Also, if they can dodge my fireballs, let’s give them spike pits to contend with as well,” Tama explained with a grin on her vulpine face.

They were finding distressingly new ways how to maim others.

“We will keep you safe, Master,” Miwah growled affectionately as she, once again, hugged me from behind. Perhaps they sensed I was upset, and they just couldn’t say why.

Although their strangely devoted behaviour felt a little creepy, I wasn’t entirely sure how to react to them at all. I didn’t know if I should feel scared. Or perhaps if I should welcome their advances as a matter of assurance they wouldn’t leave me in the wilderness.

But there was also another matter - they were getting smarter by the minute and were very quick in making up new, inventive ways to kill people. It was concerning in its own right, especially when I needed their protection to even stay alive. I was at their mercy in that regard.

“Please be careful going into the forest, Master,” Narita added, “there might be still human-things lurking. We need to keep you safe.”

I decided to not comment on the term to describe humans even if it troubled me, it was hardly a new development.

“Ah,” I said and spent a short moment thinking. It was relatively hard to do when a werewolf used me as a hug pillow. Tama tilted her head to the side, considering me. Narita was also quite patient with me, her mousy ears twitching.

“Did anyone check all that stuff in here?” I offered. Despite the fact the frustration I felt when the haphazard stash didn’t provide the immediate answer I was hoping for, I couldn’t rule out it could be indeed useful in some way.

Even if it wasn’t for him, it would be for the monsters.

I assumed that sorting out the collection of items left behind by the previous occupants of this camp and determining their value, or overall usefulness, would come in handy. I could leave the rest to the tireless horde.

“Aside from finding the dress here, not in any great detail. Are you looking for anything in particular?” Tama answered with a nod, looking around.

“And the armour I wore,” Miwah offered, still clinging to me. Though she didn’t wear said armour anymore - the assassin's blade had gone right through it in that fight, and the canine monster was still around only because death was a relatively temporary setback to them, rather than the final destination.

Although I presumed not all fighters we could meet around there were on that level, the monsters would have much greater difficulty fighting them off without outnumbering them greatly.

The idea of another battle, another slaughter, still made me shudder.

Pressing my mind to something productive, I determined that any weapons and armour stored there had to go.

It was the memory of the creatures dying that guided my decision, strangely enough. I didn’t want that to happen. It was painful to watch even if with their tendency to come back to life. Giving them some protection would help. Giving them weapons didn’t make things worse.

After a brief look around, I picked one of the scale mail armour jackets still left around among the other disarranged goods, it was large and actually, quite heavy to even lift, probably sturdier than average, or just made for the bulky individual. It was even heavier than the one they put on me previously, wasn’t sure where it even ended.

With shaking hands struggling with the weight, I offered it to Miwah. The werewolf still picked it up with ease, even though she wasn’t keen on wearing it at the moment.

“Here,”

“Tired looking at my body?” She offered in a playful way, exactly as Tama did before. I hoped it wouldn’t be a general tendency for them in the future.

“I prefer not to see you harmed,” I answered, truthfully, better not to think of anything else.

“There is no need to worry about that as long as you stay safe, Master.” She purred softly.

“Seeing you die hurts me as well.” I objected, and with a brief moment of silence added, I added: “Please.”

“If it makes you happy, Master,” Miwah spoke, approaching me a little bit.

I was uncertain if I should welcome another display of tenderness from the werewolf. It was always awkward, especially when I realized how contradicting my own feelings on it were. On the one hand, I should be terrified of them, on the other, it was safer with them…

Not willing to decide on my dilemma, I pushed the conversation elsewhere.

“Oh, I know, it would be nasty to wear, perhaps the clothing that goes under it?” I wondered, looking through the mess of the stash, there was certainly cloth, though not all of it was meant to be actual garments, though it could help.

“Master, I think you didn’t say if you like the dress,” Tama interjected. I better not question from where everything came.

“Oh, it suits you,” was my polite, and not really thought-through answer, which visibly pleased the fiery vixen.

“But since there are no humans around…” she teased, in a seductive tone. Perhaps Tama sensed my own uneasiness and decided to toy with me a little. I opted to say silent.

I went to look for another item from the loot pile. Anything that provided some degree of protection was probably wise to use while we could.

There just weren’t that many things available to choose from, there was that same scale-mail styled suit, as I saw before, and another of those mostly leather cuirasses, a lot of cloth, but that was just about it.

There was no way I would equip all of them, not after their numbers rose so quickly. There was a handful of equipment only, most likely only what the previous owner considered pricy.

“I am sure more humans around there had some armour,” I said as I struggled to outfit Narita into something more protective. As she was the smallest, most petite of us, it was difficult to fit her into something bulky. It was probably useful to keep her, along with her smaller kin protected considering they could heal others. Though I recalled that many of the men that we fought didn’t have complete suits, just shoddy leather breastplates.

My thoughts were interrupted by the red mist, materializing and spitting a few ‘Purifiers’ into the world. One, two - up to four fox-like creatures were brought in. It made me immediately stress out about another raid.

“Master!” They announced themselves with the typical cheerfulness, not with distress, but it didn’t make me feel any better. They immediately stepped toward me, in their happy-to-see-me fashion.

“Another ambush?” I immediately expected the worst.

“Master!” The small fiery vulpines shook their heads, and Tama, the largest and only one actually speaking in full sentences helpfully explained: “No. We should be safe, for now.”

I recalled that there were a few on the timer. It was hard to keep track of things like this in life-threatening situations.

It didn’t calm me down much, though I did make my best to compose myself, and patted one of the monsters on her head, then another, as I assumed they actually expected to be welcomed back among the living, or something along those lines. They loved the attention and probably considered their own clingy manners as standard.

I took a deep breath and sighed, not out of true annoyance, but more in the way to give myself a little bit of confidence in this matter. I very much doubted my role in commanding them, but I had to try as my life depended on it.

“Thank you,” I said after a short pause, and to direct them, or perhaps myself, from my own unease I suggested: “Did you recover any of the armours humans wore? Some that weren’t burned, or damaged otherwise...”

“Yes, Master,” Tama answered.

“You four…” I said to the smaller ones, “You help me to sort those things…”

“Master!” They screeched in agreement.

“So, first give the leftover armours to…” I paused, briefly mentally struggling with how the system tended to code things, “...to Defilers. They can heal you if you are wounded. Then to anyone else, if anything is left.”

They confirmed with their usual phrase, and I picked the polearm propped against the wall in the corner, handing it over to the first of the monsters close by.

Then the curved sword lay on the pile of assorted junk, an assortment of other exotic weapons, and another outfit, like a few pieces of clothing.

Even my ‘assistants’ were bored about what was left, though they dutifully remained around, reminding me I needed to find a way to reward them. I didn’t know why. They obviously didn’t desire many items, though they did like to have a curiosity that contributed to their developing personalities.

I was more than happy to give away all the trinkets if they made them happy.

The few rolls of textile were next to useless, just as the pieces of fragmented artwork were, despite being made of precious metals, or even coins. They would require a knowledge of the language and where to trade in the first place. A few jugs that probably contained alcohol were equally uninteresting.

I used to hear about the gold fever, but I experienced no such thing. Only sadness.

Disappointed, and exhausted, and with the shadows creeping into the house I was in, I knew it was getting late. I gave Tama a glance as she still toying with some artwork for her amusement, then threw the golden piece away as useless junk. I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.

Instead, I went to check what the monsters outside were doing as the commotion was hard to miss through the thin walls and fabric-covered windows. They made a ruckus for about a few hours, I was certain, at least one noisy thud where other trunks hit the ground. It was all hard to miss, along with the persistent smell of burning wood. I couldn’t overlook it anymore.

They still managed to shock me.

When I stepped outside and I looked around, I realized things had changed a little.

Originally, the paved courtyard was surrounded on all sides by the greenery slowly encroaching on the shrine and its support structures, now it was surrounded by a ring of burnt, dead vegetation and fallen trees. It may be only a few meters wide as it was now, but still a very noticeable change.

If I had more monsters, especially the life-draining ones, they would turn this entire area into a dead wasteland. Monsters were still active out in the forest, seemingly with boundless energy, suppose to set up traps Tama spoke about before.

I noticed a few who tried to strip the downed tree with the found or gifted blades. I didn’t know anything about swords, but I know you couldn’t use them chopping wood, weapons would break, or be otherwise ruined.

But I didn’t care.

I didn’t even have the strength to scold them.

Instead, the sight of darkening skies and the smell of roasted meat drove my focus away from the devastation, or strange behaviour. Reminded of the fact I hadn’t eaten anything for the day, my stomach rumbled in protest.

“Hey! Everyone! It was enough work for today, you should rest.” I shouted to no one in particular. I was soon answered with a chorus of voices screeching the usual “Master!” in an acknowledging tone, and the crowd gathered around the campsite when I sat by the fire.

“Thank you! Thank you!” I expressed my appreciation for their efforts as I gave a few hugs and pats to the creatures vying for attention, but for the most part, Narita, Miwah and Tama hushed away their smaller kin to give me some space.

When they offered me a generous serving of slightly burnt meat and overcooked rice in the bowl I was very grateful for it. I was too hungry to even mind it was mostly tasteless. If this world was something like the Earth in ancient times, spices were a luxury, after all, and with all hostility of the unknown all around us, it was good there was any food at all.

I devoured the food without any table manners as no one was really bothered about them, as the monsters around me didn’t have any either. Some of the monsters ate the meat raw even, but the fact they needed to eat did remind me that they did need to be fed, like any living beings, perhaps except those still giddy from the power of so-called ‘Defilers’.

It also reminded me how many of them were around right now, and how bustlingly overcrowded this place was. Rather than the small retinue, they were a huge mob, and though the smaller versions didn’t really speak, they were still incredibly noisy and restless, amusing themselves with various silliness around the now several smaller fires. Not surprising, half of their current numbers consisted of pyromaniacs.

My thoughts on the matter were suddenly interrupted when the reddish clouds that usually accompanied the new monsters forming spat out the two ‘Eviscerator’ and one ‘Purifier’ which immediately yelped out their usual chant. It, of course, shocked me. Not only I wasn’t expecting it to happen, but I was also almost certain that they indeed replenished their numbers by now, with no more surprises forthcoming.

“What now?” I barked out and jumped out off my feet, expecting an assault.

None did come.

“I don’t think we are in danger, Master.” Tama tried to reassure me, while Miwah added: “The last human that fled, he got far, but we finally got him. He won’t survive, but we might have found where humans are.”

“Where?” I asked, more startled than curious.

“Roughly, four hours in this direction, the forest ends. Humans have settlements even farther away.” The werewolf gestured somewhere towards the horizon.

It didn’t feel like a remote place,and for the moment I stomped around nervously before I once again dropped to my sitting place near the fire, my tired mind failing in finding any solution. If they knew where we were, we might not have days.

“They do have more armed men there,” Miwah summarised, which made me worry even more, almost certain we would once again get into yet another battle. It made me almost shake, not only I didn’t want to lead the army, I didn’t want to fight one either.

“How many?” I requested, carefully, hoping for the best.

“A lot, Master.”

I didn’t like the answer.

“Are we going to be attacked? Are they heading here?” I shoot out a few more questions, trying to be calm and failing in that regard.

“Day is almost over,” Tama suggested, “Humans don’t see well in dark. If they set out in our direction, they won’t do it until morning.”

I looked up. Skies were getting dark, and though I had no idea when the sun would set I didn’t think it would take far too long. I wasn’t interested in the outdoors, but I knew that nights outside the cities with modern lighting were very dark, making travel through the forest straight away impossible.

Knowing as much still didn’t calm me.

I sat down once again.

“We will always protect you, Master,” Werewolf, once again, assured me with a soft, purring tone.

This time, I gladly accepted the reassurance, along with the closeness, though it didn’t stop my tired mind from racing to find the solutions I didn’t see.

If danger was real, perhaps I should start naming the rat-like monsters to boost their numbers…