Back from my small break ! Lets continue !

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The girls started to wake up one after another,hobusaku and hobura were both trying to pull my attention with little success hobura was already on her knees very depressed while hobusaku was starting to tear up because I was acting cold towards her.

I don't know where hoboku was and plainly speaking I didn't care much and instead called for red hawk so I could travel to the dark elf village faster,I wasn't going to bring everyone with me this time because there was no point to it,having the girls protect the village while I was gone would be more useful and the ride would at most take one or a half hour and maybe some talking with the village chief before I head back who knows.

I got ready to go out after a few minutes,I was going to bring hobushi and habana with me today as my bodyguards,red hawk was restricted to the amount of people he could carry,but 3 people were good enough,the only thing I was worried about was the height we were going to travel,I still wasn't very inclined on the idea of riding red hawk,but not using him to fly would be pointless since it was the whole reason I took him into my circle.

Anyways I stopped thinking about these things and stood up from my chair,making my way towards the exit and as I was doing that from the corner of my eye,I could see someone approach with haste.

-(Yawn)...ohh ! good morning lord sorron !

Hoboku said finally waking up from her sleep and getting down stairs,we met eyes momentarily and the way I looked at her was blank and slightly indifferent,it made hoboku confused,but then she also noticed that two of the girls standing behind.

-Are we leaving ? Wait I need to clothe !

She said smiling at me,but I looked the other way walking past her and opening the door behind her to go outside,hoboku was clearly lost for words seeing me ignore her so plainly,she took the moment to look at the other two girls who were following me and asked them what was going on they obviously didn't know anything so they couldn't answer,but they sure knew that I was ignoring both hobura and hobusaku so they figured what was going on and just looked at hoboku with a sorry look in their eyes waving her a pitiful goodbye as we left the house.

Hoboku tried to call me back and asked me what was wrong,but I didn't listen and continued to walk,making her voice softer every step until it wasn't audible anymore...

After a while,I took a moment to stop in my tracks and look back at the house where hoboku was hunched over looking a bit depressed closing the door behind her in a frustrated manner,seeing her like this made me smile wryly and also question myself whetever or not I may have taken this too far...

I shook my head getting rid of that idea,they would live through this its only a small punishment and tomorrow I will act like I did normally,but for now they just have to endure it maybe they understand how I feel after this.

Behind me hobushi and habana were both a bit perplexed to the situation,they were most likely there yesterday when their captains intruded on me and to be fair they should get the same punishment,but I didn't want to be too unreasonable and speak with no one,I was also a bit soft and instead decided to punish the captains instead of the subordinates.

Hobushi and habana may think right now that they were also going to be ignored and felt troubled by it,but I assured them that it wasn't the case and showed them by petting their heads making them instantly relieved and cheerful as we made our way further into the village.

Red hawk needed some time until he got here not too much I assumed maybe 10 minutes,I already told rokuten that a red hawk would come and pick me up so he wouldn't be worried about a giant hawk hovering above their village threateningly.

-Hey...you blue eyes !

Someone called hearing the voice I turned around for a moment and met eyes with the ratman that I talked yesterday the one who told me about the location of their base,behind him I could see the rest of the ratman still sleeping cuddled together in different blankets still sleeping there were a few bowls scattered around showing that they had indeed eaten a good amount yesterday.

I took a few seconds to stare into the eyes of the ratman,I wasn't sure why he called me,but I could see a strange hopeful light in his eyes when he stared at me,these creatures be it humanoid dogs or humanoid rats were all indeed very fascinating,I was already surrounded by them long enough to be used to it right now,but still it couldn't be helped that the scientific side of my personality got aroused by these creatures mainly curiosity.

-What ?

I asked making the ratman who continued staring at me quickly snap back to himself as he lowered his gaze momentarily and spoke again.

-The food and the cloth thank you for that...

He said,but I didn't quite understand what he meant since it was nothing to be thankful about they were prisoners and I needed to take care of them leaving them to rot wasn't very pleasant after all.

Of course I didn't say it directly and just nodded my head indifferent,if this was the only thing he wanted to say he may as well have not spoken to me,but as expected he continued since he still wanted to tell me something,I could tell.

-My home...you are going to raid it aren't you ?

-What else am I supposed to do ? Aren't you already enemies with the kobolds having you stay alive and keep possibility of attacks is too threatening for this village..

I countered not feeling the slightest bit of remorse or guilt from the way I spoke the ratmen picked up on my harsh words and frowned greatly he looked back at his fellow kin behind him and turned his gaze back to me.

-And us ? What should we do then after our home gets demolished ? Are you also going to kill us ?

I shot my glare towards him making him shiver for a moment...I knew that I was frightening him and there was no reason to get mad at him since I would be lying if I said that I never considered killing them after taking out the village it is just this is just a nature of paranoia you won't be able to sleep well if you aren't sure about something that could potentially bother you...I sighed and looked at the ratman again.

-I will keep my word and let you and your frineds free after all of this,what you do afterwards will not concern me to the least,but if you cross my paths know that I won't be as kind as I am now..

The ratmen nodded and spoke again.

-I understand...but can I ask you something ?

-What ?

-If there was a option for you to not destroy our village would you take that option ?

His question made me wonder for a few seconds as I tried to understand what he meant by it...he wanted to basically convince me not to attack their village asking me for a more peaceful approach then a bloody one is it ?

I snorted at him.

-I can't believe these words are coming from someone who tried to destroy my village first,now that you are in the losing side you want to stand in my good grace ? I appreciate that you are holding onto your people,but sorry I am not that stupid...

-We didn't want to ! We were forced to attack you we..had no,choice...we...we are weak..

The ratman quickly interjected showing a very painful look in his eyes while lowering his gaze to the ground,kneeling heavily holding onto the wooden fences tightly.

He wasn't acting,that I could see,but his excuse still didn't justify his actions to the least...looking at him my thoughts started to connected onto a few dots the exchange I saw with the lamia and the ratmen made me realize why they could have possibly attacked us.

-The lamia they are oppressing your kind for something in exchange of peace isn't it ?

Hearing my words the ratmen quickly raised his head looking at me wide eyed,shock was directly expressed with the way he stared at me almost begging me to answer how I knew,but at the same time shutting his mouth since he knew that it already didn't matter where I had know this from.

-...

Just as I wanted to stop this conversation the ratman muttered something very interesting,I kept my gaze straight towards him as I continued listening to what he had to say.

-The mountain we live next to is a mine we made our village next to it and harvest that unique stone to empower ourselves with,but one day the lamia discovered that we were in possession of this unique stone mine at first they wanted to kill us all and take the mine for themselves we were weak even with the empowerment of the stone,we weren't able to stand against the powerful lamia so in desperation the village chief my father took the action and responsibility to himself and made a deal with the lamia...in exchange of our lives we would provide the lamia with free labor and a lot of every week the lamia agreed seeing the value in our labor and like this we immediately turned into slaves digging day and night for these precious stones trying to meet every weekly quote enduring the lamias constant raise of these minerals and slowly starting to get weak,hungry,tired,soon we had a food shortage no,medicine or workable tools...we needed to get these things from somewhere and we needed to get them fast until the deadline...

I opened my eyes for a moment looking at the ratman apprehensively.

-So you decided to take out the kobold village and pillage their items and supply to let your village survive longer...isn't it ?

The ratman nodded grimly...tears welling up inside his eyes as he told me his story...I sighed.

Looking up into the sky I wondered why we all are still living in this take or be taken world it was hard for them with no,one to really rely on but themselves they needed to hold onto the slightest bit of hope they had to get by and not be swallowed by the snakes mouth truly cruel without an end,I sympathized him that was it.

Turning towards the fallen ratman I asked him.

-Why are you telling me this ? Why should I care ?

The ratman hearing my words raised his head momentarily evenly meeting my cold eyes without a fear as he spoke.

-I am telling you this because I want to make a offer...in exchange of protecting my people we will give you every week how about it ?

The ratman offered and truly said his offer was very tempting since it was something I really needed,but at the same time there was a hole in his offer making me laugh sarcastically as I faced him.

-Why do you think I would take you up on your offer ? Since you have just revealed me this information I could always destroy the lamia the ratman and take the mine for myself who said I would ever need your agreement to take the mine ?

I said smiling at him coldly,the ratman wasn't fazed showing that he truly had thought of such scenario and oddly enough he was still calm,he also held a mocking smile to himself as he replied to me.

-I am aware of that,but I also know that we the ratman have our own value which is mining...our kind can filter the harmful spores of the mines and work without getting harmed by them so you could acquire a lot of these without moving a finger on your own its the perfect deal...

I narrowed my eyes for a moment putting away the stupid smile and talking to him.

-You are quite ballsy I give you that...but why are you putting so much hope into me ? Are you just being desperate or something ?

I asked seriously hearing mu words the ratman shook his head clearly pained as he continued speaking.

-I am partially desperate yes,but at the same time I wouldn't give this offer to just anyone what I am really hoping here is for change,the mine isn't in my interest or has any value to me,at least the value turned to zero after the lamia discovered it turning the fortune machine we had into our own curse,the shackles we cannot undo without dying and then there is you...Since I had met you the thing that intrigued me the most is that...you are alone

He said raising his eyes to me with a hard look on his face as his words made me momentarily flinch hitting something inside of me.

-The kobolds the dark skinned females and so on,they are all people who do not share any single shred of similarity with you...if I didn't smell you before hand I would have believed you to be human,but that wasn't the case you are just one odd person who lives with people who are completely different then yourself you are their torch they follow you for some reason not caring about your own origin which in the forest in itself is one of the most sacred things that connects others and this fundamental law you are just breaking it without a second thought...

His words clearly impacted me mentally as I thought about them hard,what he said was true and it was also something I had forgotten while being surrounded by these people,it was even plainly shown around me that I was sort of a odd nut,things would have been way different if I was some other race inside the forest,like a goblin or a kobold being able to connect with these sort of races immediately without a problem since I was one of them,but in the end I wasn't and even then I was able to connect with them which is most probably because of my indifferent nature in itself.

While I thought about this I noticed a big shadow going over me,a bit confused I looked up to see what it was and was greeted with a big bird with dark red feathers descended from the skies...

My ride came.

Both hobushi and habana also noticed red hawk and made space for him to land,they had been watching my exchange with the ratman,but they were clueless on what I was saying since it was a complete different language for them.

Seeing red hawk arrive so fast,I wondered how much time must have gone while I talked with the ratman thinking about it momentarily I looked at him and gave him my final answer.

-I will consider it...don't expect anything from me...

For some reason the ratman smiled and nodded to me.

-I won't,but I am still hopeful...

Hearing his words I could't help,but snort...hope was good it gave you a reason to move on.

Thinking like this the three of us started to mount red hawk my mind still drifted toward his words as we made our way towards the dark elf village...

-Lamia...huh..

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