Alright Christmas is over lets continue our daily release !

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-Now lets eat for our new friends and saviors !

The village chief shouted out raising his cup of juice while smiling happily as he started the banquet,the villagers also cheered in return and quickly sat down again eating their food on the table without a reserve.

-I am not eating this...

Wylniva said frowning as she stared at the slab of cooked meat in front of her,her voice was in a matter of fact tone and could be really taken the wrong way if listen to at first.

Hearing her words I couldn't help,but smile wryly keeping quiet to myself while looking at the disgusted look on her face,the expression she was making was actually a bit over dramatic from what I could see the food here wasn't really anything bad or weird,but it wasn't anything special either though which seemed to be her problem with the food in general they didn't make an effort to combine ingredients or add spices they only grilled meat and boiled vegetables.

One of the only notable and maybe unique things that were on the table was the juice of some fruit that smelled nice and it seemed like only our table had that particular juice while the others drank plain water while eating,very uncreative and primitive,it even put me off to some degree making my appetite drain back into my stomach,it wasn't only the plain look of the food which made my appetite disappear I also feared of how they made it...did they even wash their hands when cooking it ?

I felt mortified pushing the plate away from me I looked at the girls.

The girls were also not eating anything not because they didn't like the food,but because most of them had already eaten and were full already,they would sometimes sip some of the juice in their cups or talk with each other,but that was it their usual energetic and happy attitude when we had dinner wasn't present...maybe it has something to do with the fact that we are alone together when we have dinner,now thinking about it they never showed any excited or enjoyable looks on their faces when we would dine with other people outside our group at these times they would always be so quiet and collective almost as if they were cold really.

once again smiled wryly.They don't feel very safe with unknown people around I guess.

-Lord sorron aren't you hungry why aren't you eating ?

The village chief suddenly asked he had noticed that no,one was eating on our table and started to a little bit more worried seeing that.

-I am not very hungry,I had eaten before this and the girls had too so don't worry about it the banquet seems very fine actually and on another topic I would like to know a few things concerning the trade you will do with the kobolds

With a few words I quickly tried to change the topic of the conversation so the old man wouldn't get worried about nothing,my sudden change of topic made the village chief lost for a few seconds,but he quickly got back on track and started to follow my lead concerning the trade route with the kobolds and over all partnership.

As already established,I had set a safe route for both of these groups to use and visit each others villages to trade,how they were going to do this wasn't my concern at this point I was already glad enough that the ratman would try and communicate,thinking about the kobold village I hadn't talked with rokuten about this matter just yet,but I already guessed what his answer would be so I wasn't in the slightest bit worried about him refusing or anything like that.

The village chiefs and my conversation held on for half an hour or so,I felt sorry for wylniva and the girls that they had to sit and wait,but also thankful that no one left their seats being polite and nice.

The ratman also soon started to finish their meals it was amazing to see so many people eat so much without a single pause starvation seems to be a problem in this town too if you think about it,from what I can tell they do hunt,but not as often since they previously needed to meet the status quote for the to keep the lamia's happy,I wonder if they had enough man power to hunt ? They had lost a lot of people in the last fight...

I pondered about the question,but it only lasted for a few seconds until I figured that the village chief would have told me that problem if he had one and asked for help,there was no need to do anything if they chief didn't want it to be done just yet.

-I think its time chief can you tell the guards to bring the lamia from the cave ?

I asked sweeping my eyes over the ratman for a moment appraising them,the village chief was sort of surprised hearing my question,but simply nodded nonetheless showing a serious look in his face as he pulled over a guard and told him to bring the prisoners out.

The wait wasn't for long,the lamias were immediately escorted over here and all so suddenly the whole area turned quiet,as quite a lot of people realized that the lamia were present some showing fear and confusion while others spat out glares of curses and hatred...

The lamia in turn were confused and panicked they weren't trying to flee since they felt too scared to run away fearing death,zeph who was standing in front of her group looked at me momentarily our eyes matched each other for a slight moment before she averted her own looking down,I could see her swallow her saliva as she and her kin were transported towards my table.

The girls were now just starting to get a little more guarded then before,not obviously holding onto their weapons,but keeping their eyes on the approaching lamia with caution,wylniva on the other hand just stayed how she was,she wasn't very interested in the lamia nor did she bat an eye on them which seemed as if she never really acknowledged them in the first place.

When the lamia finally came forward next to us,I took the moment to stand up from my seat,lightly banging the surface of the wooden table immediately pulling everyones attention towards me through the banging sound,the silence was clearly evident in the area so was the atmosphere that had suddenly turned intense.

-Hello everyone as you may know my name is sorron I am your current leader in fact,but these responsibilities also only go to your current village chief who sits next to me and is more befitting the title of the leader so you may just call me "lord" if you want to

My light and gentle words immediately filled the crowd in small whispers and admiration they were mostly surprised that I was able to speak their language even though I was a different species as them.

The small chatter immediately died down the moment I raised my hand,no one needed to ask what I meant by it and just quieted down letting me speak again,the intense atmosphere that was once here had lightened,but only for a small digit,I also didn't stall any longer and gestured towards the lamia group that was standing by my side they were pretty scared and nervous if you look at them since they were put on the spot right now.

-As your leader I have not much to say,but there are things I want to address the lamia that are standing next to me are the sole survivors of the lamia that had once ruled and oppressed you

My words immediately sparked the anger of the ratman as they only now started to get a bit more rowdy raising their voices and arms even holding weapon with a vicious look in their eyes...the lamia started to get even more uneasy shifting around some falling down,zeph was also now very scared and panicked she unconsciously moved back a few steps her eyes shifting left and right trying to stay calm...she looked at me for a moment as if crying for help.

I quickly tried to take control of the situation again and calm everyone,but just as I was doing that a loud banging sound came.

(BANG)

The table that we were sitting in immediately broke down splitting in half,the dishes and other utensils fell to the ground crashing and breaking into pieces the food scattering everywhere.

The loud banging sound could be heard in the entire area around us,confused I looked at my right side towards hobura who was standing now,looking at her I could see that she was the one who had split the table using her bare fists alone to smash the surface in one heap,her eyes were engulfed with anger so were the eyes of the other girls who were now glaring at the crowd of ratman as if they were enemies.

This action surprised every single person in this banquet,but I knew that it mainly served as a mean to keep the ratman quiet and shut it was a bit of a sudden and forceful way,but I wasn't against it so I let it pass smiling at hobura beside me with a kind smile which she returned with her own.

Raising my head once again I looked at the crowd in in front of me,I am not very experienced when it comes to speeches in general up until now I always tried to negotiate with people on one on one conversations not in a mass scale it obvious that I wouldn't be suited for such things,but I had to keep going now.

-Please everyone keep quiet and listen I understand that you may feel anger and resentment right now,but killing the lamia isn't the right thing in my opinion,their resources were claimed by us without leaving anything behind and majority of them had been killed without mercy.Right now you have a lot of reasons why you should simply kill them off I understand,but that action will only cause hate to continue on,not everything is equal,but at least try to understand the difference before taking action,if this continues you will always make new enemies and then you won't be able to protect yourself anymore and everything will once again start from the very beginning like the lamia

My words had a heavy meaning to it,a meaning that I wasn't sure if the crowd that was in front of me would understand,but luckily the village chief was beside me quickly jumping into the conversation himself.

-If so what do you advise us ?

He asked,current the person the ratman trusted the most was obviously their village chief his decision was seen as a light in the dark for these people,if he agrees to me then they would obviously think that it is the right thing to do.

Finally getting some resolve I turned towards the village chief and spoke.

-The lamia we will leave them alive killing them as I said is meaningless,instead will from today on start working inside the mine and pay off everyone single sack they had demanded from you how it will take I don't know,but it will continue until its paid off

-I see...

The village chief responded,the ratman crowd was now very intrigued chattering with each other with different looks on their faces some satisfied some unsatisfied with the sentence.The village chief on the other hand was pondering,he had even hostility and anger towards the lamia,but for the well being of his people he decided to push away that hostility and trust me instead which were truly qualities of a leader.

-Also I want the lamia's to be free of oppression and discrimination.Hurting or abusing them without a good reason will from now on be against the rules and if the rule is broken the person who broke it will be punished severely the lamia will also have to abide to certain rules that are a bit more severe then that of ratman,but their privacy will be guarded and their movement won't be restricted either,but only in the ground of the ratman village of course,until they pay off every single sack of they had stolen from you their freedom will be denied,their living conditions will be the same as any other villager in this village their working schedule is also set accordingly giving enough time for breaks and some free time for themselves to enjoy...what do you think village chief ?

I summarized quickly turning my eyes towards the guy who would decided this,the ratman were also very overwhelmed by the amount of things I just listed and instead turned towards their leader in hopes he would make the right decision.

Scratching his cheek the village chief thought about it intensely finally he gave out a dry sigh as he replied to me and the crowd.

-The conditions are solid and reasonable I agree...but I want to know one thing what will the lamia do when they finally pay off their debt?

It was the obvious question of course something that I wasn't very confused about,but felt reluctant to answer to.

-If they pay off their debt,obviously said they would regain their freedom meaning that they will be set free once again to the forest in that case we won't kill them of course and let them leave peacefully it is their decision in the end and I know that this may sound very bad for you,but who knows really ? Maybe they are going to end up breaking rules and killing themselves the time it takes to pay the debt won't be small I assume and there will be time,time to get used to them to understand the difference as I said

-I see...you have convinced me my lord,from today on the lamia's will be a part of our village as prisoners of course,but they will be taken care of like our own and abide to our rules like normal folk mining inside the mine to repay the debt for their freedom

The village chief announced and with this rounded up there was no longer any need for me to be concerned,the village chief would handle this the time we spent together was very small and he wasn't even a member of my cirlce,but like vulgan I trusted this old ratman enough to know that he would do a good job and handle the situation with his wisdom.

The ratman hearing the announcement from the village chief were obviously mixed with opinions,but in the end no one could oppose the village chief to any degree since everyone trusted him so much quieting down for a bit.

Feeling that I was done with my job I used my transmission link to tell the girls that we were don,I felt tired and wanted to lay down onto a soft bed and finally sleep.

-Please wait !

Zeph called out just as we were about to leave she quickly came charging at me,her sudden movement alarmed the girls incredibly as they came forward drawing their weapons and guarding me from all sides,looking at the charging zeph I could see that her eyes had no sort of harming intent to them,before anything happened I quickly called out to the girls and told them to cut it off and their sheet their weapons.

My quick response was heard by the girls zeph also only now seemed to have realized what her haste had almost brought up to her as she only now started to calm down coming closer to me very slowly.

-Yes ?

I asked puzzled of why she would calm me all of a sudden.

-The speech you just gave...thank you for it...I no we,we will repay for what we did thank you for giving us a chance...I swear on my name and life we won't disappoint nor betray you for giving us mercy...

Said bowing down to me in a very formal manner as she thanked me continuously,hearing her words made me sort of shocked as I realized something...

The whole conversation just now was in the ratman language...she knows this language...

This information was something that could change a lot of things,but for now I didn't bother mentioning it and instead crouched down towards the bowing zeph holding onto her shoulders as I raised her up on her feet...I mean tail.

-Its okay,but do know that I won't help you this is on you on your people

She nodded her head furiously agreeing to me,she was truly very beautiful at that too coupled with the fact that she looked pretty honest right now,I couldn't help,but smile at her kindly.

-Eh...

The smile seemed to have caught zeph off guard as she started blushing furiously my hands were still on her shoulders and she made no effort to look away or leave,only after a few seconds and the nudging of hobusaku did I realize my mistake and put my hands away from her,taking a step back towards the girls who seemed to have some kind of misunderstanding towards this interaction.

We didn't stay here any longer,but before I left I turned towards zeph and said.

-Work hard

She smiled at my words and bowed again...

-Yes,I will I promise !

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