The pain that suffused my very being felt like my insides were being shredded by a blender. I could hear voices trying to reach out to me, but I couldn't spare the energy to respond even if I wanted to. All I could do was clutch at my chest as tears streamed down my cheeks.

I had no idea how long I was incapacitated. When the pain finally receded and my senses slowly returned, I felt the faint caress of the forest wind on my skin. My mind was still groggy and tired from the ordeal, but the realization of the wind touching my skin woke me up like a bucket of cold water to the face. I'm not inside Mr. Marion anymore.

I began casting several spells at once as I stood up. My mind seemed to enter a strange state of calm as I split my attention between my surroundings and my fabric sense. I felt my puppets' presence nearby and at the same time realized that I was still on the platform where I spoke with Nilara.

“Master!” Taloress exclaimed from behind me before wrapping me in her embrace. I noticed that the rough fabric that her body was made of no longer annoyed me as it used to, but I didn't pay it any heed as I focused on the Matriarch sitting quietly on her chair nearby.

“You saw my real body,” I said.

Nilara nodded. “Yes, I did.”

“You're not supposed to. Mr. Marion also wasn't supposed to release me from his body without my order,” I said before sensing immense guilt emanating from Mr. Marion behind me.

“Before you blame your Servant, know that I was the one who demanded that he release you,” Nilara replied. “He was adamant that you remain inside him, but when you were unresponsive for a long time, he finally acquiesced.”

I felt a strong urge to admonish Mr. Marion for the stupid act of revealing my real appearance to a potential enemy, but I held myself back. I knew Mr. Marion did it out of concern for my well-being. Still, he felt my true emotions and another wave of guilt washed over him.

“And? Did seeing my real body tell you the reason for my collapse?” I asked with annoyance.

“Drop your spells and I'll tell you.”

I belatedly realized that I was still holding on to the Force Blades I began casting earlier. I dismantled the spells one by one, making sure to be extremely careful to avoid experiencing magic backlash.

Once I was done, Nilara nodded. “As much as I want to ask you about the weird school of magic you use, more important matters await.”

“Yeah, what the hell just happened to me?” I asked as I absently massaged my chest. The pain was mostly gone, but there was still a faint soreness left. “I suddenly felt extreme pain inside me, but I could tell it didn't come from my physical body. It felt like it came from somewhere deeper inside me, if that makes sense.”

“I know of what you speak of,” Nilara said. “The Ascendants I knew felt the same pain when they lost one of their Servants.”

“What?” I asked confusedly. “And why do you keep calling my puppets ‘servants?’ They are my companions.”

“That is the technical term for their existence, and I'm sure you understand why after interacting with them constantly. Your Servants are an extension of your being. When you created them, you put a part of yourself into their bodies to bring them to life. The pain you felt comes from having a part of yourself die.”

“Then that means… I have to go back home,” I stammered as I began walking towards Mr. Marion. Someone died back home because I wasn't there.

“It is unfortunate that you cannot stay, but I understand,” Nilara said as she gestured with her hand. The massive root that brought us up here returned to bring us down to the ground. “But before you go, you must know the most important thing that newly Awakened Ascendants are always taught: your power changes you from within and without.”

I looked down at myself, something I haven't been doing much ever since I began riding inside Mr. Marion for most of the time. I wore pajamas and a plain shirt that kept me comfortable as I stayed inside my puppet for hours at a time. Whatever part of my body that wasn't covered by my clothes revealed my pale skin.

Or rather, what used to be my skin. Now, it was made from cloth the same color as my former skin.

“The changes that an Authority brings about are inevitable,” Nilara added. “You can do nothing about it. You can only prepare yourself for it and the consequences it entails.”

“A small price to pay for the power I wield to protect my own,” I said as I got back inside Mr. Marion.

“You've only seen a small portion of the cost so far,” Nilara said ominously.

I didn't bother to reply as Taloress and I stepped on the root that would bring us back to the ground. I knew Nilara was sharing important information about my nature as an Ascendant, but my mind was too occupied by the deaths of my puppets to care too much. I need to get home.

●●●

After picking up Squeaky and the two teams of puppets waiting near the Sanctuary, our sizable group rushed back home at top speed.

I apologize for revealing Your true self to the Matriarch, Master, Mr. Marion apologized as he ran through the forest with grace.

“Don't worry about it,” I sighed. “The circumstances had been unexpected. You only did what you thought was best. Still, I'd appreciate it if you never exposed me to anybody else without my permission in the future. My anonymity is my most powerful shield.”

I swear it with my life, Mr. Marion vowed seriously.

The rest of the trip went by silently. With my puppets untiring, we moved through the forest without stopping for a break. Having an escort of more than twenty undying puppets meant that I didn't have to worry about threats, although I'd have to start changing my belief that my puppets were unkillable. The truth had already been painfully demonstrated to me, after all.

When we arrived back home, Tedd, Spider, and Manny were already waiting for us in the clearing beside the goblin camp. In front of them was a pile of black gooey substance that reeked of burnt fabric and acid. I didn't even need to ask Tedd to know that it was what remained of my dead puppets.

I emerged from Mr. Marion and kneeled beside the remains of my dead puppets. “What happened?” My voice sounded eerily calm even to my ears.

Tedd didn't speak but simply relayed his memories to me. It gave me a full account of events from Tedd's perspective, where I learned that fire wasn't the only weakness that I had to be careful of. Anything that chemically broke down fabric was my and my puppets' bane, and it cost me the lives of five puppets for the lesson.

“Thank you for defending the place, Tedd, Spider,” I eventually said as I stood up. “If not for both of your efforts, more of your siblings would have perished.”

“It was a harsh learning experience, one I promise to remember in the future,” Tedd said, and I could sense that he was utterly disappointed in himself. “Next time, I shall do better so that none of my siblings have to die.”

“It was a harsh lesson for all of us,” I nodded. “And we must not waste their sacrifices. The first Spring Wave had revealed glaring holes in our defenses, and we must fix them as soon as possible.”

My headquarters' nonexistent defenses had to be shored up before I could even think of leaving to do my other tasks. I didn't want to return home after taking care of my enemies only to find my puppets massacred and my headquarters destroyed.

The question was what kind of defense should I choose for my headquarters? The way I saw it, I had two options: either to hide the presence of my headquarters so that the monsters would choose other targets, or build robust but noticeable defenses that could take on wave after wave of sea monsters. Each had their own advantages and disadvantages that made it difficult to choose between the two.

After a few minute's deliberation, I eventually decided to go with the stealthier option. If current events continued as they did, monsters wouldn't be the only ones I'd need to actively hide from in the near future. The people hunting for a rogue Ascendant would scour the kingdom for any hint of my presence, and building a heavily fortified presence in the Wild Woods would inevitably attract attention. And even if I built the most robust defenses I could, it wouldn't stand a chance against the might of an entire continent. Hiding was the only option.

But going through the stealthier option meant the goblins had to be gone from my front lawn. I had two major options: either I treat them as the monsters everyone saw them as and kill every single one of them in cold blood, or I make the effort to build them their own underground base.

It took me a disturbingly long time to decide that the less bloody option was more viable, and not merely because of my morals. Helping the goblins would tie their loyalties to me, and if they continued to grow their numbers as fast as they currently did, then I'd have myself an army who would follow my orders when my enemies came knocking on my doorstep.

Tedd's suspicions regarding the goblin shaman's loyalty made me consider the idea carefully, of course. As things currently stood, the goblins still believed their shaman was their leader, and if Zerza ordered them to betray me, they would follow her orders. Helping the goblins was a double-edged sword.

“Tedd, you have new a job,” I said, the stuffed bear perking up at my voice. I could feel intense apprehension from him, which I knew stemmed from his belief that I was punishing him for the deaths of my puppets. I didn't bother appeasing his worries. If he thought this was a punishment, then it would further motivate him to improve himself. “From now on, you will act as overseer of the goblins. You will manage the Stone Axe Tribe's day-to-day activities, ensure that their needs are met and that their loyalties belong only to me.”

“I shall not disappoint you, Master,” Tedd replied without any complaint.

“I want the goblin camp gone from this clearing by the end of the week, as well as any signs that they once lived here,” I said as I gestured to the filthy encampment. “Clean this place up until you're sure that the sea monsters won't be able to sniff out the goblins' scents. Make sure to also hide our cave's entrance and that the stench from the retting rooms doesn't reach outside. We have to be invisible and undetectable to the monsters. As for the goblins' new home, I'll create a separate underground dwelling for them, although I will only do the initial excavations. It will be up to the goblins to finish their own home, and you will be the one to direct them.”

“How about Zerza, Master? The young goblins still see her as their leader. Shall we… remove her?”

“Not today, that won't earn us the tribe's loyalty. Instead, tell her she'll have the honor of living with us in the Grisly Hall. I am confident she won't refuse when you tell her that the tribe's new home will be a cold, dark cave,” I said as my mind thought of ways to manipulate things to my advantage. “While she is separated from her tribe, you will act as a benevolent leader, Tedd. Be nice to the goblins and make them favor you. You know how Zerza treats her own kind with disdain. Once they experience your kind and fair leadership, they will no longer choose to go back to the cruel shaman's control.”

“And she will no longer have the means to enact a successful betrayal,” Tedd finished. “Once we attain the tribe's loyalty, what do we do with her, then?”

“She'll be nothing more than a loose end,” I said with finality. “Loose ends on a piece of fabric will eventually lead to the entire thing unraveling. So we make sure we tie them up.”

After I said that, I felt like some piece of the old me broke off and died. But since when did I start thinking of myself as the new and old me?

I shook my head to clear my mind of distracting thoughts and turned to the rest of my puppets. “Squeaky, you will fill in Tedd's old job of keeping an eye on Zerza. Make sure not to get caught. The rest of you will help me in excavating a new cave for the goblins.”

My puppets nodded their approval and we went to our respective jobs. Tedd waddled towards the goblin camp to talk with Zerza while Squeaky followed close behind, out of sight.

The others followed my lead as I walked to a spot on the cliff face a fair distance away from my cave. It was far enough that we were no longer inside the clearing, but close enough to still be in the range of my fabric sense if I was in my room in Grisly Hall.

I channeled my mana and cast two spells at once: a Force Shield and a Force Drill. I made the Force Drill to be two meters wide at its base, large enough to bore a man-sized tunnel. The spiked cone of invisible force began rotating at high speeds before I slowly pushed it toward the cliff face.

A loud, shrill noise pierced the silence of the forest as the drill's tip started boring into the cliff face. Once the drill's spikes reached the rock, large pieces of debris started flying everywhere. The Force Shield I cast in front of us protected my group from getting hit by debris flying at fatal speeds, so I continued pushing the drill deeper into the cliff.

It took half an hour of constant drilling for me to finally run low on mana. The result was a perfectly cylindrical cave dug fifty meters into the mountain. The circular shape made the entire place a slipping hazard, but that was a problem the goblins had to deal with.

As I rested and ate to regain my mana, my puppets went to work removing the debris from the newly excavated cave. Manny even summoned some of his puppets, as well as dozens of goblins, to finish the job faster. The green little critters looked at their new home with wonder. I failed to see how they saw a dark cave like this something to be amazed at.

Once I replenished my mana, I went back to work and dug out several large rooms on either side of the cave. They weren't as large as the rooms in Grisly Hall, but they should be enough to shelter the entire Stone Axe Tribe.

By the time I finished excavating the goblins' new home, I was dead tired and the sun was already setting. For a big excavation project like this one, finishing it in a single day of work was insanely fast, but that didn't make me happy. To me, this was nothing but a delay in my important tasks, and I feared I was running out of time.

“Taloress,” I said tiredly before I entered my bedroom in Grisly Hall to retire for the night. “I want you to send a message to the Matriarch. Tell her I'm leaving tomorrow morning to deal with the mercenary armies sent out to kill me. She promised me reinforcements, and so I expect her to fulfill that promise.”

“I'll relay to her your order,” Taloress said with a jaunty salute similar to the ones that Wildpost's hunters perform before making for the exit.

“Hey, don't make it sound like I'm ordering the Matriarch around!” I called out after Taloress, but the stupid girl was already gone. I could send her a mental message, but I was too tired to care.

With a shrug, I entered my room and fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillows.

●●●

I shot upright on my bed when I detected dozens of powerful intruders in my fabric sense. The first thought that came to my mind was that another Spring Wave had arrived.

Before I could panic and mobilize my puppets for defense, though, I realized the intruders were Dayadra. They moved leisurely but with purpose, making a beeline for my cave. Walking at their lead was Taloress. Ah, the reinforcements.

I summoned Mr. Marion inside my room and quickly got inside him. After making sure we looked impeccable, we walked outside and waited for the Dayadra's arrival. I informed the rest of my puppets about the visitors as well to ensure they didn't panic and attack my allies.

As we waited, I looked at the sky and realized it was already quite late in the morning. I normally woke up just as the sun rose, but it looked like I was more fatigued than I thought.

The first to emerge into the clearing was Taloress, who waved at us cheerfully. Close behind her was a towering Sentinel with a grim expression. It took me less than a second to recognize the Sentinel to be Elder Ennoren, the asshole Elder. Why the heck did the Matriarch send her out of all the other Elders?

“Good morning, Master!” Taloress happily greeted as she reached us. “I accomplished Your orders!”

“Well done, Taloress. And I see you brought Elder Ennoren with you,” I said neutrally as the old Sentinel came within hearing range. The Matriarch should have known that Elder Ennoren and I didn't have the best relationship with each other.

“Well, the Matriarch was supposed to send another Elder, but when I relayed to her Your strict orders, she smiled and instead chose Elder Ennoren to accompany us! The Matriarch said it would be an insult to your friendship if she didn't send her strongest Elder.”

It took all of my willpower to not slap myself on the forehead. To think it was Taloress' fault all along!

Elder Ennoren heard our conversation and smirked as she butted in. “Why, the Matriarch is nothing but honorable. She wouldn't deign to send a weaker Sentinel to aid her ally.”

I had a feeling that this asshole was going to sabotage me at every opportunity just to annoy me.

I sighed and decided not to reprimand Taloress. She was just doing her job anyway. Note to self: never send Taloress on diplomatic missions in the future.

“Did Nilara already inform you of our mission?” I asked the Elder.

“The Matriarch,” Elder Ennoren said with narrowed eyes, “has already given us our orders. We are to assist in eradicating some human army.”

“Then I look forward to working with you,” I lied through my teeth.

“Don't misunderstand, human. The Matriarch is the only one I take orders from, and her orders are to simply assist in killing some human army. She didn't say anything about obeying your orders, and so you will have no right to give me commands throughout the mission,” Ennoren said with a snort. “We will not work with you. Once we reach the enemy, the Dayadra will do as we please.”

Taloress and Mr. Marion bristled in anger at the Elder's words, but I held them back. “Whatever you want, Elder. As long as you attack the enemy, I don't care what you do. Just make sure to keep out of my way.”

Without bothering to wait for a response from the arrogant dryad, I walked away and began preparing for the journey. It didn't take much time, especially with dozens of puppets doing the work for me.

I created two teams of puppets, each with twenty members, which were going to accompany me with my mission. One team would be responsible for carrying months' worth of preserved monster meat so I didn't go hungry during the journey, while the other team would be carrying as much fabric as they could for my Authority.

I also took a sizable portion of my gold and hid them inside my puppets. The money would cover any unforeseen costs or emergencies we'd encounter along the way. Money was the solution to most problems in the world, and I made sure to bring lots of it with me.

After packing up, I spent a few minutes laying dozens of magic circles consisting of Force spells all over the forest in front of my cave. Hopefully, that would buy enough time for Tedd to finish moving all the goblins into their new home and hide our headquarters from plain sight.

Once everything was finally ready, it was time to leave. And that's when I realized that I had no idea where the hell we were going. All Esta told me was that the mercenary armies were already inside the kingdom, but she never told me the exact location. She just told me to inform her of my plans. But how do I inform her when I don't even know where she is?

As if on cue, the shadow of a nearby shrub darkened to a complete void and a familiar woman's head popped out, and only the head. Fortunately, no one was around to see the freaky sight. “Missed me?” Esta greeted with a grin.

“I was hoping I'd never see you again, you know. Means I don't have to deal with all this shit,” I said with a sigh. “And judging by how you popped up at my hideout's location, I'm guessing you already know about everything going on here?”

“You've got an impressive set of friends, I'll tell you that,” Esta said with amusement as she looked at the goblin camp, where the little green goobers were gawking in amazement at the Sentinels who arrived in their battle forms. “Been a long time since I've seen a living dryad, much less an entire army of them.”

“Dryads are a rarity in the kingdom, then?”

“A bit. They are few and far between. And certainly not numerous enough that they have the leeway to send their Sentinels just to help a friend,” Esta said as she eyed me curiously. “You stumbled onto quite a big dryad settlement. Care to share where you found them?”

My eyebrows rose at her words. I was confident that she kept a constant watch on me after our first encounter in the forest, which meant that she should have known where I went yesterday when I met up with the Matriarch. Unless she couldn't follow me there.

But how could a powerful Ascendant like her be unable to follow me? Especially with her power specialized in that field? She could hide in anyone's shadow, essentially making her the perfect stalker. The only thing that could stop her was another Ascendant.

…Or a certain powerful dryad who managed to survive for more than a thousand years.

If the Matriarch could keep the powerful Esta out of her Sanctuary, then how did Selise and I stumble into it in the first place? As far as I knew, the two of us discovering the existence of the Dayadra was an accident. Unless the Matriarch allowed us to ‘discover’ their existence.

My urges were screaming at me again that I was getting myself stuck in a giant web of lies. That I was being led by the nose. It was a feeling so revile that I literally shuddered.

“Hey, you still there?” Esta said, snapping me out of my reverie. “If you don't want to share the dryads' location, you don't have to give me the silent treatment. You just have to say no.”

“Sorry, but I can't tell you their location,” I replied once I got ahold of myself. “Can't risk angering them.”

“Yeah, dryads are notoriously serious about their friendship stuff,” Esta chuckled. “So, are you finally going to tell me about your plan?”

“There's not much to it. You tell me where this mercenary army is, and I eliminate them with the help of my allies.”

“Straightforward, I see,” Esta grinned. “A bit too simple for my tastes, but then again, complicated plans have higher chances of failure. Alright, let's go with your plan. Have a look at these papers.”

Esta's hand emerged from the shadow and handed me a few sheets of expensive parchment. Most of them were filled with information about the mercenary armies of the Free States, like their usual tactics and formation. The last page was a map of some region in the kingdom with a city smack dab in the middle.

“In those documents are all the information you'll need to defeat the armies,” Esta explained. “There are detailed profiles of each mercenary company as well as the best ways to defeat them. On the last page is a map of the area surrounding Edrana, the kingdom's capital. The banners drawn there signify the battle standards of the mercenary armies as well as their positions.”

I sent a cursory glance at the map and saw that there were six mercenary companies positioned outside the capital. Numbers were written beside each banner to indicate the strength of each company.

“How recent is this information?” I asked.

“Last night,” Esta replied with a smile. “I can travel quite quickly.”

“So you're saying that I have to eliminate more than ten thousand mercenaries positioned right beside Edrana, where the strongest soldiers of the kingdom are probably stationed?” I deadpanned.

“Don't forget the mages.”

“Oh, right. How silly of me to forget all about them,” I said through clenched teeth. “Are you telling me that I'll also have to face you in battle to keep up the facade?”

“You don't have to worry about that. Once you eliminate the mercenary companies, the King can just say that I've been out on an errand when you launched your ‘surprise attack’ so I couldn't respond. So no, you won't be facing me.”

“But that still leaves thousands of Edrian soldiers that I have to fight against!” I whispered harshly to keep the dryads from hearing me. “Are you telling me that it's alright for you to sacrifice your own countrymen to kill your enemies?”

“Don't talk to me about sacrifices, Brogen,” Esta spat with pure rage in her eyes before forcefully calming herself. “The soldiers stationed in the capital are mostly employed under Duke Mulvahil's faction and are not loyal to the King. Thus, they can be counted among our enemies.”

“You mean your enemies,” I replied scathingly. “Don't lump me in with your faction, Esta. I'm only doing this for my survival. I don't care about your politics, and it's best if you keep me out of it.”

“Remember our deal, Brogen. Once all of this is done, you'll eventually be integrated into the kingdom's nobility, and you'll have no choice but to participate in our politics,” Esta replied. “If you have no more questions, it is time I leave. I have plenty of other things to do in the shadows to keep the kingdom alive.”

Without even waiting for my response, Esta's head sank into the shadow.

I stood up and walked back to the clearing where the Sentinels and my puppets were already assembled. Along the way, Mr. Marion voiced his concern. Master, is this alright? His voice was tinged with nervousness, probably because I was quietly stewing in my fury.

I shouldn't have spared that bitch in Halros, I replied.