Leonarr says "The troops we have encountered working with the slavers all bear the insignia of the Western Duke."

"Sevaris is dead, do we know who replaced him?"

Leonarr says "No, unfortunately not. Beastmen cannot easily move around in the empire."

"I see. In that case send word to Pol. He should be able to find out through the merchants he deals with."

Leonarr says "Will do."

"If the empire's troops are helping the slavers then deal with them."

Leonarr says "Won't that increase the chances of a war?"

"If it does then so be it. I have been thinking that we would have to go to war with the empire for a while. If they find out I killed Sevaris then we will be going to war anyway."

Leonarr says "Understood! I will handle it!"

"Anything else we need to discuss?"

Leonarr says "No, there are no other problems."

Melissa says "Everything to do with training is going great! If my students are going to be getting stronger and faster, then I can push them even harder!"

Leonarr shudders and says "If word of that gets out then no one will want the procedure!"

"Then make sure word doesn't get out. Mason, what about you? Do you need anything?"

Mason says "Well, in order to build a road network I could use more manpower."

"The ox tribe recently joined, some of them will be heading this way. They are extremely strong and will be good for heavy labor. Also I am heading out to recruit more tribes, so people shouldn't be an issue."

Mason says "In that case, everything should be fine."

"Okay. Oh, this spot on the main square, reserve it for me."

Mason says "I can do that. Can I ask why?"

"I invited Sarah to come help me run the government, I promised her an inn if she says yes."

Mason says "Oh, okay! If she says yes, do you want me to design and build it?"

"Yes, please."

Mason says "Will do!"

After saying goodbye I head out and everyone gets ready to leave, but I am uneasy. Everything went too smoothly, I was expecting some kind of issue to crop up. Even as I climb into the carriage I am still expecting someone to come running up and stop me.

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Yet despite my misgivings we leave and head south without anything happening. After a while watching Ekard and Haku play my bad feeling goes away and I am able to relax. We travel south until the sun goes down and then stop to make camp next to a stream.

It is a scenic spot where we are all able to relax, enjoy our dinner, and sleep peacefully. Myria, Windy, and Zheka sleep inside the carriage while the rest of us sleep in a pile. Between Lizzy and Kechara the rest of us are surrounded and warm throughout the night.

In the morning, everyone is in a good mood, and the atmosphere is lively. We eat a big breakfast and then load up to continue moving to the south. Lizzy seems to be having fun, she is chatting with Zheka, Kechara, and Asuna as she pulls the carriage.

It makes me glad to see her having the chance to be social with the others. As we travel, occasionally Zheka and Lizzy use their abilities, as they continue to discuss earth magic. Kechara also joins in on the conversation to compare what she learned about elven earth magic.

From what I overhear of the conversation it is fairly fascinating, the three of them have a lot of knowledge. Putting it all together will likely greatly improve all of their earth abilities. The conversation is also helping Zheka to deal with his fears, the surface is pretty scary to him.

From what I have seen he is suffering whatever the reverse of claustrophobia is. He is also having problems with the brightness of the sun, but that he will adapt to in time. So far, from what I have seen and heard, Zheka seems like a decent guy.

Whenever there is a break in the magic conversation he is teaching Myria and I the beast language. The language itself isn't too hard to learn, it is just a matter of getting the inflections right. Myria has a little more trouble than I do because she has trouble mimicking some of the sounds.

The whole day passes peacefully and we cover a large amount of distance. Looking at the map, if we keep up this pace, we should find the rat tribe sometime tomorrow. Until we meet the rat tribe we can just relax and enjoy the trip as a family.

In the morning, during breakfast, we have a visitor, a male from the fox tribe. He was ordered to wait in the area to intercept us and guide us to the rat tribe. According to our guide, other scouts will be waiting for us near the lizard and monkey tribes.

While I still don't really trust Muyaun, I have to say that she is at least reliable. From what I can see she was also being honest when she said her people are great scouts. Even I didn't notice our guest until he revealed himself, which is impressive.

He joins us for breakfast and once everyone is done eating he guides us to the rat tribe. When we arrive I am surprised at the size of the camp, there are thousands of beastmen. Since I was told the rat tribe was one of the weakest I was expecting a small tribe.

The rats all stop what they are doing and turn to stare at the carriage as we approach. Other than rat-like faces the main characteristic I notice is that they all tend to be shorter and thinner than an average human. Just going by appearances it is easy to see why other beastmen call the rat tribe weak.

Judging by appearances is almost always a mistake, one I don't plan to make. Besides, humans have proven many times that superior numbers is a strength all its own. If the rat tribe is seen as weak, I am guessing they are hiding their strength.

Lizzy stops at the edge of the tribe, it is too crowded for her to go deeper. As we all get down and look around, the rats all examine us in detail. Then they part and a slightly larger rat walks towards us, he is obviously the leader.

Amat says "I am Amat, chief of the Rat tribe. You must be the Lord Ash I have heard so much about? Welcome!"

"Yes, I am Ash. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Amat says "I will admit that I am surprised by the fact that a cat like you wants to talk!"

"I take it that you and the cat tribes don't get along?"

Amat says "No, they hunt us for fun!"

"Is that all there is to the story? Or do you use your superior numbers to ambush and kill their hunters?"