Thousands of giant mushrooms dotted the wetlands on the lower side of the cavern. There, the twisting river spilled over into small tributaries extending all over to feed what was known as the Great Mushroom Forest.
The transition of terrain was gradual. From the windswept highlands of the siths, to the lush grasslands in the center, and down to the muddy wetlands, the flora did not change much. The same kinds of giant mushrooms that grew in the damp forest also grew up in the battered ridges beside the waterfall.
Such were Letty's observations as she marched with Sylphia's army, en route to the kobold village.
This place is so beautiful... there are so many plants that I've never seen in my entire life, not even in the books I've read. I wonder what uses they could have?
The mushrooms these monsters cultivate as food, for instance, could potentially serve as an alternative food source for the rough frontiers. They need no sunlight, and, from my observations, they don't even need watering. Either that, or they simply grow out of wet ground without any tending to... Either way, I want to know more!
She turned her eyes to the little girl, hardly any taller than the siths around her, leading the march.
Sylphie... I really hope you can bring peace to this place, these monsters...
She paused.
Monsters...?
Her eyes flickered in her moment of realization.
Can the siths... and even the kobolds, truly be called monsters...? Even when they are capable of civilization like this? I know it's nothing compared to us humans, but... if these tribes could still be called 'monsters', then what does 'monster' even mean...?
"Arf!" barked one of the siths in front, "My Goddesses."
Startled, Letty quickly lost her train of thought and focused her attention on him.
"What is it," Sylphia asked, "Assault Captain?"
"Arf! We approach the kobold village," he then said with a foreboding tone, "beware of the shadows."
"Huh? Shadows...?"
He nodded.
"Hmph." She crossed her arms. "It would be foolish for them to attempt to attack us now."
Behind them trailed a long column of battle-hardened siths, armed to the teeth with mythril weapons and armor.
"Arf!" He hung his head. "However..."
"I said don't worry about it." She waved her hand dismissively.
"Arf... It is as the Goddess wills..."
Feeling sorry for him, Letty clapped her hands and said, "Uhh... isn't it better if we took care anyway, though?"
"Mm..." The little girl rolled her head from side to side. "Well, I guess so... But come on, it's bright everywhere thanks to all the Mythril. They aren't going to sneak up on us."
"A-ahh... I guess..." She timidly scratched her cheek.
Following the path of stamped-down grass into the forest, they soon found barricades ringing kobold village appeared from behind a thick screen of mushroom-based foliage. Behind those walls, fashioned out of mushroom stems, anxious eyes looked out, glowing brightly from refracted Mythril light.
The village rose amidst a hilly clearing, giving the girls a perspective of just how much larger it was, compared to that of the siths'.
This place must be at least four times the size of the sith village... that means four... maybe five thousand reside here? Sylphie really wasn't kidding... if we had left them alone, the kobolds could so easily overwhelm the siths just by numbers...!
"All units, halt!" Sylphia's tiny voice echoed against the surrounding forest, giving it an almost ethereal ring.
With her command, their column stopped in place, forming a long line down the path leading to the village.
"Looks like we're here," she said in a low voice, "let's go."
Letty nodded. She pinched the brim of her hat and straightened it out as she followed behind Sylphia.
As they walked ahead of the siths, the gaze of the kobolds followed them.
She felt it in her skin. Their piercing stares unnerved her. And the closer they came, the more intense the gaze Letty felt bearing down on her shoulders. To begin with, she was not used to being looked at by so many eyes at once, but these, in particular - anxious, sometimes sharp and spiteful, made her physically sick.
The path curved around a patch of giant mushrooms.
Their gently swaying forms attracted Letty's evasive eyes. The calm mini-landscape of fungi arranged in a small formation of rocks soothed her anxiety, if only a little, but the distraction allowed her to push on without worry.
Wow... So they could even grow in bunches like these...
She reached her hand out, trying to touch one of the mushroom stems.
But then, she suddenly heard a deep voice. "My Goddesses, meow." It said, seemingly out of nowhere. Though from just the sound, it was almost as if the voice came from right in front of her.
Startled, Letty stumbled backwards, landing on the mat of grass below. "Aguu-!"
Sylphia and the others quickly came to her aid, the Assault Captain, in particular drew his weapon and covered them with his shield.
"Letty!" said the little girl as she supported Letty with her arm, "are you alright!? What happened!?"
"Eh!? Ah, ah..." Soon enough, she managed to calm down, and climb back up to her feet. "S-sorry...! I... I just..." She clasped her hands over her chest. "I thought I heard a voice just now..."
"Huh...?" Sylphia raised an eyebrow. "I didn't hear anything..."
"I-I know right...?" She gave an awkward smile in return. "M-my nerves might be getting to me... I'm sorry."
"Well, just take it eas-"
Then, at that moment, the deep voice spoke once more; this time, even louder. "Nyaaaa! I apologize, dear Goddesses, meow!"
"That!" Letty screamed. "That voice!"
"Wha-" Sylphia swivelled her head around. "Who's there!?"
The siths formed a three-man ring around their goddesses. They all looked for the source of the voice, but no one, apart from themselves, could be seen. The kobolds were still hiding behind their barricades, and one not had been wandering outside ever since they arrived.
They waited anxiously for an ambush, until, as if materializing out of the ether, a kobold coated in black fur with a white stripe running across it, stepped in front of them, from beneath the mini-landscape.
"Nyaa! It's your loyal servant, meow!" he said, kneeling on down on one leg, "My apologies for startling you, meow!"
"Holy s-" Sylphia bit her tongue. "Where the hell did you come from!?"
"Ah, nyaa! I was waiting under this grove for you, dear Goddesses, meow!" He pointed at the patch behind him.
"Wha-!?"
Letty shuddered. "Eeh...!?"
I've been staring at that all this time, and I never saw him!?
"Nyaa." He nodded.
"Arf! My Goddesses." the Assault Captain said, "Arf! This is what I was warning you about. Arf! Catlings born with the black fur are able to disappear beneath the shadows of the forest. Arf! That is why we never venture too close..."
Both Sylphia and Letty winced. "Eeeeeeh!?"
The little girl then wrung the dogman's armor as though she were pulling on a shirt. "I've never heard about this, though!?"
"Arf! Yes, it was never an issue since the campaigns have all centered around the open grassland! Arf! The perpetual glow of Mythril protects us from such tricks!"
A strange spark lit up at the back of the scribe's mind. She could not tell exactly what it was, but for some reason, her chest filled up with a mix of anxiety and curiosity.
The light reveals them...?
"B-but... D-disappear, though!?" Sylphia flailed her arms around. "Meaning!?"
"Nyaa?" The kobold cocked his head to the side. "Like this, meow." He then swept his leg behind him, putting it beneath the swaying shadow of the mushroom caps far above. As it entered the very edge of the shadow, its leg gradually disappeared, as though it were being inserted into an invisible pocket.
"Woah!"
Both girls jolted.
W-what is that!? I've never seen something like that before! It's not that his fur is even blending it with the color of his surroundings - it's disappearing in its entirety! Is this unique to the kobolds in this dungeon...? Or does this apply to kobolds in general!?
She clenched her fist.
This... this could dangerous... These civilized tribes aside, there are many wild other kobolds out in the frontiers - ones that are known to attack humans on sight. What if one with this ability attacks a village at night!?
The mere thought made her skin crawl.
A monster that turns completely invisible in the shadows... just one of them could spell disaster! I need to know more about this, and of any other secrets the kobolds, and even the siths, have!
"Ohhh!!" Meanwhile, like a child witnessing a magic show, Sylphia's eyes gleamed as she made the kobold perform his 'trick' over and over. "That's amazing!"
The kobold seemed happy enough to oblige though.
Letty's shoulders fell. "Uh... Sylphie...?"
"Ah!" As if snapping out of a trance, the young girl sprang up and said, "Right, sorry. I got a bit carried away there..." She proceeded to mutter beneath her breath, "...but with that ability, I could even-"
The little girl then cleared her throat and, placing her hands over her waist, said to the catman, "Anyway, I'm guessing you're here to lead us in?"
"Nyaa." He nodded.
"Alright, let's go, then."
Led by the black kobold, Sylphia, Letty and the three sith representatives walked up to the entrance of the village.
Though it sounded as if an argument broke out amongst the villagers for a moment, they soon scrambled to tear down the mountain of junk and debris they piled up in front of their gate to serve as a barricade.
"Nyaa." The black kobold nodded to his kin as he passed by.
While some looked approvingly at him, others looked on with scorn.
I guess... he wasn't able to convince everyone that we wanted to end the war...
What their eyes all shared, however, was a deep-seated anxiety, as their eyes darted back and forth between staring at the two humans intruding in their village, and avoiding eye-contact with those same people.
I can understand why, though... they're scared. They're angry. Maybe they even hate us...
She snuck a glance at Sylphia's back.
You said the war was necessary, but... what comes after?
She clasped her trembling hands together.
As she lost herself in her thoughts, a small, round object rolled across her feet.
"Eh?" Startled, she let out a squeak. Though she was worried for a moment, she soon concluded that the object at her feet posed no threat.
She crouched down.
A closer look, revealed that it was no more than a clump of reeds or some other form of grass, rolled into a ball.
"Hm?" She cocked her head to one side. "What's this?"
She looked around her for its owner, when her eyes met with a tiny kobold, maybe three-quarters the size of the average catman.
A... kitten...?
But instead of batting away like the others, its large, shiny eyes only stared back at her.
She wondered what ran in its mind. Curiosity? Or perhaps worry? She hadn't the time to reach either conclusion when its eyes then shifted down at the ball at her feet.
Hm?
In response, she picked the ball up and held it in front of the kitten.
It then reached out with its tiny paws, and, with a soft boop, it latched onto the ball.
Letty's eyes flickered.
H... how cute...
Amid this, the black kobold called out, "Nyaa, don't bother the Goddess, meow. Go play somewhere else, meow!"
He then shooed the tiny kitten away.
"Nyaa!" It mewled with a tiny voice, dropping its ball once more. Then, as if in reflex, it leapt onto Letty, latching itself onto her dress. "Nya!"
"Nyaa!" He shook his paw at the kitten. "I said don't bother her, meow!"
"E-eh...?" A confused Letty held her hands beneath the kitten, to keep it from falling. Its soft, cream-colored fur buried her hands under a fluffy warmth.
This... feels pretty nice.
She stroked the kitten's fur down along its body. Its tiny hairs rubbed against her skin in a way that coaxed a smile out of her lips.
After a short while, she turned to the black kobold, and said, "It's okay."
"N-nya...? I... I see, meow... in that case, meow."
The black kobold then returned in front to guide them.
Thus, Letty continued on her way, carrying a tiny kobold in her arms. Just as they had started walking again, she noticed Sylphia sneaking upward glances towards her.
"Um... you want to...?"
Letty bent down to lend her kitten, but the little girl just shook her head.
"Ah, no thanks. I'm not great with animals."
It seemed like a normal response at first, but as Sylphia words melted into her mind, she realized something.
Animals...? Not monsters...?
Gradually, her lips curled up, forming a timid smile.
"I see..." she whispered to herself, "in a way, monsters are just like animals, aren't they...?"
She looked fondly at the kitten she held against her chest. Fast asleep, its tiny snores sounded a bit like the purr of a real kitten.
"Perhaps... they could be our friends as well."
One day.
After that, Letty continued with her head held slightly higher. Somehow, the gazes felt less sharp, and holding the fluffy kobold in her arms put her heart at ease.
Letty, Sylphia, and the others were led to a large hut at the center of town.
Unlike most others, this one had stone walls that climbed up its sides to the height of at least twice the height of the average kobold. Its roof was an intricate mesh of several mushroom caps, cut and tailored into a triangular prism to fit the base. It even had a foundation made of stone - a unique feature among all the buildings in all the dungeon.
Wow... this... looks like an actual house! The kobolds are capable of building something like this!?
While Letty thought this, she scanned the surrounding village.
Though they seem to prefer simple mushroom huts like the siths, for some reason...
She sighed.
I just don't understand.
Outside this house stood the first kobold garbed in full Mythril armor they'd seen all day.
He leered at them as they approached, barring his spear in front of the main entry.
The black kobold called out to him. "I have returned with His envoys, meow."
As they climbed up its shallow steps, the unfriendly looking catman approached them, and said, "The eldest awaits inside, meow."
He looked at each of them with suspicion as they passed him by. Sylphia, in particular, attracted a nasty look from him, though she either did not notice, or simply ignored it.
When Letty passed him, however, he stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"Nyaa," he said, "The great hall is no place for a child, meow."
"Eh? Ah..." Letty glanced at the tiny kobold in her arms. "B-but... it's asleep, though..."
Sylphia clicked her tongue. Just as she was about to storm back out of the hut, a voice - aged, yet forceful - rang from deeper inside, "Let them in, meow."
From just those words, the kobold guarding the door stood down, and lowered his head. "My apologies, meow."
"Eh? Ah... thank you." Letty's eyes flickered.
That voice must be...
Inside the hut, a kobold with a pure white coat sat on the floor behind a short table fashioned from a mushroom cap. His overgrown fur limped around his legs and onto the ground, spreading out like roots. Stood beside him was the kobold guarding the hut, who entered soon after Letty and the rest.
The white kobold opened his mouth, out of which came a frail, breathy voice, "You must be the furless that the youngsters have been talking about, meow." With some difficulty, he then tilted his head downward. "I welcome you, meow."
Sylphia replied, "You must be the chief of this village."
"Former, meow. Now, I am only the eldest, meow." He took a lengthy breath. "Due to... recent events... the village called me back to fulfill the duties that the second chief will soon take on, meow."
"Nyaa." The black kobold responded. His voice seemed almost ethereal, as, inside the hut, he was completely invisible, and not even the light filtering from the tiny windows revealed his presence.
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Hm...? Strange...
Then, with eyes half-closed, the decrepit kobold turned his gaze to Sylphia. "And you must be the so-called Goddess of War, meow..."
"Indeed." She nodded. "Pleased to meet you."
"The young ones tell of the furless, who arrived not many dinners ago, meow... And that among them, one, in particular - the smallest, and yet most vicious of the furless... introduced herself as the Death-God's herald of war, meow..."
"That is true." She pulled Sebastian out and spread him out in front of her mouth. "My name is Sylphie, the Goddess of War. And this is Letty, the Goddess of Mercy."
Letty nodded.
Next, Sebastian's deep voice reverberated in the confined room. "They are indeed Goddess of my Pantheon."
His voice pried the kobold's decrepit eyes wide open. As though he forced his voice out in jolts, he said, "That visage is... the Almighty God in the flesh, meow...!"
With all the strength in his body, he laid his face right down to the floor.
"I see, meow... Forgive us, dear Goddesses, for failing to recognize you as such, meow. We were unaware of the Death-God's pantheon, and never expected his heralds to take any form other than catkin, meow..."
Sylphia's eyes narrowed. "No, no. You are mistaken."
Huh?
The kobold lifted his head.
"The... furless... themselves are not Gods." She presented her arms between Letty and herself. "We simply took their forms on a whim. To conceal our identities."
She smirked.
"Eh?" Letty quickly reacted. "Wha-"
But before she could say anything, Sylphia drove her elbow into her flank.
"Hya!"
"Play along." The girl whispered.
"E-eeeehhh..." She whispered back, rubbing her sides, "that's terrible, Sylphie..."
"I'll apologize later."
She pouted. "What are you planning now?"
"Later."
The self-proclaimed goddess of war then raised her voice, saying to the old cat, "But indeed, the furless are your fellow creatures; so there is no need to be wary of them."
"I see, meow... Truly, the Gods move in mysterious ways, meow..."
She smirked.
Ah... this face...
Letty sighed.
Sylphie...
All parties took a seat around the table. The white kobold, his guard and, presumably, the black kobold sat on one side and the sith representatives on the other. Sylphia and Letty, meanwhile, sat together in between, as mediators.
Letty looked around anxiously at the serious faces around her.
Uuu... should I really be in this meeting...? I don't have anything to say... I guess I'll just sit around until it's over.
In the meantime, she contented herself with the fluffy sensation in her arms.
With a sharp clack, Sylphia laid Sebatian flat on the table.
Eek!
The sudden noise jolted Letty's mind in full attention to her every word.
"The reason we have intervened is simple." said the little girl, with uncharacteristic authority, "The war between kobold and sith will end. Now."
Both sides nodded in approval.
Eh...? Letty's eyes flickered. They're both open to peace...? Then... why have they been fighting this whole time?
Sylphia continued, "To enforce a lasting peace, I've drafted these agreements between both parties." She then glanced at Letty. "The map, please."
"Ah, y-yes!" She pulled out a piece of weaved mushroom fiber. Laid it down onto the table and unfolded it, revealing a tattered drawing of the cavern's layout. "S-sorry... I found out too late that this material doesn't fold well..."
"It's okay." With Sebastian, Sylphia traced a line going through roughly center of the map, dividing the central flatlands in two. "This demarcation line will mark the permanent borders of the sith and kobold territories."
"N-Nyaa!?" The kobold guard flinched. "That... that goes behind our frontier farm, meow!"
"Indeed." Sylphia tapped her fan onto her palm. "As part of the agreement, the kobolds will surrender this farm to the siths."
"Nya-" He grit his serrated teeth. "How could we surrender the farm our ancestors handed down to us, meow!? They tilled that soil with their sweat, fighting off relentless raids from the doglings for ages, meow!"
"Grrr..." the sith's home guard captain growled, "Bow! That farm was originally settled by our ancestors, you thieving catlings! Bow! Isn't it natural that it be returned to us!?"
The kobold brought his paw down on the table, producing a loud bang. "Our ancestors poured more work into that farm than yours ever had, meow! It is absurd that the doglings would then benefit from their toil, meow!"
As sparks flew left and right, the tiny kobold stirring in Letty's chest and let out a discomforted moan. With a tiny voice, it let out a yawn, stretching its tiny limbs out.
"Ah..." Letty whispered, "Did we wake you up...?"
Its sparkling golden eyes flickered. It then lifted its head up and stared into Letty's eyes.
"Sorry..." she patted its head.
Soon enough, the argument took a turn for the worse.
"If we surrender the frontier to these doglings, what then, meow!?" The kobold screamed. "They will have free rein to raid our other farmlands, just as their ancestors did, meow!"
The Assault Captain stood up.
He had, until then, restrained himself from speaking, and allowed the Home Guard Captain and the kobold guard to voice their opinions freely. His normally stoic voice took a prickly tone as he barked, "Arf! You dare dishonor our ancestors in this, of all occasions!?"
"Wait," interjected the disembodied voice of the black kobold, "let us please calm down, meow."
But the hot-blooded kobold paid him no heed and continued on his tirade, "Why, meow? Do I speak untruth, meow!? That was precisely the reason our ancestors thought prudent to take the frontier farm in the first place, meow!"
"Bow!" The Home Guard Captain stood up as well. "That is a vile lie! Bow! Our ancestors have only every attacked in retribution from the catlings incessant harassment of our farmers!"
"Do not twist the truth, meow! Our ancestors would have no reason to attack the doglings if we were not attacked first!, meow!"
In the midst of this back and forth, Sylphia rubbed her forehead and sighed.
"Grrrr... Bow!" The home guard stamped his foot. "My Goddess, I've had it with this arrogance! Bow! Our army stands at the ready, and our people are prepared for total war!"
Eh!?
Letty shuddered. With a frail voice akin to a whisper, she interjected, "W-wait...!"
The Assault Captain let out a heavy breath. "Arf... I would prefer that no more blood be shed... Arf! But if the other side shall deny our honor, and cling to their obstinance...!"
Similarly, the kobold guard stood up.
The two sides stared each other down across the table. Their eyes flared in anger as they both gave a low growl.
Stuck in the middle, Letty held tightly to the tiny kobold in her arms. Her head swivelled from left to right, worried that either side could lunge at the other at any moment.
In the midst of this, Sylphia just sighed, muttering to herself, "You're fighting over a single bloody farm you know?"
Th-that's right... isn't it absurd? You can just build more farms, can't you!? I just... don't get it!
As she hung her head, her eyes met with the kobold child. It looked at her with sheer innocence, oblivious to what was happening around it.
When this little one grows up... will it also die in this same, stupid war...?
It looked at her, seemingly with pity. It extended its tiny paws towards her face and let out a soft purr.
She then took its paw within her fingers, squeezing its soft, warm underside. The comfortable feeling coaxed a smile upon her lips in spite of her sorrow in her heart.
No... That's too tragic, isn't it!?
It was at that moment that she remembered something Sylphia said.
'Take responsibility', the girl's voice reverberated within her mind.
It drowned out all of her thoughts, her anxieties.
That's right... It's not just absurd. It's wrong!
Finally obtaining her resolve, she sat the child on the floor. Patting its head, she whispered, "Wait there."
"Nyaa?" Its eyes flickered. Despite appearing confused, it stayed put as it was told.
She laid her hands on the table and lifted herself up.
"Hm...?" Sylphia glanced at her.
Then, mustering her voice deep within her diaphragm, she yelled, "Stop it, all of you!"
Her sudden outburst silenced the whole room.
Even though she only stood on her knees, she still towered above both kobold and sith. Even more so with her tall, pointed hat.
Startled, the kobolds, the siths and even Sylphia all focused their attention on her.
In an instant, her nerves returned to haunt her. She felt lightheaded, anxious and a cold film of sweat coated her forehead.
But she refused to back down.
Instead, she steeled herself, clenching her fists so tightly that her nails bit into her skin.
And so, mustering all of her courage, she took a deep breath and said, "All of you, sit down."
Without so much as a peep, the hotheads sat back down, their heads hung in shame.
She let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, they listened...
Even her breath trembled, she was so nervous.
"I... eh?"
She froze.
What... was I supposed to say again...?
Her chest tightened.
I... c-can't remember...!
She panted heavily. It was as if the pressure of their collective stares was crushing her throat.
Her eyes watered.
She was about to give up when she felt a something over her hand.
Eh...?
When she looked down, a tiny hand came atop her own, and gave it a squeeze.
She looked beside her and came upon the encouraging smile of her little friend and apprentice. The girl looked intently in her eyes and winked, mouthing these words, "You can do it!"
Her heart skipped a beat.
Sylphie...
Then, she heard a tiny meow beside her.
As if it wished to ride on her lap, the kitten hung its paws as far up as it could on her thigh.
She smiled.
Mm... I have to do my best... don't I?
Finally, she, too, sat back down, scooped the kitten off the floor and sat it on her lap.
For the little one's sake, too.
When she looked forward, she noticed the traces of a black magical essence floating around her.
And despite everyone still looking at her, she felt strangely calm.
Connecting one and two together, she realized.
I see... this power... was the power of the heroine... no wonder I've never seen magic like it in my life.
I've been curious about it even since she first used it, but I never really could find the courage to ask... Maybe afterwards, I could!
Letty then shook her head and closed her eyes.
And when she opened them, she turned a fiery gaze at both sides and said, "We cannot even begin to imagine how deep the wounds you must have suffered, as a tribe, as a family... but, continuing on the same path... will only lead you to hurt yourselves!"
She turned to the siths.
"Of course you'd want revenge. That's just natural! But those who you took revenge on, will then want their own revenge."
The dogmen flinched. They then shared meek glances with each other, as though they came to a revelation that had been staring them in the face the entire time.
She then turned to the kobolds.
"Don't you see!? It's a never ending cycle of revenge! You don't even know whose fault it is anymore! You're all convinced that you've been wronged, and that taking revenge is the only way to put it right...!"
The kobold guard placed his paw over the white kobold's shoulder and hung his head.
"But what you don't see-" She turned her head down and placed her hand over the tiny kobold's head. "-is that none of you, really, have any reason to be fighting anymore..."
It stared up at her with its sparkling, jewel-like eyes; its brilliant golden hue reminding her of a certain precocious little girl.
"You were all like this child. Naive and pure. You were all... innocent."
The kitted let out a satisfied purr as she stroked its fur.
"You are trying to punish each other for sins none of you committed. And in doing so, all you are doing is staining yourselves with new sins."
Finally, she looked at Sylphia. "I'm a Goddess too, right...?"
"Eh...?" The little girl shook her head, as if waking up from a trance. "Yeah."
"Can't I just ask them to stop fighting once and for all?" She said, with a warm smile etched across her face. "Won't they listen to me?"
The girl's eyes widened.
"A-" She tried to say something in return, but she held back her tongue.
And so, several moments passed in silence.
Then, a voice came in from outside.
"My... my Goddess, meow...!" A kobold whimpered. Tears dripped down his eyes as he fell over himself, just by the doorway.
His sudden entry was followed by dozens of other kobolds, revealing the multitude that surrounded the house. They listened in from the windows and through the walls, each sniffing and sobbing as they shook the tears off their eyes.
"Nyaa...!?" The kobold guard stood up. "Y-you fools, meow! Why are you here, meow!? I said this meeting is private, meow!"
"It's okay." said Letty.
She left the kitten for a moment and walked over to the door. Then, she knelt before the weeping kobold and with a wordless smile, she laid her hand upon his head.
The kobold quickly climbed onto his knees and crawled his way towards Letty's embrace. And with his voice muffled by her dress, he cried, "My Goddess, meow... It is true, meow...! You are truly our Goddess of Mercy, meooooow! Unyahaaaaaa!"
Tears fell over her chest, spreading a cool sensation over her skin.
So they could even cry... really, at this point... what does 'monster' even mean...?
"There, there," she said, stroking his soft, ashen fur as she comforted him.
One by one, the other kobolds approached. Each cried out to their Goddess as they leapt into her arms in tears.
Ultimately, she was buried in dozens upon dozens of wailing kobolds. Their fur covered her in unprecedented warmth, that, despite the noise, made her sleepy.
Even the siths were moved to tears. Though they kept their air of stoicism, they could hardly hide the moments when they had to rub their eyes.
After a rather long while, the kobolds had finally dispersed, having feltthe touch of their Goddess.
Letty turned back to the others, her mantle and dress now covered in a carpet of shed fur. "A...hahaha..." She let out an awkward laugh. "S-sorry... I interrupted the meeting, didn't I...?"
Sylphia snickered. With a subtle smile, she then said, "Nope. You put it back on track!"
"Hm?" Her eyes flickered.
"I didn't know you had it in you, young miss," said Sebastian.
"Eh? Young... miss?" She cocked her head. "...me?"
"Mm. You did well."
"Ah... thank you, Sebastian."
Hm?
Wait a moment, isn't he supposed to be their supreme god? Couldn't he have done tha-
Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the little kitten's yawn as it made itself comfortable on her lap.
She sighed.
Oh well...
With that, the peace conference finally took its course.
First of all, both sides agreed to the even division of the cavern.
With an imminent famine on the horizon, the tribes accepted the proposal to trade with the outside, without any resistance. That came at the price of revealing Sylphia's dirty tricks to Letty, however, who did not take too kindly to her burning of all the kobold farms.
Nevertheless, after a few long hours of talks, the peace conference concluded with the successful end of a long history of war.
And so, the tribes formed the Government of the Mythril Cave.
Their Gods were placed top, with Sebastian, former Barog-Tong, made supreme ruler, while leaving the administration to his Goddesses.
Ministers were appointed to focus on developing the cave, on keeping the peace and on maintaining the agreements made in the conference in perpetuity.
Among them, Sylphia tasked the sith smith, now named 'Minister of Industry', to redevelop the homes for both tribes - the kobolds, in particular, who apparently had been facing space shortages due to their large population, though now diminished. She ordered the demolition of most of the kobolds' mushroom huts, to be replaced by large communal homes made of proper masonry. Meanwhile, for the siths, she simply ordered the village wall to be torn down and for mushroom huts to be constructed further down the slope.
After all, war had come to an end. There was no longer a need for extensive fortifications, nor a need to box themselves in behind flimsy walls.
Or so she reasoned.
In truth, everything was going according to plan.