Kaede

“Oh dear,” Kaede said playfully with a smirk, “a terrorist attack? Who would do such a thing~?” Grolit is silent as he stares up at the Black Cat, annoyed at her for actually going through with that plan, and at such a fast pace at that. Kaede simply looks around the room, at all of the tools and weapons in glass cases. Certificates sit above each, on the wall, and read the name of the weapon, Grolit’s name, and the City’s name. Then there was the desk with overflowing papers, behind which Grolit sat calmly. He speaks, “Lass. I don’t know if you’re just unhinged, or completely sane and just did that because you wanted to.” Kaede smiles innocently as she answers, “Both. Felt like I was back in my teens, fighting against Victor and his party.” She smiles warmly as she remembers her past, and especially her time fighting and escaping the Hero’s Party. “I believe the best one was when I was leading a group of demons to hunt down a Freeborne that was causing our Master trouble.”

Grolit looks shocked at the mention of demons, but allows Kaede to continue her ramble, “Victor and his party happened to be looking for that Freeborne as well, as she was an amazing Alchemist. When we arrived, they arrived. Of course, we fought, and then lost. Victor and his party got potions, and then the Freeborne disappeared completely, as they tend to do. Safe to say, I was in the dungeon for my failure for a few days. Then I went back out and hunted Victor for the first time.” She looks down at Grolit, smiling warmly from the memories, “Good times.” Grolit just stares in silent apprehension. Kaede simply continued to speak, ignoring his silent fear, “Anyway, what is next on our to-do list of correcting society as a whole?”

Grolit shrugs, as he speaks, “Never done something like this before.” Kaede smiles, “Well, good thing for you is that I have, just not in this capacity. I had to overthrow a small township once. I just used force, but over time I learned easier and more subtle ways. First up, we need to cause problems. I.e, we bring the problem of slavery to the forefront of the public’s mind, while showing how terrible it is. With slave rings keeping to the shadows, and most Dwarves thinking that working hard is a way of life, that will not be a hard task. E.g, think of yourself as a random smith down in the city. How do you likely feel about slavery, if you have even heard of its existence?”

Grolit is silent, then speaks, “I know ‘i.e.’ But what’s ‘e.g.’?” Kaede is silent for a second, before speaking, “Exempli gratia. For example. So, for example, you are a random smith down in the city. How do you feel about slavery, if you even heard about it?” Grolit is silent for a few seconds, before he speaks, “Either I’m thinking it is stupid and infringes upon a person’s ability to work, or they should just work harder to earn freedom.” Kaede nods in response, smiling as she speaks, “Good. If we simply bring it to the spotlight, then what would the people do, especially when they learn Slaves cannot free themselves by work?” Grolit takes a second before his eyes begin to widen, and he responds with a worried tone, “They go on strike.” Kaede giggles quietly, and then turns ready to start leaving, “I will begin pushing the slave trade into the light. Do what you can here. We can discuss the next step after the city begins to see the problem as a problem.” She casts a spell, and finds herself back on the rooftops, looking out at the city. The City’s Central Spire is rather majestic with the lights on it. She takes a seat on the roof, and calmly watches the city, thinking of where to go next, as she hears footsteps rushing in a nearby alley.

Out of it, the Dwarf from earlier, with an Orc and Elf. She smiles, and simply waves as they notice her. But she remains still, kicking her feet and watching the city, trying to seem unassuming, which seems to work, as they walk away. With a small smirk, she remains still, until she hops down, and begins following at a distance, using spells to mask her presence.

Jazak Forgeson

Jazak walks quietly, wondering who the hell that Nekomimi was, but not wanting to go harass someone who likely has nothing to do with the situation, despite being a Nekomimi herself. Alais on the other hand, was in the process of questioning his action, only for him to interrupt her by saying, “We won’t be harassing anyone without due cause. If we see her again around areas we’re working, we can question her.” Arseni seems to smile at his words, likely glad to see that the Dwarf isn’t in the business of bullying people weaker than him. Jazak turns a corner, and continues to walk, watching his surroundings carefully. As they near a small clearing within the buildings, he stops, and draws an axe just for the safety of having it in hand. He lets it slide down to hang on his hand, and then starts walking again.

Entering the clearing Jazak sees the slave ring, and frowns. Looking around he sees no one, but hears the Dwarf guard shifting a little, and keeping an eye on them. But as silence takes over, and nothing happens, Jazak begins walking again, heading to leave. He wanted to destroy this ring, but that would not do right now. He, as a Hero, has to be the arbitrator of justice, as a terrorist was about. He has no reason for his petty hatred of slavery to win in this case. A chill goes down his spine, and he looks back. Seeing nothing in the alley they had exited, he continues, now confused by his usually accurate feelings of being watched by unwanted eyes.

After a few minutes, the memory of that feeling is bothering him still, and he turns around, prompting Alais to speak, and Arseni to look slightly confused, “Why are we going back? Wasn’t it fine over there?” Jazak is succinct in his response as he walks at a slightly faster pace, “A hunch.” As they near the slave ring again, they suddenly hear a fearful and pained screaming man. Jazak begins sprinting, drawing his other axe, and readying them for a fight. The Orc and Elf follow, drawing their own weapons. Alais nocks an arrow, prepared to pull the drawstring and fire.

Turning the corner, they find nothing, aside from the tent, the dead dwarf guard, and no more screaming. But they can smell something else. They can smell burning flesh. Approaching with caution, the three enter the tent, and find a stage, with slaves in cages around the tent, and out of the way. On the stage, a smoldering dwarf corpse. Standing above him, a red-haired Nekomimi man in roguish clothes, with a scythe on his shoulder. He looks over to the three, and speaks through his full-face mask, “Hello there, Hero. You are a little too late. I'm already gone. Just enjoying looking through a puppet at my handywork. Quiet the beauty isn’t it? Freedom for all the slaves? A wondrous thought. One that shouldn’t be a thought.”

Alais raises her bow, about to fire, only for Arseni to push her bow down, confusing and angering her. Jazak speaks, knowing Arseni noticed the words as well, unlike Alais, “Puppet? Handywork? What the fuck are you?” The Nekomimi does a small bow, as he speaks, “I am the Demon Lord Baal’s Fifth General, Focalor. My Lord wishes for chaos, and chaos I bring. Yet, at the same time, I hope to see a better world for it, as does my Lord. Now, if you will excuse me, I must break these locks.” With a powerful gust of wind from Focalor, the locks begin to shatter suddenly, opening and scaring most of the slaves. Silence fills the room, as Jazak takes a moment to think of his next question, then speaks it, “I have never heard of a ‘Demon Lord’. You’re lying aren’t you?” Focalor shakes his head, then speaks, “How do I convince you? Oh, I know. I will release my puppet, and take another instead.” Suddenly the Nekomimi’s body begins to change, and he collapses, revealing the Nekomimi from earlier. She slumps to her knees, and then falls to the side, her hat falling off, and her staff rolling slightly from her hand.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Alais looks shocked by this, but Arseni is not, as he remains still, watching the slaves for any sudden and hostile movements. Jazak on the other hand, was convinced this was something he shouldn’t mess with, but he has to. He begins to approach the unconscious Nekomimi, only for many of the slaves to start baring teeth and saying hostile things, approaching him as he begins stepping towards her. He stops and they stop moving, he takes a step back and they remain still, watching him with hostility. He steps backwards fully, and the slaves seem to calm down, as he says, “Focalor, you took over the slaves, didn’t you? Dirty trick.” He glances at the fearful slaves, who remained in their cages, and continues, “But you can’t take over those who aren’t willing, or maybe in a healthy situation.” Backing up further, he speaks calmly, “We’re leaving.” Alais yells out, “What!? We can’t jus-” Jazak shoots her a cold glare, as he responds with cold fury, “We’re leaving, now.” Alais begins to follow, shaking slightly from worry. And soon, they were leaving the area, heading back for the Spire.

Kaede

With a small smirk, she begins to feign waking up again, and starts to sit up. Looking behind herself with a tired look, she sees the slaves all watching her with curiosity and a few with worry. Getting up, she begins to reassure them that she is fine, and tries to collect and calm down the scared slaves. When they were all calm and collected together, she spoke, “I am Kaede, the Black Witch. What you heard and saw was an illusion. I am trying to see the world changed, as was requested by my Lady. To that end, I need help. We will provide you what you need, but in return, we need you to help us free the world of slavery. Those of you who are unwilling, we will send you somewhere safe. Those who are willing, we will outfit you properly, and we will begin the emancipation. We will free everyone.” The slaves looked around at each other. Many were willing, and some were on the fence. But all the same, they each seemed to think the same thing, “Freedom for all.”

Luné Alpenglow

Luné was working away, she had made underground rooms, new passages, and all sorts of things. She was happily toiling away, when she suddenly felt a new pair of feet appear in the middle of her planned town. Quickly looking over, she stops any hostility from her monsters, and stares with confusion at the startled and ragged looking Inuhito. Then another appeared. After a few minutes, there were about thirty different ragged looking people. Each of them were Beastmen or Humans. Then Kaede appeared, staff in hand and with a smirk on her face, she called out, “Hello, Codex! I’m home with guests!” The nearby monsters watch with curiosity and confusion, at least until Luné realizes the situation and gives them a friendly nudge towards the former slaves, she then speaks to Kaede, “Well done, Kaede. I didn’t expect you to free slaves, but I’m glad you did.” Kaede grins, and then does a small bow, “Oh I know, Little Lady. I did it because they can help us change the world. One slave ring at a time, we’ll free them all.” Luné is very pleased with the situation, and begins to separate from Codex again, heading up to greet her new guests, and ease their fears of being in a dungeon.

As she gets to the top, she can see Radoc watching them like a hawk, while Kaede is speaking to them about keeping a friendly disposition. Miyoshi was nearby, having gotten away from Koto for the time being, and she was watching with extreme glee and curiosity. Cloud was running past, with a bag around her body. Cloud did not stop to say hello, but did glance over. Luné steps out and begins to approach the group, most of whom flinch and cower at seeing a Hero, but Luné speaks, “Welcome to Codex, everyone! I am Luné Alpenglow, a Hero of the Humans, but at the same time, I am the Dungeon Core of Codex. My intent is for Codex to be a place where adventurers and other individuals can come to train. As such, I welcome you, and beg you to grow stronger. We will provide basic food and shelter, as we can barely feed ourselves. But with the help of the Human Kingdom, specifically the nearby town, you will be well cared for. Take your time to adjust, and if you wish to leave, we will not stop you, just follow the path back to the road, and then go right.” She looks to Radoc, “Radoc, I need you to deliver the coins we have in stockpile to Zeuz, so he can buy clothes for them.” Radoc nods in response, while Luné looks at Kaede, “As for you, Kaede, if you have anything to report from the Dwarven Kingdoms, we can talk at the Core Room.” With that, she had said what she needed. Luné passed the coins to Radoc, who headed off, and then went down into the Core Room with Kaede, who would then explain the situation to her.

Kaede was nearing the end of the story, “And thus, I used my old moniker, from when I was under Baal.” Luné nodded silently, and then spoke, “The description sounds like Jazak. For now, though, I want you to forget about capturing him, and deal with the current situation.” Kaede grins, and nods, answering with a simple response, “You got it, Little Lady.” Luné smiles happily, and then stands again, “Alright, you’re good to leave then. I need to get back to working on the layout of the dungeon, especially now that I need to choose a place for them to be able to lay down their heads. Kaede quickly stands up, and then starts leaving, as Luné puts a hand on Codex and merges once more.

While in this state, she checks her mana and smiles, then selects a room to see its description:

Wolves Den

Level 1

This room, at Level 1, allows the production of one specific low level Wolf Species Monster, along with the normal Wolves. Wolf Bosses can respawn here. Wolves will now occasionally drop the "Wolf Fur" textile, when wandering or killed.

Cost: 50 Mana

Luné was slightly baffled by the fact she had not already created this, but she placed it in an enclosed underground room. Some wolves began heading for it, and started digging, clawing, and scratching up the place. After a while, it was complete, and it looked far nicer. A small little pit, which Luné could tell was a spawning point, a few piles of leaves and brush for bedding here and there. She smiled happily, then began watching a few wolves. One was already shaking himself rapidly, which caused fur to start flying. A moment later, she could see she had gained a Wolf Fur, showing that it was in fact just the wolves shedding that gave her the fur.

She looked over to the carpenter, and began to have the small sprite work away creating bed frames. At the same time, she looked back to the Wolves Den and selected it, finding a new button for the room, “Select Low Level Monster Spawn”. She pressed it and found a small list of Wolf Monsters. Reading through it, she finds Magic casters, supports, damage dealers, ambushers. She was beginning to have trouble making her decision, so she held off for now, and began to look at other things. She found some of the new arrivals had been given swords, and were now facing down some monsters. A wolf and two sproutlings. The monsters were going extremely easy on them, but were not losing at all. She felt a small bit of pity for the Inuhito in particular, as he managed to strike the wolf, but was so shaky and uncertain that it wasn’t a strike, and was more like a light tap. Luné knew they would need confidence, but it would take time to instill that in them, so she looked elsewhere, and continued preparing what they would need.