"How dare you?!"

I was furious. Just what was this horned bastard thinking? And in front of the entire village too. Not to mention, he brought a whole company with him. I almost hit him with a lightning bolt but stopped myself before I did something reckless. I made a stance next to the orc chieftain though, with my arms crossed like hers.

"I'll have you know, the real chief of staff, Dioneras personally named me the ambassador of the New Order to the village of Nateaser. So think twice before you hurl insults at me." I demanded, struggling to keep my cool. "I never left my post and fought to my last breath against the human mage. The one that tried to trick the Demon Lord with her lies."

"It's hard to believe you, Omerta when the remaining members of the Twelve Champions confessed in complete agreement that you left Dioneras behind to die," Gorgon claimed, and I couldn't argue with that. At least this meant that my men, as I thought of them, returned home. I had no way of contacting anyone, and neither did Dio.

"He did survive though. He passed my test." I announced, raising my nose. He did not like it in the slightest. "Meaning, he is still the chief of staff, and while he removed me from the Twelve Champions, he deemed it unnecessary to punish me. Even promoted me into this post."

"I um, Sir Gorgon, I can confirm this." The dwarf interjected, still holding the reins. I had to give it to him, his horses were quite amazing. "As I told you before, I have met with the three. When they recommended this place, Sir Goblin also told me about Lady Ork Witch being an ambassador, that is why I confused the young lady with her."

"That's right, Dwarf. I've yet to forgive you that." I heard a new voice, I did not recognize. The beastfolk girl who entered the scene wore a red tunic with a huge pointy hat. She seemed young, even for a cat girl, and her behavior was rather arrogant. "I'll have you lend me those Nightmares for a ride if you want me to take your apology seriously."

"Who the hell is that child?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I heard a strange noise from behind, and glancing there I saw the orc shaman shaking in his boots. What was his deal? He acted suspicious earlier too, but I had no time for him now. The child in question seemed upset. Instead of the dwarf, she yelled at me now.

"Omerta, I wanted a duel with you, then take over your place in the Twelve, but I guess you were ousted anyway, so it's my win without a fight." She claimed, pissing me off. "I'm the Fire Witch, call me Ember."

"You'll be Ash Witch when I'm finished with you," I warned her, but the orc chieftain put her hand on my arms, signaling me to dial it back. In a sense, she was my boss now, so I had to obey. "It is up to Dioneras, who he recruits anyway, but I'm more than happy to give you a spanking any time. I fought a mage just a few miles from here too."

"Yes, and you lost so badly, everyone thought you were dead." The Fire Witch giggled, and my left eye started to tick. Gorgon gave her the same treatment as Charlotte did to me at least.

"In any case, I would like you to give me a report. What happened? We have been through quite a lot to find you, and the Demon Lord wants immediate answers." The horned beastmen claimed. I was surprised that the Lord went as far as to send an entire company for me. But there was no way this many warriors would just come here on a whim.

"I can't refuse your request, but I'd like to stress that Nateaser is a neutral settlement. I can't have any kind of army enter it." The orc chieftain interjected, then continued, looking at me. "Do you mind answering their questions somewhere outside of the village?"

"Of course. Sorry about the trouble. Leave it to me." I nodded. Yelling at the Demon Lord's men, I agreed to their request too. "I suggest you set up camp back at the crossroads, and I will join you shortly."

"Do you mind if I go with you?" Hana asked, with a crossbow in their hands. "I don't like how this thing looks. Don't want them to kidnap you."

"Hah, don't be ridiculous." I laughed, looking over the men. They were rather battered, and what was the deal with their primitive carts? They had a bunch of weird reptiles pulling them, and by the looks of it, they only had that cat girl as their sole caster. "What could they even do against me? But sure, I don't mind you coming. It will be boring though."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Let us depart then," Gorgon said and bowed towards the chieftain. The Fire Witch stuck her tongue out at me before turning to jump on the carriage, and then the whole company left and went back the way they came. "I will meet you in an hour at the crossroads, Omerta."

"I'll be there, don't you worry." I nodded, watching them go. Only the dwarf remained, and his two intriguing horses. He combed his beard.

"Um, Lady Chieftain. As I said, I have nothing to do with the New Order's men, I merely ran into them." He claimed again, looking a bit conflicted. "Although you could say I came here because of Sir Dioneras, I arrived intending to offer my services to you."

"Right, we could use an extra hand or a craftsman. But I don't know, how I should feel about your horses?" Charlotte answered reluctantly. Indeed, as much as I knew about Nightmares, they were quite vicious beasts, known for their nasty abilities to cause panic among adventurers unlucky enough to run into them in dungeons. But this was my first time seeing them. I joined the Twelve Champions way after they finished clearing those abyssal places. It felt bad, to be late to write history.

"Woah, what are they? They look amazing." I heard a different cat girl's voice. Nati barely missed the withdrawing orc army, but she walked past me without second thoughts, seeing these horrifying monsters. That girl had no sense of danger whatsoever. "Can I pat them? This world has horses like these?"

"Of course, my lady. I assure you and Lady Chieftain that they are completely docile." The dwarf claimed confidently. "And you have a good eye for them. They are incredible animals indeed, nothing can beat them if it comes to drawing a heavy carriage. I can vouch for them."

"Oh, wanna bet?" I raised an eyebrow. Nightmares or not, it hurt my pride. Nobody should claim, their animals were better than the Iron Centaur I have made. I was dead tired when I finished them, but it was worth it. I wasn’t sure if it counted as an animal though.

"Yeah, your centaur is pretty cool too, but what is this? Are they on fire?" Nati asked, becoming a little reluctant as she approached the horses. She was so timid and quiet most of the time, but when it came to strange creatures, she lost all sensibility. "Will it burn my hand?"

"No, you can touch them. They look more scary than they are. If they take a liking to you, you'll be fine." Their owner promoted them, but I couldn't listen to them longer. Too bad the Iron Centaur was out there somewhere, hauling stone at the moment. "So what do you say, Lady Chieftain? Am I allowed to enter this fine settlement? I have a long journey behind me, and I only came to eat Sir Lambert's food."

"Hah, looks like the human boy got another fan." I laughed, turning to see where the wizard in question was hiding. Instead, I saw Gitaut, who still hasn’t calmed down. "What was that about, shaman?"

"Wh-what was what about?" He jumped as if caught in something. "You didn't sense it? That witch you wanted to fight, she either had tremendous power herself, or carried a terrifying artifact."

"Witch? What? Where?" Nati asked curiously, completely oblivious to what was happening around her. She had it easy, living in the immortal body of a Goddess, with all the knowledge of an advanced civilization in her possession. And she could do as she pleased. Her long black hair and tail were still wet, she could have been soaking in the bath while it all went down. "Another magician was coming to the village?"

"A magician, and an entire army," Charlotte noted, scaring her quite a bit. It seemed funny how she had no issue petting an abyssal monster but the mention of a petty army frightened her, especially considering what deadly weapons she gave the tribe to defend themselves. "All right, sir Gomel. I will allow you to enter the village. Your animals indeed seem to be docile, but please, always keep an eye on them. I don't want troubles."

"Of course, my lady. You will not be disappointed." The dwarf bowed, grinning ear to ear. "These beauties allowed me to travel with my entire shop and leftover gear, so I can start aiding you immediately."

"And I think we should go now." Hana nudged my shoulder. They were nervous by the looks of it. "Do you think it will be all right, or will they want to punish you for what you did to your superior?"

"They might, but what can they do about it?" I shrugged, turning to wave goodbye to the tribesmen. We headed out on foot, the crossroads were two miles away. "Don't know what Gitaut saw in that chick. She hardly seemed threatening to me. And if you come with me, we could force the entire company to retreat."

"Overly confident as always." My brother noted, their shaven face in a grin. "Sometimes I kind of wish you got punished for that arrogance."

"Come on, who's side are you on now?!" I yelled, nudging their side with my elbow. "They would need a bigger army to punish me."

"Take care, Omerta!" Nati yelled after me, waving as the traveling smith's carriage drove past her, and into the village. I smiled back at her too. "Come back soon, I want to show you something amazing."

"Oh? A new invention, perhaps?" I asked, already intrigued. But I had to admit, I was a little nervous after all. "Can't wait to hear it."

Maybe it was the village itself. I didn't live here for long, but it felt like home. I felt calm and confident within those walls. I helped build them. It would have been better if they were allowed to enter, after all, the further away we walked, the more I started sweating.

What if they indeed wanted to punish me? And if the shaman was right and that cute little witch was someone strong? At least Hana was still with me. Their strange obsession with being a woman aside, they were quite reliable and saved my life since we ran into each other again. Though they almost paid for it with their own. In about an hour, we reached the camp at the crossroads. I took a deep breath before entering the premises. They were already waiting, campfire lit.