Shortly thereafter, Taiyang left the meeting and Koi was quick to accompany him.

The other underbosses are terrified of Taiyang, Koi thought to herself. They should be unwilling to cross me without his blessing but you never know what will happen when people are angry enough. Even if Taiyang responds to their treachery by tearing them to pieces, I will still be dead.

Until things settle down, I’m better off leaving with Taiyang and his… Acolytes? What relationship does he have with the Bowel Hunter and the little girl? Are they his minions? His apprentices? I doubt they’re his consorts. I suppose they’re both pretty enough, each in her own way but it’s a strange man who expresses an interest in both grown women and grade-schoolers.

“Lady Koi,” Taiyang murmured.

Koi snapped her attention back onto the presence. “Yes, Master?” She said, pausing her steps to give a graceful bow.

“I require some chemicals for a magical experiment,” Taiyang said. “Specifically, sal-ammoniac. You will obtain a supply for me.”

Koi had no idea what he was talking about but it didn’t matter. She was certain that whatever it was, she could obtain it for him through her connections. “Of course, Master.”

“In gratitude,” Taiyang mused as they left Aperitif’s mansion. “I will grant you access to the results of these experiments when they are complete.”

Koi wasn’t sure what that meant but it sounded promising.

A gift is always good. Unless Taiyang is being sarcastic and he’s offering me a lethal poison or a demon in a bottle.

Then again, I could probably still sell those…

I used the ‘Year’ he offered me and I saw the effects immediately! They were subtle as I’ve managed to keep my beauty intact but I do have the one gray hair I know of.

I watched closely as I drank the elixir and the hair turned black instantly as if it had been doused in dye.

I should encourage Taiyang to create more of this elixir. We could make mountains of gold off it.

Still, that’s a conversation for later.

Koi cleared her throat. “In addition, Master,” She continued. “I believe that we have a lead on your foe’s wayward spirits.”

Taiyang stopped short and turned to stare at Koi.

Koi fought to hold her face impassive. “We should know if the information is good within a day or two, Master.”

Taiyang nodded his head almost imperceptibly. “Excellent,” She whispered. “You have performed well, Lady Koi. It is clear that I was right to place you as my hand in the Black Silver Coins.”

Koi relaxed slightly.

Subaru returned to the House late that night and found the girls reading in the sitting room.

Emilia looked up at him with a sullen expression. “Hello, stranger.”

Subaru sighed. “Hello, Emilia,” Subaru said, sitting down beside her.

Subaru kissed Emilia gently. She didn’t try to pull away from him but she didn’t engage and encourage his kiss either.

“So… where have you been for the past two days?” Anri asked quietly.

Subaru pinched the bridge of his nose. “So. I’ve been pretty busy. First of all, your supplies have arrived and everyone was most appreciative.”

“Really?” Anri said excitedly.

“Yeah. Secondly, remember how Elsa and Capella wanted you dead?”

“Capella?!” Emilia asked in shock.

“Yeah. Apparently Elsa worked for Capella,” Subaru explained.

“Who’s Capella?” Anri asked.

Subaru’s face was grim. “She’s a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult. She’s a shape-shifter. Her favorite shapes are a black dragon, a bear, and an evil, little, blond bitch who needs to have her mouth washed out with soap!”

“What does Capella want with me?!” Anri gasped.

“No idea but her looking for you is not good,” Subaru growled. “She’s definitely not afraid of us. Capella seems to be invulnerable as far as I can tell. I smashed her into sludge and she just… reformed. I have no idea how we could kill her or even hurt her. If Capella finds us…”

Subaru shook his head. “Anyway. Elsa isn’t looking for you anymore,” Subaru said evasively.

“You killed Elsa?” Emilia gasped.

Subaru hesitated.

“What about Capella?” Anri asked.

“She got away,” Subaru replied. “On an unrelated note, I found a way to block the supply shipments to the Sanshi army. In a few more days, they’re going to get very hungry.”

“How did you do that?” Anri asked.

Subaru made a face. “I… hired a few people to waylay the wagon caravans. That should reduce the pressure on Siros.”

“In that case, maybe Siros can finally push them back!” Anri said excitedly.

“Probably not,” Subaru replied.

Anri’s face fell.

“Sorry, Anri. But the balance hasn’t shifted that much yet. And I still need to deal with the other army at Kocytos. If they reach Siros, the game’s over. I need to stop them from marching.”

“How are you going to do that?” Anri asked.

Subaru shrugged. “I have a plan. I’m going to head over that way tomorrow. It’ll probably be another late night.”

“Do you need some help?” Anri asked.

Subaru looked at her darkly, remembering all her lies. “Thanks, Anri. But I think I got this.”

The following afternoon, after slaughtering another caravan, Elsa, Meili, and Subaru met at the Red Grape, a massive tavern on the King’s Highway not far from Kocytos.

The place was three stories high with a bar on each level. For this world, the restaurant was enormous and it catered to travelers going up and down the main trade road.

It was very crowded that evening. Subaru, Elsa, and Meili didn’t attract too much attention under their hooded robes.

They took a table in the corner and sat down.

A waitress with stringy red hair and a low cut blouse came up to their table. “What can I get you? You’re early for dinner but the food is already cooking.”

Subaru shrugged. “I guess get us three of whatever is for dinner tonight.”

The waitress nodded. “Mutton stew and fresh bread are on the menu today,” She explained. “Be about fifteen minutes?”

Subaru nodded. “Get us three of those then.”

God, I’m exhausted. I’m living on almost no sleep…

“Anything to drink?”

“I’ll have a very dry Genever martini,” Subaru said without thinking. “Shaken not stirred, straight up with a twist of lime and a splash of vermouth. But if you don’t have Genever gin then give me a mix of straight wheat-vodka and an infusion of juniper berries or conversely, three parts corn-vodka to one part Sambuca and a mix of juniper and cranberries but only if the cranberries are fresh.”

The waitress stared at Subaru in shock for a long moment. “This is a bar, Hun. We have grog, vodka and mead.”

Subaru blinked and made an incredulous face. Wait. What the fuck did I just say?! I don’t even know what half of those words mean! I don’t drink, I’ve never been a drinker. I don’t even know what a martini is!

How did I come up with that recipe? Is that something I got from Daphne?

Worry about it later.

Subaru coughed. “Just water, please.”

“Give me a Boar’s Head grog,” Elsa murmured.

“I’ll have a… Boar’s Head too,” Meili said, uncertain what she was ordering but confident that whatever Big Sis wanted was the best there was.

The waitress looked indulgent. “You can’t have any grog,” The waitress scolded gently. “You’re too young.”

Meili looked offended.

The waitress gave Meili a warm smile. “I think I have some fresh milk in back.”

“Milk?!” Meili protested.

“Milk,” The waitress said firmly, bustling off.

“You drink Boar’s Head Grog?” Subaru asked in disbelief. I know that label. Rom drinks it. Which makes me think that whatever this drink is, it might be potent enough to kill Meili on ingestion. Not to mention strip the paint off the walls.

Meili shook her head. “No. I’ve never drank it before. But if Big Sis drinks it then it must be great!”

Subaru raised an eyebrow and gave Elsa a steady look.

Elsa just shrugged.

Meili gave Elsa a look of annoyance. “You know, Big Sis, you could have helped me out there.”

Elsa shrugged. “If you wanted something else then you should have insisted on it to the barmaid.”

“We’re trying not to attract attention here,” Meili reminded her. “Me making demands just looks like a little kid throwing a tantrum unless I back it up with threats, violence, and snarling mabeasts. And that attracts a lot of attention. You just asking her to treat me to a drink because it’s my birthday or something would have avoided all that.”

Elsa shrugged again.

Meili sighed in resignation. “So, Subaru, what are we doing tonight?”

“We’re going to head into Kocytos. Our targets are all located at parties tonight so we’ll need to break in and kill them.”

“Any special abilities?” Elsa asked excitedly. “Or talented fighters?”

Subaru shook his head. “I don’t think so, no.”

Elsa sighed in disappointment.

“How many targets?” Meili asked.

“About six hundred altogether, I’m guessing,” Subaru replied.

Elsa’s jaw dropped.

“Are you insane?!” Meili squeaked.

Subaru snorted. “The two of you are going to take on about a hundred unarmed soldiers. I also found you some reinforcements so you can probably handle those numbers. I’ll deal with the other five hundred at the other party.”

Meili and Elsa exchanged an astonished look and the pair knew that they were thinking the same thing. He thinks that he can kill five hundred soldiers at once?! Could he really be that much stronger than Mother? Or even the man in the white suit?

“How are you going to do that?” Meili whispered.

Subaru shrugged. “Not sure yet. I think I might just wing it,” He chuckled.

Meili just stared at him in disbelief.

“Master,” Elsa said slowly. “Even with whatever ‘reinforcements’ you’ve cobbled together, a hundred people is a lot to take on at once.”

“Don’t worry,” Subaru said with a smirk. “You’ll be well equipped. Trust me.”

Meili and Elsa shared a worried look.

The waitress returned with three plates of mutton in what looked less like stew than heavy gravy. She returned to the bar and then came back with three glasses.

Elsa drained her shot at a gulp and Meili looked at her milk with clear disdain.

“I’ll have another Boar’s Head,” Elsa murmured.

“Me too!” Meili pipped up.

The waitress looked sternly down at Meili. “I’m not getting you alcohol! You shouldn’t even be in a place like this! Now sit still and drink your milk like a big girl so that you can grow up big and strong.”

Meili snarled at the waitress but the barmaid ignored her, dismissing it as just a little girl pouting, never even suspecting that this little girl’s pets could easily kill everyone in the room if she was so inclined.

Subaru stared at Meili for a long moment. Finally, he made a face and shrugged. “Eh, bring the kid a shot if she really wants one. One,” He added sternly, looking at Meili.

Meili looked thrilled.

The waitress gasped. “Excuse me?!” The waitress demanded.

“Yeah?” Subaru asked, looking at the barmaid with a bored expression.

The waitress stared at him in disbelief. “Sir. Look maybe this is none of my business but do you really think that it’s appropriate to give your little sister alcohol?!” She demanded.

Subaru flinched. The words ‘little sister’ brought to mind a precious blond girl who was far away from him right now and likely very lonely and very scared.

Oh, Beatrice. I’m so sorry. Why am I doing anything right now except for fighting to rescue you and Puck?

“Sir?” The waitress said with an edge in her voice.

Subaru shook out of his reverie and looked up at the waitress. “What?” He growled.

“Do you really think it’s appropriate to give a child alcohol?”

Subaru growled. His fury at the missing spirits had fully transferred to the waitress. “In small amounts, sure,” Subaru replied. “Why? Don’t you think so?”

The waitress opened her mouth to answer.

“Trick question,” Subaru cut her off brusquely. “Because you see, I do not care what you think. You’re a barmaid in a backwater tavern in the ass-end of nowhere, waiting tables and wearing low cut blouses to get tips from smelly travelers. Believe me, no one has ever come to this establishment feeling the least bit curious to hear your opinion about anything. Now fuck off and go do what you were told.”

The waitress turned pale with fury but Subaru threw three silver coins at her which she barely caught before they struck her. This would pay for all their meals, a sizable tip, and then some so the waitress swallowed her fury and started to walk away.

Meili was practically jumping up and down in her seat, she looked so excited.

“Why did you do that?” Elsa asked curiously.

Subaru sighed. Now that he’d bit the waitress’s head off for something she was entirely innocent of, he felt fairly ashamed. “Because I’m in a really bad mood and I’m exhausted,” He admitted.

“No, I mean why did you order Meili grog?”

Subaru shrugged. “Because she wanted it. Doing nice things for your coworkers helps foster a good working relationship.”

“And what about me?” Elsa asked.

Subaru snorted and stood up. “I know what kind of ‘treats’ would make you happy, Elsa. Believe me, you’ll have plenty of them before the night is over.”

Elsa tittered.

The trio started to eat dinner.

A minute or two later, the barmaid delivered their drinks.

Meili eagerly took the shot glass. Elsa watched her, intrigued by what would happen next.

“Meili, you should really take that slow-” Subaru warned her.

Meili tossed the shot back with a delighted smile on her face. Then her eyes bugged out and she panted for breath. Elsa looked faintly amused as she rubbed Meili’s back and the little girl struggled to catch her breath.

“This is awful!” She choked. “How do you drink this garbage?!”

Elsa laughed and Subaru found himself hiding a smile. The barmaid stood there, giving Subaru an icy glare that he completely ignored.

“Now, Meili,” Subaru said. “I realize that you don’t have much experience with drinking so I thought I should to give you some pointers.”

Meili’s eyes opened wide. “OK, Subaru,” She said in surprise.

Elsa looked curious while the waitress looked incredulous.

Subaru was tired and his mind was wandering. “First of all, you need to know that all liquors are not created equal. You always want a high-quality liquor that’s been well-filtered and has the proper blends of flavorings mixed in. It’s not worth drinking something that tastes like lantern oil,” Subaru mused.

Meili made a face, looking at the last few drops of the Boar’s Head Grog in her shot glass.

“Tell me, Meili, what’s your favorite food?”

Meili brightened. “Ice cream!” She cried.

“Ice cream,” Elsa murmured at the same time.

Subaru thought for a moment then turned to the waitress. “Do you have any cream liquors? Maybe a Vollachian spirit with a bit of cocoa seasoning?”

The waitress scowled at him. “We have something like that,” She admitted in a growl. “But we only sell it by the bottle.”

Subaru dropped a gold coin on the table. “We’ll take it. Also we’ll have two glasses of that liquor. On the rocks with a maraschino cherry garnish. And bring us a dish of salted nuts or whatever other salty dish you have on hand,” Subaru directed.

The waitress looked annoyed at Subaru’s tone but his coin was more than enough to buy the whole bottle so she took the money and walked off.

Meili experimentally took a lick of the remnants of her shot glass and then visibly cringed at the harsh flavor.

The waitress came back a minute later with a small black bottle, a glass bowl, and a bag of nuts. She poured the nuts into the bowl. She returned moments later with two small glasses filled with ice and a toothpick cheery garnish. She poured the cream liquor over the ice.

Meili eagerly picked up her glass but Subaru gently covered it with his hand and forced it back down onto the bar.

Meili looked at him in confusion.

“When drinking, remember. Sip it. Take your time,” Subaru said seriously. “Your stomach is only so big. Your stomach size determines how much flavor you can enjoy in a given sitting. Once it’s full, you need to either stuff yourself painfully or force yourself to regurgitate to make more room. Neither one is fun,” Subaru said laconically. “Take small sips. Savor every drink. Remember, the focus should be on pleasure not just on feeling full.”

Meili frowned, uncertain that she understood what he was talking about but she raised her glass and slowly took a sip. Her face brightened. “This is good!” She chirped. It tasted nothing like ice cream but it was smooth and rich flavored, nothing like the cheap grog that Elsa had drunk.

“Now eat a nut,” Subaru directed.

Meili grabbed one and, remembering Subaru’s instructions, ate it slowly.

“Try to eat a little of each every time,” Subaru instructed. “The salty nuts will make the liquor feel sweeter and the sweet liquor makes the nuts more savory. Part of good dining is understanding how each flavor can bring out and enhance each other.”

“Wow,” Meili muttered, trying to do as he said. “You sure know a lot about gourmet dining, Subaru!”

“Hm? I don’t know anything about gourmet dining,” Subaru disagreed, sniffing his liquor’s bouquet and then taking a small sip.

“No. Seriously, you talk just like Lye!” Meili assured him. She hesitated, suddenly wondering if he would take that as an insult. Lye wasn’t nearly as bad as Roy but the twisted little man was still creepy. He looked like he was only slightly older than Meili but Big Sis swore that he’d been leering at her since she was Meili’s age. Meili remembered countless times that she had turned around and found the twisted man looking at her like she was a delicious pastry.

Subaru blinked and Meili watched his face fill with confusion. He looked down at the fancy drink in his hand as if unsure as to how it got there.

He sighed. “Well, whatever. Let’s finish eating and then we’ll head into town.”

The trio walked through the woods. Meili’s mabeasts paced them.

“Subaru,” Meili said slowly. “Even with my mabeasts, a hundred people is a lot to take on at once.”

“Don’t worry,” Subaru said with a smirk. “Like I said, I brought along some reinforcements.”

A moment later, Meili felt her Guiltylowe tense up.

Meili peered through the the underbrush and saw red eyes moving between the leaves. The red eyes came closer until a group of Guiltylowe emerged from the shadows followed by a huge pack of wolgarm.

Meili heard Elsa gasp.

What drew all these mabeasts here?! Elsa thought in shock. I’ve never seen an army of mabeasts this big! There’s no way that Meili can control this many. I doubt this is a fight that we can win. But at least I’ll go down swinging.

The mabeasts came closer and then sat down patiently.

Meili stared at them in amazement.

“Meili,” Subaru murmured. “These are my mabeasts. They’ll do as you say.”

As soon as he said this, Meili felt as if a door had been opened in her mind. She could sense the thoughts of these new mabeasts. She’d never been able to sense so many mabeasts at once before and the experience was momentarily overwhelming but where normal mabeast minds were fractious and rebellious, these mabeasts had thoughts that were subdued and submissive. Subaru had ordered them to obey her and that was that.

This elevated Meili’s opinion of Subaru quite significantly. I mean, Mother will probably still try to kill me if she thinks she can get away with it but if working for Subaru let’s me have this many Guiltylowe then maybe it really is worth dying for!

Meili slid off her Guiltylowe with a cry of delight and ran to embrace the five new cat-like monsters. She nuzzled against them, trying to hug as many of the Guiltylowe as she could.

Meili’s original Guiltylowe gave a low snarl of annoyance as the new mabeasts gathered around its human.

Meili squealed in delight at the pack of massive Guiltylowe. “They’re so fluffy!” She shouted in rapture. Guiltylowe were her absolute favorite mabeasts but she could only control one at time and only if the horn that connected the powerful mabeast to its pack was cut off or otherwise damaged, allowing her thoughts to interact with it.

Subaru looked at Meili with bemusement as she cooed over the ferocious monsters.

The new Guiltylowe sniffed curiously at Meili. One Guiltylowe attempted to pet Meili’s head with a paw the size of a radial tire. The mabeasts gathered around Meili, slowly accepting their new pack member. The other mabeasts spread out among Meili’s pack, all sniffing one another and issuing low growls to establish rank in the new pack.

“They’re so fluffy! I just can’t stand it!” Meili screamed in delight.

Subaru rolled his eyes. “I’m happy that you’re happy,” Subaru murmured. “Do you guys think that this pack is big enough to handle those hundred unarmed soldiers?”

Meili giggled. “My new pets will rip them apart! Especially with Big Sis helping. It won’t even be a fight!” Meili now found herself at the center of a huge new family including a half-dozen Guiltylowe, her absolute favorite kind of monster. All of these new mabeasts took to Meili like a long-lost, little sister. She was in absolute heaven.

“You are full of surprises, Master Subaru,” Elsa whispered.

Subaru shrugged. He whistled and Patrasche came running into the clearing. The earth dragon looked askance at the mabeasts but regular proximity had made Patrasche less nervous around the horde.

Subaru turned back to Meili who was giggling like a kid in a toy store.

“Meili,” Subaru said. “Now, I know that you’d just love to spend the night playing with your new pets but we do have a timetable and we really need to be going.”

Meili sighed regretfully but she left the new mabeasts alone and mounted her original Guiltylowe. Elsa slid up behind her. The lion-like beast gave the other Guiltylowe a low snarl, warning them to keep their distance from its human.

The new Guiltylowe all looked distinctly unimpressed.

“We’ll ride to Kocytos,” Subaru said. “It’s not far from here and then we’ll hide the mabeasts in the woods while we investigate our targets.”

Subaru nudged Patrasche and the earth dragon flew out of the clearing, followed by Meili on the Guiltylowe and then the rest of the mabeasts.

“Hey, Elsa,” Subaru said conversationally. “What do you know about poisons?”

Subaru, Elsa and Meili wondered through the busy city of Kocytos at sunset. It was late but the city was still busy although it appeared that the shops were closing up.

The three kept their hoods up to avoid being noticed. Patrasche and the mabeasts waited in the nearby forest just outside of town.

Patrasche had been extremely uncomfortable about this arrangement and all unprompted, Meili had ordered the mabeasts to protect her, hoping to earn some favor from Subaru.

Subaru looked at the passing citizens with bemusement. Huh. I would have expected people to be more on edge than this. Their festival was attacked by a witch a few days ago. You’d think the town would be on high alert. Maybe most people don’t believe it really happened?

“Where are we going?” Meili asked.

“Well, we’ve already found where your targets will be tonight. Now I want to check out the place where mine will be,” Subaru murmured.

They passed a toy store and Subaru paused. “Actually, this might be an idea,” He said, walking inside.

Meili and Elsa followed in confusion.

There was a slender, gray-haired woman standing behind the counter. “Sir, if you and your wife are going to be buying something for your little girl, please be quick. We’re open late today on account of the ongoing festival but I want to close up shop soon.”

Subaru looked awkward. “They’re not…” He trailed off with a sigh.

Elsa giggled.

Subaru walked through the store followed by Elsa. Meili paused when she caught sight of a large stuffed tiger on a shelf. Meili stopped for a moment and cooed at it before hurrying to catch up with Elsa and Subaru.

Subaru was studying a shelf full of masks. “Why don’t you each pick out a mask?” He suggested.

“Why?” Elsa asked immediately.

“Because your ‘mama’ might come looking for you if she hears about you pulling jobs,” Subaru said bluntly. “So the masks will let you be anonymous if you so choose.”

Elsa and Meili thought it over and then shrugged. They both pulled a mask off the shelf. Elsa’s was a plain black mask with a delicately pointed chin and golden inlays. Meili had chosen the same mask as her Big Sis.

They went to the counter and Subaru payed for them. Then they left the store and continued walking through town.

“What are we looking for now?” Elsa murmured.

“Something called ‘the Great Hall,’” Subaru replied, wandering through the streets.

Elsa tugged on his sleeve. “It’s over there,” She pointed.

Subaru made a face. “Thanks.”

They started walking in that direction.

“What is a ‘Great Hall?’” Meili asked.

“It’s a place in Gusteko towns for large functions,” Elsa explained. “The weather up here doesn’t always allow people to gather outside so most major cities have a ‘Great Hall’ to rent where you can squeeze in a few hundred people to eat and drink.”

Subaru saw the enormous building soon after. It looked like a giant warehouse. A harried man stood in front of the place, yelling at underlings who were rolling huge barrels of beer into the building.

Subaru’s eyes narrowed. “Wait here for a minute,” He whispered to Meili and Elsa.

He hurried down the street and to the Great Hall, standing in front of the harried men. He was middle-aged, balding, and nearly skeletal. It looked like every order he shouted at his employees took just about everything he had left.

“Move it, Clancy! We only have another two hours, this is no time for a break! Chris, keep that barrel rolling up the middle of the ramp! If it falls and breaks out, you’ll be repaying me for that spilled beer for the next twelve months!” The man noticed Subaru standing beside him. “What the hell do you want?” He asked in a slightly more composed tone.

“A couple of coppers?” Subaru asked.

The man’s face twisted in disgust. “You can’t beg here! Get lost before I call the watch on you!”

“I don’t want to beg! I want to work! You look like you’re short-handed tonight, right? I’ll work hard for you. You give me a couple of coppers. We’re both happy.”

The man thought about that for a long moment. “Can you wait tables and serve drinks?” He asked.

“I’ve done it before,” Subaru lied.

The man nodded slowly. “Alright. We have a freaking huge party starting in less than two hours. Work for me until midnight and I’ll give you five coppers,” He offered. “Payable at the end!” He added.

“Awesome!” Subaru shouted with feigned excitement. Five coppers for a little more than five hours of work? Well, that’s slightly better than what Felt was making in the slums but not much…

Subaru continued. “Just let me drop off my groceries at home and I’ll be right back!”

The man nodded. “Alright but move it! We have a lot to do and no time to do it!”

Subaru scurried back to Elsa and Meili.

“Nice way to gain entry,” Elsa commented as Subaru rushed over. “I could never do that.”

“Why not?” Subaru asked, trying to catch his breath from running.

Elsa gave him a wry smile. “I’m sorry but in case you haven’t noticed, I’m hot. Like smoking hot? A beautiful woman doesn’t blend into the background very well and I almost invariably attract the kinds of attention from unpleasant individuals that requires me to defend my person.”

Subaru made a face. “Well, I won’t blame you for killing those kind of people. But just for the record, the way that you dress doesn’t help.”

Elsa sighed and theatrically rolled her eyes skyward. “Typical man. Always asking ‘what was she wearing’ when she was attacked.”

Meili giggled.

Subaru gave Elsa a steady look. “If I could get this conversation back on track,” He grumbled.

“So what’s the plan?” Meili asked.

Subaru sighed. “I’ll take care of everything here. The sergeants for this army are going to be partying here tonight. I can just about promise you that none of them will leave here alive. You two go deal with the captains at the estate we saw earlier.”

Meili squinted up at him. “OK. But I have a question. Wouldn’t it be easier to just kill the generals?” She suggested. “There’s probably a lot fewer of them.”

Subaru shook his head. “It’s easy to replace a general, especially if he doesn’t have to be very good at his job. I’ve learned from… certain sources that a lot of senior officers in Gusteko tend to be political appointees and not career military. Malcolm Griest seems to appoint them based on their loyalty to him so he’s relying on their junior officers to know the business of war. Inexperienced men can command the overall political strategy but they can’t command tactics. An army can move without a general but it’s not going anywhere without sergeants and captains. Without captains in the field to interpret orders and sergeants to ensure that the men actually carry out those orders, even the best plan will crumble into dust.”

Meili raised her eyebrow. She looked impressed.

Subaru sighed. “Alright, you guys take care of the captains and I’ll tidy things up here. Be careful not to let anyone get away. I don’t want anybody sounding the alarm until after we’re all done and we’ve gotten somewhere safe. Fighting our way out of this town doesn’t sound like fun. We should all meet back where we left Patrasche and the other mabeasts sometime around midnight.”

Elsa nodded. “Sounds easy enough,” She murmured. “Are you heading back to the Great Hall then?”

“In a minute,” Subaru said, walking away. “First, I need to pick up something at the store before it closes.”

It was just after dark. Meili and Elsa hid in the shrubs near the enormous manor. The building was alive with lights and music. An enormous ball was taking place inside and the sounds of laughter echoed out the windows.

Six Guiltylowe sat patiently near Meili. The other mabeasts had been left to guard the earth dragon.

Meili looked concerned. “Big Sis, this is a lot of people,” She warned. “It’s not just a hundred captains. There are a bunch of local dignitaries here. Probably some armed guards too.”

Elsa nodded sagely but her smile was eager. “True but they’re mostly unarmed. As long as we prevent them from fleeing and finding weapons or getting reinforcements, we’ll be fine. The dignitaries are all fat old men and pampered noblewomen.”

Meili looked dubious. “Well, what do we do first?”

Elsa glanced at her. “I don’t know. What do we do first?” She asked meaningfully.

Meili sighed, knowing that this was a test. “We should… case the place and find all the exits. Then we should make sure to block them off so no one can get away.”

“Sounds good. Why don’t you do that?” Elsa said calmly.

Meili gave Elsa a dirty look but she sighed and proceeded to walk around the manor, hiding in the bushes to avoid detection.

OK. It looks like the front door is the only way in or out. The windows all look too high off the ground to jump out of without breaking a leg. I’ll leave a Guiltylowe to guard the front entrance and the rest of us will rip up the party. Even without Big Sis, my new pets could mow down this crowd like wheat.

Meili returned to her Big Sis who sat patiently in the shrubs. “So?”

Meili sighed. “It looks like this door is the only way in or out. Windows too high to make an exit,” Meili said matter-of-fact.

“So what do we do?” Elsa prompted.

Meili thought about it. “Well… We could just do a frontal assault,” She said thoughtfully. “But that will give the people inside more time to react, to hide and fight back. It would be best if we could sneak in but there’s no other entrance and there are two guards at this door.”

“A window?” Elsa asked.

Meili shook her head. “Like I said, they’re all pretty small and pretty high up. I don’t think we can get in that way.”

Meili pictured trying to coordinate her Guiltylowe into making a mabeast pyramid that she and Big Sis could climb up and reach a window. She quickly dismissed the idea.

Elsa shrugged. “Then we try to talk our way in and we get as far as we can before the trouble starts.”

Meili nodded. “I’ll leave a Guiltylowe at the front door,” Meili whispered. “That should prevent anyone in the party from getting away.”

Elsa nodded with an excited grin on her face. “Just follow me and back me up, Meili,” She whispered. “This will be fun!”

Meili nodded solemnly and she followed Elsa out of the bushes. She mentally ordered all the Guiltylowe to wait in the forest for the time being.

Elsa pulled back her hood and drew out her long braid of hair. Then she walked confidently up to the manor entrance followed by the trailing Meili.

A pair of spear-carrying soldiers stood at the door, chatting with one another.

“Excuse me,” Elsa called sweetly. “I hope that I’m not too late.”

The soldiers’ eyes flickered appreciatively over Elsa’s taunt and mostly exposed body. “Of course not, my lady,” One soldier murmured, talking directly into her cleavage. “The party has just begun.”

“We just need to see your invitation,” The other commented.

“Oh, dear!” Elsa said in horror. “I hope that I haven’t forgotten it!”

Meili rolled her eyes. Why does Big Sis bother to play these games?

The first soldier looked pained. “I’m very sorry, my lady but without an invitation, we really can’t let you in. We’re a province at war, you know. You can’t be too careful these days.”

“Oh, I quite understand,” Elsa replied. Her face grew sultry. “But if you’d just give me a moment, I think that I could show you something that would convince you to let me in…”

“Oh yeah?” The second soldier said eagerly.

“We really can’t…” The first trailed off.

Elsa stepped very close to them both. “Are you ready?” She whispered.

The second soldier nodded eagerly.

Elsa smiled. Then she jammed her daggers through the soldiers’ eyes.

“Take a real good look,” She whispered as each of the soldiers’ one remaining eyes widened in shock and then rolled up in their heads. Both bodies slid to the ground without a sound.

Elsa giggled like a schoolgirl. She started to reach down for their stomachs but then shook her head. No. I’m on the job. We’ll play with entrails later, She thought. Once the rest of the targets can’t escape.

“Come on, Meili!” Elsa cheered as she sprang into the manor, daggers drawn. Meili ran after her, calling the mabeasts to follow.

Five massive Guiltylowe bounded up the stairs and squeezed through the front door. One Guiltylowe sat patiently outside, waiting for runners.

Inside the conversation and music suddenly stopped.

Then the screaming began.

“Hurry up and get that food out to table six!” The manager shouted.

“On it!” Subaru yelled back, bolting from the kitchen and carrying the tray out to table six.

The entire hall was full of people. Subaru had expected this. And he had expected this task to be fairly simple: Poison the sergeants’ food and then slip away before anyone realized that he had ever been here.

However, things got complicated really fast.

After he had finished helping set up the enormous dining hall, Subaru had watched a huge crowd of uniformed men walk into the hall. They were tough and grizzled and had the general demeanor of military men. Unfortunately, a horde of small children also ran into the hall chasing one another around until the tables their escorts, a group of women in white robes that reminded Subaru of nuns, forced them to sit down.

Subaru swallowed hard and bolted back to the manager. “Hey!” He said, trying to sound casual. “Did you know that there are a bunch of kids here? I thought you were just serving soldiers tonight.”

The manager sighed ruefully. “I wish! No, the Sanshi army is sharing the hall tonight with the Sisters of Mercy orphanage. We had some extra space and we try to give the kids a good meal whenever we can manage it.”

“Oh. That’s… real kind of you, boss,” Subaru got a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Um. And what food will the soldiers be eating compared to the kids?”

The manager gave Subaru a quizzical look. “They’re going to be eating the same thing, genius. You think we have the time or the resources to make two different dishes?! Now hurry up and start busing the finger food and the appetizers out there!”

“Yes, sir,” Subaru sighed.

Subaru’s night had just become infinitely more complicated.

Meili walked beside her pet Guiltylowe as they wandered the second floor of the manor, looking for stragglers. Most of the guests had died to Elsa’s blades and Guiltylowe claw and fangs in the first few minutes. The only people in the manor who’d been armed were the personal guard of the nobleman hosting the party and these ten or so indifferently skilled fighters had all broke and run when Elsa and the Guiltylowe stormed onto the scene.

They hadn’t gotten far.

Normally, Elsa would have found such an easy fight to be boring but the sheer size of the crowd that she had been sent to slaughter was still amusing her. Elsa was upstairs digging the remaining guests out of their bolt holes.

Most of the guests had first sprinted to the exit and then run the other way when they found it guarded by a slavering mabeast. Some had pressed trembling against the wall and futilely pleaded for mercy until Elsa and the Guiltylowe had dispatched them. A few of the more resourceful captains had raced to the buffet table and grabbed the cutlery being used to carve up the large roast ham. Thus armed, they tried to make their stand.

This went about as poorly for them as would be expected.

Some of the particularly creative guests had either sought out places to hide or had barricaded themselves in small rooms and prayed for assistance.

While Elsa focused on digging the survivors out of their makeshift bolt holes, Meili wandered the halls looking for anyone still in hiding.

One guest had gotten the bright idea to try to take Meili hostage with a small pocket knife. He had managed to sneak up behind the girl and grabbed her, pressing his dagger against her throat.

Elsa had found this situation to be extremely amusing. The man had warned Elsa to stay away from him in peril of Meili’s life and Elsa had stood there obediently. Sadly, the man was so busy threatening the assassin that he didn’t even notice Meili’s pet Guiltylowe silently padding up behind him. The mabeast had bitten the man’s head off with a single chomp.

Now the manor was largely silent except for the intermittent screams of agony and Elsa’s cries of delight when Elsa finally broke through another barricade and into a crowd of fresh prey.

Elsa was in no particular hurry to finish everyone off now that she knew they were trapped and couldn’t escape. She took her time with each of them.

Now the manor was largely silent except for the intermittent screams of agony and mabeast roars when the Guiltylowe finally broke through another barricade and into a fresh crowd of prey.

As opposed to Elsa who was finding tonight’s work entertaining and delightful, Meili was fairly bored. She loved her Big Sis but she had never shared her fascination with murder and bloodshed. Killing had never been fun for Meili. It was just work. A messy and fatiguing chore that had to be done.

As Meili approached the rear halls of the manor, she found the tiny servant’s stairwell. Meili watched as a man cautiously sneaked down the stairs. His clothes were so covered in gore and viscera and it was hard to tell if he had been wearing a military uniform or not. The man saw Meili and her pet and his eyes grew huge. He bolted down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him.

Meili fumed and darted after him. She mentally told the Guiltylowe, who would never fit into this tiny stairwell, to go down the other way and head the runner off.

She heard the Guiltylowe thunder away.

“There’s no point in running!” Meili chided him, struggling to catch up with the man but his much longer legs made this difficult. “One of my new pets is guarding the door! You can’t get out!”

The man didn’t respond and he started jumping down the stairs a flight at a time, scrambling to get down as fast as he could.

Meili was huffing and puffing. She wasn’t used to running. She usually depended on the mabeasts to carry her where she wanted to go. She heard a tinkling sound come from below.

“Listen!” She called out between gasps for breath. “The more you… you struggle… the more awkward… this is going to be… for everybody!” She shouted as she finally stumbled down the stairs and into the manor’s huge kitchen.

The kitchen was completely deserted. Food lay scattered around everywhere and a dozen torn and ripped up corpses lay on the floor in a sticky pool of drying blood.

Meili’s attention was fixated on a small window that someone had broken. The kitchen wasn’t completely underground as she had believed. It had a small window that faced out onto the grounds outside and now that window was broken. The edges were covered in fresh blood and a few thin blood trails led out the window and into the shrubs behind the manor before vanishing into the forest.

“Uh-Oh,” Meili whispered.

This is great! What the hell am I supposed to do now?! Even if I wasn’t being watched, I can’t independently poison five hundred plates! But I can’t just poison the pot either! I know every war has casualties and unintended victims but I’m not going to butcher a whole orphanage just for being in my way at the moment!

A cold voice whispered. You may need to accept some sacrifices for the greater good. Yes, your integrity does have value but what is the value of Emilia’s life? She’s vulnerable. You need to get her back to Siros in order that she be protected. To do this, you must destroy Griest’s army with such resources as have been made available to you. A real man is willing to get his hands dirty to do what must be done…

Subaru shook his head violently. “Fuck, no!” He hissed to himself. “There’s got to be another way!”

Then you had best find it quickly. The guests are finishing their appetizers. The main course will be server shortly. You won’t have another chance after that.

Moreover, you should consider the values of these lives. These are orphans in a medieval society. Their lives are likely to be short, difficult, and full of misery. Would it truly be that much of a kindness to spare them?

Subaru hesitated, biting his lip.

“Hey!” The manager shouted at Subaru who was thinking hard in the kitchen. “Get out there,… uh, I never asked your name, did I?” The manager murmured.

“Lucas,” Subaru said quickly.

“Whatever,” The manager said more brusquely. “Listen. I need you to go down to the ale barrels in the cellar and start bringing the ale out to the tables.”

Subaru’s eyes widened. “All the tables?” He asked slowly.

The manager snorted. “No! The kids and the nuns aren’t going to drink ale! Use your head! If the table is full of men in uniform then bring them ale!” He said, storming off.

Subaru began to smirk. “Right away, boss!” He called.

Subaru raced down to the basement as fast as he could, stopping only long enough to grab his bag from where it lay, piled up with the chef and waiters’ personal possessions.

Subaru found the first ale barrel and forced the lid off. It was full nearly to the brim of amber-hued ale.

Subaru sniffed it and his lip curled. Yuck. This stuff is cheap! Oh well. It’s easy enough to poison. The acrid flavor will mask damn near anything. But do I need to worry about anyone drinking it tomorrow after the soldiers are all gone?

Subaru slid into Reason and Judgment. The math is easy enough. This barrel is roughly sixty gallons. Each of those ale mugs you saw in the kitchen was 16 ounces in size and there are 128 ounces to a gallon…

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Subaru finished his math and left Reason and Judgment.

If there are five hundred soldiers out there, each of these barrels will only get them a single tankard per barrel. Not only do I not need to worry about anything left over tomorrow but I had better poison at least two barrels to ensure that everyone gets a dose of the poison!

Subaru reached into his bag and carefully pulled out a bag of powder. Powdered mushrooms. Elsa helped me gather these and then grind them up. She claims that they’re the most poisonous kind of mushroom in the world and they grow wild all over Gusteko. We were lucky to find such a huge patch of them. They’re called ‘Destroying Angels.’ Elsa told me that less than half a cap has enough poison to kill a grown man. And we ground up hundreds of them…

Subaru carefully dumped half of the powder into the first barrel and the other half in the second. He then stirred both barrels vigorously to mix everything together and replaced the lid on the second barrel, just in case.

Then he walked over to the sink and washed his hands as if his life depended on it.

“Lucas!” the manager shouted down the stairs. “Hurry up! What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Coming! It took me a minute to get the lid off!” Subaru shouted, carefully filling the first mug with tainted ale.

Meili was perched on her pet Guiltylowe as she searched the forests out behind the manor in a near panic. After screaming up to Elsa about what had happened, she left her Big Sis to finish off the stragglers while she went to hunt down the runner.

She had only four Guiltylowe searching the forest because she had left two more behind to cover both exits, just in case.

Subaru is going to be furious if this guy gets away! What is he going to do to us?! If Subaru can fight Mother than we don’t want to make Subaru angry at us any more than we’d want to make Mother angry! Subaru acts a whole lot nicer than Mother ever did but him threatening to kill Big Sis tells me that he can be equally cruel when he’s given a reason to be!

Meili urged the Guiltylowe to follow the trail of the fugitive but as the blood trail thinned, the scent faded and the Guiltylowe roamed around in circles, roaring in frustration.

Guiltylowe are ambush predators! Meili thought mournfully. They don’t track their food by scent, they pounce on it and kill it! Why didn’t I bring the wolgarm and the fliers?!

Her Guiltylowe was sniffing the ground again when it suddenly found a fresh trail of blood. The Guiltylowe let out a roar to alert its pack mates and then raced forth through the undergrowth, followed by the others.

The Guiltylowe skidded to a stop when it realized it was just a few hundred feet from the city borders of Kocytos.

Deep in the city, an alarm bell started to clang.

Meili closed her eyes. “I am in so much trouble!” She moaned.

Subaru was bolting up and down the stairs all night, delivering drinks and refills to the soldiers. He not only emptied the first two barrels but was more than halfway through the third when Subaru finally decided to call it quits.

Alright. I’ve done what I needed to do and by some miracle, I’ve ensured that no one else will be affected by the poison. Time for me to get the hell out of here. Elsa said that it’s a slow poison despite being extremely deadly. It’s likely that the poison won’t really kick in for hours but I don’t want to take the chance of still being here when these soldiers realize that they’ve the walking dead!

The only disappointing aspect is that I won’t be here to gather their lives as they die for Vitae. Then again, I’m pocketing twenty or so every day from the supply wagon raids. I just need some more sal-ammoniac to refine the Vitae and I can bottle whole Decades every night. That will keep Emilia healthy for a long time.

“Lucas! We need more ale!” The manager shouted but Subaru ignored him. He just grabbed his bag and slipped out the back door before anyone noticed.

He scurried up the back alley and then sprinted down the street. After a few blocks, he stopped running and strolled down the road with a smirk.

Actually, all things considered, that went amazingly well.

Subaru heard an alarm bell start to peel wildly in the heart of town.

He sighed. “Of course,” He said helplessly. “What was I even expecting…”

“We’re dead!” Meili moaned as the pair walked through the trees back to camp. Meili’s new pack of Guiltylowe walked behind them.

“We’re not… dead!” Elsa said more calmly but her worry was unmistakable.

Meili buried her face in her hands. “We let one get away!”

“But it wasn’t one of our targets,” Elsa argued. “It was some useless dignitary. The job was still done.”

“Big Sis! The alarm is already sounding in Kocytos and the guards are searching the city for us. If Subaru gets caught up in that search while he’s still in town, he’s going to kill us! The alarm might have screwed up his plan or he could have been attacked getting out!”

Elsa bit her lip but then looked cheerful. “I’m sure that Master Subaru can handle himself,” Elsa murmured.

“Big Sis!” Meili hissed. “Subaru already threatened to kill you! What do you think he’s going to do when we screw up like this?!”

Elsa blinked and her face grew faintly sick. She cleared her throat. “Well… things go wrong on jobs. It’s a fact of life. Master Subaru won’t be… too upset about it.”

“But what if he is?” Meili worried as they walked into the clearing where the other mabeasts waited.

“What if I am, what?” Subaru asked.

Meili’s heart stopped. She turned her head and saw Subaru sitting casually by the embers of their campfire, petting Patrasche.

“So,” Subaru said calmly. “How did it go?”

Meili glanced at Elsa. Elsa looked deeply unsettled.

Meili sighed. Well, at least Big Sis appreciates the seriousness of this situation!

Elsa took a deep breath and stepped protectively in front of Meili. “Master, so we killed… almost all of them,” She began.

“Almost?” Subaru echoed calmly.

Meili swallowed hard and peaked around Elsa. “One… got away. I’m sorry. He wasn’t one of the captains,” She added desperately. “I tried to catch him but he got away!”

Subaru stood up and walked over to them. “Why did he get away?” He asked calmly.

Meili hesitated.

Elsa bit her lip. “Master, things go wrong-”

Subaru ignored her. “What happened, Meili?” He asked quietly.

Meili took a deep breath. “OK. So, we stormed the manor just like we planned. We left a Guiltylowe to guard the entrance and all the windows were up too high to jump out of. So I thought everyone was contained while we hunted them down.”

Subaru waited. “Continue,” He prodded her.

Elsa looked at Meili with a worried expression but it was clear that Elsa wasn’t sure if jumping in would help or make things worse.

Meili sighed. “One of the party guests managed to get down into the kitchen which had a window in it that we hadn’t noticed. He broke through the window and escaped into the forest. I tried to hunt him down but he got away…”

Subaru nodded. He turned and stared into the dying fire for a long moment. “Meili. What mistakes did you make tonight?”

Meili blinked. “What mistakes?” She echoed.

Subaru nodded. “We both know what you did. I want to know what you should have done instead.”

Elsa frowned in confusion. “Master, I don’t think hashing over this will do any good-”

“Let me be the judge of that!” Subaru snapped.

Elsa and Meili both flinched.

Subaru took a deep breath. “Now I want an honest self-assessment of your actions tonight. What were your errors and what should you have done,” He said sternly.

Meili shot a furtive glance at Elsa but Big Sis was sending her no signals at all. It looked like she had no idea what to say either.

Meili thought hard. “I… I should have surveyed the outside of the manor more throughly,” She admitted. “If I’d known about that window, I would have been better prepared to head him off when he ran. Or I would have stationed a guard outside of it.”

Subaru waited. “And?”

Meili wracked her brain for other lessons. “My pack didn’t have the right mabeasts for this job,” She said finally. “I brought all the Guiltylowe with me. Guiltylowe are great in a big fight but there was no one powerful at the party and Big Sis had the fighting under control anyway so a lot of that muscle was wasted. I should have brought a few large mabeasts just in case the fighting got out of control and then brought flying and tracking mabeasts to assist with reconnaissance and taking down any runners.”

“What else?” Subaru murmured.

Meili squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment. “I’m sorry, that’s all that I can think of,” She said in a small voice.

Meili stood there trembling.

Elsa’s eyes darted back and forth between them, biting her lip.

Subaru stared at her for a long moment. “Hm. Very well. Now that you’ve made these mistakes, I trust that you won’t make them again,” He said firmly.

Subaru pinched the bridge of his nose and started to walk away. “Let’s pack up and get out of here.”

Meili’s jaw dropped. “Wait. You’re… you’re not going to punish me?” Meili’s face was a study in complete shock. The words were spoken before she could even wonder if asking this question was wise.

Subaru glanced back at her. “Everyone makes mistakes, Meili,” He explained in a calm voice. “You don’t deserve to be punished for them. You just need to work hard to learn from your mistakes. You got the job done. That’s what counts.”

Meili felt the world spinning around her.

She looked up at Elsa and saw that her face was equally stupefied.

“Oh, by the way,” Subaru reached into Patrasche’s saddlebag. He pulled out the stuffed tiger that Meili had been looking at in the toy shop. “I saw you admiring this so I picked it up for you while I was in town,” He handed her the doll.

Meili couldn’t have been more astounded if the Hierocracy of Gusteko had suddenly appeared in the clearing to offer her the Holy King’s crown.

Meili slowly embraced the stuffed animal. “Thank you, Subaru,” She whispered, tears streaming down her face.

“Um,” Elsa murmured. “Do I get a present?” She asked plaintively, sounding much younger than she really was.

“How many toys did you play with tonight?” Subaru asked skeptically.

Elsa folded her arms across her chest and looked ready to pout.

Subaru took a deep breath. “Fine! I guess… you’ve done really good work for me over the past few days so…” Subaru reached into his pocket and handed Elsa a tiny bottle of blue liquid.

Elsa’s face lit up as she took it and quickly drank it.

I can’t be reckless with these. I have a lot of lives saved up but no sal-ammoniac right now. Still, once I have a stable supply of it, I can make all the Years I want so it seems safe to give Elsa this treat.

Elsa… had done good work. She deserves a reward…

Whether I like it or not.

Elsa closed her eyes with a sigh. Her face grew dreamy.

“How do you feel, Big Sis?” Meili asked curiously.

Elsa shook her head, smiling. “Better than I have in a very long time,” She replied, looking fondly at Meili.

Elsa rubbed her fingers together with a look of wonder on her face as if she was just remembering how her own skin felt.

Subaru sighed. “Elsa, what time do you think it is?”

Elsa glanced at the moon. “Maybe eleven?” She guessed.

He sighed. “Alright,” Subaru grumbled. “Let’s get moving. We can’t stay here any longer. As soon as those assholes in Kocytos are done searching the city for us they’re going to get the bright idea to search the forest. We need to get the hell out of here!”

It was the middle of the night as Subaru and Meili rode away from Kocytos. A horde of mabeasts ran openly down the road.

Since they could expect most people to be indoors at this hour, the trio took the main road that hugged the Lagunican border back toward Stoneybrooke, assuming that no one would be out to see them.

Meili rode her Guiltylowe with the tiger doll held tightly under one arm. Elsa sat behind her.

“Now what, Master?” Elsa called.

Subaru shrugged. “You two should go back to the inn and get some sleep! We’re going to keep attacking caravans tomorrow like we’ve been doing.”

“Hey, how long are we going to be doing this?” Meili asked.

“No more than two weeks,” Subaru shouted back. “By then, Sanshi will know what we’re up to and decide to counter us. We’ll need to come up with a new strategy before that.”

“Like what?” Meili asked curiously.

“I’m working on that!” Subaru said.

An exhausted Subaru didn’t get back to Nicholas’s house until close to two in the morning.

Subaru entered the house. He tried to be quiet so as not the wake the girls but he heard them talking in the next room as he entered.

“I’m back,” Subaru muttered, walking into the sitting room. “You guys shouldn’t have waited up for me. It’s lucky that I go home this soon.”

“Subaru! Where have you been?” Emilia asked petulantly. “I was worried about you!”

Subaru sighed and bent down to give Emilia a kiss. She received it coldly. “I had a pretty busy day,” He admitted.

“So, Subaru, what have you been doing all day?” Anri asked.

Subaru yawned. “Well, I had a pretty productive night. I managed to keep that second army from leaving Kocytos for the foreseeable future.”

Anri’s eyes were huge. “You did?!”

Subaru nodded. “I did. I’ll give you more details but how about I give them to you tomorrow. I’m ready to collapse right now…”

Emilia nodded. “I think that we’re all ready for bed. Subaru, are you hungry?”

Subaru shook his head. “I had dinner while I was out.”

Elsa and Meili were laying in bed at the Stoneybrooke inn. Ironically, they were sleeping in the same room that Subaru, Anri, and Emilia had been in.

Meili was cuddling with her stuffed tiger. It was no Guiltylowe but it was the next best thing.

“Big Sis?” Meili whispered.

“Yes?”

“Does… something seem… kind of funny about this to you?”

Elsa tittered. “Can you be more specific?”

Meili struggled to put her thoughts into words. “I… Well… Subaru is… kind of strange.”

“Yes. Absolutely,” She agreed with a chuckle.

“No. I mean… I… feel strange… toward him.”

Elsa chuckled. “Aw, Meili. Are you having your first crush?” She asked fondly.

“No! I mean… Maybe. I mean… I feel like… I want to please him.”

“Hm?”

“It’s almost like Mother. You know, when we felt desperate to make her happy? But this is weird because… I mean, I’m not… as worried that Subaru is going to hurt us. I just… I just have this weird urge to make him happy.”

Elsa was quiet for a long moment. “I know how you feel,” She admitted. “I’ve felt kind of the same way since we met him. I don’t usually get attached to people on missions. I don’t know why but… when he tells me to do something, I want to do it.”

“Have you ever felt like this before?” Meili asked.

“No. You?”

“No.”

They were quiet for a minute.

“Big Sis, are we in love with Subaru?” Meili said seriously.

Elsa chuckled. “Um. I don’t really think that’s it, Meili.”

Meili thought hard for a moment then her eyes widened. “Big Sis. Do… do you think that Subaru put a spell on us?!” She whispered.

Elsa shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve never really cared about making anyone happy except for you before. I certainly never wanted Mother to be happy, I was just afraid of her. I’ve only ever cared about pleasing a few people in my life and never so much and never so fast. So this is definitely abnormal. Maybe he did put some kind of spell on us so that we’d want to help him.”

Meili held her tiger doll tighter. “Big Sis, what are we going to do?”

Elsa chuckled. “Nothing. If he did put a spell on us, there’s nothing we can do about it. And so far, I like working for him much more than I ever liked working for Mother. Maybe he put a spell on us to make sure we wouldn’t want to betray him. Honestly, that’s a far nicer way of doing it than constantly threatening us. Let’s just ignore it for now. Try not to worry about it.”

Subaru, Elsa, and Meili spent the next day guarding the road and ensuring that no supplies got through.

Once again there was only the single caravan that the trio slaughtered and then had nothing to do but lay around.

Meili lay on top of a Guiltylowe, cuddling with her ferocious monsters like a normal girl would play with a kitten.

Elsa was knitting a small moppet.

Subaru was doodling in the ground with a stick. It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set. Having already gotten rid of one caravan, they weren’t really expecting any more but they kept watch in case of messengers.

“Subaru, what are you doing?” Meili asked, glancing at what he was doing.

“Hm? Oh, I was trying to design something,” He muttered.

Meili climbed off her Guiltylowe, which gave a low growl of protest, and walked over to Subaru.

Meili squinted down at the complex picture sketched in the dirt and tried to process it. “What… does it do?”

“Well, I need to get some new equipment to make a special potion for Emilia. Unfortunately, that potion requires some very precise control in pressure and temperature so I’m trying to invent a machine that will let me create a vacuum.”

Meili stared at the picture. “It looks like a pair of jars,” She pointed out.

“Yeah. See, the chemicals go into the first jar here. And this second jar is full of water.”

“But it’s got a hole in the bottom,” Meili pointed out.

“Exactly!” Subaru said excitedly. “See, when I open the bottom of this jar, the water will flow out and that will create a vacuum that sucks the air out of the first jar! I just need to add a tube to the second jar’s hole and put its endpoint underwater to ensure that no air comes back up that way!”

“Um. Why would you want to do that?” Meili asked in confusion.

“Like I said, cooking Azoth requires very precise pressure and temperature. Otherwise you’ll end up producing any number of other compounds that tend to explode,” He said deprecatingly.

Elsa glanced at the pair with disinterest before returning to her knitting.

Meili looked faintly sick. “That sounds bad. But what does that have to do with water and air?”

Subaru thought for a moment. “Well, ‘pressure’ is a way of saying how… much air is around something. Different chemicals require more or less pressure and exposure to oxygen to be made properly. So using this device, I can control how much air is around what I’m cooking and that lets me make higher quality chemicals without blowing up my lab.”

Meili didn’t understand a word of this but she still found it fascinating. “That’s so cool! So this will let you do that?”

“Yeah!” Subaru broke into a broad smile. “I love machines. I love building and making things.”

Meili frowned for a long moment. “Could you… teach me?” She asked shyly. “It’d be nice to make something for a change…”

“Sure!” Subaru said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders with a huge grin. “I’d love to!”

Meili was somewhat off-put by the hug but it certainly felt very nice.

Elsa glanced up from her knitting. “It is getting late though, Subaru. We can probably head back.”

Subaru nodded. “Good idea. I have a few things to do tonight anyway,” He said, grabbing Meili around her waist.

“Subaru!” Meili yelped. “What are you doing?!”

Subaru blinked and noticed that Elsa and Meili were both staring at him in confusion.

He realized that he’d picked up Meili and had been halfway through hoisting the startled little girl onto his shoulder.

A wave of almost unbearable loneliness swept over him.

Subaru gently put the girl down.

“What’s going on?!” Meili asked in confusion.

Subaru bit his lip and turned away. “Nothing,” He said quietly. “It’s nothing. For a moment, I just… I thought that you were someone else,” He murmured, walking over to Patrasche with a heavy heart.

The next morning, Elsa and Meili arrived at the ambush spot shortly after dawn. Subaru and Patrasche were already there.

“Hi, Subaru,” Meili said. “Another day, another caravan.”

“Yeah. You guys are doing great work out here. But I have a little side project I wanted you to work on, Meili.”

“What’s that?”

Subaru made a face. “Elsa, do you think you handle the caravans alone for a day or two? ‘No’ is a very legitimate answer,” He said with emphasis. “I don’t want you to die doing this job. I’ll try to be here as often as I can to help but I also have some other responsibilities.”

Wait a second. When did I start to care if Elsa died? When did I stop wanting her dead?

Elsa stared at Subaru for a long moment, clearly mystified by the question. “I can handle the caravans easily, Master.”

“I can leave a few Guiltylowe to support Big Sis,” Meili offered. “She can’t talk to them but they’ll understand that they need to protect her and kill the earth dragons so that the wagons can’t escape.”

Patrasche snorted.

“My only concern,” Elsa continued. “Is that I can’t move the wagons alone. Even if Meili leaves me a few Guiltylowe for back-up, I won’t be able to explain to them that they need to pull the wagons. And we do need to kill the earth dragons pulling the wagons. The Guiltylowe won’t be able to outflank the caravan without Meili’s direction and the wagons might get away.”

Subaru thought about it for a minute then shrugged. “Forget moving the wagons,” He said. “If I’m not here to help move them, just leave them where they lie.”

Elsa and Meili looked at each other in confusion. “But, Master,” Elsa murmured. “I thought we were trying to keep this operation secret.”

“We are. But there’s a limit to what we can do,” He clarified. “The army has already gone ‘no supplies’ for almost five days. The absolute maximum we can hope to keep this secret is fourteen days and I never expected to keep the secret that long. We’re getting ready to finish off the army. At this point, even if Sanshi finds out what we’re doing, it probably doesn’t have the time to counter us.”

Elsa nodded. “I can handle it then. Especially if you’ll be here to help me most of the time.”

Subaru thought for a moment. “Let’s do a trial run,” he decided. “Elsa, you’ll try to handle the caravan that comes this morning alone with the mabeasts and Meili and I will be here to back you up if something goes wrong.”

Elsa shrugged.

Subaru hesitated. “Do you guys still have that money I gave you?”

“We haven’t spent very much of it,” Elsa replied. “It’s a cheap inn.”

“Maybe you guys should swing by Stoneybrooke and see if you can buy a tent, some sleeping rolls, and some food before Meili heads north. There’s no reason for her to be uncomfortable while she’s in the woods.”

Meili and Elsa shared a surprised look. “That’s… nice of you, Subaru,” She said finally. “But you don’t need to worry. I’m used to sleeping on my Guiltylowe and killing my own dinner.”

“I don’t think we’re likely to find those things in Stoneybrooke anyway, Master Subaru,” Elsa said. “It’s really… nice of you to think of that but we’d need to go to a bigger market to pick those things up.”

Subaru looked mildly annoyed. “Alright. Well, I’ll make a note of it for next time then.”

“So, Subaru, what’s the job?” Meili asked.

“I need you to gather up some mabeasts for me,” He replied.

Meili frowned. “Me?! But you’re a lot better at gathering powerful mabeasts than I am! I could only ever control one Guiltylowe at a time. If you hadn’t ordered the other mabeasts to obey me, I could never have controlled so many strong mabeasts. I can only control powerful mabeasts if their horn is broken off.”

“Their horn?”

“Mabeasts use their horns to communicate telepathically with their pack-mates. If the horn is broken off then I can interact with their minds.”

Subaru frowned, absorbing all that. Then he shrugged. “I think you’ll do just fine with this. I need you to go up north for a while. Do you know what ‘Goki’ are?”

Meili’s face became faintly sick. “Yeah, Subaru. They’re weak mabeasts that look like… cockroaches…”

“Right. I need you to head up toward Siros and gather up all the Goki that you can find.”

Meili chuckled. “Yeah, right! What do you really want me to-” Meili trailed off as she saw Subaru’s wry smile. “Are you serious?!” She gasped.

“Yup.”

Elsa burst out laughing at the shocked and disgusted look on Meili’s face.

Meili scowled at her sister and then looked up at Subaru with considerable chagrin. “Am I being punished for something?!”

Subaru shook his head with a rueful smile. “No! You’re not being punished! I’m going to use the Goki to end the war but I need you to gather up lots of them first. A couple hundred would be good. A few thousand would be even better.”

“You’re going to end a war… with cockroaches?” Meili asked skeptically.

Subaru nodded. “I’ll give you the details later.”

Meili looked ill. “I really hate cockroaches, Subaru,” She whined.

Subaru patted her head. “You have a group of ferocious Guiltylowe to keep you safe, Meili. You’ll be fine.”

Meili sighed. “Is there any particular size that you want?” She grumbled. “Goki range from an inch to a foot long.”

“A little of each would be good but I think focusing on the smaller ones would be ideal.”

Meili shuddered.

Subaru hid a smile. “Anyway, Meili, I want you to gather up all the Goki that you can find. Make your way northwest to Siros and set up camp there. Elsa and I will come join you tomorrow night and we’ll use the Goki to finish off the army.”

Meili shivered. “I don’t know how you mean to do that but at least I won’t be dealing with the cockroaches for very long,” She said in a skeeved-out voice.

Subaru smirked. “Tell you what, if you do a good job, I’ll buy you another bottle of that cream liquor you liked so much.”

Meili’s face brightened.

Meili rode off on her Guiltylowe to search for bugs.

Most of the mabeasts remained with Subaru and Elsa.

Subaru realized that Elsa was looking at him with an unclear expression.

“Yes? Is there a problem?” He said with an edge in his voice.

“Did you notice that she resisted taking the job?” Elsa murmured. “She even said that she didn’t like it.”

Subaru winced. “I hope she doesn’t hate this job too much,” Subaru worried. “I’ll try to find her some of that liquor to make it up to her when the job’s over.”

“She’ll do a good job,” Elsa murmured. “She wants to make you happy.”

Subaru frowned. “Huh?”

Elsa brushed dirt off her leggings and stood up. “You know, she still hasn’t been able to process that Kocytos job.”

Subaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did all the blood upset her?” He sighed.

Why am I letting a little girl do these kind of jobs? What kind of person am I? I’m using Meili as a child-soldier to slaughter my enemies…

I know that she was trained to do this but I should be trying to get her out of that life. I’m taking advantage of her and that makes me no better than Capella…

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Elsa said. “Meili was raised by mabeasts. Human blood means nothing to her.”

“Then what’s bothering her?”

“I never said that anything was bothering her. She just can’t make sense of it yet.”

“Make sense of what?” Subaru asked in exasperation.

“You,” Elsa said shortly. “We screwed up the mission by letting someone escape and we all know it. You let it go with a lesson so she’d do better next time. Mother would have tortured us and probably killed us. You even bought her a present and gave us money so that we can eat good food and sleep in a comfortable bed while we worked,” Elsa continued matter-of-fact. “Now Meili even trusts you enough to confess she didn’t like her assignment.”

“Trusted me?” Subaru asked in confusion. “Why wouldn’t she tell me that she didn’t like the job?”

Elsa raised an eyebrow. “She trusted that contradicting you wouldn’t end up in her being hurt or abused,” Elsa explained. “She’s off to do a job and I can tell that she wants to do a good job. Not because she’s afraid of the consequences but because she wants to please you.”

Subaru looked awkward. “Is there some reason that we’re discussing this?” He asked.

“I know that you’re going to kill me at some point,” Elsa said dispassionately. “I imagine that I killed someone you love.”

Subaru’s face darkened. “Actually, you almost cut me in half. You only tried to kill some people I love,” Subaru growled.

Elsa looked impressed. “Not many people survive facing me,” Elsa said. “Although if you can fight Mother, I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Subaru scowled at her. “Elsa, if you have a point, make it!”

“What do you plan to do with Meili?” Elsa asked pointedly.

“What do I plan to do with her?” Subaru echoed.

“You’re planning to kill me when I’m no longer useful,” Elsa said, sounding as if this was of no great concern. “But what about Meili?”

Subaru fumed. This is so freaking weird! I’m talking to a psychopathic serial killer and I feel like I’m the one on the back-foot here!

“Meili is mine now,” Subaru said flatly. “My minion, my pawn, my student, my… whatever you want to call her. Despite my innumerable flaws, I take good care of my people. Anyone who wants to hurt Meili will answer to me.”

Elsa stared at him for a moment and then nodded. “Good.”

Subaru sighed. “Why do I feel like I just got lectured on morality and responsibility by an assassin?” He grumbled, rubbing his face.

“First of all, I’d like to remind you that I never really had a choice in my vocation, Mother saw to that. And second of all, what does my profession have to do with anything?” Elsa asked, sitting down and pulling out her knitting needles.

“You kill people for money,” Subaru pointed out.

“Technically, we killed people because Mother told us to and she would have killed us if we refused,” Elsa corrected him. “We never saw any money. Now we’re killing people because you tell us to. And why do you do it?” Elsa asked calmly.

Subaru blinked. “Excuse me?”

Elsa didn’t even bother to look up at him. “Don’t try to highroad me, Master,” Elsa said, continuing her knitting. “You’ve slaughtered hundreds of people in just the few days that I’ve known you. If you don’t have a higher kill count than I do, it’s purely because you haven’t been doing it as long.”

Subaru flinched. “I’m trying to stop a war!” He protested.

Elsa chuckled. “Do you really think that you’re the only person who thinks that his murders are justified? Every client that we ever had would give Meili and I a long, boring speech about how they were the innocent, injured party in the dispute and that the targets deserved to die. No matter how little sense their claims made. No one ever seemed to grasp that we really couldn’t have cared less why our targets needed to die,” She said, knitting her moppet.

Subaru grimaced. “You say that like it’s a good thing!”

Elsa shrugged. “Meili and I are like living blades. Someone tells us to kill and then we kill. We don’t make the decision to kill so the morality of that decision doesn’t really matter to us.”

“How convenient,” Subaru said sarcastically.

“You’re the one telling us to kill these people so it’s your problem whether these deaths are justifiable or not,” Elsa murmured.

Subaru flinched and scowled at Elsa. “You’re pretty damn cocky for someone who knows that I want to kill her.”

“I’ve known hunger and cold. Torture and deprivation. Violation and pain. Death has never frightened me, Master Subaru,” Elsa said calmly. “Close your eyes and it’s over. It’s quicker and easier than falling asleep. The only thing that ever worried me was dying at Mother’s tender care. It being long and slow and painful. And you already told me that you don’t plan to torture me to death as long as I do as I’m told. Trust me, Master, even if my remaining time on this world is short, I am completely content with the current direction of my life.”

Subaru shook his head in disbelief. “What the hell is going on here? Two months ago, you nearly killed me.”

Elsa continued her knitting. “And today we’re sitting together on a dusty roadside fighting for the independence of a small city-state and discussing philosophy. Life is strange, isn’t it?” Elsa murmured.

Subaru buried his face in his hands with a groan.

Late the following night, Subaru had what he fully considered to be the worst ride of his life. Not only was this a long ride through the dark forests of Gusteko but tonight was an absolute downpour and Elsa Granhiert was riding behind him.

“-And then I sliced through his small intestines. It was so cold that day that when his intestines burst, there was a gust of steam that warmed my hands!” Elsa recalled fondly.

This is awful. I mean, I’m not worried that Elsa is going to stab me, surprisingly enough. Elsa clearly knows that attacking me would be suicide and even if she somehow pulled it off, she’s just dooming herself to a slow and painful death since I’m sure by now she’s accepted that I’m the only one who can keep her safe from Capella.

Honestly, Elsa has adapted… unrealistically well to being essentially my… slave…

I guess they were telling the truth, being my slave probably is a step up from being Capella’s.

All the same, Meili is definitely going to be the one taking Elsa back from here. I’m still amazed that I haven’t thrown up after this interminable lecture on all the bowels she’s opened over the years. I guess I’ve gotten desensitized to violence and gore and I’m really not sure what that says about me.

“Say, Master,” Elsa asked. “How are we going to find Meili up here in all these woods?”

“She took some of my mabeasts with her,” Subaru muttered. “I’m just homing in on them. They’re very close. We’re almost there.” Thank God.

Meili stepped out from behind a tree. “Yeah, you’re almost here,” Meili grumbled, making Subaru jump and rein in Patrasche.

Meili looked up at Subaru with a moody, sullen expression.

“Hi, Meili!” Elsa said in a cheerful voice.

Meili didn’t respond. Subaru thought that the girl looked a little haggard.

“Is something wrong, Meili?” Subaru asked.

Meili growled. “Subaru. You made me spend the past two days camped out in the pouring rain in a freezing forest with a legion of giant cockroaches for company and you’re asking me if something is wrong?!”

Elsa giggled.

Subaru made a face. “Alright. Point taken. Let’s get this over with so you can go home and take a shower or something,” He dismounted.

“Sounds wonderful,” Meili commented.

“Anyway,” Subaru continued. “This army has had about seven days of no supplies, right?”

Meili nodded. “My Knickerbockers have been keeping an eye on the army camp.”

“Where is the camp?” Subaru asked.

“Right through there,” Meili answered, pointing at the woods just off the trail. “Watch the drop,” She warned him.

Subaru carefully walked a few feet through the dense trees and foliage and found himself standing on top of a high ridge over a plateau in the mountains. The enemy camp lay spread out below him like a small city. Tents were everywhere and a few small campfires still burned in the rain.

Subaru returned to Meili. “Has Sanshi managed to get them any new supplies?” He asked.

Meili shook her head. “My fliers have listened in on a few arguments in the camp. It’s hard to understand what people say when I’m listening through the Knickerbockers but I know that there’s been no new supplies since we started ambushing the wagons. The soldiers are all on very short rations and everybody in the camp is freaking out. They barely have any supplies left.”

“Perfect. Time to finish them off. How many Goki did you find?” Subaru asked.

Meili made a face and pointed behind him. Subaru turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin.

Perched in the trees around him was an enormous army of grotesque, red-eyed bugs of unrealistic size. They covered every exposed inch of a grove of massive pine trees. The smallest were about half the size of Subaru’s thumb and the biggest was larger than his forearm. Thousands and thousands of bugs all clustered together in the trees, their coal-black bodies blending in against the darkness.

“Well. You’ve been busy,” Subaru said.

Meili sighed. “Glad you appreciate that, Subaru,” She sighed. “I searched the whole forest during our trip here and I found at least a couple of thousand Goki. Luckily, they’re such weak mabeasts that controlling even a horde is easy. People think of them as pests, not a threat. But there’s got to be twenty thousand men in that camp easy. What are the Goki going to do against that many soldiers? Maybe if we’d gathered up a few hundred Guiltylowe-”

“I doubt that there are hundreds of Guiltylowe in all of Gusteko,” Subaru cut her off. “Ecosystems don’t work that way. There aren’t many apex predators in a given food-chain. Besides, we aren’t going to use the Goki to fight the soldiers. We’re going to use them to convince the soldiers not to fight.”

“Huh?” Meili said.

Subaru smirked looking at the huge swarm of cockroaches. “Pridebreaker,” He whispered.

Meili felt the Guiltylowe beside her shudder even though it wasn’t the target of Subaru’s magic and she heard her other mabeasts moan in remembered pain.

The Goki all let out a shrill, insectine stridulation, like a cricket melting in a campfire. Several Goki went limp and fell out of their trees.

Slowly the Goki regained their feet and they all turned to face Subaru and closed their red eyes in submission.

Subaru pointed toward the army camp a short distance away. “Go.”

Subaru and Meili had moved out of the forest and found a bald ridge high above the plateau where they could watch the events unfold below. The camp was spread out before them and the city of Siros was easily visible in the distance, built like a mountain behind stout walls.

Elsa had found a tree that protected her from the pouring rain and she was sitting there contentedly knitting.

The only movement on the plateau came from the few sentries on patrol and a few campfires that still fitfully burned.

Subaru had ordered the Goki to wait in the forest below for his signal. Meili was waiting beside him to help him control the swarm.

“Meili, that’s the mess tent, right?” Subaru asked, pointing at a huge tent in the center of camp.

Meili nodded. “The Knickerbockers have seen them gather there for meals.”

“Alright, that’s where we want our attack to start,” Subaru murmured. “We’ll wait until the next sentry passes and then get a swarm of our army in there before the next sentry comes.”

“Why are we sending them into the mess tent? What are they going to do in there?” Meili asked.

“Well, for one thing nobody should be in there this late so it’s a safe place for the Goki to group up. But more importantly, the Goki are going to eat everything in sight or at least make it unsuitable for human consumption,” Subaru replied.

Meili squinted at him. “Did I really need to gather all of these Goki just for that?!” She complained.

“That’s only phase one, Meili,” Subaru clarified. “That’s just phase one. Here comes the sentry, get ready!”

Meili watched as a man carrying a lantern walked around the perimeter of the camp.

Normally, they would carry torches, Meili mused. But I bet they can’t keep them lit tonight because of the pouring rain. There might even be fewer sentries on patrol than normal if they don’t have enough lanterns. There’s no point in having sentries out who can’t see anything. This can only be to our benefit.

The sentry came to the spot near where the Goki waited. He looked at the forest closely and then continued on his way, apparently noticing nothing.

“Go!” Subaru whispered.

Meili urged a vast horde of insects to stream toward the mess tent. She felt Subaru doing the same and the Goki obeyed, running, jumping, and fluttering into the tent.

I’ve never felt another human mind before. I’m touching Subaru’s mind through my link to the mabeasts now. He’s like… part of the pack. It’s another human mind that I’m touching. I’m touching it through a mabeast but it still feels weird.

Actually… it kind of makes me feel… lonely…

Meili was pondering the strangeness of that when Subaru whispered. “Stop.”

They both cut off the stream of Goki, urging the ones still in the wood to hide and the ones in the camp to hurry into the tent.

The sentry came closer just as the last of the Goki vanished into the tent.

The sentry stood there for a while, looking around. His expression was bored.

“Subaru,” Meili murmured with her eyes shut. “What do I tell the Goki to do? Just eat stuff?”

“That’s a good start,” Subaru agreed.

Meili thought hard for a moment. Seeing through thousand of Goki compound eyes was giving her a bad headache. Finally, Meili shook her head. “A lot of the food is in wooden crates, Subaru.”

“Don’t worry. Some of the foot-long Goki have already gotten into the mess tent.”

“They still can’t break open a crate, Subaru,” Meili objected.

“They don’t need to. Just have them chew a very small hole through the wood that’s big enough for the smallest Goki to climb into. Let the little ones swarm inside and eat the food.”

“Oh,” Meili murmured, flushing in embarrassment. She gave the order and felt the Goki obey.

Meili closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

“Are you alright?” Subaru asked.

Meili nodded with a pained expression. “Just a headache. It’s hard to be in so many minds at once. Even minds as simple as the Goki.”

“We’re almost done,” Subaru promised. “The sentry is leaving. Let’s start the army moving again.”

They continued this pattern as three more sentries passed by until the entire army was located inside that mess tent.

Meili shuddered at the image of a tent that must be simply alive with giant cockroaches crawling everywhere, perching on the walls, and gorging themselves on anything edible.

“Meili, do you think the food is all gone?” Subaru asked.

Meili concentrated for a moment, wincing at the pain of connecting to the swarm. “Yeah. It’s either all been eaten or it’s definitely unfit for human consumption. I don’t think that they’re finding any more.”

“Good,” Subaru said. He squinted at her. “Are you alright?”

Meili made a face. “It’s… hard to be in so many minds at once.”

Subaru nodded and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a small vial. “Here,” He said, handing Meili a tiny vial containing a few grams of glowing green powder. “This is Soma.”

Meili looked at it in confusion. “What do I do with it?”

“You drink it. It’s a painkiller among other things. It’ll cure your headache. It might also enhance your powers temporarily.”

Meili hesitated. “Are you sure this is safe?”

“Absolutely,” Subaru replied.

Meili popped the cork, took a deep breath, and swallowed the powder.

She stood there, rubbing her forehead gingerly. Then she blinked. “Hey! I feel great!” Meili said in surprise. “My headache is completely gone!”

Meili’s eyes widened. “Actually… Subaru, I think my connection to the Goki and my other mabeasts is way stronger now. I feel… I don’t even know how to describe it! I’ve never felt so close to my pets. It’s almost like… we’re sharing the same body.”

Sort of wish I wasn’t dealing with cockroaches right now but it’s still pretty amazing…

Subaru nodded. “Soma is very useful stuff,” He said absently. “It purifies and refines your mana absorption which is probably enhancing your powers. Might want to remember this. If we ever need you to control a bigger crowd we should give you a dose of Soma first.”

Meili reached out to the Goki. There was no pain now but the amount of sensory data coming from the mabeasts had increased a thousandfold. She was immediately overwhelmed, seeing through literally thousands of eyes simultaneously and feeling the hard surfaces that the Goki ran across scrapping the underside of their carapaces. For a moment, she feared that she would lose herself and be completely subsumed into this strange ‘hive mind.’

Then it passed.

Suddenly, controlling the thousands of Goki was no more difficult than controlling her own hands.

“I’m ready to help again if you need me to, Subaru,” Meili said cheerfully. I actually want to try this now. I want to see how tight my control over the mabeasts really is now!

Subaru stroked his chin. “You would definitely be helpful, Meili,” He said finally. “Next I want you to tell the Goki to spread out through the camp and eat any rope they find.”

Meili blinked. “Eat… the rope?” She asked in confusion.

Subaru smirked at her. “Think of this as a stretch goal. It will require more precise control. See, I don’t really want the Goki to eat the rope. I just want them to ensure that they gnaw every rope they find into small pieces…”

Close to an hour later, Subaru was closely watching the destruction unfolding below. Meili was nothing short of astonished with the havoc that they’d wrought with a swarm of insects.

The entire camp was in an uproar. The legion of cockroach-like Goki that had descended upon the camp in the dead of night took the sleeping soldiers by complete surprise. The Goki had eaten all the food that they could find or at least defiled and despoiled it. They also sneaked into tents to chew at the rope supports, collapsing the tents on top of the sleeping soldiers and terrifying them out of a sound slumber. The soldiers had no idea what was going on, just that their tent had collapsed around them. They weren’t sure what was going on or how to get out of the tent and that they were surrounded by giant cockroaches. A few of the largest Goki even dared to nip at the soldier’s faces while they struggled to get to their feet.

The cockroaches would then all scurry away before the soldiers could organize anything remotely resembling a counterattack. While the damage that the Goki had done to the individual soldiers was negligible at best, in aggregate it could best be described as a continuing hemorrhage. The soldiers were racing all over the camp, desperately trying to deal with the army of cockroaches.

Unfortunately, swords and arrows aren’t really very good weapons against an army of insects and the soldiers struggled to accomplish anything at all. They chased the Goki and flailed at them with their weapons or tried to simply stomp on them but they seldom if ever struck a solid blow.

When the soldiers formed up and tried to trap the cockroaches, the Goki simply dispersed, spreading out into another part of the camp to cause more damage. Subaru kept slipping in and out of Reason and Judgment, passing orders and tactics to the Goki through Meili’s currently enhanced abilities.

Subaru stood still as a statue up on the ridge, watching the chaos unfolding below with detachment while Meili stood beside him.

Subaru was getting a bad headache from the over-reliance on Reason and Judgment. He’s been using it more or less constantly for an hour.

Meili looked down at the camp in confusion. Meili watched as tent after tent collapsed like fallen trees, the Goki effortlessly chewing through the ropes that secured the tents. I don’t get it. Are we actually accomplishing anything here? I know those soldiers are all freaking out. Who wouldn’t freak out if giant cockroaches were rampaging through their camp but the Goki really haven’t hurt any of the soldiers as far as I can tell. What’s the point of this?

Meili tugged on his sleeve. “Um. Subaru?” Meili asked hesitantly.

“Yes, Meili?” He replied, not looking away from the army camp.

“I’ve just got to ask. Why are we doing this? Those Goki are giving the soldiers a bad night but I don’t think that they’ve killed or even seriously wounded any of them.”

Subaru didn’t reply right away. “A wise man from a place near my homeland once said: ‘You don’t need to take away a foe’s ability to fight. Just their will to do so.’ Those Goki have devoured all the food that the army had left. What they didn’t eat, they left unsuitable for human consumption. They’ve also destroyed all their tents by chewing through the ropes that held them together. You’re looking at an army of soldiers with nothing to eat, no shelter from the elements, and who have gotten no sleep because they’ve spent all night chasing giant bugs through pouring rain and deep mud without any appreciable success. Add this all up and I think that their morale is probably floundering down there in the mud with them.”

Meili digested that. “But… so what? I mean, whoever is in charge of the army is still going to order them to fight, right?”

Subaru turned to the little girl. “Meili, what do you think will happen if the general orders his men to attack the enemy while they have no food, no medicine, no rest, and no protection from the elements?”

“Um… they’ll do what they’re told or the general-guy will kill them?”

Subaru was silent for a long moment and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He’d been using Reason and Judgment more or less constantly tonight and he was starting to feel dizzy. “You’re expecting the general to act like Capella.” It was not a question.

Meili nodded.

Subaru turned back to the camp. “Meili, most people couldn’t act like Capella even if they wanted to. Capella can only get away with threatening people like she does because she’s extremely powerful and nearly invulnerable. That general down there might be a good fighter. He might even have strong magic but very few people in this world can handle hundreds of soldiers rebelling against them and trying to kill them.”

“You think the soldiers would turn on their leader?” Meili asked skeptically.

Subaru rubbed his forehead with a moan. His voice grew oddly formal. “If he pushes them to keep fighting while at serious risk of starvation, freezing, and sickness, be certain that they would. Mutinies have happened for far less and would not be unjustified in this case. These men have placed their lives in the hands of their commander, a relationship founded upon great trust and vast respect. This general has utterly failed his men. What’s worse is that it’s become very clear to me from where he has chosen to set up his camp that this general is nothing less than an absolute imbecile!”

Meili looked at Subaru and then back at the camp, frowning in confusion. “What do you mean?” Meili asked.

Subaru’s face twisted in scorn, looking down at the camp. “This attack on Siros has been a virtual checklist of things not to do when pressing a siege! The only advantage that Sanshi ever had was raw numbers but that can only take you so far. If I had ever had a general like this under my command, I’d reprimand him for dereliction of duty at the very least! More likely demote him or reduce him to the ranks!” Subaru snapped.

“Huh?” Meili asked in confusion.

Subaru ignored her and shook his head. “Absolutely horrible tactics. They walked into an unbaited trap with their eyes wide open and the trap wasn’t even set by their foes! They are trapped by accident and ignorance! From this vantage, they can’t take the city and there is no way for them to retreat.”

Meili blinked. “Wait. Why can’t they retreat?”

Subaru glanced at Meili. He gave her a long, considering look. “Why do you think that they can’t retreat, young Meili?” He asked in a strangely formal tone. “One is never too young to gain wisdom in the ways of battle. Remember: to understand conflict is to understand the fundamental nature of all thinking beings. Conflict is the engine of this world and nothing of any worth changes save through strength and the overcoming of adversity.

“Any fool can stand at the head of an army and roar to his men: ‘Charge!’ But should be lack understanding of the nature of conflict and battle, very shortly such a fool will cry out ‘Retreat.’ To finish your own evolution, you Meili, must learn to organize your troops with discipline and with foresight. Remember, Reason and Judgment are the qualities of a leader.”

Meili frowned in confusion, trying to parse Subaru’s dense speech. “Subaru, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any troops…”

“Do you not?” He chuckled, looking down at the Goki who were ramping unchecked through the camp.

Meili’s eyes widened as she grasped his meaning.

“It was an army of the weak that you assembled,” Subaru said carelessly. “An army far inferior in both strength and in numbers but an army victorious! Cunning, Strength, and Tenacity has brought you victory in this matter as it will in all others.”

Meili looked back down at the ruined camp, suddenly absolutely fascinated. I never imagined how much damage a bunch of cockroaches could do! If Subaru had told me to destroy this camp, I would have told him flat out that it was impossible. I’d need hundreds of Guiltylowe and I can’t control that many high level mabeasts. It was a struggle even to control thousands of Goki which have got to be one of the weakest mabeasts around. They’re not scary, they’re just pests!

But now we’ve used them to break a whole army!

Subaru gave Meili a slight smile. “If you are stronger and more cunning than your foe, you will win every battle,” Subaru continued. “If you are more cunning but not stronger you will win most battles. If you are neither stronger nor more cunning than your foe, then you simply lead good men to their deaths out of your own foolish pride.”

Meili stared at Subaru with something approaching awe. Subaru’s scheming has managed to crush an entire army! And he did it by just picking off wagons and with… bugs! We never even fought these soldiers! The army was far stronger than us but it didn’t help them at all because their strength just didn’t matter! This is genius! Maybe Mother really should be afraid of him!

“You have not answered my question, young Meili,” Subaru reminded her.

The words were gentle but Meili swallowed hard. Looking into Subaru’s eyes, Meili suddenly felt like she was sitting with a different person. Someone who spoke with the sagacity of whole ages and was filled with unbendable purpose.

Someone that was unaccustomed to waiting on anyone, much less being disappointed by them.

Subaru turned his calm gaze back toward the camp in bedlam far below. “Why must this army surrender rather than retreat?” Subaru murmured.

Meili took a deep breath. “Well… they don’t have enough supplies to make it back to Sanshi,” She ventured.

Subaru didn’t look at her. “A valid point,” Subaru admitted. “But hungry men on a forced march walk all the faster.”

Meili frowned. For some reason, she suddenly felt motivated. Meili really wanted to get the right answer to this question.

What is it… What makes them unable to retreat? Subaru said something about where they made camp. Maybe that’s a clue?

Meili intently studied the plateau below her. “Well… there’s only one road back down through the mountains,” She said slowly.

“Yes,” Subaru encouraged.

She frowned, thinking hard. “It’s a narrow road. It’s twisted and bumpy and it will take them a long time to get this many men down it?”

“Keep going.”

Meili thought about it and her eyes widened. “They… The soldiers can’t fight while they’re on the road, can they?”

“Precisely,” Subaru approved. “When the general orders his men to march back down this road, he has signed their death-warrant. As soon as the bulk of his troops are spread out along the road and are unable to come to the aid of their fellows, the rear of this army is vulnerable. If the commander of Siros is not an absolute fool, he will respond to this withdrawal by charging out to engage. He’ll have far superior numbers against the only troops in any position to engage him and he will crush them easily. Then the Sanshi general will face an impossible and vain choice: whether to turn and fight or to continue retreating down the mountain. If he chooses the former he will simply sacrifice more troops to the red maw of the abattoir as, try as he might, he can not position his soldiers anywhere that their numbers can be put to good use.

“Should the commander choose to flee, his chances are still bleak. The Siros forces will continue their pursuit down the mountain, attacking the flank with blades and harrying with arrows those men further down the mountain. Inevitably, the Sanshi soldiers shall rout and break ranks, each fleeing in desperation to save his own life and trampling their brothers in their haste to escape.”

Meili thought for a moment. “Then… what should the Sanshi general do?”

“He must offer a sacrifice,” Subaru said immediately.

“Huh?”

“He must atone for his blunder with blood paid to the God of War,” Subaru said matter-of-fact. “The God of War holds no one to his service but he is by no means a lenient master. Having entered such a trap, whole divisions must-needs be sacrificed to hold the rear so that the rest of the army can escape. These men must be resolved to stand their ground in hopeless battle that will inevitably mean their deaths. They must do this so that their brothers will live. There is no escape unscathed from such a fatal blunder as this incompetently ordered siege.”

Meili frowned. “Subaru, if the Sanshi general is so stupid, then why is Siros struggling at all?”

“Siros is not struggling against superior tactics nor masterful strategy,” Subaru explained patiently. “But superior logistics, the lifeblood of any campaign.

“Siros acted rightly to retreat and wait for its foe to wither in the barren cold of this land. They could not have predicted how long Sanshi could keep the supplies coming or to what degree. I marvel at the expenses incurred during this campaign and wonder if this ‘Malcolm an Griest’ has emptied every treasury in his province to pay for this mad monument to excess. As soon as the supply lines were cut, this army was doomed. The rest is merely detail. The general will surrender or sacrifice thousands of good men’s lives in a desperate effort to flee.”

Meili digested that. “Then Siros had no way to win this battle if we hadn’t come?” Meili asked.

Subaru laughed. “Of course they could! I remember a battle very much like this on the Inari Kush.”

Meili blinked. “The where?!”

Subaru didn’t seem to hear her. “My men were horribly outnumbered as we wandered through the countryside, closely pursued by General Katsuyori,” Subaru said in a musing voice. “He harried my men until we came to high Matsuyama castle that was held by friendly hands, a massive fortress high on the cliffs, separated from the mainland by a narrow bridge across a vast gorge.

“Katsuyori dug in around Matsuyama to starve us out. He knew that by reason of its position and the sheer scale of its walls, Matsuyama was impenetrable to a conventional siege and thus he resolved to wait. With thousands upon thousands of men inside the walls, the food could not last for long.”

Subaru laughed. “Wise fool! I had been pealing off and hiding whole regiments of my army throughout the countryside as we fled. I arrived at Matsuyama with no more than a hundred men and left them inside to endure the siege. They had provisions for long months and a hundred men is more than sufficient to defend such an impregnable palisade.

“Then I returned to my men in the countryside and we encircled Katsuyori. Still outnumbered, we attacked from the shadows, using hit-and-run tactics to savage his supply lines and to strike fear into the hearts of his men. Few of his soldiers were willing to sleep due to our frequent night raids. Katsuyori was certain that it was no more than a few small forces in the country haranguing his supplies and picking off his scouts. To maintain lines of communication between many small forces would be nearly impossible or so he believed. Little did he know that our strategy had no need of such coordination. Over our many, long campaigns, I had painstakingly trained my junior officers to exercise the foresight of generals!

“By the time that Katsuyouri had realized his error, he was desperately low on supplies and now leader of a horde of angry, tired, and frightened men. He was trapped between my men and the sea with nowhere to turn. Helpless, he finally surrendered to me, both his men and his sword of command and with that, the Inari Kush was mine!”

Meili stared at Subaru, baffled.

Subaru chuckled fondly. “Katsuyori said that he was born a king, blessed with the ‘Divine Right to Rule,’ and a lion among men. Perhaps he was a lion. But I am a dragon and his proper place in this world is beneath my heel.”

“Subaru! What are you talking about?!” Meili shouted.

Subaru blinked and violently shook his head. He rubbed his forehead in confusion, feeling as if he was waking up from a dream.

“Subaru, are you… OK?” Meili asked in a strained voice.

Subaru nodded. “Yeah. I’m… I’m fine.” He took a deep breath. “Alright, enough playing around. It’s time for the coup de grace and I think I’ve just located it. Go grab Elsa and tell her it’s time to play,” He told her.

Meili nodded and scampered off.

Subaru sat there with a confused frown on his face. What the hell was that?! Where did those memories come from? A minute ago, I had absolutely clear recollections of leading an army on a campaign that took us halfway around the goddamn world!

Now they’ve just… vanished…

I couldn’t have gotten those memories from Daphne so… whose memories were they?!

Major Thompson was a career military man. He’d entered the service of Sanshi nearly forty years ago as an enlisted peasant. Unlike the nobles who were immediately given officer rank as soon as they volunteered to serve, Thompson had earned his commission in one campaign after another. These days his hair was white but his body was still hale. Most days he felt closer to twenty than half past sixty.

Thompson was the officer that damn near everybody in the Sanshi army respected. Nobles might hold untitled soldiers in contempt but they’d learned through bitter experience to listen carefully to Thompson’s counsel and to avoid embarking on any plan that he derided as ‘stupid.’

As the morning finally broke, bright and clear, Thompson felt like he’d moved well past sixty and was now pushing eighty. He’d never had an experience like this. Demon cockroaches had simply emerged from the forest by the thousands, biting, eating, and clawing everything. His men were well-trained and well-disciplined but they had never been instructed in any means of pest control. Thompson had no idea how to contain a legion of bugs and they had simply rampaged through the camp. By morning, the elaborate camp had been reduced to a sea of broken tents and ruined tarps, lying in the mud.

With daybreak, the bugs had simply withdrawn, moving off into the trees and leaving the men staring in shocked silence.

Thompson felt weariness right down to his soul as he trudged over to the large command tent, one of the only tents still standing, where General Hague and his colonels had retreated to try and make a contingency plan. Thompson could have told them that making contingency plans without first trying to contain the damage was a waste of time but after all these years in the service, he knew when to hold his tongue. In any case, the nobles were out of the way while Thompson tried to handle this disaster.

Thompson walked into the large and elaborate camp and frozen in his tracks. General Hague was dead as were all of his colonels. Their bodies were bloody and in some cases seemed to have been nearly turned inside out, their entrails strewn everywhere. Each had a tiny, precise cut to their throat whose only purpose, Thompson realized, was to keep them from screaming for help.

A small scrap of paper lay atop their mangled bodies. This army was destroyed by order of the Witch of the Wastes.

Thompson was momentarily stricken dumb. Then he whirled on his heel and raced out of the tent crying out for assistance.