Dralro Jic sighed and explained, “The envoys will also have to talk with her father, Craydon Crawler. They both have to be convinced, and not by force. And about the reinforcements you called for…” The Guild Master looked at the Ooman envoys and continued, “Meryda said she would fight with her Monsters against any army that came for her to protect our City. Considering her powers and how easily she tames any Monster she sets her eyes on, by the time your army arrives, you will find a horde of deadly Monsters waiting, considering how many Monsters are always lurking in the nearby forests.”

One envoy, a fat and sweaty middle-aged man, said with a grin, “If she is that powerful, we must absolutely take her with us! If not today, when our army arrives!”

“You weren’t listening to me, were you?” He then pointed at the Emptiness that was still hovering above the water canal in front of the farm’s gate and asked, “How do you plan for your army to get past that? You didn’t even see the two Gigantic Spiders and the enormous pack of Bone Boars!”

The envoy spoke with the same wicked grin: “We have plenty Mages to deal with a few Monsters! They won’t be able to stop us forever! Let’s go see those stubborn Demis! I want to get away from all this heat!”

Dralro Jic turned his mount and trotted to the farm’s gate while warning his Adventurers and Explorers in a low voice, “Get ready to hit the floor the moment these damn fools say anything that might get us killed! Meryda will probably tell her Monsters not to kill us if she sees we are not a threat. But if any of you even draw a dagger, Craydon will kill you all without remorse. Right now, he is not our peaceful cook. He is an angry father who will do everything to protect his daughter. Even killing us all with his bare hands, if needed. And you know very well how he is when he is angry!”

The dark fog stood still in front of the gate, hearing the Guild Master tell him that Meryda wanted to speak with that group. The fog made a twirl as if it had a head that was looking back, and Meryda waved and shouted that everything was alright.

The dark Emptiness moved to the side to let the large group enter the farm, and the moment the last Adventurer went through the gate, the Emptiness followed them, not using the water canal any more to travel and drying all the grass and weeds on its passage.

Trotting their horses while an absurdly scary and dangerous Emptiness was right behind them and cutting their escape route was enough to make everyone nervous. Even the moments-ago proud Ooman envoys were now looking back apprehensively, making sure that scary dark fog didn’t approach more than it was needed.

Dralro Jic stopped his horse in front of Craydon, who had Meryda next to him, and all her friends, the remaining Adventurers and even the Guild’s receptionist, were a few metres to the left side, waiting.

The three Ooman envoys came down off their horses, with three servants rushing to help them get down. The Guild Master introduced them, and the same sweaty middle-aged envoy said with a big, fake smile, “It is wonderful to find such a young and cute Monster Tamer!”

Without even caring for the proper etiquette, Craydon said, “Cut the crap! What do you want?”

“I was talking with the Monster Tamer, Demi! You should mind-“

In the next second, a dart rushed near his left ear, hitting his horse while a servant was grabbing the reins. With a tilt of its head, the horse fell flat on the ground, poisoned dead.

Craydon quickly placed a new dart on his crossbow, pointed at the Ooman envoy’s head, and said, “You were about to say something besides explaining why you came here? Please, do continue! Meryda’s spiders ate in the morning, but I am sure they will find space in their stomachs for such a fat pig as you.”

The fat envoy started to tremble and said in a pleading voice, “I… just want to talk… with her…”

Craydon walked forward and stopped with his crossbow at mere millimetres from the envoy’s forehead and said, “Oh, really? Because it sure didn’t sound as if you just wanted to talk! You were about to insult me, so it is better if you shut your mouth so that I am not tempted to end your miserable, ugly life!”

Another envoy said, after quickly glancing around to check for other threats, “It is not wise to attack or threaten envoys from the Ooman Alliance. Besides, we only came to meet and talk with this young Monster Tamer.”

Craydon backed up while still pointing at the trembling fat envoy. “Then you should be the one talking and not this fat bastard. There is also no need to lie. You didn’t come only to meet and talk with my daughter. You came to take her. By force if necessary, considering you even called for reinforcements.”

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“We hope we didn’t need to reach that development. We want her to come with us willingly. The Alliance has been facing a standstill for a few days now. There is a large horde of Monsters in the mountain range that is keeping our army at bay. Every time one soldier takes one step forward, the Monsters go down the mountain and stand in their path. We already lost a great number of soldiers and Mages while trying to go past them.”

With a slight frown, Craydon asked, “You mean the Monsters are just standing there, guarding the mountains, and don’t attack? They just attack when your army tries to go forward? Is that it?”

“That’s… about right, yes. It is unknown why they are acting like that, though.”

“Unknown to whom? It is clear as day that they are defending their home. If no one attacks them, they stay put. If your army attacks, they defend. Between Oomans and those Monsters, they are the smarter and most peaceful ones.”

The envoy became angry and spoke in a harsh voice, “Monsters are never peaceful, and for sure they are not smart! They kill and eat people, Oomans and Demis alike!”

Craydon pointed down to the quiet Salamander at his feet, who was looking up and looked visibly interested in the conversation, and said, “I was told this little guy is quite dangerous, and yet, here he is, seated on his back paws and peacefully looking at you. He doesn’t seem to want to eat you. As for how smart Monsters are, we have quite a big bunch of Bone Boars at the back of this house, leisurely taking care of the planted fields after I told them what they had to do. We also have two spiders that, without anyone asking them to do it, are making balls of web that they give to my daughter to pay for their stay here. They also hunt in the forest nearby and give us their hunt, minus the few prey they eat. I am not denying they eat people, because, after all, they are Monsters, but Oomans and Demis are not the only source of food for them.” Craydon tilted his head and continued, “Besides, I know Ooman and Demis also kill and eat Monsters, so I am not sure who the Monster is around here.”

The envoy went silent for a moment, and he then faced the quiet Meryda, who was hiding behind her father, and he asked, “What do you think about Monsters, Monster Tamer? Do you think they are peaceful and smart like your father seems to think?”

Peeking from behind her father, Meryda answered, “They are my friends, and they are very, very smart. And I have a name.”

“I was told you are called Meryda Crawler, is that it? And Monsters killed your mother when you were little. It baffles me how you still consider Monsters to be your friends, considering what happened to her.”

Meryda bit her lower lip, and to everyone’s surprise, she said, “You came here to convince me to join the Alliance, but remembering me of the saddest thing in my past makes me realise you don’t care about me. You just want me to work for you.”

Before the envoy could explain himself, Meryda started to shine, put two fingers in her mouth, made a loud whistle, and shouted, “Everyone! Come here!”

From all around, came the sound of hoes and paws rushing to get to their owner. The Emptiness grew larger than ever and stood menacing at the back of the group of envoys. The Salamander and the Slime stood in front of Meryda, the two Gigantic Spiders and all the Bone Boars, even the little calves and all the females, surrounded the large group that came with the Guild Master.

Without averting her eyes from the now-scared envoys, Meryda asked, “What about you, Fae? Are you with me, or with them?”

The serious Fae slowly shook her head and said, “We Fae don’t take sides; you know that, Meryda.”

“I wasn’t asking all the Fae. I was asking the Fae that is in my Party. They called for an army to come and take me by force, and they might even kill everyone in the City to get me. I know that my friends, the other members of my Party, will defend me. What will you do, Fae? You once said you could be my shield. Was that a lie?”

Without hesitation in its serious eyes, the green being stood in front of Meryda, between her and the group of envoys, and said, “We Fae never lie. We will be your shield against the entire Ooman Alliance, if that is what you ask us to do.”

The envoys gasped, and the sweaty, fat envoy stuttered, “B-but… Fae don’t fight… Never once did a Fae help the Ooman Alliance… and now you are willing to stop us from getting the most powerful Monster Tamer that this world has ever seen?”

The serious Fae answered, “Meryda is not only a Monster Tamer, but she is also a very powerful Earth Mage and our friend. That is also why we are going to help her. Oomans are not worthy of having her. If she doesn’t want to join the Alliance, then she won’t join the Alliance.”

Suddenly, dozens of Fae came from the ground and joined Meryda’s Monsters. Everyone looked around the moment a choir of voices said, “You will now go away. You will tell your Ooman army not to come. We Fae will stand in their way as an invincible force. Millions upon millions of us will create a massive barrage, able to stop the biggest army.”

More and more Fae appeared, making two lines that went all the way to the farm’s gate. It was like an honour guard escorting out the visitors.

Without batting an eye, Craydon said, “It looks like that’s your cue. Goodbye, and good riddance.” He then looked at the outsider Adventurers and said, “I wonder what will happen to you after taking these envoys here and returning empty-handed. Will they use that as an excuse to get rid of you to vent their frustrations because their plan failed?”

The Adventurers looked to the angry envoys, and slowly, they all went to the gate’s farm, with the lines of Fae watching their every move.

Dralro Jic gulped, faced the still-angry Craydon, and tried to smile. “Well, I am glad that this is finished.”

Craydon leisurely put the crossbow over his right shoulder and asked, “What are you still doing here? I said you were not welcome here anymore. Do I need to shoot you?”

“No… I… What are you saying? We…”

“You were willing to give away Meryda to save your sorry ass instead of warning us before coming here for us to escape. There is no way I will ever trust you again.”

“I had to think about all the innocents who live in our City!”