Trevor had no issues convincing this insane woman to become their chef and executioner.... well, not that she knew she was hired as an executioner.
She was nuts. She viewed anyone who didn't agree with her as livestock.
She was even more insane than the antiheroes were.
But that was exactly why they could use her. That was exactly why they SHOULD use her.
It would be a waste to allow such a person to simply be killed off, or to run around rampid killing others in an uncontrollable fashion.
And.... it was this exact insanity which allowed her to see them as they truly were.
She did not even bother to see the horrible monstrous figures of the antiheroes. Instead, she only saw friends sitting at her dinner table.
Was she the only one then?
Was she the only human who could see past their appearances?
Trevor wondered this.
While their own insanity and cruelty that resulted from their.... unstable personalities was certainly a large factor in the antiheroes desire to collect her underneath them, along with the fact that she did not see them as monsters, that was not the only thing.
They had a use for her.
Resourcefulness was another critical aspect to any good businessman. You have to be able to work with what you have- and to make the most out of what you have to work with.
Trevor was able to teleport anyone who was near him, and so he snapped his fingers and teleported the group along with the woman and the two kids.
"Were going somewhere fun boys.... going to a new place where we can have lots of fun together.... heheheh....."
They teleported, and the ghastly scenery of the dungeon surrounded them.
"W- where is this.... I don't like it...."
"It's dark and scary here...."
"This is your new home... isn't it lovely, Bella?", Ashley said with a menacing tone.
"Oh yes.... it's wonderful.... did you all prepare this just for me?"
Bella ran around excitedly while looking at all the tools of torture and butchering.
"My, what a lovely kitchen set! And even a cold storage unit!!! How were you able to obtain something like this? Only the Emperor himself has this kind of technology... heh heh heh... all the livestock I can store in here...."
Bella shouted this while looking into the refrigeration chamber.
"Don't... don't leave us here.... don't go.... "
The young boy was pleading with Trevor, looking at him with puppy eyes.
Trevor was the only person there who was not a complete monster in the eyes of the son. He may have been an elf, but the others were all demons and psychos.
"Don't be like that, boy. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time here with your mama. Why don't you go do some cooking with her? We will be sending you plenty of meat to work with soon enough."
The boy looked defeated and stood there, still pleading with his eyes, but Trevor did not care.
"Be thankful that you even have a woman who wants to take care of you. Some of us do not have that luxury."
Trevor said this, as the antiheroes all walked off coldly, locking the doors of the dungeon to keep Bella isolated from the rest of the town.
----
"Do you think it will be fine if we just leave her in the dungeon like that though? I know I said it was necessary, but what if she really goes nuts in there and tries to kill us the next time she sees us?", Samantha asked.
"That wont be a problem. Those children aren't worth caring about, and we can take care of her without any issues if she really goes nuts. We just have to find a new chef and executioner at that point.", Garett replied.
"There won't be any problems with that woman that I can't take care of.", Ashley stated.
With this, the four returned to the mercenary guild after retaining their illusionary disguises.
They were in the room, and everything was just as they left it. It was the early afternoon at this point.
"Now then... it's time to make our way to where the mercenaries were told to gather... the Determined should be gathering information on the fishmen village as we speak, and we will lay low until then.... hopefully. We join the ranks of the legion who will be attacking, and keep in touch with the Determined until we figure out what our next move is. Always remain cautious. We never know who our enemies are, so assume that every person is out to kill us... we've already seen some people in this country show discrimination to the elves, and so there could be more in store."
The other three nodded at Trevor's explanation and set out. They headed down the stairs and through the now empty mercenary guild hall.
It seemed that all the other mercenaries were joining the war. From what had been gathered, Trevor deduced that the reward money was unusually large even for joining a war. That meant that he had to be prepared for a very large force to be attacking.
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'Well... I suppose it isn't certain yet that we will have to fight them.... but it's better to be safe than sorry.'
The four set out for the Port City of Githard.
----
Samantha never thought that she could get used to reading peoples minds when she first obtained the ability, but.... somehow, she felt that it wasn't so bad anymore.
While it was true that she heard disturbing and hidden thoughts and pieces of the subconscious of people that even they didn't know about themselves, she was able to see people as they really were.
She was able to confirm that she wasn't the only person who had a fucked up past.
She was able to see... and perhaps even understand the prejudices and terrors that people faced.
Even so...
She felt somewhat liberated.
She was liberated at the fact that she wasn't the only one who had suffered.
She was relieved at seeing that it wasn't her alone who held hatred and disgust towards others.... it was not only her who was biting her tongue day in and day out while she put on an act to please everyone.
There exists no such thing as a 'good person'.
In novels and shows, how many times is the protagonist some sort of hero who cares about 'saving their friends' or 'doing the right thing'
Nobody was actually like that, and Samantha knew this even better now that she could hear the thoughts of people around her.
Some people were cowards who only thought about saving themselves.
Others were power hungry who cared about raising their position.
Others still were constantly manipulating others to do as they pleased.
Some were filled with discrimination and hatred.
Even the ones who were young were only focused on popularity. The hierarchy existed even from young age, in a society far removed from earth. Samantha was able to deduce all this simply from what she had heard when walking through the town they stopped by.
Anyone else was simply naive... once in a while Samantha would hear the thoughts of some naive brat who believed they could become some sort of war hero and save everyone when they grew up.
What a harsh awakening they would be in for.
Those children were the same.
At only 4 and 6 years old, they were only focused on saving themselves. They didn't care about their mother and father- they only wanted them to be nearby so that they could feel safe... so that they would be protected.
She felt no sympathy for them.
They were another pair who reminded Samantha of herself before hey eyes were opened to the cruelty of the world.
The antiheroes set off from the mercenary guild and headed towards the city of Githard.
On the way there, another message from the system popped up.
[You feel a dark presence growing within you]
[A hero has been awakened. 1/4]
----
"The hero has been awakened..."
Garett repeated the words that appeared on the screen in front of the four.
They were aware that there could be only one person who would awaken a hero- the Indeterminant.
"The Indeterminant is making moves as we speak. He is likely gathering the heroes in order to defeat us.", Trevor noted.
A silence fell upon the four.
They were not scared, however as a cautious group they understood that they were not allowed to underestimate this piece of information.
The heroes might be strong enough to harm the antiheroes. Since level's did not determine the strength of the antiheroes in a proportional manner, it was difficult to say where exactly they would stand when face to face with each other.
However, if things were to be taken at face value, the antiheroes were only at level 20, whereas the heroes would be level 50. They knew this from the beginning when they had first been transported into this world.
An optimist would say 'Things will be fine! We have mind control! We have mind reading! We have light speed and fast travel! We have an unlimited database! We have an overly powerful mage who can destroy anything and anyone in a single shot! We have a master craftsman who can build and engineer literally anything! There is no way we can lose!'
No, perhaps even a realist would say that.
The only person who would be cautious in such a scenario would be a true pessimist.
Yet, these four stayed silent and simply considered the implications of this message.
There was a group who they would need to someday fight in this world, who might be stronger than they are even at their present state.
Not only this, but once they maximized all of their statistics, they would likely not get any stronger.
Would they actually be strong enough to win?
This was unknown, and Trevor was not about to make that assumption.
The antiheroes continued on towards Githard with serious expressions on their faces.
"This life isn't some sort of game. Perhaps we've been fooling around a bit too much.", Trevor stated.
Samantha merely lowered her head, and Garett and Ashley exchanged glances.
"Only one way to find out. Let's focus on the task at hand for now.", Ashley suggested.
"You're right... one thing at a time. For now, we need to join this campaign."
-----
Hiru's son Gotek and his daughter Wara had been diligently training themselves ever since they arrived at the dictatorship.
To these two, it was an unexplored land- a place so new and different than the village they came from.
Was it a welcome change?
Gotek wasn't exactly sure about that, however he knew for sure that the antiheroes and the Determined had spared him and his family not once, but twice.
Gotek didn't exactly realize that there wasn't a legitimate reason for them to kill him and his family on either occasion, and so he respected and loved his new masters greatly.
He had been put to work underneath Iotar, the town alchemist. and proved extremely useful when Garett was occupied with other things. Iotar was able to use the pressurized air which Gotek created in order to create an environment for potion production which was previously impossible unless very specific and complex tools were used.
Using further pressurized liquid mana beyond the initial pressure needed to concentrate it allowed for more potent potions to be created. While it was unsure if increasing the potency would create negative side effects, Garett had told Iotar to keep anything that had unknown effects in storage.
"If we don't know whether or not it's safe, leave it in storage. We can experiment on subjects who don't fall in line with the views of the dictators."
However, at this point, the storage was completely filled with potions of unknown effects.
Cabinets completely filled from end to end with potions, all labeled with their ingredients and the conditions under which they were made. Iotar had completely run out of space, and was considering asking for an expansion to the alchemy hut for storage purposes.
"Should we head over and speak to Sir Coran about this? He is the one currently in charge with their excellencies and her eminence gone on errands.", Gotek asked.
"Indeed... indeed.... ah but first let me try something else out.... ah I wish I had some subjects to test these potions out on.... perhaps their excellencies will soon bring us some...", Iotar replied.
After assisting Iotar with one final experiment, Gotek left the workshop to ask Coran to allocate some workers to the new project.
Looking around, he only saw beauty.
It was insane. Building made from flesh and bones, goblins and slimes working together as if they were of the same species. Horrifying features and designs covering the landscape. The sky itself seemed darkened just looking around, and if one ignored the people it would look like a realm of terror.
And yet everyone was so happy.
Everyone was working so hard.
Truly, the antiheroes had done an amazing job at leading the village. They were unlike the other leaders who sat back and let their slaves do the work for them. They too came onto the same level and did what they could for their village.
Despite the fact that they were demons, a spirit, and an elf who radiated confidence and terror, they were truly outstanding leaders.
"I cannot even fathom what the other lizardmen must have been thinking by not coming under the rule of their excellencies. If they hold onto something as silly as their pride for the rest of their lives, rather than coming under the rule of the antiheroes, then those lives will certainly be shortened."