Days pass and rumors come and go. Some say there is a moving shrubbery in the Labyrinth they saw while wiping the windows. Another could have sworn he heard a cry from the cellar under the guard post. The mysterious two tailed cats were sometimes seen but vanish right afterwards, like they became air.
Katie herself starts to like her job. Bathing once a week in the hot bathtub lets her fatigue melt away. Better not say it might be the Mana rich water. Also she is leading the Children with an iron fist, and drills all the demeanor of Servants in them, as she blooms back into her old job.
Every two to three days is School day, where she is teaching the more intricate things about reading, writing and early math. While my ways of teaching the children and adults were new to her, the efficiency shows her how it is better than monotone drilling the syllabus into them and making them say the addition table over and over like a mantra.
All the clunky remembering of things are easier to do, when it is made into a game or at least is a bit more fun. With the new thoughts she tries my ways, while still holding the stick for when there is a need for reigning the rascals in.
Misha, the girl who had taken the opportunity to get a House with her Lover has taken after Elle and starts working under her. With her, the grinding of the numbing herbs and creation of the relieving salve became easier and now we have some stock. Washing and reapplying the Moss on healing bandages is also her work for now. All have accepted the two orphans as Members of the Village, so there is no problem anymore.
“Please… let me die…”
“Not yet. Still working on something.”
“Please… stop…”
Right now I am with Karl. I was thinking of why I had to put the cores for using them into the gear, if I could put them in the bodies. Opening the hand and putting in the core makes an adverse reaction so I had to work around that somehow.
Using cut off and taken over body parts made it easier to make it stick as I can just change some parts with Mouse biology to make the effect stop. Reattaching the arm back though...
“It hurts… I am sorry…”
Not so much. The Body does not want to take the arm back. Putting a clean one back is easy and already did it on Karl multiple times. As long as Blood type and bone Marrow is identical it just pops on in. But when there is something foreign, it at first grows on and right after the nerves connect it fights against it. Dang it!
Well for now I can not create a Human with cores inside. Always something I can not do I wish I could.
“Loopy, please bring him back to his cell. I have to find another solution.”
“Huh huh!”
Nodding and afterward carrying the delirious Karl back to his cell I clean up the Surgeons table. Where do I go from there? He is rather close to collapsing. Neither connecting Monster parts or a Limb with a Core inside is working. How can I make a better Body if not with splicing it together. Do I have to grow one?
…
“Katie today should come some guests to the Village. I will have to go there.”
“Is it already three weeks? Can I come to purchase the necessities?”
“Ah, sorry. I might have been more thorough with my explanation. The Guardians of the Forest might come, so I need to meet them in person. The Merchants will arrive next week.”
“Guardians… Are they those, who are allowing safe travel?”
“Yes, but they hate other people with a passion somehow. My workings with them was in an accidental happening and might be the only one in a long time.”
“You are quite known in the whole dark, Lord Null.”
Is that a compliment? Ah, by the way I told her how I am called normally. She even was told I could look different sometimes, but for now she does not understand what I mean. Maybe better that way.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Um, thank you? I have to go, so you can let the children relax and remind the kitchen staff we are out, so they do not make too much. Well Snow would eat everything cold anyway, but still.”
“As you wish Lord Null.”
…
“My Lord welcome. Today the new ambassador should arrive. I hope they chose a dependent one.”
“Me too Leafy. How is Petal acclimating to her new home?”
A slight blush can be seen on Leafy her face. I did not ask about anything intimate, stop blushing!
“We are quite happy here. Petal helps Elle and Misha with the gathering of the herbs and we get from it rice and other food. Albeit she still works on her new diet, there are already some favorites she became fond of. Thank you for supporting us.”
“Why should I not. You supported me, I support you. We are all a Family, so no worries.”
“Thank you.”
Always the thanking… It is nice, but maybe a bit too much for my liking. It seems to itch.
Ah, there they are. Four guards this time and a new Face. Let’s see what part of a Tree I have to remember this time for a Name…
“I am Slow Seed, you must be the infamous Lord Null, am I right?”
Ugh, strange start, but whatever.
“Yes, I am the infamous Lord Null. And you might be the new Ambassador of the Root, am I right?”
“Yes, I am here to discuss the drying up of the Mana dew. Might there be a way to increase the output again? We would like to have more leeway for our own studies.”
Ho boy, rather neutral girl that is. At least she seems to not talk around the bush. This will be a long day.
…
Leafy stepped in right after and the discussion is holding nothing back. Reducing the sap and dew count does nothing to us, as it is just a slightly more luxurious commodity for the two wildflowers to have some taste of their former Home. I myself have studied it intensely and see aspects in making medicine, but it is not truly a necessity, as it just increases the potency for now.
Asking about what materials are needed to repair the crack seems to show her namesake of Slow rather nicely. The branch cut off sits right in front of you, you dumb little… deep breaths, I promised Leafy to not be too angry, albeit I still feel they have not lost enough for what they did.
A Letter from the dancing Tree family head was also given, but for now no one wanted to read it and was placed like some kind of garbage on the back shelf made out of vines.
Maybe she starts to realize what we or rather I really want, as she finally tries to mend the relationship between us. The talks show some improvements, as the south is not a danger zone anymore. All the Root are now finally understanding the necessity of me being here and the folly of thinking to harm me or anyone who might be related to me.
Also while the official title of Leafy being my voice is lost, the former Root inside my Domain will always be treated with utmost respect or the Queen will enact severe punishments... so sayeth the Slow Seed. No edict, no leaf as paper, nothing written, so whatever she says might be true or might be total bull.
By the way bull, we are starting to come close to summer. I will have to remember to work for the welcoming party of the bovine Tribe. They welcomed us with open hearts, I should do the same as I really liked their mentality.
Oh, right I am in a discussion. Well the Root have right now more to do, as the Stampede seems to be ready in a few Years, maybe Months. All the Monsters got livelier, have more children and get antsy. Asking me for more of my Amulets, as they might be able to use them to stop them trampling places they want to protect, is all nice and well, but those were maybe on the table around one Month ago, now suddenly I have no Materials and they are really hard to create anyways.
For now they have to use their old techniques of herding them with arrows and making the places impassible with vines and other foliage. Must be hard, good luck!
…
The delegation left at night and did not stay. Well I am not surprised, as there is still friction between us for now.
“My Lord, I think you are a bit too harsh with my… the Root, as not all of them have been in the machinations of my Grandmother.”
She might be right, but I see it a bit different. There is no way for a whole Family to just remove someone without any leak anywhere. Did the Queen really not know? I can’t believe that, how can she be able to see right through the conspiracy behind Falling Dew and not see anything right inside her own city? I am not stupid.
“Maybe, but as I see it, there would be no merit for us right now being courteous to someone who slighted me like that. They could see that as me smiling to the slap they gave me and think next time they could slap harder without getting any repercussion. I am holding myself already back as I really want to go there and rip the whole tree your former family lives in, out of the ground and make firewood with it.”
Well she looks like she does not know if she should laugh or be offended. Still the Leafy I know, she is hopelessly loyal to the people who did the worst she can imagine to her.
“If that is your thoughts, it is nice of you not going to… rip out some trees. But would the Amulets not be a good way to let them owe us for something. It might have helped to mend the relationship, while we have a favor lying in our branch.”
“If I were not here, they would still work with their old traditional ways to keep the stampede in check. With or without my help, they would have not much to worry about the whole event, just that they have a bit of an easier time and maybe some less wounded, but not enough for a real favor. We keep the status quo for now and wait for a better time to have a real discussion about how to repair our friendship.”
“As you wish my Lord.”
And now to the Letter. I really do not want to read it, but it is a semi official letter, as it was brought by the ambassador, so no way I can just make salad out of it and digest their words that way.
Unfurling the leaf I start reading…