Chapter 804: Followers for a Future God (Patreon)

Angie sat at the head of the table in the castle’s meeting room, exactly where she belonged. As Prime Minister, nearly every problem in the kingdom ended up on her desk. When her lord had said he needed someone to handle the administrative side of things, she had secretly hoped he would choose her. He had. Not that there was anyone better.

Angie’s mind had always been one of her greatest strengths. [Wisdom of Uriel (Unique)] had only made it sharper. She knew exactly how capable she was. Humility was foolish. Even so, she had appointed several ministers, mostly on a whim. It wasn’t as though she needed them; she was more capable than all of them combined. Still, people worked harder when you gave them titles and made them feel important.

Boggy, the goblin chief, had been named Minister of Agriculture, while Bernard, the dwarf, had become Minister of Infrastructure. The kingdom was still too small to truly need a complicated government structure. The settlement could barely be called a city, which meant its immediate priorities were simple: get it organized and make sure everyone had enough to eat.

Tarvik, the former ratfolk king, was also seated at the table, along with Otto, the village leader, Kren, and even Cecilia. None of them held official government positions. Instead, they served as advisors and representatives of their respective peoples, offering ideas and information when needed.

Her lord’s plan was to bring in everyone displaced by the orcs, and that did not just mean the villages around Nyvma. Free cities, villages, and countless other settlements had been attacked as well. Angie was carefully investing the money Luke had earned as a mercenary, with some of it going toward horses and wagons to transport people and supplies.

Ten thousand was the first number that mattered. She wanted the population past that mark as quickly as possible. The larger the kingdom grew, the harder it would be to ignore. To make it happen, they sent food to cities overcrowded with refugees. Along with the supplies came notices promising work, food, and shelter in the new settlement. Those notices drew people to Nyvma, a busy, well-known city, and from there they were guided the rest of the way.

Angie smiled to herself. Her lord would be pleased.

When the meeting ended, everyone began filing out of the room. Joseph was waiting outside with an uneasy expression.

“I thought it started at the usual time,” he told Cecilia.

“No. They changed the time. Nobody told you?”

“No...”

His voice was quiet. Angie walked past them without the slightest reaction and continued down the corridor. She had been the one who ordered the ratfolk not to tell him. It was all part of a small psychological experiment, and so far, Joseph was responding just as expected. He was only one of several subjects, simply the most interesting one at the moment.

Later, she summoned him to her office. Joseph entered hesitantly and stopped in front of her desk. “Lady Angie.”

She kept her eyes on the papers in front of her. “Are you satisfied with your place here, Joseph?”

“My place?”

“I imagine your workload has gotten lighter now that the kingdom has grown.”

“Yes... It has. Things are much easier now.”

Angie finally looked up. “You don’t seem satisfied.”

Joseph remained silent for several seconds, searching for the right words.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but now that the dwarves have taken over the forge, I feel like I’ve been pushed aside. Caleb has the guard. Cecilia has her team making wine, cheese, and all sorts of other things. I can’t keep up with the dwarves. I just don’t have a head for that kind of work.” He hesitated before adding, “I don’t know. Lately, it just feels like everyone has their place except me.”

There it was, right on schedule. Angie set the documents aside. “I’ve been working on a personal project. Something very exclusive.”

“Exclusive?”

“Only people I trust have been invited. And I believe you have the potential to become one of them.”

Feed a dog long enough and eventually it learns who its master is. Humans weren’t much different.

“As our numbers grow, I don’t want our little peace to be disrupted,” she continued. “You don’t want that either, do you?”

“Of course not. My family is here.”

“Exactly. And we bring in more people every day. It used to be ten a day. Now it’s fifty. Eventually, this place is going to get big.”

Joseph listened closely as she rose and walked toward the window. “It made me wonder how many of the people we bring in will actually care about this place. Some of them may come here to hurt us. Don’t you think that’s possible?”

“I suppose so. Even if nobody is starving, bad people will always exist.”

“I’m not talking about crime, Joseph. Crime is easy enough for the guards to handle. I’m talking about something more... invisible.”

“Invisible?”

“People who aren’t truly committed to what we’re building. People who spread doubt, turn neighbors against each other, and convince others that this place isn’t worth protecting.”

Joseph frowned, but she continued before he could answer. “That’s why I’m putting together a group of people I can trust. I want you to be part of it.”

He stared at her. Angie waited a moment, then turned to face him fully. “Do you want to be part of this, Joseph? Or would you rather keep being left out?”

Her plan was finally in motion. There was no point in her lord becoming a god if he had no followers. Angie wanted believers, especially the kind who needed somewhere to belong.

Joseph took a deep breath. “I want in.”

***

Mivi moved through a stretch of forest that had recently become part of the kingdom. Officially, she was hunting. In reality, she was training.

Becoming an Assassin had changed her. Ever since she’d gotten the class, everything felt sharper. She noticed details she would have missed before and understood her own body better: the rhythm of her heartbeat, how much weight she put into each step, the pace of her breathing, even the tension building in her muscles before she moved. She felt smarter, too, and none of it came from a specific skill. It was simply part of what the class had given her.

Lord Luke himself had been giving her advice. He said Assassin was the best class she could have gotten, especially for his personal assistant.

Ahead, something tore through the undergrowth. A giant centipede-like beast burst between the trees, its armored body cracking branches as it charged. Mivi sidestepped, and the creature slammed into a tree behind her hard enough to tear chunks of bark from the trunk.

Yeah. Better not get hit by that.

She countered with a dagger forged by one of the dwarves. The creature whipped its long body toward her, but Mivi kept moving, dodging by inches and slashing at the gaps between its armored plates.

She slipped past another strike and went for a gap near one of its legs, only to hear a rustle behind her. Mivi spun as three rabbits burst from the brush, already way too close. She cursed under her breath. She’d been so focused on the centipede that she hadn’t noticed them coming. And these weren’t ordinary rabbits. They were carnivores that hunted in packs, drawn by the smell of blood.

Mivi activated [Create Smoke Bomb] and hurled it at the ground. Thick smoke flooded the area and blinded the rabbits. She lunged at the centipede and drove her dagger into a gap in its armor, finishing it off.

She turned on the rabbits, struck one with her tail, and used the impact to launch herself sideways. The move carried her past another rabbit’s snapping jaws. Mivi sliced open its flank as she passed, then vaulted over the third and drove her dagger down between its shoulders before the smoke could thin.

When the last rabbit fell, Mivi looked over the bodies scattered across the clearing and nodded. A notification appeared before her.

[Your class [Assassin] has reached Level 20!]

[You have unlocked a new Class Skill]

Her ears perked up. Oh. Now this is interesting.

Five choices appeared when she tapped the notification. Mivi skimmed them until one option caught her eye.

She tapped it.

[Class Skill Acquired: Razor Smoke Bomb (Uncommon)]

A description appeared beneath the notification.

[Razor Smoke Bomb (Uncommon)]: Enhances [Create Smoke Bomb], allowing the user to create a specialized smoke bomb filled with mana-forged glass shards. Upon detonation, the shards spread through the smoke and across nearby surfaces, cutting exposed skin and punishing careless movement. The shards dissipate with the smoke.

She activated [Create Smoke Bomb]. The familiar black sphere formed in her palm. She channeled the new Class Skill into it, and thin silver cracks crawled across the surface while tiny translucent shards shifted beneath the dark shell, catching the light whenever she moved her hand.

Mivi turned the bomb in her hand. “That looks dangerous.”

She hurled it toward the far side of the clearing. The bomb burst with a sharp crack, and black smoke billowed outward. A faint hiss ran through the cloud. Countless tiny shards flashed silver for an instant, then disappeared into the smoke. Leaves caught in the cloud were shredded, and dozens of tiny cuts appeared in the exposed flesh between the plates of the dead centipede’s armor.

Okay. That was better than expected.

She took a step toward the smoke, then stopped when she noticed the glittering fragments scattered throughout the cloud.

Wait. I can’t go in there.

Not unless she wanted to get cut up along with whoever she was trying to kill. Her ears drooped, but only for a couple of seconds before another idea hit her.

If I can’t safely move through it... neither can anyone chasing me.

“Oh, I can work with this.”

She watched the cloud slowly thin as the shards faded with it, breaking apart into tiny motes of mana.

Not bad for level twenty.

Still, the rabbits bothered her. Professor Luke had told her she needed to learn how to refine her perception, and Mivi still had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to do that. She already paid attention to everything around her. Or at least she had thought she did.

How was someone supposed to just decide to see, hear, or feel better?

A little farther into the forest, Mivi spotted Lady Charlie standing alone among the trees. She served as her lord’s personal guard and was also his lover. The two weren’t officially married, though Charlie didn’t appreciate anyone pointing that out.

Mivi slowed down and tried to stay hidden in the brush, controlling her breathing, watching where she placed her feet, and keeping her tail still. This time, I won’t give myself away.

Charlie turned and looked straight at her.

Okay. That was scary.

Mivi froze. She was hidden in the brush and nowhere near her, yet she’d been spotted instantly. Was that what Professor Luke meant by perception?

“Hello, Mivi,” Charlie said as she approached.

“Hello, Lady Charlie.”

Two red bats circled her. “I’m investigating the forest.”

“Did you find more dangerous beasts?”

“No. Humans.”

“Humans?”

“Over the past few days, a few people have been sneaking into the forest.”

“A lot of people have been coming to the kingdom.”

“These aren’t people trying to join us. They carry knives and crossbows. They keep out of sight, bury supplies, and mark certain trees.”

Mivi frowned. “Why?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Charlie walked over to a nearby tree, brushed aside a cluster of leaves, and pointed at the trunk. “There.”

Mivi squinted at the trunk. “Where?”

Charlie tapped the bark. Mivi finally saw the shallow symbol carved into the wood. Her ears drooped as she realized she had walked right past it. Maybe Professor Luke had a point.

“I didn’t see that.”

“I know.” Charlie watched her for a moment before asking, “Why don’t you come with me?”

Somehow, that was worse. “With you? But I’m not... that strong.”

She tilted her head. “Would you rather I go alone?”

“That’s not what I meant, Lady Charlie. I just don’t want to get in your way.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t. Besides, it could benefit you.”

“Benefit me?”

“If I kill those humans, the experience points won’t do me any good. They’re far too weak. For you, though, they might make a difference.”

“Right...”

Mivi tried not to think about how casually Lady Charlie had said kill those humans.

Damn, she’s strong.

She’d seen her fight a few times already. Once, Charlie had killed an orc with a single punch, and the thing had been strong enough to overwhelm everyone around him. Even Farmarug’s soldiers had failed to bring it down.

“We’ll go together,” Charlie decided.

Before Mivi could answer, the bats converged in midair. Their bodies dissolved into red liquid that swelled outward, twisting together until something massive took shape. Within seconds, a monstrous black horse towered before them, big enough to make a warhorse look small. Heavy black hooves dug into the earth, and red eyes burned beneath its mane.

The creature exhaled with a sound closer to a growl than a snort. Mivi’s tail stiffened.

Charlie mounted without hesitation and held out a hand. “Get on.”

Mivi hesitated, then took it. “Is this one of your skills too, Lady Charlie?”

“Yes.”

Of course.

Mivi climbed onto the horse behind her. One day, I’m going to be that strong.

As the horse moved off, Mivi glanced toward the trees. Now that Charlie had shown her what to look for, the marks were easier to spot. By the time she found the fifth, she had stopped feeling proud about it. There were far too many.

***

Luke had finally found supporters of the orc heirs. Now there was only one problem.

How the hell am I supposed to get them out of here?

“How do you know those names?!” the orc demanded again.

“Shut up. If those soldiers come over here, I’m gone, and you never find out what I know.”

He couldn’t just kidnap the prisoner without causing problems with his new trading partners, and asking to take the orc with him wasn’t an option either. The Lords of Orsten were too sharp for that. They’d know there was more to it.

Luke stepped closer. “I’m going to find Kobi and Rheera. I know they’re hiding somewhere on this continent. When I do, I’ll hand them both over to Gurgal. I’m sure he’ll pay well for them.”

The orc thrashed against his restraints, steam rising from his body as his eyes turned red. “Damn you, human!”

The guards heard the commotion and hurried over, whipping the prisoner until he fell silent. By then, Luke was already gone.

Now I know he’s loyal to those two kids. Getting him out is the hard part.

By morning, Luke and the Emerald Cloaks were mounted on their striders. The Lords of Orsten came to see them off with several gifts, including crates of local spices.

“I’ll make sure any of my merchants passing through Nyvma check the guild for your shipments, Lord Moon,” Bahram said.

With the agreement settled, Luke and the Emerald Cloaks left Orsten behind. Late that afternoon, they passed one of the Federation’s enormous military camps. Dorothea looked out over rows of tents, supply depots, and soldiers drilling in formation.

“So this whole war is being paid for by merchants? Taking territory, fighting the orcs, all of it?”

“In the end, everything comes down to money,” John replied.

“I know, but they’re merchants, not kings. Doesn’t that seem strange?”

“They don’t need to be,” Luke said. “They need safe roads, open trade, and cities full of customers. Orcs are bad for business.”

Dorothea frowned at the camp. “Still feels strange.”

“Without tourists, the brothels don’t make any money,” John added.

Maeve sighed. “That was a terrible example.”

Luke shrugged. “Still true. A brothel can’t make money if its customers die on the way there.”

Dorothea thought about that for a second. “...That actually makes sense.”

Maeve just stared at her.

That night, the group made camp in a cave deep in the desert. Thanks to the striders, Orsten was already far behind them. Once everyone had settled in, Luke stood. “I’m going for a walk in the desert, Maeve. I’d rather be alone.”

Maeve glanced toward the cave entrance, then back at him. “But... there’s a sandstorm out there, Lord Moon.”

“That just makes it more fun.” Without waiting for an answer, Luke headed outside.

By that point, everyone had gotten used to his strange behavior. Maeve didn’t try to stop him, and nobody followed. Once he was far enough from the cave, Luke activated [Cloak of the Arcane Witch] and poured as much stamina as he could into [Feline Agility]. Then he shot across the desert, sprinting and leaping through the storm as sand whipped past him.

Less than an hour later, Orsten’s walls emerged through the storm. Still hidden by [Advanced Shadow Stealth], Luke reached the top of the city wall and scanned the streets, guard posts, and the area where the orc prisoner was being held.

“Time to steal an orc.”

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Sorry, guys, today’s chapter went up late. I’m keeping the tradition going and making it up to you with a bonus chapter in three minutes. Enjoy!