Chapter 41: Of Claws, Tails, Fangs, Eyes and Tusks (Finale)
The five tribes' leaders sat around a table inside a tent constructed just outside the Green Claw village exactly for this purpose. It would be better for all to feel like they were on neutral ground, and not inside any of the villages.
"Just before we begin, I would like to ask just one thing, from my understanding one of the humans had won the title of chieftain from the previous Dragon Tusk's leader, so why don't I see her here?"
Kyuku Zuzu, chieftain of Razor Tail, asked calmly and without any malice. Every other chieftain turned toward Ziguru who just grimaced.
"Our new chieftain is a difficult one, she doesn't desire the position and, while we know what her desires are, she has done nothing to force compliance from the dissidents."
The larger lizardman in the room began to explain.
"She also thought that I would be a better pick to discuss this matter, as I was the previous chieftain and have much experience in dealing with my own kind."
Those words elicited a nod of agreement from all in the tent.
"Well then, if that matter is solved, I would like to begin the first Lake Council meeting by discussing the matter at hand."
Shasuryu stated leaving space for whoever wanted to object or intervene. When only silence greeted him, he slightly bowed his head in gratitude.
"First of all, I would like to know what your opinion on the fish farm is. You all have already seen it, take in account it was built in a week with a great investment of forces on our part and the material provided by Sir Satoru."
The chieftain of Green Claw revealed all details on the operation. If they truly had to reach a peaceful agreement, there was no place for deception or sugar coating of the truth.
"I think it is a marvelous sight to behold, even more knowing it was lizardmen who built it in such short of a time, if it works as well as it is said to, we can fully agree on the implementation of such a creation in our village as well… though, we have some doubts on the logistics."
Sukyu Juju, leader of Small Fang, began in a moderately optimistic tone, Zuzu nodding in agreement with his fellow chief before locking eyes with Shasuryu.
"Indeed, the idea has merit but how many of these exactly would we need and in how much time would they begin to be fruitful?"
The chieftain of Razor Tail asked curiously, Shasuryu closed his eyes for a moment, he knew this would be one of the bitterest things to swallow.
"Considering Green Claw is one of the most numerous tribes we would need around five farms to sustain ourselves alongside fruits and other necessities we can get from the forest… if we wanted to sustain ourselves on only fish, we would need around eight with our current numbers."
He explained what Renner already told him, the other chieftains seemed to make their own calculations.
"The time it would take for the farm to be operative once it is filled up while the fish are cared for and nourished, would be around one year."
At those words most of the chiefs either grimaced or openly snorted.
"That is an unacceptable time frame Shasuryu, and you know it! There is no way we could work on all those farms, nourish the fish and find enough food to sustain ourselves for one year."
Zuzu said harshly followed by a nod of agreement from all the other chiefs. Shasuryu, of course, expected such a response and sighed.
"And that is the moment our new… benefactor… the 6th tier magic caster, Sir Satoru, comes into play."
With those few words, Shasuryu had on him the full attention of the lizardmen chieftains.
"What madness is this?! 6th tier?! Do you have any proof to back up such claims?! Only the legends speak of such beings, at the gate to divinity, reaching such levels!"
Crusch Lulu intervened.
"I did not want to offend anyone by demanding such a thing, since they arrived here, all they claimed turned out to be true, I don't wish to challenge them on this as well."
Shasuryu answered the female's doubts, this was a feisty one, no wonder his brother seemed so smitten with her.
"Be it as it may, Sir Satoru has given his blessing to support us through food and materials for the first year."
He continued to explain much to the other chieftains' surprise.
"And what does the human want in return?"
Asked Juju who seemed more on guard than before.
"Can he really sustain all of our people for a whole year, just like that?"
Zuzu gave word to his doubts as well.
For all Razor Tail and Small Fang were Green Claw's allies, they had no shyness in expressing their opinion even when it went against an ally. Lizardmen were direct beings, no adamant of wordplays like the humans seemed to be.
Shasuryu sighed, he knew this moment would come, the only doubt remaining in his mind was, how would the other tribes answer?
"As for what Sir Satoru wants in exchange for his support, it is pretty simple… his original course of action was to explore the Dwarven Kingdom of the mountains, he only happened to pass nearby coincidentally."
He took a deep breath.
"Sir Satoru does not know where the entrance of the Dwarven Kingdom lay, so he wishes for us to cooperate with him in finding it."
Silence greeted his statement. That was something he was sure they didn't expect and that would not sit well with most.
Lizardmen were a stationary race that found safety in their borders and villages; to send dozens out in the dangerous and wild world was a great risk to the stability of the tribe. There was a reason why travelers only became common after the great famine. Few wishes to leave the safety of their village willingly after all.
"That is indeed a great sacrifice the human is asking for, even considering what he is offering… what if those farms don't work as intended? We would find ourselves in a year starving and without much needed numbers… weakened and ready to be conquered."
Juju grimly said, an implication Shasuryu himself initially thought of too but then dismissed when the truth of the wider world was presented to him.
What would such a powerful being, controlling such numbers and vast amounts, want with a lake and few destroyed villages? No, the possibility of the humans wanting to weaken them and conquer them was absurd, they could do it without any of this farce.
"Eh? You're scared? If they manage to beat us, it is fair and square conquest."
Ziguru snorted at the other chieftain who proceeded to give him a hard stare.
"We are not as suicidal as all of you Dragon Tusk, if we are going to fight and lose, we are going to do it at full power, and not weakened by dishonorable means."
Zuzu intervened in defense of his fellow chieftain.
Shasuryu could not let this meeting devolve in such a direction, that would only break apart their tribes even more. No, right now he needed to make sure all understood who exactly they were dealing with.
"Pardon my intrusion, but I don't wish to leave this meeting with another war on my hands, so, if you would allow me, I would like to explain why chief Zuzu's and Juju's worries are legitimate but not needed at the same time."
His words managed to break the three's discussion apart.
"Then, let's hear it!"
Demanded Ziguru, who already seemed far more annoyed than before. Shasuryu simply took out the map gifted to him by princess Renner and laid it on the small table between the chiefs.
"Here, this is our lake."
He pointed at the small figure of the lake on the map, much to everyone's interest.
"It's… small."
Crusch muttered lowly as Shasuryu nodded in agreement.
"This is Sir Satoru's controlled land."
He motioned a circle with his finger to indicate the zone previously shown to him by the princess.
"That… cannot be… that is too much for a single being to impose their authority over! Maybe a Dragon Lord, but certainly no man!"
Zuzu protested but was ignored by Shasuryu who proceeded to enlarge the circle he was using to indicate the area.
"This is known as Re-Estize, a human Kingdom Sir Satoru is part of, a kingdom counting around ten million inhabitants."
He stated calmly, much to the shock of everyone else in the room.
The silence permeated for almost a full minute when Juju stood up.
"You are lying Shasuryu! Do not try to deceive us! What do you hope to obtain with such a farce?!"
The lizardman roared showing his fangs, but Shasuryu remained calm and undeterred by his fellow kind's anger.
"I assure you Kyuku, I did not want to believe it either, I thought they were deceiving us but the harsh truth is this… in the last 200 years, while we struggled for land and food, humans rebuilt themselves through sweat and blood, building up ruling structures to manage such huge chunks of land."
Shasuryu retorted, dead serious.
"They have a single ruling family, the eldest child of that family will inherit the title of King, the ruler of the Kingdom… under him people called Great Nobles control large chunks of land for them, under them, others called Minor Nobles control smaller chunks of land."
He paused as his next words seemed to be stuck in his throat.
"Under the Minor Nobles, Majors control the cities, which are like huge villages, while Chiefs control small villages… in all of that Satoru is apparently the greatest of the Great Nobles, his authority in the land is just below the King's himself."
He concluded as he left the others to digest his words and reach conclusions for themselves.
Silence descended once more, this time lasting well past a full minute until a loud laugh broke it. Ziguru was laughing without any restraint at the map below.
"Well, well, now I understand why there is no need to worry about conquest… we are not even worth the thought! To someone like that… we must look like shitty ants fighting for crumbs!"
He proclaimed, and the fact no one even tried to contest his words was a statement in itself.
"For all I detest to put it in such words, I cannot help but admit I thought the same, we were living among giants for all this time without realizing it… we were just lucky enough those giants never looked down or noticed us."
Shasuryu admitted bitterly.
"This is insane."
Zuzu muttered under his breath as his tail fell flat on the floor and his head bowed over the map.
"If that's the truth, the armies they could muster would be…"
Juju was too shocked to even finish that phrase.
"200.000 soldiers… those are the numbers I was given, but in case of emergencies, they could call upon a further 200.000 not as well armed soldiers."
At Shasuryu's words the only standing lizardman slumped against the wall of the tent in utter shock.
"How can they sustain such an army, no, such a number of inhabitants?!"
Crusch asked in shock.
"From my understanding humans need less food than a normal lizardman, but even then not by too much, their strength lies in the variety of food they can sustain themselves on… they can easily digest both fish and almost any meat, alongside most vegetables and crops… they use their vast land to harbor livestock in great numbers and cultivate the terrain everywhere possible… and even if they come to miss food, they can always trade with the neighboring kingdoms for it, exchanging it for materials they have too much of."
Shasuryu tried to remember all the things the princess told him and the elder council to explain how a kingdom worked and sustained itself.
"That level of organization… is impressive…"
Ziguru painfully admitted.
"Maybe it is like that, for such a weak race, they could have found their strength in other fields, allowing them to advance far beyond all others."
Shasuryu concurred.
"Wait a moment… if this is the so-called Re-Estize Kingdom's territory… what is this other great mass of land on the right?"
Asked Crusch as she encircled with her finger another area on the map. Green Claw's chief felt a sad smirk surge on his face.
"Well, that one is Re-Estize's long time rival, the Baharuth Empire and I guess… you could consider them even worse news…"
He answered before proceeding to explain the few things he was told about that strange land.
{Satoru's P.O.V.}
If Satoru ever noticed something strange about himself, it certainly was how well he seemed to be at speaking with children, even though his lack of any siblings of children of his own.
Their general enthusiasm and quirks rubbed off on him the strangest of ways, from the cynical but affection-seeking Renner, to the easygoing but self-doubtful Rayne, the prideful but fragile Arche, and the enthusiastic but stubborn Lakyus. Together they made the strangest band of misfits he had ever seen, second only to Ainz Ooal Gown itself.
He might only now understand the fascination Yamaiko had for teaching children. There was something so pure and yet so deep in their eyes and the way they dealt with life and emotions in their own way.
That was why, when he found the girl, he was looking for feeding a hungry hydra and patting him, he found himself surprised again. He never thought Lakyus to be a pet person, even more so taking to, what would be considered a reject by most, like that.
There was just something heartwarming about the whole scene, even if it was lost on him due to his Emotional Suppression.
The four headed hydra had been quite the surprise when the young wannabe knight came back, a unique specimen according to many lizardmen. That got his attention, normally an hydra should have eight heads and most powerful ones in Yggdrasil wielded the three main elements, but this one had just four, which prompted Satoru to ask himself if that was due to a reason or if the hydra hid any potential beyond the norm.
But those were questions for another time. He was here to check on another quite special specimen after all. An interesting human girl whose potential seemed to have no limit. 'It would be a worthwhile investment to see… how strong a human could get with all the help possible' he mused.
He, of course, felt some kind of affection for the girl, mostly due to how much she reminded him of some of his friends and how enthusiastic she was about hearing their adventures. But he could not stop his curiosity from lingering in the other direction as well.
"How did you find me?"
The blonde girl asked without any particular emotion in her voice.
"I have my ways."
He decided to answer cryptically. [Detect Life] had its fair share of utility outside battle after all.
"Humph, keep your secret then, oh great magic caster, caretaker of this little one."
She retorted with amusement in her tone. He used that small hint of humor to assume things didn't go so wrong after all.
"So, did the princess send you?"
And those next words flushed his hopes down the metaphorical toilet. There was no amusement in her tone, just nothing but bitterness.
Satoru sighed and proceeded to sit right next to her, slightly startling the baby hydra which slid even further into Lakyus' embrace.
"No, she didn't, but I spoke to her before coming here."
He admitted. If he wanted to fix, really fix, things here he could not afford to lie. Peace built on lies was only a prelude to war, he remembered Punitto Moe saying something like that once.
"I see, are you here to dissuade me from my fantasies as well?"
She asked darkly, Satoru just shrugged.
"To be completely truthful… I didn't understand much of your argument, I just know that the way you two discussed it wasn't the right way two friends should discuss anything."
He admitted calmly once more, maybe he could finally understand what all this mess was about if only Lakyus was willing to be more direct than Renner.
The girl eyed him, much of her previous mistrust seemingly gone from her gaze.
"So, you don't know? What did Renner tell you?"
She asked, much more curious than before. 'Returning to first name, are we?' that was a good sign in Satoru's book.
"Mostly about the two of you disagreeing on something and that you were being your usual stubborn self."
He said as lightly as possible.
"I must admit, you really managed to piss her off this time, but maybe that is just because she cares so much about you."
He added, gaining the full attention of the younger girl with those words.
"How can you say so? That she cares about me, I mean."
She asked, the insecurity in her voice really getting to him this time. He sometimes forgot he was dealing with little more than children, still supposed to be pure and immature but forced to grow up by the circumstances. Of that, he knew something himself.
"If she didn't think of you as a friend, she would have never even bothered arguing with you in the first place… you know as well as I do how Renner is, she has practically no friends apart from you, making that bond even stronger than it normally would be…"
The words flowed out of his mouth without him even realizing.
"To see that bond threatened must have felt horrible for her, and yet, she could not stop herself from pushing you away from a path she thought would bring you pain and misery… risking your friendship over your happiness."
That was indeed part of his life's experience, he himself had many a time thought the same while arguing with some of his friends. But even he would not risk his friendship with them, even if it meant seeing them ruin themselves. He was an inherently selfish person, he would not speak up and break their friendship in exchange of seeing them happy.
"Do you understand that Lakyus… to her your happiness is even more important than her own."
To Satoru that was clear, he never saw Renner cry for anyone before, if that wasn't a show of love, he didn't know what was.
Renner, while childish and possibly wrong in her way of doing it, certainly showed great devotion to her relationship with Lakyus, of that, he was sure. It constantly reminded him of his own friendships, maybe, if he had just been a bit less selfish, just maybe, it could have gone another way.
His gloomy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sobbing, it took him a few instants to realize Lakyus had begun weeping.
"I-I am sorry! I d-didn't mean it t-to be l-like that!"
She managed to say between gulps. Satoru just stroked her hair like a father would do to comfort his child.
"Come on now… don't be like that, there is nothing you two can't fix if you work together."
He felt slightly guilty for making her cry like that, so he tried to comfort her the way he could.
He let her cry her eyes out until she had no more tears to shed. It was quite liberating, crying, was like purifying one's body from pain and suffering.
"Now, now, why don't you tell me what all of this is about?"
{Shasuryu's P.O.V.}
"Living like a chief in a puddle, mistaking it for the lake, is that it then?"
Those were the words of Zuzu after Shasuryu finished explaining their current situation.
"Enough with your fucking metaphors! We are getting nowhere with this!"
Ziguru's booming voice retorted angrily.
"So, what do you propose, Dragon Tusk? Oh, let me guess… fight until every last one of us is annihilated?"
Juju mocked the other ex-chief. But before an argument could ensue the only female in the tent intervened.
"For how I see it, we only are left with two options, we either bury our heads under the water and continue on like this never happened, or… we face it, united, the way we can."
She was concise and direct, who thought someone as lightheaded as his brother would fall for such a strong female?
"I believe the same, chief of Red Eye, our options lay bare before us."
Shasuryu stated his approval for her words.
"Humph, as if we didn't know what side you are on already…"
Juju muttered under his breath.
"You already know what our new chieftain thinks about this whole thing…"
Ziguru said nonchalantly, as if the matter didn't require any pondering at all.
Juju and Zuzu remained silent while Crusch's tail harshly slapped the ground.
"Don't insult our intelligence, chief of Green Claw! I know perfectly that we either go in together or no one does, for if we divide… the tribes who will thrive will subjugate the others… there was never a choice to begin with…"
Those red eyes of hers seemed to pierce Shasuryu's very soul. On his part, the lizardman couldn't really deny the female's words, he had long since decided that he would do whatever it takes to make sure his tribe survived.
"Is this a declaration of war Shasuryu?"
Juju asked sharply. For all Razor Tail, Small Fang and Green Claw had been allies for many years, this shift might very much tear that alliance apart.
"Dragon Tusk and Green Claw, the strongest tribes united against all the other tribes… it would be the Resources War all over again, though, being backed up by a 6th tier magic caster would make the war more of a slaughter than anything else."
Zuzu stated calmly even if the look he was giving Shasuryu said otherwise.
"Just get done with this farce already, this is nothing but a hostile takeover at best… you made us come here just to choose between submission or death!"
Crusch accused while tightening her fists.
"I am sorry, it was not my intention to take over any of the other tribes, if you accept, you will remain as the chieftain of your tribe."
Shasuryu didn't like having to deal such a cruel hand to his fellow kind, but the world had never been fair.
"Nothing but puppets… but I wonder, did we have to worry about a possible human takeover, or did the takeover already happen and this is the aftermath?"
Zuzu asked aloud. Shasuryu could not deny those words, but he didn't at all like the way the other chieftain phrased it.
"I already told you, the reason why no one ever bothered approaching us was due to the forest and both Re-Estize and Baharuth being at odds for the longest time… and yet, now that they have made peace, it is only a matter of time before one of them decides they want this lake for themselves."
The words of the young princess came back to his mind in that moment, the world truly wasn't fair.
"So, we choose the master we want to serve, before we get wiped out off the map or someone else decides for us?"
The bitterness in Juju's words was almost venomous.
"We can take the slow route… as I explained before, we accept the magic caster's offer, we thrive and commerce, we establish a stable relationship with the magic caster and by extension the Re-Estize Kingdom."
Shasuryu exposed the moderate option.
"We maintain our independence, but we have no guarantee of protection if another of the neighboring kingdoms or races decide to attack."
He explained the downside to such an action.
"On the other hand, we can offer our vassalage under the magic caster, which would mean we will be limited in our independence but will gain the protection of the human kingdom, as attacking us would mean attacking them."
It wasn't necessary to say that this was by far the less liked option.
"We could also… start slow and then consider offering our vassalage, it was a common practice among smaller kingdoms according to the princess."
Shasuryu tried to sugar coat the whole thing, without much success apparently.
"Or we can spit in their fucking faces and tell them to fuck off."
Ziguru said jokingly as he wasn't even the chief of his own tribe anymore.
"If you wish to die such a horrible death, I think it would be better to slit our own throat instead."
The larger lizardman just grunted in answer to Shasuryu's words.
"Augh, this is such a huge mess… you realize that if we go through with this… the tribes will never be the same."
Zuzu lamented the situation pretty much to everyone's agreement.
"I understand, I will take my share of responsibility for this, and if it ever comes to battle… I will be the first one to descend on the battlefield."
Shasuryu proclaimed, resolute to see this carried out to the very end.
Juju sighed in defeat.
"We already trusted you once and we won a war, I might be willing to follow you again a second time, but beware, I will be watching every step."
Juju said in defeat, Zuzu following his statement by simply nodding at Green Claw's chief.
"You already know what Dragon Tusk's answer is."
Ziguru blurted out seemingly without a care in the world.
"Well then, I don't think I have much of a choice in the matter anymore, do I?"
Crusch asked no one as her tail slumped down and she bowed her head in defeat.
"Then, this concludes the first Lake Council with the hope of many more yet to come."
Shasuryu's ending statement brought out a sad smile from some of the chieftains.
"I will inform Sir Satoru of our decision to follow through with his offer. We will receive a year's worth of resources, plus the materials to build more fish farms, in exchange we will aid him in finding the Dwarven Kingdom of the mountains… we can proceed with further negotiations from there."
Shasuryu summarized receiving a nod from every chief marking their silent agreement.
The future of the lizardmen as a race had never been more uncertain than this in the last 200 years.
{Satoru's P.O.V.}
Of all the things Satoru didn't expect, two children discussing human nature and the laws that govern the world was one of them.
What the hell were they? 21st century philosophers? What was he even supposed to say to something like that?
The undead shook his head in utter defeat, he would never understand what the hell was going on in these little devils' heads.
"Aren't you a bit too young to worry about that?"
He asked the blonde girl who just finished telling him what had transpired between her and her friend.
"Uhm, you think so?"
She asked curiously.
"Yes, I think you have experienced too little of the world to want to change it, don't mistake my words, I think your goal is noble in nature… but I don't think you have a clear way to achieve it."
He said without any malice behind his words. Removing violence from leading the world seemed a cause worth fighting for at word value, but then you realized that there was no way of doing it, power would always breed in the heart of people. Not even Touch Me was so brazen to think he could create a world of peace, but only enforce his vision of justice.
But still, he was talking to a young girl who had yet to experience the harshness of life to a certain extent. She still lives in a world of dreams. To dream is good and all but there will be a time when reality will always prevail.
'No wonder someone as cynical as Renner was rubbed off the wrong way from Lakyus' insistence on carrying on such an impossible dream' he sighed in defeat, how could he explain something like that without hurting her feelings?
While he was pondering his thoughts Lakyus remained silent, waiting for him to elaborate on his words.
"Yes, this will do… let's say you manage to convince some people of your idea… but, of course, others will not want to accept your ideals and will fight back… then what will you do?"
He asked, curious to know what she would say.
"I will protect my followers of course!"
She proclaimed pridefully.
"But then Lakyus, you would impose your own thoughts through violence yourself… even though you just defended yourself, people will fear the power you possess, and they will not challenge you or accept you out of respect but out of fear of what you can do with your power."
His words seemed to stun the young girl who seemed to be speechless.
"But, that is not what I want."
She said, outraged at the accusation.
"I know that Lakyus, but you cannot control what people think of you or your actions, you can only accept it… that is a truth I myself realized too late in life."
He said bitterly as he thought back at all he did since coming to this world and how most misunderstood it all, the figure of a certain Warrior Captain invading his mind.
"You can only be truthful and confront reality, I won't tell you that you should stop dreaming, but you cannot think everybody else will see it as you do… speak up to people, confront them directly and you might find out more perspectives than you thought possible."
Again, he was speaking from experience. Did he truly change so much in such short a time? Before he came here, in his old world, he would have never even considered such things. Maybe it was just a mixture of him reaching his thirties and his undead nature.
Lakyus on the other hand seemed to be in deep thoughts as she absently stroked the hydra's heads. Something dark seemed to gather on her face as she tugged on Satoru's sleeve to attract his attention.
"I… I can't think of an answer… what would you suggest in my situation, Satoru?"
The expectation in her eyes took Satoru aback, he only saw that glimpse in another one's eyes and the resemblance between the two, apart from the eyes, made the whole thing quite uncanny.
"Umu, as I said, the two of you should talk face to face and clear things up, I really shouldn't inter-"
He could not even finish his sentence before being interrupted.
"Not that! I mean… about my goal…"
She asked more timidly this time much to Satoru's surprise, for all he offered his advice, he never thought of how she could achieve her goal.
"I don't really have an answer for that… as I personally feel like it is impossible to achieve the way you currently envision it."
Those words seemed to discourage the blonde swordswoman who just lost all of her gathered enthusiasm.
"I see…"
She whispered down casted, making Satoru feel a bit guilty for her current mood.
"Well, do you remember the paladin of my group's adventures?"
He asked, a plan slowly forming in his mind.
"Yes, the one that split that Orc King in half with a single slash."
She said as a small smile crept on her face much to Satoru's delight.
"Well, he had somehow a goal similar in nature to yours."
He continued attracting even more the girl's attention, her eyes begging him to continue.
"He wanted for peace to come between all races, he wanted for justice to fall over those who abused their power to inflict pain on the innocent and weak, he wanted a world where just rules would ensure peaceful cohabitation."
He began, slowly reminiscing Touch Me's first years in Yggdrasil in his mind.
"For that he fought, tooth and nail, all who opposed his dream... he became strong to protect those who could not protect themselves… he called it justice, for many it was, for many it wasn't… justice is, after all, an intrinsically personal view of the world."
He continued, using Touch Me's and Ulbert's arguments as inspiration.
"Some would say that killing a village of demi-humans near a village of humans was justice as they would prevent said demi-humans from potentially attacking the humans… but then, was that justice for the children of those demi-humans slain for something they may or may not have done in the future?"
He asked rhetorically not leaving time for Lakyus to answer.
"Yet, would it be justice to do nothing and potentially become the cause of those humans' future death?"
Again, that wasn't really a question with an answer.
"You see, justice is what every one of us perceive as just and right, which might not be the same for the person standing next to us."
Lakyus seemed rapt by his words even though he was just repeating what his guildmates said changing the details here and there.
"So, you see, my friend fought to impose his justice over everybody else's, was that right? I don't know, though his use of violence brought hope and joy to many people as it brought despair to many others."
He sighed as he proceeded to stand up.
"He was a kind and gentle soul who would have gladly laid down his life for any of his friends, even those he didn't see eye to eye with… that was the spirit within Nine's Own Goal."
He understood he blurted out too much just a second too late as the name of the clan left his nonexistent lips. He paused for a moment as he tensed up before his Emotional Suppression kicked in.
'Well, that is done now, not like anyone would remember the name of a little clan buried in the past of Yggdrasil… fortunately I didn't give out the name of the guild, that would have been quite the mess' he tried to reason with himself to convince himself it wasn't a big deal.
"W-Well, either way, the question remains the same, will you fight for what you believe even if it means using violence against those you perceive as evil and cruel, or will you observe the world go on without being able to change anything due to your own convictions?"
He took control of the situation once more with a last second save, he hoped it would serve to make Lakyus forget his blunder.
On her part the girl didn't say anything for a long time, she was far too focused on her own thoughts to even notice the hydra cooing for her attention. Satoru himself thought that he would not be surprised if steam began to leak out of her ears by now.
He disrupted her train of thought by ruffling her hair, which seemed to do the work as her eyes shifted from focusing on nothing to focusing on him.
"You don't have to reach a conclusion by tomorrow, you will have years ahead of you to understand what you wish to do… come on now, it is almost nighttime, and you have a princess to speak with before a well-deserved rest."
He said as the young swordswoman gave him one of her own signature smiles.
"Yeah, I think you are right."
She said standing up from the hard ground as they began to move back toward their encampment.
"And Satoru… thank you, I think I feel a lot better now."
Those words at least made all of his mental strain worth it he guessed.
"Just try to not make it a habit, I have just so much wisdom to impart before running out, I am only thirty after all."
That comment, said so seriously, caused a fit of giggles to erupt from the blonde girl.
"Yes, yes, I will keep that in mind… but no promises!"
She jokingly answered, eliciting an amused chuckle to leave the undead's throat.
For an instant he felt like he wasn't alone in a foreign world. That warm and steady sensation in his chest that, for some reason, lingered more than a few instances before being suppressed, so reminiscent of a time long gone.
He just wished he could have more of that, and a little part of him dared to hope he would in the future.