Chapter 181 181 They're Everywhere



"Everyone, your attention, please. This will only take a minute. There are some safety and courtesy guidelines that need to be followed while you're here.

First, do not block any of the air vents. The caverns need circulation. They're not personal air conditioners.

Second, there will be no violence or theft. If we have any, you will be leaving immediately.

Third, if you see any mutants, do not attack. They are our allies. The curse on them doesn't let them communicate with Witches, but they can pass letters, and they can talk with Wolfe when there are no witches around.

If you see them upstairs, they will either be dealing with Wolfe or dropping off our share of supplies from a trade or an attack on the human army's reinforcement convoys. I can't stress this enough. We need those supplies. It's where our food comes from." Priya informed the room in a stern voice.

"Are you sure they're not dangerous? We were chased by them only a day ago." Someone asked.

"They won't attack anyone spotted with Wolfe and have agreed not to kill trespassing witches unless the witches attack first," Priya informed them.

"Come to think of it. They chased us in this direction before we found the tracks of the other group. Maybe they were leading us here." The old woman added in a thoughtful voice.

"Do they know that he is part of a Sylvan Army team? They're not just trying to give us to a demon to stay on his good side, are they?"

Wolfe chuckled at that analysis. They might not be wrong. Everyone knew that Wolfe wanted more team members so he could take on more of the invaders safely. Leading witches to him would make him happy, so the motive of the locals leading witches to him could go either way.

It wasn't like they had a good relationship with the witches outside of his protection, to begin with. So they wouldn't be bothered by a few going missing if Wolfe decided to just keep them.

Priya chuckled and finished her speech. "Yes, they know. They also collect rewards for helping to collect intelligence for the coven. They have an interest in making the convoys do minimal damage while they are in the Wastes.

If nobody has other questions, I'll let you finish eating. We will work on expanding the complex to make room for everyone tomorrow, and we can talk about getting you all back to military readiness after that.

We have a method to reduce the damage done by the nerve gas and slowly restore your aura. Even if you didn't have much of one, to begin with, there is a chance that this process will bring you up to a passable standard." 

It was a good call, the witches were in a much better mood now, and terrified exhaustion was slowly turning to hope.

Wolfe went up to the storage rooms and dug out a crate full of uniforms. They were from the mundane army, but they were clean and dry, so he brought a case of small and medium uniforms down to their new arrivals.

"There are clean clothes here for after your shower. Mundane army uniforms, and I know there are rules about going to battle in them, but they will make good casual clothes since we don't have any Sylvan uniforms." He explained.

Priya had everything handled, so Wolfe turned in for the night. He managed to make it until dawn undisturbed and woke up to the usual message from Stephanie.

[The food is cooking, and there's a message for you. The locals keep finding more witches. They think a camp collapsed or was overrun. But, you know, they can't speak witch.]

Cassie and Ella looked exhausted, and they had only joined him in bed a few hours ago, so Wolfe decided to grab different assistants today.

"Mio, is your group up for a field trip? We need to go collect a lot of witches from the snow." He called.

"Sure thing, boss. Are you expecting trouble?" The unofficial spokesperson of the Servants replied from over by the kitchen alcove that had been dug last night to isolate the heat from spreading through the rest of the cave.

"The mutants have captured a bunch of them, and they're going to panic if they only see a demon. Filling the rescue team with witches is for the best."

That made a lot of the others laugh. The groups from last night were skittish enough. These ones would be in a full-on panic when they saw him.

After a quick breakfast, Wolfe led the group out into the snow, clad in matching winter gillie suits made with the new layered armour technique.

As they walked, Wolfe paid special attention to drawing mana into the group using the Servants bond so that their aura could finish recovering. They were nearly back up to a balanced state with Cassie and Ella, where the link would hold them stable, and their mana flow was back to normal.

That was good news for him. Now that they were mostly healed, he could start channelling mana through them in an emergency again, as well as during regular casting, and greatly increase his own power.

"The first group should only be a few kilometres away. They dug in when the locals appeared, and the note from the scout team says that they're not moving." Wolfe informed the witches with him.

As they got close, Wolfe spotted the dog-eared scout who was supervising the refugees, and the mutants pantomimed marching and prisoners. Wolfe assumed that meant this group was captured by humans and taken as prisoners of war.

The note that Stephanie relayed this morning hadn't been lying about there being a lot of witches in the area. There were almost a hundred of them here, all wearing shackles will null stones in them to keep the witches from using magic.

From what Wolfe could tell, there were only two dozen humans, and they were all gathered at one side of the low spot they had hidden in.

The mutants scout turned up his radio for Wolfe to listen as the soldiers here reported their position and their command told them to hold tight as a patrol was coming for the prisoners in under an hour.

As soon as the transmission was complete, Wolfe fired a single round until the camp, letting the [Fireball] eliminate the guards.

He gestured his witches forward behind him and approached low to the ground in case he missed someone. The witches were looking around in panic, but nobody was threatening them, so Wolfe stood up and approached the camp with a smile.

"Good morning, ladies. Wolfe Noxus is at your service. I have a one-day-only, limited-time offer for you. How would you like to join the witches of my unit and eliminate the mundane armies?"