Chapter 510 510 Doing A Favor
510 510 Doing A Favor
The first scout that he came across bowed politely to Wolfe. "Snow Demon, thank you for coming to help us. Are there other villages still suffering?"
Wolfe shook his head. "I think that you were the last, or at least this is the last of the battles that I have a location for. I am going to gather all these injured witches, and I'm hoping that you have a box full of anti-magic bracelets somewhere. It's the only way to deal with them safely until they calm down."
The scout nodded. "Yeah, we steal them from the soldiers all the time, just in case we come across hostile slavers, or have a chance to capture a Witch of our own to convince her to stay with the village. Are you claiming these ones for yourself?"
"I'm going to interrogate them and take the ones that I can transport back to my village. Did you have a particular use for a witch that isn't going to upset me?" Wolfe replied.
"We want them to work to rebuild what they destroyed at our new location." The scout explained.
Wolfe nodded in understanding.
"Alright, if there is one that is capable and not likely to try to murder you at the first chance, I will see what I can do to get them to go with you without a fight. If they're going to rebuild, you need to trust them enough to eventually take the wristband off."
The scout sighed. "It's not going to be a fast process, but now that this den has been compromised, we won't return here, so we will do our best to survive the winter, and then we will see how much we can get built next year. By a year from now, she might have calmed down enough."
Wolfe noticed that there was one Witch awake nearby, who was beginning to panic as they talked, as she was only hearing chirping from the feathered beast kin man, with Wolfe's side of the conversation in return.
He turned her way and smiled.
"What they are asking is that I don't kill the witches here. Well, the ones that are still alive anyhow. They would like for you to help build them a new den as reparations for the one you destroyed. You see, your Government broadcast that we had seven days to evacuate the area, and you attacked on day three. Or perhaps it's still late on day two.
That wasn't very sporting of you, and in the mind of the locals it's only right that you provide compensation." Wolfe explained.
"Compensation? You want us to pay compensation to whatever that is?" She asked.
"He's a sparrow type bird kin, I'm pretty sure. And yes, that is precisely what we expect. Not you specifically, but one of the survivors here who is less argumentative and more willing to accept that their leadership committed a grave crime here."
The woman spluttered in rage at the accusation, so Wolfe elaborated.
"If the government told you that your home had been condemned, and you had seven days to leave, then they showed up to kill you for squatting on the second day, would you consider it a crime?" He asked.
The witch frowned, but nodded her head.
"Exactly. That is what happened here. We had no idea that your government even existed. We haven't had contact with the other continents since the Great War. Then suddenly, there is an army here calling our home a war memorial and killing the residents before they could even pack up or find another place to live."
"What is going to happen to the others?" The witch asked.
"I am going to take them prisoner and lock them behind a Demonic Barrier that prevents any hostile actions by binding the intent of their souls. They will be free to go about their day, but if they try to harm anyone, the spell will kill them."
It wouldn't. The spell wouldn't let them do it in the first place, but there was a good chance to try to get this witch to go along with helping the villagers, and that would be much more time effective than searching through all the others to find one willing one.
[You know, you're a bit terrifying when you do that? Even I was intimidated, and we're on the same side.] The beast kin whispered so that his voice didn't startle the witch.
Wolfe nodded. "That reminds me. The curse only affects verbal communication. You can pass notes back and forth, and they can read them just fine."
"What do you mean?" She asked, and Wolfe facepalmed. Of course, none of these witches knew about the Frozen Wastes.
"There is a curse on this continent, well, part of it, that prevents the humans from speaking to the Witches. Give it a few days, and I'm pretty sure that the ones in your army will succumb to it as well." Wolfe explained.
They were going to succumb because as soon as a human was in one of the many ancient battlefields of the Frozen Wastes they began to mutate from the lingering radiation. Witches could heal it, but it wouldn't take long before the curses decided that they were subject to the restriction as well, and those who were only beginning to suffer from the restriction would begin to panic.
The witch's expression hardened as she made her decision, and Wolfe prepared for her to lash out and attack.
"Demon, do me a favour. I want you to save the remainder of my team, and bring them to safety away from the battle. In exchange, I will help these villagers set up a new camp somewhere safe." She requested with an expression that suggested that the words pained her.
"Agreed. You will need to do the healing, but I will take them away somewhere safe, and you will go with these villagers and help them set up a new village somewhere safe. You won't take any action that will directly or indirectly harm the residents of the Wastes for as long as I am taking care of your team members."
[Favour Activated]n-)O/.v-/ε.-L)/B--1)-n
"She swore that she wouldn't harm the residents of the wastes. It's a Demonic Curse, so there is no need to lock her magic away if you don't want to. She promised to help you build a village somewhere safe." Wolfe explained to the scout, to make sure that he understood the terms.
"Got it. We've brought the other survivors here. There's a lot of them, though, so I'm not sure how you will get them home." The scout explained.
"I'm going to borrow a truck, or call for a plane once we get far enough away from the army. I will have them back in the Fae Forest by the end of the day, don't worry." Wolfe explained.
"In that case, there is a spare truck a kilometre away. It's got a full tank of fuel, and we're not using it. You can have that one." The scout agreed, pointing in the right direction.
"Thanks, good luck with your new home."
The scout gave him a salute, and Wolfe gestured to the injured and stunned Witches. "It's time to get to work. Some of them are in bad shape, and you're the only one here who can use healing magic."