Chapter 517 517 Where to Put Them
There was no mistaking the moan that she let out as Wolfe pulled the wristband off her and flooded her system with mana, and the other witches began to give Wolfe suspicious looks. They didn't seem to sense the mental pressure that happened when the curse broke, which appeared to be a defensive mechanism against tampering. Only, Wolfe had never touched the spell that the Mana Beast had cast.
"Fine, I've had my fun. The intense flow of mana from my spell is extremely pleasant. You can ask them when they're coherent again. They haven't been harmed, and it is essential to the process. The bloodline curse has been removed from them, and they'll be perfectly functional again in a few minutes." Wolfe explained.
Priya took the two wristbands from him and placed them back on the recovering Witches, using a surge of Earth Magic to mend the broken latch on the single use items.
It took far more mana than the spell usually would, but the items were targeted at the wearer, not at protecting themselves, and she had Wolfe's reserves as a backup if she needed them.
Wolfe started on the third of the witches as the first one finally got her wits about her and pointed an accusing finger at Wolfe.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you, you sadistic Demon? You get off on humiliating witches in public." She shouted, though it came out breathy and not as loud as she intended.
Priya snickered and smirked at Wolfe. "I should have mentally prepared for this trip, they're going to make my sides hurt from laughing so much. But I can't even say that she's wrong. I know that you enjoy this just as much as she did. Possibly in a different way, though."
Wolfe ignored the banter as he moved through the rest of the witches, leaving them all a befuddled mess on the floor of the large fan boat.n).OVelbIn
"There, done and done. How is it, little Sprite? Do they smell better now?" He asked.
"Yes, very much so. Thanks for the help, but I should ditch before we get to the Dryad's pond. She talks far too much, and I've got things to do today." The small creature insisted, then jumped off Wolfe's shoulder and back into the trees with an agility that could only be magical.
Priya fixed the bracelets back onto all the prisoners once she was sure that the process was complete and their auras had returned to normal, locking away their powers again so that they wouldn't cause magical trouble in the village.
The driver pulled the boat to the docks outside Forest Grove and Wolfe made a grand gesture, waving to the village, which was hidden behind a wall of trees in the thick forest.
"Welcome, ladies, to your new home. At least for the duration of this conflict. Please follow me and I will bring you to the main gates where I am sure we will be greeted by a large number of local busybodies, and Miss Priya here will get you all set up with rooms and a duty rotation for the week."
While they were confused and still a bit shaky from the experience of having Wolfe break the curses on them, they all dutifully followed him, with the guards surrounding them and Priya taking up the back of the line.
Wolfe stepped aside as they passed through the gates and let the group take in the village, with the elevated walkways, the spire, the glowing Faerie lights in the trees, and the glowing defensive spell orb floating in the air above the top of the spire.
"Welcome to Forest Grove." He announced, while the witches stared in wonder at the surrounding sights, including a small girl flying on a broom up to the cafeteria, and the abundance of animal people going about their days.
"This is where you live? This is spectacular. I can see that you have surrounded it with a wall, but not like the one at home. It's all open and natural, and there are living things everywhere." One of the witches gasped.
Wolfe thought of the Fortress Cities and wondered if that was the sort of place that the Witches on their continents were still living, without having expanded back out into the wilderness due to the threat of the monsters that they had never gone out and culled before they could get out of control.
Those questions could wait for a while, until he had settled these witches into their new routine, and he had gotten additional information on what was going on out in the Wastes.
Priya was the best bet to get those answers, but she was also the head of security and with a number of prisoners incoming, she had a lot to do at the moment, so Wolfe was going to have to find someone else to answer his questions.
The whole group stood still for a few minutes while they took in the sights of a Fae blessed village, and then a small group of workers, two male werewolves and a female bunny, came over to greet them.
"We heard that there are prisoners who need a work duty. We're a bit shorthanded in our department, so if you think that they can be trusted with it, we wouldn't mind putting them on our team and looking after them." The Bunny suggested politely.
"Which team is that?" Priya asked, unable to recall what task these three were assigned to.
"We run the munitions cases from the production line to the enchanting room. Without their magic, they shouldn't be any trouble, and it's really labour-intensive." The girl explained, holding up a clipboard with the last shift's production numbers on them.
Wolfe smiled at her. "I guess that means I've got work to do before I wander off again, doesn't it?"
All three of them nodded very seriously before the Bunny answered. "You do, but Kira has a great idea on how to make it easier. She has been studying a book and says that you can make a thing that will let others make the thing on the stuff, and you won't need to be there."
Amazingly, Wolfe actually understood that. Kira had found an array that would let the user transfer an inscription to another object repeatedly. Once that array was created, any of the Witches with sufficient strength, the Demons or the Magi girls could run the inscription side of the production line.
Priya tapped her fingers on her sword hilt as she considered whether it was safe to have them work in the munitions' production room.
"I am not convinced that would be the best place for the first week. Maybe later once they have settled in. For now, I want them somewhere with less potential for explosions or food poisoning."
One of the Werewolves chuckled. "In that case, why not put them on decorating duty for the week? We've got a festival coming up, and that's why everyone is shorthanded, they're splitting off staff to decorate the market square and the commons."
"That's perfect. I hope you enjoy making things pretty, ladies, you're going to spend your first week here meeting people and getting the common areas of the village ready for the next festival. You'll like those, we get a load of visitors from every village in the area, and likely even from the Myrrh Coven this time." Priya informed them with a smile.
It would also keep them out in the open where she could keep an eye on them.