Chapter 90: Recruiting Process

Regardless of the situation, having a couple of bloodies might help to ease any kind of future diplomacy on the road toward Torie Citadel.

Also, bloodie coin could also be used as a lifeline and all sort of ohrtending or psionic catalyst—something that was crucial to craft all sorts of magical items, especially when using materials from Calamity Objects.

Preparing our monetary before we step into a proper civilization could also help us a lot in many way.

"I suppose the wind is helping you again." Verina took the paper with a nod, her sharp eyes scanning the contents before folding it with methodical precision. She didn't say much after that—didn't need to. I could already tell she understood every word, every fate I had laid out for these bandits.

Kuzunoha, of course, was less reserved as she peeked into the content of the paper.

"Ah, I see," she mused, folding her arms across her chest, her crimson gaze flitting lazily between the trembling bandits. "You've categorized them quite meticulously, darling. How thoughtful."

Her voice was laced with sarcasm, but I didn't indulge on it this time. I didn't need her approval.

Before I knew it, all of the bandits' names were already confirmed and they were separated into their respective groups that were ten meters away from one another.

There weren't many restraints that prevented the bandits from revolving, but my consistent presence appeared to be enough to keep them docile, especially since they know that both Verina and Kuzunoha alone could easily kick all of their asses. Searᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

With me being the silent arbiter, I observed as Verina approached the first group and isolated them one by one—the interrogatables. There were ten of them, all sitting at attention, or at least trying to. Their fate wasn't sealed yet, but they weren't out of danger either. They were the ones who still had something to offer. Information, perhaps. Leverage.

I already had the big picture of the existence of their group by just picking their Log tabs, but I would also prefer if they gave me anything beyond those dull chatty logs.

"You're next," Verina said to a scrawny man at the front, her tone impassive. "Talk, or don't. We'll get what we need either way."

I didn't need to see what would happen next. Verina's methods were thorough and, to put it bluntly, terrifying in their own right. I trusted her to handle the interrogations with her usual cold efficiency.

Kuzunoha on the other place, meanwhile, circled the five recruitable bandits like a predator assessing prey.

There was something unsettling about the way her crimson eyes gleamed as she watched them, as if she was sizing them up for something more than simple recruitment. One of the bandits, a heavily scarred man with Theotech implants visible under his skin, caught her eye.

My ears were sensitive enough to catch their conversation.

"This one's interesting," she said, a sly smile playing on her lips. "What's your name?"

The man hesitated, glancing at his comrades, before answering. "Kestrel."

"Kestrel, huh? Tell me, Kestrel," Kuzunoha purred, leaning closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "In the scenario where your heart is being prepared to be thrown at a grinding machine… how far would you go to survive?"

He flinched, unsure of how to respond, but it didn't matter. Kuzunoha already knew the answer. She always did. That's the thing about her—she never asks a question she doesn't already know the answer to.

As for the rest of the recruitables, they stood in tense silence, waiting for their turn. Two had resisted outright. Those two… well, I didn't see them lasting much longer. Kuzunoha would deal with them in her own way.

The fate of the rest—the disposable bandits—was still pending. Some of them might be turned into eternal servants, bound to us by contracts they couldn't escape from through arcane shenanigans. Others might simply be executed, their lives deemed worthless in the grand scheme of things—or the Bloodifciation.

I hadn't fully explained it to these useless piles of sack of flesh—hadn't needed to—but I could tell they sensed something was off. The way their gazes kept darting toward me, then to Verina, then back again, like they were trying to figure out their place in this new, horrifying equation.

Though, for the most part, I left both Verina and Kuzunoha to do their thing. As for me, I'm currently preparing their next meal, and possibly the meal for the future bastioneer of this group.

I didn't want Verina and Kuzunoha to finish this whole process in a hurry, so they were quite meticulous in their job.

At one point, I was approached by Kuzunoha while I was preparing for the meat stew.

"Manpower is one thing," Kuzunoha said with a smile. "But why? Why recruit at all when you could simply dispose of them and save yourself the hassle? I doubt that the three of us are greatly troubled by anything." Enjoy more content from m-v l'e-NovelFire

She asked it with genuine curiosity, her crimson gaze boring into mine, though I could sense an undertone of challenge in her question.

"I prefer to have more people under my wings who can share the burden of survival," I replied evenly. "It's not just about manpower. It's about laying the groundwork for something bigger, something sustainable. Even in Carcosa, there's strength in numbers, don't you think so?"

Kuzunoha's gaze flickered with something akin to surprise. Then, strangely, she nodded in agreement. "Survival is best shared," she murmured, almost to herself. "Perhaps you're more pragmatic than I gave you credit for."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

Most of the bandits were already dealt with according to the orders on the list. Verina and Kuzunoha worked efficiently, methodically. There was no room for mercy in Carcosa. Not unless it served a greater purpose.

The recruitables were separated and gathered somewhere on the skirt of the bastion, for now. They have no reason to escape, since they already settled on a deal with one of us amidst the recruiting process.

They'd need to prove themselves useful before earning any semblance of trust too.

As for the interrogatables, their fate left in Verina's capable hands. Some of them however, were also part of the recruitable list, so my lovely and hard-working kilnalan was working overtime there.

As for the disposables… well, their fate was still up in the air. Right now, they were shackled by some arcane contraption that would damage their organ if they were to resist. Kuzunoha was quite more sadistic than I thought.

We also confiscated their weapons and fabric. Not to mention, a couple of bloodies in our pocket.

The amount wasn't much, but they were better than nothing.

Which surprised me, since they were a sizable group for a bandit. Thankfully, Verina extracted a couple of crucial information outside of their Logs to piece up what was actually going on.

Though, it wasn't anything groundbreaking or interesting, so I'll mention it again when the topic was brought up.

As the afternoon black-sun began to seek for the horizon, casting long shadows over the encampment, I couldn't shake the feeling that this whole event might be the start of something big.

So, right before the whole process was done, I asked Kuzunoha if she was able to perform one thing that could put my mind temporarily at ease.

"Can you turn the male recruits into females?"