2.1 In Which the Dark Lord Gazes Into the Abyss

2.1 In Which the Dark Lord Gazes Into the Abyss

All right, everyones tired, so lets make this quick.

I had always wondered why my fortress, a former military outpost built on what had been the frontier of civilization and was now well beyond it, contained a formal dining room. Fortunately Id never asked anyone, so I only had to be embarrassed in my own head; that was not, in fact, the purpose of the chamber with the long table. Now cleaned and aired out as part of my ongoing campaign to restore North Watch to livability, the conference room was fully lit by bottled light slimes on akorshil stands in the corners, and fragrant with the spicy-sweet scent of Fflyr tea.

My main goal up to this point has been to recruit the women of Cat Alley, I continued, and now theyre here. More the worse for wear than Id hoped, but at least I have time to make it up to them and the ability to protect them from more reprisals from our enemies in the city. We now pivot to the next stage of the plan, and now that its no longer just me and a handful of bandits out here, Id like to go over our situation, our needs, and our strategy with all of you.

And have you planned all the way to the end of world conquest? Miss Minifrit drawled.

Im sure it will be a great comfort to you to know that Im making this up as I go along, I said with a pleasant smile. She just raised a wry eyebrow and Sakin laughed, but Kassers shoulders slumped and he sank lower in his seat. However, we are still within the realm of matters I have a strategy for. The next step is securing control of the entire criminal underworld on the whole island. That means killing Lady Gray and destroying or recruiting whatevers left of her organization in Gwyllthean, and doing the same to the various bandit gangs active in the countryside.

Youll need a plan to deal with Clan Olumnach if you mean to take over their stranglehold on the local bandits, said Aster.

I have one. Or more accurately, I have several, depending on how things shape up with regard to them. Well put off addressing that in detail because I dont want to commit to a specific course if events might still push us in a different direction. Thats exactly how Gray kept tripping me up. Likewise, before coming to the end of the current phase I mean to have the next step laid out, but right now were going to focus on the more immediate term.

I paused to take a sip of my tea. By this point Id learned to actually like the flavor, though it was strong and so different from anything I would have called tea at home in Japan that I still inwardly objected to the comparison. Still, they did make it by boiling leaves, so I guess technically

First things first, I said, setting the cup down. Now that its not just eight people in the forest, an actual chain of command is needed. For that, I simply want to formalize the arrangements that have sprung up naturally. Aster, youre my second in command.

General of the Dark Lords armies, she murmured, lifting her own cup and holding it under her nose without taking a sip. Oh, if only my dad could see me now.

Life is strange for us all, Minifrit said with a wry smile, then took a long drag on her ever-present pipe. The smell of it actually wasnt unpleasant, a nice counterpoint to the teain fact, it had a similar spicy-sweet aroma. Not that I intended to cease nitpicking at her about the constant smoking. Having personally miraculously Healed her of what Im pretty sure was lung cancer, I felt entitled to make all the comments I wanted.

Miss Minifrit, I continued, if you are amenable, I would like to continue relying on your administrative abilities. You are now in charge of personnel; youll be responsible for organizing our people and mediating conflicts in the ranks. Preventing conflicts from arising in the first place, if you can manage it, but Im not going to ask for miracles.

She inclined her head. Im flattered by your confidence, Lord Seiji. I shall do my utmost.

First thing is to get everyone trained and ready to deploy, I continued. Right now were not planning to field a professional army; banditry requires competence rather than mastery. Training will continue and Id like to increase everyones skills as much as possible over time, but at the moment I need people ready to start raiding caravans and taking down other bandit gangs within a week.

One of those sounds rather more dangerous than the other, Minifrit said, sharp-eyed.

I nodded. We use ambush tactics and goblin alchemy to minimize any hand to hand combat, but thats still assuming everything always goes according to plan, which it never does. Ill be leading operations against gangs myself, so anyone along on those can be Healed at need. For the rest, I want to be able to delegate and have units able to function autonomously. So! What we need now is to get people able to reasonably hold their own in a fight, use crossbows with consistent accuracy, and familiar with our methods and tactics. The second part theyll have to learn in the field, but weapon and general combat training we can do here in North Watch.

She took a drag of smoke and blew it off to the side. Can you be specific about your needs, expectations, and timetable?

Yes, I can. First, I need you to organize a training schedule, identify anyone whos already skilled enough to teach, and put them in that role. The system youd already set up with the girls from the Alley Cat seemed to work, but now in addition to more people to train, weve got another handful of Lady Grays former fighters. Leverage as many as you can, in groups as small as possible, to maximize the education everyones getting. In one week I mean to make a move, for which Ill need everyone whos ready to move by then. I dont expect more than a handful to be talented enough to be ready at that point, but a handful should suffice for my next step. Additionally, over the long term, itll be your responsibility to organize teams to operate together. That means watching for people with leadership potential for me to interview, and setting up the groups themselves. I hesitated before adding my final thought. Try, if you can, to mix people up. I dont want factions within my organization, so dont collect too many people from the same brothel into one team.

A certain amount of that would be necessary, anyway, if we are to organize people by aptitude, she mused, but Ill keep it in mind beyond that, Lord Seiji. Very well, I can begin as soon as everyone is awake.

Thank you, Minifrit. I realize this indirectly places pressure on you to form the entire rest of the chain of command, so reach out to me for anything you need. And justgenerally. I want to be kept informed of progress and any decisions you make. For the time being, while everythings in flux, well meet daily to go over it.

She nodded again, with that same dry little smile she so often wore.

With that, theres just one other post to arrange at this early stage of planning, I said. Kasser, Im placing you in charge of facilities. That means everything related to the maintenance and repair of North Watch itself.

He blinked, straightening up in his seat. Whme?

You, I said solemnly. Youll answer directly to me, or Aster if Im not available. Eventually, your job will just be to keep everything clean, oiled, and working well, but right now you also have a campaign ahead of you, given the state of this place. Keep me informed of anything you require to continue the project; I will try not to have unreasonable expectations of you, but I would like North Watch fully cleaned and repaired as soon as we can manage it.

Some of that we straight up dont have the capacity to do, Lord Seiji, he protested. There are multiple places where the masonry itself is broken and we dont have a thistwright on hand to oversee that. If you get me mortar and akorthist blocks I can stack the one on top of the other same as anybody, but as a craftsman myself Im here to tell you that putting a job like that in the hands of someone not trained in it will cause you even bigger problems down the road.

Im aware, I said, nodding. Do what you can. Ill see about finding an actual mason for us, but barring that, you have my blessing to make any patch jobs with akorshil so youll be able to guarantee the quality and also remove them later if were able to fix the masonry properly in the future. The battlements might look weird with plank walkways and barriers, but I prefer that to the holes they have now.

I turned my attention to Minifrit, nodding again.

So Kassers job is also going to affect yours, Minifrit. He needs people to work with, Im not gonna ask him and Harold to rebuild this entire fortress with their own four hands. For now, while this place is still such a mess, I want people to have cleaning shifts as well, thatll be everyones job in addition to combat training. In the longer-term, I want a dedicated staff to look after the facilities. Kasser, form a plan and come to me with an estimate of how many you need. Until we have that, Minifrit, please be on the lookout for people who are unsuited or disinclined to combat. I know weve picked up a few who hate fighting and I dont want to either waste them or force them to do something thatll make them miserable.

Ah, if I may? Kasser lifted one hand in the most timid gesture Id seen from him. Also, Miss Minifrit, if you could please keep an eye out for people who seem to have an aptitude for construction or crafting, or who particularly want to learn? Id sort of prefer not to end up working entirely with the rejects and washouts.

I can do that, she said, smiling with warm amusement.

Yes, good point, I agreed, though lets not call people rejects and washouts, please. Everyone out here has taken an enormous risk throwing in with me, and the first and most important job I have for all of you is to make sure theyre all treated with respect and dignity. Thats the best thing we can do to differentiate our organization fromwell, the entire rest of Fflyr society.

Everyone nodded solemnly, and I took a break to have a long sip of tea.

It wasnt blood tea, which was probably for the best as I think I had minor heart palpitations in the first few hours after downing a cup of that. I didnt know what plants the Fflyr were brewing with but at least one of them had more caffeine than coffee. After the day-long, exhausting hike back to North Watch with a hundred refugees in tow, and the battle in Cat Alley before that, I felt like I was on the brink of collapse. Id considered putting off this meeting till everyone was awake. But I wanted to have a plan in place for when everyone was awake, and when I discreetly asked, Aster had admitted she was as wired from our recent adventure as I. Minifrit had been safely back at the castle at the time, Kasser seemed okay, and I didnt really care what Sakin felt. So, here we were, finishing this business now.

With that settled: plans. First of all, our strategic position. Sakin?

Defenses need to be a priority, he said, all business for once. Whatever Lady Gray does or doesnt do, and despite our best efforts, there was just no way of concealing the trail we left back here. We should assume our position will shortly be known. Probably not by the Kingsguard, at least not immediately, but once that intelligence is out there others will be able to find it.

I can guarantee we werent followed, Biribo chimed in from his customary place hovering over my shoulder. I was paying attention for that.

Sure, Sakin agreed with a shrug, but Im talking about stuff like footprints. Walking up the streams we did will help, and Ill agree we did our due diligence, but this is a matter of generalities. You cant move this many people not trained for stealth without leaving a trail. So! Defenses.

Indeed, I said. Kasser, how are the doors coming along?

Harold and I have the one to put across the goblin tunnel almost built, he reported. Well have to install it inside the tunnel as the masonry around it is too crumbly to give us a proper anchor. Maugro will definitely notice us doing construction work in there. I hope he doesnt take too much offense.

Biribo flicked his tongue out. Maybe. Its hard to say for sure without hearing from em directly, boss, butmy advice in the absence of better datawell, first of all, is to get better data. Theres gotta be somebody on this island whos familiar with the ways of the cat tribe. Aside from the cats themselves, I mean.

The Kings Guild would be the place to ask about that, said Aster.

Right, good thought. But pending that, I recommend leaving them alone and letting em make the first move. Its a common convention among beastfolk, orcs, and others whore forced to scrabble on the outskirts that whoever makes the approach is in the subordinate position. Believe me, boss, you only wanna deal with them from a posture of strength. Eventually, one way or another, they will come to you.

And if their method of coming to us consists of arrows out of the forest? Minifrit asked pointedly.

Like the lizard said, theyre not likely to try that now, said Sakin. For people who live as close to the edge of survival as the beastfolk tribes do, starting shit with a dangerous group that rivals theirs in size is a desperate last resort. Based on what little we know and Biribos insights I reckon whats most likely is theyre hanging back and watching us to figure out whats going on before they do anything. Every change we make around here will put off their making an approach, then, but one way or another theyll eventually come introduce themselves, if only because leaving us as an unknown this close to their village is dangerous.

So, I said, the consensus is that we should continue ignoring the cats for now?

Wellsort of, Sakin hedged. This does raise an issue: our food situation. We can trap crawns, so were not gonna starve until hibernation season, but the biggest way to supplement our food stores would be to hunt and forage. Doing that in territory the catfolk have claimed as their own is an unequivocally hostile move. Thats the leading cause of tribes going to war against each other.

Mm. I frowned, thinking. My brain felt slow; the tea was no longer helping as much as it had been, and I needed to wrap this up and collapse into bed. Well, thats also something we can kick down the road. Taking out bandit gangs and taking over their territory will also open up areas for hunting and gathering.

Thats true, Sakin acknowledged.

Okay, I said, standing up and pushing back my chair. Thanks, everybody. I think this gives us a starting point. Everybody know what they need to get to work on first thing tomorrow? Any other urgent issues? Good, I suggest everyone get some rest. Weve got the next week or so to catch our breath, but after that its back to violence and mayhem.

I love this job, Sakin practically sang, already sauntering toward the door. Kasser heaved a sigh, folded down hands at me, and followed him at a circumspect distance.

Actually, Lord Seiji, there is something I wanted to ask you, said Minifrit, intercepting me just short of the door.

I glanced back at Aster, who raised an eyebrow. Minifrit had clearly waited until the boys were out before speaking up, but apparently it wasnt that private.

Whats on your mind, Minifrit? I asked, suppressing a yawn. Scuze me. Its not the company, its the hours.

Of course, she replied with one of those feline smiles of hers. I wont keep you long, my lord. But while I have your attention, Im afraid my wardrobe is somewhat diminished since I was forced to leave the Alley Cat in such a hurry. Do you think my dress issuitable?

I started to irritably demand why the hell I should care about this, but before I got as far as opening my mouth she was already tracing one fingertip into the very low neckline of her dress, drawing my eyes inexorably to the mostly-exposed expanse of her chest.

Minifrits chest wasworth seeing. She was the most buxom woman Id met on Ephemera and possibly ever, except for maybe that rude goblin who worked for Miss Sneppit. Zui, that was her name. Unlike Zui, Minifrit dressed to flaunt her assets. Also, while the traditional Fflyr prostitutes uniform tended to resemble a loose dressing gown wrapped around the waist with ribbon, I could tell Minifrits had some kind of internal support, because those things were way too high up and perfectly shaped for their size and her age.

I realized, belatedly, that Id been staring for a couple of silent seconds. Dammit, I had better self-control than this; exhaustion is a hell of a drug. But just as I started to shrug off that momentary distraction and look for an answer, Minifrit deliberately shook her shoulders in a way that set her bosom to bouncing in the most bewitching

The memory of so many screams they all ran together as one chorus of agony, the smell of rot and sicknesspleading eyes, gaunt faces full of despair, blood running

I gasped and stumbled back, bracing myself against the wall and clutching my head. This time, it took a lingering moment for my vision to clear. The echoes didnt vanish instantly, fading over the next few seconds. I realized that Aster had darted to my side, reaching out, but then hesitated to actually touch me.

Anger pierced through the fog of remembered trauma, and I welcomed it as a preferable alternative. Again she pulled this shit? I was no longer amused.

Listen, you

You listen to me. Minifrit surged forward, reaching up to take my face in both her hands, gently. When had she put down her pipe? She was always carrying that damn pipe Lord Seiji, you have never once condemned or judged any of the women of Cat Alley for the injuries and diseases caused by the lives we led there. You just healed them. No one whose opinion matters will judge you for this, you understand? Its an injury of the brain, nothing more or less. One your magic cant fix by itself. It is no diminishment or reflection upon you as a man, or a leader. But it is an injury, and one which needs to be dealt with. Even if youre stubborn enough to dismiss your own suffering as unimportant, this causes a predictable reaction which can be recognized and exploited. Look how easily I did it! Lady Gray is definitely savvy enough to spot something like that and take advantageand lets be real, youre the Dark Lord. She is far from the most dangerous person youll ever have to fight. You need to address this.

I drew in a long breath, hands twitching at my side; I had started to reach for her wrists, but abstained, unsure how well I could moderate my strength in that moment. I didnt want to hurt her, especially by mistake. And her hands on my jaw and neck What was the last time a human being had touched me without homicidal intent?

And how, pray tell, do you propose to do that?

Minifrit finally relaxed, lowering her hands from me. I hated myself a little bit for immediately missing the contact. I am no priestess or healer, I wont claim otherwise. But over the years I have been responsible for more than a few traumatized people. Not every case can be healed. Still, there are ways. I will put my full expertise to the task, if youll let me. I cant make promises as to results and I might still fail you, but I can swear it wont be for lack of effort. Even if nothing I know can fix this, I am still confident that I can at least help.

I forced myself to breathe evenly and control my expression.

Vivid flashbacks, caused by stimuli associated with the initial traumain my case, all the misery and pain of the lives of prostitutes in a medieval hellhole, which Id seen firsthand over the last few months as I regularly treated them in my guise as the Healer. So, the trigger waspotentially anything sexual, apparently. Yeah, this was PTSD. It was pretty textbook. I had resisted acknowledging that increasingly obvious fact because Well, where the hell did I get off being traumatized? All these women had been living with this for years now, and they had found enough gumption to pull together and fight back just the night before. All Id had to do was see it, once a week for two months. And I was the one having flashbacks now? Ridiculous.

Im sure a proper therapist wouldve pounced on that, but I didnt have a proper therapistand neither, I suspected, did anyone on this entire planet. The closest I had was a middle-aged ex-prostitute who I was pretty sure would react with pure anger and contempt if I revealed the detailed cause of this. Who wouldnt?

All right, I said aloud, stepping back from her, Ill think about it.

Minifrit narrowed her eyes to angry slits. Young man

I think you mean Lord Young Man.

Aster cleared her throat loudly. Ah, Minifrit? Im sure youre aware that when most men say theyll think about something, they mean they want to drop the subject and ignore it. Lord Seiji actually is pretty good about thinking over things in his own time. And if he doesnt, she added sweetly, turning a sunny smile on me, I will remind him. As many times as it takes.

Great, I said sourly. Thanks, Aster.

As always, my lord, I have your back.

Minifrit heaved a sigh that did interesting things to her neckline, which I steadily looked away from so as not to have a repeat ofthat. Well. I suppose that for the time being, that will have to do. Thank you, Aster. A good evening to you, Lord Seiji. Rest well.

I nodded, a little stiffly. Oyasuminasai.

Aster gave me another pointed smile before following her out of the conference room, leaving me alone with Biribo.

Its my own fault, you know, I said aloud. Im the one who had the bright idea to surround myself with women.

Yeah Keep sayin stuff like that, boss. That should help smooth things over.