Chapter 368: Ownership

Chapter 368: Ownership

Early Evening - Late Winter : The Nest

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"Hm..." Looking over the crowd of thunderbirds frantically speaking to one another while more continued up into the cavern, I wore a satisfied expression. -I had to simplify the oath runes to use them in mass, but it might work in my favor...-

In short, I had implanted oath runes into about four thousand thunderbirds, essentially all the nobles, and because there were so many I had to do at once, I had to simplify them greatly. Instead of killing them for disobeying, it would simply inflict a debilitating migraine-like pain. It basically acted like a safety net in case I made an error implanting the oath, so a thunderbird wouldn't just drop dead if the rune was set off accidentally. -But it might work in my favor...-

Watching a few thunderbirds quickly keel over in pain after glaring at me, I smiled. -This worked out quite well...-Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Although I had deviated from the original plan of bringing all the thunderbirds back to Bahamut, I was more than pleased with how things laid.

"S..sir... I-I mean Lord.. Nott..." A very young thunderbird, far younger than even Chamrosh, spoke up nervously as he walked up under me. "A..are you really not going to kill.. or enslave us..?" He was clearly a non-noble and questioned my intentions behind leaving them all be.

The moment he asked the question, everyone hushed in an instant.

But I didn't hesitate to answer. "I seated myself as your Monarch because you, as well as this cavern, are quite useful to me. I would like nothing more than for your race to thrive and grow. The stronger you grow, the greater asset you become."

There was a pause before an older, female thunderbird spoke up. "So.. you see us as assets?"

I quickly nodded. "However, I don't believe you have room to complain. Unlike the nobles, I am pulling you under my wing. You have the freedom to do what you wish, be it travel the world or start a family knowing I am backing you. You no longer have to fear the skies, and if you wish, I can give you all purpose again." I paused before looking at another man with a distasteful expression. "If you wish to stand against me, you may, but I can guarantee the fate of your friends and family who remain under my wing will be better."

There was a pause before a younger girl turned toward the man I was looking at with an angry expression. "Why can't you all just accept mercy?!"

Her anger was so genuine it took me by surprise. -Huh?-

"A feast has been laid at our feet, yet you all are questioning what to do with it! Stop staring at it, you idiots! This is an opportunity for us to finally return to our former glory.. so why do you have to be so skeptical?!"

"Because a leader who sees his subjects as objects will never-"

"HE'S NOT OUR LEADER!" She yelled with a squawk. "He said explicitly that we were to choose our own leader! All he is going to be is a guardian and a guiding hand!"

There was a long pause that followed before Chamrosh chimed in with a more calm tone. "I agree, there are no unreasonable downsides to this offer. If you wish to live with humans, all you have to do is not assist the Holy Kingdom in, I'd assume, military-related efforts." He glanced up at me for confirmation before continuing. "If a monarch's subjects are not assets to their leader, what are they? Slaves? Friends?"

The other man responded instantly. "But what will happen when he needs to use us?! We will die-"

*CRACK* The sound barrier snapped as an older female thunderbird smacked the man across the face with her talon, drawing blood from his cheek. "If you wish to die, do it on your own." She was easily one of the oldest thunderbirds among those I could see, speaking coldly and eloquently before turning back to me. "Lord Nott, we will take you up on your offer." Her eyes were lit with the fire of determination.

-Hoh?- My smile widened.

"However, I have a question."

I paused.

"What will our relationship be with the dragons..." She seemed anxious as she spoke, darkening her expression without easing her gaze. "Will you protect us from them?"

I quickly shook my head, but continued before anyone could jump to conclusions. "From now on, you will be working alongside the dragons, as well as my apostles in Siratha. You may consider it an alliance for mutual benefit." Idly glancing over the crowd, trying to gauge their reactions, I found surprisingly little resistance to the alliance.

As the older woman turned to glance at another thunderbird a few dozen meters away, she nodded before lowering her head toward me. "In that case, I hope you can convince them to release any.. perhaps long-standing grudges..."

-How humble...- I was honestly quite surprised. -But...- "That won't be necessary."

"Huh?" She quickly looked up at me with a confused expression.

"Your race wasn't the only to.. struggle a bit over the last few millennia. They have held up better culturally, as well as strength-wise, but compared to the dragons, you guys have.. actually preserved history from before the war."

But there wasn't much to see yet. -It seems like they'll be fine though.-

Thankfully, the lower caverns thunderbirds were.. shockingly adaptive. Most of them even favored me for the takeover rather than holding onto old disdain.

Of course, there were still those who opposed me, but I simply let them be for the time being.

All that was left for me to do was gather the nobles and bring them to Siratha and then Bahamut, with about three hundred expected to go under Lief, and the rest under Hera.

But.. the trip was far more troublesome and time-consuming than expected.

Although typically a fast race, the trip was only dragged by those who chose to rebel halfway through. There were even a few who died during the flight.

In the end, it took almost a week to get to Valtivar, but when we got there, the thunderbirds' opinions of my offers flipped on their heads.

To them, Siratha's forest of treants was an indescribable paradise even the nobles could only salivate at.

Unfortunately for them though, wherever they initially chose to go was the place they would end up, without exception, for the simple reason that I wasn't confident Lief could manage, or even make effective use of more than a few hundred of them.

But perhaps that was me just underestimating her.

As I shifted to my humanoid form and walked into her office, giving her the gist of the situation, her eyes lit up. "How many can you give me?"

To her, it seemed like she could more than easily make use of a few thousand, let alone the few hundred I was giving her. -Maybe I'll tell the rest if they do well in Bahamut and get released, they can come here...-

It was a small encouragement, but an encouragement nonetheless.

And while most of them still harbored ill intentions toward me, there were indeed a few that started flipping sides when I raised the offer.

However, it would be a long time before they managed to come back here.

In their new home, in the heart of Bahamut, their new owner was going to work them like mules.

-I just hope Hera doesn't mind me being a little late compared to when I said I'd be back...-

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