20 Hard Work Pays Off

Leo was still in pain from his demonstration, but he didn't let on. On the contrary, he immediately turned his attention to their current situation.

"Where are the freed slaves? Don't you dare just let them go Aiden, alone in the wilderness they won't survive a day."

"There are families in the group, they are unlikely to escape if they are safe with us for now."

"I'll believe that when I see their faces."

Auris looked after the group, all sitting around a campfire Aiden had built.

"I told you they were there, now go join them already. You're their leader."

Auris knew what to do and yet she never had such a big responsibility. But to the amazement of Aiden and Leo, she handled them relatively well. She decided to travel with them the next day to which Leo hesitantly agreed. During the day they saw a remote village that had been completely empty for years. The houses were in a very bad condition but the houses had beds and there was a campground. Everywhere there were traces of blood, in the houses hung notes where "Save yourselves!" or "I'm sorry" was written in blood. He also found a map with a town circled in red. Leo realized that the bandits had not spared this village either. While he continued to look around, Auris took care of the beastmen group. A few of them wanted to check on their families, to see if they were still alive and well. Auris quickly made them aware of their situation again.

"You are safe here for now, the city is dead, wiped out forever. Those bastards deserved it for what they did to us. I highly doubt bandits will ever show up here again. Have a rest, there is a river nearby, we have left you some rations from the city. You will be all right for the time being. There are still beds and tables in the houses that can be used. You can't forget what happened, but see this as a small new beginning. You can leave this place whenever you want, but in your condition you won't get very far. Don't just give up, do it for the sake of your family. That's all we can do, our journey will be more dangerous than you can imagine so we're going to leave."

"Exactly, our journey is full of danger. Blood will flow everywhere and giant monsters will terrorize the land. If you're not careful, you'll get eaten too-ow!"

Auris rammed her elbow into Aiden's stomach, he just couldn't say anything right. His eloquence was simply nonexistent. Leo was already having nightmares about how Aiden would express himself as king.

He had scared the children who started to cry and had to be calmed down by their parents. Leo watched this spectacle from afar. He smiled as the two argued again. They couldn't be more different, but Leo's plan took more and more shape. Afterwards the people thanked the two, Leo had no interest in the gratitude and left the village without a word.

"Hey is it so hard to accept a thanks?"

"There are more important things than gratitude, I have my own motivation. How long were you trapped in the city, must be quite a long time with all your memories?"

"Almost a whole year, our whole village was invaded at that time. A lot of villagers were slaughtered, my family tried to protect me, but it was in vain. I was helpless and had to watch everything. My sister was also captured but we were transported in separate groups."

"...must have hurt...maybe I have the solution to this problem. Where exactly is your village ?"

"About 3 days north of here. But I don't think anyone else is there. Are you going there for my sake?"

"Let's just say that our deal is extended."

Auris hesitated for a moment and obeyed his order. She couldn't figure Leo out, he hardly gave anything away and didn't reveal anything about himself. Their journey was troublesome, Auris still didn't like Aiden but Aiden didn't stop talking to her.

At these words, Miriah began to cry in Auri's arms. It was a huge relief for the two of them. The other residents were also happy for the sisters. Aiden enjoyed the sight while Leo had a look around. Everyone was afraid of him and looked at him like an enemy, his black armor had the stench of blood on it. Before Miriah could question Leo, Auris explained that it was he who freed her.

"I thank you so much for freeing my sister. I know we don't have much we can give but if you need anything then s-.

"A little information is all the thanks I need. When exactly is this "Samaritan" squad of soldiers coming? Doesn't seem long now with all the food stored here all together.

"It's one more night, the supplies are almost filled. Best you and your partner hide while they're here."

Aiden and Auris knew full well that Leo won't do that. What exactly his plan was, again, the two did not know.

"How many are there usually? How do they behave when they get here?"

"The group consists of 12 men, when they freed us they were very friendly but now they want to be fed by us as well. They behave as if they were gods in our village."

"Hmm, it is understandable that their courage does not end when they meet unarmed inhabitants. I will make you an offer. First, until these "heroes" arrive, I will stay away from the village. I do not want to spoil your return with the hostility of the inhabitants towards me. Besides, I have no desire for unnecessary trouble. Before that I want to see all the supplies and where you store them, none of you enter these rooms until the soldiers arrive. Once they're here you will stay in your houses, I will greet them instead. In return, you can keep your supplies. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

Mirian was confused by his proposal but Auris assured her that Leo will help them. The residents didn't like Leo, he reminded them too much of the bandits.

"Okay, have it your way...Did you all hear that? No one goes to the supplies anymore, not even the children! It's again the utmost caution, tomorrow the soldiers will come so act discreetly.

No one could understand why their leader would take up the offer of a complete stranger. But her sister assured everyone that everything would be fine. Auris looked Leo straight in the eye. She asked him not to overdo it and scare the whole village. But his expression remained cold, he wouldn't change his methods. After the conversation, all the residents gathered for dinner and welcomed Auris and Aiden. Leo looked around outside the village and cleaned his equipment. While doing so, the sword runes glowed, Metsu had fully recovered and was about to leave but Leo ordered him to wait, he would call him when the time was right. Metsu would bring too much attention at the moment. The next morning Aiden checked on Leo to bring him something to eat.

"What are you doing here, stay in the village with the others!"

"Don't I even get a thank you for the food, how rude our Leo is."

"Eat it yourself, I'm about to scout the surroundings, if something happens I'll be right back."

Leo left the plate and continued north down the road. Aiden ate his breakfast and headed back to the village. On the way, he noticed that Leo was barely eating any food. But his stature was the same and he didn't even look remotely hungry. He became more and more nervous the more he found out about Leo. He couldn't be human anymore.

When they arrived at the village it was quiet. Everything seemed empty until a group of beastmen attacked the three. When they saw Auris, they all put down their weapons. Auris could not believe her eyes, in front of her stood her sister. She never thought they would see each other again.

"Miriah, how on earth can you be here? What happened in the last few months?

"After we were captured, a group of soldiers freed us and brought us back to the village. They called themselves freedom fighters and patrolled the border between the kingdoms. There were not many of us left, but all of us wanted to return to the village. After we returned, these soldiers wanted compensation for their services. They took the rest of the supplies and left the village. After that, they came more and more often to demand new supplies for their past services. They said that we would owe them forever and that we would have to give a part of our resources to them for the rest of our lives. Of course, the work is hard for us, but if we don't deliver, something bad will happen, they said. It is still better to be alive and give a part to them than to be in the grave now. Since you didn't look like soldiers, we thought you were bandits. But who would have thought that it is my big sister Auris who is standing in front of me again. I thought we would never see each other again."

"Mirian, Father and Mother would be proud of how you've grown. Look at you, how you've grown. Alone you have carried such a huge responsibility, no one could be prouder of you."

After a few minutes, Leo met a group of traveling beastmen who were on their way to the capital. When they saw Leo, they became frightened and drove on as fast as they could in their carriage. The road was uneven, the carriage rocked back and forth until finally one of the ladies fell out. Before she hit the hard ground, Leo caught her.

"It's not good to hurry like that, that's how accidents like this happen. The face of this pretty young lady was almost ruined. I assure you, I don't want to do any harm to you. I am a stranger here and I don't know which way leads where. That's why I wanted to ask if anyone knows which city this is.

Leo showed them the map he had found in the abandoned village. The group assured him that it must be a small village in the area. Leo was suspicious but believed her answer after all. When he saw the dresses and suits that were stored on the wagon he asked what they'll do with the clothes. The group was on their way to the capital, like every year, the biggest event of the Beastmen nation was taking place there. While Leo was having everything explained to him, he became more and more thoughtful and began to smile. Finally, they warned the young man about bandits who had been spotted nearby. Leo thanked them for the information and wished them a good trip.

"(Seems like the world is on my side)"

In the late afternoon, he went to the village and ordered everyone to retreat to the houses. Then he took the supplies and put them in front of the storeroom. From grain to meat, the villagers gave them everything they had worked hard for. Many of the beastmen were elderly and their village was not particularly large. Leo was impressed that they could still gather all this. Even the children helped, passionate with the fear of being punished they pushed themselves further and further and became stronger. It was not a good motivation but in the end they always reached the amount of supplies. He liked the passion and dedication they showed.

In the evening Leo saw bright lights from afar. A group of men arrived in the village. When they only saw Leo they were very confused, their leader confronted him.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? Where are the villagers?"

Leo looked at his sword while the group became more impatient. They realized that they could not underestimate Leo.

"Who I am doesn't matter. Rather, I should ask you who you are. Tell me what or who exactly you are."

The men became aggressive but their leader ordered them to stay back.

"First, you tell us where the inhabitants are."

"Are you blind? Next to me are the supplies, none of the lights are burning and there is complete silence. Normally you should know what exactly that means."

Their leader became angry while imagining what had happened.

"You didn't kill the inhabitants, did you? Are you insane, don't you know that they were the perfect supply camp."

"Oh, now that you mention it. They talked a lot about working, their chatter was too annoying for me. But they told me that a group of greedy men would soon arrive. That they would take their supplies and behave like gods. Are you those men or not?"

"What if we are? What are you going to do, keep everything to yourself? I'll make you an offer: you give us most of it and no blood will be spilled here."

"I'm pretty hungry you know. This is enough for me for a week at most. Besides, I've never been good at sharing."

The group became angry and attacked together. Two arrows rushed at Leo but he parried them without problems. He noticed that most of the group could barely fight. Man by man he disarmed them and threw them to the ground. Completely out of breath, they looked at Leo, who was barely exhausted.

"Who...who...who are you?"

"We've played this game before, first you're going to tell me who YOU are. I heard you freed those villagers and brought them back here. That's pretty noble of you, so why are you covering yourselves in greed?"

"We saved their lives so we can charge what we want. Your rescuers always come first."

"So you're the rescuers who threatened them if they didn't prepare everything you asked for perfectly. Did you want to change from rescuers to murderers? Looking at you guys, I really wonder how exactly you saved them. But the fox symbol on your armor explains a lot. There's talk nearby that bandits are on the loose.

"Hahaha, we're supposed to be bandits? Didn't you hear what we did for them. We would hardly be bandits if we saved our prey. You can't prove anything, you want to make us look bad, that's all."

"That's what I thought at first, too. I have this theory about you guys: You only traveled with bandits because you wanted money, but it was too much for you and you ran away. At least that's what you wanted until a group of beastmen were captured. Noble as you are, you freed them and left with them. But when you were left without anything, you forced them to take care of you. A normal question would have helped you, but again your greed struck. Not even 2 weeks have passed since the last visit and now you are here again. You must know, this time they would have had hardly anything left. I have seen the number of inhabitants. They must have worked very hard for all the grain and meat. And what did you do, enjoying everything and asking for more and more. But you wouldn't have been here today just for the supplies are you right?

Leo showed them the map he had found in the village. There was a fox symbol drawn there, it was the same on their armor.

"I guess your money is not enough anymore and now you also wanted to enslave this village and sell them. With your skills, I wonder how you raided the other village. Or maybe you ordered it and shared it with others?

Their leader knew there were no excuses now. The group was now powerless in the hands of Leo.

"What should we have done, how should we survive?! Those bastards tricked us and now we have no choice but to oblige them if we don't want to die. Before I die, I'd rather make others pay my price."

Leo looked hardly surprised and picked up his sword.

"At the end of the day, everyone always falls into the same pattern. In the eye of death, selfishness is the last resort. Morals and scruples play no part in this egoistic game of survival. In the end there are only losers, this time it's game over for you!

Suddenly, Leo sprinted towards the leader with lightning speed and stabbed his sword directly into the bandit's heart. Blood spilled from his mouth as he crumpled to the ground. At the sight, the group was conflicted, some thought of attacking Leo, others thought only of fleeing. Suddenly their bodies were paralyzed and they could not move from the spot.

"Your nature is fascinating yet incredibly boring."

Leo put his weapon away and took off his armor, he put his arm on the head of his enemies. They started screaming, after a few seconds the screams stopped and their bodies went to the ground. Their eyes were blood red and their veins turned black and almost pulsated out of their skin. Their begging was of no use, Leo ignored all of it and emotionlessly killed one by one. His lifesteal power was tremendous and frightening. After a minute, their bodies dissolved into thin air, leaving behind their armor and a pile of blood-red ash.

Leo felt his sword become lighter, satisfied, he walked into the middle of the village and called all the inhabitants out of their hiding places. Hesitantly they came out of their hiding places but kept a great distance from Leo. They saw all what did to the beastmen soldiers and were frightened.

"As promised, your supplies have remained in the village. No more bandits will be coming anytime soon, I suppose you can trust my word now."

Miriah couldn't believe what she just saw. She kept her composure and spoke to Leo.

"I won't ask how you did it but thank you for your help. Even if they don't show it the residents are grateful to you as well. For months we worked day and night, many got sick for a long time. Even the children had to assist all day long. So it means a lot for our survival, it is time for me to do my part. No matter what information you need I will tell you everything I kn-

"There's no need for that anymore, I know everything I need to know. Consider it a one-time favor but let me give you some advice: Many beastmen are very friendly but you should not overdo it, you already have enough mouths to feed. So everyone be a little more selfish, you'll really be the losers in the end otherwise."

"Enough with your wisdom Leo, it's time to celebrate. The food supply is by far enough for tonight."

"I'm not so sure about that Auris, with all the food you gobbled down yesterday there was hardly anything left."

Auris gritted her teeth in anger, turned around and looked into Aiden's eyes with a huge blood lust. By now it was normal for the two to fight 2-3 times a day.

While the others partied, Leo stayed out of the community for the most part. Some of the residents hesitantly gave him some food to thank him. After a moment's thought, Leo accepted their gesture.

"I guess you really can't deal with other people. Look, the others aren't afraid of you anymore and even approach you."

"Exactly, and drinking together is more fun too."

Auris and Aiden tried to get him to join them. Leo stared off into the distance. His old memories had him breathing heavily, once before he had many friends he drank and partied with. In the end, it was pointless for him to do something like that again because partying is perishable just like his comrades. He didn't let on and replied in his usual tone.

"I have no reason to celebrate, not one step of my plan has been completed. That is why I want to make my request now Auris. Surely you haven't forgotten that, have you?"

Auris made a serious face and put her drink away.

"I was wondering when you would finally ask for it. Soon the wait would have driven me mad. I suppose it's not easy, I've prepared myself for that. What exactly do you want from me Leo?"

Aiden was also curious about Leo's demand, all along he had been curious about what he was going to do.

"You will carry out the first step of my plan. You play the biggest role in this mission Auris. Surely you have heard of the annual gladiator festival."

"I know roughly what goes on there. You don't want me to participate there alone. I know how to fight but that's a monumental task."

"I don't want you to just fight. Together we will make you the queen of the beastmen, soon you will lead them in their future."

Aiden and Auris were shocked and confused by his words. But if there was one thing they realized about Leo it was that his every word was serious. This plan was by far the craziest idea anyone could have. The young man was planning to make a beastman woman, who was a slave a week ago, now the ruler of the entire kingdom. Whether this plan is really impossible Aiden and Auris will soon find out.