Offer

"Kira, correct?"

The voice of the Animus Warden was deep and gravely, as well as an in between of being somewhat masculine and somewhat feminine; the tone was almost perfectly balanced, the fluctuations were minute whilst the twinge on certain parts of the words were vaguely there.

All in all, the more I stared at the armored warrior in front of me, the more I was confused on how they could manage to be so utterly neutral in everything about their physicality, to the point that I had no idea on if they were male or female, what race they might be, nothing.

I just knew they were a strong person and that was it.

Nodding, I continued to stare at the Animus Warden, waiting for their continuation, which came after a few moments as they looked down at me silently, appraising my reaction to this awkward and heavy silence whilst also allowing their mana to leak out slowly, building it up around us to create another sense of unease.

Applying pressure to someone through non violent means was usually difficult to do and harder to justify, but the Animus Warden nodded back and asked "Would you be interested in joining up with the Corps of the Beast? Maybe not as a full fledged soldier, but perhaps instead as an Auxilia? A specialist who is on the payroll of the Corps, but not a complete member of it?"

I wasn't entirely surprised by the offer, but I certainly wasn't expecting it to come so soon; I thought I might need to participate a little longer in the local detachment of the Corps before being asked if I wanted to join, and yet here we were...

Unconsciously, I glanced towards Alessia to see what the golden Dogkin was currently thinking about the sudden offer, wondering if she was wanting to keep me by her side for a little longer or if she wasn't that pressed about it.

It felt slightly disingenuous to just accept without seeing what she thought, but as my eyes met hers, the Dogkin just shrugged and remained neutral, our prior discussion in private about what we were to one another floating to the forefront of my mind as she left everything to me.

We weren't exclusive, we weren't hoping to become exclusive; we were just two really compatible lovers who wanted someone to hold close at night to rid ourselves of the stress, and no matter how great she felt on my skin, we had made it clear we weren't aiming to become true lovers.

Of course it was a tad bitter to think that all of our time and physical compatibility was going to be for 'naught', but that was life I suppose, and I would truly be stupid to refuse this offer just because I really enjoyed sex with Alessia.

"What exactly would be expected of me if I accepted? What benefits do I get, where would I be going, who would I be with?"

Those questions came out rapid fire as I turned back to the Animus Warden, who just nodded as they crossed their arms and replied "Scouting, support, and general low level work. Considering the skill set we have so far witnessed of you, the idea is to get you apprenticed to a veteran Illusionist, perhaps to another Nature Mage depending on your aptitude. Either way, you would provide support to the Corps through subterfuge and espionage at the 'best' of times, scouting and providing an extra set of hands most of the time, and at the 'worst', you would be studying and honing your skills during your off days, which will be filled to the brim with training."

The Young Master smiled softly as he added "Benefits wise, I do believe you would net yourself a salary, room and board, as well as being assured that your work will be sufficiently compensated. Being an Auxilia isn't glorious work, but it is necessary and well paid. Unlike the Dynasties, Empires and Kingdoms around us, we take good care of our soldiers and ensure loyalty through good will and good pay. Why abandon the Kingdom when you're receiving a good amount of coin and a good amount of gratification, on top of the ability to learn new skills at your own pace and find a new position for yourself?"

"On top of the salary and housing, as an Auxilia you would have the same freedoms you have now, just instead of working for a Guild and hoping that whomever employs you will pay up, you'll be contracting with the government itself. You would hold the right to refuse contracts, request certain types of work over others, and work at your own pace. If that is fast and lucrative or slow and methodical is all up to you. Location wise, the scouts of the Corps get trained to the north east, near the forest and ocean that create the northern border. Perfect areas to learn all sorts of tracking skills."

I just nodded, ignoring the looks from the other soldiers and giving myself a moment to think, coming to the quick conclusion that unless the contract looked far too restrictive and I learned that the Dukedom was apart of a terrible Kingdom overall, this would be an excellent resource for me.

Loose ties to a power of the world, access to all sorts of materials and people to help me improve myself, pay, a place to stay... all of it was excellent, but until I saw that contract...

"You want to see the contract first, correct? When we return to Qingrad, I can show it to you and you alone. Until that point... think on it some more. Come up with questions, concerns, whatever it may be. We are a serious people, yes, but we are not restrictive, nor are we cruel. That I can swear upon our Radiant Maiden Estrua."

Hearing the Animus Warden speak the name of one of the predominant Goddesses of the Beastkin in an oath was something that I might not have taken seriously days before, but now, after I had met Lokla..?

It was harder to believe that people would casually invoke the names of beings as powerful as the Gods when they were clearly real here, and were revered as such; I wasn't going to blindly believe that, but the likelihood of this Animus Warden being genuine certain increased somewhat with that swear.