Chapter 133 – Old Friend

"Ikarus-sama and Petra-sama! We haven't seen each other in ages!"

Well well well, you'll never guess who's arrived at these here islands and is currently giving me a hug right by the docks? The sama part should be pretty obvious by now but the one and only crazy succubus-sama we all know and love has arrived! Normally, I wouldn't accept the hug but it has been so long so I'll let priestess do what she wants... I have missed her quite the bit though.

It's a shame it's just her alone and not the knight Nathan but I guess he does have an emperor to serve, works comes first, I guess.

(Petra) "What are you doing over here anyways priestess?"

(Ikarus) "Yeah Charlotte, what brings you to our neck of the woods?"

You'd think us two being around such an established figure like the holy priestess would draw some attention but the people on these islands are so used to these sorts of things now, all we get is the look of awe from basically everyone at this point. It's not like they'd hold any hate for the nun looking woman as well, I'm pretty sure everyone knows she isn't actually connected to the deceased Sierran religion.

"We need to have a serious talk as soon as possible... you should probably bring anyone important as well like any trusted advisors Ikarus-sama and Petra-sama"

Charlotte seems pretty concerned about this, something like this must be pretty big if she wants others around as well. She probably could just tell us right now but eh, might as well make the incoming bad news public...

"We'll get the town hall arranged then, do we invite Zeki and Ariza though Petra?"

"Probably not Ikarus, Ariza's busy and there's no point inviting with Zeki"

Oh yeah, our healer has basically turned into the cure all doctor of this place, should probably get her some more helpers at this rate but she seems to have become obsessed with learning about it all. It's slightly weird seeing that her magic basically helps everyone anyways but at least it'll help training future doctors and stuff like that I suppose.

"Let's go get everyone important then..."

__________

Having quickly rounded up the main figureheads of our settlement, we're now in the town hall around the sizable table all seated and ready to go. Listing the people off; we have Marcus, Garry, Penelope, Charlotte and of course, this lovebird duo of ours.

Marcus has been pissing about again it seems, originally we just had everyone sitting anywhere but apparently us two figureheads have to be seated at the top of the table. The two seats are definitely more noticeable but this just seems so unnecessary and pointless but less of the complaining today Ikarus.

Anyways, Charlotte kicks off the quick gathering with a pretty grave look on her face... now I'm slightly starting to get even more worried.

"I have some bad news to share... my Lord has instructed me to make sure all of you are prepared for what's incoming and has asked me personally to stay here while it is happening"

Almost immediately, some quieter questions fill the table as if priestess is crazy or something.

(Garry) "Her Lord?"

(Penelope) "Who was that supposed to be!?"

I was half expecting Marcus to join in with the questions, I'm not really sure why Penelope is asking though. I really shouldn't tell them about Dionysus, right? Having an actual God on our side might be taking things into la-la land but then again, we already have dragons and lesbian queens.

(Petra) "It doesn't matter who it is, but priestess's source of information is solid. What do we have to prepare for then?"

"Demons"

(Ikarus) "Demons?"

"Yes Ikarus-sama and Petra-sama, demons. Demon kind is apparently some sort of race, God has informed me a deal has been made towards the demons and something big could be incoming to these islands very soon"

...

Well... that's just fucking great! We've basically only just recovered from the previous attack from the church, now a bunch of demons might be showing up at our front door any minute?

The reactions around the table are obviously going to be slightly of concern but we've already survived a huge attack so don't be expecting any jaws hitting the floor or anything like that.

"What was the deal then priestess? What are we to expect?"

"Apologies Petra-sama, but he only knows that a deal has been made, not the details behind it. The only thing known is that they may be planning to attack these islands, we're both clueless on that much really"

...

Another brief silence, so we're basically facing an enemy we know next to nothing on? I know it was similar against the monastery but at least we had a rough idea that the forces would be human. How do you even fight a demon?

This time around, it's Marcus turn to ask the questions, it weird how I'm not the curious one this time but everyone in this place has their roles to do I suppose. It's not like I can always be the extremely curious one.

"Okay... can we have a little more backstory or any kind of information? There's not a single person who hasn't heard of your reputation priestess so trust isn't an issue but there's got to be something else to this, right? Do we have any way of going about this peacefully for example?"

"I don't know who she is Marcus!"

Huh? Penelope's just being a jackass again, priestess literally came with us when we completed the dungeon inside their old headquarters! They even have history together apparently; I think she's just making an unfunny joke... I even remember thinking priestess gets that sama thing off her but that clearly wasn't the case. She was probably doing that in jest as well.

"*Sigh*... sometimes it might be best to avoid inviting her"

"Hmph! I was only being funny... it's nice to see you again Lotte-sama anyways!"

To hear Marcus finally start to realize how annoying she can be is a relief but let's just focus on Charlotte for now since everyone can get distracted with this sort of thing.

"Unfortunately... I'm really just as clueless as you lot are. My Lord only gave me the basics on this demon thing after all, there really isn't anything else"

This is a disappointment... you know, I remember that wicked mage Leone saying something about demons ages ago, something about her knowing one with a system and then killing it? I have told Petra that story once before but it was very long time ago, we've also met a vampire with a system before inside a dungeon but I'm just recapping on history... hang on...

"Petra... you think those cultists we came across a while ago are related to this sort of thing? We did kinda kill off two groups of them"

I mean, it's impossible to know if they found out about that but we have randomly come across two groups of people worshipping statues of demonic looking people. The first was when Ria the dryad pissed us off and the second was when Loki got us to go underground.

"Sorry Ikarus, I've only got an extremely limited experience with them, that being the power exchange that was made a long time ago. If we were to presume that statue was of a demon similar to who might be attacking, then you could be onto something"

That surprises me slightly but I guess even Petra can't be extremely experienced with everything I suppose. We really are in for a treat when it comes to fighting these guys then but it doesn't hurt to start the preparations as soon as possible then.

"Marcus, are we even able we able to defend against another full-scale invasion this soon again?"

"I assume so Ikarus... If everyone here is available including Zeki and Ariza, then I have no concerns. We can't just rely on you for everything... although it wouldn't hurt for the soldiers to get some actual training from good fighters if you would be willing to give a hand"

I guess we can help out there but something he just said seems to be sparking up reactions for basically everyone.

(Garry) "Yeah Marcus, the two queens can't be here to save our sorry arses all the time"

(Penelope) "I know right!? Apparently Ikarus took care of half of the fleet herself last time!"

"Ikarus-sama took care of that many ships on her own!? I'll also be here to help out as well"

"Heh, that's my Ikarus for you"

Urgh... I appreciate the praise but not the time for it right now. There's so much we're going to have to do like organizing more patrols all across the coasts, actually making sure everything is ready to go when the invasion comes. No idea why I'm complaining, Marcus will handle pretty much everything but it could be good to help out on the training, I suppose.

Also, it's a little late but I'm assuming good ol'Dionysus has told Charlotte about the whole destroying the religious place thing? The news has spread everywhere else so it would be weird if she didn't know that by now, I'm not going to bring it up if she doesn't say though. I do remember her saying she liked the place excluding the religion, apparently she seems to like me more though. I feel like I could get away with nearly anything to priestess.

"Can you lot stop kissing my arse for a second and focus!? I guess we'll assume peace isn't an option so that would obviously mean increasing the army and things like that, but that's a chat for another time. Is there any other issues Marcus that should be brought to our attention while we're all here or is this the only worry?"

Might as well try and find more issues why we're all here, no rest for the wicked and all that. Even if me and Petra do find a lot of time to relax compared to how things used to be.

"No other issues I can think of mentioning... at least at the moment"

Sighhh... sometimes Marcus can piss me off since he really can be a politician at times. That sounds like there's an issue incoming except he doesn't want to bring it up just yet.

"What do you mean, at the moment?"

"Well... we've already cleared up the ship graveyard mostly and can make money trading that way, it's just the issue about losing money from the treasury"

Huh? This isn't a problem though, we can easily spend more than enough increasing budgets and improving defence. What is he on about?

"Why is that a problem? Just spend however much you need; the treasury is part of the government anyways

This sounds like I'm being reckless but we have savings and stuff like that, the constant trade deals are still happening in the background so coin is always flowing around this place. The treasury in particular is filled with coin and the monasteries relics right now, money isn't a problem in the slightest.

"You two own this place so everything comes under your command, the same thing applies to money. Are you sure you're happy losing any personal profit that comes your way?"

That's his worry? Me and Petra not earning enough profit from the town? He really is like a true capitalist at heart, it's probably a good thign we do have the final say then.

"Marcus, every coin that flows through this place should in someway be returned back. Me and Petra couldn't give two shits about earning money, right?"

"Heh, Ikarus is right. Money isn't really a concern"

I mean, we can always rob my parents blind if we really needed money as well, I always carry more than enough so it really is a stupid worry. We have money to use, so just freaking spend it! Don't be turning into an evil billionaire capitalist Marcus!

...

Why am I getting weird looks from everyone but Petra now? Did I say something weird?

[<-Ikarus- really can't understand facial expressions it seems. Aesa assumes people are surprised by -Ikarus's- lack of greed since leaders traditionally obsessed with money>]

'That's what it is? You, an AI, can pick that up looking at facial expressions more than I, a human? I might be dumber than a rock at times'

[<-Ikarus- is being too harsh on -Ikarus- this time around, you are working with reduced perception 'stat' after all>]

'Wait... I just called myself stupid and you denied it... and you even made a stat joke!?'

[<... >]

When in the hell did Aesa turn so kind? I think I need to get her checked or something...

"Okay... is that everything then? Or do we need to follow this up?"

You know, sometimes I think Penelope just wants to be part of the conversation and just can't help herself.

"I don't care what everyone else is doing but I want to spend some time catching up with Lotte-sama now! It's been way too long!"

To think, even Charlotte gets uncomfortable when Miss gender bender starts bear hugging, it's freaking stupid that she literally got up just to do that. Nearly forgot she tried to hug Marcus coming in before getting swiftly rejected as well, we don't try to be mean to her but she is the cause of it!

"I really don't care Penelope. Me and Petra basically spend every single second clinging to each other like glue yet we're not telling you what we're going to do next"

Heh, that actually got everyone looking slightly uncomfortable and even Petra facepalms. I know we can be a little odd with how close we are but it's not-... wait, did I just imply something? Is the awkwardness different this time around?

[<*Sigh*... -Ikarus- just cannot help herself>]

Oh, just forget it, I don't care. If they think me and Petra are going to have sex or something next, that's not what I meant...