Elder

"We finally found him."

The Captain of the Royal Company was out of breath. It was rare to see Stern this agitated, yet I couldn't guess, who he was talking about.

"You found who?" I asked, annoyed that my research was yet again interrupted. I spent the last days scraping through every book in the vast library of the Church, but the right spells still eluded me.

"Lambert, we found Lambert, lady Elder." He said, and I no longer cared about those stupid spells. I jumped up, rushing over to him.

"Where is he? Is he alive?" I demanded, making the royal bastard recoil all of a sudden. What was it? He kept confessing his stupid love again lately, why did he step back now? I glanced to the side, noticing my reflection in a highly polished steel shield on the wall.

My face was still young-looking, but wrinkles appeared in the corner of my eyes and mouth, big and deep. I used too much magic lately to reanimate those corpses, but that didn't matter now.

"He um, he is alive and well," Stern confirmed, bowing his head. I did not expect that. I had to hold onto something to regain my footing and couldn't wait for him to continue. "First I thought he'd be with the Princess and Cath, but apparently, they were separated."

"Where is he? Don't waste my time!" I yelled at him, completely losing my composure. "I thought he was dead all this time, I could use his talent right about now. I'm sick of these spellbooks."

"Huh? I-I thought you wanted him dead, my lady. That he's the only danger to your plans and all." He claimed, looking rather confused. What did he even know? I was far from being a saint, and he would need to learn my true name to be of any threat, and to have some guts, first and foremost. "He is still near the old capital."

"When did he even get there?" I was desperate for answers. Anything so I could leave the library at last, but the worst-case scenario came to my mind. "D-did he met the Goddess of Luck? Is he with her now?"

"I couldn't confirm this, but he is practically a hostage in a small tribe near where you got defeated," Stern explained. Yes, he definitely must have met her, but hostage? "My spies couldn't infiltrate the village run by the Lesser Races, but from what I was told, he is used by the monsters as a slave."

"A slave? Do they not realize..." My confusion only grew. But there were a few things I needed to confirm first. "Did your spies see the Goddess too? What else did you find out? How about the Twelve?"

"First things first. There was no sign of the Twelve Champions, but I wouldn't completely rule out their involvement." The Captain started. His new gold-plated armor was in a much better shape than his old leather set. He used to wear that while serving the Inquisitorias. "They did see someone, that matches your description, but it's strange. Some reports say she's just an ordinary beastfolk, while others say she's a snow white creature, flying around, teleporting, as if there were two of them."

"T-two Goddesses?" And I previously thought it couldn't get any more complicated. "What do you mean by two of them?"

"Exactly what I said. They seem completely identical, other than their skin color, and behavior. Maybe it's the same person." He tried to explain but it still didn't make sense to me. "The white one does seem all-powerful, the one you said you fought, not so much."

"That's impossible." I protested, glancing at my shoulder pierced by her. While it was weeks ago and healed, I still couldn't forget the intensity. "She hit me with a spell I've never seen before, I nearly died from it. It must be the same person. I'm a cockroach at best if she's an everyday mortal. "

"Well, uhm, I didn't say that." Stern coughed, stepping back.

"Don't dare to make fun of me, bastard. I could crush you even as a cockroach at any given moment." I warned him but didn't want to waste time on arguments. "If it's just a small village with ordinary people, send in the army. Wipe them all out, and bring me Lambert back alive. I know he might be dangerous, but we both know him, he's pretty much useless, except for one thing. Right now, I need that thing."

"See, lady Elder, I'm already ahead of you." He grinned, looking rather confident. "I had to run so much because I gathered a strike force, and they are already on their way there."

"Stern!" I yelled and almost felt like hugging the bastard. But not quite. "If you bring me their heads... No, forget about that, I should take command of that force personally. Give me the names of the officers."

"With pleasure, my lady." He nodded but seemed a bit disappointed. "Although, I can't help but notice, are you not overworking yourself lately? Why don't you let me just capture that coward for you?"

"You don't need to worry about that," I claimed a little confused about his notions. Was he really concerned about me? Or was I looking that bad? I just needed a few more useful pawns. I couldn't do everything, but if I got Lambert, my plans to cultivate those vast territories would become easier. He was dangerous to be left alive though. "I was this close to finding the right spells, but why bother, when I can just make him do it all?"

"Understood, my lady." He bowed his head. He was preparing to leave now but stopped for one more question. "I take it, you want to bring back some corpses too as more workers on the fields?"

"Hmm, no, that won't be necessary this time. It's too far away. If I'm talking command, you should remain here." I had some political considerations, and I had enough workers now. Nearly five hundred, I only needed the right magic to speed up seed growth, or the right magician. But I couldn't leave Sanctuary empty. "You will oversee things here, while I'm bringing him home. If I have to face the Goddess..."

"As you wish." He bowed his head one last time, backing off of the library. "I will hold down the fort then, lady Elder."

With that, he was off. The cheeky bastard was showing his better side at last. He made himself useful for me other than with his ancestry, but I didn't trust him with something that important alone. Neither did I trust his soldiers. I better leveled the playfield and had just the thing for that.

"Where did I put it?" I asked myself, walking back to my desk. One of the drawers had a double bottom with a gemstone hidden inside. I could find it simply by following the strong radiation of magicules from it. I spent a lot of my wealth to acquire these rarities, all seven of them. "There you are, I wonder if they are ready?"

I touched the crystal to my forehead feeling heat emanating from it, alongside its ominous crimson glow. I called up all the other crystals I had strategically placed years ago, but something was off.

"There are only five of them now? And one doesn't answer." I mumbled to myself. What just happened to my precious babies? I had to calm down. "It's fine, I gave them six for this very reason. Four should be more than enough. Let's see which one is closest?"

While all communications happened telepathically, I felt at ease, if I used my voice too. My mind had to concentrate on so many things, the smallest error could have led to a complete failure.

For this reason, it gave me some sort of safety net, if I heard my thoughts uttered loud. The spells embedded into these stones were way above and beyond simple telepathy, they were to let me exert my influence over vast distances. One answered from well over a thousand miles away, the closest one only a hundred, and some change from here. But that one did not answer my call.

The second closest was twice that distance. It had to do for now. I commanded its wearer to head for the old capital and swarm the neighboring tribes. They seemed to be starving in the highlands.

"You can eat anything you find," I offered them through the magic stone. "Humans, animals, monsters. All of the Lesser Races."

When I was born on this continent, apart from humans it already had dozens of sentient races. Most of them were in hiding or pressed into slavery in one way or another, but the lizardmen did not exist yet. For whatever reason, they multiplied faster than anything else. It could have been the same with the other Lesser Races when they were young too.

"After you are done with them, eat up all the crops too." I sent the message. They had no way of answering, but I could feel their thoughts.

Food was a great motivator for a rapidly multiplying tribe. Orcs and goblins were deemed useful for humans, and they were dragged across the continent to work in the beginning. But unlike them, lizardmen weren't particularly desired by anyone. Born in the southeast, in the capital of the Shibalan territories, their people did not want them. Neither did Saipole or Cranta itself, and multiplying at an alarming rate, they caused nothing, but trouble. I could use that to my advantage.

"You are not forgotten. I will give you a chance to prove yourselves to the humans." I promised. According to the slave code, all emerging species had the right to live and work for their rightful survival. Thus they weren't eliminated. Only exiled, from one territory and the next... They ate a lot, multiplied a lot, and quickly became a problem. "The only thing you are good at is fighting. Your skin is thick and rugged, but that is no reason to let humans look down on you. You will fight them."

There were no wars on the continent when they came to be. They were pushed further west until they reached the highlands in the middle of the continent, always hot, and lacking food. Even the Lesser Races avoided that area. But it was perfect for them. They were no longer bothered and could live their poor and simple lives peacefully.

"Why live in peace, when you are the best at waging wars?" I asked the crystal. By the time the Collapse happened, their numbers reached nearly a million, in less than a hundred years. They had no leader, purpose, goals, enemies, none of that, before me.

Now they were my tools, waiting to be used. I provided guidance, and even a fraction of my power through these crystals. It gave them just enough to help them survive, and now they didn't ask questions.

"Invade Cranta Proper, it's all yours to feed on its fields and people."