Chapter 183 - Emotional Damage 101

—Next Day, Afternoon—

Returning from his meeting with the other village chiefs, Gyes greeted us as he stepped in the door. Glancing over at the repairs I had done, he thanked me for repairing his home and the forest back to normal.

"I am truly grateful to you for the repairs. This home has been in our family for generations, it would have been a shame to rebuild it from the ground up.", Gyes admitted, taking a seat at his table.

"How did your meeting go, dear?", Beaute asked, bringing him a cup of water.

"Everyone was very apologetic for blaming one another, and for doubting the bond we share as Beastmen.", Gyes started, taking a sip of water, "Due to Trahir's treachery, it has been decided that all current Elders will be removed from their posts. In addition, they and their immediate family members will be sold to slavers in Zanto Port. We cannot allow an incident like this to happen again, the punishment has to be severe so that future Elders will think twice about betraying the trust of our people."

"What!?", Paix gasped, shocked to hear that their families were being punished as well, "Why go to that extreme?! Surely this is just their way of venting their frustrations that they were unable to kill Trahir and Faible themselves."

"They were not upset about their deaths, several villages saw the bright flash of Cole's attack last night and wondered what had occurred. When I told them that Cole had turned Faible into ash, they were quite amused to hear he died without a shred of dignity left. As for Trahir, they were more than satisfied with taking his head and corpse.", Gyes explained, "The reason the Elder Families are being punished as well is because they were completely unscathed by the attacks. Not a single one of them was harmed or taken away, we did not realize this till people began returning home. When confronted about this, several families admitted to aiding Trahir for their personal gain. Whether it was to widow someone they wanted to marry, punish a family that had wronged them, or simply to make people suffer those bastards put themselves above the safety of our people as a whole."

"I understand now, I honestly had not thought about it but you are right.", Paix remarked, recalling all the faces she had seen next to her over the past few weeks.

With the main topic dealt with, Gyes fished a document out of his pocket and passed it down to Sauros. Waiting for the older man to receive the parchment, he gave him a moment to read it before explaining what it was.

"As a thank you for taking care of Ghislaine, I persuaded the other chiefs to allow you to purchase as many slaves as you want before we take them to Zanto Port. You will still need to have them registered to you by a Slaver, but the chiefs are willing to sell them at a fraction of what you would normally pay at the Slave Market.", Gyes told him, "The only two requests the chiefs have is that you forbid them from interacting with the rest of our people, and they cannot leave your home without you."

"Thank you!", Sauros said, relieved that he could purchase slaves without upsetting the locals, "I am more than happy to look at any adult women who can cook, clean, and do laundry. My home is rather large so the more hands I have helping, the easier it will be to maintain. If they know how to fight and do maintenance, that would be even better but it is not a requirement."

"I will let them know.", Gyes said, doing his best to hide his smirk, 'Ghislaine was not lying when she said he liked Beastwomen. As long as he keeps his activities inside his home, the villagers will not care about it. I just hope the young boys do not try peeking in to catch the women in compromising positions.'

Looking away from Sauros, who was grinning like a child at Christmas, Hilda and Paul wished they were not related to him. Knowing what he would be up to, Hilda began to wonder if she should make Eris and her a home of their own to avoid any awkward situations in the future. The last thing she wanted to happen was for Eris to walk in on Sauros and one of his maids.

"We will be making a home elsewhere as soon as you get back.", Lilia whispered to Paul, "It is too tempting to have you under a roof with so many women. Poor Zenith might have a heart attack the moment she wakes up."

"Come on, I am not that bad!", Paul protested, as Lilia stared him dead in the eyes, "...I do agree that we should get our own home though."

Realizing that Lilia could see through him, Paul understood there was no point in lying. While it would be a pain to build them a house, he understood that for everyone's sake, it was for the best.

"Hilda, if you want, you are welcome to-", Paul started to say.

"I would rather share a cave with goblins!", Hilda spat, adamantly against living with the breast-fetish man.

"Damn, you do not need to be brutal!", Paul gasped, taken aback by such a blunt response.

Having not heard anything they were saying, as he was daydreaming about other things, Sauros snapped back to reality eager to get started.

"Alright, first things first gentleman!", Sauros proclaimed, almost jumping out of his seat, "We need to find a suitable place for my mansion. Let us get moving!"

Marching out the door without us, Gyes, Paul, and I quickly got up to chase after him. Beckoning us to hurry up him, Sauros wanted to start preparing his home for his new servants. No longer bound by the rigorous standards of nobility, he looked forward to embracing a much more relaxed, easygoing lifestyle.

"Hang on, I am coming with you.", Gustav remarked, running after us, "So where do you guys intend to build him a mansion?"

"Honestly, given how big Greyrat Manor is, we should probably set it down outside the village. If we put it down with all these trees around, some family homes will come crashing down.", I chuckled, scanning the immediate area for a clearing.

"Ghislaine mentioned something about that, you brought a mansion with you?", Gustav inquired, as I spotted a potential spot, "How did you manage that? I thought the amount you could store in an Item Box was based on your magical power. If that is true, just how powerful are you? Maybe she meant you brought materials to build one?"

"You will see in a few minutes.", I said, leading the group toward the potential home site.

—Fifteen Minutes Later—

Confirming that spot checked all the boxes, I used magic to level the land and remove any debris and obstacles that would prevent the home from sitting right. Once everything was ready, I opened my Storage and slowly began raising the mansion out of it. Watching the home seemingly appear from the earth, Gyes, Gustav, and the villagers were left dumbfounded unable to understand how this was possible.

"You were not exaggerating, he really does possess Otherworldly Magic!", Paix commented, looking at Ghislaine who was enjoying the stupid looks on the villager's faces, "Having seen what he is capable of, are you truly sure you are alright remaining just close friends?"

"Mom…for the last time, I do not want to be a housewife and raise a family. My life revolves around the blade and furthering my abilities, not having children and losing my future.", Ghislaine stated, "I love and respect you for raising me, but that is not the life I want. To be tied down at home, waiting on kids, and wasting away there…it makes me physically ill thinking about it."

"I understand what you want dear, but look at those women.", Paix said, pointing to Leona and Purlin, "Do they look like normal stay-at-home mothers who waste away at home? All I am trying to do now is make sure my daughter is happy and has someone to rely on when things get tough. No matter how strong you are, Ghislaine, old age will eventually catch up to you and leave you unable to do the things you do now. When that happens, what will you have left?"

Opening her mouth to respond, Ghislaine stopped herself as she gave what Paix was saying some thought. Up till now, her only goals had been to further her swordsmanship and hone herself to higher levels but she had never given the distant future a passing thought. Understanding that she could not always maintain this level of strength, just like her master, she would either slowly decline till she ended up dead on the battlefield or be unable to wield her blade. Recalling what her master had told her, Ghislaine understood now why he stressed the importance of forging unbreakable bonds with others before he dismissed her.

"At least give it some thought dear. Even if you do not marry him and have children, he could at least be that special someone you fight alongside till you both retire.", Paix insisted, "I just want to know that my baby girl has someone trustworthy beside her who will not betray her or take advantage of her. Unlike those perverts Paul and Sauros, I can see that Cole is a good man with a kind heart."

"I…I will think about it, Mother.", Ghislaine relented, "Will you stop pestering me about grandkids now?"

"I can, yes.", Paix giggled, "Cole already has a large number of children so I can spoil them rotten instead."

"Uh, ladies…you are not being real subtle with your conversation.", I said, as Paul, Sauros, and I looked back at them.

"I do not recant anything I said.", Paix proclaimed, "I am not overly fond of Paul for taking advantage of my daughter, nor am I fond of Sauros making my daughter wear questionable clothing. While I am grateful to both of you for helping her, I still dislike both of you."

Left in shock from Paix's brutally honest opinion, Lilia delivered a death blow to Paul.

"I will have to instruct Rudeus better so he does not turn out like you. He has time to change, you are just a lost cause.", Lilia stated, causing Paul to fall to his knees clutching his chest.

"Emotional Damage!!", Serafall shouted, mimicking something she heard on television.

"HAHA!!", I laughed, unable to contain myself, "Damn Serafall, nice timing!!"

High-fiving the magical girl, the two of us laughed at Lilia's comment together with the rest of the Devils and my family.