Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

The truckloads of refugees had platooned together for safety on their way here, so there were dozens of them in the convoy, all set to arrive at nearly the same time.

Wolfe had [Detect Hidden] turned all the way up and was ignoring Mary and her cat, who were discussing the eerie nature of the effect that it had on his eyes. It looked like almost half of the occupants of the vehicles were witches, which meant that there had to have been as many deserters as fleeing villagers.

There weren't that many witches with the army when he left, so either the villages had suffered very heavy casualties or there were a lot more of them coming later, and the deserters had been sent on ahead so that they wouldn't reconsider and rejoin their force if the convoy was caught on the way westward.

The villagers didn't really trust the Witches, and they were keeping them under guard, but Wolfe noticed that all the weapons had been hung off the side of the vehicles, where they were out of the easy reach of anyone, and were unlikely to be grabbed and turned against their owners.

He flagged down the trucks with a gesture for them to stop in a line and disembark.

"Mister Wolfe, I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon, but we didn't expect the United World sorts to go all suicidal against an artillery line without even calling in air support.

Can you believe that? They didn't have a single plane in the air when they started the attack." The first driver in line greeted him.

"I think they forgot that we aren't Stone Age barbarians." Wolfe laughed.

The witches who were in earshot looked a bit embarrassed, but Wolfe didn't wait for them to get adjusted.

"Get all the Witches out of the trucks and gather here. Have all your people go over to Mary, that's the tiny one in the fluffy hoodie. She will take care of getting you healed and ready for the boats to the village. Walking there from here would be impossible." He reminded the driver.

"Oh yeah. We forgot about that. Nobody just walks into the Fae Forest without an invitation." The man laughed, then began shouting orders to his people.

The deserters weren't exactly gently treated, but the villagers didn't injure them as they forced them into place, and Wolfe went over his prepared speech to explain the situation to them before they would be brought into the village for resettling.

"Welcome, ladies of the United World Army. I am best known as the Snow Demon, the unofficial leader of the Fae Forest forces. I am informed that you all have defected after you were gassed and faced extermination or a life without mana, is that correct?" Wolfe asked.

Reluctantly, the witches nodded in shame, admitting that they had fled from the two terrible options they had if they remained.

"But those aren't your only options. You see, I have an offer for you. Swear to serve with all your heart, and I will remove the damage from the nerve gas from your system. You will have a future as a Witch, and even a chance to have the bloodline curse purged entirely if you remain with us loyally. 

That will let you advance naturally, and you will eventually begin to extend your lifespan, as powerful witches are intended to do."

The witches were silent for a while, then one brave soul decided to ask the question that Wolfe was waiting for.

"What do we have to do?"

Wolfe smiled. "Accept a Servant Bond. It will prevent you from betraying your neighbours, while the spells on the village will keep the general level of violence down. Here, the mark is one of trust."

From off to his left, where she was making sure the villagers were alright, Mio turned toward where Wolfe was talking and opened her collar a bit to show all the witches that she had the Servant Mark on her neck.

"Really? Even her? Do you not trust your people at all?" One of the witches asked.

"Mio, how about you explain your story to them, and the benefits of the Servant Bond." Wolfe suggested.

The dark-haired witch came over and poked Wolfe in the side. "You're just being lazy and making me do the hard part of convincing them."

Then she turned to address the group with a smile. "As you can all see, I have a Servant Mark that belongs to him. During the war last winter, I was ordered to take my Familiar and charge the front lines of a Monster Tide without any weapons, magical or mundane. My group fought through the front line and deserted, running off into the wilderness, while those that remained and survived were ordered to perform the same suicidal manoeuvre without backup every day until they died.

The only survivors from that unit were the ones giving the orders.

But we didn't remain at large forever, we were captured and chained with a Slave Chain. Then we were dropped off at the nearest front-line camp, where we were to be worked to death. But Wolfe was the one that recovered us, and in exchange for freeing us from our death sentence, we agreed to serve him.

We all know that the mark comes with limitations, but to be loyal to Wolfe is to be loyal to the village, and that is what we need most out of everyone who comes to live with us. Of course, you could just be supervised and remain without your magic, but to regain it, we need to know that we can trust you, and this is how to prove that you are not spies that have come to attack from the inside." Mio explained.

"Why would they do that to their own troops? You're a Witch, and a powerful one, even if you advanced after you left." One of the deserters asked, confused.

"I am a witch, and a powerful one. But my father is human. To some, I am only half a witch, and they made a move last winter to try to eliminate all the half bloods from the gene pool." Mio answered grimly.

The witches looked shocked and vaguely scandalized at her words.

"You're half witch? But you made it past Rank One, that's unheard of." One of the new arrivals gasped.

Wolfe smiled at her. "A lot of the witches here aren't pure blooded. Some of them even have adorable animal ears because one of their parents was a beast kin mutant from the Frozen Wastes. However, we're all equal as people in Forest Grove.

The Servant Mark doesn't place you in a lower class, it only marks the fact that you have agreed to my terms and owe a debt. Once that is repaid, you will have the choice to free yourself from the Servant Mark." 

"Who decides when the debt is repaid?" Another Witch asked.

"Your own conscience. It is a soul bond, so when you know in your soul that you have paid in full, you will be able to free yourself."

The deserters all looked at each other, deciding if this was worth the price that they would pay.