My Servant System

When our time at the Academy had ended that day, I told everything Arch Mage Kolia had said to me to Jahi, letting her know what our former Magic Tutor thought about the current happenings.

The Demoness seemed conflicted; her desire to put Jillian and Ayla in their place fought desperately with the rationality that Kolia spoke of, to step away and remain neutral for the time being.

Thankfully, with the help of me whispering in her ear, Jahi promised to try and stop antagonizing the two Elven women, though there was reluctance in her eyes.

Anput was also miffed about the request, but she swiftly relented when Leone and I glared at her; the Jackalkin had a deep enough understanding of us to know that the thing we asked of them wasn't to be negotiated.

It also didn't help that Leone and I promised to take away certain 'activities' from her if she grew to be too difficult; it was underhanded, sure, but for the moment it was what we needed to do to guarantee we didn't awaken a sleeping bear prematurely.

Why waste precious time for immediate thrills when we could be planning and preparing traps for that 'bear'?

Of course, Anput made her displeasure known very quickly after that, but I was willing to endure her 'displeasure' if it meant roping in my family and keeping them as safe as possible.

I also liked her more dominant side...

Besides Leone and I displaying our endurance more often these days, we were also studying as much as we could so that we could free up more valuable time for things that truly matter; thankfully, we could all easily ace the Magic Theory and Combat Classes, but History was another beast entirely.

Having to memorize and test each other on the beginning of our Empire's History was difficult enough, but we also had to memorize the names of different Houses, how they rose and how they fell, what their impacts were...

The amount of Baronies and Counties that were changed time and time again felt innumerable, and that's not counting the Viscounts who were tied to a County, which could be up to five Viscounts that a Count could appoint...

It was a lot, and even Jahi was gritting her teeth in anguish as we studied.

History was looking like the hardest class in existence at this moment, but I had dealt with similar classes before, so I put my head down and committed as much as I could to memory.

Obviously, during this time my rate at earning experience slowed drastically, but studying with each of my Mistress' counted as 'training' with them, so the only parts that I was slowing down on were my own skills.

Though, I imagine that I will make up for this when we venture down into Zhu'Rong again, what with the quests, experience gain from killing monsters, and more.

But, for now, I understood that I needed to take the lower gains so that, in the future, everything was smoother.

Jahi and I were still traveling around at night though, mainly so the Demoness could find excuses to spring impromptu dates on me, which I always found touching.

And just like that, a week passed by quicker then ever before, and it was on our way home again from the Academy that we heard that same elderly Orc shouting about recent news from the Western Kingdoms.

Getting the newspaper, I waited till we got back to the cottage to read it out, sighing as I handed it over to Jahi.

Silence permeated the kitchen, and I got up and started preparing dinner again, taking my mind off of the news.

"What..?"

Jahi let out a confused chuckle as she handed the newspaper over to Leone, who read it with Anput.

Slicing out some onions, I added them to the growing pan of vegetables, preparing to make some fried rice.

"Tragon Kingdom had practically fallen? How?"

Leone's voice was confused as well, and she glanced at Jahi, who shrugged.

"The paper says that the Nogart Palace was destroyed; completely and utterly destroyed. Reduced to rubble. Bodies were scattered around the entire palace, some broken and twisted, others tore to pieces. The paper also said that there had been signs of a Gate opening inside the Throneroom, but that's unverified..."

Silence fell again, and I frowned as I recalled more of the news.

Romagi and the remaining people of Tragon had banded together and are demanding answers from the Empire; for some reason, they think that we know what's happening inside their borders better than they do.

Not only are they demanding answers, Romagi has also sent word to the remaining Kingdom, Polankad, and a large battalion of soldiers are currently marching towards the border, where an even larger army waits.

For all intents and purposes, the Western Kingdoms have declared war on the Empire.

Most likely, the countries further west will send aid to the Kingdoms, in hopes of receiving something in turn over the coming years.

Of course, since they don't share a border, those other countries are also rather nonplussed about the might that the Empires wields; after all, why worry about a country thousands of miles away from yourself?

It's not like they could retaliate.

I don't truly know how warfare in this world is waged, nor do I know if it's similar to what happened during the Middle Ages, but if it is, then we are watching the beginning of a multi year bloody affair; one that we will likely need to take part of.

The silence turned somber as we all reached the same conclusion, and I sighed as I glanced over my shoulder, each girl staring at the table quietly, their eyes complicated.

Anput was the first to recover, unsurprisingly, as her simple "Well, at least we won't be bored." echoed around the room, making Leone frown.

"Boredom? You're more worried about boredom than the large amount of lives lost due to a misunderstanding?"

The Jackalkin shrugged, and before the Vampire could begin arguing with her, Jahi spoke up, making Leone grit her teeth.

"It's not about boredom, Anput, nor is it about the amount of casualties, Leone. What really matters is whatever managed to bring an entire Kingdom to its knees. What is its motive? Does it even have one? Why did it target only Tragon Kingdom, and not the others? Will it target the others?"

Each question was valid, and each one made the two other women frown, their previous disagreement forgotten.

I returned to preparing our dinner, all while they began theorizing from what we currently knew.

There was something or someone capable of opening Gates; that fact was indisputable, as there was no other way for that many confirmed Gates to open inside one territory without someone targeting that territory.

This creature or person is strong enough to decimate the Nogart Palace with apparent ease, as the King and his Guards were all accomplished Core users; not insanely strong, but still up there, and yet they were massacred.

The methods of killing were either through blunt force trauma, as shown by the mangled corpse, or through evisceration and dismemberment; this could be a human with raw strength and a large blade, or a monster with sharp teeth and a strong body.

I didn't know which one I found worse; a person committing this massacre, or a monster capable of utilizing Gates.

Of course, there was also the third option; both.

There is a monster and a person working together.

That would be multitudes worse than if it was just one or the other; a monster that could form some kind of pact with a mortal is chilling enough.

Besides that, since the Empress hasn't reacted strongly, the idea of it being some kind of Fiend is out of the question; from the very little I've seen on them, Tza'Yul would be able to tell the Empress if another of its kind appeared, and the only other is Ka'Hondi, the Fiend that the Asmodia's have under lock and key.

They are also far stronger than the average monster, even when they are just formed; that's how strong a Fiend is, and if one was causing this current predicament, I have a feeling the Empress would ignore her previous decorum and simply raze the Kingdom to the ground to rid the world of the Fiend.

Listening to them continue to debate the purpose and intent of this attacker, one thing was assured.

War was coming.

A war between the Empire and the Kingdoms would most definitely break out, and more then likely...

We would be sent to fight; not by the Empress, not because we were forced to fight by the Empress' Court, but because the Marquess and Countess would definitely send us out, to temper each of us inside that bloody conflict.

From the few words the Marquess had left for me after she sorted Jahi out, I knew that the difference between my lover and my future siblings was great.

Jahi would be taking over March Asmodia, and as such, she would be forged and tempered the same way the Marquess had been, to become just as strong, if not stronger, then her Mom.

Our younger siblings, be them from my Mother or from the Countess, would be given the options to train, not forced into it like Jahi had been.

They can live life as peacefully or as bloodily as they wish, but the path for Jahi had been set as soon as she had been conceived.

When I had been tied to her, I still had the option to run and live a peaceful life, but I made my choice.

If she wished to venture into Hell, I would walk beside her, now and always.