My Servant System

Leone walked beside me as I made my way towards the Mage's section of the camp; they had all decided to occupy the same area, since they were all familiar with one another.

Bellara, the half Fae half Elf mage that led the contingent alongside Kolia was currently creating the fortress walls around us, making sure we would be safe from any potential counterattack from Goron or the other Kingdoms.

As such, Kolia herself was still inside the camp, directing the others in their trainings and giving them last second pointers on what to expect and how to better prepare themselves.

Seeing Leone and I, Kolia smiled as she made her way towards us, the woman's snake tattoo writhing on her bare arm.

"Jahi, Leone! It's been awhile!"

Stopping in front of us, the shorter woman grinned up at me, before her smile faltered as she looked towards my other side, where someone would have normally been standing.

"I... It still feels odd, knowing what happened to her. I know you don't want to hear it, but... really, I just... Hah... she was such a good student, y'know? Bah, I know she's not gone; there's no way she's gone. Much to bright to be killed so easily... especially not by Ayla and Jillian. That nose wasn't just for show!"

Smiling wryly at her poor attempt at a joke, I nodded as I said "She was the most cautious out of us all, constantly checking our surroundings and double checking our actions, making sure we were prepared for anything that could have happened..."

Leone nodded, her eyes watery as she added "Sometimes I can still hear her nagging at me to clean up after myself or to take a break from my studies..."

Hearing the Vampire's disheartened mutter, I held in a growl as I smiled stiffly at the two women, saying "She's not dead; we know that for sure. The bond says so. She'll find her way home, and if not, then I'll tear this world apart looking for her; you can be damned sure of that..."

Kolia nodded, while Leone bit her lip and looked away, aware of my restraint.

A pang of guilt entered my heart, forcing me to take a deep breath.

With our rock gone, all three of us were charting unknown waters with little idea on how to swim, and what way was shore.

I knew that, and I knew that I needed to step up and mature, to stop this childish, petulant blame that I unconsciously placed on others and focus on the here and now, before looking forwards.

There was no time to reflect on what has happened; I needed to focus on what would happen, and what was happening.

For us, for me, and... for her.

The thought of her looking at me like I was some new, worse person filled me with such indescribable dread that I almost locked up in fear, and that dread that I got small tastes of fueled my desire to improve.

Or, at the very least, remain the same person I am now; the same person she loved so dearly, the same person she remembered.

"Alright, we can talk all about her when this Crusade is over. For now, I need to find myself a mage to join my squad, Kolia. Someone capable, someone manageable, and someone capable of keeping up with Leone, Anput and I. Any ideas?"

My former teacher frowned, her eyes turning back towards the dozens of men and women resting around the area.

"'Capable of keeping up with you' is rather difficult, you know that right? Ah, but I think there are three... Obviously me, but I'm guessing the Marquess or the Commander want me to remain with the mages?"

Glancing back at me, she mirrored my nod before continuing on, her voice thoughtful.

"Fire, Earth / Metal, and Light... Leone is capable of healing, Anput is defensive with her Earth and offensive with her Metal, and you do a bit of everything with your Light... Hmm... so, I have a few options.

First, there's a male Harpy that's good with support spells; healing, buffs, and some debuffs as well. Little eccentric, but overall a nice guy.

Second, a female Tigerkin that focuses on using her Nature Magic offensively, but is also capable of debuffing targets as well; also eccentric, but more so in the way that she 'hunts' her foes...

Finally, a female Wind Djinn that loves to use her - surprise~ - Wind Magic to slice her opponents to shreds."

Trailing off, Kolia sighed as she added "That Wind Djinn is technically wanted for murder in a city, but it was a shitty noble that she killed - guy tried to rape her so she used her potent Magics to butcher him and display his corpse on her homes walls, much to the disgust and surprise of her neighbors. Just... thought you might want to know that..."

Chuckling softly, I nodded to myself as I said "Bring the Tigerkin and Wind Djinn here; Leone and I can provide enough buffs for ourselves, so I was thinking someone with some power would be best."

When Kolia nodded and moved away, Leone glanced up at me for a moment, asking "Are you... okay? I mean, earlier, you seemed rather-"

Reaching forwards, I grabbed Leone by the waist and pulled her forwards into my chest, silencing her for the moment.

"Leone, love, for the moment... yes, I am fine. Just... let's not speak on it, alright?"

The Vampire gulped and nodded, her ears slightly red as she nuzzled into my chest, all while I stroked her ashen hair.

I... did need to eventually come to terms with what happened; to confront it and deal with it, especially with them, but... not now.

When this Crusade was over... that was when I would make my first real effort to change...

To keep us all together, stronger than ever before.

But until then...

Giving Leone a quick kiss, I made my way to follow Kolia, who was getting the two women together to create my own personal squad...