My Servant System



Swirling the wine around in my glass, I narrowed my eyes as I listened to the soft whisper of Cali that graced my ears from afar, the Arch Fiend still hiding away from all of our views but remaining nearby enough to be able to see what was happening around us.

"Eugh... they positively reek of Fiendish energy... ambition and alteration is rolling off of them in equal measure. It would seem an insufferable Tza Fiend is backing them... Though I have to admit I am surprised that a cult has popped up this quickly. That explains their uncaring attitude..."

My lips were pulled into a thin line as I sipped on my glass, the smooth, rich flavor helping to soothe my mind for a brief moment as I tapped my finger against the glass, getting everyone to turn back towards me.

"Cali says it's a Tza Cult, but she also seems surprised it popped up this early, so perhaps its a rudimentary one?"

The Marquess snorted as she drained her glass, filling it up again as she muttered "Rudimentary my ass... Nothing related to those bastards is rudimentary. Least of all anything related to the Tza's. They thrive off of trickery and hidden meanings, half truths and lies. In other words..."

"A real pain to deal with. Layers upon layers of different goals and objectives depending on the level of the member, with each layer gaining more and more strength if they can understand what is given to them... The most complicated amongst the four branches due to not having an easily identifiable goal..."

Kolia sighed this time, her green eyes now serious as she mulled over the new set of information, looking towards the four adventurers who were quickly drowning themselves in hard liquor, making her roll her eyes as she muttered "These aren't anyone special in this cult; simply muscle meant to get the groundwork of whatever they want done. Too stupid and obvious to be anyone of value. But, maybe they know something that we need going forwards?"

"At the very least we'd understand what they were brought in to do, and how Lady Vitra hired them. Perhaps a better look into the mind of our troubled young Lady? Just wonder if they'll even be capable of speech by the time we manage to nab one of them..."

I frowned as I glanced at the Marquess, asking "Was the plan really to just... grab one and question them? Wouldn't that alert their party that something was happening?"

She just shrugged, draining half of her new glass in one gulp before replying "With how drunk they are right now? No, not really. Easiest thing to do would be drag them over to a brothel and pay for the night before asking them some questions... let the workers take care of them afterwords."

My frown deepened, before I sighed and sat back in my chair, shrugging as I replied "I guess that could work... So, how long should we wait for that opportunity? After they assault the barmaids, or..?"

Everyone else looked towards the four adventurers again, following suit with the rest of the bar as everyone watched the poor barmaids getting accosted by the unruly thugs, but no one made a move due to the fear of not only those four, but also being accused of something by the Renacla Family, specifically Vitra Renacla; no one knew what ties these people had to the youngest Lady of Vulpine Manor, so no one wanted to risk anything.

Of course, there was both a level of indifference and indignance inside of me at the sight; I didn't know them nor have anything to gain by helping them, so I didn't care about what was happening before me, but I also came from a world where crimes like this were all too familiar and even more downplayed than here, making me feel like I should step in and help since I had seen what those actions could do to those women.

Again though... I wasn't the same woman I was in my previous life, and if helping them meant placing my priorities at a detriment, then they'd have to suffer the consequences of being too weak to help themselves; it was cruel, but it was realistic. 

There were too many ways to grow stronger in this world to excuse being easily taken advantage of, at least in my eyes anyways.

Anput, Jahi, Kolia, and the Marquess seemed to share the same sentiment as me, watching on cooly, but we all knew that one of us certainly wasn't going to let it slide... and that person was Leone, who was far more compassionate to anyone then any of us, or even all of us combined.

The Vampire watched as the four adventurers accosted the barmaids for a few seconds longer before standing up and making her way over, resulting in the rest of us sighing as we stood up and followed behind her, hoping to avoid a confrontation, but... well, none of us were putting any coin on that outcome.

Budan might've, but the monk was also wearing a sharp smile as he idly stroked his prayer beads, cutting a rather imposing figure due to the bare muscles and confident, assured demeanor he had wrapped around him like a cloak.

The Wisp inside the bar also made their way over, quietly slipping onto one of the available seats beside the adventurers and remaining away from their lines of sight, since they all turned to grin and whistle as they saw Leone approach, unaware that the grey haired woman wasn't easy prey.

My smile twitched as I saw their eyes roaming the Vampire's figure, and I didn't even need to look to see that Anput's fur was bristling, while the bond between Jahi and I only amplified the disgust and anger I felt at the actions of these hooligans as they groggily stood up, clearly drunk but still exerting quite the amount of strength on the barmaids.