Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

As the dust settled and the army finally arrived at the royal courtyard, the workers began setting up tents for the soldiers to rest in. The soldiers themselves, sat on the grassy plane, conserving their energy for when they'll truly need to use it. But their respite, it would only last a few days for once the map was in the general's hand and the scouts had confirmed the locations mapped within it, the army would march once more and this time into hostile territory instead of into the safety of a city's walls.

With that in mind, they let the workers do most of the work. They too will have their fill of resting, but for now, it was time for them to work.

"Stubborn as an ass, these two…." Turning to Maria's voice, Raven looked right at her as she explained what had happened. "We tried to talk to them about letting the army in, but the stick up their asses was keeping these bastards from moving an inch."

"Even I have to agree, these people are horrible rulers–worse than the lawlessness of Lantherem back when I was alive," Hayley added, her eyes droopy from stress.

"Yeah…these guys they're more stubborn than my brother Zeil used to be." Amelia added, huffing a sigh of utter defeat.

Having heard from them all, Raven turned his attention to Ophelia who'd remained quiet up until now. Noticing his gaze, she took a deep breath and expressed her thoughts as well.

"I hate to say this but, I don't see a future where we can get along with these folks. But then again, I don't want there to be any violence if you know what I mean." Ophelia's eyes lingered on with a look of uncertainty reflected from within them.

Turning his body towards her, the hero folded his hands in front of him and asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Worried I will kill them?"

"I think you should," Maria interjected before Ophelia could respond.

"What?! NO! That will only make things worse, Maria!" She yelled, glaring angrily at the ex-queen's back.

"I agree," Raven said.

"With whom, her or me?" Ophelia asked.

"With you of course." He added and a sigh of relief left Ophelia's lips.

"I think trusting these folks is a mistake, one that would certainly circle back and bite us in the ass," Maria interjected, not willing to back down just yet.

"We will figure something out, for now we don't need any more chaos or worse the ire of the blind." Brushing off the ex-queen's suggestion, Raven turned his head to look at the soldiers, the monster girls, and everyone settling in the courtyard. "Meanwhile, someone should go make sure that they don't try anything stupid while our soldiers rest."

Shifting his attention back to Maria, he nodded.

"Keep the giants company, will you? All of you, actually." Shooting Ophelia a glance, Raven shared through his mental link with her.

'Don't leave Maria alone with them, same goes for Hayley–she does whatever our murder machine tells her.' Nodding back, Ophelia turned around and led the group back into the mansion.

Watching them disappear inside, Raven heard a pair of heels drawing closer and closer to him from behind. Shaking his head for he already knew who it was, the general heaved a sigh and turned to face the Mistress head on.

"What?"

"Ouch~ Ahaha~" Wearing a crescent smile, the succubus folded her umbrella and suggestively reached out and touched Raven's chest for just a moment. "Some hospitality wouldn't hurt, or are you allergic to being nice to a lady? Hmm? I brought you a thousand devils you know, the least I expect is the same level of respect as the others, you know?"

"Can you just get to the point?" Raven retorted, feeling a light headache creeping up on him already.

"Fine~ Fine!" Drawing her hand back, the Mistress pressed a finger to her chin and wet her painted lips with her tongue. "I heard you needed some help. Getting some maps from a map maker, I thought I should help. Give me an excuse to explore the city as well."

"No deal, I have to ask him about some other stuff as well."

Furrowing her brows, the mistress let her hands down and leaned forwards with her breasts tightly pinched between her arms.

"Oh for the love of sin and the decadent, just let me handle this. I'm trying to show that we can work together, why not let me show my compliance."

While letting a primordial devil roam the city freely wasn't exactly something Raven could casually allow, after thinking about what she'd just said, he pondered whether or not he should use this trip to actually strengthen their alliance. After all, without the Mistress the blessings of Athenia would fall, and growing animosity with her wasn't doing any good to anyone. Even so, eyeing Regalia in the distance staring at the Mistress, Raven urged her to come closer and accompany the devil on this small trip around town.

'Don't let her do anything stupid, and if she does, talk to me through the ring and I'll be there in a second.' And with that order, both the Mistress and Regalia made their way to the map maker's shop.

At the same time as this was happening, in the crowd of soldiers the other shop owner that the party had visited the last time they were in the city, was wandering amidst the soldiers trying to get some information on what had happened back in the town square and if they knew where the injured hero had been taken.

"Hey…do you know where they took the guy that fought one of your folks at the city centre?" Hesitant Dandy reached for a somewhat normal looking shoulders, and that just happened to be Mercedes.

Turning back, the warlock shot a curious glance at the dark elf. Confusion and distress rode across her forehead and after having been brushed off by too many shoulders, she almost seemed ready to move on to another person, in which case it would be Mono's Twin working on some machinery.

"Who? That guy that beat up the sister?" Shrugging her shoulders, Mercedes curled her lips upwards. "I heard something about a home and all, but we passed too quickly to hear much else."

"A home?" Hearing that word, Dandy's eyes lit up in an instant. "T-thank you!"

Flashing a quick smile, she rushed right off to where she expected her childhood friend turned hero to be. In the meantime, the preparation for the war continued. Mostly by resting, but with a few kinks that needed to be ironed out before marching out of these walls again.

"HOW DARE YOU ABANDON OUR GOD?!" The first of which was dealing with Flitza who was yelling at the people of the sunken city that had joined the Athenian army.

'I should've brought earplugs…' Thought Mercedes, but thankfully for her Erika would handle the dragoness soon enough.