Chapter 16: The Tribal Lands

  The Principality didn’t seem to need any help, so Garfield teleported the group back to Bretten.

  “I’m heading to the palace to report. The rest of you can go home or wherever else you like.”

  The mage considered telling Garfield that using the Boom Stick is becoming increasingly strange for her, but she didn’t want to delay him. She’d test it out some more and talk to him later if necessary. Hannah and Solana both insisted on staying with Garfield, but he didn’t see a problem with that.

  --

  “Please, this way.” Garfield’s group was led to where the King and others were still planning.

  “Duke, even for you, this seems too quick. What happened?” the King inquired.

  “We almost missed dinner! I hardly think we deserve an award for this.”

  Garfield explained more or less what happened, leaving out the juicier details.

  “I suppose we should cancel the mobilization…” Count Polonio muttered.

  “In any case, I’m hungry, so the three of us will head home!”

  “Oh, Duke,” the Count interrupted before Garfield could leave. “I apologize for imposing, but do you mind if I join you this evening? There’s someone Yttria and I would like you to meet.”

  “Oh, uh, sure. Please join us for dessert.”

  “Is this about…” the King trailed off. The Count nodded back at him. Garfield paid it no mind and returned home.

  --

  “If they don’t get here in the next five minutes, I’m going to start eating that cake without them,” Garfield declared. It was a pretty good-looking chocolate cake.

  Garfield walked back to the parlor and sat down. Hannah and Solana each teleported in front of him, landing on each on his knees. Eleha walked into the room like a normal person and sat in a chair opposite him. “I’m sure it took the Count some time to finish up with the King, get back home, eat something quickly, gather up his group, and ride over here.”

  “True,” Garfield had to admit.

  “Also, I recommend they hop off your lap before the meeting.”

  “You would do that for me?” Garfield made a tender expression like he was emotionally touched.

  “N-No! Forget I said anything!”

  “Master, the Polonios are here as scheduled.”

  “Show them in and serve us here, please.” The maid nodded and left. Garfield picked up the girls by the scruff of their necks and placed them in the seat on either side of him.

  A moment later, the maid returned with the Count, Yttria, and another fox-man that Garfield didn’t recognize. “Duke, thank you for seeing us on short notice,” the Count said in greeting.

  “Please, have a seat. Have some cake.”

  “This gentleman is Antonio, a very distant relative of mine who lives up in the Tribal Lands as part of the tribe of the fox-people.”

  Garfield knew the odds were small, but he just had to be sure. “His name isn’t… Antonio Polonio… right?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. Please proceed.”

  “Duke, thank you for seeing me. I was sent here by the Chief to request help from my cousin. At first I wondered why he insisted we come explain the situation to you, seeing how you’re not a beast-person yourself, but, judging from all the maids I’ve seen in the last few minutes…”

  “Oh, don’t get the wrong idea Antonio,” Garfield responded. “I’m an equal-opportunity employer. These maids just got here first and filled up all the jobs.”

  “I’m sure that’s quite a story…” Antonio surmised.

  “The Count brought me up to speed the other day but, what’s the latest?”

  “Yes. I raced down here as fast as I possibly could. The alliance of cat-people and rabbit-people invaded dog-person lands as we feared. Worse, they completely conquered them.”

  “So, bad news, but not that surprising?”

  “I suppose, Duke. We fear that the alliance will set their aim at us, next. They might even force some of the dog-people to join them in the conflict.”

  “Do you have any theories about why they are being so aggressive? Can you tell me more about them?”

  “I’m not sure about the ‘why’. There have been rapid political changes across the Tribal Lands in recent years. Perhaps a cultural shift empowered a small number of hawkish leaders to take control. We didn’t have good intelligence on those peoples to begin with…”

  “I’ve seen similar things in other places.”

  “I see. As to telling you more about them, the cat-people and rabbit-people are, as far as I know, fairly similar. Unlike the fox and dog-people, warfare is conducted mostly by their females. I’d guess their breakdown of female to male fighters is 80/20 or perhaps 75/25. The males also tend more towards support roles.”

  Garfield found that rather interesting.

  “The split of influence is closer to even in domestic issues, but I’d wager the females still win out. Other than that, they’re just like us, living in harmony with the land when they aren’t warring.”

  “Okay, I think I understand the basic situation up there. What help would you like?” Garfield asked.

  “I wasn’t told anything in particular to request. We simply need help holding off superior forces. If no such help is available, could we at least send the most vulnerable portion of our tribe down south to somewhere safe?”

  Garfield turned to Yttria. “What do you think?”

  “I want to help them. If you’re willing, then I’ll go with you.”

  “To keep an eye on me?”

  “…Maybe.”

  “Antonio, you haven’t tried your cake yet. Please tell me how it is. I’ll decide whether or not to save your tribe based on the answer.”

  Antonio’s eyes shot open in shock. The Count laughed, but Yttria looked at the guy with sympathetic eyes. “He’s not joking, you know!” the Count shouted in glee. “If you do as he says, he will save your tribe.”

  “Count, I was at least joking about the cake part…”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Duke.”

  “Antonio, will you meet me back here tomorrow morning? Let’s depart after breakfast. Does that work for you, Yttria?” Antonio and Yttria both nodded.

  --

  After the Polonios departed, Garfield returned to his cellar. “Report.”

  “Master, the remaining prisoners all want to become vampires.”

  “Did you make any attempt to influence them either way?”

  “No, that would be contrary to your orders. We simply listened.”

  “Very well. Proceed. See how many generations deep you can go. If you encounter a problem, then start a new branch.”

  “We’ll begin at once.”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  --

  “So, it’s us five, huh?” Garfield looked around at Antonio, Yttria, Hannah, and Solana.

  “Duke, may I inquire as to who these girls are? I even see one is an elf…”

  “They are, basically, informally adopted into my household. You can think of it that way.”

  “I see…”

  “Rest assured, they are quite capable as adventurers. All right, let’s go.”

  “Duke, how will we be traveling?”

  “I sent a scout up to your village overnight so we can transfer any time!”

  “Any time? I don’t understand.” The rest of the group moved in close to the dumbfounded Antonio.

  “?Teleport?.”

  There they were, dead smack in the middle of the fox-people village. Things generally seemed calm. Antonio fell down on to his butt and looked around… a common reaction.

  “I guess we should meet with the Chief, first?” Garfield suggested.

  “Uh, yes…” Antonio eventually agreed.

  --

  “I’m amazed you got help so quickly Antonio. How did you do it?”

  “Let’s, uh, leave those details for later. Ms. Yttria here is the daughter of my cousin, Count Polonio. The gentleman is Duke Garfield who volunteered to come assist us personally. His two assistants are Ms. Hannah and Ms. Solana.”

  “Hah! To think you still use the word cousin. What is he? Your ninth cousin, two-times removed, or something like that? Regardless, we’re happy to have you.” The Chief turned toward Garfield. “Duke, please allow me to formally welcome you to our village. Although we are glad to have you, could you please explain why you felt the desire to come personally?”

  “The reason why I’m a Duke is basically because I’m very talented at resolving situations like this predicament your village is in.”

  “My word! Have you been brought up to speed? Exactly how would you like to help us?”

  “Yes, I more or less know what’s going on. My plan is to travel to the enemy by myself and get captured.”

  “What!?”

  “Garfield, I’m not sure—“ Yttria was promptly cut off.

  “Just leave everything to me.”

  --

  At the dog tribe’s main village, the perimeter was guarded by a combination of rabbit-people and cat-people. A group of two rabbit-girls and two cat-girls sat around a campfire while monitoring the southern approach to the village.

  “Someone’s coming.” The four stood up, weapons in hand. The man, seemingly unarmed, approached slowly on foot. He looked carefully at each of the guards, struggling to hide any emotion on his face. “Stop and identify yourself, human!”

  “I’m Smith, an adventurer from the Tyrin Kingdom. While visiting the Empire, my party was contacted by the fox-people about negotiating the release of the dog-people.”

  “Huh? You think you can talk us into leaving?”

  “Yes. That’s what I’m being paid to do.”

  The four guards looked at each other and laughed hysterically. “Okay, okay, go ahead, convince us to leave!”

  “Treat others the way you wish to be treated. If you don’t want someone hostile entering your homes or taking your family members away, then don’t do the same to people in other villages.”

  “Grr..” The cat-girl wasn’t sure how to respond. She wasn’t about to change her ways, but it wasn’t a bad argument, either. Regardless, it wasn’t up to her to decide. One of the rabbit-girls spoke up instead.

  “Good try, but no thanks. Now get out of here.”

  “Very well,” Garfield responded. He turned around and started walking back the way he came.

  “Wait!” the other rabbit-girl called out. “We can’t let him go after getting such a good look at the village.”

  “True. Let’s grab him and bring him in.”

  “You four think you can take me? I came here in peace, but I’m prepared to defend myself. I’m feeling particularly skillful with staffs right now.” He took out a large white staff from somewhere and assumed a fighting stance.

  “What an idiot. Surround him.” They spread out with impressive agility and prepared to attack and disarm him. The four guards signaled each other with their eyes, and the first, a cat-girl, closed on his back.

  Before confirming the incoming attacker with his eyes, he winded up and swung his staff behind him. The staff made contact with the cat-girl’s face and knocked her backwards, all while a strange noise emanated from the staff. During the motion, one of the rabbit girls approached from the side. He transitioned into a second attack and sent her flipping through the air while a second strange noise played.

  The remaining two guards launched simultaneous attacks. The man sent one of them flying while getting tackled from the other direction. As the successful rabbit-girl struggled to hold him down, her three allies all rushed over and finished subduing him.

  “Are you three all right!?” she asked in a panic.

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Me too.”

  “I don’t think I’m hurt.”

  “Really? You all took nasty blows to the face…”

  “What ARE you!? I put all my strength into that!” he shouted.

  “Quiet, you!” The man’s arms were bound and he was escorted into the village.

  --

  Two Chiefs sat in the village’s largest tent. One of them had rabbit ears. The other had cat ears. Contrary to the makeup of most of the fighters, they were both male. Most of the other occupants of the tent were dog-girls, bound and dressed in revealing clothing. A group of four guards and one human man entered.

  “Chief, this human walked right up to the village and said he wants to negotiate for the release of the dog-people,” the cat-girl reported to her leader.

  “He did, huh? What do you think?” the cat-man asked the rabbit-man sitting across from him.

  “Did he say why?”

  This time, a rabbit-girl answered the question coming from her Chief. “He was hired by the fox-people.”

  “Ah! He might have useful information, then. I care little for the dog-people. I’m quite interested in our next conquest, though.”

  “I don’t get what you see in those foxes, but I’m already quite happy with what’s happening here.” The cat-man reached over for the nearest bound dog-girl and lifted her up into his lap. “As we agreed, I’ll help you with the fox village.”

  “Excellent. Let’s learn everything we can from him. Maybe we can use him as a hostage during the next attack.”

  “Chief, how should we proceed?”

  “Oh, it hardly matters. Find someone else for guard duty and then bring him inside somewhere. I’ll leave the methods to you.”

  “Yes, Chief!”

  “You-You monsters!” The man immediately took a half-hearted punch from one of his guards. They escorted him out of the large tent, arranged replacement guards, and then brought him into a smaller tent."

  “All right, Smith, tell us exactly what’s going on over in the fox village.”

  “You think I’ll just talk?”

  “No. I think we’ll need to beat it out of you.”

  The man laughed under his breath, which was a bit of a departure from his behavior up until this moment. “If you can figure out my weakness, you win. If not, you’ll never get anything out of me.”

  “One cat-girl raised a hand as though she was going to strike the man, but a rabbit-girl grabbed her arm to stop her.”

  “Hold on. What do you think he meant by that?”

  “Why are you stopping me? Shouldn’t we beat it out of him?”

  “Maybe. But if his weakness was just getting hit, then he wouldn’t have said that unless he was desperate and attempting reverse psychology. The way he laughed just now unnerved me. I think we need to proceed carefully.”

  “You worry too much!”

  The guards started arguing, with the two cat-girls wanting to get a bit violent from the get-go, and the rabbit-girls calling for caution and further discussion.

  “Umm…” The four turned to look at him. “Can we get on with the interrogation?”

  After a long pause, one of the cat-girls apologized to the rabbit-girls. “So… what should we do?”

  “What do you think his weakness is?”

  “Hey, you, what’s your weakness?”

  The man clammed up.

  “Gah! Why do we have to think so much!?”

  “Hey!” one of the rabbit-girls suddenly called out. “Are you staring at her chest?”

  The man quickly looked down but remained quiet.

  “What, is his weakness chests?”

  “No, I don’t think that’s quite right but… maybe his weakness is us?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe he feels the same way towards rabbit-girls or cat-girls as our Chiefs do with dog-girls and fox-girls?”

  “Ohhh…” the other three said in unison.

  “Wait, even if that’s true, how would we exploit that?” The four looked back and forth at each other.

  “Sit him down in a chair,” one of the rabbit-girls directed. The other girls, not having any better ideas, complied, not yet understanding the reason for the order. The rabbit-girl swung her leg over and sat down in his lap, facing him. “How does this make you feel?

  The man’s eyes widened at the sudden change in tactic.

  “Look at him!” one of the cat-girls shouted. “That’s definitely effective! We’ve found his weakness!”

  “Wait,” the other rabbit-girl said. “I think you’re right but… how do we exploit this? You think he’ll tell us what we want to know simply by sitting on his lap or doing other things to him?”

  “There’s a very real possibility of that,” the man suddenly interjected. The rabbit-girl hopped off of his lap, not exactly sure how to interpret what he just said.

  “Are you… trying to get us to have our way with you?”

  “I gotta say…” the man spoke again. “I heard cat-girls and rabbit-girls were cute but damn.”

  “C-Cute?”

  “W-We’re warriors!”

  “Those are not mutually exclusive, you know,” he said.

  The girls looked back and forth at each other, again, not sure about what to do next. The man kept speaking.

  “You know, I was very impressed by the fox-girls as well from the moment I met them. The dog-girls don’t really do it for me, but it still pains me to see them getting abused like this.”

  “What is this guy—“

  “Watch out, this guy’s more dangerous than we realized!”

  “Is it just me, or are you rabbit-girls much more cautious than you cat-girls? I guess that makes sense, seeing that cats are predators and rabbits are not. Although, I once asked a fox-girl what she thought of snakes and she said she didn’t care for them. This is all impossibly difficult to keep up with.”

  “What are you—“

  “Like we discussed before, your willingness to imprison and exploit the dog-people, simply because your lecherous Chiefs have no principles, tells me that I shouldn’t feel at all guilty about capturing all the cat-girls and rabbit-girls to use for my own amusement back at home.”

  “That… that’s a bold claim for someone who’s at our mercy!”

  “Shall I start with you four? You’re all beauties in my book.”

  “Let’s tie him up more!”

  “I forgot to mention, I’m not a warrior, I’m a mage.” One of the girls was about to slam her hand down over his mouth, but before she could: “I can cast magic silently. Covering my mouth won’t help much.”

  “Knock him out!”

  “?Slip?!” All four girls fell down as the friction below their feet momentarily disappeared. Unfortunately, Garfield wasn’t experienced with this spell. He also fell down from the chair he was sitting on. “Ugh, my shoulder…” Having his arms bound didn’t help with the landing any.

  “Let’s just pile on him and restrain him that way!” It wasn’t a very smart idea, but they were getting desperate. The four girls really did pile on top of him.

  “It’s getting hot in here!” he yelled out.

  “This guy!”

  “?Teleport?.” Garfield transferred to the other side of the room. This bindings did not stay with him. “?Slip?.” The four girls fell just as they were trying to get back up. Garfield grabbed his white staff which had been sitting nearby.

  “You four look like you’re getting bruised. It bothers me to see your well-trained bodies get injured. Let me help you.”

  They all turned away and covered their heads with their arms as he lifted the white staff over his head. After violently beating them to the tune of repeated chime noises, the girls all rolled on to their backs and breathed heavily.

  “What the hell’s going on in here?” Two cat-girls came running in.

  “?Slip?.” He slapped them silly with his white healing staff as well. They assumed a similar pose as the other four. Garfield walked over to a chair and sat down. “Are you all ready to talk, or do I need to take out a weapon that actually is capable of injuring others?”