CHAPTER 5: A 'COUNSEL OF WEIRDOS'

**Kuro**

“I see…well, that’s a problem indeed,” I couldn’t help but agree with the points the elder of the Eagles raised about their population, the refugees and the tenuous food supply. The relative peace and stability brought about by our ‘clearing’ of the monster nests in the vicinities of the Avinus towns and villages caused this consequence. Not that it’s a bad thing per se; however, if they won’t do something about those issues now, the tribes would certainly face unrest.

“So, what do you think, Human Chief?” the adviser who came with Chief Gislaine asked.

“In the first place, how did the refugees learn about the ‘safety’ of this place? No ship from the human territories return after what happened in Malvette, right?”

“They claim it was some Fox tribesmen who told them about the situation here. Must be those idiots who came here looking for you before, Human Chief,” Chief Gislaine answered.

“The ones you gave wrong directions on my whereabouts?”

“I bet those foxes got furious when they realized I fooled them,” the elder of the Eagles nodded and chuckled, “Anyway, the refugees say they are fleeing from the battles that raged in the mainland, as well as from the human slavers, and monster hordes.”

The adviser reminded her, “Chief, don’t forget the part about the persecution.”

“Ah, right. That one too. The refugees are also telling me that there’s a thing going on in the mainland. It has something to do with the high priests arresting, torturing and executing Beastmen who are disloyal to the Saint.”

“You mean an inquisition?” I tried giving her the correct term, but…

“Is that what it is called?” Chief Gislaine returned the question to me, but she never let me answer her, “In any case, what’s important is that there’s something bad going on in the mainland, that these folks were forced to flee to this place.”

“So Human Chief,” it was the adviser, “have you thought of any solution to this?”

I stopped on sipping the tea I was drinking when I heard that, “What do you mean? You sound like you’re passing this problem to me.”

“What do you think is the reason we came in this village, Chief Kuro? We certainly didn’t wish to eat the cookies you serve,” Chief Gislaine didn’t hide the sarcasm in her voice.

“You’re…uh, eating them?”

“Well, ahem, aside from that…” the Eagle tribe elder said in-between her bites of the cookies I gave them, “You’re the one who bailed out the Chickens from their problem. I’m sure you can do something about our situation. It’s no easy feat, you know?”

“Why do I feel you’re blaming me?”

“It’s just your imagination.”

“Haa…anyway, I think you’re expecting too much from me, Chief Gislaine,” I admitted. “In the first place, it’s not me who keeps on laying those eggs. You guys need to temper down on your sexual urges.”

Chief Gislaine and her companion stared at me for a few moments like I’m some criminal of sorts. The silence was deafening, that it became awkward soon.

“W-What?”

“I was wondering if you’re stupid,” Chief Gislaine revealed.

“You’d come to me asking for help, and you think I’m stupid?”

“Well, telling a Beastfolk to temper down on their desires is like forcing a human to give her virginity to you. For short, you don’t say that so casually!”

“Oh…” I was taken aback by what I just learned, but I could only let out an exhausted sigh, “Alright, my bad. I knew little about your Beastman customs and other cultural stuff. Or maybe I forgot about it. In any case, I apologize. Maybe I’m just tired…”

“It’s fine,” the Eagle tribe elder was quick to let me off my mistake.

Her companion then continued, “By the way, now that I noticed it, what’s the matter with you, Human Chief? You look exhausted.”

“Am I? I guess this is the effect of not being able to sleep for a while now…”

“Unable to sleep?”

“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things…”

“Hoh…” the Eagle Chief then looked around, “Well, if you got a lot of things in the head, then your hut’s atmosphere certainly won’t help you! Look at those curtains blocking in the fresh air coming from your windows! Why do you have to close this—”

“Wait, Chief Gislaine! Don’t open it—” I tried stopping the Eagle tribe’s elder from what she was about to do, but it was too late.

“Human Chief!”

“Kyaaaa!!!”

“!!!”

Without a moment’s delay, I dove to avoid an incoming figure, darting straight towards where I sat. I didn’t saw what happened next, for everything was too fast. But I heard a loud crashing sound, followed by the clanging of the metal cutleries and plates, and a whimper.

However, it wasn’t over just yet. Even before Chief Gislaine picked herself up, another person came tumbling in from my door. On his head was the little tiger-girl, Teviki, who seemed too happy as she nibbled on his hair while being violently flung around (ostensibly to shake her off).

“…”

Chief Gislaine and her adviser were dumbfounded at the chaotic scene. Adding to the riot were Minahaba and her blood-sister, Yatoi, who barged inside my hut as they pursued the new arrivals. I could only shake my head in disbelief, while they thrashed my place completely…

----------

“You guys…” the Eagle tribe’s chief never hid her displeasure as she admonished the gatecrashers, “Can’t you see that we’re in the middle of an important discussion, and yet you’re causing trouble to your chief!”

“I’m just trying to—”

“I won’t hear any excuses for this disrespect!” Chief Gislaine swiftly shot Minahaba down, “Is this how you conduct yourself, Minahaba daughter of Habu? You’re the Chicken tribe’s chief now, for goodness’ sake; act like one!”

Minahaba wanted to protest, but seeing that Chief Gislaine wasn’t inclined to listen, she just kept her lips shut. She looked so dejected as she sat before the Eagle Chief that I’m already pitying her.

“And as for you, tiger-child, isn’t it your duty to serve your chief?”

“Teviki is Chief’s guard!” Teviki corrected her.

“Then why are you disturbing him? Look at your Chief! Those round black circles on his eyes, and his tired face!”

“Uuu…”

Chief Gislaine continued on her rants about respect for tribal elders that I’m thinking it was getting out of hand. A few moments later, I decided it’s time to intervene, “Uhm, these guys were just doing what I requested them to do; not to allow anyone to disturb me.”

“Yeah!” Yatoi backed me up, “I’m just following on what the Human Chief asked me to do!”

“Chief Gislaine, if you’re looking for the culprits for this mess,” Minahaba added, “turn your attention to those two.”

By ‘those two’, the falcon-woman meant the other people who crashed into my place. The first one was an Avinus girl, with her back facing us. Her short, silvery, bobbed hair topped with a ribbon partially covered her eyes—just like some emo kid, but I guess she could still see us. For all that Chief Gislaine had said and ranted about, she seemed oblivious to everything and just kept on tinkering something.

“…”

The other one was a human guy wearing his usual gray parka, blue denim jeans and a pair of rubber shoes. The man—Sir Loin—wasn’t paying any attention to Chief Gislaine as well; instead, he was busy fixing his wavy hair…drenched in Teviki’s drool.

Disgusting.

“Who are these people?” the companion of Chief Gislaine asked, “I didn’t see them last time with your group, Human Chief!”

“Why, hello there creep no. 1!” the Avinus girl answered him without even looking, “I see you don’t recognize the genius that is me!”

“That voice…” the Eagle tribe’s chief couldn’t hide her surprise, “Could you be—”

“You’re correct, Chief Gislaine of the Eagles!” the Avinus girl then turned her head 360 degrees to reveal her identity, “I am Salis, daughter of the Owl tribe’s elder, Malu!”

“What in the living shit?!” Sir Loin exclaimed as he jolted away from the owl-girl, “That’s some next level horror shit right there!”

“What do you mean? Of course I can turn my head around, pubic-haired human; I’m a member of the Owl tribe!”

Heh, that’s some nasty banter over there, between these two. Well, I could understand his surprise, though. I mean, witnessing this owl-girl’s head turn full 360 still freaked me out.

“I know Salis; I’m just surprised to see her here when she’s supposedly back at the Owl tribe’s village,” Chief Gislaine admitted, “However, we don’t know who you are, human!”

“Me? I’m Sir Loin of Steak.”

“I see you love sirloin steak, but I’m asking for your identity.”

“No, no, you got it wrong. My name is Loin. My title is ‘Sir’ and I’m from Steak. Get it? So, I’m Sir Loin of Steak.”

Chief Gislaine and her adviser stared at me, as if looking for a definitive answer. I only nodded to them, confirming the truth in Sir Loin’s words.

“Goodness!” she shook her head in disbelief, “A Falcon member of the Chickens. A foul-mouthed Owl. And a human named after food. I know you’re kind of different, Human Chief, but I didn’t expect you’d attract weirdos to you!”

----------

And so, after everything settled down, Chief Gislaine, her adviser, and I continued our discussion; only this time, Minahaba, Salis and Sir Loin were joining the conversation. Yatoi took Teviki away, so that she won’t keep on nibbling Sir Loin’s hair.

“Err…why are these people here?” the Eagle chief asked, “I thought we’re the only ones who’d talk.”

“I wanted to show to the Human Chief my invention, and also give him his new ‘pen’!” Salis of the Owl replied.

“Actually, Chief Gislaine, Salis ran away from her village because Chief Malu wants to give her as a mate to a prominent warrior of their tribe,” I explained, “So she’s staying here with me for a while…”

“Oh…” the Eagle chief threw a meaningful gaze on the owl-girl, “Really? Chief Malu did that?”

“Are you doubting my words, Eaglet?”

“Well…I’m just surprised that Chief Malu would do that,” Chief Gislaine shrugged, “But anyway, I guess I haven’t seen that side of hers just yet.”

The owl-girl was strangely silent; but she went back to tinkering something.

“I’m just here because that weird girl with fangs and tail wouldn’t stop biting my hair!” Sir Loin defended his presence, “I wash it with shampoo, not with a loli-girl’s drool. Oh, and I’m supposed to submit a training report to this fella.”

“Haa…” Chief Gislaine had an exhausted grin on her face, “Now I understand why you’re like that, Chief Kuro. These people are tiring me out as we—”

The Eagle chief suddenly fell silent.

“Something wrong, Chief Gislaine?”

“Hmm, where’s that bear-woman? If she’s here, then it wouldn’t be so chaotic.”

I don’t know how to answer that question of hers; my eyes inadvertently fell on Salis. But, much to my surprise, the owl-girl was also staring back at me. And the Eagle chief was quick to pick up what’s happening based on our reactions.

“Something happened between you guys?”

I gave her a slow, awkward nod.

“I…I see…” Chief Gislaine had a sarcastic grin on her face, “Is it bad?”

“Well,” I admitted, “Ursura…she got angry at me…because of Salis.”

----------

The Chief of the Eagle Tribe and her adviser gave me the strangest stare they could give, as I narrated to them what happened between us before. Judging from their expressions, it’s as if I did the greatest sin I could do. Chief Gislaine would also occasionally shook her head, or click her tongue.

I braced myself for the inevitable, “I made a big mistake, ’no?”

“No, you didn’t…” Chief Gislaine sighed, “What you have done is the greatest offense you could inflict on a beastwoman.”

I felt like my stomach was punched repeatedly the moment I heard that. Even Minahaba had a disappointed look on her face.

“You humans take our loyalty as if it’s a trivial matter!” the Eagle chief continued, “Remember this: if we want someone to be our mate, it means we trust that person with our whole life—the highest honor we Beastfolk can give! And to think you rejected her?”

“Err…chief, the Human Chief isn’t aware of that, I think,” the adviser pointed that out.

“Che! You guys are always like that, Beastmen or Human! You take our hearts for granted.”

The adviser and I exchanged amused stares as Chief Gislaine ranted about men. Then, when she got tired, we went back to our topic.

“Is there any way I can correct my mistake?” I asked, for I really wanted to resolve this problem, as it was eating my sanity away. I mean, I don’t like my friends to have some grudge against me.

“Mate with her,” Chief Gislaine and Minahaba chorused on that.

“Impossible.”

“Why?”

“Guys, we humans value our chastity before marriage,” I paused for a bit to check on the mood, before continuing, “See, I made a promise to a human girl—the girl I love—that I’ll marry her first, and I intend to keep that vow.”

The Eagle and Chicken elders just listened to me as I explained my side.

“And also, Ursura is a good friend to me. I’m aware of her feelings, but as I won’t stay in this land, I never wanted to exploit her heart for my gain. She’s attractive, and deep within her resentment against humans, is a beautiful soul that is faithful to her loved ones. As such, I wanted her to find a man who can actually take care of her.”

“You…” Chief Gislaine sighed, “You’re one different human. Power and lust don’t have a hold on you; it’s a pity you’re a man. You can be the Saint yourself, or even better…a god! Just like the Lord Gaius himself!”

“Haa…it’s only a dream. I could not even help Ursura, and yet you want me to become a deity?”

“Permission to speak?” it was Salis.

“Hm?”

“I don’t know with you,” the owl-girl then revealed, “but I’d say you’re the only one who keeps on inventing your problems, Human Chief!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“This is Cherwind, you know?” Minahaba picked up on Salis’ words, “This land is under the rule of a different Saint, just like Chersea. Do you think human laws and customs apply here?”

“N-No?”

“Correct. Her Holiness, Ruro of the Wolf, had decreed long ago that whoever you love, then love her as you please! So what’s keeping you from loving Ursura? Your human girl is in Chersea, so if you choose to marry her there, it’s not our problem. Here, we treat you according to our laws, customs and traditions,” the Eagle chief laughed, “So yeah, I’d say Salis is right; you’re creating your own problems.”

Somehow, I’m having my doubts about Chief Gislaine, Minahaba and Salis’ words. But then, now that I think about it, Beastmen culture was vastly different from us, humans. And knowing Ruro’s personality, I guess they had their point. Nevertheless, I felt like I’m doing something wrong. I don’t know; maybe I’m just used to my old culture, on Earth…

Okay, so while that solves the problem with morals and ethics, I don’t know how would Maddie react if I take another wife. I mean, aside from her, I already have Lily, Eris and Queen Jessica.

“Ooh, aren’t you one heart-breaker, Kuro mah boy?” Sir Loin eventually said what I’m scared to admit myself.

What the hell? I’m becoming a playboy without even trying! What the fuck’s going on with me?

----------

“Alright then!” the elder of the Eagles stood up and declared, “Now that I solved your problem, you get to solve mine.”

“Eh? Wait, my problem’s solved now?”

“Aren’t you listening to me earlier? I said, whatever you do in Chersea is none of our business, and vice-versa. So feel free to do whatever you want, as long as it’s within our norms.”

“How does that solve anything?” I pointed out, “Ursura’s still mad at me!”

Chief Gislaine closed and then took a deep breath. She raised a hand, and hit me in the head. The adviser and I were both shocked at what she did, and were speechless.

“Human Chief, I can’t believe that you’re smart to save an entire tribe from annihilation, yet stupid enough when dealing with girls around you,” she sighed; unable to hide her irritation for every minute we delayed, “Alright, I’ll talk to the bear-woman about this, but can we please resolve my issues first?”

“Okay, okay, I got it. So, as you said earlier, your problem is about the food source, right? And this is because of your growing population and the refugees who arrived last time.”

The Eagles nodded.

“What’s happening?” Minahaba asked, “I didn’t know that we have those problems!”

“Ah, it’s fine Chief Minahaba,” Chief Gislaine told her, “I’m just surprised by the turn of events. I mean, who would’ve thought that the Human Chief’s actions would lead to this?”

“Huh?”

“Well, the relative peace and stability of the Avinus lands led to an explosive population growth, and immigration of refugees from the mainland,” I explained to the Chicken elder, “However, the food supply remained the same, and we can’t expand the farms to provide food for everyone.”

“So uh…” Minahaba’s face turned pale, “…are we going to starve?”

“If we don’t do something about it, then it’s inevitable.”

“Permission for me to speak!” Salis suddenly entered the conversation.

“Go ahead,” Chief Gislaine was the one who allowed her.

“I highly-recommend that we use this opportunity to remove the ‘undesirables’ from our population. Those who are stupid and useless shouldn’t be allowed to reproduce and starved to death—”

The Eagle tribe’s elder was quick to cut her off, “So, Chief Kuro, what’s your recommendation?”

“Don’t ignore my genius, eaglet!” Salis aired her protests, “It’s a reasonable move!”

“We can’t be that heartless, you know,” I corrected the owl-girl, “I believe that there’s no useless person, provided they are given the chance to prove themselves!”

“You’re too kind, Human Chief,” Salis shrugged and went back to tinkering something, “If so, then I won’t pursue the matter anymore.”

Did you really consider what I just said? In any case, I took a parchment and the ‘ball-point pen’ Salis made for me, then started writing. “Alright, since you’re pushing this to me, Chief Gislaine, I guess I’ll have to help you out. First, let’s identify the real problem.”

“Isn’t it about the population and the refugees?” Minahaba reminded us.

“Well, it certainly looks like it. However, if we think deeper, a growing population and immigration are actually good.”

“How so?” Chief Gislaine asked.

“For starters, a growing population and immigration are good because we can sustain economic activities with a large pool of personnel.”

Everyone present at table—save for the owl-girl—only stared at me.

“Ahem,” Seeking to redeem myself from embarrassment, I continued, “To put it simply, let’s say, for example, Chief Gislaine owns a boat that is manned by ten fishermen. Then one of them could not work—accident, finding another source of living, or death. Do you think the remaining nine fishermen could work efficiently?”

“Well, some of them could assume the duties of the 10th member,” Minahaba pointed out with a grin, “Easy peasy, isn’t it?”

“Of course, it’s easy. However, do you think those who have extra responsibilities could work well?”

“Err…no?” Chief Gislaine’s adviser replied, “I mean, they can work, but the quality of work done is reduced.”

“Exactly. That’s why we need to hire that 10th member as soon as possible,” I chuckled, “Now where do you think we’d get that new guy?”

“Hmm…it’s obvious that they’d come from the extra manpower pool, brought forth by the growing population,” Chief Gislaine answered, “But while I understand having a big population can be beneficial, I’m still concerned how to feed those people. The problem of food supply still exists.”

“Human Chief, our farmlands can’t expand further into the hinterlands, at least for the moment. The territories we control certainly got bigger, but we have to divide it proportionally between farms and homes,” the adviser added, “Nor do our fishing fleets capable of providing food for everyone. And, we’re only talking about our tribe—the Eagles—here. The other tribes are also growing and expanding. I’m afraid that if this continues, this land won’t be enough for all of us, and it could lead to tragedy.”

“And the refugees, too. They also need lands for their own numbers.”

I fell silent when I heard those; indeed, this was a serious predicament. While the Avinus population was relatively small for now, there was an increase in the rate of their chicks being born. And of course, these children would grow up eventually, which—if nothing was done—could put further strain on their food supply, community health, peace and order, and the economy. And we’re not talking of the refugee population just yet…

Dang…those Japanese light novels about kingdom building sure made it look too easy. But really, just dealing with the demographics, economy and government of a single tribe is already difficult!

“Oh my…” it was Minahaba, “Chief’s pretty silent for a while now. Are you okay?”

“Looks like we’re doomed,” the adviser sighed, “Even the Human Chief is clueless about this situation.”

“Permission to speak—”

“No, Salis. We won’t kill anyone,” Chief Gislaine firmly reiterated.

“Hmm…if you can’t enlarge your farms, think you can make your fishing boats bigger?”

All of us turned to Sir Loin, the one who gave that suggestion.

“Hey, it’s just what I think of,” he quickly retorted, shaking his hands in the air as if he had nothing to do with what he just said, “I know it’s a dumb idea, but at least I tried. Please don’t eat me.”

“One look at you, and you’re making me lose my appetite already,” Minahaba bluntly told him. “No worries about ‘eating you’ or something, okay?”

“Actually, Sir Loin…” I’m starting to form an idea, “That could be plausible. We could enlarge the fishing fleets to cover more parts of the sea, as well as the size of the ships itself, to haul more fish!”

“Ooh! And with larger ships, we could finally sail to the Enclave and resume the trade with humans for more food!” Chief Gislaine’s eyes were sparkling, and she was clapping her hands, “We can make extra tools for the trade since we already have the know-how on smelting!”

“Yes! That’s not a problem for this place; we can exploit its natural resources!” I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our problem was about to become history!

“And even though I studied economics back in my school days, this is the first time I learned about how it works!” Sir Loin inserted that comment. I guess no one paid much attention to what he just said, though.

“Uh…” it was the adviser, “I hate to rain down on your parade, Chief Gislaine and Human Chief. But while we can certainly make larger boats, as of now, we don’t have enough adults to man them.”

“Oh…” Our jubilation went from sky-high, down to rock-bottom in an instant.

----------

I guess that’s true. I mean, much of the adult population of the Avinus was already involved in other activities such as farming, foraging and mining. When I taught them the knowledge of smelting, that percentage was further reduced because some of them decided to become smiths. The other halves of the population were either merchants—important in keeping the internal economy and supply routes alive, or dedicated hunters/warriors, which were vital in protecting their tribes’ territories, as well as augmenting the food supply.

I also raised the possibility of using the adult refugees to fill in the vacancies, but according to Chief Gislaine, they were uncooperative. Some of them even accused their benefactors of hiding food from them…and their presence in this land was bringing tension to Avinus tribes.

Haa…just like in my old world where the refugees would simply refuse to assimilate in the culture of the country that accepted them.

“…”

Now moving on, if we build larger ships, we’d be forced to man those with larger crews. This world has yet to invent machines, and the primary source of ‘powering’ these ships’ movement were the physical energies of the Beastman rowers. A sail won’t work in Cherwind because the sea that they had here was as still as the water in a glass, and there’s not even a blowing wind. We couldn’t simply reallocate people without seriously affecting the other sectors of the Avinus economy. One mistake, and we could expect shortages in food. A hungry population leads to an angry population. And an angry population…well, that could end up ugly for all of us.

And I still have that problem with housing. Goodness…it feels like I’m walking on a thin thread.

“…”

Taking a deep breath, I sorted the problems that we had, and started with the easier one.

“Well, for the issue about the limited areas for housing, I got an idea in mind,” I drew a rough illustration on the parchment, while everyone watched.

“What are you drawing, Chief?” Minahaba chuckled, “Some sort of worms?”

“Che,” I decided to just ignore her and continue with my presentation, “This, though it may not look like that, is an ‘apartment’ building. It’s basically one big structure divided into ‘rooms’ where a family can live. Imagine several huts being stacked together, that’s how it works.”

“Ooh…” the Eagles exchanged glances.

“The problem with our current setup is that we take more land that could’ve been allotted for other purposes, like farming. This is because, the more people we have, the more houses we build. And to build a house, we’re consuming space on land. The apartments could solve the housing issue by building upwards, where the space is free and readily available.”

“But how do we build it?” the adviser asked.

“We can start with two- or three-story buildings,” I proposed, “It can be built with wood or stones, or a combination of both. As for the room size, you can use the typical living area of the huts for reference. Also, don’t forget to plan where you’d be building those, so that your town will have free flowing traffic.”

“I see…” Chief Gislaine nodded, “Then I’ll ask my builders about this.”

“Ah! The Human Chief is back on track!” the adviser happily quipped.

“Nah, it’s too early to celebrate,” I corrected him, “We still have that problem with food supply. The apartments would also take time to build, so for the meantime, we have to ‘make do’ with our limited resources.”

“Permission to speak, Human Chief.”

“No,” was Chief Gislaine’s answer. She was back to her irritated self, curtly denying Salis’ request.

“My great self is asking for the Human Chief’s permission, not yours, eaglet!”

“Can you stop calling me that, freak? I’m the elder, and you’re not!” the Eagle tribe’s chief was getting more annoyed.

“Alright, permission granted!” I quickly moved to intervene. “Salis, you don’t have to ask for our permission every time you wanted to speak your mind.”

Salis just gave me a blank stare that lasted for a few moments. Once it got terribly awkward, she showed us the thing that she had been tinkering ever since we restarted the discussion.

“Err…” Minahaba was the first to scrutinize it, “Some sort of a metal puzzle?”

“Tch. This is why I hate idiots!” the owl-girl threw a sharp glare at her, “A simpleton like you won’t appreciate my genius!”

“You’re one disrespectful fuck—”

“Hold your horses, Chief Minahaba!” I grabbed the falcon-woman’s arm just as she was about to hit Salis on the face, “It’s just her way of talking; just let it go for now.”

Minahaba then went back to her seat, still fuming from what happened. I’ll talk to her later.

“Hoh…” Sir Loin then took the ‘thing’ and blew air on it, as if it’s a harmonica. “Interesting piece of scrap! Is this a…kazoo?”

“Don’t touch that, weirdo!” Salis yanked it away from him, “This is just for the Human Chief, not yours!”

“Eh, this weirdo is human too, you know?” Sir Loin sarcastically contorted his face, mimicking a sad expression, “Not a ‘chief’, but I’m human. Same, same. Can’t your eyeballs see that, owl?”

Not wishing to be defeated in the war of words, the owl-girl replied in a nastier way. In any case, I disregarded their banter and focused on the ‘thing’ that Salis handed to me. Honestly, I didn’t have an idea of what this was, but it looked like a small replica of a sword, or dagger. What’s strange about it was that it was divided into three parts, connected by a tiny set of chains. There were also small tube-like things attached to it that when Sir Loin blew air unto these earlier, the blades shot forward.

“This is…”

“A design for a steam sword,” the owl-girl answered me with a sweet smile on her face, “If the Human Chief wants to, the great me could refine the design into an even more powerful version! That way, we could eliminate not only the monster hordes, but also the idiots and useless—”

“No killing, please!” Chief Gislaine cut her once again.

“The great me wishes not to reply to lower beings!” Salis countered.

“This bitch!” Minahaba had enough and finally snapped. The adviser immediately restrained her, while Sir Loin was taunting her with ‘fight, fight, fight’ while breakdancing.

Seriously, you can help them, Sir Loin.

Anyway, amidst the ruckus, an idea entered my mind…

“I got it!”

“!!!” The catfight between Minahaba and Salis was interrupted when they heard me shout.

“I got a solution to our problem in workforce!” I excitedly held Salis’ sword replica before them. “We’re going to build a steam engine!”