Trevor decided that for the time being, while there were still 4 days remaining until the first legion was to set of into the campaign, that the antiheroes would return to the dictatorship to check up on things and ensure that there were no issues due to their absence.
"We can reallocate our labor, for one thing. I have two missions- one for Coran and another for Oraguth which I wish to discuss with them, for one thing. Now that the Determined has returned to the Dictatorship, we should be able to leave things in her hands... and especially with that new side of her emerging, I am certainly interested in seeing her skills as a leader develop... at any rate, there is not much more we can do here in the Empire before the campaign, so we should simply pretend that we have locked ourselves in our rooms and only peek out our heads once in a while so that nobody suspects anything."
The other three nodded and with the snap of his finger, the group had used [Fast Travel], and they appeared in the throne room. Samantha removed the illusion spell on them so they now took their regular forms, and were wearing the bandage-like steel armor underneath their typical outfits.
Claire was sitting in the throne with some paperwork in front of her. She seemed to be thinking very hard about something, and didn't even notice that the antiheroes had returned. Behind her stood Coran and Berith, and they too seemed to be passing paperwork back and forth, pointing things out.
'Ah... ruling a dictatorship certainly is tough... it's a good thing we have such skilled subordinates, so that we can just up and leave like this. Even so, we should stay here for a bit and take over the responsibility. I hate to have to send Coran out on a mission after he's done so much, but there can be no rest for a slave. He is a monster anyways, and shouldn't need as much sleep as the average person.', Trevor thought.
Ashley ran up to her seat excitedly, and plopped down in it, slouching so far back that she was essentially lying down.
"Ah!! This is how it should be!!"
On noticing her sitting down next to her, Claire looked up from the set of papers.
"Ah! Antiheroes! What are you doing back here?"
Samantha then answered.
"We've decided that there is no reason to continue staying in the Empire until the campaign begins 4 days from now, so we will be taking over matters here for the time being."
Claire clapped her demonic and her angelic hands together.
"Ah! That would be a great help!"
"Should we call all the representatives for a meeting, Theo?", Garett asked.
"Yes, let's do that. Coran, Berith, could I bother you two to gather everyone? Have them meet here, and we will evaluate the current state of things, and I will assign responsibilities and tasks to everyone from there. Ah, and please do not enter the basement. Ever. The chef is down there, and she is a very unstable woman, so the only ones who are allowed to come into contact with her should be us alone."
"I understand, your excellency! Please leave it to us!"
"There is nothing that I would love more than to do your bidding! It brings me great joy to be of use to you, even if it is just an insignificant amount!!"
The two were energetically loyal as usual.
Trevor plopped down in his seat as well, and Samantha elegantly took a seat, folding her hands and crossing her legs. Garett placed his arms on the rests before lowering himself and sitting with them grabbing the rests like a demonic king.
'Even though their styles are all so different... they all look so regal when they sit down... ah, how great it is to serve such wonderful rulers... no kings or lords in this world would be able to match up to their excellencies...', Coran thought, as he bowed to them with Berith before they left the room.
Coran and Berith first went to the surveillance room, where the birdmen had been stationed.
As Coran and Berith were walking through the corridor, Berith spoke up.
"Ah... how much I would love to see the sight of their excellencies mentally dominating the rulers of another nation in the discussion room... what a wonderful sight that would be... hehe..."
"I would enjoy seeing that as well.", Coran replied.
The two made it to the surveillance chamber, and opened the bony door. The ectoplasmic entrance retracted, and inside the three birdmen were wearing their headsets and scouring every inch of the dictatorship, with eyes bulged out and red with vessels from staring so hard. They ensured that every nook and cranny was scoured, and that nothing out of the ordinary was occurring.
"Sir Coran and Lady Berith! To what do we owe you both this visit?", Fergo said politely while continuing to scour the dictatorship for abnormalities.
"Have we been unsatisfactory in our reports? Should we be more detailed on informing you all of every event that occurs within the city?", Yirald asked.
"If that is the case, then I deeply apologize for our incompetence! We will continue working hard to make up for our lack of skill!!", Relu shouted.
"No, actually their excellencies have returned for a brief period, and wish to commence a meeting with all prominent members of the dictatorship. Surely, you all are able to come?"
The three all immediately stood up and ceased their work, ready to go.
"Of course! I would never even consider ignoring a summon from their excellencies themselves. We shall head over immediately."
"Very good. You all have been performing your job's well, and your reports about any abnormalities in the city have been satisfactory. I shall inform his excellency, Theo of your hard work and great progress."
"It would be an honor!! Thank you kindly, Sir Coran!!", Yirald exclaimed.
The three hastily made their way to the throne room, and Coran and Berith then left to gather the other members of the dictatorship.
----
After gathering everyone, The antiheroes sat in their seats with the Determined sitting behind them, and lined up in front of them was the entire allotment of prominent figures. The chief of the slime village, Iotar, the three birdmen, Arlo, Hiru, Lolop, Coran, Berith, and Oraguth all stood in front of their masters, standing on edge.
Nervousness clearly filled the room, as the members standing there could barely even hold their bodies up in front of the tremendous figures of these absolute dictators. Each and every one of them radiated such a powerful and kingly aura that to stand in front of all four of them, plus the Determined herself was something that would make the typical humanoid monster pass out in fear.
But the group here maintained their breathing, as they were beginning to grow at least slightly accustomed to seeing these beings with otherworldly strength and leadership.
Trevor then sat forward and spoke up.
"Coran, Berith... thank you both for gathering everyone here today. You two are more than I could ever ask for in slaves, and I hope the rest of you all will learn from their example. You two have showed me that you are able to take over and lead the Dictatorship even when both us and the Determined are gone. It truly brings joy to my heart to see that you both have grown so much since we first met not too long ago."
Coran and Berith felt such joy at being praised by their masters that they could barely contain themselves from falling forward.
"To me, you are both like a son and daughter, children which I have raised up throughout their entire lives, and it fills me with pride to see you both having such great success."
The two knelt before their rulers, with their four eyes shut and Coran began to slowly speak.
"It... delights me beyond belief that you would say such kind words to me, your excellency. Truly.... truly... the words you said that day when you picked us up.... that we would not regret the decision of becoming your slaves.... they were correct beyond doubt... that choice was the best decision I have ever made in my life."
Berith was grinning like a fangirl who had just shaken the hand of a popular celebrity. It was a creepy and impure grin, one which desired power.
"Your excellencies... there is nothing that I enjoy more than serving your esteemed selves. It brings a joy to my heart that cannot even be contained with words alone."
Ashley smirked at being praised like this, looking down on all her subjects.
'Yes... bow to me... this is how it should be... those fools in the human realm have no right's to look at us as equals... how dare they think we are on the same level as them and approach us so casually... we should simply keep our positions as rulers and stop with the disguises... yes... we should go and spread our names into the human realm... kekeke...'
Of course, Ashley knew that Trevor had a plan that she must be patient with, however she longed for those humans to bow down before her as she expanded the dictatorship into their lands.
"With that being said, Coran... since the Determined has returned from her journey to the fishmen village, there is no longer a need to keep you stationed here, as she can take over the ruling of this city, and I have a new objective for you to complete. It is not a riskless task, and according to my simulations assuming a worst case scenario you have around a 2% chance of being killed, which tears my heart in two, just thinking about sending you on such a dangerous mission... however, this is all for the sake of the dictatorship, so I hope you will forgive my selfishness in asking you to perform this extremely perilous task."
"Of course I will, your excellency!! I would give my life and my soul a thousand times over if it were for you!!!"
"I see... thank you, Coran. I have done everything I can, and I will always be available to contact in order to give you advice. Please do not hesitate if you are ever unsure of anything."
"Thank you, your excellency!!!", Coran shouted, with his head to the floor.
"Before we get to your mission, however, I will inform everyone here of the information collected by both our group and by the Determined, and our actions from this point onward as a result of this new information."
The group straightened up and listened for the report by Trevor.
"To begin, I will start with the information we have acquired from our journey to the Empire."
Trevor then went on to explain the hierarchy of the Empire, the system of how senators ruled over each city, and the military and mercenary relationships. He also displayed a map of the Empire from the data he had collected, using an ectoplasmic screen which was crafted by Garett to broadcast it to the entire group.
"Over here is the port city of Githard, which we will be setting out from in four days while disguised as mercenaries in order to oversee and perhaps interrupt the campaign, depending on the circumstances. Now that I have explained everything we know about the Empire, Determined, would you please inform everyone here about the fishmen village?"
Claire stood up with a kind yet serious look. She could feel the demonic aura in her arm spreading from her elbow to her shoulder, but very slowly.
As she remembered back on the memories she had of the fishmen village, and particularly the memories of Kota, the corruption slowly came over her.
However, it was not something extremely serious. She was able to maintain her composure and speak clearly.
"The leader of the fishmen is a fool. Not only did he reject my advice regarding precautions against the Empire's attack, but he is the type of ruler to sit back from a throne while calmly ordering his subordinates to do the impossible. Then, he goes and makes naive and unrealistic statements such as 'If you put your heart into it, you can do anything.', to encourage these men who are about to waste their lives on an impossible task."
When Claire remembered her chat with Ploritan, the demonic part of her resided, and only covered her hand alone.
"However, I did have a conversation with the previous leader of the fishmen as well. He is a realistic yet caring leader, and I wanted to do what I can to help him and his people, so I have asked the antiheroes to meet with the current leader of the fishmen when the Empire is on their doorstep to see if they have a change of heart."
Garett nodded.
"Indeed, that is what we will do, but we cannot expect this leader to be reasonable. If he dares to show us the same disrespect that he showed to you..."
Garett licked his club with his elongated demonic tongue.
"We will slaughter them like lambs."
"Your excellency, did you just say that this leader of the fishmen showed disrespect to the Determined?", Berith asked.
"If that is the case... then it is of my opinion that he does not deserve the pity of allowing him a second chance... it is too lenient even to simply to kill him off. However, this is only the opinion of your humble servant. Of course, you all are much more intelligent than I, and if my lack of intelligence offends you, I will shut my mouth from this point onward."
Garett walked over to Berith and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You are not wrong. I am in complete compliance with your opinion that we should not be giving that fool a second chance, however... it is the will of the Determined, who he insulted, so we will respect that will."
"I understand, your excellency."
"However..."
Garett turned to the entire crowd.
"I do not wish you all to be scared of voicing your honest opinions. On the contrary, Sarah can read your minds, so there is no need to hold back. After all.... the deepest desires of your minds are out in the open to us, as if you said it right to our faces."
A chill spread throughout the room when Garett said this, however not one person held any disrespectful thoughts towards their masters.
Garett then gave Trevor his cue, and he begun to play a video on the screen.
"This is the footage from the meeting the Determined had with the leader of the fishmen, Kota."
The scene played, and the members there all witnessed the unsightly transformation of the Determined, and her undeniably logical statements and suggestions which were blatantly rejected by Kota in the name of some sort of twisted heroism which considered strategy and tactics to be nothing more than the means of cowards or weaklings. The scene continued past even when the Determined had left, and showed him using false bravado to rile up his men and manipulate them into believing that they had a sense of honor and justice.
Berith's face twisted in disgust, and Coran's eyes became filled with hatred. Oraguth wanted to spit in the face of this leader, and even Arlo had no respect for this man as a warrior.
'How dare they refer to the Determined as a demonic abomination....'
'To be so brazen against one of our leaders... this idiot deserves a fate worse than death...'
'I would like to strangle him slowly with my own two hands...'
'That man has no pride as a warrior... to look down on strategy is nothing more than foolish... strategy is a grand part of being a warrior, something which is essential to true battle that cannot be ignored... if one out thinks their opponent, then this too is something that only a great and wise leader who is honorable can attain... it was exactly because of Rocko's skill as a strategist that I agreed that he should be above me as the chief. To think that he shuns such wisdom so blatantly...'
The birdmen were more terrified of the new form taken by the Determined than anything, and were too focused on that to really pay attention to Kota.
Samantha spoke when the video was completed.
"I hear you all well and clear... I know that you all... with a select few aside... *gives the birdmen an evil look* are filled with disgust over that fishman... however worry not."
Samantha smiled seductively.
"We have a plan, and all you need to do is trust in us."
Garett then started pacing back and forth, and eventually stopped in front of the birdmen.
"You all heard the things that this naive lunatic spouted... Yirald, let me ask you a question. Answer me honestly. You will not be rebuked for speaking your mind. I simply want everyone here to hear your opinion. Do you believe that if you put your heart to it, that you can overcome any hardship?"
Yirald looked up at Garett, petrified. His heart felt like it would stop at any moment, it was beating so fast. He could feel the blood pulsating through his veins.
'Why does he ask me...'
He slowly opened his beak to respond.
"Y-your excellency, th- that... there is no way that is true..."
"Of course it isn't. If it was, do you know where you would be? Where all of you would be? Not just the birdmen, but every single person here. I do not mean to insult or offend you all. I am actually complimenting you all when I say this. If that statement were true, not a single one of you would have followed us."
Silence filled the room.
"Your excellency? What do you mean by that?", Coran asked.
"It is simple, really. If you all were able to obtain strength on your own... if you all were able to protect yourselves and your loved ones on your own, if 'giving your all' was all it took to accomplish something, would you all have ever accepted the position of our slaves? There would have been no reason to. But once again, I do not mean to doubt your loyalty. I am completely certain that every one of you here is completely and utterly loyal to us, and I thank you all for that. I merely mean to show that to say 'if you work hard and put your heart to it, that one way or another things will work out'..."
Garett's face twisted with disgust as he remembered his own death and the betrayal of Daniel.
"Is nothing more than a dirty lie spun by one who wishes to manipulate others. And you all should know this, as people who were unable to attain your desires no matter how much you struggled. In this world, there are those who are strong who can obtain everything if they apply themselves... but that does not apply to everyone, and even for those people who have power..."
Ashley then finished the sentence for Garett.
"There are too many unpredictable factors."
Garett then took a seat, folding his demonic hands together and smiling.
"Now then, let's get on with this meeting. Now that we've informed our subordinates about our current goals and information, it's time to introduce them to their own roles in this board-game of strategy."
