"Ya called, Emperor?" my Head Warrior asked when she arrived.
"You can just call me 'sir' when we're only among warriors. Did you punish those warriors?"
She did, with leashing. Painful, but not effective. I told her so and introduced her to the much more effective method of cutting a hand off.
We talked a bit, then I ordered her to return every hour, so I would have another chance to level up my [Leadership] skill.
"I feel jealous, sir," she said when I dismissed her.
"What do you mean?"
"Ya had an all sweet talk with tha councilor. Ya barely talked to me." She still had an accent and was pushing it a little, but it was within the acceptable range.
"She said she loved me. I said it was just lust because of my looks and attributes. She insisted and said she will wait years for me to give up on the person I love and come for her." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you going to wait too?"
"Hell, no!" she said without missing a beat. She lowered her head and whispered. "The bitch who bit ma finger off? I had fun times with her husby right in front of her. As payment for saving them, ya know? I reckon she had the right to take a piece of me. Didn't even kill her."
"Very interesting," I said in a level tone. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Point is, I understand all the hot cheerleader bitches fooling around, sir. Sex is just too great to not do it as much as I can. I'm not waiting for ya. But ya can come for me anytime ya want." She stood up straight after that.
"It's not happening."
"Because I'm black?" she asked with a playful tone, but there was an edge to it that made it clear she wanted to know the answer.
So, I took the time to explain it to her. "White Aegis, I couldn't care less about your skin color. You're hot, and if I wasn't in love with someone else, as I already told you, I would bend you down and have my way with you right now. You're hot and you attract me physically. I'm sure you can see how I became after just thinking about it."
She lowered her head and smiled. She also blushed slightly. For all her bravado, she had been a virgin not long ago.
And then my voice became the coldest it had to date. "That said, never call me a fucking racist again. I don't appreciate it."
She sobered up quickly, eyes wide. "I- I'm sorry."
I nodded. "Just leave. Return in one hour, like I told you."
"Yes, sir," she said, still disconcerted, and left.
After that, the rest of the morning went by like a breeze. I used my spiritual skill, gave my people some pointers, rinse and repeat.
It amused me when my city planners erected small structures to protect the people from the sun. I used essence to heal my skin from burns, but the common people would need that.
Sometimes, outsiders would appear at the entrance. The guards there looked terrified of even be seen talking to the outsiders. They would swiftly deny them entrance and order them to leave, then look at me with pale faces.
White Aegis took a good hold of the warriors while Eve was brewing something with Adam and some other people. When I asked her what it was, she said she would tell me if ordered, but that she would rather it be a surprise.
She was so playfully cute when she said it, that I laughed a bit at that and let her to her shenanigans.
It was around midday when the first problem that required my attention appeared, right where I expected it to come from.
Dozens of outsiders were at my city entrance, demanding to be let it.
And they had brought hostages.
White Aegis had thirty warriors under her command now, twenty of which were [Awakeners]. After her own [Awakening], people decided to have a go into becoming beautiful and strong too. Forty out of my hundred and fifty had already done it. Not bad considering it had been twenty-four hours since we arrived. The number would only increase.
Anyway, White Aegis was doing a poor job now. She had brought almost every warrior to the entrance, except for the ones making rounds outside and the two guards on the other entrance. I was a believer of learning the hard way, but not when I might lose my village.
So, I stood up and approached her. "You have twenty-five warriors in the village. Get ten on the river entrance in case this commotion is a distraction. Stay with nine in this entrance to protect it. Order the six remaining warriors to corral the civilians at the center of the village. If anyone invades from over the walls, these six will be responsible for killing them, too. I'll talk to the outsiders and show you what I expect to happen in the future. Come and watch. First comes dialogue."
The warriors parted for me to pass. I found almost thirty people yelling stupid shit like, "This is a free country!" or "Let us in or the hostages die!" Five of them were [Awakeners] and they stood at the front, each one of them holding one of the warriors who were supposed to be protecting my populace outside.
At least they had taken hostage military personal rather than civilians. It made them less of scumbags in my book. For that alone I wouldn't make them die slowly to set an example.
When I arrived there, I crossed my arms and just stared in silence until they quieted down.
"So? What's the meaning of this?" I asked.
"We demand entry! You have no right to keep us outside!" one in the rabble said. The [Awakeners] kept quiet, staring at me while holding my warriors by the neck.
"Speaking about rights means law. I claimed this area and build the walls myself. This is mine. Which law specifically says I must allow anyone in my private property?"
"Human decency demands it!" another guy said.
"So, it's not about laws, but morals. Where is the human decency in taking hostages, I wonder?"
"This is necessary for survival!" a woman yelled.
"You do what you deem needed for your survival. I'm doing what I deem needed for my survival and that of my people. But I'm not trying to take over a village you built. The way I see it, the moral high ground is mine."
Another common human opened their mouth to say something, but the [Awakener] in the middle of the five interjected.
"Shut up! We're not here to talk! Let us in and give us food or we'll kill the hostages!"
I turned my head to look at the White Aegis, who was standing by my side. "When negotiations fail, there's no need to keep trying. Just pay attention to how their words and actions don't match each other. There's plenty of food outside, especially for [Awakeners], so the demand for food is weak at the very least. He wants to get inside though, that's his true aim. What is he going to do once he gets inside and have even more people to use as hostages? Especially when he saw that taking hostages works?"
"Stop talking! Let us in right now!" the guy insisted.
I continued talking to her. "Thus, our policy is not negotiating with terrorists. It's the best way to keep our people from being taken as hostages in the future." Then I turned to the [Awakener]. "Kill them if you must. We don't negotiate with terrorists."
"Wait!" the only female [Awakener] said. "We- We can let them go. Let's talk."
I shook my head. "We don't negotiate with terrorists. At all. I see terrorism the same way I see rebellion. You've already shown your true colors, only death awaits you, no matter what you do. The only reason you're not dead yet is because I believe this is a distraction. If I kill you, whatever you're planning will be called off. I want to get all the involved, not just you."
As if on cue, some warriors behind shouted, "Invaders!" and there was a commotion on the other entrance.
"Good." I turned my head to White Aegis. "After you have smoked out all the terrorists, kill them all. Don't worry about hostages. If they die, it's on the terrorists' tab, not ours. Just try to save them if you can."
Well, I could. But I wouldn't. Not all of them at least. I had a speech prepared that required the corpse of an ally.
I rushed ahead, punching two [Awakeners] in the head before they could snap my warriors' necks. Then I jumped and kicked one while punching another in an awkward pose that extended my limbs to the maximum. When I hit the ground, I ran at the last [Awakener], but he had already killed his hostage like I wanted.
"Kill them all!" I shouted and made sure anyone trying to run only met their demise. "Search around the village walls!" I ordered next while running to do the same.
I found ten other people around, who had made human pyramids for others to invade. The idiots hadn't even thought of making a ramp using wood.
After that, I checked the river entrance, only two see five dead terrorists and two dead warriors of mine. It was good that they had fought and bled for me. Some would get scared, but I would capitalize on that to instill some nationalism in them for the first time.
"Everyone, get inside the village!" I ordered and took the two corpses with me.
Time for my second to last speech before climbing to the Second Floor.
All twenty-seven living warriors, plus White Aegis and my two councilors, were standing in front of the still corralled civilians. The corpses of the two dead warriors were between the line and the populace.
"Today, we repelled invaders for the first time," I said, walking between the dead warriors. I pointed at the three dead people close to the walls, whom my warriors had killed. "People who wanted to take what's ours, what we worked for, our land. People who took our people hostage. Terrorists."
I stopped in front of a dead warrior and kneeled, touching his face. "Today, we bled. Two of ours died to protect our children, our food, our lives from terror. We won, but at a high cost."
"Sir," White Aegis said, like I told her to before we assembled. "Three warriors died today. There was a hostage."
I stood up and spit to the side. "A warrior taken hostage?" I said aggressively. "I know not of such thing. My warriors, my real warriors, would rather die than be used against my people. Against women and children. Against those who are scared and lost in this unfamiliar world. As far as I know, he was a traitor helping the terrorists. Throw his corpse on the wild together with the invaders."
White Aegis's eyes widened, not expecting that answer. But resolve and a nod followed it. She saw wisdom in this.
What she saw paled on the importance of this though.
Treason would become rampant in a couple weeks. At that time, I would decree all warriors who disappeared mysteriously be treated as deserters, even if they had been captured. If seen again, they were to be killed on sight.
This decree wouldn't help with their loyalty. Innocent people who got captured would rather turn coat than try to escape only to be killed at home. But it wasn't as if I had the manpower to mount search and rescue groups. Any captured idiot would know their only chance to live was betraying us anyway.
Better to let my people know what to do when the missing, who most likely would've turned traitors, came back.
"What were these two heroes named?" I asked my warriors. To my surprise, White Aegis had the answer. "Lucas and Victor, sir."
"Find a way to honor them in death like they honored us in life." I turned to my people. "Lucas and Victor. Burn their names in your hearts, for they died for you. You better not forget them."
I was about to turn and leave when Eve stepped in front of me, her head bowed.
"Emperor, may I have a moment of your attention?"
Thanks for the chapter
Thank *you* for reading and commenting!