CH457

“Ahem, good seeing you too Taltho,” Ben said, trying to be light and friendly, even as he kept the unconscious Verbum from falling on his face. “And it’s really more of an accident that we ended up here. It’s complicated.”

“And your friend?”

“Also complicated. Um, since we’re here, why don’t we do a little tour of the village and I’ll give you a rundown?”

“Sound’s good, I’d love for you to see what we’ve built up since you’d last been here.”

The leader of that splinter group of Myriad’s believers was in good cheer, not feeling the need to probe too deeply given the man before him was a servant of the god he’d converted to and had done so much for them, and he wanted to show that they’d been putting what they’d been taught to work, even if they still had room to grow. It was a chance to let them see how their lives had changed for the better and let their gratitude for the lives they now got to live be known.

“In that case, I’ll find you in a bit,” Thera told him as she was being led away by some of the younger students she’d taught while they’d been there last. “Looks like I’m seeing how well they’ve been practicing their instruments.”

“Sounds good, have fun.”

With that they parted, with Thera being swarmed by most of the free demidemons while the rest got back to whatever work they had, leaving Ben with Toltho to walk around and tell the tale of how their impromptu visit had come to be.

“So we’re helping this guy with some of his work, and part of it was investigating rumours of a mysterious village,” Ben said at the end to sum it up. “It just so happened that the mystery ended up being you guys.”

“And he’s asleep during his work because…?”

“Because he’s an absolute scaredy-cat who’s having some trouble coming face to face with the unknown,” Ben sighed, getting tired of how much he was having to carry Verbum.

Though I’ll admit, this might be a little bit my fault. Seriously, how the hell have I been involved with three of these investigations already?

He expected some sass from his god but got nothing and was left assuming Myriad must have been busy as they continued the tour, seeing the changes that had come in his time away from them all.

The demidemons had been busy since he’d last been there, that much was obvious. Beyond how much more housing had been established as well as the growth of their fields, all of which were full of the crops that Sachel had helped guide them on planting after he’d dumped the task on her, he was seeing a lot more of one thing in particular.

Bodies. Specifically, those of demons, with their skins out to be preserved and their meat being cooked and stored as those they shared heritage with made sure to put everything to use, even if the volume spoke loudly of just how many of those otherworldly beasts they were seeing.

“You haven’t lost anyone to them yet, have you?” Ben asked, nodding to the pile that was in the middle of being processed.

“No, they aren’t coming too close to the village either, at least not yet. This is just what the hunting parties are coming back with each day. As bad as it may be, they’re keeping us fed.”

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Bad? Yeah, that’s probably an understatement. It’s been almost two months since the gate closed and they’re already seeing them all the way out here? There’s no way any have already been born on this world, right? I mean, I know they breed fast but I don’t know how fast and this seems like a lot. There has to be a place with an invasion point reasonably close by, it would make the most sense. Still…