The spirits gone wild.
It happened more often recently, ever since the Goddess arrived in our village. No, even before that. When the otherworlder appeared in her body I wished I could get close to either of them, but Alexandra only ever greeted me once. As if she completely forgot about me, and was always away or busy. And Nati, she was wary of me for some reason. The more I wanted to approach her, the larger the distance she kept from me.
As if I didn't even exist. I wanted to die.
"Hey Gitaut, what are you up to this early?" The carpenter asked me, pulling me back to the present. I felt like yelling at him but it was all for naught anyway. That nickname would stick for as long as I lived, and what was I even doing here? Right, I followed the guidance of the spirits. So they brought me to the center of the village, but I could barely recognize it now, it was busy and dense.
"I um, came to look at the wyvern hide," I mumbled something that came to mind. A month ago people threw dead wolves in front of the mess hall, the largest building in the village at the time, but now it seemed insignificant next to the embassy the beastfolk built up.
And not just that, they almost finished two more buildings of similar size on both sides of it. One was an inn, the other an apartment to house guests and permanent residents of the village. They enclosed the old courtyard from three sides, with the small stream bordering it from the south. It had a small stone bridge, and the square was paved, like a proper town center where the people gathered and traded.
Or the kids could play their new and odd games with the balls. Another invention the otherworlder made. It was busier here than ever so I much preferred to stay away from places like that. But I couldn't when the spirits guided me here, or when I just hoped to see someone specifically.
"It's rare to see you, Gitaut." The blacksmith greeted me. He was also preparing to move his shop soon. I nodded towards him and tried to walk faster before he dragged me in with some random request.
However, he didn't do that anymore since he worked with the ork witch, Omerta. He even got the Goddess to make him a huge golem. If only I got this lucky. They weren't here though, and would avoid me anyway. I forced myself to enter the village every day now in vain, hoping to run into them. It was such a pain with so many people in here.
"Ah, shaman, need something?" I just had to think about her, and Omerta appeared. At least she didn't call me by that name, but she was well aware of my identity and even said something about the Demon Lord wanting something from me. If the two other girls avoided me, I tried my best to avoid this one. But of course, I couldn't just insult Hank's little sister. I bowed, then shook my head before I kept following the lead.
It certainly didn't come from her, at least.
The bathhouse was the other large structure they built recently, now complete with a laundry. I was not needed there either, they asked Lambert to help them with healing potions, making me so jealous.
His rice paddy also promised a large yield, growing incredibly fast. In comparison, the harvest from my orchard could not feed the original, much smaller tribe alone. His field should have been enough, and there were so many more people here too, but still not enough hands.
"Gitaut, did you come to play?" Now even the children were mocking me. I remembered treating her wounds not that long ago, but Lambert was better at healing than my spirits as well. That human wizard pissed me off and almost banished the otherworlder inside Alexandra's body.
"I'm working, Mabel." Was all I could say, lost in thought. I was still on a mission, after all. I ended up in front of the bathhouse.
The spirits suggested going there. The magicules were much denser inside than anywhere else. Was it because of all the slimes they started using? It seemed unlikely. Those weak beasts had practically no magic power, the best they could do was to annoy people. There must have been something else, I could easily feel the fluctuations in the mana, even without the spirits pointing it out for me now.
They originated from the private chamber, and indeed, it was used by someone. I just needed to find out whom, but even with all the curiosity in the world, there was no way I would go as far as to bother them in there.
"Looking for someone?" The fox-tailed beastfolk asked. She made me jump when I realized, she talked to me. What should I even tell her?
"I um, just wandering around. I haven't seen the bathhouse since the laundry was added." I managed to mumble this much, bowing my head. She was one of the few allowed to enter, which meant there was one less suspect to worry about.
"Ah, right, you missed the opening?" She asked, her tail slowly dropping to the ground. "It was quite the success. Not what I expected."
"The otherworlder's inventions all worked great so far," I noted, trying to get some distance between us. "Be it something simple or complex."
"Otherworlder? Ah, you mean the Black Cat?" She seemed confused only for a second, but she nodded in agreement. "Yes, she never ceases to amaze me, but I better go, I am needed at the embassy."
I was sure she made that up, but I wouldn't hold her back. I tried to figure out who could have been in the private bath. Only the chieftain, the Goddess, Nati, and Hank were allowed there. Either of them would kill me instantly if I interrupted them though, especially that brute.
If it was the Goddess of Luck, that could have explained things easily. I was curious about what she was doing in there though. Charlotte had no magical affinities, and the gladiator could not use his. Omerta and Lambert used the regular baths instead, and those were unaffected. Not to mention, I ran into both of them in the village earlier.
"Lambert. Can you take these slimes off my hand?" A goblin asked, whose name I didn't know. He was a recent immigrant, working in the laundry. To be fair, I hardly remembered half of the tribesmen even before the big population boom. Now that we had so many new faces and all these buildings, I often had to ask myself, where am I?
"Did you already boil them, or do I have to start from there?" The wizard walked past me. Again, it confirmed that it wasn't him causing these mysterious fluctuations. I wondered if he could also feel them.
I was no longer the only magician in the tribe, yet I only had more tasks. At the time of the wolves' first attack, the village was only home to fifty orcs, now it had hundreds.
And constant visitors too. I considered rebuilding my hut even deeper in the forest, but then I could see the cat girls even less often. The walls they erected were visible from my place, but at least they didn't clear all the trees between us. I had my little gate to enter the village from the north, the main one on the southern side, and some holes for the small stream. The rate of expansion was insane.
The fluctuations were getting stronger though. It had to be the Goddess. The powers working there could not belong to anyone else since they were way stronger than Omerta's and Lambert's combined, nearly equalling mine. Alexandra was on a different level.
But I couldn't stand around any longer. Some yelling reached my ears from the main gates. Compared to the disturbance right next to me, I didn't even notice it first but there were other sources, resonating with the spirit's mana detection. They were smaller scale, but I detected three of them. Someone was coming, and my instincts told me to investigate it.
We got there simultaneously with the orc witch and her gigantic brother. Hank was even armed. Now I could make out, what the yelling was about, the chieftain standing in the open gate.
"We welcome everyone in Nateaser, be it human or beast. But a whole army, with abyssal monsters? That's a bit too much!" Charlotte shouted, blocking the entrance with her arms crossed. The hunters rushed to climb the walls, armed with brand-new crossbows. An army, she said? I could feel the abyssal creatures, but couldn't see them yet. Once I got close enough to the wall, the sight of Nightmares rooted my legs into the ground. And orcs, at least a hundred.
"I apologize, if I scared you, lady Orc." I heard a deep voice that did not belong to those warriors. It was a dwarf, sitting at the reins of a huge wagon, pulled by the abyssal monsters. It was quite the sight, the soldiers rode on carriages too, but their animals were the small ones lizardmen used. "These majestic beasts belong to me, and I don't belong to this army. We just ran into each other and their reaction was similar to yours, but I assure you, I have no ill intentions. These equines were tamed by none other than Fang."
"Dad? Where is he now?" The fox-tailed beastfolk rushed to the gate as well. She suddenly stopped as if considering turning back, and I couldn't blame her. All that stuff outside was rather scary.
"Dad you said? You must be Fenna then, his pride and joy. I bring his fatherly best wishes to you. We parted ways at the former dwarven capital of Baran my lady." The dwarf explained, bowing his head. "He rides along the coast of Lansum with his comrades. They acquired similar beasts too. Well, it's all thanks to them."
"And what is your name?" Charlotte asked, just as strict as before.
"Ah, where are my manners?" The dwarf hollered. "The name is Gomel. I am but a humble traveling smith and sir Dioneras told me this is where I could find the famous chef, Lambert the court wizard."
"And I am Gorgon, chief of staff of the Demon Lord's army." A second creature suddenly appeared. He looked human, apart from his horns. It was my first time seeing a horned beastmen, but I couldn't look for too long. The orc witch walked right past me to yell at him.
"That rank belongs to Captain Dioneras. When did you take over from him?" She asked, sounding rather upset. Considering she left him behind near the Gates of Hell, or so I heard. "What is your business here?"
"Omerta? You survived." The beastmen seemed surprised. "We have come in peace. The Demon Lord sent us to investigate what happened to you and punish the perpetrators. But were you just deserting?"