Chapter 23: The Survivors_Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 23: The Survivors

 It’s been five days since Daniel started heading deeper into the demon wilnds, and he’s organizing the many storage bags he collected, consolidating like items into individual bags and marking the bags with symbols that he can identify from the interface. Kera’tai is still asleep, and she sleeps rather defenselessly, as if she’s not afraid of anything, or trulyfortable around Daniel.

 He’s given up trying to push her away at night. She likes to cuddle, apparently, and he’s awakened several times to find her clinging to him under his nket, which made him too hot. Her skin is cooler than his, so he wonders if she likes his body heat. He suspects he wasn’t hot because of her body heat, since by definition, being cooler than him would make him feel cooler. But, he puts it out of his mind. He needs to stay as detached as possible.

 Daniel sorts all of the small wooden containers that have potions inside, and symbols he can’t read. He’ll ask Kera’tai which ones are which, and from there, they’ll revive the captives he still has in storage. He didn’t want to withdraw them until he could heal them anyways, and now that he’s actually organizing, it’ll be easier to take care of.

 Likewise, he has rations and water skins, and he prepares individual small bags to give to the captives when they send them on their way. He’ll wait until they get close to Kera’tai’s vige so that the vigers can hopefully help them find their way. From what the young woman said, the Chi’rinnis have no interest in the weak, and they will likely cooperate with sending them towards their own peoples. Goblins are generally semi-nomadic, so as long as he sends a few of them off together, they should be able to function until they meet up with more goblins. The subus came from the ‘city’, where the Demon Queen’s direct subordinates are gathered. And, the beast-people are solitary hunters, often summoned by issuing written requests and posting them throughout the forest, and whoever shows up to ept the challenge be the forces provided by the beast people. Daniel knows the demi-humans, like the gatonines, have excellent natural senses, but supposedly, the beast people of the demon wilnds are even more in tune with their senses and the various signs of nature.

 Kera’tai yawns and stretches, briefly expressing disappointment that she’s alone. She climbs out of the shell they’re using as shelter, and she mumbles, “Masterrrr… Why didn’t you wake me?”

 “I didn’t need anything, and we’re safe for the moment. Did you sleep well?”

 She smiles and nods, yawning partway through. “What are you doing, Master?”

 “Organizing my storage system. Actually, now that you’re up, I wanted to ask you about the potions.”

 “Potions?”

 Daniel pulls out the five different potions he identified, and he sets them on the ground in front of her. “Can you tell me what these are and what they do?”

 “Ahhhh! Potations! Not Potions. Potions are eastern alchemist brews. These are just spirits imbued with magic effects.”

 “Alright… What can they do?”

 Kera’tai points at the one with a leaf-like squiggle for a symbol. “This one is a healing potation. As long as the person drinking it isn’t dead, it can recover their wounds in a matter of minutes. It can’t rece lost blood, but it does tend to keep users from dying on its own more often than not.”

 She then points to one with a red ‘x’-like symbol, though it could also be azily-drawn trident. “This one is harder to make, so it’s not always used, but it restores blood. For grievous wounds of high value allies, such asmanders or dragons, this one can cause the body to produce half of its normal blood volume in about ten minutes. So, it would be used in conjunction with the healing potation.” She nces around, whispering, “I’ve also heard some will use it before battles, because it gives them much greater endurance when fighting. It’s SUPER forbidden, though.”

 “Why’s that? Sounds like a boon.”

 “For one, how rare they are to begin with. I assume this and only one other are present in all of the bags you collected. But, also, if a healthy person uses one, it can cause them to suddenly die for no apparent reason.”

 Daniel nods as he absorbs the information. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Must be triggering blood doping, in a sense. Thickens the blood, causes blood clots or hypertension.”

 She watches him, and he smiles. “People of my world would pull their own blood out and store it beforepetitions, and then inject it back in right before for those same effects. Since the potion -sorry, potation- makes the body produce blood, it sounds like the same thing is happening, just from inside.”

 “Too… Too much blood is what does that?”

 “That’s my belief in this case. Our bodies, since we all seem to have blood, use blood to transport what we breathe in to our muscles, organs, and brains so that we can function. If you have more blood, you can carry more oxygen, right?”

 “I guess that makes sense… How do you know that?”

 He chuckles. “We don’t have magic, so we have to know how the world works at its fundamental levels. Most of those same principles seem to carry over here, thankfully.”

 “Even though you can’t use magic… you’re one of the wisest people I’ve ever seen.”

 “No, not quite. I don’t want to get into a tangle with the Demon Queen, since I suspect she’s far wiser than I. Or the Dragon Lord. I’m quite normal for a person from my world. But, let’s get back to the potations.”

 She pouts, but agrees. “This one here is a near-universal antidote. It can stop almost all poisons and toxins from affecting the body, and it speeds up removing them. It’s the only one that can’t get a person drunk.” She chuckles at her joke. The third potion she’s pointing to is marked with a purple swirl. “It also makes a person… have to relieve themself more quickly than the others.”

 Daniel confirms with a nod. It can’t get a person drunk because it cures the alcohol affects immediately, and it induces urination quickly to help flush the toxins.

 She points to the next one, which is marked with a yellow set of three parallel lines. “This one is a mana restorative. It’s probably more urate to call it a mana pool, as it’s easier to take before casting, and it prevents exhaustion when using enduring spells. They’re not as rare as blood restoratives, but their proof is difficult to attain, from what I’ve heard, so it’s notmon. Also, a user can generally only drink one. They’re poisonous to goblins.”

 “Makes sense,” remarks Daniel. “They have smaller bodies, so a harder alcohol would hit them more heavily. What would happen if you drank a mana restore with an antidote?”

 Kera’tai thinks for a moment. “Huh… I don’t know of anyone who would try. They’re too valuable to waste on goblins or imps, and most everyone else is fine. I only get unstable on my feet after one. Though, I’ve fainted from two.”

 It’s all making enough sense to Daniel so far. He ponders aloud, “And, I assume you can only ingest as many as will fit in your stomach, huh?”

 Impressed with the line of thinking, the Kirin woman nods. “That’s correct.”

 “What about thest potation?”

 She fidgets, ncing at it. It has an emblem that resembles a dragon’s head. She replies softly, “It’s… a revival potation.”

 “Revival? As in, different from the healing potation?”

 She confirms, “Yes. It was meant for His Grace, the Red Dragon, in the off chance he were to fall in battle. Merely getting the potation into his mouth should his heart cease would revive him at full strength. It… could even work on him… now.”

 “What if he has grievous wounds?”

 “Healing potations could restore those wounds. The revival potion will ignore that for a time. Even a head alone can be revived, supposedly. I believe His Grace’s concubine was carrying it.”

 “I see. Who was his concubine?”

 “A tiger woman wearing dragon scale pauldrons. That’s all I remember about her.”

 Daniel ponders for a moment. He rescued two tiger women, but he doesn’t recall if either of them were wearing pauldrons. One of them barely had any of her clothes remaining after the st that incapacitated her. It’s probably not a great idea to free them without being prepared to defend himself. In meleebat, most people on this side of the mountains are probably as strong or stronger than him by a wide margin.

 Daniel nods his head as he considers the information. “So, I’ll store the blood restorative, revival, and mana potations for now. Probably won’t need the mana potation either.” Daniel puts the other four back into his potion bag, and he stores the unneeded bags in his consolidation bag. He’ll finish organizingter. “Now then, I want to talk to the soldiers I captured, though only one was awake when I stored her. Will you trante for me?”

 Kera’tai agrees brightly, “Of course, Master!” She fidgets nervously, though. It’s clear the notion of being stored makes her ufortable.

 Daniel extracts the goblin woman who was already awake. And, as he hoped and expected, she emerges still screaming, “-AAAAA! GYA GY-!” She sees Daniel again, and she squirms on the ground and screams.

 And, making things worse, Kera’tai grips his shirt, startling him. “Masterrrrr!”

 “What!?”

 “How could you!?”

 “What are you talking about!”

 The Chi’rinnis pouts as the goblin squirms away from them in futility. “You had your way with her, didn’t you?”

 Daniel sighs. He knocks his knuckle against her forehead, and she whines. “Whaaat? You haven’t even…”

 “I didn’t do anything to her. She panicked when I started putting her in the storage bag. Trante, please.”

 She pouts, but murmurs, “If you say so, Master…” She looks at the goblin, who acknowledges who she is.

 Daniel will have to be patient, since Kera’tai already said goblins are difficult tomunicate with.

 ****************

 “[This human is our master, now. His name is Daniel, but be sure to revere him as ‘Master’. He wants to apologize for scaring you, but he needed to get you away from the base.]”

 The goblin Kera’tai is talking to is bound on her back, and she nces at Daniel briefly. She replies quickly, and Kera’tai has to focus on listening to understand what the goblin means. She can understand Tradingnguage, but she doesn’t speak it herself.

 “{He human? Why he Master?}”

 “[He defeated us in battle. That is how it must be.]”

 “{Th-! That no fair! Shek did best! Shek listen orders! Shek go home now.}”

 “[I think Master intends to take you home in time, but you have to cooperate. He’s a good Master. You don’t have to be afraid.]”

 “{G-Good Master?}”

 “[He didn’t hurt you, did he?]”

 “{He-... HE!...}” The goblin woman curls into a ball, hiding her naked body as much as possible from the human. Daniel, likewise, is looking away when he realized that she came out of the storage unit nude.

 “What are you two talking about?”

 “I was just exining her situation to her, Master. She’s still nervous and doesn’t like that you put her in storage, as you could probably guess, my wise Master.”

 “You don’t have to tter me. Ask her if she has any hostility towards me, please.”

 Kera’tai nods in confirmation. “[Master wants to know if you’d be willing to express your gratitude to him for saving your life.]”

 “{S-Save!? He try kill Shek!}”

 “[He was defending the fortress he was charged with defending. He was within his rights to kill us all, and instead, he saved us.]”

 The goblin woman pouts softly. She asks sheepishly, “{What Shek have do?}”

 Kera’tai smiles and pets her arm. “[You can offer him something, and I’ll trante for you. Just remember, your very life is his now.]”

 The goblin woman pouts again. “{Shek have to use body?}”

 “[It would be a genuine expression of your gratitude and loyalty, yes?]”

 Daniel interrupts, “This is turning into a really long question, Kera’tai.”

 “Sh-She’s not against the idea. We’re just discussing how she can express her gratitude.”

 “That isn’t necessary. Don’t put words in my mouth.”

 Daniel finds her clothes and extracts them, as well as a nket. He passes them behind himself without looking at her. “Tell her I’ll untie her if she’ll behave. Same as you.”

 Kera’tai again confirms with a nod. “[Master is going to untie you. You’ll have your chance. Don’t waste it, or I’ll kill you. And, don’t try to hurt him.]”

 The goblin woman nods reluctantly, and Kera’tai says, “She agrees! She’ll behave.”

 Daniel is suspicious, but he continues as normal for now. “Please help her sit up. I’ll start with her hands.”

 Kera’tai follows his instructions, and he unties the knot binding her hands behind her back. He then hands her the unfolded nket so she can cover herself, and she holds the nket over her chest and body as he unties her ankles.

 Kera’tai reminds Shek, “[Remember, he’s the most powerful sorcerer in the world. He’s a Feldrok sorcerer. Don’t try anything.]”

 “{Shek won’t!}”

 Daniel asks skeptically, “Did you just tell her I’m a ‘Feldrok’ sorcerer?”

 Kera’tai blushes. “It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

 “No. Since I’m not a sorcerer.”

 “Well, she doesn’t need to know that.”

 Daniel sits back once the goblin is free, and he states softly, “You know the truth, Kera’tai. Why do you insist on being loyal?”

 She smiles. “Isn’t that obvious, Master? True strength does not know physical descriptors or titles.”

 The goblin woman fidgets with the nket, ncing at Kera’tai briefly. She lowers the nket, squeaking at Daniel. “{Sh-Shek ready…}”

 Kera’tai nods in agreement. “She says she’s ready.”

 Daniel takes a breath and sighs. “Ready for what?”

 “To-...” Daniel flicks Kera’tai’s forehead, and she whines, “Why! Masterrrr! I’m only ensuring your second faithful-...”

 “Neither of you are my servants.” Daniel pulls the nket back up and grabs the goblin’s clothes, handing them to her again. He signals Shek with a nod, and she gingerly takes the clothes. He continues lecturing Kera’tai, “I’m not taking advantage of either of you. Any of you. Please trante what I’m saying and not trying to do me any favors. I just want to treat her and let her go. If she needs escort to her vige, I’ll try to escort her, once we check with the others.”

 The Chi’rinnis verifies in the tradenguage, “[Shek, Master wants to be sure you want to bear his children.]”

 Shek blushes, and Daniel immediately uses, “You just embarrassed her, didn’t you? Please take this seriously!”

 Kera’tai giggles, especially when Shek squirms briefly. “{Sh-Shek want babies… Master give babies?}”

 Daniel res at Kera’tai, and she starts to falsely trante, “She’d be happy to follow-...”

 “You’re despicable, Kera’tai.”

 She pouts, “I only did my most important duty, Master. To ensure your happiness.”

 He groans. “I’m perfectly happy as I am. Don’t need anything else. If it’ll make you happy for some unknown reason, when Iplete what I’m trying to aplish, I’ll spend the entire rest of my life indulging your fantasies. Until then, please take this seriously.”

 “Y-You promise, Master?”

 “Sure. But, only after Iplete my goal.”

 She nods with a happy grin, feeling giddy for a moment. She almost forgets about the goblin woman watching her for a trantion. She quickly says, “[Master says he’ll give us as many as we want once hepletes his goal! He’s very kind, so I’m sure he’ll keep his promise.]”

 “{Sh-Shek no mind. Shek want live. And… And food. Shek have food please?}”

 “[Certainly. But, you have to answer Master’s questions. Are you still gravely injured?]”

 Shek inspects herself as she puts her robe back on. “{Shek no see blood. No hurt. Wake up and Master…}” She res lightly at Daniel for a moment.

 Daniel asks, “What did you tell her?”

 “Nothing! I asked if she’s injured. She says no, and that she remembers waking up before you, you know… put her in storage.”

 “Did it hurt her?”

 “[Master wants to know if being in storage hurt you. What it was like.]”

 “{It-!...}” Shek hesitates for a moment. “{No… No hurt… Scary. Shek scream no, but Master no listen. Still screaming no when suddenly here.}”

 “She says no. It scared her, but she didn’t even feel the time pass. She just was suddenly here.”

 “I see. Good to know. Also, that it strips their clothes off, for some reason. Might be a reason it’s not widely used.”

 Kera’tai nods in agreement. “She also asked for food. But, of course, we can simply give her…”

 “We’ll feed her. She can share in dinner. Let me extract the others, though. I’ll need to let time pass for them to wake up, after all.”

 “Master, if you awaken them all at once, I can’t guarantee none of them will attack.”

 “Understood. Then, we’ll start with the goblins, at least. What kind of threat does the subus pose?”

 “Subus?”

 Daniel shows her using the interface, and she coos, “Ooooohh! She’s actually our cook.”

 “What? You’re messing with me.”

 “NO! She cooked what few meals we had the privilege of having. Her only offensive abilities are hypnosis spells and… Wait! Why do you want her?”

 Daniel sighs. “I’m releasing all of them, remember? She looks the next-least imposing. The tiger women look like a handful if they put up a fight, so we’ll do themst.”

 Kera’tai gives an affirmative nod, but she continues to pout a little. “You just like her because she looks more like a human…”

 “Then, why were you first and a goblin second?”

 Kera’tai flinches and blushes. She fidgets a little, and Daniel extracts the other three goblin women that are still unconscious. Shek, who is dressed in her robe again, remarks brightly, “{Skloe! Is Skloe!}” She gravitates towards one of the other goblin women, and Kera’tai trantes, “Apparently, she knows that one. Skloe.”

 Daniel nods, havinge to the same conclusion. “I did my best to stabilize them. Do any of them need potations as far as you can tell?”

 Kera’tai studies the goblin women for a moment. “They appear safe. But, I can use healing magic on them if you’d prefer.”

 “You can use healing magic?”

 Kera’tai grins and nods. “I can! Light magic, remember? Th-Though, the spells I know aren’t very strong.”

 “As long as it can close their minor wounds.” The bandages have disappeared, along with their clothes, and Kera’tai confirms confidently. She begins healing the goblins one by one.

 “Also, is there any chance you knownguageprehension?”

 “Language… Oh! You mean so you can understand us?”

 “It won’t work on me. But, if you don’t mind using it on them to understand thisnguage, that would make things easier.”

 “Ah… I don’t mind, but are you sure that’s a good idea?”

 “Why not? If anyone can conquer the world by learning anguage, you’d be halfway there, wouldn’t you?”

 She blushes, nodding. “I can’t use it myself, but Aoloan can probably use it.”

 “Aoloan? The subus?”

 “Yes,” confirms the demon woman. “B-But, you absolutely can’t agree to sleep with her!”

 “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

 “I mean it!” Kera’tai tries to grab him, and they end up wrestling as he tries to insist she’s worried over nothing.

 The Chi’rinnis manages to pin Daniel to the ground, though he was mainly trying not to hurt her, and judging by their rtively matched strength, she’s not trying to hurt him either. She’s just trying to be assertive and insistent that he doesn’t sleep with a subus. What she fails to understand is that he already knows. Maybe it won’t be the same as the fictional subi in his world. Maybe she’s not a nightmare demon that drains the men she bes intimate with. Daniel’s not trying to form attachments. That part is more than enough.

 Daniel smirks and jokes, “Looks like I’ve been defeated. I won’t sleep with her. I promise.”

 Kera’tai sighs and smiles. “Very well. As long as you understand.” She allows him to sit up, and Daniel extracts the demon from storage. Together, the three watch over the unconscious prisoners, and only Aoloan and two of the unnamed goblins need healing magic from Kera’tai, which does the same basic steps as the potation, inducing an elerated healing response from the body, but without the potation.

 The difference is that it only works while Kera’tai is actively healing them, and it consumes her own mana energy, which can exhaust her if she uses too much magic.

 Fortunately, their injuries are minor, and she has plenty leftover to heal Shek as well.

 It takes a few hours for the goblins to wake up. They aren’t particrly brave creatures, but they do seem pretty hardy, since they were the fastest to bounce back from fairly serious injuries. Shek and Kera’tai exin the situation to them, and they agree to remain docile.

 And, finally, Aoloan wakes up. Unlike the goblins, who panicked the moment they awakened, she makes eye contact with Kera’tai first, and then Daniel, and she smiles.

 “A human? So, we were rescued, were we?”

 Kera’tai nods warmly. “Yes. The Red Dragon was defeated.”

 “Ah… indeed… Wait… WHAT!?”

 Aoloan nces at Kera’tai with wide eyes, and then at Daniel, who seems to be a simple human man with a strangely shaped staff slung across his back. He’s so strange, she can’t detect even a trace of magicing from him. “H-... How was Lord Dragon defeated?”

 Kera’tai smiles and gestures at Daniel. Aoloan wriggles to sit up, demonstrating a skillful amount of dexterity. She tucks her knees under so she can sit on her calves, and she bows, “Human, thank you for sparing me. I understand if you don’t believe me, but my vige is hostage to the dragons, so I had no choice.”

 Daniel nces at Kera’tai, and she nods subtly. “The dragons don’t ask for cooperation. You cooperate, or everything you love ceases to exist.”

 Aoloan nods in agreement. Daniel offers gently, “I defended myself and the fortress I was tasked with defending. But, I am sorry if you lost anyone in the battle.”

 Aoloan acknowledges him softly. “Thank you. You are kind. I am sorry if we killed any of your allies in the battle.”

 Kera’tai grins. “Daniel was the only living soul in the base during our battle.”

 “What…?”

 With a nod to confirm, Daniel adds, “Any bodies you saw were training dummies. I was serving as a testing tform for my… uh… spells.”

 Aoloan cocks her head. “You’re lying…”

 “Nope. I was the only one-...”

 “Not that… You’re lying. You didn’t use magic.”

 “What makes you say that?”

 “I can read intentions with my own magic. I’m not strong enough to read minds, but intentions are easy for me. And, you just lied about casting spells.” She looks into his eyes with a sincerity. “You defeated a dragon… without magic?”

 Kera’tai excitedly grins. “Can you believe it!?”

 “Aoloan, right? My name is Daniel. Please call me that.”

 Aoloan bows again. “I am indeed Aoloan. A pleasure to meet you, Lord Daniel. I ept my role as warbride and hope I can please you.”

 “Not you, too.”

 Kera’tai giggles sheepishly, “Heh heh heh…”

 Daniel adds, “No one here is a warbride. No one here owes me their lives. I’m not even considering myself affiliated with the east anymore. I did my job defending the fortress. As far as they know, hopefully, I’m dead. But, they banished me there for doing what I thought was right to save a life. I get why, but it still sucked. So, here we are. I saved who I could and who survived. I can’t speak for those who fled the battle. But, please, don’t revere me so highly. I just want to be Daniel.”

 Kera’tai and Aoloan nce at each other, and they smile.

 Daniel sighs. “Aoloan, Kera’tai believes you should be able to castnguageprehension. Is that correct?”

 “Indeed. You wish to understand Trade? Or, perhaps, Sphrian?”

 “Uh… No. It won’t work on me. If you don’t mind, though, could you cast it on the goblins so they can speak in Imperial Common? Uh… Easterner?”

 Aoloan nces at the goblins, acknowledging their existence for the first time. “On goblins, my Lord?”

 Daniel sighs in disgust. “You and Kera’tai… Yes, please.”

 Kera’tai exins, “[They are our sisters now, Aoloan. Master doesn’t wish to treat any of us poorly.]”

 “[I see… Very well. I shall extend them due respect, I suppose.]” Aoloan smiles. “It will be my pleasure, my Lord. Please excuse me for a moment while I cast the spell on them.”

 Daniel agrees politely, “Thank you, Aoloan.”

 Aoloan casts thenguage spell on the goblins after exining it to them, and Shek cautiously asks, “Master understand Shek?”

 “I do,” confirms the mechanic. “But, you don’t have to call me ‘Master’. I’m just Daniel. Nice to be able to talk to you.”

 She smiles, giggling happily. She asks, “Master no hurt Shek or others?”

 “No. Not unless you try to hurt me. Once we figure out where we are, you’re free to go and head back to your homes. Or wherever else you want to go.”

 The goblins nce at each other, and then share a nce with Aoloan. Aoloan asks, “You… are freeing us?”

 Daniel nods civilly to confirm. “I’m not an actual soldier or anything. Just Daniel. I bound you so you wouldn’t attack me when you woke back up. Since we’re getting along, you may leave at any time if you so wish.”

 “And,... You won’t attack?”

 Daniel shakes his head. “So long as you don’t attack me.”

 Aoloan asks, “What is your goal, Lord Daniel?”

 “My goal?”

 “What are you trying to achieve, if not to serve your kingdom?”

 “Ah. Fair question. Well, I know their motivations for the war; they believe everyone serving the same apparent goal as the Demon Queen wants to conquer the east. But, something doesn’t seem right to me.”

 Aoloan remarks, “Kera’tai may have already told you, but… We’re not that strongly organized. The Demon Queen doesn’t want to destroy the east, but… I don’t know why she started the war in the first ce, to be honest.”

 Kera’tai nods in agreement. “We’ve had a lot of peopleing from the far west, but no one really seems to know why. The Demon Queen ordered it, and we obeyed. She has never been wrong before.”

 Daniel sighs. “Then, my first goal is to figure out why she ordered that.”

 Kera’tai gasps. “You can’t just approach the Queen, Master! Especially as a human!”

 He’s not aplete fool, but he does confirm, “I agree. But, I can see if I can find anyone who knows.” He strokes his chin, nning his continued path forward. “Maybe the Queen does hate the east. Maybe the poption is growing out of control. Maybe the east provoked the war. Won’t know until I dig a little deeper.”

 “Why would you want to know?” asks Aoloan softly.

 “I might’ve mindlessly served the kingdom if nothing had changed from where I was before I got banished to the front lines. But, now I have questions. And, my loyalty got me nowhere.”

 Kera’tai says warmly, “With your strength, Master, you could settle down in a nice vige, have a family with your beloved, and forget all your other worries…”

 Aoloan narrows her eyes at Kera’tai, and the Chi’rinnis shoots her a re. However, the demon speaks tenderly, “She is right, my Lord. The mere fact that you were able to defeat a drake, let alone a dragon, would be enough to earn you respect. Though, you’ll likely earn the ire of the Dragon Lord once he learns of you.”

 “Ah! Excellent point. But, I’ll cross that bridge when I have to. For now, we should be within a few hours of Kera’tai’s vige. I’ll figure out where I’m headed after that.”

 The women nod together. As they get closer to the vige, Daniel asks about the tiger women. Aoloan reveals that they should be peaceful enough with the dragon gone, but they’re a proud and independent people, so they’re more likely to simply leave.

 Daniel states that’s fine, and he extracts them as well, waiting for them to wake up as the group makes camp for the night.

 Both Aoloan and Kera’tai confirm that neither of them is ‘the dragon’s concubine’, though Daniel did collect all of the bodies, so unless she was one of the ones to flee, she’s likely the one he got the revival potation from. Though, he admittedly didn’t pay attention to which person that was.

 The two women wake up, and Aoloan and Kera’tai are the two to exin to them. Daniel provides them with prepared bags with some supplies and daggers once the other two confirm they won’t attack.

 They keep their distance from Daniel, but Kera’tai reassures him quietly that they are very good at detecting lies, simr to Aoloan.

 Of course, with therge handful of rtive enemies Daniel has surrounding him, there’s no way anything can be as simple as camping out and continuing forward.

 ***

AliNovel

Chapter 23: The Survivors