Although, I feel that she is intelligent enough to know that she can't possibly defeat me. The best thing for her and her people would be to join the kingdom completely. I already plan to make her the minister of intelligence, as long as she doesn't betray me.

  Of course, I will make sure there is another minister who will keep an eye on her. However, if she is truly as loyal as she acts, then the future for her is fairly bright. She could be a major figure in the new kingdom, which is what I think she wants.

  Anyway, those are worries for later, right now, I will just keep an eye on her. I will give her a bit more power and then watch to see what she does with it. That will help me decide if she is trustworthy enough to be a minister.

  With the spell cast, I head back inside to spend some more time with Lin before I leave. I spend a couple of hours chatting and cuddling with Lin and then gate back to the fort. I barely have time to walk inside and sit down before Muyaun appears before me.

  Muyaun says "Welcome back, Master! I am here as ordered! What can I do for you?"

  "I want a full report on the current situation in the empire and how your task is going."

  Muyaun says "The situation can be best described as pure chaos. At first, it was just the imperial army fighting against some nobles and keeping the commoners suppressed. Then the church joined in and formed a new faction backed by the commoners and a few nobles. At the same time, some groups of the army turned against the emperor."

  "What's the current status of the church?"

  Muyaun laughs and says "Pitiful! At first, when some rumors spread, they lost a lot of support. When their powers suddenly stopped working, everyone turned against them. Add to the fact that my people killed over a hundred clergymen and the church fell apart quickly. They are no longer one of the main factions, just scattered remnants."

  "That's good news! Alright, continue."

  Muyaun says "The breakdown of the church caused even more factions to form. There are now dozens of factions all fighting anyone they can find. Some of them have dropped all pretense and are just basically bandits now. This has made freeing the slaves both easier and harder."

  "Explain?"

  Muyaun says "It became easier to free them but a lot harder to get them out of the empire safely."

  "Ah, that makes sense. I take it that they keep getting attacked?"

  Muyaun says "Exactly. Normally attacks of that level wouldn't be a problem, but it is a lot more difficult while protecting others. Luckily, a lot of the freed slaves have joined in and helped out. In fact, they are quite happy to do so and get some payback."

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  "How have our losses been?"

  Muyaun says "Less than ten dead. Considering the amount of fighting that our forces have done, that is simply amazing! It would probably terrify the rest of the nations, if there were any survivors to spread the tales."

  "How about the progress of the mission? How many beastmen have we recovered? How many remain as slaves?"

  Muyaun says "We have recovered a little over thirty thousand beastmen. There are very few that remain as slaves as far as we can tell. The problem is that they are being kept inside cities where it is much harder to rescue them."

  "Thirty thousand?! I didn't know that there were that many enslaved by the empire! How has this been allowed to go on for so long?!"

  Muyaun says "Simple. They were all taken from among the outcasts and until you came along, no one cared. The other outcasts didn't have the strength or organization to do anything about it."

  "You have people among the clans and the outcasts. How are the responses to my actions?"

  Muyaun says "You are a hero to the outcasts. They would follow any order you gave them. The clans that have joined you also support your actions. They see it as proof that you care about the beastmen as a whole and not just specific clans. Even among the clans that haven't joined, you are seen as more than a mere mortal. No one in the entire history of the clans has ever been as well regarded as you are."

  "It's good to be popular, I guess. At least it should make unifying all of the clans a bit easier. Have we finished operations inside the empire?"

  Muyaun says "No, not as per your last orders. Now that most of the beastmen are freed, we switched to rescuing humans. With the increasing chaos, more and more humans have turned into refugees. Should we stop helping them and withdraw?"

  "No, not just yet. I will issue new orders to Leonarr after we are done here. Before that, do you have any other than the fox tribe working for you?"

  Muyaun says "No, I don't. Why?"

  "Because I want you to expand your intelligence gathering operations. Start recruiting from the other clans. Your fox clan members can't go everywhere. Also, continue hunting the remaining members of Holos' church. I want them completely exterminated."

  Muyaun says "While I can't guarantee that we will find them all, I will guarantee that all those we find will die!"

  "They are currently unable to contact their god, they should be panicking and trying to flee the empire."

  Muyaun says "Understood. I will have my people watch the borders. We won't let them escape!"

  "Good, Also, have your people report the locations of any bandit groups they find. I plan to have Leonarr send people to deal with them."

  Muyaun says "I can do that, but why bother?"

  "All this chaos is caused by me. The ones suffering the most are the commoners and that is who bandits prey on. I can't make up for everything that I have done, but I can do something for them. Besides, killing bandits will be good experience for the troops."

  Muyaun says "Alright, it will be as you command! Do you have any other orders for me, master?"

  "No, but keep doing a good job and there will be a reward for you."

  Muyaun says "While I appreciate the thought, a reward isn't necessary. You gave me everything I desired when you spared me and allowed me to teach Asuna."

  "Regardless, I already have a reward planned and I think you will find it entertaining."

  Muyaun says "Well, now I'm curious! I guess I will just have to fulfill your orders to find out what you think I will like."

  "Good enough. You can go, but send Leonarr in on your way out."

  Muyaun says "Yes, master."

  Muyaun turns to walk out, but she shakes her tails at me as she does and I can't help but watch. It makes me think of Myria, so while I am waiting for Leonarr I contact her and let her know I am back. However, the one who walks in next isn't Leonarr, it is Lizzy.