“We’ve mopped up the enemies out front. What’s the situation?”
“Shemel’s squad has already made their escape. No pursuers.”
“Understood. Tell them to wait somewhere safe.”
“Roger that.”
I slipped the golem communicator back into my inventory. Around me lay the scattered remains of what were once humans. The human body was a fragile thing in the face of a golem warrior’s steel club or giant shield. One clean hit from that mass and a human body simply couldn’t maintain its original form. And if someone miraculously kept their shape after a strike, they’d probably die instantly. The internal trauma from a blow like that would completely destroy the internal organs a human required to live. To be honest, those corpses were worse than the ones who were torn apart. They were more grotesque in a quieter, more final way.
“Well done,” I said, because praise felt right even if the golem obviously couldn’t respond.
I stored the golem warrior away in my inventory, and Grande returned, brushing off the last of the fight.
“It’s over. That barely functioned as entertainment.”
“I hear you. Let’s investigate the camp. There might be stragglers, so watch my back.”
“Mm, but of course.”
I tucked a .45mm-caliber submachine gun into my hands and moved into the camp, flanking Grande, who was the vanguard. It must have looked ridiculous at first glance—me hiding behind a little girl—but Grande wasn’t a child. She was a dragon in miniature form, barely dressed, and every inch of her was packed with all the vitality and defensive strength you’d expect from a dragon. And honestly, she was way stronger than she looked. Tough enough to take an attack straight-on from a golem warrior.
Humans stood no chance against my golem warriors, but Grande was even stronger than them.
“Anyone left?”
“Yes, though I cannot blame them for fleeing from me.”
“Focus on groups with more than two people and—”
“This is annoying. Wait here. I’ll handle this!”
Before I could argue, Grande rushed straight into the center of the camp. She destroyed the wall of a log house in one strike and charged inside like something straight out of a horror film. Or a comedy.
Actually, totally horror, when you considered that these people were hiding because they sensed we were bad news, only to have the wall torn down by a blonde-haired little girl (dragon) saying hello before telling them to die.
After listening to the sounds of destruction and death for a few minutes, I used a handkerchief to dab off some of the blood that’d splattered onto Grande’s cheeks, then got to exploring the camp.
“There isn’t much left.”
“No. I didn’t expect there to be. I can’t imagine there would be anything of importance or value in a place like this.”
“Honestly, my head aches more at the thought of what I’m gonna do with the survivors.”
They were either survivors from the pioneer group or people the bandits had kidnapped earlier. All I could see in this group were men, all human. I hadn’t seen the prisoners yet, but I was pretty sure the captives would be women. Those shitheads.
In any event, I needed to see the prisoners before I could think about how to handle them.
“I do not think this is something you need to take responsibility for,” Ifriita said.
“Maybe not,” I answered. “But I can’t just rescue them only to then go, ‘Well, good luck,’ or something.”
If I did that, I shouldn’t have saved them in the first place. I was the queen’s partner and the king consort. What would it say about me if I let bandits have their way with my citizens and then abandoned them in their despair? If I couldn’t save a handful of villagers from bandits and make sure they lived peacefully, how could I expect to look after the whole country?
“Valid point. Do your best, then. Just do not overdo it,” Ifriita warned.
“I won’t.”
If things had gone to plan, the final village in this region would already be built. Plans had a habit of getting wrecked, though. Pretty much all of the prospective pioneers were dead; there’d be no village here. That left the survivors—what to do with them?
“If all else fails, we bring them home. I could have some work at the harpy tower as nursery school teachers.”
“And you shall end up with more wives, I imagine.”
“That is not my intent. At least not at the moment.”
My voice wasn’t entirely convincing; however, I was already struggling with how many lovers I had now. I wasn’t sure my body could handle any more. Plus, the women who’d been held captive had probably gone through hell, so I doubted they’d ever want to do anything along those lines ever again. In fact, approaching them myself might do more harm than good. Unfortunately, that was unavoidable for today at least.
“So, what will you do with this camp?”
“Flatten it,” I said, drawing my mithril logging axe. You could never have too much lumber.