My Servant System

Chapter 1153: Chapter 1152: Momentary Interlude



Kat Pov

My leg swung at paced intervals as I joined the others in idling around, the comfort of our temporary encampment only growing with each time we got to practice setting it up and making improvements to it.

A week had passed since we had visited Hajar, and upon the return to the capital we were immediately sent back out to quell the invasion happening at another city; this one had been a war of attrition instead of one against another set of elites.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The city was thoroughly in the grasp of the invading Fingers, and the reason it had taken us a handful of days to to reconquer was entirely due to the fact that we needed to keep the citizens alive for obvious reasons.

They had been turned into hostages and meat shields, and casualties were sadly unavoidable in a situation like that, but we had tried our best to have as few of them as possible as we slowly reclaimed that city for the Sultanate.

Despite the time sunk into throwing off the yoke of the invaders, the battles themselves were rather bland since it was just waves of soldiers running at one another, and after the first infiltration from Saif, Zahrah and I the invaders smartened up and closed their ranks immediately.

If we wanted the hostages to live we needed to stop, and even then we would find new heads adorning the walls each morning, though that only earned the Fingers a fate worse than death as they were captured and tortured by both the soldiers and the freed citizens, their bodies paraded around outside the walls as both sides resorted to barbarism.

Leone had tried to advocate for a more civil outlook on the entire thing, but even she had to admit that civility was useless on these lowly cultists acting on their base instincts after we were made to listen to the screams and pleas of women all night long, only to find their corpses draped across the walls the next morning.

The morbidity of it all had earned the cultists a more immediate loss served to them as we dug them out of the city and eradicated them entirely, and it had only been one of two cities that we had fought in during this last week.

Right after that happened we were given orders to head to the next location, and that one had been another day long battle waged against another two Ka Fiends, though this time it took more finesse and effort to kill them.

A giant two legged tortoise creature with a shell hard enough to absorb most blows and reflective enough to block most spells was a tough nut to crack, and it only made it all the more disappointing when it shattered upon the death of the Fiend.

The other had been another four armed variant of a mortal wielding some basic weapons, though the skill displayed with each was quite high, and the stamina, strength and durability were all well above what we expected as well.

Still, the numbers proved to be too much for them, especially because the cultists they had in support were limited and instead replaced with mindless and straightforwards monsters, which just threw themselves at us upon laying their eyes on us.

That brought us to today, and we were granted a period of rest before we were to head to a new battlefield, and it was one that the Sultana wanted to make into a statement since it was the location that the Caliph and the rest of the leadership of the Fingers were located.

It surprised me that they were allowing themselves to be found, but at the same time it would seem that they were under the correct assumption that this was the end of the line for their attempt to revolutionize the Sultanate in their own way, and unless they could kill the Sultana... their hopes died here.

They had desired to take over the entire country and buy time to enact their plans, and yet it only took us a few days to reclaim most it from them, and another few days to take back what we had missed.

"Whatcha thinking about~?"

Pulling me from my thoughts was Zahrah, the happy and talkative assassin grinning at me as she slid onto the chair opposite of me and blocked my sightline of Jahi, who was currently sparring against Saif and another of the Death Jackals, taking them both at the same time.

"Not much... just how time can fly by this quickly without realizing it... Even though those nights felt like they dragged on for eternity..."

Zahrah's grin faded a little at that, the Jackalkin looking away and making me sigh as I said "Sorry... forget that; what did you need? I'm assuming you weren't just here for a social call?", which made the woman's ears twitch as she tilted her head confusedly.

"And why would you assume that? Maybe I just wanted to have some girl talk with my new friend-?"

I raised a brow at that, only to roll my eyes as she leaned forwards to whisper "Maybe I wanted to ask you for some tips to wrangle in a hunk for seconds and thirds~? Or perhaps I was curious to hear more about how a maid somehow manages to seduce a future Marquess to the point of earning herself a Baroness title~? Surely there's a tale waiting to be told there, right~?"

Despite the irritation I showed her outwardly, it was something I appreciated about the woman as she just dove straight to what she wanted to know, and even though those things were highly personal and embarrassing, I... sort of welcomed them, if only because it was rare for me to have someone to chat with that wasn't related to me, making love to me, or in a position of power that required some sort of respect from me.

Zahrah was just... someone I could talk to, and that was refreshing even if it was about these sorts of things, though before I could answer we both turned towards the triumphant shout that came from the temporary forge Anput had made for herself.

Funnily enough it looked like a permanent place of forging that had stood here for many years, but it had been built late last night and put to use this morning, and the Jackalkin inside was working away at the various bones and metals we had earned from our fights.

The previous city was one of the three cities that focused on weapon production, so they offered up a bounty of things for us to take as thanks for saving them, and Anput had no issue at all taking what she needed, resulting in this current jubilation she was exuding. Prancing out of the forge and waving around a new blade of deep crimson, my mate was grinning as widely as was possible as she flaunted her new creation to everyone nearby, only to walk over to the other Death Jackal that Jahi was sparring against to hand the woman her

new sword.

"I can't wait to have my new daggers... never thought I'd need to replace them, and yet here we are, right? The Begum has our gratitude and then some for spoiling us so~!"

Her eyes shone with anticipation and reverence as she watched Anput strut proudly back into her forge before reemerging with another blade, this time resting it on her shoulder as the weight of it demanded some proper technique.

Saif accepted her new cleaver with a deep bow, and I could see the burly Death Jackal's tail swishing behind her as she inspected her new blade closely, the idea of sparring against the Demoness no longer mattering to her much to Jahi's disappointment.

"I just hope she's not over exerting herself right now... the new gear is much appreciated, but we are supposed to be riding to another battle tomorrow morning, so..."

Zahrah turned back to me with a knowing smirk as she asked "You're only saying that because you don't want to have to do all the work tonight, aren't you~?", making me roll my eyes

again as I decided to not answer her question.

When it was just followed up by a repeat of her earlier one though, I was reluctant to answer

despite it not being that extreme, and soon enough the Death Jackal as poking and prodding at my mind for all sorts of techniques and suggestions to try out tonight as well, further

confirming the suspicion I had that Saif had relented.

Not only had she relented, but apparently they had come to the understanding that they were rather compatible together, and that only made Zahrah's already lustful and needy nature all the 'worse' for Saif, though right now she was more than willing to keep up with the

demands...

With the conversation becoming what it was, Jahi eventually moved over to sit with us as the Demoness felt the slight rush through our bond, and when she pulled me onto her lap Zahrah shot me a knowing look before continuing her questions confidently, which my lover matched as she teased me to her hearts content.