World Seed

"Why?" Ren asked suspiciously while Rin exchanged glances between Erit and Aerwyn.

"It"s fine, why don"t you guys go check out the s.h.i.+p while I talk to Erit." Aerwyn rea.s.sured them.

"Ok!" Rin excitedly ran off, but Ren took her time, occasionally glancing back at Erit.

Erit paused as Rin and Ren went below deck. Once they were out of sight, she took a step closer to Aerwyn, all the while locking her violet eyes to his.

"I want the world and everything in it, master. I want to become a G.o.ddess and have all the tiny races of the world wors.h.i.+p me. When this little spider grows weary of this world, I want to go through the gate and find more worlds to take and call my own."

"...Oh, is that all?" Aerwyn chuckled.

"Nope. Lastly, I want master to give this little spider all of these things."

"And why would "this little spider" be so deserving of such generosity?"

"Because this little spider will be the one who helps master gain those things in the first place."

"What makes you so sure of yourself?"

"Mother always said that a lady shouldn"t boast, but instead, she should quietly bend the world to her will and revel in her success alone."

"...Well, then you failed that lesson miss "i want the world and everything in it". Also, that doesn"t sound like the words of a race that lives in an underground cave-OW!" Aerwyn cried out as Erit flicked his nose playfully.

"Don"t make fun of spiders. Besides, I only told you because of the way you were looking at me. It was like you didn"t trust me anymore."

Aerwyn was stunned but for a reason other than Erit"s beauty for once. It was the first time one of his undead had intentionally hit him. While a flick to the nose could hardly be considered harming him, it was nonetheless a display of Erit"s autonomy despite Aerwyn"s power over her.

"...Are you still under the control of my power?" Aerwyn asked in a daze.

"Oh? What would you think if I said I wasn"t ever under your control?" Erit stuck her arms behind her back, accentuating her chest as she c.o.c.ked her head to the side and blithely looked up to Aerwyn.

"I"d believe you. You"ve never obeyed my orders about your voice magic before."

"And if I said I was under your control this whole time? How would you know if I was lying or not?"

"I could just order you to do something."

"What if I followed your order despite not being under your control? What if I patiently waited until you walked into my web of deceit and lies, when you trusted me wholly, before finally striking out?"

"..." Aerwyn unconsciously took a step back.

"Now, do you see how impossible it is to prove my innocence, Aerwyn?" Erit"s lips curled up as she spoke his name for the first time, once again revealing a beautiful smile that could stop even the most pious of men in their tracks.

Nothing made any sense. If Erit wasn"t under his control, then why did she admit to it in such a way that would forever taint his trust in her? Things made even less sense if she was still under his control. If she had this much free will and could outright disobey him, then how could he even call that control?

Erit brought her dainty hands to her face and stifled a laugh in a reserved yet alluring manner.

"Pfft... Master, you"re making a funny face." Erit could no longer hold back her laughter as Aerwyn"s expression suddenly changed to bewilderment.

"How do you expect me to trust you after this?" He asked.

"The moment you looked at me with eyes full of suspicion, doubt was already in your mind, I simply decided to show you how silly it was. If nothing else, you can trust in the fact that you"re the only being in this world who can give me what I desire. In the meantime, all I can do is prove to you that I am deserving of your trust and generosity."

Surprisingly enough, Aerwyn was actually relieved by this result. As Erit said, he couldn"t be entirely sure that he had control over her. By claiming that their interests align, then at least if she wasn"t under his command, she would still be an ally as long as her interests were taken into account. Still, Aerwyn couldn"t help but wonder that her answer, despite being a tad extravagant, was precisely what he wanted to hear.

If she had truly claimed she wanted nothing, he would"ve been far more suspicious of her since it was now clear that at least Rorik and Erit both had a troubling amount of free will. The thought that Erit was still somehow manipulating him gave him a chill. Much like the question of whether or not she was under his control, it was an endless loop of doubt that wouldn"t get him anywhere.

"Very well." Aerwyn declared, to which Erit simply revealed a smile. She didn"t say a word as she walked past him and went below deck.

Aerwyn avoided saying too much, fearing that a threat might widen the rift between them and only push Erit towards betrayal even if she was telling the truth. He would give her a chance as Aerwyn didn"t see anything for Erit to gain by betraying him at the moment, but nevertheless, he would remain wary of her.

As Rin and Ren came running over to him, Ardin came into sight downriver, and now he had to deal with the next matter of concern. The broken harbor could only fit half a dozen s.h.i.+ps at best, and without a port, the s.h.i.+ps required a suitable place to land, such as a beach that wouldn"t damage the bottom of the s.h.i.+ps.

There was a small area a couple hundred meters north of Ardin that was suitable for landing, but it could only fit one or two s.h.i.+ps at best. The rest would have to continue south and find their own, but unfortunately, that would keep him from immediately marching north to claim more s.h.i.+ps. At least, Aerwyn had already dealt with the goblins in the surrounding areas, so even if the s.h.i.+ps were left unattended, they wouldn"t be at risk of being stolen or destroyed, at least he hoped.
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Aerwyn reached out to the captains of each s.h.i.+p through the darkness, ordering the other three merchant s.h.i.+ps and two of Earl Abery"s to dock at the harbor while directing the rest to find locations as close to Ardin as they could find. By the time he was finished sending out orders, his s.h.i.+p had docked, and the undead were already unloading the loot from the s.h.i.+ps.

The surrounding area around Ardin appeared empty despite the nearly six hundred elves living there that had escaped from Lyr. Aerwyn a.s.sumed they were probably hiding, believing the s.h.i.+ps to be another human attack. Joined by Erit, Rin, and Ren, he made his way to the only functioning gatehouse in the city and was met by Frakki.

"How are my goblins?" Aerwyn asked as he walked into the empty city.

"G-great one, I"m afraid seventeen were lost before I arrived. It appears the others sacrificed them for food. The good news is that they were all males, so the females were successfully able to give birth. I"ve already taken a count of the newborns, there are three hundred and forty-six, with three females that have yet to give birth."

"Perfect. How long until the females can breed again?" Aerwyn was giddy about the news. His goblins would make up the bulk of the labor required to turn Ardin into a regional power within the Forsaken Lands.

"I-i would say t-two weeks maybe three if taking the side of caution."

"Ok. Before we head back north, I"ll be leaving Bon, his disciples, and Kabba here with you and Jinn to help out. In the meantime, help Tylin get the elves situated as they"ll be joining us for the time being. Also, I want to add two hundred of the newborns to the breeding program as soon as they"re able."

"Great one, there is one problem... Goblins require a substantial amount of food during their growth period and-"

"That"s fine. I"ll leave the spiders to you, they can"t row so they"ll be little help with the s.h.i.+ps anyway."

"Yes, great one."

As they walked through the empty city, Aerwyn could see makes.h.i.+ft tents and structures surrounding his broken spire in the city square. What started as one elf peeking out from a tent quickly spread, and by the time Aerwyn arrived at the square, a few hundred elves were outside sending curious looks his way.

"This is a good opportunity to make yourself known among the elves of Lyr, master... Perhaps a simpler approach might work better than your speech on the s.h.i.+p." Erit giggled, poking fun at him as if nothing had changed between the two.

"...I was planning on it."