My Servant System

Chapter 1103: Chapter 1102: Making Predictions



It was hard to continue playing chess when a dozen some odd Death Jackals filtered into the room a minute after Hera was sent away, each of these warriors kneeling before their Sultana and awaiting orders as more of their number joined with each passing second.

Lady Kio was determined to try and keep playing the game set before us, but when she noticed that Leone - the opponent that I had been facing and now the one that she had been facing - had gotten up to observe the gathering happening nearby, she growled and did the same, getting up and strutting over to her wife as she looked over the various Death Jackals with an impassive gaze.

The rest of us joined Leone as we watched the Death Jackals filter on into this room, the gathering growing by the second until we had reached two dozen warriors easily, and by that point the Sultana stepped forwards and began to issue orders, commanding their attention and causing each of them to become completely and utterly still so as to not make any noice whatsoever.

"The Fingers have now decided to partner up and contract themselves to Fiends to achieve a new goal. A bastardized goal of prosperous change riding on the back of hard work and research done by the scholars of our country. They wish to take their new Fiendish partners magics and begin converting portions of the country into something new.

They wish to turn the desert we live in and make it into one singular oasis, to turn the golden sands into lush green grass and crystal clear water. It sounds wonderful and ideal; no more harsh heat, no more scorching sun or burning sands. No more need to rely on other countries for food, no need to place an immense burden on those living beside the existing oasis's. It's a goal we could all get behind, as long as it was actually feasible.

Sadly, we learned that it wasn't a few years ago. Mana conversion or mana swapping on that scale would destroy the little life this desert provides, and no matter how much we tried it would never go from gold to green. However, these imbeciles believe they can manage to do what we failed to do, with the aid of the Fiends."

Pausing, the Sultana raked her gaze over the assembled warriors, taking in their expressions and body language as she began to roam around the room silently, her feet gliding across the tile and carrying her wherever she desired as she moved amongst her personal warriors, allowing her to study them even closer than before.

"Fiendish magics might make it possible, but the cost of such an endeavor is one no one is capable of affording. No country in this world could afford to convert an entire landmass into a new biome without severe casualties, be it from people or other living things. Monsters and animals would be eradicated as their primary mana type was wrenched away, and the mortal body would need to adapt to this new atmosphere before we could even begin to imagine surviving, let alone thriving...

So I have called for you all to comb the Sultanate and hunt down any and all Fiends that you can find. Search and destroy with the utmost imperative starting now. Fiends are the primary targets, but locating the Fingers is your secondary objective. There are no restraints; do what you must to eliminate the Fiends, but if you locate the Fingers send word immediately back to Muqai Al-Maedin so that others might join you. This is for our future, after all..."

Returning to stand in front of them, the Sultana clasped her hands behind her back and stared at them all before nodding, resulting in them all rising and giving her a warrior's salute as they placed a fist over their heart before rushing from the hall to do as she asked, leaving us alone after that short speech.

"Well, now that that's done... I must admit I am rather hungry."

Turning towards us and nodding her head again, the Sultana made her way to the table and sank into her chair before glancing at her wife as she asked "Where are the pups? I haven't seen them just yet.", which prompted Lady Kio to roll her eyes as she threw herself into the seat beside her wife.

"How the hell should I know, Anubi? I got here the same time you did and walked the same path as well. If you didn't see them, why would I have seen them?"

We all exchanged looks before freezing when we heard the Sultana reply "Because you are their Mother?", none of us looking at Lady Kio but knowing that the petite Dogkin was absolutely bristling at that comment.

"I'm only joking, Kio, so calm down. Did any of you see them whilst you waited for us?"

She tried to brush past her rather dangerous comment right there, but of course the Dogkin wasn't going to let it be, so we all gradually inched forwards and watched as Lady Kio glared hatefully at her wife, feeling out this situation and wondering if replying was actually a good idea at this point in time.

"They were with Yasmin a half hour ago..."

I took the risk and earned a nod from the powerful, yet seemingly stupid veiled futanari who was still under threat of bursting into flames if her wife's glare was able to get any stronger, though when she reached over and pulled Lady Kio onto her lap like a sack of potatoes, I felt a bit more comfortable since the ticking time bomb was now 'contained'...

When a servant came in, the Sultana glanced towards them and asked them to go fetch Yasmin as well as to get a meal prepared, and when we were left alone once more Jahi asked "Are we really going to just sit here and do nothing whilst they go and do everything..?", bringing the conversation around to something that would help move us past what was clearly a blunder on the Sultana's part.

"For right now, yes. The Sultanate isn't as large as the Empire, yes, but it is still a very large piece of land, and where the Empire has a diverse collection of biomes and cities to act as various landmarks and create a rather detailed topography, the Sultanate is not that lucky. We're an ocean of golden sand that is roughly 90% of our entire country, meaning that there is far too much... nothingness that needs to be scoured. There have been a myriad of hidden bases and outposts inside that nothingness, so it is entirely possible the Fingers have picked a parcel of land in the middle of nowhere to set up base, just like it is possible they're after another city to take over.

Letting the Death Jackals do the leg work is a large part of why I formed them so long ago. If you want to join them though, be my guest; you could probably use that Arch Fiend of yours to locate some more Fiends and have some fun hunting them down, but I wanted to give them the chance to whet their fangs a little."

Running her fingers through Lady Kio's hair, the Sultana ignored the glare she was receiving and instead turned towards me as she asked "I would also assume that you all desire to take a moment to breathe after that fight, no? I know how your types tend to think, and right now you're a bundle of ideas waiting for the moment to put pen to paper..."

"I do, yes, but this seems far more pressing then me wanting to figure out how to counter an enchanted item having man that was extremely irritating to fight against and be in the

presence of..."

"Ah, yes... that was an interesting fight you had been locked into. Tell me about it again; I might remember this 'Caliph' if I hear the story again."

Recounting the fight to the Sultana once more - this time in more detail - was making me feel

a bit irritated again as I went over the various flaws in my fight, from how I had arrogantly decided to face him one on one to how I had restrained myself from fighting at my fullest because I was worried of exposing my cards too soon.

My tale was followed by the others as they finished painting the picture of what had happened in Bascra, and it helped us all realize what had happened and how we could improve, though that was what I was itching to go do right now instead of sitting still.

A part of me obviously wanted to remain here and just work through the theoreticals some

more and come up with more ideas to put into practice, but more of me wanted to go out and find that prick to settle the score, mainly because I had just been riled up again by the memory

of that fight...

By the time that the meal had arrived we were diverted from the topic anyways as all of the

pups swarmed into the room and rushed their parents, no longer shy or wary of us as they just ignored us completely, much to Lady Kio's 'annoyance' as she spent a few minutes placating

the youngest pups.

It made me a little homesick seeing the youngest of Anput's siblings, the adorable faces of Alessandra and Lakshmi flickering into my mind as I wondered how they were doing back in the Empire with Mother and their Mom's...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Probably a lot less frustrated than I was right now and far happier in that temperate climate, that's for sure.