“I know your history and I know you prefer to be separated from the rest of the world because of it but I promise, living here will be safer,” Ben said, trying his best to convince the woman and included the sirens in it as he went on. “It will be safer for all of you. My partner, Thera, is at least someone the sirens should already be aware of given how close they are to the succubi, but she’s the daughter of not only her nation’s queen but also the great earth spirit. That’s not going to mean much to Mirrian, I know, but what that basically means is that she’s deeply loved by both the spirits and even the elementals of the world. Even if you can’t see them, this town is always filled with them as a result, and means that living here is actually probably safer than living in any city. Even if it’s not as small as you were looking for, Mirrian, living here might still be a bit more comfortable for you than where you were, and Hentath, no matter what happened in the past, I promise this is a pretty good place. Sachel is comfortable here and Delair hasn’t had any problems training under me here and-”

“We’ll do it,” Hentath nodded in agreement, not needing to think. “I’ll talk to the others, but we’ll move here.”

A decisive answer that caught Ben off guard. He’d fully expected to need Sachel to work on convincing the woman with him, but it seemed to have been unnecessary, with even the oracle seeming surprised by how quick she’d been in answering.

“Grandmother?”

“I have to do what’s right for the village, and it’s obvious that means keeping them safe,” the older dryad sighed. “The world’s not the same as it was a few years ago; we were just too slow in accepting it. I’ll talk to all of them and make it clear that that’s what’s going to happen.”

“Thank you,” Ben told her, relieved at just how straightforward that had been. “In that case, what about the rest of you? You don’t need to decide now and you don’t have to treat either option as a permanent choice. If you stay here and don’t like it, then you could move back to the siren capital, or you could go back there for now and think about it for a while. Whatever you decide, I will do my best to make sure you’re comfortable.”

The guards said nothing, having their roles, but Woszan focused on Mirrian for a moment before being the one to answer. “I think we’ll try staying here for now then, thank you.”

“Woszan?” Mirrian asked, watching the high priestess shake her head.

“Like he said, it doesn’t have to be forever and he should be right about how safe it is. We can try it for now and see how living here works for you and Kalley, and if it’s still a no-go, we can try somewhere else. Keeping you safe and comfortable is my priority, but a town like this, living here can also be a small taste of what this world has to offer.”

More than anything, Mirrian just seemed relieved to have someone there willing to make up their mind for her, letting her just nod, even as the exhaustion of the day tried to dig in its claws.

“Alright, good,” Ben told them. “In that case, why don’t all of you join the others for now? I have a couple more people to talk to, but then I’ll make sure I get all of you situated.”

More nods of agreement, the rest of them walked out of the house, leaving Ben and Sachel alone as he hung his head back and sighed before accepting how much there still was to do.

“Alright, come on. There’s a couple more people I need to talk to and I could use the help finding them.”

“Alright, who?” Sachel asked.

“Ceselee and Toltho. They should both be around by now, right?”

“Yeah, both just outside.”

“Perfect.”

Leaving as well, Ben got the chance to see the chaos of the street, the road filled with all of the evacuated dryads, as well as adventurers, healers, town guards, and finally, Ceselee, trying to help manage things, leaving Ben to turn to the oracle.

“Okay, do me a favour and grab her. I’m going to try and find Toltho in this mess.”

“Got it.”

She ran off, trying to pull the guild master from the conversation she was in, no doubt trying to understand what exactly happened while Ben did his own little search, looking in the minds of the people around him to narrow in on the leader of the demidemons, feeling his brow crinkle when he found his way, a frown ending up on his face for what he saw.

“Ah, Ben,” Toltho greeted, as friendly as ever as he sat among the crowd of injured. “Quite the day it seems.”

“Yeah, for you especially. That looks like a serious wound you’ve got there,” he nodded to the gash along the man’s chest and his twisted arm, broken in a few different places. “Why haven’t you gotten fixed up yet?”

“Because I’ll live and there’s others who are of a greater priority. The bleeding’s been stopped, so there’s no rush.”

Ben wanted to say more, but before he could, Sachel and Ceselee both arrived at his side, Sachel’s eyes on her fellow believer, also seeing the extent of Toltho’s injuries as she knelt down beside him, taking his unhurt hand.

“Thank you,” she told him, knowing that he’d gotten hurt for her village and family, the older man thinking nothing of it.

“Don’t let it bother you. With the healers we have, a bit of pain is nothing, and you yourself have done too much to help my people for us to not do the same for yours.”

An answer that made Sachel look like she might cry, Ben didn’t have the time to let it go on, clapping to get the attention back to him.

“There’ll be time to talk when I’m done with you all; for now, there’s a few things to get sorted first. Ceselee, to start with, it’s been unilaterally decided that the dryads are going to be moving into town. I’ve heard before that some were annoyed about me moving the demis in without a word so if you could let anyone know that if they have a problem with it, I’ll be causing them no end of misery, I’d appreciate it.”

“Alright, could you instead try to find a nicer way of phrasing that for me to tell people?”

“Sure, tell them that we’re one world dealing with a shared threat and that the gods want us all helping each other. If that means making a village who’s just lost their homes feel welcomed, then that’s what we’re collectively going to do. Considering me to be speaking on behalf of the gods on this matter. And also find a way to insinuate that if anyone does anything to the dryads or sirens with them, they’re under my protection and I will make sure that any unwelcoming attitude is regretted.”

“Mmh, I think I’ll workshop that a bit before I spread it around,” she muttered. “And where do you plan on moving them?”

“An excellent question, and part of the reason Toltho is here. I’m going to be extending the town so the new dryad homes are going to attach to the demi area. Toltho, I’m sorry, but when you’ve been properly treated, could you do me the favour of talking to the rest of your people about trying to look out for them and help them adjust for the first little bit? Their history is different from your own, but it’s still complicated and has left them a bit isolationist, so I think that getting you all to show them around town and to help look after them might make the adjustment easier. All the better if you can try to form some friendships considering that there’s maybe a handful of non-dryads that the village is used to seeing. Getting along with another species could be a good start for further integration.”

“Of course, if this is your and Myriad’s will, then there’s nobody who will argue it. All the more if it’s for Sachel’s people too.”

“Thank you. And Sachel, your grandmother should already be convincing everyone to move here, if there’s anyone who’s still feeling resistant despite her, I need you to help convince them and then preferably, I’d like you to introduce them to some of the demis as well. Let’s see, maybe narrow in on any dryad who was saved by one of them and get them to thank them properly. That could be a good bridge to getting the two groups to get to know each other. Other than that, it might make sense to try to arrange for some demi children to keep the dryad kids busy and played with too because all of this is going to be traumatic for a child and… okay, we’ll start with all of that and once everyone is healed, I’ll begin construction so for now, you’ve all got your jobs. Once everyone is sorted out, we’ll worry about what to do next.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep