Vopal's Top Spymaster

Leaning back in her recliner with her eyes closed, Astur lets out a small chuckle.

"Quit sitting around and do something useful. Despite not feeling well even Ystur is doing work around Aeternum," Elizabeth says, her hands full of reports from Dawn and Hadrow.

"She's using work as a way to keep herself occupied and ignore the brutal massacre of her first real battle. And I am doing work, I'm gathering information. I truly don't see a way to lose, bar an intervention from a certain shiny boy."

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asks.

"I spread my name for a reason. Even if it was the Irregulars who were the main proponent of spreading. The entirety of the crusading force know my name, yet have no idea of the power it holds. Their leaders say my name without the slightest clue as to the consequences. And the sight is truly amusing. Humans are far more interested in fighting each other than dealing with me and the Holy Oulvgar State."

"The more I think about it, the more I feel like your surveillance surpasses that of even the satellites around the planet. There is perhaps no one better than you in the field of intelligence gathering," Elizabeth says.

"There are conditions that need to be met first, but I've laid the groundwork ages ago. And it makes it all so much easier that our enemy is completely oblivious to it all," Astur says.

"And what did you hear from our enemy?" Kretea asks, pushing the door aside as she walks in.

"Let's hear from you first. What's going on with Hadrow and Dawn?" Astur asks.

"Hadrow has finished all its fortifications. The surrounding area around the town has been filled with various traps. Seeing it myself, I don't believe it will be easy to break through for our enemy. As for Dawn, it's at more of a risk. Although the design plan is better than that of the Oulvgar, the Warband isn't the most proficient when it comes to construction. As it stands, the fortification of Dawn is roughly 27% complete. Good given the timeframe, but it isn't in an operational state. If the crusaders focus on Dawn, it is likely we would have to abandon the city with its current defence forces." Kretea explains.

"You really do feel like a different person when it comes to these subjects. But anyway, I don't think we actually need to worry that much. On paper, we're vastly outnumbered, barely reaching over 10,000 abled bodied people capable of fighting, although this doesn't include the Irregulars. But regardless, we are still outmatched in terms of the sheer number of soldiers as they have I think around 1.1 million, I'm not sure on the exact number. It ain't all bad though. For starters, the individual fighting strength of our people is far higher. Secondly, we're far more unified than they are," Astur says.

What do you mean?" Kretea asks.

"During my peeping… spying sessions I found that the crusaders are a fractured force. Meaning that each individual army is effectively acting on their own, the leaders unable to decide on a single person to lead them and splitting their attention between Hadrow and Dawn. My fog has obscured all their attempts at gaining information about the current defence state of the two towns. They seem to think that Hadrow is in shambles after the battle there and that it will be an easy place to retake. On the other side, the only thing they know for certain is that your father is overseeing Dawn. Their plan is as expected, retake the two towns we annexed and then mount a siege on the Sea of Trees from all directions. As a matter of fact, they already set out marching not too long ago, the armies of Kalthros, Hinthro and Lithro have set out for Hadrow, meanwhile, the forces from the Kingdom and Church are heading towards Dawn."

"Hold on, that last bit is really important! When are they going to arrive!?" Elizabeth panics.

"It's 1:03 AM so they should arrive at roughly 6:40 AM and 8:20 AM, at Hadrow and Dawn respectively. Kretea, it's not absolutely necessary for you to be here, so go join your father at Dawn and bring the nerd and his robot with you. He should be able to help bolster the defence. As for Hadrow, I believe the Guardians are enough to manage the battle, but Elizabeth, I think it would be a good idea to be there to make sure they don't go overboard."

Following Astur's suggestions, Elizabeth and Kretea set out immediately while the big boss move over to the sofa.

"Finally some peace and quiet, time for a nap."

At least that's what Astur wanted, but just as her two aides left, Ystur walks in.

"The bat and the airhead had a serious look on their faces and seemed to be in a hurry, what's going on?" Ystur asked

"The enemy is approaching Hadrow and Dawn. A new battle is going to be starting soon," Astur says.

Hearing about another battle, Ystur shudders slightly, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Astur.

Moving upright, Astur pats the space next to her on the sofa, "C'mere, take a seat."

As Ystur obediently sits down, Astur begins to play with Ystur's tail.

"Was it too much?" Astur asks.

"Was what too much?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"..." The scenes from a week past replay in Ystur's mind, remembering the blood and gore. The guts spilt everywhere. Her body starts to tremble as a nauseous feeling begins to build up. But a sense of calmness and comfort washes over her as Astur begins to stroke her tail and rub her head behind her ears.

"It was bloody. I've never seen something like that before," Ystur says, leaning into Astur's body.

"That goes without saying, you're still very young, it's no surprise you lack a bit in life experience. When I had asked you to take part in the battle, it was so you could get the chance to get used to similar experiences. Not everyone has the same honourable values as Asterion, he won't go beyond what is necessary, even at the cost of his own health. But most people aren't like that. Since it worked for me when I was young, I was hoping a similar experience would work for you, but that clearly didn't go as planned. I went through it, my sister went through it, my mother went through it, my aunts and uncles and cousins all went through it. I always thought that experiences like that were normal."

Feeling better, Ystur lets out a small chuckle, "Our family is definitely the weird one. Going through that definitely isn't normal."

"I never really stopped to think about it before, but I suppose from an outside perspective it is. So tell me, what is normal. Tell me about your previous life."

Ystur immediately freezes at the reveal of her greatest secret.

Astur rolls her eyes, "What? Did you really think I didn't know? I'm an unparalleled genius of my generation, the moment you showed up, I knew someone had tampered with the synthesis, and I have a good guess as to who. But that's not important. I want to hear about you. What kind of person you were before, what kind of life is normal from a human perspective. For starters where are you from? Earth? The Milky Way? Or perhaps a different galaxy?"

"..."

Not getting any responses, Astur finally notices that Ystur has lost consciousness.

"Maybe that was too much information at once…"