Resolution and departure

As the five of you walk out of castle, you see several groups of the former patrolling guards wandering around, seemingly dazed. Some sit and weep, as others attempt to comfort them. Before you have a chance to investigate, you hear hoofbeats approaching. Unsurprisingly, you see the centaur Genna racing up, with general Ochiba astride her. You can’t help but chuckle at the image as they stop in front of you and he dismounts.

He looks at you and shakes his head. “I swear to the gods, if you make a joke about me riding my wife, I will quit right here, my liege.”

Behind him, Genna grins. “Besides, we handled that already…”

Ochiba grimaces. “Gen! This is the king!”

Behind you, the girls giggle, and you try and fail to keep a grin off your face. The centaur laughs. “Oh please, I doubt it’s anything Josh hasn’t heard before!”

You chuckle and raise a hand to forestall further argument. “It’s fine. I don’t need formalities. Regardless, here’s the situation. Darius is dead, but he was being manipulated by a member of the triumvirate. They used him to wipe out most of the people here, to deny us fresh manpower. I’m going to ask you to stay here with the army for now, to secure the city. It looks like the survivors will recover, and I will let any refugees that want to return to do so.”

Ochiba nods. “Consider it done. Sire, I can’t help but notice that you’re missing a couple there…are they…”

You shake your head. “They’re guarding someone we found in the city. No injuries on our end except Uzume, who seems to enjoy blocking crossbow bolts with her body.”

Uzume grins. “They need something bigger if they want to hurt me!”

You chuckle. “Regardless, I’m going to collect the others and we will head back to the capital. Thank you for your hard work. I’ll send word of our plans soon.”

Ochiba and Genna salute, and turn to head back to the army. You and the girls make your way to where you left the others, and find them waiting in the street.

Ruka smiles at your approach. “We saw all the guards come out of their trances. You won, then?”

You nod. “In a way. I can explain on the trip home. But first…Hana, you can come with us if you like, or you can stay here. It’s safe now.”

The disguised slime girl looks up at you with hopeful eyes. “I was kind of hoping…can I stay with you? I mean…really with you?”

You smile. “I would say yes, but it’s mostly up to the girls. Maya?”

Maya grins. “Of course! The more the merrier. After all, the baby will need more aunties!”

Hana blinks. “You’re pregnant and he brought you on a dangerous mission?”

You laugh. “If I tried to leave her behind, she would never let me hear the end of it.”

Maya nods. “I go where he goes, end of story. He makes too many bad decisions on his own!”

Everyone laughs and you smile. “That’s fair. Welcome, Hana. We should get going, though, I’m sure the others are worried about us.”