Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

Slowly, everyone was healed and prepared for the boat ride, while Wolfe purged the poison from the last few Witches after obtaining their oath not to betray or harm the village. They had all completely lost their auras, and had deserted in shame when they found out that they were going to be reduced to shock troops, as they no longer held a use for their units.

The United World Army had no cure for the Nerve Gas, and as it turned out, neither did the Grand Dutchies. They had a treatment that would reduce some of the side effects, but once they were gassed, nobody had any way for them to fully recover their aura. If they lost it entirely, they might as well be human, as they had no idea that someone like Wolfe existed who could make them witches again.

There didn't seem to be any more of the trucks coming, and the people here thought that they were the last of the day, and they had used up all the trucks they knew of, but those were headed back to look for other villages that were going to be forced to evacuate in the near future.

With luck, some of the villages that ended up far too close to a United World Army emplacement would have managed to dig a new tunnel and escape before the trucks got back, so they would have some more people coming tomorrow, but for tonight, Wolfe was going to go back to the city and make sure the new arrivals were settling in.

The boats were full of refugees, but Wolfe could fly faster than that, so he went to find his helpers for the day.

"Mary, want to gather the others, and we will head back for a late dinner? We can come back with the first boats in the morning, but I want to make sure everything is moving smoothly here, and they all know me already, so they're not going to try anything dumb." Wolfe suggested.

Mary laughed and pointed at her staff. "Well, we can fly back if you like. It should be quick enough."

Wolfe laughed and held his arms wide open. "If the three of you are close to me, I can fly us all as one unit inside a gravity spell."

Mio and Nia moved to stand under his arms, while Mary climbed up on his back, and Wolfe activated [Levitation] to bring them into the clear space above the trees, before starting the forward motion and racing off to the city.

"This is stupidly fast. Do the planes even move this fast?" Mio asked as they skimmed along above the treetops, flashing past the Fae residents on their way home.

"Probably not. I don't exactly have a speedometer, but we should be close to the top speed of our twin engine planes. The wind barrier is doing quite a bit of work to keep us sheltered." Wolfe agreed.

The view from above the newly expanded city was spectacular. The orb of the protective spells glowed faintly in the centre of town, and hundreds of massive trees, connected by walkways constituted the majority of the residences, hiding most of the city from view until you were directly above it, but the Central Park was decorated in a festive fashion to welcome the new guests, as well as the visitors for the festival that was due to start soon.

Wolfe brought them to the upper balcony of the Spire, where the ritual room was, and found both Cassie and Ella waiting for him.

"We're getting ready for tomorrow. We're going to do a summoning for the advanced Witches, since it's the perfect day, but someone mentioned that you were considering a summoning for the deserters today." Cassie remarked, questioning his judgment.

"I know it might not be the best option, but if they're loyal, we want them to grow. Plus, a lot of them just got their aura back, and without a Familiar nearby, they're going to take forever to recover. I think that summoning in a new batch will help solidify their loyalty, since they would have to explain to their superiors why they had broken the laws of the Saints if they went back.

The faster their mindset changes from what they grew up on to what we're living by, the better it will be for everyone. So, settling them in with a new Familiar should be good for everyone." Wolfe explained, trying to justify his position.

Ella nodded in understanding. "Unless one of them managed to lie during their Servant Bond oath, they're all proper deserters, and the punishment for that is to be drawn and quartered then burned at the stake. So, I think we can safely say that they don't intend to return home."

Mary frowned. "You mean, OR burned at the stake, right?"

Ella shook her head. "Apparently they tie them to the post before they draw and quarter them, then light the pyre so that they burn before they bleed out."

"Well, that's a good deterrent against desertion. Alright, I agree that we can start treating them like new members of our group, and not foreign soldiers. It should help them blend in and adjust. I will make sure that the others pass along the message to welcome them and not make them feel too much like 'others' wherever we can." Mary agreed.

They would still be kept away from the ammunition, but that was true of most new members, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

"Now we just need to find Priya and see what she assigned everyone. Maybe warn her that there are a few more coming on the last load of the day." Wolfe suggested.

"That's easy, she's still down in the market square. Most of the witches that came in didn't have many job skills, since they were doing their mandatory service, so she put them on retail duty, working with the vendors in the market.

Everyone is always shorthanded during the Festival, so this was perfect timing, and then they can move to other jobs after a week of getting to know everyone." Cassie explained as she gestured to the tall form of Priya issuing orders from on top of a band stage.