We went along the side of the mountain as instructed as I followed the yellow grass and trees, and eventually, we came upon what we were looking for. I actually had to stop and stare for a moment. The village we had come upon was very nice looking on the outside.
It was a little ways away from the side of the mountain, but close enough that it offered some shade in most areas of the village. Neat and orderly walkways made from stone lined the streets, and I could already see a lot of the mostly blonde fox people going about their daily lives. Their homes seemed to use a mix of both wood and stone for the foundations, and one of the homes in particular looked like a large villa, rather than a house in a small village. The village itself was a bit bigger than the one where Serena was from, and the population seemed denser too, at least from what I could see just from a glance.
"Wow... I truly had no idea about these people... not until Raizen showed up... why would he leave a place like this?" Delphia muttered, her eyes darting around the village from our position on high.
"People on a power trip don't care about stuff like that. Raizen wanted complete control, and according to what I've heard, his siblings didn't want that." I answered her, and she just nodded, my words seeming to make sense to her.
"How are we going to go about this?" Cici asked.
I looked over at her, and just shrugged.
"I was just going to land at that entrance over there." I said, pointing at a specific spot
The outside of the village was walled off by impressively built stone walls, and where I was pointing, there was an opening to the village indicated by a large stone archway, where a couple of people were currently stationed. Both of the fox people at the gate had A rank Classes, which would have been impressive to anyone but me. I wouldn't say it wasn't, I just had a very skewed outlook on power, given how ridiculous I was.
"Well... no time like the present, right?" Clarissa asked, and I chuckled.
"Right you are." I replied.
Serena said nothing, but that seemed to be because her eyes were still scanning the village left and right. Her eyes were opened wide as she examined every inch of the place, and I couldn't help but admire how big and beautiful her amber orbs were. They honestly took my breath away.
I angled our trajectory down, and began to descend. I was going to land about 10 on so feet away from the entrance, so the guards or whatever they were at the front would notice us immediately, which is what I wanted. Sure enough, the guards actually noticed us all before we landed, and once we did, I heard shouting from them, and looked over to see that they were shouting at someone inside of the village.
"Good. Bring the welcoming party." I said.
I turned around, and looked towards the ground where Garreth was. Not wanting to handle him with care, I grabbed a fist full of his hair, and picked him up. I was sure he'd be screaming right now if I let him, but I wasn't in a very caring mood when it came to this asshole. Thankfully, from what my eyes could see, no one here seemed disgusting like the assholes back in the other village were. I belatedly wondered if that village had a name, or if the people living there had a name for themselves. No one had told me, but that wasn't really important right now.
I moved towards the entrance with my cargo in hand, the women around me staying behind me as I walked forward. The guards had finally stopped shouting inside, and now they turned in my direction. They seemed surprised at seeing what I was carrying with me, and unsurprisingly, I saw them glare at me. They had no idea what had happened. All they saw was me manhandling someone who used to be a part of their village. However, my return glare made them hesitate on acting on any feeling they may or may not have. I decided to speak first, since no one else was going to.
"I'm here to speak to your village leaders, or whatever you call them. I have news for them." I said as an introduction, and they both blinked at me a few times, before I saw their faces scrunch up in anger.
"Human... release him at once." One of the guards said.
"No." I said simply, which made their faces redden in rage, but I stopped them with a pulse of my aura, making them freeze, and their faces pale, "The only reason this piece of shit isn't dead is because I needed him to find this place. I'm not going to argue with either of you. I want to speak to your leaders. Now."
The men seemed startled, as I had put a significant amount of my power behind my aura to get my point across. I had neither the time nor the patience for this kind of bullshit right now, and my business wasn't with them. The men just stood there, some fear now present in their eyes as they stared into mine. Thankfully, all of that shouting earlier had gained the attention of those inside, and I saw even more people now walking towards the entrance, many with weapons in hand and at the ready.
I noticed that at the head of this new group coming towards us, were three people that held a striking resemblance Raizen, two men, and one admittedly... very gorgeous woman. She had the same yellowish blonde fur as the rest of them on her ears, with a similarly colored tail that had a black furred tip. Like the rest of the fox beastkin, the rest of her was more human like. The thing I noticed most about her were not just her doe like yellowish brown eyes, but the one black bang of hair she had that trailed down the left side of her face down to her fairly nice chest. Smaller than Cici's, but a bit larger than Clarissa's. I used Abyssal Eye on all three of them.
[Information]
Name: Kharie Razorclaw
Age: 27
Race: Beastkin (Fox)
Class: Master Enchantress of the Wilds (S-)
Designation: A Leader of the Yellow Plains Tribe
That was a pretty name for a very pretty woman. Her class was interesting as well, and from this and what I had heard, this was the woman who took after her mother. This was also more confirmation that the Framework was not random as some people thought. Clarissa's class was in part due to her admiration for her own mother, and now this woman was as well. I seemed to be the outlier here, as my absurd class was just given to me when I arrived in this world, not that I was complaining in the least. I moved on to the two men, who bore a striking resemblance to Raizen.
[Information]
Name: Vikoss Razorclaw
Age: 25
Race: Beastkin (Fox)
Class: Master Blacksmith of the Wilds (-S)
Designation: A Leader of the Yellow Plains Tribe
This man's face reminded me the most of Raizen. However, where as Raizen was a fairly toned and muscular man, this dude was a lot bulkier, and looked to be chiseled from stone. His arms made mine look small, and his legs looked like small tree trunks. He had long hair tied back in a ponytail like mine. His class was different than his sister's, but it was similar in name, which I was curious about. His eyes were the same color as his sister's, but they held an intensity in them as he stared at our group, namely myself.
Shifted my gaze from him, I actually blinked at the final man. He had similar features as Raizen as well, although he was more like if the aforementioned man had decided to go vegan. He did not look weak by any means, but he was one of the smaller people I could see in terms of body mass. He also... just looked a bit goofy, if I'm being honest.
[Information]
Name: Rory Razorclaw
Age: 24
Race: Beastkin (Fox)
Class: Master Alchemist of the Wilds (S-)
Designation: A leader of the Yellow Plains Tribe
I was impressed. They all had unique classes, were all in the low S rank, and even had classes that matched one anothers in a way that was almost too perfect. It also made sense that this Rory was so small if he was an alchemist. He most likely gained class experience, or whatever it was in this world, by experimenting with potions, pills, and other alchemist things that I didn't really know much about.
They all made it to the front archway of their village, and stood roughly 15 feet or so away from us. Everyone present gave us hard stares, but the other people here were not my concern. I scanned my eyes over the 3 siblings, but my eyes eventually landed on Kharie and stayed. I will admit that it was mostly because she was the best one to look at out of the 3, but she also had the bearing of what I would call a true leader. Sure enough, after a moment of our gazes staying locked on each other, her eyes shifted to the man I had held in a death grip by his hair, and she decided that she would be the first one to speak.
"Human..." She said, and then she scanned the rest of my companions, her brows raising just a tad, before she settled back on me, and more so, on Garreth, "You better have a good reason for coming to our village like this... treating a member of my tribe like you are is highly unwise... even if he is technically a former member. I would ask that you release him."
"No." I said, and stared her in her now surprised eyes, but before I could continue my explanation, Vikoss snarled at us and began speaking.
"It's just like you humans. Treating us like animals. How many of those women are you and that one's slaves?" He growled as he referred to me and Clarissa, and then removed a frankly massive hammer from his back, "My sister told you to release him, and you will do as she says, or else things will go very badly for you."
My eye twitched, and I couldn't hold back the burst of anger that released from me. It made everyone in front of me stumble.
"Listen very carefully, Vikoss." I said, my knowledge of his name making all 3 sibling's eyes widen even more than they already were at this point, "I am not here to fight any of you, but I will also not let you insinuate that my friends, or my wife, are fucking slaves."
I wasn't the only one that was upset by his words either, as Cici jumped in right after me.
"My darling hates slavery, and I'm insulted that you would assume that any of us are my husband or sister's slaves. Do you see any slave collars?" Cici asked, her own aura leaking from her, and making the eyes of the yellow fox people widen further.
"Sister... husband...?" Kharie asked, looking at an equally upset Clarissa.
"Maybe if you all asked questions instead of assuming, this wouldn't be happening right now." Clarissa growled, her voice lower than I assumed it could ever be.
A loud sigh came from behind us, and Delphia stepped forward, wearing a surprisingly soft smile.
"Children... please stop." She said, chiding us like... well... unruly children, "I understand why their words would upset you, but they are obviously confused. I mean, you are dragging around someone they probably know like a sack of grains without any context."
As Delphia made herself the center of attention, I couldn't help but notice how many of the men's eyes, including the 2 brothers, roamed over her figure. Despite her very modest clothing, they did nothing to cover the size of her chest, nor the way they bounced each time she made any sort of movement. It was odd, but I was beginning to feel kind of protective of her. It was like how I felt about my own mother, or about Anya. I didn't like the way these guys looked at her. Thankfully, Delphia was aware of herself, and she actually rolled her eyes.
"Hello? My eyes are up here. Do you see my tits talking?" She asked with exasperation, making many of the men jump in surprise, before her eyes settled on Kharie in particular. She sighed before giving a smile to the woman, "You're Kharie, yes?"
Kharie looked startled once again at having someone know one of their names, as their enchanted amulets have probably protected them from that thus far. Delphia knew her name from hearing it from Raizen, where as my ability just brute forced past the effect with no issues.
"How.... do you all know who we are?" Kharie asked after what felt like 20 seconds.
Delphia smiled at the woman, who had actually mellowed out quite a bit in favor of just shock. I will admit to getting a little heated, and I wasn't reallly helping matters with how I was manhandling Garreth. It made me thankful we had brought the woman with us, as she single handedly was helping de-escalate the situation. I supposed I wasn't the best at this sort of thing.
"I can't tell you exactly how this one here knows." Delphia said as she gestured towards me, before she added, "But as for me? I heard a lot about you all from... your brother. Raizen." Delphia said, causing all three of the sibling's eyes to grow a bit larger.
"Raizen?? Where is he?? Why do you only have Garreth with you?" Rory asked, ending his silence, as before he had merely just been observing the confrontation with a studious expression.
Delphia gave the man a sad smile.
"We can tell you everything, and we will. I would just ask that you calm down, and let us speak to you cordially. We are not here to fight any of you." Delphia said, her eyes going back to Kharie, "I've heard enough about you to know that you seem like a smart and reasonable young woman. Will you please allow us inside of your village? I'm Delphia, by the way."
The siblings glanced at her, before looking at the rest of us. Kharie in particular gazed upon me, a look of uncertainty crossing her features. I was a bit calmer by this point, and even though I didn't appreciate what was said, I knew that was a bit unfair. They had no idea who we were after all.
"Look." I said, causing Kharie, her brothers, and many of the other fox people to look at me, "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot and... I apologize for that. I understand this must be strange for you, but we really are just here to talk, and inform you of something that happened. It's not pleasant, and this fucker, "I said, pulling Garreth by the hair, "If you knew what this man, your brother, and his friends did, you would be acting much differently right now."
The brother, Vikoss, scrunched up his face in irritation.
"Are you accusing my brother of something without any proof? Where is Raizen, and what are your claims?" He asked, but before I could respond, Delphia jumped in.
"What we have to tell you is not pleasant, and I think it's something we should explain with less... people around. I don't know if you want all of this known by everyone." She said, once again, her focus completely on Kharie.
"Or you could just tell us right now! This is-" Vikoss began, but his sister cut him off.
"Shut up, Vik!" Kharie shouted at the man, and to his credit, he snapped his mouth shut so fast I heard his teeth click together, "Did you not feel that power, you idiot?"
Kharie looked directly at me as she continued speaking in an even tone.
"All three of us are strong, yet my legs almost gave out from that aura. I could feel that he is even much stronger than that. Don't you think he could have flattened us by now if he wanted to?" She asked.
Huh. Smart, decisive, and strikingly beautiful. Something told me that if we came to an agreement, she'd probably be the easiest one to get along with. Not to mention, the other two brothers didn't say anything, and Vikoss himself looked like he was conflicted as he bit back anything further he wanted to say. I guess in terms of even the leaders, there was a pecking order, and Kharie seemed to be the one with the most say. She was the oldest, so it made sense. A glance at Rory looked like he was actually uncomfortable in this kind of scenario, which made me wonder if he didn't talk to people that much in general.
"These people know who we are as well, and they obviously have information about our brother." Kharie continued, before looking pensive, "And it doesn't sound good. I also want to know why they are dragging Garreth around like that. As it stands... we don't really have a choice."
"Excuse me." I said, which caused her to flick her eyes to mine, "You seem like a nice woman, Miss Kharie." I said in a softer tone, and my brows rose slightly as I noticed a slight dusking of pink on her cheeks as I spoke, "I came here to see what kind of people you were, and none of you seem like bad people. I also thought that you should know about what happened regarding your brother, and those who were with him. What they did is not any of your fault... but you should still know."
Kharie looked at me for a moment, an internal battle seeming to be happening in her mind. If we were gonna get an inroads here, it would be with me. I also won't deny how helpful Delphia was being. From how she explained everything to them with a kind smile, to how she distracted many of the men with her bouncing chest, she was currently the biggest help right now. She also seemed to have a thing with basically mothering these younger women. Her instincts in that regard must be strong.
"Okay..." Kharie said at last, which made Vikoss look at her with a conflicted expression, but she paid him no mind as she addressed us, "I want to know what's going on. Just... please don't harm anyone in my village."
The affronted look I gave her actually made her pause, and look at me in a slightly different light. I decided to drop Garreth to the ground, where he just laid unmoving like a stiff uncooked green bean, and held up my hands. Everyone looked in shock as the man didn't move a single muscle, although my focus was now on the yellow furred beauty before me.
"I would never hurt anyone who has done nothing wrong." I said, before looking her in the eyes and smiling softly, "Thank you for letting us come in, Miss Kharie."
Once again, her cheeks turned a slight pink, which I couldn't help but find rather cute. I didn't know what I was doing to make her blush, but... as is my life now, I suppose. She cleared her throat after a few moments, and gestured for us to follow them.
"Please follow me." She said, and then turned and began to walk back into the village, many of the villagers parting before her.
"She's pretty." Cici said, making me snort.
"Yep... I saw that." I said with with a wry grin.
"She does seem like the most level headed one too." Clarissa added, and I nodded.
I began to walk into the village with my companions, and I couldn't help but notice how awkward Valerie and Serena were looking. They had said nothing this whole time, and I couldn't really blame them. Neither of them seemed to like confrontation very much. Meanwhile, Vikoss gave us all a glare, which I met with one of my own. I know he's probably ancy, but I didn't appreciate the fucking staring. Lastly, Rory just looked contemplative as he turned with his brother to follow his sister. He seemed...odd.
As we followed them inside of the village, I walked up next to Delphia.
"Thank you, Delphia. I don't think we would have gotten this far without you." I said, and she turned to look at me, and smiled.
"I'm good with people, dearie. It's not a problem." She said, and then looked around us, namely at many of the men looking at her, then she looked down at her massive chest, "I wish I could say it was all thanks to my words."
I decided to not comment on that, although Cici sure did.
"They are really big. Even I keep looking at them." She said in my mind, and I had to hold back a laugh.
"Really now? Didn't notice." I thought back dryly, making her giggle outloud.
"That must kill her back. Do you see how much they bounce?" Clarissa added.
"Can we stop talking about Delphia's boobs?" I asked with a mental sigh, and after a moment of their snickers, even I couldn't stop from chuckling outloud. What a wild world I was in, I swear.
"What's got you all laughing?" Delphia asked with a curious raise of an eyebrow.
"Nothing!" All three of us said at the same time.