Upping The Ante

125. Confrontation

Sobbing uncontrollably with joy, the priest raises his one hand toward me and falls to his knees, quite obviously performing some kind of worship. So caught up with emotion is he, that nearby refugees, temporarily taking leave of their senses, are also swept up in the moment and mimic his action.

Surrounded by villagers giving praise on their knees, my ego begins to stir.

Down, Dark One! You shall not rise here this day, nor any day!

I take a moment to control my thoughts. Having people worship you is a quick way to let your ego take over. I can’t imagine anything good happens when someone begins to think of themselves as some sort of god, when they are in fact, an ant.

I haven’t shown any external reaction to all of this kerfuffle, keeping still except for the occasional twitch of the antennae, but there are others who have responded more strongly. The five new martial looking refugees, led by the square-jawed female, do not look impressed to see a group of humans on their knees before a monster.

You know what? That reaction is probably spot on.

What sort of people in their right mind would do this sort of thing? If anything, I agree with the five newcomers. These humans are nuts. In some ways, having a human look at my villagers with such shock and dismay is almost a relief. At least there are some normal humans around here!

An angry light in her eyes, the leader pushes forward and grabs Enid by the shoulder, pointing at me and speaking in quick, harsh tones.

What’s all this about then?

I’m not a big fan of her being so rough toward Enid. The old woman has been nothing but helpful to me and to the humans here. She deserves respect.

Enid listens without fear to the words being spat at her before shoving the hand from her shoulder and replying curtly to the woman. Then she turns to me, concentrating on our mental link.

[This person is named Morrelia. She and her group have been fighting surface monsters in this area for weeks. They only recently found us here, and to be honest, they are quite distrustful of you. They question the villagers’ loyalty and devotion toward you and your colony. I believe she wants to talk to you to determine if you are using some form of mind control.]

She thinks I’m mind controlling these people? I didn’t even want them here!

[She seems to be getting a little forceful here, Enid. Have they caused any trouble?] I ask.

The older woman shakes her head.

[No. I simply believe they are concerned for the safety of the people here.]

I grunt.

[How concerned do you think they’ll be toward you if they think you’re all under some sort of mind control? Will they attack me or just kill all of you?]

Enid blinked, seemingly not having thought of the possibility.

[I’ll talk to her. But tell her if she gets too handsy with you, I’ll be taking that hand with me.]

Turning quickly to the martial looking woman beside her, Enid relays my words.

Nodding with satisfaction, the fighter steps back from Enid and turns to face me with a sharp glint in her eyes. And a hand resting on her sword hilt.

Yeesh.

Grumbling internally about humans being far more trouble than they’re worth, I ignore the shock and disappointment in the priest’s face as Enid tells him what is happening so I can finish off constructing the bridge, which I extend toward my unwelcome guest.

[What?] I huff, irritated.

Morrelia’s eyes widen slightly at my abrupt rudeness, but she shows no other reaction.

[Are you able to hear me?] the response comes.

[Yes, I can hear you. It’s a frickin’ mind bridge. I didn’t bust my thorax trying to learn this spell so that I couldn’t talk to people.]

Oooo, that’s a bit snippy, Anthony. I must be grumpier than I thought. Need to rein it in a little.

I have none of these problems when talking with ants, just sayin’.

My words provoke a response this time. Indignant rage seeps through the cracks on that stone face, but she holds her neutral expression well. The eyes tell a different story. They’re alight with anger.

[Listen to me, creature, my family has slaughtered monsters for generations. If you don’t show the proper respect, I’ll add your head to my wall.]

Her grip on the pommel of her sword is getting pretty darn tight by the looks of it. This lady has some serious angst.

Mind you, I’m not planning to back down any just for that.

[Unless you’re a higher-Level human than I’ve seen around here, taking my head might be more than you can handle.]

Morrelia sneered.

[You overestimate yourself, monster.]

What did I do to deserve this kind of attitude? This is what I get for saving humans. Somewhat irritated, I snap back.

[You’re standing in a village full of people whose lives I’ve saved, and then protected, for absolutely no gain, and threaten me? Which one of us has issues with manners and respect? As you’ve been only too quick to point out, you are a human who celebrates killing monsters. Yet I’m a monster who has saved humans. Is it possible that I’ve done more good for your kind than your family has?]

If I hit a nerve last time, then this time I flat out kicked it. Muscles bulge on her arm as she struggles to restrain herself from pulling out her sword. I think she knows it would be a bad idea to fight here surrounded by villagers, but she looks so damn tempted.

[My brother gave his life fighting in the Dungeon. My father has dedicated himself to the Deep Legion for decades and he is a damn hero. The idea of a monster putting itself above them is an insult!]

She might have a point, I suppose.

[Yeah, I can see how you’d think that. I apologise.]

[Excuse me?]

[I… apologise?] I can’t quite tell what she’s thinking right now. May have just shocked the frothing anger right out of her! [Soooo, what is the problem here? You think I’m mind controlling these people or something?]

[Uh, yes?] Morrelia pulls herself together. [Yes. It seems unbelievable that a group of humans would so readily accept the help of monsters from the Dungeon. Impossible, even. I want to be sure you aren’t manipulating these people with your Mind Magic.]

I sigh and give my antennae a quick clean as I think about the situation. Bringing my front legs up and pulling my antennae through the joint drags the sensitive detectors through the cleaning hairs on the back of my knee, ensuring the antennae remain effective and also feels quite pleasant.

I don’t recall ever being this clean as a human, actually…

[Look, Morrelia. I didn’t want these people here, they followed me after my colony fled in this direction. We ran through or near a few human settlements, none of which we harmed, and this idiot,] I stab one antenna at the priest, [decided that following us and depending upon the colony for protection was a great idea. To this point in time, I’ve ensured the colony won’t harm these people, tried to keep them safe from monsters and provided them with some help getting shelter. That’s it. If you want to take over babysitting, be my guest.]

Morrelia’s eyes narrowed.

[You could just be saying these things. Even if the villagers confirmed it, that could be because of your mind control, altering their memories.]

I can’t help but shrug my antennae.

[Then what are we talking for? If nothing I say would convince you I don’t mean any harm to these people, then why try and talk to me in the first place?]

If she wants to take over the protection of the village here and bar me from entry, then that could be a blessing in disguise. As long as I can get my info from the priest first, I’m happy enough to never come back.

[That is what I can’t understand, monster,] Morrelia bursts out. [Why haven’t you harmed these people?]

[Well, they’re super irritating, I agree with you there, but I don’t think they deserve to be killed for it.]

[Why? Any monster would be delighted to kill and eat all of these people. Experience! Food! Couldn’t your colony grow in size from eating them? What exactly is the reason why you are helping them?]

Ahhhh. Now we come down to it. She’s confused! Monsters from the Dungeon are supposed to be hateful things who kill and eat everything they can find, much like the croca-beasts are doing all over Liria right now. If we consider that, then finding an ant who seems quite content to live alongside people would be pretty darn weird, right?

If I were to explain that I myself was human in a previous life, that I don’t particularly want to kill and eat something that I used to be, would that be convincing?

She’d probably think I was just insane. A rogue monster gone completely bananas. What to say then…

All I can think is, [I don’t mind ’em that much, these villagers. You people are all right.]

Smooth.