"Us too. Were in."
It was Garett who said this, upon overhearing the messenger speaking of the campaign that the Empire was about to begin.
A campaign that would take humanity into the monster realm for the first time in centuries- for a real attempt at complete annexation, backed by the heroes.
Trevor had deduced at least this much based off his conversation with Listernos, who knew that the monster realm had not been legitimately attacked for a long time, and that the only expeditions were short ones to beat monsters back from the wall and weaken the villages near the human realm.
Which meant that if they were attacking a village- and one that even the antiheroes had not yet discovered, it was a big deal, given that the dictatorship was the first stop if the Empire were to march an army right through the monster realm.
Regardless of whether the fishmen were enemies or friends, this was not something the antiheroes could simply ignore. Which was exactly why Garett had made two decisions- the first being for Claire to investigate the fishmen, and the second being that they would join the war effort as mercenaries to keep a close eye on the Empire.
If the fishmen were willing to bow down to the antiheroes in submission, then Garett would consider fighting alongside them to beat back the Empire.
If they were insolent and rejected the kind offer of expanding the dictatorship to include them, then Garett would likely eliminate them himself, while keeping an even closer eye on the Empire's movements.
More importantly however- when would the Empire attack the monster realm head on?
If they were beginning a campaign- and more particularly attacking a naval port to the north, it could only mean one thing.
They were setting themselves up to be able to perform a pincer attack.
And the dictatorship would be caught right in the middle of this pincer if Garett allowed this to happen.
It was not that he was worried about the silly tricks of mere humans- after all, with Garett's engineering the city was safer and more well defended than any other city in the world.
Not only this, but if the antiheroes and their servants who had been powered up by Trevor's abilities were present, there was nothing to fear if the attacks were performed by regular humans, or even monsters who were much stronger in general than humans.
The issue was if someone on their level showed up.
If someone like the Indeterminant or another person from Earth were to arrive, this would not be something the antiheroes could simply brush off.
It really would be an all out war. One in which there was a great possibility of losing, despite their overwhelming strength in this world.
They had to nip things in the bud before anything could even happen in the first place, and keeping an eye on the movements of the Empire from the inside was the best way to do this. This was the entire reason why they had become mercenaries in the first place.
"Ohh!!! The rookies who beat the Jester at a gamble are also going to join the campaign!!!"
"It will be wonderful to work with you all! I hope you are as good on the battlefield as you are at cards!"
The man who had offered the request posted the message on the job board with the details of the campaign, where and when they should arrive. After taking a look at it, Trevor turned to the rest of the group.
"Now then... I think it's about time to retire, don't you all think?", Trevor suggested.
"Yeah. Lets grab a room.", Ashley replied.
The four went over to the desk and paid a silver for a single night's stay for one room before heading up.
"You all will be staying in a single room? There is only one bed per room, you know. I can have mattresses sent up, however if you wish to purchase a second room, I can give you a disc-"
Trevor almost laughed on the inside as the person at the desk tried to suggest that they stay in separate rooms.
They couldn't. They were bound together by a 3 meter radius that none of them could escape.
"Please send up 2 mattresses. That will be all."
Trevor at that moment, felt four sets of eyes on him.
'Enemies? No, I don't think so. I'll let them be. For now.'
The four headed up to their room, and eventually the hotel workers placed two mattresses on the floor. Ashley and Samantha sat on opposing sides of the bed while Trevor and Garett sat on the two mattresses, and the four all seemed to be thinking.
"I think you all know what I have been considering, with this new information.", Trevor stated while holding his hand on his forehead as if he had a headache.
"Yeah... the humans are making their move on the monster realm. Even if it isn't us, we are a likely target in the future.", Samantha replied.
"Indeed. Garett made the right decision to contact Claire, and we need to continue to be vigilant. I'm sure I don't need to explain why we are joining the fight as mercenaries?"
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.", Ashley responded in a monotone voice.
"Exactly."
The four laid down on their backs, facing the ceiling with their arms behind their heads.
"It sure is tough being a dictator...", Samantha sighed. "Having to take care of so many people... isn't this the same as if we became heroes?"
"Heh heh... don't link us in the same category as those idealists.", Garett replied.
"Mhm... we can still do whatever we want and not have any consequences to it.", Ashley replied while giggling.
"I suppose your right... hahaha... it sure is nice to be feared...."
"Speaking of which, Gary. If I take a look at my database...", Trevor said while using his fingers to browse some files on the HUD in front of him. "Not only do I have all the security footage from the Dictatorship, but it seems you planted a bug on that chef from earlier?"
"OH! I completely forgot about them.... heh heh heh... I wonder what happened to them. Shall we take a look?"
"I wanna see! Lets watch the video together!", Ashley said excitedly.
"We should get some popcorn or something... maybe have a little movie night, don't you think?", Samantha suggested.
"Yes... that sounds like a lot of fun... a horror movie.... lets go and see what sort of snacks they serve at the bar downstairs before we all settle down and have a movie night.", Trevor agreed.
"I hope the plot is good... heh heh....", Garett crackled.
"A horror movie showing real events? This is something that I never would have seen in on earth, that's for sure.", Samantha reminisced.
----
The four had gathered up some snacks and were all gathered around the wall which Trevor projected his HUD on before selecting the footage and playing it. They weren't able to get popcorn as it didn't exist in this time period, however they still found some various treats and pastries. Right now, they passed around a bowls of cheesy pasta, a specialty of the chef who worked for this mercenary guild.
The movie started in a carriage that was leading to a hut in the middle of nowhere, with two boys in the back and a father and a mother riding in the front.
The footage rolled, and the antiheroes found themselves engulfed in what happened.
The family was invited in for a meal. After eating and striking a deal with the farmer, the father left the household to gather the wheat.
The mother was slaughtered.
The father was slaughtered.
The children were kidnapped.
At these three events, the antiheroes could not help but find themselves laughing hysterically.
"HAHAHA!!! Did you see the way her blood sprayed everywhere!!?!"
"Did you see the look on the man's face when he was trying to get inside the home!!!?"
"She's just wiping the blood around like it's paint!!! Haha!!"
"I CAN'T!!! SHE JUST TOOK THE KIDS FOR HER OWN!!!! Serves those little brats right!"
And of course, the final scene came.
The scene of the butchering of the people, and the feeding of their own parents to the children.
"Eh?"
"You mean...."
"That meat in the potatoes...."
"Uh...."
Garett simply shrugged.
"Eh. We aren't human anymore, so it's fine, right?"
"Y-yeah! We didn't perform any cannibalism or anything.", Samantha agreed.
"Of course not.", Trevor stated.
"Mmm.... now that I think about it.... those brains were pretty good... I would like to have them again....", Ashley said while licking her lips.
Garett looked at Ashley with a devious grin on his face, and she stared back with her drooping eyelids and dark spots underneath her eyes, as if he had just gotten an idea and she knew exactly what he was thinking.
Without turning his head from Ashley, still smiling devilishly, Garett said "Hey Theo."
"Hm? Heh heh... what a movie that was.... what is it, Gary?", Trevor responded.
"I just thought of something.... what if we were to hire that woman?"
"Hire her? What do you mean?", Trevor said. However... Trevor was starting to smile sinisterly as well, as he put his hand on his mouth to cover his delighted expression.
"What if we were to throw that woman into prison... and make her into the beast that we throw the criminals to? If anyone is dumb enough to attack our village, don't they deserve a fate worse than death itself? I see potential in her... potential as a torturer, or as an executioner... no, even better...."
"Ho.... ho ho ho.... you truly are quite the villain, Gary...."
"I think we should make her the new chef in the dictatorship... her cooking was quite delicious...", Ashley said while wiping drool from her chin, as if predicting Garett's next words.
"Heh heh... you all are so evil.... but Gary is right. We'll have to keep her locked up if we were to hire her. We can't have a woman like that wandering around in our realm... she might end up killing one of our precious subjects", Samantha noted.
"Let's do it. We collect that women.... let her keep the children so that she doesn't go on a rampage... and throw them all into the dungeon together... then we throw her some meat and she does the cooking for us...."
Heh heh heh.
Hahaha!!!
Keh keh keh....
Eheheheehh....
The four began laughing sinisterly in an evil fit.
They didn't understand why, but they loved the prospect of hiring this woman.
It was as if there was a part of them, pushing them forward, telling them to do so.
There was no logic. Simply a desire for chaos, and destruction that had been suppressed within each one of the antiheroes for a while now.
There was 1 week time before they had to head Northwest to the Port city of Githard. This was plenty to convince the woman to come under their fold, prepare a dungeon for her to be thrown into with her children, and transport her with fast travel.
Trevor held out his arms and addressed the group.
"By hiring this woman, we can become a true country ruled by terror where those who disobey us are never seen again... thrown into the pit of helplessness....excellent... an excellent start to a reign of terror... we've found our executioner."