I told Buddy to walk the Tiger-Kin back some until everyone was outside. They were slow at first, but then more people started to trickle out. Once people saw the dead Tigerfolk and deceased mayor, the people began to whisper themselves, and soon the trickle became a stream.
By the time I was satisfied that most of the people of the little village were here that needed to be, I began to speak.
"You're all confused right now, I get it, but none of you seem sad to see the mayor go. What's that about?"
No one talked now, utter silence.
'There might be more people involved with whatever was going on here.' -Gripton.
'Yeah, I guess I will have to weed them out.'
I stepped toward the crowd of people, and they all took a step back. Everyone except for a few, that is, either didn't understand what was going on or were the ones making everyone go quiet. I put my hand up, and Buddy came forward with eight Tiger-Kin and grabbed the brave ones that tried to pretend that they weren't afraid. I knew he would be watching and understand what I was doing.
The men brought up were mostly thug types and the most dangerous among the crowd. A couple of guys my age thought they were brave but ended up crying and wetting themselves. I shook my head to those ones and left them there, but the Tiger-kin stayed with them.
The people around the boys had moved away in either fear or revulsion of the smell they gave off. That was also my main reason for leaving them there. Once the thugs had been weeded out, I turned to the people. I repeated my question again and was met with silence, but then a man stepped forward.
He was light on weight, but his body was in good shape. Wearing only pants, with shaggy reddish-brown hair and a short beard. He walked up to me and gave me a deep bow, and then stood straight. The guy looked like he had been through hell and back, but he hadn't given up.
"There are three more Slavers in the crowd."
The man turned and quickly pointed to the men about to flee. Three Tigers flew past me with impressive speed and dragged the screaming Slavers up with the thugs. So, a slave ring, eh? Fucking disgusting, but maybe my power was no better in the end.
'Don't think like that. You don't want to know what happens to slaves in this world. There is no such thing as a willing slave, and even if you force your power on someone, you, in the end, are a good person. That's the difference. These are the real monsters of this world, men.' -Gripton.
"Is that all of them?"
"Yes, those boys are no threat though, please have mercy on their stupidity!"
I nodded back to the Tigers, watching the boys, and they headed back to the group. It was time to deal with this problem first. I turned on the group and nodded. Eight throats were cut and then dropped to bleed out. The bodies gurgled and twitched while the dirt tried to absorb the blood, but it just became a lake that moved around my feet. I was left standing in the lake of blood as the last body twitched its final death throw.
"Name, please."
"Tamman , I'm the blacksmith in the town."
"Well, Tamman, you are a brave man. I will reward you, but first I need to know something. Besides being scared of them, how do you feel about my friends?"
I gestured to Buddy and his cats, and the people looked at them. They kinda looked like bodybuilders wearing tiger one-piece pajamas with arms crossing their barreled chest, but they no longer had the face of a tiger or goblin. All of the Kin was, in my opinion, at least three-quarters human, now, and the people were really looking at them, and one woman called out meekly.
"They don't look like the dead one on the ground. They look more like us now."
"I think that green one on the end looks handsome!"
That remark came from a thin but beautiful woman who looked to be in her thirties. I looked over to Buddy, but he was looking at the ground, and his cheeks were turning blue. I was worried for all of five seconds until I realized what was going on.
Buddy was blushing, but I guess a goblin blushes blue instead of red. Kinda weird, but hey, this is precisely what I wanted. I walked over and slapped him on the back, and turned back to the crowd.
"These friends of mine were all Tigerfolk and a Goblin before this, and others are coming. I have many abilities, which is one of them, to change the fate of all the people I come in contact with. Now, I can tell that you have all been through a lot, but that's why I'm here."
The people began to murmur among themselves, but Tamman quieted them down, and I continued.
"I am here to change this shitty world. I died and was sent here because places like your village are everywhere in this world, on much larger scales. This is a real problem by itself, but there are more, and I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. Might is right, the powerful rule the weak with fear and oppression."
The people start to nod their heads, but behind them, I could see lights coming closer; they had arrived. I should get this wrapped up; I was getting pretty tired, no fun for me tonight.
"Well, my name is Hyde, and I am here to change this shit hole. We will surround the village with wagons, and we will have guards posted, but you are free to interact with my people and they with you. Get to know them and listen to their stories, but I'm getting tired, so I will be parting now to go to my wagon. We will speak more in the morning."
I put my hand in the air and made a swirling motion, and Trem descended. Once we were both falling into the air, he spoke with me excitedly.
"That was amazing, just like that, you won those people over and killed the slavers! I can not wait to tell this story when we settle down! There will be a feast tonight!"
"No feast tonight, I need you to tell the story, but there are other things that need to be taken care of before the night is over."
Trem looked a bit crestfallen as we slowed, coming closer to the wagon.
"We still will celebrate, but not till tomorrow, and all the slaves are freed."
Trem almost dropped us when I mentioned slaves, but he pulled his shit together and landed me softly on the deck. He turned and looked at me, slapping his forehead.
"Of course! How stupid of me! Here I was thinking about the feast…"
"Don't sweat it, but can you relay the message to Mesh and Breth? Good."
I didn't wait for him to answer as my wives came rushing over, dismissing him instead. I was almost taken down by the wave of women, and then I was picked up. All seven of them carried down the stairs into a room with a large tub filled with steaming water.
"Ladies, I'm exhausted…"
"You aren't going near your bed looking like this! We sleep in there too!" Kalita scolded me.
I looked down, and I was covered in blood. That fucking cat bled all over me. It would have been fine if I hadn't tried so hard to put the head back on so it would look cool, but I got sprayed instead. Kyra and Nina stripped me down, but Alex took Arrentia and Mishka out of the room since they were timider, I guess.
After they were out of the room, Krya and Nina started to scrub each side while Kadence and Kalita were in charge of my front and back. Everything went by in a blur, and before I knew it, I was in my bed naked but dry. The covers were over me, and I could feel warm bodies on either side of me.
Not even the dirty thoughts could save me from the exhaustion that dragged my eyelids down.