One of her werewolves whizzed past her, running on all fours at breakneck speed, followed by Kumara with large pants in her hands, screeching like a banshee, "Come back here you bastard!"
Aura let out an annoyed sigh, watching as her assistant desperately chased one of her werewolves in a futile effort to dress the beast. With most of her summons being just animals, she had hoped to make more effective servants out of the only sapient, and supposedly bipedal, creatures at her disposal. Yet the progress seemed to be nonexistent across the board.
Though werewolves could speak and craft to some degree, trying to teach them had proved difficult, as the stubborn beasts acted more like animals than people most of the time, and one sniff of a possible prey made them forget everything else and lunge after their prey. And then there was the dread of the mating season. Although she had no firsthand experience in the process, Aura had learned enough from Albedo and Shalltear, with both often speaking in unnecessary detail about their love lives, and unprompted at that, but even they knew better than to discuss it in public or worse yet, try to perform the act in view of others. She had heard of their private encounters with Lord Momonga a few too many times.
Werewolves, to her knowledge, harbored no such restrictions amidst their culture, and could potentially decide to mate in the most inappropriate places during the mating season, and that needed to be fixed before she became the laughingstock among the high executors due to her inability to control her own forces, fast. After all, Shalltear's Kerai and vampires have garnered the reputation of the same calculating ruthlessness as their mistress. The weaker races practically worshiped her brother's dryads, and it was considered a great fortune to receive their blessings on private gardens and fields. And then she had a bunch of animals that refused to put on pants or skirts.
With her assistant screeching in the distance, Aura took a long breath and decided enough was enough. The soft approach had failed. She teleported right beside the running werewolf and grabbed the beast by his neck, stopping him in his tracks as Kumara nearly crashed into her.
"M-mistress, I tried to clothe-" Kumara tried to explain hastily, but Aura stopped her assistant by raising her hand.
"Gather all of them. I have had enough!" She gave an order and dragged the werewolf by its neck to the gathering area beside her and Mare's treehouse while the creature whined and whimpered. She casually tossed the werewolf right into the middle of the clearing, making it roll before stopping a good ten meters away from her. Kumara quickly gathered the rest and brought them before her.
Aura wasted no time and addressed the group as she stood before them, her hands on her waist, slightly leaning forward. "I will say it only once. You will either do everything to become civilized, or be turned into refined rugs!" Aura stopped, her nose scrunched as she pointed at the old shaman, "It was your responsibility to make sure everyone does what I and Kumara say!"
The grey-furred werewolf shrunk down like a whipped puppy, unable to meet Aura's gaze. He let out a quiet whimper, "I have no excuse, Goddess." He dropped to his knees and lowered his head, awaiting execution.
"Good grief. Just go get dressed!" She pointed towards the living area of the werewolves near the treehouse, then addressed Kumara, "Make sure they all put the clothes and boots on the right way."
"I will do my best, mistress. Please look out for runners." Kumara bowed and followed after the beasts.
All Aura could do was shake her head and wait. 'Why did I have to get them? Why couldn't I get something like dryads? Mare has it so easy.'
After half an hour the entire werewolf tribe was finally dressed in a similar style as her and was gathered in the clearing. Both males and females were clad in white suits with red vests and knee-high boots, specifically fitted for the wolf-like physiologies.
It was progress, but the results left a lot to be desired. The werewolves shifted around, visibly uncomfortable at the change. One male was slowly rotating while attempting to look at his back; another one was scratching his chest with his claws leaving dents in the leather vest. There was also a female who was glaring at her boots and growling in a low tone.
"Listen up. I know you aren't used to clothes, but this is how you are supposed to look when you leave the floor Mare and I are guarding. All of you will have to learn how to write, read, and count. Don't waste my or Kumara's time with nonsense or else!" Aura spoke her tone still carrying the annoyance towards her servants.
It wouldn't be easy to make werewolves civilized, but she was adamant about making useful servants out of them one way or another. As a proud high executor, she needed her own team to properly carry out her duties throughout the ever-growing Tempest Hegemony.
Mare stood on the hill and watched the dryad training exercise with remote viewing, splitting his vision into thirty-two viewpoints to see what individual members of Ati's team were doing.
Recently he had reshaped the dryads' trees into permanent physical bodies for them to eliminate their main weakness, that they couldn't defend themselves physically and were reliant entirely on magic, and the results brilliantly showed. Each dryad was noticeably stronger and didn't need to use any brainpower to worry about their trees anymore.
They were split into teams of sixteen and engaged each other in a dense forest area just below the hill, made even more difficult to navigate by the dryads themselves. Mare had gotten a wonderful recommendation from Demiurge to teach his units guerrilla tactics and operate primarily in areas with dense vegetation, where each dryad was an army stopper.
To his delight, they used the tactics and their ultraspeed regeneration, which was made possible due to permanent bodies, to the full advantage. Enlarged thorns, instantly made spiked traps, strangler vines, and weaker elementals were utilized with great efficiency as they tore each other's bodies apart, fighting for territorial supremacy in the designated areas.
Ati in particular had taken his effective methods to heart and was ruthlessly efficient in their tactics, being one of only five to utilize napalm combined with nature restoration. After all, a dryad who let the enemy take the forest hostage and use it as a shield was putting herself at a great disadvantage, considering their bodies too were attuned to nature.
As he watched, kept score, and took notes on what each individual dryad could improve upon, Treyni appeared by his side, "Lord, we have finished the forestation project in Dwargon a day ahead of the plan. What are your next orders?"
"Great. I guess you and your sisters can take a day off. Do you need anything?" Mare replied, paying only minimal attention as his full attention was on the ongoing training exercise. Giving his servants a day off for exemplary work was something he learned from Lord Momonga and as a proper servant of the Supreme Ones, he sought to emulate the ultimate ruler's approach to management.
"No, I don't think… What are Ati and her sisters doing? Why are they setting the forest and each other on fire… and then dousing the flames?" Treyni grew visibly confused.
"They are training for forest combat and using the most effective methods at their disposal," Mare explained.
"Combat? Ati's dryads are not working on forestation projects?" Treyni asked cautiously. Despite Mare's calm and even meek appearance, her master could be as vicious as Lord Demiurge if something didn't go according to plan, and with Mare being noticeably concentrating on the action in the forest, not her, she couldn't be too careful.
"They do, but I need my personal combat unit to delegate tasks that don't require my attention. Ati's team fits the role. Is there anything else?" There was a touch of irritation in Mare's soft voice at the distraction.
Treyni weighed her options. Asking pointless questions wouldn't do her any favors, and with the more aggressive and militant group of dryads receiving extra training and magical power, she and her sisters could fall out of favor as the less capable ones. That left her with one simple choice, either leave things as is and hope for the best or request to be trained as well.
Not that she and her sisters had shied away from combat or were inexperienced, but with them being part of Tempest the standards had increased. They were no longer seen as the highly venerated protectors of the forest but as Mare's assistants, as her master was far more powerful than all of the dryads combined, even after receiving their wooden bodies.
"My Lord, could we request a chance to train under you as well? I believe me and my sisters could combine our duties with proper training, just as Ati and her sisters can." Treyni made a decision she knew her sisters would support.
"Sure. Gather your team and bring them here. You can start after the current round is over. Here, read this." Mare reached into his inventory and handed her the book about guerrilla warfare. If his servants volunteered to become better, he had no reason to deny their request, especially since there weren't that many areas left requiring the touch of dryads at the moment. Food production and environmental balance were a non-issue at the moment and any expansion was set back for years, so he didn't need to worry about terraforming the southern continent any time soon.
It took another hour for Ati's team to finish the exercise and meanwhile, Treyni was back with twenty-eight of her sisters. The new matchup was thirty versus thirty in an area three times as large, with two of Ati's dryads joining Treyni's team for a balance. Larger teams obviously splintered his attention even more and it took a notable effort to monitor all sixty of them at the same time while taking coherent notes.
To Mare's surprise, the battle didn't end in a one-sided beatdown by the much better Ati's team. At first, it looked like the match would end in fifteen minutes, but Treyni and her sisters were quick learners and didn't fall for the same tricks and tactics twice, showing a surprising amount of on-the-spot adaptation. Though underdogs of the battle, they fought back with impressive determination and even adapted some of the most devious tactics, with Treyni summoning a fire elemental and wreaking havoc among opponent lines while soothing the forest around the raging spirit. Ultimately her team still lost, but with the first matchup showing such great potential, Mare was more than happy at the end.
As all the dryads returned to his side, he praised them in his familiar laconic manner, "Excellent work. We'll continue tomorrow. Get proper rest and replenish your energy reserves."
"We'll be ready, Lord," Treyni replied with a bow, her sisters mimicking her actions.
"You better be. We won't hold back anymore." Ati taunted her, turning her head towards her old rival.
"Is that an excuse why we nearly won? I must say I was expecting more from such a battle-hardened team." Treyni shot back, her tone mocking.
"Oh, you stuck-up piece of rotten-" Ati immediately lost her temper.
"Leave that attitude for combat," Mare interrupted her, not wanting to deal with an unsanctioned fight.
"Of course, I apologize, Lord." Ati immediately lowered her head.
"I promise not to provoke my long-lost sister," Treyni added, her entire form slightly trembling.
"Good. Now go take a rest." Mare dismissed them.
The workday was drawing to the end and it was time for leisure activities. Particularly, Milim wanted to watch an adventure movie called Star Wars in Nazarick's recently constructed movie theater. Veldora and Ramiris blabbered about it non-stop, quoting lines and reenacting scenes so, of course, his girlfriend didn't want to be left out. She wanted to see it as she only now had the opportunity as she, unlike her uncle and best friend, couldn't absorb the digital data directly from Nazarick's library. He was happy to oblige and use the new leisure area for a date, and with his work of the day done, it was time to kick back and relax.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by fvvck, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, Omnax, Alassandro, and aidan_lo.
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