“Well, that went about as well as I expected.” Lia said, brushing herself off. “I couldn’t sneak up on him, and he wasn’t receptive in the slightest. How’d it go for you, Amelia?”

  “Perfectly.” Amelia said, a satisfied expression on her face. “I swapped out their bags with my own, they won’t notice a thing unless he uses his Blessing on them and really looks for discrepancies.”

  “Good.” Rose said. “Do you have the remotes?”

  “Right here.” Amelia replied, pulling out a few bricklike objects from a pocket. “Just have whoever’s watching them break one of these, and the traps will go off.”

  The traps Amelia was talking about had been one of the main reasons for this excursion in the first place. Amelia had been using scrying to spy on Yamamoto ever since they got the Hero locator, and they had decided that defeating him in a straight fight was unlikely unless they were able to lure him to an area they controlled.

  Ironically, things would have been simpler if Amelia was still under the lingering influence of the Urge; as her feelings had become more and more robust, so too had it become harder for her to lie to herself and stretch the definition of “protecting someone”. Most notably, she could no longer manufacture a situation in which a person was in danger, and then use that as a pretext for protection – it had to arise naturally.

  So, they had decided to go for a stealthier solution. Lia had used the artifact that would remove her presence, and was going to sneak up and cover Yamamoto in modeling wax in his sleep, but he had, unsurprisingly, been able to see through it. The artifact was strong, yes, but it wasn’t Hero strong.

  When that failed, Lia had tried resorting to diplomacy, hoping Yamamoto would fall for one of her careful omissions or half-truths, but he was frustratingly wary, and decidedly not on board with the swarm’s method of expansion.

  They had seen this coming, so they had one last trick to play; Lia kept Yamamoto distracted as long as possible, and Amelia switched out their gear with nearly identical tools that had a remotely triggered trap on them.

  It was a simple trap, one that allow the swarm to monitor them, and teleport Yamamoto’s companions to the dungeon on trigger. Given the circumstances, it was the best they were able to do; Meg and Neph were citizens of the Glens, so, thanks to the Oath, they could not be kidnapped, and they didn’t have enough time to convert them and remain undetected.

  But, if the two happened to find themselves in danger, and the swarm happened to teleport them out of a dangerous situation…that technically wasn’t a breach of the Oath, so long as they intended to return Meg and Neph eventually. And, if Meg and Neph decided to join the swarm of their own free will…that likewise wouldn’t be a violation of the Oath. They probably wouldn’t choose to join the swarm, not now, but once they had Yamamoto under their thumb…perhaps they might.

  And now that Yamamoto had been visited by Lia, if his companions were to vanish, he would likely assume that she had taken them, and would come to the dungeon of his own volition. It was a risky option, yes, but nothing else really worked, aside from “puppeteer him through Connie”, but they didn’t have enough Blood Money to make that viable, so it had been ruled out.

  So, all that was left was to wait for them to get into a fight so they could snatch Yamamoto’s companions, and build up their defenses so they could withstand Yamamoto’s assault. As things stood now, Lia was confident that, if Yamamoto came to attack them, Rose, Amelia, Ophelia, and herself would be able to subdue him. The issue with was that Yamamoto would have to traverse the Spine to get to the dungeon, something which was sure to skyrocket his level.

  Alternatively, they could lure him to Aura. Lia was fairly confident that her Pride boost would work there, as she effectively was the shadow ruler of the kingdom, but that meant potentially tipping their hands with regards to Aura; either agents of Aura kidnapped Yamamoto’s companions, in which case Aura would effectively be declaring war on everyone else, or people were left to wonder why they had chosen Aura as their place to keep hostages when the dungeon worked just as well, which would likely lead at least Brom to conclude that Aura had been compromised.

  That being said, that was something Lia was fine with, if they were able to convert Yamamoto. At that point, Lia would feel confident in their odds in a fight against the other kingdoms The problem was simply guaranteeing that he wouldn’t run if he thought he would lose.

  Whatever happened, though, Lia couldn’t slack on training. So, they sent the remotes off to to have someone monitor, and Lia, Rose, and Amelia got ready to resume their excursions into the Spine.

  You have some explaining to do, Connie. Ichiro said grumpily. What do you mean she’s a good person? She’s clearly trying to take over the world and brainwash everyone!

  That doesn’t make world domination okay!

  What’s that supposed to mean? Ichiro asked indignantly. I was chosen for my sense of justice, there’s no way she’s better than me.

  She offered me a harem, though!

  So, that’s enough for you to play both sides, regardless of the consequences for the people of this world?

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Because forced happiness is not true happiness. They’re wasting their time away as serfs of another kind, bound to the whims of a couple of women. Power corrupts, and she will be no different. This utopia you describe can never be.

  Maybe, Ichiro said frustratedly, but it’s a moot point, that’s not how the world works.

  And where do you stand?

  Ichiro sighed. Where would you suggest I go, then? It’s not like I can just call up the swarm and ask them any more than I already have.

  Fine. Aura it is.

  When Lia, Rose, and Amelia returned from their leveling session, they were greeted by the sight of Lily pacing nervously in front of the portal.

  “Lily, is everything okay?” Lia asked.

  “My Queen!” Lily said, perking up. “We have encountered a significant problem. We can’t retrieve the Hero’s companions.”

  “Why not?” Lia asked. “Are the remotes not working?”

  Lily shook her head. “As far as we can tell, they’re fully functional, but every time we try to activate them, the Oath prevents us from doing so.”

  “What?” Rose asked, stunned. “That doesn’t sound right. If we were in breach of the Oath, we should have been prevented in the planning stages, and if not then, then when we planted the devices in the bags. To be stopped now seems…strange.”

  “How exactly is it determined when we’re in breach of the Oath?” Lia asked. “Does the Goddess of Law decide, or is it somehow automated?”

  “A bit of both, I think.” Rose said. “Which means…I can only assume that the Goddess of Law is playing favorites. Frustrating. We’re going to have to change our plans.”

  “Alisha, how’s your progress?” Lia asked. “We may need to get a little riskier with our conversion of Aura.”

  Every important woman in the capitol has been converted, and any woman who is alone for more than an hour with a converted person is converted as well. Alisha said telepathically. She had recently gotten a Skill that allowed her to communicate telepathically, much to her delight. We also have agents sent out to every village, outlying mine, or out of the way place that we feel no one will notice changes to, and they should be finished in five days.

  We have obtained people from all the professions Lily was looking for, and they are in transit back to the capitol for Amelia to send back here, which should be finished in three days. I am also slowly working on converting the army, using the pretense of long border missions to claim territory in the Spine to explain the prolonged disappearances that come with men being converted.

  “That’s…more than I thought.” Lia admitted. “Good work.”

  I endeavor to please, my Queen. Besides, the more of Aura we have converted, the more stable my rule is, so it is crucial to have them converted as quick as possible.

  “Put some special effort in getting architects, construction managers, and anyone who would be good at building fortifications or traps.” Lia instructed. “We’re going to need to construct some sort of arena in Aura that we can use to fight him in favorable circumstances. Do we have information of his abilities at all?”

  “I took a quick readout while I was setting those traps.” Amelia volunteered. “He has four Jobs, two that deal heavily in nature and life magic, one that emphasizes protecting others, and a final one that seems to be some sort of generalist Job.”

  “Good to know. Rose, can you help draw up some countermeasures for those abilities?” Lia asked.

  “Already on it.” Rose said. “Lily, thanks for your help. Do you need anything else from us?”

  “What should I do with the people manning the remotes?”

  “Have someone keep watch, just so we know their movements.” Rose instructed. “Don’t bother trying to teleport them, just keep monitor them.”

  “Understood, ma’am.” Lily said, pushing her glasses up and walking away.

  “Lia, can you strike a deal with Connie?” Rose asked. “We need to know what other gods have it out for us. I’ll discuss logistics with Amelia.”

  “I was thinking the same.” Lia said, opening up a portal to the Dimension of Discounts and stepping inside.

  “Lia!” Connie said warmly. “Here to talk about Ichiro? I’m afraid I don’t have any goofy stories today, though. He’s been rather cold with me since your visit.”

  “Sort of.” Lia said awkwardly. “I was, um…hoping to talk about information brokering.”

  “I’m listening.” Connie said, putting her feet up at the counter she was at. “What kind of info?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me what gods hate the swarm and what gods like it.” Lia said. “The Goddess of Law seems keen on making our lives harder, and we don’t want to run into any other unpleasant surprises like that.”

  Connie grimaced. “What’d she do?” She asked. “We’re not supposed to interfere with the mortal realm much, so who does and doesn’t like you theoretically shouldn’t have much of an impact on anything. She’s probably trying to exploit a loophole, and Jerry won’t be too happy about that, I don’t think.”

  Lia took a moment to explain the situation to Connie, whose expression grew more and more stormy as Lia did. “Yeah, that’s super not okay.” Connie said. “It would have been fine if she just blocked the plan from the go, but she was being deliberately misleading with you. She’s one of your staunchest detractors, so this isn’t a big surprise, just…disappointing.

  “I’m going to let Jerry know about it, and I won’t even charge you for that, that’s an explicit violation of our godly duties, done because of personal feelings. In the future, however, I would suggest being extremely careful with Oaths. She’s going to be as restrictive as possible with you, and you’re going to be inviting trouble by swearing more.”

  Lia blinked in surprise. “Really? Thanks!”

  Connie shrugged. “It’s my job. I’m still open to give you your popularity info, if you want, but it really shouldn’t matter.”

  Lia shook her head. “That’s fine. But I will take a few sodas, to go.”

  Connie flashed Lia a smile. “Much appreciated, I’ll leave them near the portal. Anything else, or shall I go talk to the boss?”

  “No, thanks again, Connie.”

  “Of course! And remember, our weekly appointment is in two days, so be sure to be there!” Connie gave a wave, and then vanished.

  Lia smiled slightly, leaning down and picking up the case of soda that appeared at her feet before turning and exiting the portal, ready to share all she had learned.