Thomas POV

  As I get closer to the city, I notice them repositioning their guards. This is not entirely unexpected. I would probably do the same thing in their shoes. What is unexpected is the number of guards they had on the wall to begin with. Obviously, they were expecting to be attacked. This isn't great cause it means that tensions are already high in the city. While I'm not as defenseless as I used to be I didn't come here to fight. So, I decide to stop just outside of what I believe to be the maximum range of any ranged units.

  The fact the I stopped approaching does seem to calm them down a little. They still aren't going to relax anytime soon though. After a while it becomes apparent that the longer this 'standoff' goes on the more likely it is that one of their guards will do something stupid which will force the other guards to take action. So, with that in mind, I start to search for the person who appears to be in charge. This takes longer than I would have thought due to the leader being in the last place I would have thought. Instead of commanding from the back this person is actually leading from the front, Front and center to be exact. Finally, a good sign as this speaks volumes for their character.

  The true test of character though, will come when I officially make contact. Something I've already decided not to postpone any longer. I do however understand based on conversations with Yuna and the others that having a thought that isn't yours suddenly appear in your head can be alarming. So, I take things slow and just send a simple "hello" at first. She is understandable confused at first and begins looking around while trying to be subtle about it. Noticing that none of the guards were trying to get her attention she goes from confused to visibly concerned. Not the direction I was hoping for.

  Against my better judgement I quickly decide to send another message. For better or worse letting the tension continue to build like this isn't good so I decide to just be completely open and honest. "Hello, I am speaking to you telepathically, you may respond to me the same way. Oh, and before you ask no I cannot read your thoughts. Well except the thoughts specifically directed at me. As for who I am that's a bit harder to explain."

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  "You're the monster outside the castle wall" She exclaimed interrupting me in an obviously feminine voice. "Clearly you haven't come to attack us because I think if you had come to attack us you would have done so already so you must be after something else. And whatever it is I'm guessing you can't get it by force. So why have you come here?"

  "What I want is to offer people a chance to join me. Or more precisely to join the community that has formed on my back. And technically I could take people by force, but I do not want hostages or prisoners I want people to join me of their own free will. Specifically, what the community is in desperate need of is trade skills. Up till now it's mainly been adventurers joining me."

  "Perhaps if we could speak to someone from this supposed community" she said after a moment. "You do understand we can't just take your word for everything don't you?"

  I saw no reason to refuse this request. So, after quickly agreeing, I started to ask for volunteers to go speak with what I assumed was the guard captain and possibly other higher ups in the city. Surprisingly, one of the people who volunteered is Vivi. Surprising not because she holds any animosity towards me, but rather because she has always worked really hard to pretend like she doesn't care. Eventually I decide to send her and another adventurer, a tank named John. I use my newfound telekinesis talent to help them get to the ground but after that I think the less I intervene the smoother everything will go in the long run.

  They were gone for several hours after entering the city gate and I was starting to get worried when they suddenly reappeared. Vivi was the first to speak up after they returned. "It seems that the nation is under siege from the south and the city is currently overflowing with refugees. They had been about to send them further north when guards on the wall first noticed our approach. The only reason they hadn't already is because they didn't have any supplies to send with them. They won't force people to join us, but they will ask for volunteers. We even told them about your ability to heal wounds."

  I liked what I was hearing. I really didn't want them forcing people to join me. I'm here looking for people who are willing to join me after all. What she said next though really surprised me. She actually suggested that after we pick up all the people willing to join us here, we head south towards the fighting picking up any who are willing along the way. I'm hesitant about this idea. After what they strange being said, going south seems like a really bad idea. We can't avoid the problem forever though. I mean we would have run out of north eventually. Granted based on context clues we are still near the equator, but I'm going to have to do something eventually. I really hate how vague that being was when she gave me that information.