(That sure was an interesting night…)

(RETROFIT COMPLETE, ICI ONLINE.)

(Ohh~ Welcome back, and what about that other thing?)

(ORDER RECEIVED, TIME TO COMPLETION: 5 DAYS, 5 HOURS.)

(Then that was the last part I needed..)

Trailing off in his mind Dax looked down at his black t s.h.i.+rt before pulling it closer and smelling it.

"I need a bath.."

"I need a bath.."

Waking up at first light Eva looked around and stood up to try and defeat her grogginess before concluding she couldn't wake up on her own. Stepping over her comrades quietly Eva grabbed a trowel and a bristle brush before stepping out of the wooden house they had all slept inside.

"Su, haaaaaaaaaaa~"

Sharply inhaling then softly exhaling Eva filled herself with the clean moning air as her long ears lightly twitched as she picked up the sounds of her forrest, and only after doing that for about 5 minutes did she move towards the village well.

"Occupied."

Arriving at the well Eva found it to be occupied however.

"I can see that, would it kill you to cover up a bit!?"

Sitting in front of the well cross legged with his back turned towards Eva only wearing his birthday suit Dax was in the progress of trying to wash his signature black t s.h.i.+rt with only one arm.

"Why would I cover up? I'm bathing… If you're not gonna use that bristle brush then hand it over, I can't really reach this part of my back."

Not really caring much for Eva at all Dax was more concerned with a particular area of his back he couldn't reach due to him losing his artichishal arm.

"Why the h.e.l.l.. would… I….. What the h.e.l.l happened to your body?"

Trailing off a bit Eva noticed the Dax's empty shoulder socket that was surrounded by cybernetic mesh, and his back and overall body that was completely littered with scars, the most jarring one being the scars all along his spine that had allowed for the installation of his built in ICI unit that was clearly visible due to the multiple I/O data ports along his spine.

"A lot of people tried to kill me, millions failed but some of them took a part of me with them. Repeat that about a million times and I ended with a body like this."

"I s-see…"

Swallowing hard Eva tried to imagine how painfully agonizing that must have been.

"Yeah yeah it's really f.u.c.king sad, now hand me that f.u.c.king brush so I can be done with this."

Having gotten that reaction more times that he would like to count Dax turned cold towards Eva's pity as he grabbed the brush from her hand and continued was.h.i.+ng without caring for her presence anymore.

"Haaa~ That really worked wonders.."

Having washed thoroughly for the first time since he was 'captured' by the elvers Dax was almost in cloud nine as he tried twisting dry his t s.h.i.+rt and forgetting he was currently crippled once more.

"Ah. For f.u.c.ks sake…"

Using his teeth as a subst.i.tute for his right arm Dax made it back to the main plaza at the same time as his t s.h.i.+rt had been somewhat dried, only to meet the elven forces that were preparing to move out.

"What the f.u.c.k is he doing.?"

"Looks like he took a bath.."

(This is bad, I'm supposed to be a prisoner, right?)

Feeling the hate streaming towards him Dax tried figure out a way to deflect the situation, but was failing.

(Would it just be easier to kill them…. NNNnnnn~ I guess.)

Not really feeling like he wanted to play prisoner anymore now that he had gotten a free and guided tour into the elven lands and had a pretty good idea where their capital was located so he didn't really need their help any longer.

"YAAaaa~ G.o.d my head feels like it's splitting apart, somebody pamper me now!"

At the critical moment the elder appeared to wake up with a head splitting hangover. The effect was immediate, the elvers all forgot their hatred and instantly thought about how to appease the elder.

(They really are hopelessly loyal to elders huh?)

Looking at the confused elvers that had never treated a hangover before Dax sighed heavily before asking.

"Have you guys ever had a hangover before?"

Being met with only confusion to that question Dax groaned like he found existence to only be suffering as he started to act.

"Okay we need food and drink with loads of salt. You go draw water from the well and mix in a few teaspoons of salt."

"O-okay."

As they started being commanded right out of the blue by an absolute authority on the subject, the elvers quickly fell into rank.

"Then is food, you go find some dried meat or something"

"Right."

(I swear they turn into f.u.c.king mindless drones as soon as she is involved…. This 'elder' must be way more than just a village leader..)

After tending to the elder's hangover it had gotten too late to leave so Dax and the elven soldiers decided to stay another night at the village before finally leaving early next morning.

"So? Where are you taking my new toy?"

Or at least they tried to.

"E-elder, we have received orders to bring this outsider to the capital."

"And why should I care about that exactly?"

Feeling the air around them starting to act up as the elder's mood started to drop Eva started turning desperate.

"P-please be lenient elder, the council declared that it was of the utmost importance that they learn of what caused the giant explosion."

"The council? Those brats just want new tools of war that they don't need."

(So that's why they want me? Not to make sure such an event doesn't happen again, but for tools of war? Maybe I should just annex or puge this country…)

(DIRECTIVE CONFIRMED, FORMULATING WARPLAN GREEN AND BLACK.)

(Yeah better have it in place just to be sure. I also want more-)

While the elves were negotiating with the elder Dax secretly planned the demise of their country with a plain look on his face.

"Then I'll come with you."

"Wh"

"Elder please reconsider!"

After half an hour of discussion they finally reached a standstill that made Dax rise from the ground and stop groaning silently.

(That might work out in my favor, she just needs one more small push..)

"I thought you hated the capital?"

"T-that I do, but it is the first time I've found someone that's able to keep up with my drinking….. I am going! End of discussion!"

Speaking in a small voice as her entire face bloomed like a rose in a full blush the elder then shouted like a 6 year old to convince her and the other elvers.

(How old is she again?)

With that matter settled the elder took a few minutes to switch into travel gear before grabbing a small backpack as she met up with the rest.

"Is it really okay for you to leave this place?"

"Of course. I founded this town specifically as my vacation home so I am in full control over what I do or do not…. Oh! before I forget I need to say goodbye."

Circulating mana around her, the elder invoked some sort of unknown spell that quickly spread into the surrounding forest, and after about a minute something answered back.

(CONTACT 9 O'CLOCK, RANGE: 732 METERS, CLOSING FAST.)

"What the h.e.l.l are you calling?"

"Ka ka ka! You'll see~"

Feeling the ma.s.sive mana response callback form the creatures that was currently closing in on them Dax was about to call for orbital artillery before the elder calmed him down a bit.

"Now now don't be so alarmed, they are just some pets I picked up a while ago."

As those words left her grinning lips the first creature broke the treeline.

"How the f.u.c.k is that a pet!?"

Standing about 3 meters tall what Dax looked at could only be described as a mix fox and a wolf with pure white fur that seemed able to defeat high caliber AD-LBD HEAT ammunition with ease. The creature had a long streamlined head like a fox's, but with ears larger than a fox's which looked more wolf like with the rest of the creature's physique tipping more to the wolf side. It's purely golden eyes emitted a soft light and seemed to have the same type as the elders and it looked at the elven soldiers and Dax with high intelligence as it showed its large and sharp carnies.

"She's cute right?~ Zephyr come here, mommy has missed you!~"

As the giant wolf/fox creatures eyes settled on the elder it immediately started charging her, Dax was about to kill it before he noticed its tail was wagging at such a speed that it almost turned into a blur.

(I can't even..)

The second the creature reached the elder it knocked her over, and then started licking her face with glee as 5 more slightly smaller creatures broke the treeline that also quickly surrounded the elder and laid down on their backs as if asking for bellyrubs.

(They really are her pets..)

While Dax was being briefly stunned by the wolf like creatures acting like large puppies Eva and the other elvers had quite a different reaction as they knew exactly what kind of monsters they were.

"S-sacred beast's.."

With the elvers living in harmony with the forest of their land they had quite the knowledge of it, even to the point of knowing which areas of the grand forrest to entirely ward off because of certain creatures, and so called sacred beasts were one of the most deadly of those creatures and often seen as some sort of deities, resulting in the part of Eva's group that didn't freeze up completely or lose consciousness fall to their knees and start praying.

"Zephyr I need your help."

After greeting the largest of the beasts the elder called Zephyr it calmed down as it listened for its marsters command.

"...?"

"I need you to come with me and your children to guard this place until we return here, can you do that?"

"Arf!~"

With a quick response as if it completely understood the elven language Zephyr crouched down and allowed the elder to mount it.

"I am ready to go now, get your faces out of the gra.s.s and lead the way children."