<~> Chapter 337I was cing up my boots while the others cleaned up and got ready for the day in the living room. As usual, Bel was still asleep upstairs, but I thought that was for the best. Her reaction to the former Tamin church members and her mother coming to town hadn't been the best, so maybe it was better to wait until ter before we talk about it again.

  "I need to speak with some of the teachers before we leave on our mission," Morrigan said as she adjusted her robes. "Raya can cover for me, but I need to talk with them first."

  "That's fine, we can stop by the school before we leave," I replied.

  "Thanks for having me over st night, guys. I had a lot of fun. Maybe I should hang out with you more often in the evenings when I wouldn't be interrupting," Eira said.

  "No problem, Eira. Your presence probably helped a bit st night. Thanks for coming over," I said, patting the cheetahkin on the shoulder.

  Torien leaned back on the couch with her arms crossed. She was already dressed and ready in her scout gear. "I'm a little nervous about bringing them in too. But after hearing about the city's food situation, I'm a little worried by how much we need them. I had no idea things were that bad."

  I sighed and scratched the base of my horn. "Since we took control of the city, it's been us running from fire to fire trying to keep everything under control. I think we've done a good job under the circumstances, but this food situation is something that I didn't even know about myself. I had assumed that since no one was talking about it, we were good on food."

  "What's this about food?" Sibyl asked as she came down the stairs.

  I frowned and sighed. "This needs to stay between us, but we're letting a group of former Tamin priests and padins into the city because we need the help stabilizing our food supply before winter."

  Sibyl's eyes narrowed. "Former Tamin priests? A lot of people in the city won't like that. They weren't very popur here before system's end."

  "I'm aware," I said with a sigh. "But there really isn't much we can do. And these ones cim to be a group of members who hadn't liked the way their church treated beastfolk. Bel's mother said she was gathering them before system's end."

  "Ah... her." Sibyl frowned. "Well, I can see why we're at least giving them a chance."

  "It's not like I made the decision on my own. The city voted on it and there were only two dissenters. Tenna and Kaligan," I said.

  Sibyl's brow furrowed. "The food situation is that bad?"

  "Apparently. The group are experienced demon hunters and a rge enough group to protect the farmnd we have outside the city walls. It sounds like we won't make it if we don't increase food production before it's too te," I replied.

  Raya came down the stairs and quickly joined the conversation. "Can't we just expand the walls?"

  I shook my head. "I asked that too, but it would be a lot of wall to work on. It would take us too long to build them up with the current state of our mages in the city. Even if we did set up new walls, they would still be too long to patrol without their help. We don't have enough people."

  "Raya, I need to talk with you. I'm going on a mission today and I need you to cover for me," Morrigan told her. They moved off to the side and started talking about work while I continued talking with Sibyl.

  "Anyway, yeah. They already voted on it, so it's kind of a done deal," I told her.

  "What about same-sex retionships, or the succubi in general, for that matter?" she asked.

  I shrugged. "I'm worried about that too, especially the succubi. I'll need to talk with Corrine about it. It'll be one of the st things we have to make sure they can accept before we take them in. The succubi in the city won't be able to go back into hiding just because we brought these guys in. Even if we could, I don't think it would be a good idea in the long run anyway."

  Sibyl nodded. "The original announcement about it was a bit rough. Are all of you leaving?" she asked as she looked around.

  "We're just waiting on Nelly and Kal'daeryn," Torien replied.

  "We're here!" Nelly called down the stairs. "Just finishing up!"

  Torien blushed and gnced over. "They must be finishing up her milking for the day."

  I cleared my throat. "Right."

  Not long ter, Nelly and Kal'daeryn came down the stairs together, looking quite rexed considering what we were about to do. We would find out pretty quickly if they didn't like beastfolk, considering that everyone but Cecilia looked like one.

  "Everyone ready, then?" I asked.

  I got agreements and nods as everyone got up and started heading toward the door.

  The morning air smelled nice, and I could feel a slight chill as we gathered outside. We would need to quickly stop by Cecilia's pce and Morrigan's school before we left, but they were on the way to the gate. Sometimes it still stuck out to me how good everything smelled here. With the prevalence of cleaning magic and the ck of pollution, the air always smelled so fresh, even in the cities.

  Less than an hour ter, we had picked up Cecilia, collected the uunas, and left the city as a group. Nikka and Landa would be a bit of added protection, but we didn't need them to slink into the trees the way they did st time. They were more of a precaution against demons and monsters in the forest. Naturally, all of us succubi had hidden our wings and tails for the trip and shifted back into our usual forms for the day. We would have to broach the subject eventually, but it would be better if we talked about it in our beastkin forms rather than our succubi ones. I really wasn't sure how they would take it at this point.

  Torien and Lori went to scout ahead as usual, but everyone else hung together as a loose group while we approached. We were ready to fight if it came down to it. This forest was still full of monsters and demons, but the walk started more rexed now that we knew our mission shouldn't result in a fight. We chatted and talked on the way there, but there was still a bit of tension building in all of us as we approached. Even though this should be a peaceful encounter, not a lot of my friends trusted people who had been a part of the Tamin church, understandably.

  ("I see them. They're still camped out with a small group waiting for us near the edge of the road,") Lori reyed through the bond.

  ("Alright, we're about to approach then. I'll tell you when it's safe to get closer,") I said.

  ("Got it,") Lori replied.

  The former Tamin church people turned to us as we advanced, including Corrine. The woman scanned our group and looked a bit disappointed when she didn't find what she was looking for. I wonder if she was hoping that Bel would be joining us this time.

  I stopped a small distance away and raised a hand. "I have good news, may I come closer?"

  "Of course. Let's meet in the middle, like st time," she called back.

  Not ideal to be talking at a distance from our respective groups, but their distrust should fade once we deliver the good news to them. It was understandable, though. They knew better than most how much distrust for their former church existed now.

  Corrine looked a bit guarded, like she didn't want to get her hopes up despite my telling them I had good news. "Lilith, did your city agree to give us sanctuary?"

  "They did. We'll need some help protecting our farmers from loose monsters and demons outside the walls, and your group would be a lot of help in that regard. But, there are a few things that your group should be aware of if you're going to be entering the city."

  She let out a sigh of relief, excited by the news. "Of course. What do we need to know?"

  I shifted my weight. This conversation would make or break how well this would work out. "If you're going to join the city, you should know that there is a new group of people who have joined our community that the Tamin church wouldn't have liked. They are not demons, but they have natural shapeshifting abilities."

  Corrine's focus sharpened. "Shapeshifters? And they're peaceful?"

  I nodded. "When they joined the community, the city was under siege by demons, and this group of shapeshifters came to our aid. They first helped repel the demons from the walls, then rescued a team of our scouts from Amphores cultists before destroying the dungeon that was spawning the horde of banshees."

  "How do you know that these shapeshifters weren't just maniputing you?" The question, thankfully, didn't come across as an accusation, more like a serious question.

  "They directly fought with the cultists when they rescued the hostages from the dungeon. Please trust me, these shapeshifters aren't a threat to anyone in the city as long as they aren't harassed," I said.

  "Trust..." She looked me up and down before her eyes settled on my horns. "They're yours, aren't they? You're the Lilith of the prophecy, aren't you? You're directly involved with all of this, and now the war of the gods has started just as the prophecy alluded to. These shapeshifters are your people, aren't they?"

  I rested a hand on the pommel of my sword. "If you want honesty, then yes. They are my people. But the prophecy of the Tamin church is only one piece of this. There are multiple prophecies that speak of my presence here from what I've found, but only the Tamin church's version speaks so negatively of me."

  Her eyes studied me closely. "Everyone in my group left the Tamin church because we were betrayed. Lied to by the gods that wouldn't even reveal themselves to the lower members like us. The prophecy is one of the first pieces of information they finally reveal to commanders in my position, and they never directly revealed that other versions of the prophecy existed. I only know of them myself through my own research. They don't even tell us which gods we worship until we're higher up... It was drilled into us repeatedly that we existed to prevent the next war of the gods, and shortly after the global message revealed it was in fact our gods who started the war, the messages we received shifted from preventing a war to winning a war. I do not believe in the Tamin church's gods any longer, and none of the people who still follow me do either. When you tell me that the prophecy we received had just been another tool to manipute us, I believe you. Trusting shapeshifters will not be easy for us, but it will be an easier sell now that we have turned our back on the Tamin church. If you are offering us sanctuary in exchange for living peacefully among them... then I think it will be fine. I'll need some time to talk with my people, but I do not foresee any issues."

  I rexed and nodded. "We can wait for you to come to a decision."

  "Will we get more information about these shapeshifters if we agree to join? Will you tell us about them?" she asked.

  "Sure. Everyone in the city, more or less, knows the basics and where to find them if they want to know more. The reason we can't accept you without being sure you would be okay with this is because we wouldn't be able to hide them from you if you did join our city," I said.

  "I see... Very well. Give us some time to talk about this. Most shapeshifters we've dealt with have all been demons. It will be interesting to meet with shapeshifters that aren't... They aren't demons, right?" she suddenly asked.

  I ughed. "No. I swear to Velenthel that the succubi aren't demons."

  Her eyebrows raised at the sudden oath. "I see. It will be reassuring to tell my group that you so willingly swore that oath without prompting. I believe it will help a lot. I'm not sure how long it will take to talk with everyone. Please give me some time." She nodded and walked back to her group.

  I walked back over to my friends since it would be a while. I think things went well. I had been rather worried about talking to them about the succubi, but it seems I may have successfully convinced her to trust me.

  "How did things go?" Morrigan asked.

  "Better than I thought they would. She didn't freak out about the shapeshifters and seemed impressed when I swore an oath to Velenthel that the succubi weren't demons. That seems to have made a rge impact," I said.

  Nelly smiled. "I am gd that my goddess was able to help. I'm sure she is happy that her name is being used to protect our people."

  "Corrine said she needs some time to talk with them, but I think they will take us up on the offer. We should sit down and wait for now." I stretched my arms, now that some of the tension was gone.

  "I'll pull out some benches for us to sit on!" Mimi said happily.

  Saine

  Hello! Looks like things are coming together now. We get a little bit more history regarding what these guys have been up to since system's end, and we're moving forward with their integration! It's not like things will be ironed out immediately, but we're off to a good start. I'm sure nothing will go wrong. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading!

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