My Servant System

Chapter 1168: Chapter 1167: Final Preparations



"Surely this is more than enough potions... I mean, look at all of those cauldrons! Each one can easily heal like a fifth of the troops with minor injuries or an eight with major ones! And we have already made nearly two dozen! Two DOZEN!"

Leone just blinked a few times as she followed my finger and stared out at the filled cauldrons, each one getting slowly siphoned into vials and glass containers of all kinds as the rest of the troops stored them away for us.

For a moment I thought she was going to ask me what was wrong with making so many vats of these potions but thankfully she nodded a moment later, her eyes losing that sharp focus from before as she said "I... guess so. This is more than sufficiently prepared for what is to come, at least I hope so..."

"It is, because any more and we'd be just wasting the materials. So instead let's go put our efforts into something else; the enchanting of those shields, for instance, might be a better use of our time and energy. That or we can be a bit more selfish if you want..?"

The Vampire paused her jarring of the potion as she pondered that for a few seconds, and I quickly added "By going to enchant our own gear or review some of our spells. I know Jahi was working on some of her own earlier, so maybe we can give her some help? I don't mean that kind of help either.", which made her blush as a conflicted light entered her eyes.

Ignoring that, I added "I did want to get some more work done on my own gear, especially with the new armor Anput had made for me.", which earned a nod from the Vampire before she said "Then... I guess I should help Jahi with her spells? She's many things, but an adept designer of spells is not one of them."

I gave her a pointed look at that since I knew how that would likely go, and her blush returned only for it to be amplified as she said "Don't act like you wouldn't do the same!", which made me raise a brow as I just asked "Do what?"

She remained red as she just glowered at me before turning around in a huff, leaving me to finish the bottling of the potions as she stalked over to Jahi to help the hunk of a Demoness craft up the perfect spell... to do whatever it was that the Demoness needed the spell for.

When I was done, I handed off the many vials of potion to one of the soldiers and made my way towards the forge that had occupied the center of the encampment, its location so different from the rest of the forges since it was right beside the Sultana's raised platform. The towering Jackalkin was still standing there looking over the city, though when I began to approach and tried to slip into the forge where her daughter was hammering away at that next project of hers the Sultana made her way over and stopped me before I could enter.

"She's changed."

Those two words were so simple yet also so complicated as the weight behind them crashed down onto my shoulders, alongside an uncertainty that wormed its way into my heart; to add to it, the older woman clasped her hands behind her back and said "I knew she had a fascination with martial combat, but rarely had she shown such a deep desire to cloister herself away from a sparring ground."

"It just seemed to be her calling, I suppose..."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yes... a calling that I can appreciate, but one that I know little of. Anyways, little puppy, did you know that Fiend parts are extremely conductive, though only to certain elements?"

The sudden switch to another topic was almost enough to give me whiplash since it had felt far too pointed at the start to be nothing, but I collected myself a second later and replied "I knew they were conductive, yes, but I wasn't aware of the elemental preference to them. I just assumed that they were conductive to all mana types?"

"That would make things so much simpler, wouldn't it? No, they aren't, so just take that as a warning before you go and waste a perfectly good set of armor, hm?"

It wasn't an accusation per se, but it was yet another pointed verbal jab that I didn't know what to do with, especially since she turned back around and made her way back onto the platform, leaving me to head inside to see Anput.

Was it a 'defensive' thing to tell me not to waste her daughter's precious works, or had she just needed an outlet to let out some of her stress after this campaign that we were being made to go through?

Either way, I joined the Jackalkin and found her forging yet another blade, though this one was quite simple compared to her other works; it was a shorter, flat, dual edged blade that had little uniqueness to it compared to the other things she had made, and as soon as she sensed me she said "This is a spare for all of us. I needed a warmup and happened to have a small chunk of metal to play with."

"I wasn't questioning you, Anput..."

"No, you weren't, but I want to talk anyways; you went and left me with my own thoughts for too long! Hammering away over and over again..."

She never looked at me, but I could tell she was pouting as she straightened the blade and tapered the edges, getting it ready for its final heating before it was to be sharpened.

"Well, now you can talk to me! I need these things enchanted eventually, and I want to have specific spells enchanted onto them, though I don't know if I'm asking for the impossible; then I need you to begin-"

Like she had said, she needed someone to talk to since she just kept going on with what she needed, wanted, and what she was doing, though I listened and butted in whenever I felt it was necessary as I settled into her hyperactive groove for these final preparations for the battle tomorrow.