Chapter 15: Cult Management (2/2)

“Then thank you, skinbag. Show me your hand, so that I may reward you for giving me peace.”

The Moon Beast touched Victor’s left arm with a tentacle, the moist contact sending shivers down his spine. The shining, white mark of a full moon, the Moon Man’s symbol, appeared on his skin.

Congratulations! You were granted a blessing by a star spawn of the Moon Man! You earned the [Claimed by the Moon Man] Personal Perk!

[Claimed by the Moon Man]: when you level up, you have an additional 10 percent chance of gaining a Charisma point. You gain Immunity to Madness and Moon effects unless those caused by the Moon Man and his servants.

Nice! Finally, things turned around in his favor for once!

“Tell me, gamete animal, would you like a job?” the Moon Beast offered. “You can make a good mouthpiece to address the Moon Man’s flock, and I have been looking for a chief of staff to lead my minions.”

A chief of staff? Here we go again. “I am already taken, sir.”

“You are?” The creature hummed at Victor. “A dragon’s scent? You serve a dragon?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Look, carbon-based mammal, dragons are prestigious, but they underpay their minions.” Like it wouldn’t believe. “If you serve me, you will be swimming in pearls and seashells by the next moon. As my chief of staff, you will also have unrestricted breeding privileges, including ignoring the incest restriction. You can keep your tendrils in your family.”

It was official, the creature was officially trying to bribe him. Victor pondered the offer, the idea of managing a fertility cult appealing to him.

But considering how Vainqueur had reacted when he thought Victor had left him for a wyvern, and that he would be in a cranky mood for a while... “I am very flattered,” said Victor. “But my dragon is very insecure about me leaving him, too, so I am not tempting his wrath. I also kind of like the other minions.”

“Your funeral,” the Moon Beast replied. “If you change your mind, visit me on the moon.”

“But thank you, I am honored by your proposal,” Victor said politely, in case the creature could hold a grudge. He turned to the cultists. “Also… what am I to do with them?”

“BEEP them.” The Moon Beast vanished in another flash of light, clearly in a hurry to leave the place behind.

Congratulations! For resisting the temptation to cheat on your dragon master with a Moon Beast, proving your faithfulness, and for serving as a bridge between monster lords and their flock, you have earned two levels in [Monster Squire]!

+60 HP, +10SP, +1 SKI, +1 AGI, +1 INT, +1 CHA, +1 LCK!

You earned the [Rally Minions] Class Perk!

[Rally Minions]: By uttering a strong authority statement, such as “Die to them, or die to me,” you can increase all the stats of your minions for a short duration.

“Nice work,” Savoureuse congratulated Victor, “I didn’t understand half of what it said, but you handled it like a champ.”

Victor shrugged. He had the feeling he had done the best he…

Wait.

Wait, wait! Victor hadn’t asked the creature if it could send him back to Earth!

“I guess I will have to eat him myself,” Croissant said, showing his fangs, only for the priest of the Moon Man to block his path with his scepter.

“You will not lay a fang on a prophet of our god, Croissant!” The priest turned back to Victor. “Please, chosen Victor, what was the final revelation? What are you to do with us?”

… do not abuse your power, Victor. Do not abuse your power, don’t abuse the power.

Abuse the power. “Thul-Gathar asked me to—”

Before Victor could make his unreasonable demand, a powerful shadow obscured the moonlight, followed by a familiar sound.

“MINION!”

Everyone trembled, as Vainqueur landed in the field with a loud crash, his landing blowing off dust. “Minion! There you are! Stop daydreaming, and tell me where is my hoard! Is it safe? Is it cured?”

Victor sighed, his vacation was very short-lived. He already regretted not taking the Moon Beast’s offer. “I put it where you wanted, Your Majesty, but no, it is not ‘cured.’”

“As I feared,” Vainqueur fumed, his golden eyes falling upon the gathered villagers, the fire in his gaze making them step back. “What are they, new minions?”

“They’re survivors from the Woods of Gevaudan, which Your Majesty burned.”

“Yes, we are.” To his credit, Croissant had enough courage to stand up to Vainqueur. “You burned our home.”

“Then you will apologize to me at once, wolfling.”

Croissant glared back at the dragon, aghast. “Why would we apologize to you?”

“If you had not survived, I would have gained more treasure,” Vainqueur replied. “So your survival cost me. You will all apologize by becoming my new minions. Now, there is a great reward for doing as I wish. Namely, living. Any other dragon would have eaten you all for your sinful crime, and would never have taken werewolves in their service, but I am forgiving and merciful.”

Victor had terrible flashbacks at the wording, which he blamed on Post Vainqueur Stress Disorder. The more Croissant listened, the more incredulous he looked. “You cannot expect—”

“I am a dragon. A dragon who never ate a wolf before, and you are starting to sound like food. Minion Victor, is that wolf food?”

“That depends,” Victor looked at Croissant dead in the eyes. “Are you dragon food, Croissant?”

The wolf looked at Victor, then at Vainqueur, realized that he was twenty times smaller, then glared at Victor again. “I am starting to realize that the ‘just following orders’ excuse may be valid,” he grumbled.

“You’re goddamn right,” Victor replied, a bit too happy to rub it in the wolf’s face.

Croissant looked at the rest of the villagers, none of them willing to take a stand. And then, proving himself far smarter than every noble in Gardemagne, he decided to cut his losses after a glance at his sister. “I apologize to both of you,” the werewolf said, forcing himself to say every word. “Just don’t eat us.”

“Not unless you run out of sheep,” Vainqueur replied, the villagers looking at one another. The dragon lost interest in the wolf pack, turning to Victor. “Minion, I must become a wizard.”

“A wizard, Your Majesty?”

“The lich does not stay dead when I kill him, and now hides in his castle like a coward. You said he hides his soul in an item, which makes it immortal.”

”His phylactery, which is probably hidden in the castle, yes.” Victor started realizing where the dragon was going.

”I cannot break the magical barrier protecting it nor cure my hoard, so I must become a wizard to do so,” Vainqueur explained. “We must destroy the great evil that is Furibon, Minion Victor. This is no longer about wealth, minion. This is about all dragons, all hoards, present, and future. Furibon is the greatest threat to the dragon way of life since the Gold-Eating Insects.”

“There are insects that eat gold?” Victor asked, wondered how that even worked.

“There were,” Vainqueur said with an ominous tone. “I was overconfident, thinking being an adventurer was all about increasing the size of my hoard. I now realize that I was blind to the danger ahead. There are threats to all hoards hiding in the darkest corners of the world, and I must destroy them.”

Victor said nothing, astonished by Vainqueur’s passionate speech.

“Furibon is evil incarnate, a cruel, heartless monster who delights in taking all that brings worth to the world and turning it to lead. Imagine if he spreads that spell outside of this castle? Imagine a world without gold?” Vainqueur marked a short, rhetorical pause. “You cannot, manling, and neither can I! Because only a twisted monster like Furibon could imagine it! He is evil, and he has to be stopped. So we will break the magical barrier, clear that dungeon and destroy the lich for good. Even if it takes us a thousand years!”

They were all doomed.

Vainqueur had started behaving like a true adventurer.