I Became A Zompirewolf

[I’m confused whether you were learning forging or philosophy?]

Astaroth chuckled as soon as they were out of the forge. However, Ashton wasn’t laughing. Every word that came out of Vulcan’s mouth was a lesson. As someone who went through all that shit to make a few cackling flames, Ashton knew Vulcan’s words were more than a simple lesson.

Someone like Astaroth wouldn’t realise the weight those words held. Nor did Ashton want to waste his time making Astaroth realise what he was missing out on. So, rather than correcting him and wasting his time, Ashton decided to get some sleep.

Being a tribrid wasn’t easy. Ashton had to take care of nutrition for each of his genes, and he also needed to fulfil even the minuscle demands.

That’s why although he wasn’t required to sleep, he still wanted to rest his eyes for a couple of hours to give his mind a chance to relax and unwind. Especially after the time, he spent in the forge.

But it seemed fate had different things planned for him. The moment he exited the forge, he was greeted by Eula and her mother. Along with the household members and the captain of the guards.

Ashton was a bit surprised to see them there. Eula and her mother rarely ever left the secure walls of their mansion, and after last night’s attack, he wasn’t expecting them to come out so soon. But he was mistaken.

All of them had their gazes turned towards, some with gratitude while some with shame.

“Thank you for all you did last night.” Eula mumbled, “Had it not been for you and your fellow mercenaries, it would have been the last day of my life.”

“I would also like to apologise for the mistreatment you have been forced to endure due to the foolishness of some.” Eula’s mother said, “As the head of the household, it was my responsibility to take care of your team, and I failed miserably.”

“It’s fine; you don’t need to worry about it.” Ashton replied with a smile, “We’re mercenaries. Living in harsh environments is often a part of the job. Unlike your beliefs, your coldness does not affect us in the slightest. If that’s all, I’d suggest you retreat to the safety of your mansion.”

Saying so, Ashton left them there. While his words might not seem cold, his attitude towards them was. They were anything but empathetic towards them before last night.#

Now that they realised their guards weren’t as useful as they had thought, they wanted to show the mercenaries respect? Now that they knew they were fucked without the mercenaries, they wanted to treat them as living beings?

Nope. Fuck that. Ashton had made his call, but he still informed the rest of the team about the change, and their reaction was pretty much similar to his.

The behaviour they had been subjected to might have affected them before. But now they had gotten used to it. One day had passed. They just needed to endure it for another 13 and then be done with them.

A couple of hours later, Vimur and Laihud joined Ashton in the makeshift base that Vulcan made for them. Apparently, he had some material to spare after repairing the watch towers, so he made something for the mercenaries.

‘The old man likes to act tough but cares about strangers.’ Ashton thought.

[You know he did it for you. He isn’t generous enough to give a shit about the rest of them.]

‘Right…’

“I’m going to leave a shitty review for them.” Vimur barked loudly, “No mercenary would ever want to work for these Evalines ever again.”

“Now you sound like a Karen.” Ashton sighed.

“Sounds like a what?” Vimur looked at him, confused.

“Like a little bitch carrying a shield,” Ashton smiled, “By the way, what were you doing last night?” ｂ𝚍ｎｏ𝚟ｌ.

“Laihud here was healing the fallen while I did what I do best-”

“Got d-drunk and then b-beaten up?” Laihud shyly mumbled.

Laihud had been shy and quiet since the day Ashton met him. But slowly, he was getting more and more open around him. The shy attempt at sarcasm resulted from his time around them. He still wasn’t open with the rest of the team, but it was a start.

“Good one, Laihud.” Vimur laughed while ‘gently’ patting the healer on his back, “You’ll get rid of your shyness soon enough.”

Ashton smiled back as well, “Did anyone from our team get injured?”

Laihud shook his head, “W-We knew how to protect ourselves, and V-Vimur also helped, so we were good. The guards, h-however, were not.”

“Those fools panicked, and I’m not talking about, ‘Oh I forgot my keys’ kinda panic’. But the ‘Oh man, the world’s being devoured by the blackhole!’ kind.”

Ashton nodded while scratching his chin. The guards might not be likeable, to say the least. But they were still important, just like pawns in a chess game.

If managed well, they could make or break the game. On the other hand, having them panic at the slightest inconvenience was detrimental to their mission. Who knows what those fools would do in a time of dire need?

It was clear that these guards had no experience whatsoever. Maybe it was due to planet Eva being a peaceful place that rarely had wars. But Ashton couldn’t ignore their uselessness anymore.

“We can have a repeat of what happened last night.” After thinking for a couple of minutes, Ashton said, “Leaving them as they are would only do us more harm than good.”

“I agree.” Vimur nodded.

“I-I think so, t-too!” Laihud not-so-confidently spoke up.

“We need to teach them some basics. We don’t know when the next wave of attackers will come our way. That said, it’ll be wise to use whatever time we have to teach them a trick or two.”

“Right.” Vimur got up, “I’ll inform the others about it. Laihud, you go and gather those pesky runts. Beating them up might be a good way to release this stress.”