Skill Hunter -Kill Monsters, Acquire Skills, Ascend to the Highest Rank!

251. Preconceptions

Rufus and his men stood in a line atop the battlements. Ike marched back and forth, looking them up and down. Wisp followed after him, miming his actions in some strange game of her own. He didn't stop her, because the double-effect seemed to be intimidating Rufus' foot soldiers. Even if Rufus wouldn't obey him, if he could control the foot soldiers, he still controlled three-fifths of Rufus' forces. That would be enough to give him an advantage.

Rufus had acknowledged his rule, but he wasn't convinced that Rufus would actually follow his orders. Saying 'yes' to be let inside was one thing, but actually following instructions under stress was another.

"We have injured. Tell your healer to stop following you around and heal our men," the old man snapped.

Ike paused. He looked at the old man, his eyebrows high. "I don't recall telling you I had a healer, nor offering any healer's services."

The old man nodded at Wisp. "The woman. That's why she's here, no?"

Ike stared, lost. He looked at Wisp, then at the old man. "Excuse me?"

"Women are only brought to the battlefield for the healing arts," the old man said, gesturing at Wisp again.

Ike looked at Wisp again. She nodded at him and gave him a thumbs up. "Give me the succulent injured man. I'll take reaaaaal good care of him."

"No," Ike said firmly. Yeah, she would eat the hell out of that guy. He turned back to the old man. "Alright, old guy. Listen. I don't know what kind of weird-ass preconceptions you have, but dear gods, you have way too many of them. Throw them away. They're getting in your way, and in Rufus', too. Do you know what she is?"

"A woman," the man said.

"A spider beast."

"So? She still has motherly instincts."

Wisp cackled.

Ike squinted at the old man. "Do you know what spiders do to their young? Because the answer isn't 'nurture them.' Stop applying weird preconceptions! She's not even a human, so why the hell would she act human? And while we're at it, why do you think women are only healers? I've met tons of female battle mages."

Relin cleared her throat. She leaned toward Ike, pointing at a sword-shaped broach on the man's chest. "I recognize his clan's insignia. They're a hardliner clan who strictly follow the teachings of the Father God, under an extreme-orthodox understanding of the Father God's teachings, at that. When understood as their clan understands the scripture, the Father God has very strict rules about what roles are for men, and which are for women."

"Does the Father God have any rules for beasts?" Ike asked.

She licked her lips. "I believe they're inferior and meant to be put to death or controlled."

"Ah." Ike looked back at Rufus' group slowly, taking them all in. "So how many of you are going to refuse to fight alongside a bunch of beasts?"

The old man raised his hand.

Ike nodded at the old man. "If you refuse to fight alongside beasts, then leave my castle this instant. My entire party is beasts except for myself and the Old Guard." And Shawn, but I really don't want to know what the Father God says about mountains. Probably to shit on them, or something, the way this has been going. "If you can't fight alongside them, then you can't fight on my team."

The old man nodded. He backed away, toward the edge of the wall. "So be it. We'll try another castle. Rufus!"

Rufus stared. He hadn't raised his men, nor had any of the rest of them. He frowned at the old man. "You told me you had thrown aside your extremist beliefs."

"Did I not? I haven't slain that foul beast. I'm even standing this close to it," the old man stated.

Rufus blinked, stunned. "I…"

"Did you never encounter beasts until now?" Ike asked.

Relin cleared her throat again. "Yourself aside, er, few people encounter, let alone party with, beasts. Most are too busy hunting monsters to consider beasts at all, except as fearsome things to avoid."

Ike nodded. "I actually get that, yeah." Until Wisp, he hadn't met many beasts, and it was only because he had Wisp on his side that he even thought of recruiting Mag. Experience more tales on empire

Turning back to Ike, Rufus continued, "The clan threw aside the old patriarch, who insisted on strict obedience to the Father God, three generations ago. The rest of us loosely follow the Father God, and plenty clan members no longer follow the Father God at all. I…" He looked at the man again, then subtly stepped away from him.

"Maybe you shouldn't listen to him and him alone…?" Ike suggested.

"I may have made a mistake," Rufus allowed, looking at the old man in a new light.

The old man clicked his tongue. "You're wiser than this, Rufus. I've lead you all this time. I never lead you wrong. Follow me. We'll find a stronger team."

Rufus looked at Ike, then at the old man. He shook his head. "Stronger team? No. You led me here for a reason. You know Ike has the most powerful team, the same as I do. The only reason you're walking away is because… like Ike said, you refuse to look at reality in front of you. Until you knew Ike's team was full of beasts, you were perfectly happy to cooperate with him. You won't cooperate with beasts because they're beasts, not because they're weak.

"You led me until this moment, but I won't let you lead me astray now. Seek yourself a different team." Rufus snorted, laughing at himself in a bitter tone. "Or did you lead me to Ike, not because he was powerful, but because he was a man? Only to flee, when you find out he's allied with beasts? You're a fool, Peter. Begone from my sights."

The old man grimaced. He shook his head. "You'll be back. You'll see." With that, he hopped off Ike's battlements and vanished into the forest.

"Well, well, well, Rufus. That was way more perceptive than I expected from you," Ike said, teasing him just a little.

Rufus grimaced. "Your words earlier made me think. When he rejected you now… it simply became clear. I don't like you, but I acknowledge your strength. I don't ever think I'll like you. That isn't important, though, is it?"

"No. And I would say that the feeling is thoroughly mutual," Ike returned with a nod.

"Hey, anyone want to give me the weak, tasty people?" Wisp asked, peering around Ike.

The wounded man flinched away. "Don't give me to her."

"We don't have a healer, but he can rest and heal himself in the castle. As for the rest of you…" Ike gestured them into the round room. "Let's take a few moments to figure out our strategy."