The room fell silent again until Grandpa Noris broke the silence with a nod. "I’m with you, Miss deia. Even these old bones can still learn a trick or two." He talked to others, "Co on! No one will die just because we learn how to fight, right?"
Back when she ruled as Queen of Hell, her minions weren’t exactly alive. Teaching them to fight had been a brutal, harsh affair because, frankly, they couldn’t die twice. Here, though? The humans were entirely different.
She could be gentle, sure. But where was the fun in that? deia’s idea of training leaned more toward tough love—emphasis on the "tough."
[Host, if soone dies in your training class, then you’ll be dood.]
deia sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair.
She was already working too much lately, leading this group, improving the base, and fulfilling the system’s endless demands. On top of all that, she had to keep them alive, even if they were slower than snails when it ca to learning.
Why did I agree to this again? Oh, right, Lucian.
"Yeh, no one will die in the training class." deia smiled. "Lucian will make sure of that."
If she weren’t sure of keeping that promise, then deia just needed to throw it to a more appropriate person.
The group exchanged glances, and one by one, murmurs of agreent filled the room. The hesitation wasn’t gone completely, but it had diminished enough for deia to call it progress.
"Good!" deia clapped her hands once, signaling the room’s attention. "Let’s move to the next question, then. What other questions are there?"
Lucian whispered, "The base is crowded."
"Oh, right. With more people, it’s inevitable that things will get chaotic. That’s why Lucian will create a new schedule to distribute the workload evenly based on everyone’s capabilities," deia said with a smile, as if the task was the simplest thing in the world.
Lucian furrowed his eyebrows. He was beginning to notice the pattern, every difficult or tedious task sohow ended up on his plate. However, he didn’t complain. "Sure."
"All right, next," deia said, her eyes scanning the room. "About winter ... I’ve already secured winter clothing from Richard, so we only need to focus on gathering supplies like at and vegetables."
She paused for a mont. "I also plan to collect more permafrost soil from the Red Zone forest to build a large freezer room."
Lucian stepped in, his calm deanor reassuring the group. "Don’t worry. We’ll handle the collection safely and efficiently. The hunters and I will ensure the soil is transported back without any issues."
deia nodded. "Exactly. And once the freezer room is complete, it’ll make storing and preserving food much easier, especially during the harshest months."
"Any volunteers to help with the construction and preparation?" Lucian asked, looking over the group.
A few hands shot up, and deia made a ntal note of who had stepped forward. "Good. Thank you for your willingness to contribute." She continued, "Oh, before I forgot, I want to tell you about our new token."
She got excited as she reached under the table and pulled out a wooden box. Harry, who had initially dismissed it as a random container, raised an eyebrow when deia opened it to reveal dozens of neatly arranged bracelets.
"From now on, everyone has to wear one of these," deia announced, holding up a bracelet for the crowd to see.
"What are those?" Eldric asked, leaning forward to get a better look.
"These are special bracelets," deia continued, "Once you put one on, it binds to you. No one else will be able to use it afterward. That makes them perfect for identifying who belongs here."
Harry tilted his head. "And what happens if soone refuses to wear it?"
deia’s expression turned cold, her smile fading. "Then they’re not part of this base. It’s simple." Her tone left no room for debate.
"Why would soone refuse to wear these?" Lucian defended her, "The bracelets are not dangerous. See? I’m even wearing one."
"Well, yeah. It doesn’t look like a threat," said Naomi.
Other people nodded in agreent. deia then asked Harry to distribute the bracelets to them, so they could imdiately wear it.
’This way, they’ll do what I say, right?’ asked deia to the system.
[No, Host. They’re just being more loyal to you, but it doesn’t an they’ll follow all of your words.]
[Please, don’t use dictatorship in this base.]
deia sighed internally. ’Am I really that bad in your eyes? Do you think I’d beco a dictator?’
[...]
deia didn’t want to talk with the system further because she would definitely get angry.
"I guess that’s it!" deia said, "I’ve answered your questions and they happen to be related to the topic I want to discuss today. Let’s wrap this eting up."
"Hey, you forgot to answer one question!" Naomi shouted from the back of the room. "What about your relationship?! That’s the most important thing right now."
This bitch.
deia twitched her mouth because Naomi definitely deliberately said that to tease her. Obviously she already knew about their relationship, but still wanted her to answer that question openly.
"Yes, deia and I are together." Lucian was the one who answered that embarrassing question. "We are a couple, so please don’t make it awkward. We’ve got enough things to focus on."
deia didn’t quite understand why they acted like that question was the most important matter.
However, how could she bla them?
Lucian had been walking in and out of her bedroom regularly, and she had caught a few curious glances from the people whenever he was around. It was only natural they’d want to know the truth.
"Alright, enough with the personal questions," deia said, clearing her throat and trying to regain control. "Let’s focus on the tasks at hand, shall we?"
When no one had any more questions, deia finally closed the eting. "Alright, everyone, get to work. Lucian, we’ll need to coordinate with the hunters about the supplies. Make sure the winter clothing is properly distributed, and I’ll start preparing the training schedules for the rest."
Lucian nodded. "Got it."
deia was about to leave the room, but Matilda suddenly approached her. "deia, do you have a minute?"
"Yeah, sure. Why?" asked deia.
"It’s about the pregnant won." Matilda said, "The night air is too cold for them, so I’m thinking maybe we can use one of the rooms on the first floor to keep them warm."
deia thought about it for a while, then said, "I don’t think this place is safe for them either. The building is still under construction, so I’m afraid it’s too risky for the pregnant won to stay here, especially with the dust everywhere."
"Actually, I think they can stay in the dical bay for a while," suggested deia.
"dical bay? Are you sure?" Matilda seed hesitant. Maybe it was because the dical bay was filled with a lot of important things, so she thought deia wouldn’t let them stay there.
"Yeah, why not?" deia replied, her tone firm but reassuring. "I asked Richard to build that place first, so they can be looked after properly. The dical bay also has better insulation, so it’s warr there."
Matilda was taken aback. "You ... you really care for them, don’t you?
deia creased her forehead. Did I care?
She was even confused as to why she thought she built the dical bay for pregnant won.
The dical bay was supposed to serve as a place for ergencies, treatnts, and any kind of dical care the people might need. But sohow, the thought of keeping the pregnant won there felt ... right.
Was that really the intention?
Why was she suddenly becoming more human these days?
"Maybe." deia shrugged. "Who cares about my intentions? Anyway, let’s just tell them to move tonight."
"Do you ... want to help us move there?"
deia paused for a mont, unsure of what to say.
Part of her felt like she should just stay out of it, let Matilda and the others handle it. But then again, sothing about the request tugged at her.
For so reason, she felt curious to see them up close. "Sure, I’ll help."
Matilda smiled brightly. "Alright. I’ll tell them to move first."
deia followed Matilda as she went to inform the pregnant won about the move. She then helped them to bring their clothes and extra blankets to the dical bay.
"Joy and lody are living here, so you don’t have to worry if sothing goes wrong at night," inford deia.
The dical bay had a sleep room for the doctors. But since it wasn’t that big, Joy decided the girls would live there, while the boys would live in the quarters.
"Thank you, Miss deia." One of the pregnant won, Sasha, smiled at her. Her pregnancy was already quite advanced, and she looked both tired and grateful. deia guessed she would be in labor in a few weeks. "You’re really kind to us."
That. They used that word again.
"I’m not that kind," deia said, her voice firm yet compassionate. "Your kids will be useful for this base too, so of course, I’ll make sure all of you are well taken care of."
Sasha didn’t seem offended by her words. Maybe she had gotten used to her harshness. Instead of getting angry, she offered sothing unexpected to deia. "Miss deia, do you want to feel my baby? I think my baby will like you."
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