“Where am I?” Silver woke up with the rest of his gang members in a very comfortable room setting. However, that feeling was shaken off the moment he saw an unusual decor architecture and modern looking machines with tubes all sticking onto him as if he and the other werejackals were being experimented on.
“Awake? Feeling okay?” A bear looking humanoid was talking to Silver, and it was wearing some sort of white working suit, looking at a wooden board filled with papers. A piece of metal was in her paw, which she used to tap on it in a rhythm.
Silver was unsure how to react in this situation. The one in front of him did not appear dangerous, but the tubes on his body made him want to resort to violence. Yet it all changed when he heard a snort beside his bed.
“…Gold?” Silver saw his cousin Gold in his human form, dressed in clothes that were modest and convenient. Gold stood up and flicked Silver’s forehead.
“You little rascal. Always so strong headed when you are supposed to lead by example.” Gold scolded him. He folded his arms and told him to relax. “Those Pandas are just monitoring your vitals and checking if everything is alright for you. Consider this a sort of hospital.” Gold said out loud for the others who were waking up or already awake.
All of the werejackals immediately acknowledged his presence with a loud shout.
“How do I know if you are not just pretending to be the Gold that we know?!” Silver still did not believe the person right in front of him was the real deal.
“How? Simple. When you were just 17, you went behind Brown’s back and dated his sister. After all, not too long prior to that, you swore a supposed oath that you would be disfigured for life if you started dating her.” Gold said it out, and his cousin kept quiet for a while before Gold turned and pointed to a random Werejackal.
“You. I am sorry I can’t recall your name, but you assisted me in the Grand Library on the night of a half moon. I wanted to ditch work to see an opera play without people knowing, but you found me out. In the end, we made a deal. In exchange for your silence, I was to personally give you a one time lesson on basic magic.
“Lord Scholar! You remembered!” The mentioned werejackal immediately went to his knees on the bed and bowed his head down.
“And you. Argh, I hate to say this, but I did tell you that your Mother was smoking hot for her age. You even proposed to let me bang her if I let you access to the inner Archives of the Grand Library. You son of a-“
“Lord Scholar! Please! No more!!” Instead of bowing with respect, it was more like the werejackal was bowing for forgiveness.
“You want me to go on? I still have some dirt on the rest of them.” Gold looked into the round and saw everyone practically begging him not to go on. Finally, he transformed himself into the werejackal that they all uniquely recognised.
“Okay, okay! I get it now! We believe you! But there are so many questions in my head! How did we survive that attack? I remember seeing all of us getting dissected… What exactly is this place? That long hair battle combat lady told us you were being tortured by her client! Everything just doesn’t add up!” Silver looked very confused, and Gold laughed before returning to his Human form.
“Then there is much for me to tell you. But first, let me clear one thing up. None of you survived that attack. All of you were minced into pieces by her, Minotaur Maid Sebastia.” Gold said as he told them to get changed the moment the Panda Nurses gave them the go ahead.
He left the portal open to the Werejackals’ Home Instance. Slowly and surely, the werejackals entered through the portal entrance and saw a whole new sight where Gold was in as he sat on the large sofa. The fabulous mansions as well as other fellow werejackals that Silver presumed to be missing or worse, gone forever.
“Silver!” Grey saw Silver entering through the portal and went to hug him once.
“What is all this? I heard you disappeared with Gold after I was tasked to get Meomi to aid in some important business?” Silver was glad to see his buddy again.
“Ahhh…Seems like Gold has yet to explain everything. Have a seat, I will get you something to drink.” Grey replied as Brown was at the second level of the mansion shouting at Silver’s name as loud as he can.
“YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU!!!” Brown jumped and threw a flying kick to Silver’s face. Initially, Silver thought he could evade the attack, but in a split second of realisation, he saw how fast Brown had become and was unable to dodge in time, receiving the kick in full.
“How did you even hear what Gold said?!” Silver held on to his abdomen as Brown was still staring him straight in the face.
“Wait, what did Gold say? I was just joking around.” Brown looked at Gold innocently, and his leader only gave a shrug in reply.
“What DID Gold say?!” Brown pulled Silver up with anger.
“Chill! Calm down, Brown. I was just following with your joke!” Silver realising what was happening, tried to adapt as fast as possible. However, he could already feel more than beads of sweat running down his spine. If those were just prank punches, that meant Brown got stronger since the last time Silver saw him. In that case, it would mean real trouble if he got serious.
“Oh. Dayum. Sorry, Bro. Welcome to your new life.” Brown said as he bro hugged Silver (maybe a little too hard) and told him the same thing. To let Gold explain everything.
The remaining werejackals discharged by the Panda Nurses minutes later were now sitting in the living room of a spectacular mansion. A sight they never saw in their lives.
“First things first. I shall repeat this to get in your thick skulls. All of us in this room have died at least once.” Gold said to clear that white elephant out of the room. “You guys have been killed by Sebastia who was ten times, if not maybe a hundred times stronger than all of you.”
“But instead of death, you have been given a second chance in life. It might sound ridiculous but you are now all immortal.” Gold gave them a second to let it sink into them.
“However, nothing in life comes free. We all have to serve someone that has a higher calling than the rest of us. You all have been resurrected to serve our new Master, Jin. He possesses a …cosmic entity which pretty much defies the rules of magic or science.” Gold continued on by telling them how the first batch of Werejackals were killed and a summary of the events they had gone through.
After which, he brought the werejackals out and showed him the crops they had been making and explained to them that Jin was now working hand in hand with Gold along with the other werejackals to try and win back the Farming World. Or at least, annihilate the Demon Rats.
“So…Sebastia killed us to save us?” Silver asked for a confirmation.
“Pretty much. The last I heard was that she was going to kill the rebels that you were supposed to meet at the outskirts of Uote Town. She should probably be on her way there as we speak.” Gold answered and suddenly Silver’s eyes were wide open.
“No, no. You cannot do that! She will be facing very dangerous rebels!” Silver tried to explain when he found out how fucked up Sebastia would be.
“What are you talking about? You saw how fast and easy she killed all of you. You do not have to worry.” Gold countered.
“No, Cuz, YOU do not understand! Because of the constant raiding by the rats, the Jacks were nearly decimated. Since I was the highest rank after your disappearance, I had to do something about it… You remember the contact you gave us before you left us for good for this Jin person?” Silver asked to see if it jolts his memories,
“What?! You contacted the Eastern Region’s Dark Templars? How stupid can you get?! I thought I told you not to mess with them. I gave you that particular contact only to send them the scroll of Therianthropy Mitigation Spell in return for some aid packages.” Gold was furious at Silver’s actions.
“If not for the basic right of every inhabitant of our world NOT to turn into a Demon Rat, I’d have never wanted to deal with them! They are just as bad as the Demon Rats, looking to conquer the Northern Region.”
“What choice did I still have?! Since the Eastern Region Dark Templars wanted to help us eradicate the rats, I considered it to be a win win situation for us! Besides, I’d rather have the Dark Templars rule us by taking our wealth away than our freedom which the rats did!” Silver retaliated back.
“Was it… that dire?” Gold calmed down and decided to give Silver some room to explain the current situation.
“Ever since you left for that night, it was as if the Demon Rats knew exactly that you were away. They stormed the place with at least four battalions of troops. They brought heavy machinery, waiting outside to kill us all, burn us all. If not for the secret tunnel and escape route that you had created in advance we would have all perished.” Silver recalled the painful memories.
“Still, I barely managed to save a fourth of us. Afterwards, it only got worse. We were constantly raided resulting in further deaths. … Orange was killed and she is not coming back like I do!” Silver banged his fist at Gold’s chest in anger upon reminiscing the past. “Yet, you are here…growing your crops…trying to perfect your magic…serving some master!”
“…No words can -“
“THEN SHUT UP!!” Silver turned his fist into an uppercut attack but that blow did not even make Gold flinch a single bit. “Fuck! At least look injured!”
“As a leader of the Jacks, I cannot show weakness to anybody.” Gold said, but he grabbed onto Silver and moved him closer to his chest. “At the very least, cry and mourn while you can, right now, for the past comrades that served us well.”
Silver quietly teared in Gold’s embrace, and the other werejackals also kept their silence for these few moments. Gold knew that the Dark Templars should not be trifled with when he was alive in the Farming world.
The Dark Templars were a cult of knights that had literally fallen from grace. Lords that did not pay their knights enough, the Dark Templars killed them. Lords who mistreated their knights as well as their citizens, the Dark Templars killed them.
They believed they were the true wielder of justice, doing what was needed to be done for they were the judge and executioner of everything unjust in their eyes. That was why the infestation of the Demon Rats made them the prime target for the Dark Templars. They were the epitome of injustice and they would do anything to remove them… but of course, for a price.
Gold dealt with them before because they were the only few who dared to practice the dark arts. Thus, as a Scholar of the East, it was his responsibility to remain impartial to all, as long as they contributed their knowledge to the Grand Library.
Ironically this was also why the Dark Templars favoured the Scholars of the Compass, for they saw the value of their knowledge more important than morals and ethics which the common folk judged them for. When Gold shared the mitigation spell with them to research and to see if their dark arts could be of any aid, they were extremely elated. They knew that the Scholar of the East would understand their ‘justice’ in the dark arts they wielded.
And now with nowhere else to go, Silver and the remnants of Jacks were forced to seek help from the Dark Templars to ask for assistance in rounding up the remaining resistance they had. But after Sebastia killed Silver and took his place to meet the vice commander of the Dark Templars, he was afraid that she was no match for him despite her demonstration of powers on the werejackal.
“That is exactly why! You should inform that- erm Lady!” Silver warned Gold. “You know how they even have contracts with Demons to perform their dark arts.”
Gold laughed at both at Silver’s plea and current plight. “I am surprised how you are willing to help a person that just killed you.”
“Ehh, she let us learn the truth of your disappearance and also reunited us… even if the process, according to you, could have been more peaceful.” Silver said as he and the other werejackals agreed.
“Then you do not have to worry. Instead, you should plan how you are going to explain the situation to the vice commander of the Dark Templars when he reaches here.” Gold smirked at the situation that was about to go down.
“For Sebastia is a being that the demons of our world should be afraid of.” Gold said proudly in front of them.
“I think.” Except for the last part, which he quietly whispered in his head.
