Harbingers of Change

It had only been two days since Lady Milim's visit, but his life had turned completely upside down. Hermes, together with Middray, were in the process of separating their people into those who wished to stay in their isolated sedentary style and those who would leave their current homes and integrate into the Hegemony as a whole. Of course, anyone could return to the dragon city at any time, as long as they were willing to uphold the laws and traditions within, meaning it wasn't an end-all-be-all cutting of the connections, just encouragement to move on with the times from their new superiors.

The first camp would be set about fifty kilometers away from the city limits to ensure no farms or hunting grounds were caught in any crossfire between the two groups after much verification. From there, the colonization process would start, with groups gradually moving north towards Jura while colonization efforts from Jura moved south to meet them in the middle.

There were a lot of eager people ready to embrace the new ways, especially after hearing that Milim herself immensely enjoyed the fruits of progress and lived in wonderous luxury together with other leaders of Tempest, especially the young believers and the mercenaries.

On the opposite end were the older generations, those closer to their twilight years. They stood firmly with Middray in his belief that nature gave perfection, and that the so-called progress was nothing more than pale imitation, or even degradation. No mortal innovation could ever top God's creations.

Hermes had tried to explain to them countless times that more advanced things were included in God's creation; everything was. There was no real reason why meals couldn't be cooked, why advanced farming methods couldn't be used, or why artistic endeavors shouldn't be a part of everyday life. After all, God had created everything for us to use. At some point, he had given up on changing their obstinate minds. After all, you can hit your head against the wall only so many times before giving up and moving on to walking around it.

Yet the most unexpected help came. As more and more people, mainly clerics, gathered in front of the palace, a gate opened and Milim returned. This time followed by a massive orc in a chef's hat and a pink-haired kijin girl. After them came a literal army of maids pushing carts with large cauldrons, a stack of clay bowls, and wooden spoons. Hermes was a traveled man, being the primary front of the Dragon Faithful when interacting with mercenaries and the occasional merchants, but even he didn't immediately recognize what sort of meal was inside the cauldron by smell alone.

"Listen up, I got some help and everyone's getting one meal from two of the best chefs in the whole world!" Milim announced as maids continued to arrive with carts through the gate.

"What is this?" Middray approached one of the carts and inspected its contents critically. He even leaned down and took a closer look, sniffing with suspicion. "What was done to the food? Why is it hot?" He asked as he took a step back.

"It's delicious. Middray, try it!" Milim grew insistent.

"Lady Milim, this is a blasphemy against nature. It's all wrong." Middray shook his head.

Hermes started to raise his finger to remind Middray that it was a gift from Milim herself and to reject it would be very rude, but his attention fell on the kijin girl who in a mere moment had turned from a very picture of tranquility to a wrathful oni ready to wipe the whole city from the face of the world, starting with Middray.

His survival instinct urged him to get out of the way, so he did just that, rushing over to one of the carts and accepting a simple clay bowl that was filled with a divinely smelling meat stew, garnished with greens, from the presented maid, beckoning his supporters to do the same. There also was a slice of very earthy-smelling bread, giving the impression that the author of this visual masterpiece deeply understood how to elevate each part of the dish in all its aspects.

He also received a delicate wooden spoon from a smiling maid with rabbit ears and dug in while glancing sideways at Middray, who was still blissfully unaware of the storm heading his way as the latter refused to even touch the food. With the first spoonful reaching his mouth, Hermes froze on the spot. Never in his life had he tasted something so delicious. Each ingredient had its distinct taste, yet combined, they created a symphony of flavor, both integrated and complex and down to earth at the same time, incomparable to anything he had ever tasted before. To get full experience he instantly grabbed the bread and bit off a small piece. 'Did Lady Milim bring us the meal of Gods? To be given simple roots and meat after this would feel like an insult.'

Meanwhile, the furious girl had stomped over to the stubborn head priest and gotten in his face despite being a full head shorter. "Sister gathered us all to make meals for her followers and even helped in the kitchen herself and you call it a blasphemy!? How dare you say something so insulting!?"

Hermes almost choked on food when he saw Middray take a step back and raise his hands defensively. As a man of caution, he decided not to stare into the eye of the storm and turned away from the scene, deciding to let it play out. It wasn't his business as of now. He sampled another mouthful and departed to the lands of pure flavor as continuous screaming raged in the background.

When the conflict behind him finally subsided, Middray appeared by his side with all the demeanor of a whipped puppy. The high priest of the Dragon Faithful also accepted a bowl of stew and a piece of bread and, for a moment, just stood there, staring at the food, refusing to eat it.

"It's great, the best food I have ever tasted." Hermes encouraged the stubborn dragonewt, who was poking a piece of meat with a spoon as if bracing to ingest a most deadly poison.

Finally, under the scrutiny of countless eyes, both native and foreign, Middray put a small spoonful in his mouth. Hermes couldn't resist, he needed to see the reaction. There was none. Middray just stood there eating, his expression completely blank as if he didn't possess taste buds at all, mechanical in his movements. The older dragonewt continued to eat without giving away any reaction, both fully consuming the stew and the piece of bread as Hermes watched while savoring his own meal. He even asked for seconds, but the maid said they would serve everyone once first before allowing for second helpings, and Middray just kept on consuming the stew, slowly but surely.

As Middray put down the bowl, the massive orc chef lumbered over to them and asked with a hint of anger in his tone, "Was the dish to your liking?"

Going by the body proportions alone, the orc likely could tear a grown dragonewt in half with his bare hands, but the chef was hiding his power completely so Hermes couldn't even guess the outcome of a fight if one occurred. Plus, if the chef had been sent here, he surely had some form of power, given that he was the apparent leader of the cooking entourage.

Midray looked up, his expression unreadable, staring back at the orc. He did a quick bow and then walked past the mountain of the creatures towards Lady Milim.

Hermes tensed up. Whatever was wrong with Middray, it surely would anger the dragonoid. She had made all this effort to treat her followers and the most devoted one was likely to go on another rant about how unspoiled nature goods were better. He began crunching the numbers on repairs he'd have to pay for if this place was leveled, as things often were when their Goddess was angry.

Hermes almost choked like many of those beside him for the second time when he saw Middray prostrate before Milim and begin crying, "I am so sorry. I am not worthy of leading your worshipers, for I have made such a grave error in my judgment. I understand now how wrong my actions have been in insisting on giving you subpar offerings."

"Hey, hey, it's alright!" Milim stammered, her eyes wide like saucers at the display.

"It seems your head priest finally understands, sister. Though giving him a meal prepared by sensei Tokitsu might have been too much," The oni girl commented, grinning smugly.

"Yeah… Middray, I'm not mad. At least not anymore. I just wanted for you to understand." Milim was apologetic as she dragged the priest back to his feet, propping him upright.

"I will do better. With your permission, I will select people to train to make dishes you would enjoy." Middray sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"Oh, sure. You can take three or four apprentices, right?" Milim addressed the orc chef.

"With ease, Lady Milim. I will do my best to whip them in shape and be capable of making basic dishes in no time." The orc declared and didn't hesitate to make a round around the carts personally. As if he could sniff out talent, he pointed out five candidates, all of whom were sent through the portal moments later.

The small feast continued for about an hour until every single dragon cult member had gotten their share and the empty bowls were transported back to Tempest. Hermes had even enjoyed seconds and begun working with Middray on how to gradually handle the rest of the conservatives. Milim was one of the last to leave and she did so with a promise to return together with five trained cooks, who would, in turn, spread their newfound knowledge among her people.

The first week in the new camp was chaotic, to say the least. Hermes was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of tasks that needed to be delegated to his people, as the soon-to-be town would serve as a central supply hub and main headquarters for countless survey teams that were about to scout the region for resources, high and low. And they were only the first wave; once the first iron and other metal deposits were found, a mining operation would start in full swing, powered by both Jura natives and Dragon Faithful. At the same time, an army of skeletons under High-Orc supervision would start building the first major road through the province and mark additional spots for supply towns that would facilitate the colonization process, simultaneously setting up defensive lines and posts as well.

He was given a rather luxurious tent with more amenities than he was used to and a pair of useful attendants so he wouldn't be distracted with menial tasks like cleaning the place, washing his clothing, or preparing the meals; tasks Hermes, like all dragon priests, performed himself before. There was even a bath, with the option to have warm water and all kinds of pleasantly smelling soaps, which he often used to relax at the end of the day. He still wore his simple outfit, but there was mild pressure from his servants to at least let them upgrade his wardrobe, even if he chose to keep the simple style.

With him in the tent's office area were his new advisors and the undead guards, each one more useful than the last. In order to assist with the new and rapidly enlarging administrative duties, the Supreme Overlord had sent over a trio of elder liches, with a promise that more would come as the region's population grew and more information was supplied about the demand for administration. The pale and slightly rotting creatures, clad in dark robes and floating just above the ground, were an unsettling sight, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. They were quite useful as secretaries and keeping children away from his tent though.

To oversee the finances and UTC operations in the region, Lady Shalltear had sent one of her vampire servants, along with a group of bat-like monsters in case things went wrong or he needed quick transportation. Unlike his other advisors, the young pale woman was surely easy to the eyes. Clad in a three-piece dress suit and with her pitch-black hair tied in a bun, she wore a light smile that slightly revealed her fangs, and she was quite popular with his direct subordinates.

Hermes did his best to keep a semblance of order, but same as him, his peers weren't used to this new environment, and his immediate subordinates came in constantly reporting accidents or mix-ups and asking for clarifications throughout the day.

As if things couldn't get more hectic, a gate opened right in his tent, with Milim being the first to step through it. She was followed by two dark elves, one of whom Hermes recognized and had already met: Mare. The other one near identical to Mare was no doubt his sister Aura, whom Hermes had heard about.

"Heya. Aura and I will wrangle some dragons for taming and Mare will go over my territories to see if there are plants that can be cultivated. Assign a few people to help him?" Milim brashly issued orders and both girls were gone even before he could respond, dashing off into the setting sun.

Mare, meanwhile, stared at him with an unreadable expression as Hermes jumped to his feet to assign people to help Milim's boyfriend whose might he had already witnessed. Luckily, there were a few people still mingling about and without duties, and they would hopefully know how to guide the dragonoid's boyfriend. Any non-monstrous vegetation grown in larger numbers would be useful, even if he knew it would be more paperwork a few hours later once the reports rolled in.

With that out of the way, he could resume his duties and try to avoid complete chaos in the camp for at least a few more days. Tempest was pressing changes left, right, and center and wanted results fast, and if he wanted to keep his position and make Milim proud, he needed to keep up. The last thing Hermes wanted was to put Milim in a bad light, as the failures of her subordinates ultimately reflected on her image as a ruler.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by Stac, fvvck, Malguis, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, Alassandro, Clagan, aidan_lo, and CakeEight.

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