Ateia and Taog glanced between NSLICE-00P and Estrith, then back at each other. Ateia shrugged and then turned to the Dobhar.

“Um, hello. My name is Ateia.”

She stuck out her hand.

Estrith growled at her.

“Do not speak to me, human.”

Ateia frowned, but took a step back. Taog narrowed his eyes at her, but didn’t bother attempting a greeting of his own.

And as for NSLICE-00P…

She was already walking away.

“Query: Friendlies Ateia and Taog need to coordinate with Exploratores authorities, correct?”

The human, half-wulver, and Dobhar all turned to looked. Estrith scowled at the humans once more and then fell in line behind NSLICE-00P. Ateia and Taog sighed and then followed suit.

“Yeah, that’s right. What will you do, Seero?”

“Response: This unit will confirm the friendlies’ schedule, then fulfill the terms of the agreement with the Empire’s authorities.”

And as the group walked back to the city, NSLICE-00P turned her attention to the NSLICE network. She had flagged an issue for review once the urgent situation had been handled, and now that the battle and all negotiations had concluded she was ready to investigate.

And as NSLICE Lilussees has stated…it seemed her spider subordinates had not entered a single rest cycle since joining the NSLICE network.

The NSLICE implants could accelerate sleep cycles and promote alertness…but they did not remove the need for sleep entirely. So this situation seemed anomalous and potentially problematic. NSLICE-00P requested individual logs from the spider subordinates.

“Analyzing…”

It didn’t take her long to identify the issue.

The NSLICE implants installed by the foreign system were not rigorously designed and tested in a real engineering process. Rather, they were based entirely off of NSLICE-00P’s own, and simply copied on with some adjustments for size, with magic making up the difference. This was especially apparent in the software, which only had the most basic protocols required for the implants to even function.

As such, the implants and their software in particular had not been adjusted for her subordinates’ specific biologies, and was assuming human, or at least mammalian physiology. NSLICE Lilussees and the other spiders were simply not giving off the same physiological rest indicators as the mammalian subordinates, and so as far as the software was concerned never required a rest cycle.

NSLICE-00P analyzed this situation. As with her own organic fueling scenario, it did seem that the mana she was feeding her subordinates helped them remain at peak condition, physically at least. But still, she didn’t know the long-term effects of replacing biological needs with mana. Likewise, there were psychological effects to consider as well, especially as it seemed the emotional controls were a casualty of the barebones software transfer. It was clear that NSLICE Lilussees was accumulating stress at present. Finally…the rest cycles were also necessary to the cybernetic components as well. They needed regular chances to reset, clear any accumulated software errors, optimize memory storage, and perform general software-related maintenance.

All in all, it was necessary to restore adequate rest cycles.

So she contacted NSLICE Lilussees within the monster hangar.

“Request: Please provide this unit with a necessary rest schedule.”

NSLICE Lilussees jumped. She sighed.

“Like, what do you even mean, boss? I’m, like, too tired to figure out what you’re trying to say, or something.”

“Alternate Rephrasing: How much sleep does NSLICE Lilussees require?”

Lilussees froze.

“...what?”

“Alternate Rephrasing: How long do NSLICE Lilussees’s organic components need to remain dormant for adequate maintenance?”

She started to tremble.

“Boss…are you, like, asking how much I need to sleep?”

“Affirmative.”

Her trembling grew.

“As in…like, you can change these things…to let me sleep?”

“Affirmative.”

Lilussees collapsed onto the floor, splaying all her limbs in every direction. She spoke in a tiny voice.

“Always. Like, as much as I want, please.”Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Analyzing…Results: As NSLICE Lilussees’s implants cannot accurately read her physiology, manual control determined as an effective solution. Adjusting rest cycle management protocols to manual control by organic components. Setting default state to disabled.”

Lilussees continued trembling. With great anticipation and fear, she attempted to sleep…

She blacked out immediately.

And would not leave her room for days afterwards.

Once inside, the group made their way back to the keep. All the soldiers glared at Estrith…but fortunately no altercations occurred. Once at the keep, a pair of guards escorted them to the war room.

Dux Canus turned to face the newcomers.

“Ah, NSLICE-00P, welcome. May we help you?”

Most of the Imperials weren’t sure what to make of NSLICE-00P. Her deeds had been so fantastic most of them were still processing what they had seen. But Dux Canus didn’t survive several centuries by being slow to adapt. At the end of the day, NSLICE-00P had saved all of their lives, and that was enough for him. Even the situation involving the Dobhar wasn’t bad for him personally. Yes, it was uncomfortable that they had to rely on this stranger to keep the Dobhar in check…but they had to rely on her to survive in the first place so that didn’t change anything.

After all, it would be Governor Aemilia’s job to explain to the Empire later why all that land had been lost and why a previously hostile tribe was allowed to settle within its borders while remaining independent. So Dux Canus was free to be purely grateful for NSLICE-00P’s help.

And all that worrying amount of power at an impossibly low level? The mana to fling around strategic spells like magic missiles, implying quantities even a Celestial Elf might envy? The ability to multicast dozens of spells simultaneously? Somehow piercing the magic defense of King Uscfrea Spellbreaker himself with what looked like basic Light Beams?

Well, the Aesdes said she was a hero and the Empire was about to declare her a friend. And even if she became a problem one day, it wasn’t like the limitanei of Turannia could do anything about it.

So Dux Canus simply decided it wasn’t his business!

The Empire had told him to handle Turannia’s defense on his own, so that’s what he’d do. And then the Empire could handle a powerful and unaffiliated wandering hero with an army of Dobhar on its own in turn.

The long-serving veteran was not at all upset about being abandoned, or anything.

“Request: This unit would like to confirm training schedule for friendlies Ateia Niraemia and Taog Sutharlan.”

“Ah.”

Dux Canus glanced over to Miallói, who shrugged.

“Already warriors. With their friend…the strongest.”

He glanced at Magister Tiberius, and both men sighed.

He turned back.

“It seems their training is finished. They’ll need to stop by the Exploratores HQ once we’re done with the clean-up here but they’ll be full Exploratores at that point.”

Ateia and Taog’s eyes widened at that. They glanced over at Miallói, who nodded back at them.

“Acknowledgedment: This unit thanks Empire authority Dux Canus for the update. Query: Where is the currency storage location?”

Dux Canus rubbed his chin for a moment.

“Oh, for the indemnity? We weren’t planning on collecting that just yet, but if you’re ready for the first payment, I can have someone show you to the treasury.”

“Acknowledged. Request: This unit will request that assistance.”

Dux Canus nodded and turned to one of the guards. The guard saluted and led the group through the keep.

A short while later, Legate Opiter was in his office, hard at work. The man may not have had much to do during the fight, but his true battle had only begun. Castra Turannia needed to be cleaned up and repaired, casualties needed to be counted and identified, evacuated civilians needed to be returned, and citizens and towns needed to be compensated for all the damaged property. The end of a battle like this entailed huge quantities of logistical work and documentation…that most Legates wouldn’t normally bother with as the Empire hardly ever checked these days. Basic reports and reasonable clean-up were generally good enough, especially after a victory. But Legate Opiter was never brave enough to stray from the official manuals, and so everything was being handled exactly according to Legion policy.

In fact, Legate Opiter didn’t even realize he was doing more than what the Legion normally required. All he knew was that there was a great deal of documentation that needed to be handled to get the Legion's affairs in order. What he didn’t realize is that at least half of what he was doing would normally be handled by the Governor’s staff, or a supporting Imperial bureaucracy.

Unfortunately, he was in Turannia. Governor Aemilia hadn’t even been allowed to bring most of her staff when she was…’promoted’ to the position. And Turannia was never large enough to justify its own branch of the Imperial bureaucracy…and didn’t have enough educated citizens to build one on its own.

Particularly not when they had a wonderful legate who had handled much of the affairs of seemingly his own accord. Anything that needed to be handled for the Legion to function…which since Turannia was a de facto military colony was basically everything.

And so Legate Opiter once again secured his job in Dux Canus’s mind.

It was just as the Legate finished off another stack of documents that the door slammed open.

“Legate, we have a situation!”

Legate Opiter didn’t even glance up.

“Command over Castra Turannia is currently held by Dux Canus, please refer the situation to him.”

“No, sir, it’s not anything like that. It’s…the treasury.”

Legate Opiter froze.

He had a bad feeling about this.

“W-What…do you mean?”

The soldier frowned.

“Well…it’s…you better come see for yourself, sir.”

Legate Opiter started to tremble. He grabbed a piece of dried meat nearby and tore off a chunk.

He had a really bad feeling about this.

Neat, identically sized stacks of Idrint coins filled the room to the brim. The clerks scrambled, desperately trying to count and record all the money.

And of course, that terrifying wandering knight was there.

Her companions and the guards were just staring at her, gaping in shock.

The strange wandering knight was walking up and down the room at the edge of the stacks. And as she did, new stacks appeared with a flash of light, growing until they reached the same height as the others. She then continued walking, creating more stacks until she reached the end of the room, at which point she immediately turned around and came back the other way, adding yet another row.

Legate Opiter froze.

And his mind slowly, ever so slowly, began to turn.

The terrifying wandering knight…

Was clearly using some sort of magic box…

To pay a war indemnity…

In single Idrint coins…

All of which she currently carried on her person…

And now which he would be responsible for counting…

Legate Opiter passed out.

And then unfortunately came to as warm mana filled his body. He looked up to find himself surrounded by a human girl, a half-wulver, and the guards and clerks.

And the terrifying wandering knight, who had formed a magic circle over his body.

“Statement: Imperial authority ‘Legate Curio’ restored to optimal condition. Observation: No damage was detected, this unit’s analysis indicates the cause was excessive stress. This unit recommends a reduction in Legate Curio’s stress levels.”

Legate Opiter bit down a scream.

The nightmare would never end.