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There were no immediate bloodbaths, thankfully. Nestra’s mom would have probably fried the villagers where they stood if she were alone, but this was a diplomatic mission and so they let Tian handle it, and would probably keep doing it so long as things moved forward at a sufficient pace. Nestra hoped they would.
The first thing Tian did was gather and interrogate the villagers in a separate shed. She returned ten minutes later with a detailed map of where they would find the market, courtesy of a driver who’d been there once to deliver pu’er tea discs (Nestra was going to see if she could grab a few). By the time the interrogation was over, Tian was livid. She threatened the villagers, then melted the only local antenna with some angry fire spell to prevent them from using their phones. Nestra was willing to bet the whole village would be gone by the time the cops came for a ‘follow up’.
“Can we head there directly?” dad asked with a voice that wasn’t asking an actual question.
“Yes. By car it —”
“No car. We will run there. I will carry Mrs. Stibbons. Debbie dear, if you would take Nestra? Ulysses will take Helena.”
“She’s getting heavier by the year,” Ulysses complained, though he was smiling.
She gave him the finger.
“Wear proper armor and you’ll get proper muscles.”
“We are in agreement then?” dad pretend-asked again.