"Absolutely not!" Toasty said, his unexpected outburst silencing even the most fringe conversations.
"... Is that true, milord?" Shammura said, downtrodden. "Do you not feel comfortable around me? Do I make you feel... insecure?"
She looked up at him from below this time, her expression pleading like a scolded puppy. Toasty glared at Nostromo as if to say "now look what you've done". He put an armored hand on Shammura's shoulder.
"No, Shammura," he said. "That's not what he meant."
"Then what did he mean, milord?" she asked.
"I, uh..." Toasty said, stuttering. Shammura started sniffing, her eyes moist with barely restrained tears.
"All I w-wanted was to serve you so you'd l-love me, milord," she sniffled. "What did I do wrong? Did I d-disappoint you somehow? Please, tell me! If I've truly l-let you down, then let me make it up to you by killing myself after taking your life!"
A knife flashed brightly like the light reflecting off of Shammura's teary face, but when he was in his armor, all it did was bounce harmlessly off of Toasty's chestplate. He hadn't created Shammura with physical strength in mind, so a knife alone could not penetrate his armor. Still, Shammura stabbed and swung, futilely trying to kill Toasty with what may as well have been a blunt spork.
Crying, she tried even harder to complete the task that had been given to her. Finally, after a certain number of tries, Toasty just caught her knife hand by the wrist, holding it gently.
"Shammura," he said. "I am not disappointed in you. You are my creation. Any fault in you lies with me, and I could not be prouder of your loyalty and dedication, or more flattered by your love. Our circumstances may have changed, and it's true that this world is upsetting and unsettling, for all of us, but do not think that that is your fault. You have done exactly as you were told to. Understood?"
Shammura sniffed, wiped the tears from her eyes, and smiled. "You mean I may continue to try and kill you in the future, Toasty-sama?"
"Y-Yeah..." Toasty said, regretting his decision to word it like that. "Just... don't try to do it too much when we are traveling together. It may draw attention to us, and detract from vital guild business."
Shammura's wide eyes glimmered. "You mean-!"
"I told you, didn't I? A Ragnavault without either of you is just as lost as a man missing both his right and left hands. As your guildmaster, I refuse to make that sacrifice. If you must make this a personal errand Nostromo, then I'm coming with you, as is Shammura. Our friends and remaining NPCs can keep order in the fortress for a few hours a day in my absence. I trust them all with that much, don't you?"
Not like I really do all that much anyway...
To Lady Pastry, he said, "Sorry, Lady Pastry, but I think the reason Nostromo wants to go is so he can hypnotize a local scholar, and learn the language directly. I've spent enough time around him to guess how his mind works. I hate to divert such valuable time and resources away from the Ragnavault, but he's right. This will become important later, and Nostromo is the best and most effective candidate for the job. Additionally, this trip may give us an opportunity to establish trade relations with the locals. As the guild's primary financial supervisor, it would be foolish for me not to go."
He turned to address the other guild members. "Everyone! While Nostromo, Shammura and I gather information on the indigenous people, you all are to see to your previously agreed upon tasks. If you did not volunteer or were not given a job to do, I expect you to find something productive to do for the betterment of the Ragnavault. However," he said, his voice taking on a serious tone. "If you decide to take any action that you feel may put the Ragnavault at risk or reveal our existences, you are to inform me immediately, preferably before doing anything stupid in the heat of the moment. That includes you, Donut-san. We don't know yet what other effects our arrival here may have had on our minds as well as our bodies, so I expect you to keep your anger under control. Understood?"
Before Nostromo could voice any objections, Toasty added, in a much quieter voice, "If you're worried about those people realizing we're not actually human like they are, Shammura has a wide variety of mind and memory alteration spells to divert attention away from us. Additionally, the three of us look close enough to human to pass for it. As long as I don't remove my voice modulator and armor, they'll never know. I specially created Shammura to be a tailless demon, so you two just need to hide your fangs. If we do that, we shouldn't arouse too much suspicion."
Lastly, he silently cast Message, and sent a text message to Nostromo.
i'll explain later.
Fish of Oblivion