When Thirteen returned to the warehouse, he brought with him one Pocopoco, two Ogres, and ten Trolls.
The two Ogres were both Rank 3 Monsters, while the ten Trolls were all Rank 2.
He made sure to personally handpick them from the rest, which made Norris wonder how the boy’s Master, Jubei, was able to accumulate such wealth.
This lineup was equivalent to a middle-sized hunting Party, which typically ranged from twelve up to thirty individuals.
Most of the Monsters in the Warsor Plains came in herd or in groups of three and four, so Thirteen deemed that this setup would be the most ideal.
“All of you behave, okay?” Thirteen looked at the slaves that were standing in front of him.
“You are not allowed to harm anyone from this warehouse in any way whatsoever. All of you will only take orders from me. If any of the people here give you orders, report it to me the next time you guys see me.”
The Trolls and Ogres eyed him, but none of them said anything. Thirteen didn’t mind their reaction and proceeded to call the one whom he would appoint as the temporary leader of the group.
“Come forward, T1,” Thirteen ordered.
Unlike Cristopher who bonded with his slaves, the seven-year-old didn’t want to form any attachment to his subordinates because he understood that losses would be inevitable.
Of course, this didn’t mean that he would purposefully send his slaves to their deaths.
As a System, he would make sure that all of them survived as long as it could be helped, allowing them to become his Core Unit as he traveled within the Sumatran Kingdom.
The naming scheme he came up with was straight to the point.
He named the ten Trolls T1 up to T10.
The two Ogres on the other hand were named O1 and O2.
The Troll whom he had called out stepped forward and looked at the boy in front of him with a glare.
Thirteen didn’t mind the looks of hatred aimed in his direction because he had already seen more than enough of them to last him several lifetimes.
“You will become the Temporary Leader of this group,” Thirteen ordered. “All of you will listen to T1’s orders. So my first order is this, start cooking and let everyone eat their fill. After that, rest up properly, and don’t bother the Human children resting in this place. That is all.”
The Troll grunted in acknowledgment of Thirteen’s orders.
With the help of Norris, the boy had bought several slabs of Monster meat. The amount he bought was enough to feed his slaves for a week.
He deliberately picked the Trolls who knew how to roast food, so he no longer needed to bother the other teenagers to cook for them.
After giving out his orders, he went straight to his room, carrying the cage of the Pocopoco.
The bird was only a foot tall, and it looked dumb on the surface.
But Thirteen knew more than anyone how intelligent these birds were. Even now, he could tell that the Bird was appraising his every move.
His previous host once said that Pocopocos might actually be smarter than Humans.
They simply acted stupid to ensure that their race wouldn’t be hunted down until the last bird due to Human greed.
This was also why those who learned how to tame Pocopocos kept this secret. They knew that this bird, who seemed to only know how to sh*t talk and annoy people, could be very useful if used in the right situations.
‘Here comes the annoying part,’ Thirteen thought as he placed the cage of the Pocopoco on the table before opening it. ‘At times like this, I wish I could cut off my sense of hearing.’
The Pocopoco jumped out of the cage and stood on the table, looking at the boy with the same disdainful look on his face.
Thirteen stared at the dumb-looking bird for a full minute before removing the muzzle that covered its beak.
Taming a Pocopoco wasn’t that hard.
The problem was that in order to get their acknowledgment, their Masters must do one thing and that was…
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Murder!”
“Someone help!”
“Code Brown! I repeat, Code Brown!”
Thirteen sat on the chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
His gaze never left the Bird who had started to shout a bunch of nonsense as soon as the muzzle was taken off from its beak.
The Pocopoco jumped around the table and shouted as if trying to wake up the dead.
“Oh, no! It’s too big!”
“It’s not going to fit!”
“What are you doing step bro?!”
“You brute! This is my first time!”
“Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!”
“Itai! Itai!”
“That’s what she says!”
The Pocopoco changed its voice from a grown man to a woman. From a boy to a girl.
Unlike a parrot that could only use its own voice, the Pocopoco was very good at imitating the voice of others nearly to perfection.
“You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you just have to find it!”
“Would you let me see your panties?”
“I Am Going To Be The Pirate King!”
Thirteen’s gaze remained locked on the bird who was busy clowning around, performing its one-sided parody.
“You can’t change the world with pretty words alone.”
“If strength is justice, then is powerlessness a crime?”
“When will the war end?”
“When someone wins.”
“All Hail Britannia!”
After nearly an hour of making a ruckus, the Pocopoco finally stopped shouting and gave Thirteen a sidelong glance.
The boy was still looking at the dumb-looking bird, which had a cheeky look in its eyes.
“Are you done?” Thirteen asked after a full minute passed with the bird not saying anything.
“Heh~” The Pocopoco hopped on top of the table and directly stopped in front of the boy, whose gaze remained as calm as the surface of the lake.
“Are you stupid?” the Pocopoco asked.
“Yes,” Thirteen replied.
“I don’t like stupid people,” the Pocopoco said. “So I’ll ask you again. Are you stupid?”
“I’m not stupid.”
“I don’t like stupid people.”
“Good. I also don’t like them.”
“Heh~”
“Heh.”
“Hoh~”
“Hoh.”
“Kekeke.”
“Kekeke.”
“Stop imitating me!” The Pocopoco demanded.
The corner of Thirteen’s lips curled up into a smile. Now that the Pocopoco was paying proper attention to him, it was finally time to get its acknowledgment.
“What was the seventh phrase I said when I started talking?” the Pocopoco asked.
“What are you doing step bro?!” Thirteen replied.
“What is the thing that I don’t like the most?” the Pocopoco inquired.
“Stupid people,” Thirteen answered.
“When will the war end?” the Pocopoco asked.
“When someone wins,” Thirteen replied.
The Pocopoco continued to ask Thirteen questions, and all of these questions were all about the things that it had said over the past hour.
Thirteen answered all of them correctly, without making a single mistake.
Finally, half an hour later, the Pocopoco stopped talking. The dumb look on its face disappeared, replaced by a wisened gaze, which made the boy finally sigh in relief in his heart.