The gnolls now lay before me bound. I know they could break out if they tried but the fear of what I did with their brethren was instilled deep in their minds. They didn’t dare try anything right now.

  Not too long my black bear henchman ran out of the gate doors at top speed. Before he did what I suspect he was planning on doing, I raised my claw to motion him to stop. He halted in his tracks, understanding the situation and stayed silent.

  I return my attention back to the quivering gnolls. Looking at their miserable expression, I made my decision.

  “I have decided what to do with you all…” I announced to them all.

  No one said anything, anticipation filled the air as they waited for me to speak. The gnolls were obviously terrified of what I would say while Damian looked on with his usual stoic expression. V themself was looking around, a bit unsure what was going on and why everything felt tense.

  “You are too dangerous right now to simply let you go free.”

  The gnolls grew increasingly nervous, closing their eyes as if anticipating their doom. The thoughts of starvation were absolutely low in priorities for them right now.

  “We will return you back in the cells inside the castle.”

  They opened their eyes with looks of disbelief. I don’t blame them, what I said was probably something they didn’t expect. More than likely, they must have assumed I was going to execute them on the spot. To be honest, it was in the forefront of my mind. I was ready to give the order too.

  But seeing their dreaded expression just brought me back to that damnable night. Being reminded of my fellow kobold’s despair….

  “…W-why? ....” One of them finally asked, speaking for them all.

  I took a moment before answering. “I still have a promise to keep after all. That was the actual reason you came to me, right?”

  Their eyes opened wide from realization. “Y-yes…. But…. too hungry….to think straight….”

  This is troubling, a gnolls hunger really is no joke. First things first, we need to satiate them. “Damian, I need you to gather some food for them. Meat should work best but if you must, get what we can offer.”

  The black bear nodded in understanding and quickly returned to the gates.

  I looked down at V who was clutching tightly on my side. “You go too V, you already were close to getting hurt. I need you to go back inside and stay safe understand?”

  “O-ok...” V reluctantly agreed, as they slowly released their grip on me and ran back in as well.

  I hope Damian comes back soon. Right now, they’re recovered some sanity through fear over my actions but I’m not sure how long that will last and when it does.

  Thankfully, it didn’t take long before Damian returned with a large amount of meat and other types of food.

  “Bring them here quick.” I ordered him, taking a piece of raw meat and taking it to the closest gnoll. “Here.”

  No sooner had I handed the raw meat did the gnoll quickly gnawed at it like savage animals. They managed to have their fill in a matter of seconds and finally started to calm down. They look at me, no sign of the ravenous hunger or even fear. The only expression I could gather from them was that of remorse.

  “We…. We’re sorry…...” One of the gnolls finally said, with sanity back in their voice. “We will take our imprisonment as you see fit.”

  “Seems you finally got your senses back. Good, we can finally have a proper discussion. As for your friend….” I look back at the gnoll that had last attacked me, their body lay limp with no signs of life.

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  “I had no choice as you can understand” I simply stated. Considering the condition that they were in I can’t blame them. Still, it’s frustrating that it all came to this unfortunate situation.

  At least they seemed to have understood. Showing no resistance as we helped them up and led them to the kingdom.

  As I expected, we were met with worried glances from my citizens. I could pick up some of their whispers, which mostly amounted to their concerns of me bringing more savage monsters. Makes sense since I hadn’t gotten as much time to integrate more of my monster minions into this kingdom. No matter, I’m the one in charge here so I’ll deal with their concerns later.

  I managed to bring them to the castle with no other worry. Just only having to repeatedly voice my intent to the passing soldiers. All the time the gnolls never said a word, obediently following behind without showing any signs of breaking free.

  We made it to their old cells, passing that old ritual room. I do need to do something about it, but I always find myself uncomfortable being there more than I need to. Maybe I could refurbish this room for research for something else instead.

  Within their own cells were the monsters that haven’t mentally recovered from the horrible experiments from that fat bastard. At the least, they started to show some signs of awareness. At least that’s what the old researchers had told me.

  According to them, they are starting to respond to them and are starting to be able to eat with less assistance.

  When the gnolls saw them they all had a look of surprise. It was the first time they had shown any strong reaction, almost running to their fellow gnolls that were locked up.

  “You’re ok! You’re ok!” Some of them yelled in relief. They must have been worried about their brethren this entire time.

  They then look at me with hope in their eyes. “Thank you for keeping them safe. We originally came here because we had not heard any news about them, and we needed to know if they were ok.”

  “Please tell us, have you found a cure for them yet?!” One asked pleadingly.

  I slowly shook my head as my answer. “Unfortunately, there has been little progress. At the very least they show signs of regaining some sense of response.”

  “I see….at least they are safe…”

  I started to question them. “If you all came here just to check up on them. Then what was with the aggression.”

  The gnolls’ ears slump in regret as they responded. “We’re ashamed…. Us gnolls’ rationale drops the hungrier we get…”

  They fell silent for a moment before their leading gnoll continued. “….and because of that one of our own paid the price….”

  A small pang of guilt jolted my body, I instinctively gripped my recovering arm. This reminds me of the time when I killed my wolves’ previous alpha…. And now the same has happened again…..

  …Very well, guess I have to take responsibility now. This is earlier than I had anticipated but this was going to happen sooner or later.

  “I’ve decided. I’ll help you maintain and control your hunger. It’s the least I should do for felling your brethren.”

  Their ears perk up, like puppies hearing the sound of their food bowls being filled. “Bu-but that is too much. Locking us up instead of eliminating us for our actions is too good for us already.”

  Hm, it seems when their stomachs settle their speech gets more coherent. Best make note of that to better keep track of their hunger.

  “Losing one of your own should already be punishment enough for harming me. Only reason your locked up now is so we can keep your ravenous appetite in check for the time being while we find a more lasting solution.” I began to explain.

  They opened their mouths to say something, but I interrupted them and continued. “If you still feel you owe me after this then I have a simple suggestion.”

  I extended my claw in front of them, my posture straight as I used my power to give me a higher platform so I could look down on eye level. I gave them a toothy grin as I finished. “Why not pledge to serve me then. I desire this entire world after all and that includes its denizens. ~”

  The gnolls looked stunned for a moment, processing what I offered then looking at one another before staring back at me. Their eyes looked reluctant but hopeful. They lifted their claws to me as I shook the one who was representing them. And right on queue the same familiar message appeared before me.

  And now it was official, the gnolls have now become my minions. Bringing me closer to my goal of world domination. Veehahahahaha~

  But first things first, now that they serve me, I need to prioritize in helping resolve their hunger pangs or at the very least minimize the issue.

  I decided to ask them questions. If there are more of them, what they can eat, where do they live. It seems they all are what’s left of their clan, many of which had succumbed to their appetites. They don’t know where they went but they have an idea what happened. I didn’t press further on that matter.

  As for where they lived, it was a remote location in the forests nearing some cave in though unlike the ones me and my followers came from. Theirs were shallow with enough space for them to live in.

  To my surprise it seems they are able to eat other types of food, not just meat. If this is the case, then I just might have an idea on how to make this work. Granted it might be a bit unorthodox but doing things normally never was quite my style. ~