Why did Mother reject Artorias’ attempt to discuss a potential alliance with Kargryx? It was simple: the dragons did not want to get dragged into this mess. Humans versus demonkin or humans versus humans, neither of these situations sounded like a problem to Mother. It wasn’t the dragon’s concern if either race eliminated the other.

Of course, you could argue that, if the demonkin were to win, they would then engage the dwarves, elves, dragonewts, levianewts, and eventually the dragons. But that was it, it was only a “possible outcome.” Mother argued that, if the dragons were to engage every single potentially world-scale threat, what would stop the other races from continuously pleading to them to solve their problems?

Mother and most of the ancient dragons had enough of war. That was the point.

Of course, the other races constantly entreating for help from the dragons would follow Kramp’s wish to turn dragons into the world’s protectors, but all the ancient dragons currently inside Kargryx are mostly apathetic towards the world, and dragons like Mother and Emperor Eltharion were completely done with the notion of war. They now stood at the peak of a mountain, peering down, looking at everything as if it wasn’t their problem.

Mother wouldn’t budge, even if I tried persuading her. She personally was against my participation and the gods’ will. She only wanted my safety, but I had things to do in Altrust. Idol stuff was obvious enough, but I still wished to fulfill Aurena’s Quest to get my end of the bargain — a meeting with my parents and to apologize to them for all the sorrow I gave them.

As such, Mother wouldn’t agree to anything as a representative of Kargryx. She couldn’t even. She didn’t have the authority to do so since all the executive power belonged to Emperor Eltharion, my dragon father.

However, what about just putting my name on a piece of paper? Nishio, the son of a talent agent, reminded me how important a name was for marketing purposes. The participation of a famous and amazing actor in a movie? Instant seller. The name of a celebrity promoting the quality of a product? Better make sure you can get restocks soon.

Now, what would happen if I were to trade my permission to use my name on things? For example, a letter to certain country leaders? The name of the eighth child of the imperial family of Kargryx and the dragon whose egg went missing? Not only that, but she was also accompanied by her Mother on an adventure?

Well, I am sure it would make a few people raise a brow when King Drangleic sends this letter out.

“Princess Hestia, if possible, I would like you to agree to the urgency of this summit. If it were you, I am sure Saelariel and Loatryx would contemplate our proposal to hold a summit to discuss an alliance between all of us,” King Drangleic said, following the instructions we as Aurora gave him on how to open this discussion.

“I understand. However, I presume you must understand that simply giving you my approval is already a large commitment. As a princess and idol, I have my own reputation to look out for. The recent incidents, as you might expect, were not very pleasing to experience.”

I placed my foot down during this discussion. There have been things I was majorly inconvenienced by during my stay in Artorias, and signs that might cause Artorias to lose out on this alliance deal. After all, the elves, dwarves, and dragonewts don’t have to accept Artorias, they could just go and solve the problem by themselves if they had to.

The dukes quickly caught onto what I meant, looking serious as they recomposed themselves. Whether they deduced that most of the beginning was staged, I dunno, but what was important was that they understood the real meeting would begin now. With documents on hand, they were ready to negotiate.

As I said, the beginning was staged and coordinated with King Drangleic, but now, everything was up for grabs. Muraina was in the know, too, of course. It was just surprising to see Shaturein participating today, but I guess if they didn’t betray us today, it would be important to get Shaturein on our side, too.

Regardless of their alignment and their criminal-infested city, having some sort of contact in the underworld would be good. Now, while I didn’t have the strongest moral compass, I wasn’t ignorant of whom I was intending to work with. However, after the slave auction rescue, I get that sometimes you will have to work with less than ideal companions.

Now, if we could urge these less than ideal companions to change, or at least not backstab us like those Yanderu guys, that would be for the best.

“For Griffonpeak to gain my support, the very first term I must receive is a guarantee that the Kingdom of Artorias is currently in control.”

This probably was the most important part. We had to stress it.

“As you might already know, I was involved in numerous accidents and incidents during my stay in Artorias. Most of them happened in Greenveil, however, the most recent one was rather damning to Artorias security and stability. Out of my responsibility as Goddess Aurena’s champion, I chose to defend Griffonpeak; however, I saw little to no support until the end from the nobility and knights.”

“I concur. When I arrived on that day, I saw my whelping in a life-threatening state. I learned you were aware of my daughter’s identity, so I must ask why you left the elimination of multiple high-ranked threats to my daughter and her party,” Mother supported me, causing the king and his dukes to frown.

Yes, Mother, scare them! … Does that make me sound like a villain? Nah, whatever.

“Regardless of your excuses with corrupt nobles or not, I must ensure Artorias is peaceful from within. United, not divided. As such…” I turned to the Shaturein representatives. “Mister Blackreach and Miss Grengar. I do understand why King Drangleic wishes for my assistance, however, I do not understand your motives. I presume you must be aware that the information you received today won’t come for free, correct?”

“Of course, information never comes for free. Everything has a cost,” Jenghil tapped the piece of parchment before her. “However, all the information we received today has been priceless, I must say. Everything concerning Princess Hestia’s real identity and subsequently her companions, like Miss Saori. The reveal of the demonkin plots and also the truth behind that giant monster.”

And due to how precarious it was to keep this secret from others, Jenghil and Vangrim couldn’t leave without handing in some kind of assurance. We had to know they wouldn’t just sell this to the enemy.

Jenghil continued, “However, as I can see, you are skirting over some information, like how Davison was involved in fae hunting. My little spiders have already gained this information for me, and rest assured, Shaturein has no interest in profiting on it.”

Duchess Morgiana narrowed her eyes, inspecting her niece. “So, what does Shaturein want, Miss Grengar? There is still the question if His Majesty can trust you and Mister Blackreach with this information, but I presume you must have a reason for us to do so, if you are here.”

“Precisely, Duchess Morgiana,” the one to answer was Vangrim. “I must also say that our proposition will also aid in Her Imperial Highness’s wish for unity. Shaturein and Griffonpeak have always been separated since our founders created our cities. Griffonpeak would guide those under the sun, while Shaturein shall shelter those too unfortunate to see the glistening white walls of the nobles. That has always been the case.”

Jenghil continued, “However, during these tumultuous times, Shaturein has also learned that it cannot fully survive alone. We may work in the shadows and our webs might spread all throughout the kingdom, but if Griffonpeak were to fall, Shaturein would also collapse.”

“As such, I, Vangrim Blackreach, leader of Shaturein and the three pillars, would propose a proper alliance between us, King Drangleic.”

“Preposterous!” Duke Lecartiglio spoke bluntly.

Yeah, it couldn't have gone this smoothly. Please, don’t escalate the situation.

He continued, “Do you really believe an alliance between us would be possible? Shaturein, you should know your place. You have long since devolved into a realm for criminals and those depraved enough to forsake honor in all their actions. Allying with you would cause the opposite of what Her Imperial Highness wishes — unity.”

“You speak with prejudices, Duke Lecartiglio. I understand your wariness. Past events concerning our citizens and foreign workers have caused Griffonpeak distress. I will not make any excuses concerning Hamil. It is our fault for not producing a proper background check on him,” Vangrim humbly accepted his mistakes. “However, I do not exactly believe Artorias has the liberty to choose its allies. As Her Imperial Highness already implied, your alliance with the northern races isn't secure. Shaturein can provide information and supplies in exchange for protection.”

“Then why not accept vassalage?” Duke Greenveil proposed.

Jenghil shook her head in response. “Shaturein’s culture cannot conform to Artorias’s. If we were to accept your offer, this will, without question, cause riots and public disorder beyond what Mister Blackreach can control. If we cannot control Shaturein, we cannot prove our worth.”

“An alliance is done through equals. We are not equals in strength nor influence, Miss Grengar,” Duchess Morgiana rebuked her argument. “No matter how much Artorias has suffered from this attack, we stand strong. In addition, Artorias relies on the Aleistunum mages guild to educate novices and further our arcane studies. The management of your contracted mages is a blight and embarrassment to proper arcanists, and if we were to ally with you, it will only damage our relationship with them.”

Hmm, as rough as I thought. We need to give them a push.

[“Saori, your turn. We need to settle this, otherwise, it will just get to nowhere,”] I told Saori through telepathy, and she immediately interjected herself in the discussion.

“We can see that there is discord between the both of you,” Saori interrupted both parties, drawing their attention to her. “However, while I do understand Artorias’s concerns and Shaturein’s reluctance to change their ways, things have to come to a compromise. As Mister Vangrim mentioned, Artorias will gain much in working with Shaturein, gaining proper access to the underworld in the west of Altrust. Princess Hestia wishes for this to happen.”

“We all know that Hamil, formerly one of Shaturein’s four pillars, was complicit in the attack on Griffonpeak, Miss Saori,” Duke Myrrdin brought up. “He worked with Cardinal Bennard to sow rebellious thoughts in my people against us of noble birth and those learned in the arcane. We cannot trust that they will not do this again. Not to mention our relationship with Aleistunum, and what would the northern races think of us? The underworld is brimming with fae hunters.”

Duke Myrrdin brought up some very important points. There are advantages to allying up with Shaturein but the penalties can be pretty damning. Looking at it from Artorias’s point of view, I wouldn’t want to team up with them in their current state.

“I agree, that is why there must be compromises,” she then turned to the Shaturein side. “As such, I have a proposition, Mister Blackreach.”

“I am all ears, Miss Saori.”

“According to Muraina, we heard that you are currently interested in expanding your influence outside of Artorias, correct? To be more specific, you wish to tap into the market of Estralia, the dwarven trade city manned by humans. You faced… complications, no?”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Vangrim and Jenghil turned to Muraina, who was peacefully smiling back at them. Feels like Muraina is our mole in all of this really. Like in a spy movie.

I nodded and continued for Saori. “Aurora’s next destination will be Estralia, as we wish to deal with a problem over there. As such, we will be temporarily leaving Griffonpeak; however, as I am pretty sure Duke Greenveil and Duchess Morgiana are aware, I have access to teleportation magic. Or, to be technical, I have control over a teleportation system.”

I never really told Arcanuess Helvas to be silent about it, so I was pretty sure he had reported about it to Duke Greenveil. It wasn’t a problem, people I could trust enough knew about it. While I never told Thyra about it, I did mention about creating a fast travel system to her, so she probably relayed this to her mother about the possibility. I was simply confirming it here.

“We can always return to Griffonpeak if needed through Princess Hestia’s subspace. While we are in Estralia, we can personally solve your problems, Mister Blackreach. However, only if you transform Shaturein to something Her Imperial Highness can accept as an ally,” Saori explained.

“… What exactly would you ask of us?” Vangrim was now wary. His eyes sharpened as he assessed our next words. He already told us what he couldn’t change, so we couldn’t just repeat what was said.

Ugh, the hardest part is coming up. Good luck, Saori!

We couldn’t change their culture, however, he knew he had little choice in this. His appearance today was a surprise, but now that I thought about it, it shouldn’t have been. In his mind, if I had allied up with Griffonpeak, there might have been the possibility of their destruction. Vengeance from me, due to them letting Hamil escape.

Well, I wasn’t that sort of person, but that’s what I believe somebody like Vangrim might have thought. As such, Nishio’s tip on appeasing a cornered business partner should come in handy. Weave the contract to our favor, but don’t further anger them. A disgruntled subordinate will always find a way to stab you in the back.

And Saori knew this well enough. She listened to Nishio explain these negotiation methods.

“Mister Vangrim, while I understand you do not wish to change your ways, if you cannot adapt to the times, this discussion will lead to nowhere. Before you is the option to join a possible large alliance through Griffonpeak. You will have less restrictive access to the northern countries, that was one of your goals for this meeting, correct?”

“…” He stayed silent but he did not dispute it.

“As such, if you cannot compromise to change how you conduct your business, we can not continue. For example, there is no reason to stop the influx of black market goods, but, you must be aware you cannot deal with certain objects with the elves breathing down Artorias’s neck. First things first, ensure another slave auction never happens. Your negligence to stop Hamil caused Her Imperial Highness discomfort and distress.”

“… I understand. I will work earnestly to ensure slave trades will not continue.”

Saori continued discussing what Shaturein could change with Vangrim and Jenghil, all while King Drangelic gave his feedback on stuff. Saori went a bit aggressive but still gave Vangrim and Jenghil enough room to discuss details.

For example, we managed to get them to have their mages conform to more safety-appropriate rules, just borderline forbidden by the mages guild. This meant that they might lose certain mages and might even anger Shaturein’s third pillar, but it meant having access to elven and dragonewt arcane studies.

In addition, by giving Shaturein permission to expand their protection program to Griffonpeak, it meant King Dragleic was able to spend less on the garrison and soldiers taking care of criminals, enabling him to increase investment in economic ventures. Vangrim made sure nobody caused trouble in his city, now he would make sure outsiders don’t cause trouble in Griffonpeak also.

Give and take. We needed to show them the advantages of altering certain parts of Shaturein were worth the demerits.

“However, there is still the problem of trusting Shaturein,” King Drangleic’s diplomatic advisor, Lord Ulquint, questioned their sincerity in this.

“I can help with that,” I spoke with a smile. “Make an oath under Kargryxmor’s name to King Drangleic and me. If Shaturein breaks it, then prepare for Loatryx to attack you for ‘damaging their princess’s pride.’”

Kramps being the God of Oaths really helped me in this after Mother told me how much oaths are respected in Loatryx. If two dragonewt clans wanted to ensure everybody kept up their end of their bargain, they would venture to Kargryx and swear this oath before the dragon leader of their respective clans. If you broke it, you would disrespect the authority of two ancient dragons! Fun, right?

“Well, of course, I presume you have no reason to go against your end, correct, Mister Vangrim? You would only lose in this deal.”

At the end of the day, we didn’t want to completely change Shaturein. We only wanted certain aspects to go. Just enough for all of us to accept them into our fold.

“Heh… Of course, Princess Hestia,” Vangrim smiled, accepting my key into this alliance. “To ensure this goes through without any complaints, I am willing to swear this oath. Therefore, I hope you will keep your end of the bargain and help us solve our problem in Estralia. Miss Grengar will inform you about everything after this meeting.”

“As a sign of our trust, allow us to give you this document.” Jenghil handed a parchment to King Drangelic before she continued explaining. “The list of nobles who have acquired a slave from one of Hamil’s slave auctions. What you wish to do with them will be left to your discretion.”

“Hmm.” King Drangliec squinted his eyes. “My dukes and duchess, are there any complaints?”

The dukes were disgruntled but seeing how much Saori managed to make Vangrim and Jenghil accept, they didn’t want to push Shaturein too far and call the entire thing off. During the entire discussion, Saori always made sure to reiterate the benefits Shaturein could bring to Artorias and us. Now, all we could hope is that Shaturein will shape up to be a good ally.

Speaking of allies…

“King Drangleic, I do hope you will do something about the nobles on that list,” I spoked up. “I will not tell you how to deal with your nobles, but what happened on the invasion day was a disaster. How many of your citizens died on that day? How much did the adventurers and my party have to deal with until you arrived to fight the geisenlarg king?”

The necromancer, Charleslyt, and our attempt to get Hamil. Not to forget, if some knights were around to escort Eshe, her death might not have happened. Artorias had let me down on that day, and that cannot happen once again.

“I understand. My sincerest apology for my failure, Princess Hestia. I will ensure such a mistake does not happen again, on my word as king.” King Drangleic stood up and bowed in forgiveness. Seeing this, Duke Greenveil also stood up and did the same, seeing as he was in the capital at that time also.

I nodded contently.

Today’s meeting wasn’t there to suddenly introduce reforms to Artorias. We weren’t that pompous to think we could just waltz in and change everything here to be similar to America or Japan. This wasn’t my kingdom. All we needed them to handle was to expunge corruption. That was something we didn’t need.

And once we made that clear to them, we expected King Drangleic and his dukes to change their kingdom naturally over time. Pretty sure if we just kept communicating with them, they would change in some ways. I mean, Earth pastries and idol culture were slowly being spread here.

And with two dragons literally breathing down their necks to be better, Artorias has to work hard to appease us. That was our advantage as the superior faction.

Yeah… this does make us seem like the oppressive empire stereotype. Literally throwing our weight around, hoping something sticks. Meh, it’s better this way. In the future, they’ll have the elves doing the same to them!

With that out of the way, now it was time to coordinate with our newfound allies.

Saori began, “Our first term is that you will help us in keeping watch of the Heroes of Aurena in the Empire. As you know, those heroes were not actually summoned to this world by Goddess Aurena, but by the demonkin. Still, they are from Earth and acquainted with us. We require information on them to make sure they are safe.”

Krymdar will act as our correspondence in the Folschreck Empire, but as the imperial alchemist, he probably shouldn’t put himself in the fire too often. As such, we needed less conspicuous spies.

“I can send my girls to the empire. I might not be able to provide the same service as Hamil with his contacts, but my girls should be able to slip into the empire’s capital easily enough,” Jenghil offered. “However, it would become far easier for me to coordinate with them if I had access to their path into the empire. I believe the southern way through Atadoro is out of the question?”

“If we were to interact with Atadoro, it would be mostly for war. Our interactions have never been friendly even once,” Duke Lecartiglio explained.

“I see, as expected. As such, our only way would be either through Ankor-Nazta or Estralia. We need access to the Ankoran train.”

The Ankoran train was the first and only mana-fueled train in Peolynca. Probably the only train in the world, in fact. According to Grimnir, this was the very last invention of the Revolution Queen before she died. Her last memento to the world.

With its tracks beginning in the dwarf’s capital inside the Ankoran mountain ranges, the train allowed you to reach the beastman and the empire through the underground of the mountain. The train was the reason why the dwarves were able to interact with the eastern parts of Altrust with ease.

After the War for the Faefolk, the train was made and the train tracks placed after its inventor’s death. One of the stopping points is in Estralia’s capital. Even if the dwarves didn’t like trading with humans, Estralia had access to the underground tunnels since its capital, Gleisvale, was made by the dwarves.

If we help Shaturein, we help ourselves, in other words.

Saori continued after that was dealt with, “Second term, we require you to still act as allies to the empire and church of Aurena until the alliance is sealed, King Drangleic. We would like a war to be avoided as long as possible.”

“It might not be possible, Miss Saori,” he answered bluntly. “Even if the Church and Empire don’t use Saintess Eshe’s death as a reason to destroy us, they will probably soon demand for a higher tribute. More soldiers and resources. We cannot afford that. If we deny it, they will have Atadoro and the other human countries attack us.”

“I understand that six months is a long time. Anything could happen, after all.” Yorshka gave us a realistic view of Artorias situation, so we had an idea of what to expect. “However, Aurora is currently not ready to support you in your war. There must be a way to delay it, Your Majesty.”

I didn’t want to fight in a war. If we could avoid it, I would do my best to stop it. I do understand if it's inevitable that I had to do something, but having a war now wouldn’t be feasible. Griffonpeak is weakened from the demonkin and I still had a lot to prepare before I could do anything in a war. It wasn’t time.

“Maybe… If we can spread our own influence through Estralia, we might be able to prevent a war purely due to a lack of resources?” For the first time since the beginning of this talk, the new Duke Equevanna spoke up.

“How so, Duke Equevanna?” King Drangleic asked.

“Well. As my fellow dukes and His Majesty must be aware, after everything that happened with House Equevanna and the noble purge, our duchy is currently in a precarious situation. We are dealing with the aftermath right now. However, before all of this, the previous Duke Equevanna had multiple contacts within Estralia’s capital. As a republic, they are managed by senators and representatives whose power is above their monar— president’s. Their senate is quite corrupt and influenceable.”

“… Gleisvale is a terrible location to do battle,” Duke Groushia added after taking time to think. “Due to its natural fortification, invasions are always in Estralia’s advantage. With access to the longest river in western Altrust, their ability to ship resources gives them the reputation as the ‘City which can never be conquered from the outside.’ Only from the inside, through these senators.”

“The president is a pawn, a marionette for the senate,” Lord Ulquint spoke. “To wage war in Estralia, one must go through the senators. To control the president and Gleisvale, one must bribe the senators. If we can convince them to, we can make sure only Atadoro and Rakarteen can attack us. They will think twice before they attack us immediately.”

Everything is starting to look like Estralia really was the best next destination. Damn, and here I thought I just wanted to help Tasianna.

“However, that would leave Aureolis. If they support the Empire’s decision, the holy capital might excommunicate us, Your Majesty,” Duke Olivus warned us. “The moment they do so, the Knights of Aurena will be sent to attack us. We also cannot forget that the Empire will also send its own forces. If they send any of their Imperial Knights, we will have to deal with people of at least rank A in power.”

Imperial Knights?

I wasn’t sure what these knights were, but I guess they might be the personal guard of the emperor. If they were around rank A in strength, they might be as strong as Yorshka.

“In that case, if that were to happen, then it might be okay to use me if you wish,” I was the one to bring that up. “As a Champion of Goddess Aurena, they cannot just ignore my wish to meet with them. If the time for war were to come, then allow me to speak with them.”

“If we were speaking about influence, Princess Hestia might be able to gain enough to make Aureolis think twice before condemning Artorias. As an idol, we will travel towards cities and towns to perform her music concerts,” Saori supported me. “If she were to state her support for Artorias, to ‘assure the faith stays true in the kingdom,’ they might consider stopping the empire from breaking your vassalage for now.”

And then we backstab them all! Muhahaha! We join with the other races! Yeaaaaaa, that will turn me into people’s enemies, but if it can prevent a war before we get ready? It might be worth it.

“I do hope it will not come to that, but it is worth a try.” King Drangleic was worried but he had to look to the future. He had to make sure Griffonpeak was strong enough to weather the storm.

After that, we mostly talked about internal stuff and how Artorias and Shaturein would proceed from here. The politics stuff concerning me was finally over at this point but Saori still had a few things to say. In any case, I finally had the time to just take a breather and just listen. All this stress made me want to eat cake.

The future will be wild, huh?

Once the meeting ended, King Drangleic and everybody else thanked us for attending and that the formal agreements will happen at a later date. As we left the citadel, we congratulated ourselves for a job well done. It wasn’t perfect, but we still got certain things across.

The day after will get stressful since I need to attend some political appearances, though. Six months and a few days remain for us until the summit. Until then, I gotta make sure I use it well. After all, our next destination will be a new country.

But first, time to sleeeeep and relax.