“Yes, we are declining the offer to execute the criminals. As much as the experience would benefit us, we would rather power level inside a dungeon. It’s not a morality thing—some of us agreed it was necessary—it’s more about the setting and atmosphere of an execution block. Hunting seems less stressful.”
The conference room of the Ankor-Nazta hold kings, where meetings would be attended by every single one of them. Currently, there were only twelve seats inside, just perfect for the amount of people currently talking here, which meant I couldn’t guess how many kings under the Ankoran King would normally attend. Well, not like I wanted to know. It wasn’t like I knew all the schwert- and magnobles of Artorias, either. I barely knew any of their marquesses
Speaking of the seats, to my right, sitting on an impressive bronze-golden throne-like chair was the Ankoran King Fugnarus Kongun and next to him was his wife, Tragaya Kongun-Vagunyga. To my left, on a similar chair, was the Griffon King Drangleic var Artorias and his wife Filene var Artorias—to note, we have only had to exchange pleasantries till this point, so this was our first time actually speaking. Since I was expected to know their full names after this meeting, I made sure my parallel minds made a sticky note on all of their last names.
These four filled up four of the twelve seats. Their advisors and guards all stood behind them—Ulquint, King Drangleic’s political advisor, was here, for example. On the other hand, everybody aside from Tasianna, Ellaine, Rajah, and the twins took a seat on our side. Considering how they viewed themselves and their “official” roles and duty to me, their princess, it made sense why they were acting like guards. My maid, lady-in-waiting, cat, and bodyguards; those were their “official” jobs, in a way.
“Hrm.” King Fugnarus grunted at Tatsuya’s response, frowning at the student’s decision on the execution of the prisoners from Gazahan-Orn. He really looked dissatisfied. “Let me say I do not mince words; not to the hold kings, not to the council of wisewomen. I am really disappointed in your decision, young Earthling. It is wrong.”
Ellaine, Tatsuya, and I were clearly confused by this admission, while Neill and Grimnir looked like they knew this would happen. They hadn’t exactly given their opinion on the matter, so we didn’t think anything was wrong about it. As such, I asked the king to elaborate on it and he nodded.
“King Drangleic and I have spoken much before my queen and I departed to Gazahan-Orn to help you out, Princess Hestia. About your letter, about his kingdom’s circumstances—the battles, you see—and naturally also about you, our mediator and figurehead. Tell me, do you know the exact reason for why Ankor-Nazta wishes to ally itself to Artorias?”
Unlike his heavy accent when we met at Grimnir’s home hold, his speaking mannerism here were far more refined and clear to listen to. The rough, wanderer look he had as a disguised adventurer was gone, replaced by fierce regality through his ornamental armor and his beastman eyes.
Unlike King Drangleic—a griffon arvisian—King Fugnarus had panthereon blood in him, making him a part feline dwarf. At least, that was what the dwarves around me had said. While King Drangleic exuded pride and confidence as a ruler, the Ankoran King was far more stoic, militaristic, and, I guess, more pragmatic.
I shook my head to his question. While this discussion wasn’t too serious, I still had to choose my actions and words correctly since I was here as “Third Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor.” “I do not know your side yet. I only know Artorias wishes to ally with you due to economical and political reasons. King Drangleic wishes to fulfill his grandfather’s wish to repair relationships with the northern races, and personally wishes to break off from the Folschreck Empire. As I have spoken with his dukes, I can confirm they wish for the same.”
“Then let me elucidate you, Princess,” Fugnarus’s wife, Tragaya, answered in his stead. “The main reason is that we dwarves need to expand.”
“Expand?”
She nodded. “Yes, expansion through cultural means, similar to our influence as the world’s leaders in manatech and the regulators of the global currency Davi, and also to spread tazongs—dwarves—to more places. In other words, we also strive for financial gain in addition to weakening the Folschreck Empire.”
“There is also a problem with our people’s interest,” King Fugnarus added. “Many dwarves do not have any wanderlust at all, which is natural since we like to stay where we have everything to make us happy. However, those who do? They will go out and form mining colonies. We have been regulating the creation of king, clan, and guild-issued colonies and holds for centuries now to prevent our mountain range from being riddled with abandoned or terribly managed settlements. Too many, and it would weaken our home, but most don’t care. The High King must care, though.”
“As such, instead of dwarves moving deeper and deeper into the mountain range, to the point it becomes harder and harder to manage, Artorias would extend a hand to accommodate more dwarven artisans, laborers, and general immigration. Paper-work would become easier on both of our sides once an alliance is formed,” King Drangleic explained.
“How many holds and colonies are there?” I asked.
“Officially? There are ten major clans, each holding a hold through their clan leader, the region king. As a whole, though, there are countless minor holds, either under the complete control of a minor dwarven king or under shared custody of two or more clans. This conference room usually only accommodates these ten and the current Ankoran ruler; exceptions, though, exist.” King Fugnarus stroked his beard and closed his eyes, trying his best to remember everything. This topic seemed far more wide-reaching than I thought. “Gazahan-Orn was a minor hold, under the fealty of Clan Vagunyga.”
I looked over to his wife.
“Yes, my family. We are a major clan.”
So that’s why she knew the Queen of Gazahan-Orn. It isn’t just ‘cause they’re in the same organization.
“While mine is a minor clan.” The dwarven king’s answer surprised me. “Every royal clan can introduce a candidate to become the High King or Queen, whether major or minor. Through a democratic decision, we vote on who is the most capable to lead everybody, which aids in smoothing relationships, since every hold king is oathbound to serve and raise armies upon my call. I may serve for life, but having less enemies is important.”
While the dwarves didn’t have a hierarchy of nobles like Artorias and Yeos did, they had something similar. There weren’t any nobles, per se, but these major and minor clans acted similar to a noble house, despite being called royals. To be called a royal clan within Ankor-Nazta, you had to have a bloodline coming from the first and second “batch” of created dwarves.
This was another piece of dwarven history, mostly concerning their creator, the Earth Elemental Primarch. The dwarves were created in batches, until the elemental was satisfied with his “finished” work. The ten major dwarven clans descended from the first group of dwarves, while the minor ones came from the second. While human, beastmen, and elven creation wasn’t well documented, the dwarves had everything written down.
Over the millennia, many major and minor bloodlines had gone extinct, reducing them to ten major and an assortment of minor ones. That was why the Ankoran Ruler vote worked this way. It prevented too much animosity through a single royalty system, while also promoting friendship between each other to develop a proper candidate. Of course, making enemies couldn’t be completely avoided this way, but it worked for the dwarves up until now.
Although, why aren’t the last batch the royals? Shouldn’t they be ‘perfect?’ Uuh, okay, that sounds extremely rude now that I asked that in my head. Let’s not.
“Now, back to my point,” King Fugnarus returned the discussion back to the main topic after I had derailed it. “Aside from my personal goals, politically speaking, taking away one of Folschreck’s vassals while expanding culturally will strengthen us while weakening them. That is why I want Artorias to secede. It isn’t just because of Saelariel.”
“You want to prevent another ‘War for the Faefolk,’ I presume?” I was asking a lot of questions here, but it seemed the king didn’t mind it. In fact, he seemed pretty happy to speak.
“Yes, and no.” I raised a brow to that, prompting him to elaborate on it further. “Yes, we don’t want another war in that manner. No, though, since if the Empire wishes to ‘crush’ us for the past, then so be it. The dwarves of Ankor-Nazta will not shy from battle. If they wish to inflict pain on my people, then I will steel my heart with Kronnaz’s grudge and fight with the fire of Bleidla’s roaring volcanoes!”
The king slammed his fist on the table, rocking to the point we had to steady our tea cups. Meanwhile, his wife could only sigh deeply, placing a hand on her enraged husband’s shoulder.
“Still, we wish to avoid it if possible … but, from the look of it, that won’t be possible.” She looked at me, reminding me how King Fugnarus came to my subspace two days ago to speak about the incoming summit. “You now know our reason for this alliance, you also know this room is filled with people who know you are not only an otherworlder, Princess Hestia, but also a blessed of Goddess Aurena. We know your Divine Quest and what you have to do.”
“Hrm!” King Fugnarus leaned on his chair, crossing his arms. “To not take a chance to gain experience … Will you go to war with that attitude?”
Tatsuya and I frowned. It was clear he was talking down to us, right now. Despite my higher standing of being a princess of an empire, the King didn’t hold back at all. The manner he spoke to me was ridiculing me.
I knew I had to speak up to this; however, before I could, to my surprise, Neill spoke up, “Ankoran King Fugnarus.”
“Second Princess of the Dragon Empire, Fargryneill.”
Neill leaned forward, supporting her head as she gazed at him with an icy stare. Her horn wasn’t trained on him, but it was close, prompting Fugnarus’s guards to take a step forward. He told them off, instead, awaited my sister’s response.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“You are overreacting too much to a single rejection. Are you thinking my sister weak? A Kargryxmor dragon, at that? Are you implying that to my face?”
“You are putting words in my mouth.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
The King frowned, his mouth became slightly visible through his thick beard. He grumbled once again, before speaking his mind, “What are your plans for the attack? If you wish to stop the war from beginning in the first place, what is your contingency plan against this demonkin of envy? How will you expose them? Are you planning on using this new alliance for your own needs? Answer me this: how can I trust a war leader who doesn’t inspire the confidence I need to know I would win a battle?”
Those were hard-hitting questions. I thought this was supposed to be a casual meeting or sorts, but it seemed he really was one who wore his feelings and thoughts on his sleeves. He was a caring king, but steadfast when it came to politics and diplomacy. However, the thing was, Grimnir had already met him once, so I wasn’t exactly caught by surprise by this. I was more surprised he was going this hard.
Maybe I should’ve worn the tiara Mom made for me …
As such, instead of letting Sis continue, I took over, exuding my [Royal Presence] skill to counter his. “High King Fugnarus, I can see that you care very much about my Divine Quest. I appreciate it, but I dislike how you are assuming I am going into this with not even a speck of a plan. If the information hadn’t reached you yet, I do have the potential support of my Mother, Sixth Empress Melloxtressa, on my side if I need it. If you, and the rest of the dwarves, so wish to stay out of my affairs, then do so. I do not need the alliance to send support my way.”
His argument centered around the dwarves potentially being pulled into my Divine Quest, meaning I might be risking dwarven lives if I continued. He was aiming for the fact I was an ill-suited war leader, and while true since I really couldn’t shut my heart out completely, it didn't mean I was entirely inept.
Yes, there was no complete plan nor did I have information on Aureolis, outside of what the students and Eshe told me. I haven’t had any time for that. However, what did I have right now? Shaturein’s network of spies and information brokers, Artorias support through our alliance, and also the strength of my mother in return for three years of my personal freedom. To kill one Prince of Sin and expose him to free Aurena’s church? Sounds like a worthy sacrifice for the long run.
At the end of the day, Aurena did tell me that, thanks to my memories, her plans had been accelerated. I shouldn’t be around doing all of this right now, I should have been staying inside Mom’s cave, sleeping and eating. I had years to live and enough time on my hand. It didn’t have to be all solved right now, all I needed to do was to deliver a strong blow and build up my foundation.
So, I continued speaking. “You presume I am being hasty, no? But have you heard anything from me yet? For someone of your age, you are presuming too much and not asking enough. Do not forget, High King, your alliance is made between you and Artorias, while I was nominated the mediator by King Drangleic. My name was given for the summit to begin. We have not even started with the real discussions yet.”
“You should have learned this from Grimnir—we dwarves honor our debts and oaths. If we become allies, I will muster my people to fight in your name if you need to, Princess Hestia. I will fight and prevail. Your common sense is not ours; if I were to sit back while you go out to die, what would my subjects think of me? A weakling who doesn’t even lift a finger to protect his ally?” King Fugnarus became agitated again. His face reddened. “I will not, so I swear in your grandfather’s name. Believe me, I will not besmirch the honor of my clan and ancestors.”
“But you are dishonoring the reputation of my lady, Ankoran King,” Grimnir suddenly raised his voice, further agitating the dwarven guards. “You think of her as weak, just because she has a heart. You eavesdropped on us, no? Her quest doesn’t take place entirely on the battlefield, and she doesn’t need to finish a war for it. The goal, as you heard, is still the Prince of Envy disguised as the Church of Aurena’s religious leader.”
Neill leaned forward, supporting her head with both hands now. “I get that you think of my sister and her otherworlder friends as weak since they aren’t taking this chance to level up. That it’s a waste in the face of war, and while I do understand. You aren’t talking just to her.”
Neill pointed at me then back to her.
“I count two royals on this side of the table. Here is the thing, Ankoran King, just like the other dragons I am not too keen for a war, but for an assassination? Exposing somebody? That sounds way more doable. Don’t you think, Sis?”
“Well, depending on how strong the Prince is and if he has any bodyguards, right? I mean, I can’t exactly waltz into Aureolis, since I am public enemy number one to them. If the dwarven and Artorian army starts showing up, it becomes clear it will be a declaration of war. In fact, the moment the alliance is formed, Artorias will secede, right?”
King Drangleic nodded, smiling a bit. “That will be the agreement. If we delay it for a military advantage, then Saelariel will not agree to it.”
“Right! Other nations. We don’t need to ask for help from Ankor-Nazta, if you do not wish for me to. If rejecting you will hamper your influence, then I will make up an excuse.” In this sorta situation, putting my foot down was the only way for me to walk forward. I had the authority; I should use it. “Also, there is one thing you seem to have not understood, Ankoran King Fugnarus. I am an idol, not just a blessed champion or saint.”
“… It’s that word, again.” He squinted his eyes. It seemed Chihiro did not spread idol culture to this world, but then again, she was more of a rocker girl, right?
“And I am the Second Princess of Kargryx; I might not be an ‘adult’ yet compared to my older siblings, but I can fight. If you truly think we are wasting an opportunity here and are disappointed by it, then how about allowing me to perform the execution? Tatsuya? Hestia?” She looked over.
Tatsuya shook his head. “We have already rejected the idea. You can do whatever you wish.”
“The Rule of Vengeance, correct, Ankoran Queen Tragaya? Am I allowed to send my representative?”
The queen gave out a small chuckle, shaking her palm in response. “Unfortunately, no. If you cannot kill yourself, then you are not worthy of the experience.”
Shame, but I can still argue using this as the point.
“Then—”
However, before I could speak, I stopped myself as I looked over. King Drangleic’s wife had raised her hand.
“I believe this is enough. At this point, the discussion will lead nowhere, as I believe Princess Hestia had made her case,” Queen Filene spoke for the first time during this meeting. “Ankoran King Fugnarus, shouldn’t this be enough? You cannot plug all the holes in a plan through one sitting. Don’t you agree?”
“…” He stared at her, frowning slightly before looking back at me. As we didn’t back down, he suddenly reduced his aura and settled down with a sigh. “… I hadn’t wanted it to derail this much. Sure, for now, I will accept your reasoning, Princess Hestia. Maybe I did overreact, but I do believe you shouldn’t have felt anything for the criminals. They did you wrong, and you have the right to bring them to justice.”
“Who says I won’t?”
“Hrm?” Now the Ankoran King was confused.
“The fact you think I have such a kind heart I would forgive every single criminal in the world is condescending. I don’t. Didn’t you listen to your wife? Maybe if you had let me speak, instead of forcing me to defend myself, we wouldn’t have derailed it so much,” I called him out for that. “I gave Tatsuya and my friends permission to take the execution because they needed levels. Do you know what a rank B ‘young’ monster has to deal with?”
Seeing him baffled, I quickly explained to him why I didn’t want to take the kills for myself. Due to my early rank B evolution, I had reduced experience gain. It was obvious within my party and my close associates, but to people like the Ankoran King, the fact monster’s had a limit to leveling was such an obscure piece of knowledge, he couldn’t have possibly known.
From the look of his face, his wife probably told him I had declined the execution for the students. However, since they rejected the offer, he thought I had a bleeding heart for people who knowingly hurt my friends. Goodness sake, I still held a grudge against the Yanderu and even Vifi’Yok for that. I couldn’t care less about the people we imprisoned after the Gazahan-Orn incident.
“It would be a waste,” I finished my explanation. “My sister, my virigress Rajah, or my wyvern twins; they would have no problem doing it. Or take it yourself. At this point, we should be allies. So, you becoming stronger will help me out, too.”
Ellaine was quite a good person, so she disliked the idea of having to execute somebody defenseless, while Tasianna would be less hesitant if it was a human. Grimnir wasn’t allowed since he was a zuekluk, and Saori was unreachable, right now.
Which left me with my less moral team members, who were practically all monsters. Sis didn’t care one bit for them, Rajah was a feral monster just a few months ago, and the twins were pretty much the same. Would I lose sleep over my party members executing people? No. Why would I? As I said, if they were criminals who willingly and knowingly hurt my family and friends, then so be it.
“… Then I really must apologize to you. Hrm. Well, I wanted to celebrate it with a feast anyways, but now I really have to bring you a lively party.” He stood up and bowed deeply. “Will you accept my invitation for later?”
“Sure, you don’t know how ravenous I am!”
Now this was it. More casual and less stressful, no longer at the point I had to watch every single word I said. Still, it was still decided that Neill, Rajah, and the twins would handle the execution in two days once the judgement was handed down. Although I understood what I had just said and my general demeanor about things, I still was glad I didn’t have to discuss this morbid topic any longer.
Thankfully, the rest of the discussion was more about the summit itself. King Fugnarus confirmed Saelariel and Loatryx will send emissaries, while Caedhul had decided to leave the decision to the elves to their stance. I had also explained I wanted to invite Estralia and Yeos, to which Queen Tragaya agreed with the latter, but the former was more complicated.
“I heard some unsavory rumors about the current President. I do not believe it would be smart to invite her.”
I had explained Reajaen was currently my retainer, or more like a debt worker, as compensation for what she did in the past. Due to Tasianna’s decision, Reajaen would be later judged by the elves for what she did. Still, this didn’t persuade the queen as she thought of Estralia as too materialistic to trust. Fair, but sad. Still, having Yeos on was still a win.
In addition, we had also spoken a bit about Daichi’s punishment. After Tatsuya and Grimnir gave their statements in his defence, King Fugnarus stated he would try to reduce his sentence, but that it would probably still be hard labor to repay the Luedbrumdar clan for “desecrating a dwarf’s beard.” Well, as long as he wasn’t in prison.
After some more talking and planning about the feast for later, King Fugnarus suddenly turned silent for a moment before telling his guards to bring a crystal. When it was on the table, he pulled out his ID and placed it over it, causing it to shine blue and project a blue screen.
“This is the point where I want to ask you for a favor.” He turned the crystal around and pushed it over, closer to King Drangleic and my side. “I think the first ‘event’ after the unique Job System’s implementation will happen soon.”
“Hmm?” I raised a brow before looking at what was written on it.
Event Quest: Host of the Event
Quest Giver: Subordinate Goddess Chihiro, Goddess of Change, Ingenuity, and Ambition
Description: Become the host of the Event Quest [Manethala’s Greatest Gambit]. Invite people from all around to join the dungeon dive to quell Manethala’s anger, otherwise, incur his wrath and allow the dungeon [Manethala’s Nest] to break, releasing monsters onto Inkoran-Tazul. This Event Quest will be officially announced one month before the 30th of AutumnSun, while the Quest will become active a week afterwards. Until then, [Manethala’s Nest] will be sealed and expunge anybody currently inside.
The party who succeeds in the duty first, will all have their Unique Jobs unlocked!
Rewards: Unique Job unlocked
“…” I stared at the screen in silence, before turning my head to everybody around me. All of them couldn’t get their eyes off the screen.
Eventually, this silence was broken. “Fuck!”
Tatsuya looked at me.
“Hestia-san … Fuck.”
I couldn’t help but nod. I was almost to the point of tears. Why?
[“FUCK! WE JUST GOT OUR UNIQUE JOBS!”]
[“WHAT A WASTE!”]
Unable to stop ourselves, the both of us crashed onto the table like corpses.