While Rex and the dragonkin sisters enjoyed a pleasant and relaxing evening in Elysium, no such pleasures were afforded to any of the four city councils of the dragonkin. While there were no open wars among the cities due to the always looming threat of the tigermen horde, it did not mean there was a unity and perfect cooperation. They had human blood within them, so greed and desire to always be on top was a naturally emerging trait among them.
Sure, wars were just not a viable option, lest they endanger their entire race to extermination at the hands of the savage tigermen. Thus, they could only rely on subterfuge, some occasional assasination and politics to achieve their goals. The cities were fiercly competitive, the only true connection were the noble family branches in each of them. And even these branches always competed among themselves. They had their championship, always held about a decade before the emergence of the tigermen horde, where a new main family is determined, all by the skill of the representative branch head. Said victor, the new main family branch then dictates the path of the family overall, having quite the say in most important decisions, going so far as arranging marriages for the still unwed heirs and other children, raising their own standing with other noble houses in turn through these moves.
It was only natural that the councils had their own spies in other cities, information was the greatest weapon in such political and under the table shady dealings with whoever could bring them the most benefits. After all, the better your position and the more pull you have, it was much easier to ensure your own heirs were posted in much safer garrisons during the war with tigermen. Survival was much easier if you had the strings to pull and favours to cash in.
And sure, the dragon were not the most tallented of mages, but that did not mean they were not resourecefull and cleaver. They had developed their own wats to comunicate among the cities, more than a weeks travel between them, should a messanger be sent. Thus, by the time the council of Dragons Roost, the city Rex was in right now, managed to contact the other three cities, their councils were already going over all the information their spies had sent over. And while said information did not contain much, what it revealed was more than a little bit frightening and exciting at the same time.
"Ha ha ha ha ha." hysterically laughed an elder of Dragoncliff city, after finishing reading outr loud the report that had arrived before them. "Lords! Those imbeciles are not only stabbing themselves in the foot, they are also attaching weights to themselves, all when a ravenous horde of beasts is charging towards them." The old dragonkin was having the day of his life, the aforementioned council having been quite the thorn in his side, messing up his plans for years now.
"And for what? A couple of pretty faces their younglings are squabling over? Ha ha ha ha." He was well aware of just how reknown and pretty the sisters were, but with no male heirs in that generation, he had no horse in said race. He had to think how to find proper mates for all the young women under within his clan. Sure, there were those who had spoken of men they would like to be paired with, but even more were still single and with no flame in their hearts.
The second reason was that his city, and council in turn, were more like the merchants of the outer world, always seeking the most profit in every situation possible, thus most of his fellow councilmembers, even those with sons and grandsons, a fair few of whom had held some dreams about courting any of the two Dragn Roosts Heavenflame sisters, agreeing with him on the matter.
"What does the race of the mercenary matter? If his group can be hired to take care of the damn tigermen, while preventing the numerous casualities that we would have suffered, what kind of an idiot would not go for near broke? It is always easier to replenish our wealth and stocks than our numbers." agreed another.
Voice after voice sounded out in agreement with the statement of the elder, every one well aware of how low their birth rates were. Not low enough to endanger their existance, but low enough that each war with the tigermen pushed them back to the starting point, preventing any and all attempts to expand into more cities, or trying to reach the next floor. Only by taming the current one could they hope to explore deeper.
"Though, thanks to their stupidity, we have a prime oportunity to shift it all in our favour." While events like Rex audition with Dragonclifs council was public, allowing for all spies to witness it, no such wories had to be considered when the council members were discussing important matters. "I suggest we act somewhat similar in the upcoming moot with the rest of the councils, but be entirely supportive of the mercenary once he is called upon for the second time. Who knows, if we are lucky, he might just move here, guaranteeing the least casualities for our city, purely by beeing here. If my hunch is right, their group must have at least on epeak SS class fighter. I can already smell oportunities and profit." The old man spoke of his plan, a shit eating grin spreading over his face.
His fellow councilmembers were in agreement, spending the remaining time strategizing on the proper steps taken. The remaining two cities, less mercantilistically inclined, though not nearly as blockheaded as Dragonclifs, were more split on the decision, though all agreed that there was merit in at least trying to find a common ground with the mercenary group, and if possible, secure that contract, with them providing payment after the services would be rendered.
The meeting of the councils was quite chaotic as well, the other three lambasting the Dragonclif council for their foolish =way of conducting business, though expressing their unity in spirit. Still, one has to eat unpleasant things when a sickness is rampaging in ones body. Similarily, they too would have to aquiese the strangers, especially with the offer they had extended. There was no true loss possible on their side. If the mercenaries can pull of their part of the proposed deal, dragonkin do not suffer great loss of life, attaining a rare opportunity to develop and maybee even found another city, elevating their future might.
It was early morning when the council meeting ended, all the members tired but having come to at least a provisionary compromise between the four cities regarding a couple possible offers of payment to the mercenary group. They would reconvene in the evening, when the mercenary member would be summoned the second time.
----------------------------------
After returning to Dragoncliff with both dragonkin sisters, Rex spent the first part of the day learning of the precious materials that were gathered and stored by dragonkin, Mora and Xersia being invaluable helpers, providing him with books and the neccesary explanation, or answers to questions, should any arise. Rex had heard a couple of the servant girls already gossiping with others regarding the heat filled night that Heavenflame sisters must have experienced with the mercenary, judging by the large smiles and satisfied expressions they had as they left Xersias bedroom in the morning.
Rex saw quite the cute blush sneaking its way on Moras face when the younger woman heard a bit of the servants gossiping, though she was smart enough to not stomp over and correct their mistaken asumptions. She was smart enough to understand that it was only amatter of time before they actually did it, as well the benefit such rumors would bring over the truth. There was no way they would tell the councils, or anyone outside their new family for that matter, that their man IS the mercenary group, and he has even more power that anyone must be imagining.
Eventually, the pompous messanger from before arrived once again, still as annoying, though slightly less arrogant this time, informing Rex about the councils readiness to negotiate for a possible contract. He also noted that all the other councils would also be present, even if not physically in person there. Rex only inquired about the location and time of this second attempt at negotiation, what with it no longer beeing an open format like before, only Rex, his two women and the councilmembers taking part in it.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
With his evening being reserved for the event, he sent the messenger away and returned to the two women, once again focusing on deepening his knowledge of the precious materials this dungeon floor could provide and the things that the council might offer for his services. He had a rather pleasant dinner with the two sisters, where he pulled out a few dishes prepeard by Aisha, pleasantly suprising the two ladies, causing the due to sink into a blissfull experience once again, with both making a demand to be provided with acces to said food, or Aisha herself, on a regular basis. A demand Rex had a simple solution. Once a deal would be made, he would establish a heavily warded portal to Elysion in the depths of Heavenflame family mansion, providing the sisters with an enchantment that would allow them to travel to Elysium at will. He also took the time to provide the two sisters with additional protection, ensuring that even when he was not besides them, only SSS class entities could endanger them in a timeframe that he could not guarantee his arrival to their rescue, though there was nothing he could do to ensure such entities could not harm them within the time frame he needed to teleport once the defensive wards were damaged, sending him the warning signal, unless said entity decided to fool around and play with its prey. It would have to be an intelegent indivudual, neither of the girls would go anywhere where such monsters could reside any time soon, thus such actions could be entirely possible, should some of the trully ancient SSS class monsters crawled out of their resting places.
With all of that done, it was only a little later that the annoying messanger was once again before their door, informing that it was time for the meeting. Rex grumbled that they could have at least sent a pretty girl, so his mood would be soured less, earning an amused laugh from both sisters as the trio boarded their carriage. Their ride to the assembly hall was once again uneventfull, though Rex seriously doubted there were idiots we believed they had what it took to take him down, his reputation as a representavive of a mercenary group, that could take the tigermen horde down on their own, already having spread across the city, an by this time, likely the other three as well. He doubted that the councils would want to hide the knowledge, most likely painting it in a way where they seemed to be doing their very best to secure the services of this misterious group.
During their hour long ride, Rex's ravens that were exploring this floor and spying on the enourmous horde found the one thing that he had been looking for, besides whatever else he was bussy with right now. through the eyes of one of these ravens, Rex could see a rather ominous looking entrance through rather impressive gates, countless tigermenm as well as some sort of shadow mantis, with the height of five meters, guarding said gate.
'There you are.' Rex mused at the sight of the gate, as well as the super heavy security around it. 'That most likely is the last checkpoint before the labyrinth to the core of the dungeon. I wonder what form do they take? Is there something trully interesting there?' Question after question popped in his mind, making him even more eager to deal with this meeting and get to exploring said place. He would have to move in the same dirrection to deal with the horde after all.
This time, unlike previously, they were not left on their own devices, the messanger, and his shiny, plate clad possy alongside him, guided them to another part of the rather sizable building. This room was nowhere near the size of the huge hall the first 'negotiation' took place, though it was just as well maintained. There was little in the form of furniture inside said room, only a couple of tables, one with three chairs next to it, the other occupied by ten aged men, the mage speaker from before among them. A similar sight, that of a table with ten members around it, was visible in three other places of the room, though these other three tables, as well as their occupants, were mere images, none present here at the moment. obviously those were the other three city councils, present, but not at the same time.
Judging the chairs unfit for his groups posteriors, Rex moved them aside, withdrawing another set of three chairs, just like he had done in the large auditorium, though unlike the last time, chairs were much more humble, though still incredibly comfortable. Then, he sat down, once again in the middle, with Xersia and Mora taking his sides, just like before. With a light pinch and a small request from Xersia, Rex removed his hood once he had taken his seat, then he spoke, lest they decide to start with the introduction of each and every member present.
"I do hope you have come to an agreement, or at least a united front, regarding the rewards you are offering for us taking care of the tigermen horde. I would hate if you decided to waste my time yet again. There are countless cities where my group comes from that would keel over at the simple chance to deal with us, so make it quick." He spoke in a no nonsence tone, his face betraying no emotions, except a slight annoyance. That, while barely, did cause a part of the councilmen from three city groups to flinch just a bit, though not overly.
"We have come to an innitial agreement on the subject, yes." Spoke the same mage that had acted so high and mighty previously, then another councilman spoke from one of the projected tables "And while we are all in agreement that the offer you have spoken sounds indeed like a godsend, there are more than a few of us that question the ability of your group to deliver." the nhe hastily added "No ofence intended."
"Reasonable." Replied Rex. "Though we never expected to be paid upfront. What we want is to come to an agreement regarding the price you will pay for the service we have offered. Once we have such an agreement, we will take care of the task as quickly as possible, then return for the payment promissed."
It was then that the oldest member of the merchant city asked "Are you not worried that you could be not paid afterwards? Not that we would stand for such dishonourable actions. There must have been such unscrupulous groups you have dealt with in the past, have there not?"
"Heh." Rex smiled at the question. "Once your people see the way we deal with the tigermen, not honoring the deal with be the last thing coming to their mind."
"U-understandable." slight stutter escaped the old mans voice as he acknowledge the response. While not explicitly stated, the implication was clear. taking out the tigermen would be such a non issue, that should there be a doublecross from the dragonkin side, this mercenary group would find it no trouble to do the same to them that they would to the tigermen. And such a prospect did send chills down the spines of most of the councilmen.
"On another note." Spoke a councilmember from the third table "While we have warned our people to be on their best behaviour, there could still be foolish hotblooded individuals demanding duels for the two ladies by your side. We do hope you do not judge our people at fault for their foolishness."
"Sure, though those fools will be killed, should they so much as imply that my lovely women are some trophies that can be wagered, won and lost."
A moment of silence enveloped the room, no doubt someone had planned to ask for a lighter hand on those challengers, though with Rex's early warning, no such requests could now come. The silence lasted for a minute longer, untill the merchant city leaders took the innitiative and started going over the goods they could offer, as well as any other services that might interest either Rex, or his 'lovely ladies'. The dragonkin had quite the number of marterfull craftsmen, who could provide trully beautifful pieces, no doubt Rex's other woman would love to have. Such a distinguishable person simply could not have no other heavenly beauty waiting back at his home.
That was also a point on which the merchants wasted no time, offering Rex and his mercenary group quite the luxurious mansion within their city. Unlike the other three city councils, this group had absolutely nothing they were not willing to offer Rex, should he decide to claim a residence in their city. Something that Rex not only considered, but, after a quick few words with the sisters by his side, also accepted. There were quite a few scowls and angry glares sent their way from the other three of the councils, clearly a solo move to ensure their own city's safety in the future. Sure, they were using Rex for their benefit, blatantly so, but with it so obviously presented, there was no dagger hidden in the dark. Rex saw these councilmen for what tehy were - a group of merchants that saw everything as a loss or gain. And Rex, with his group, could only become a gain. His girls would also be much safer in a city that trully wanted to ensure Rex's people felt good and desired within their walls, creating a lasting cooperation with this mercenary group.