After asking everyone to be seated the emperor paused for a moment before he finally opened his mouth, "The demon king has declared war on the orcs, and has asked us to stay out of the upcoming bloodshed."

An unusual grim silence filled the packed room, as all the nobles looked at the emperor as he began his explanation on the situation.

"According to the message the demon king has sent for us, if we are to include ourselves in this war, he would declare war on the human empire." the emperor said as he placed his hands on the table and looked at the nobles present there.

"Now from what marquis Micheal has reported to me, I have concluded that the demon's war with the orcs will last approximately 3 years before the orcs declare their loss." the emperor said as he momentarily paused before once again beginning his speech, "As such I will present you with two choices to choose from to decide where the country will head during an era of upcoming chaos."

Lifting one of his fingers up in the air the emperor laid out the first option at hand"Our first choice is to form an alliance with the other races on the continent, and bolster our military such that we will be able to confront the demons in the upcoming war. This is the choice I am personally in favor of."

"The second choice is to wait for the demons to end their war with the orcs and launch a war when they are at their weakest. While I have made my views clear, I would like to listen to what you have to say." he said as he lifted a second finger.

Putting his hand back down on the table the emperor made his closing statement as he looked at every single noble that sat there. "Depending on your answer, we have many a decision left to make as our empire is about to enter a time of great strife. For now, I will be giving you 30 minutes of free time to discuss amongst yourselves on which of the two choices you wish to make or if there is a third unanimous choice that can be made in the best interest of the empire and its people."

The emperor said as he concluded his speech as he walked out of the hall, leaving all the nobles sitting there in a daze of the situation that their emperor had just briefed them about.

.

.

.

.

.

"Count Alfred, are his majesties words true? Did the demon king truly declare war upon the orcs? If so then this truly is a pressing issue" duke Cavendish said as he clasped his hands and leaned forward with a dark expression.

Waving his head side to side count Alfred offered his reply, "I am afraid that his majesties words are completely true, and lord Micheal can attest to that as well,"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"My apologies count Alfred to have doubted your words but the whole situation is just so unreal that some doubt would naturally occur." the duke said as he nodded his head and apologized to the count.

"No offense taken duke Angus, as you said the situation is quite unreal, but as such we must now of all times come to a unilateral decision on what we are to do. Not only for ourselves but for the entirety of the nation, this meeting is of the greatest importance." Alfred said with a very dark expression on his face.

"I am in complete agreement with your word's sir Alfred, and I presume all the other nobles present here would agree with it as well." said duke Cavendish as he looked at the other nobles.

"I agree with your words lord Angus, as such why not hold a discussion until his majesty comes." replied duke Webb with a nod, to which duke Angus offered a nod of his own.

"Well as his majesty has told us we have two major choices before us right now, that is to either form an alliance and take a safer route out, or attack the demons right as their war with the orcs ends. Besides, this does anyone else have any other ideas?" count Alfred said as he started off the discussion urging for more ideas.

"Hmm while it is just a thought for now I do have a third idea. How about we do both but only partially? We sign a treaty with the elves and dwarves to assist in the arming of our military, and we take the initiative in attacking the demons later?" said an old man in a military uniform loaded with medals.

"Hmm marquees Samuel, while your words hold merit how do you propose we would execute this idea, as I do not imagine the elves and dwarves will sit down quietly as we use them to bolster our own military." duke web replied to the old marquees.

"Well if that were to be the case I can not imagine the first of the two plans to work either as it too depends heavily upon strengthening ourselves with the help of the other races." said marquees Samuel with a nod of agreement to the obvious flaw in the two plans.

"Hmm that is true, and the second plan isn't the most effective idea either as it may cause us more harm than good, as fending against the massive army of the demons in and of itself would be an act of suicide." count Alfred said in agreement with the words of the old noble,

"Count Alfred do you have any other strategies in mind?" duke Cavendish said as he looked at the count.

The cunt looked at the duke and paused or a moment before he started speaking, "Hmm while I do not have much in the way of plans myself as the one his majesty just offered are what I and lord Micheal had thought of ourselves between the time we received the message and now, but I to a certain degree do agree with marquees Samuel's words. Of the presented ideas his is likely the most effective, and as a long time general I imagine he has a few ideas in mind to carry it out." he said as he shifted his look towards the old general.

"Hmm if you say so then let us present the third idea to his Majesty and take it from there as to what end result we get, from the following meeting will be our choice for the upcoming war." duke Webb said with a nod.

"I assume that everyone else here is on board with the idea as well?" said duke Cavendish as he looked at the other nobles who were mostly silent during the conversation.

Most of the nobles nodded to the idea while a few did ask a few questions before agreeing to the third choice offered by the marquees.

"Well then since I believe everyone has unanimously agreed to the idea offered by lord Samuel, then I presume we can begin a discussion on how we shall modify it such that most of its flaws are fixed, and offer it to his majesty the emperor when he does arrive."

.

.

.

.

.

"I assume that the noble houses have made their decision?" said the emperor as he once again took his seat with the ministers standing behind him.