Up close, I could see that the stone table had inlays placed into its surface, depicting scenes of all the races working together to beat back…something. It was carved as an amorphous blob, but the meaning was clear. Cooperation was most important at this table.
I sat at a space behind the podium, which was slightly less noticeable that the other seats, since I would be behind the speaker.
As I sat down, both Aunt Aspasia and Jasper noticed me.
Aunt Aspasia frantically motioned for me to get away from the table, seemly afraid that I would get in trouble for doing this.
Jasper, though, simply took one long look at me, and smiled evilly.
Tsk. He noticed.
Other than that, nobody really took note of me. Well, they did, but it was more in the way that somebody notices a fly, or a cockroach.
In total, there are eleven people at the table, including me.
Five Human kings, two members of Elven royalty plus the Empress, The new Demon Lord and his…Aide? Friend? Wife? I have no idea who she is.
And then there’s me.
I reclined as much as I could while sitting on the stone bench, and briefly considered creating a backrest using earth magic. I decided against it, and opted to instead seat myself cross-legged on top of the bench, my dress flared out to cover my knees.
While I was having this internal crisis, the man who wore beggar’s rags walked up to the stone table, and sat himself directly to my right.
I straightened my back, aware that since he was sitting up here, there was a very high possibility that Niten was right, and that this man is Amadeus Jor.
I glanced over at him, only to find that he was already looking at me, smiling as if he had just heard a private joke.
“Is something wrong?” I asked quietly.
He shook his head lightly.
“No, no. I’m just slightly surprised that you decided to sit up here.”
I tilted my head to the side, questioningly.
“Why? Do you think I shouldn’t be sitting here?”
“No, you rightfully deserve to sit with us, especially with those titles.”
“…You can see my titles?”
“Yes. And quite a bit more. Do not worry. I will not disclose them, unless you wanted me to.”
I sighed in relief.
Wait. How can he see those? He would have to have a higher level of [Analyze] then I do. And mine is maxed out.
I turned to him again.
“Hold on. Why can you see my status?”
He grinned toothily.
“There’s a skill higher than [Analyze]. However, it takes special circumstances to get.”
I want it.
“How did you get…”
“Shh.”
Ah. He shushed me.
Right after that, he stood up, and mounted the podium, and spoke in a booming voice, which echoed throughout the large room.
“Welcome to the first tri-continental summit. For those not yet aware, my name is Amadeus Jor, and I will be overseeing this meeting. You all, however, should know about the recent crisis that had occurred, and the possible tribulations it will bring in the future. It is for this reason that this meeting has been called into being, and why we are all gathered here today. Now, would anyone wish to suggest the first topic of discussion?”
I didn’t know he would be officiating the whole summit. It makes sense though, to have the man with the Great Title of
There was some murmuring from the stands, and the Human Kings started whispering to each other. I think the elven side knew what they wanted to discuss beforehand, and the demons had only two people at the “important” table. They were able to easily figure out what they wanted to bring up.
I planned on just staying quite until something that I wanted to discuss would inevitably come up.
It didn’t work out that way, though.
One of the Human Kings stood up. He was a fairly tall man, but was also as wide as he was tall. His jowls quivered as he spoke to everybody.
“Well, first, I am of the opinion that everyone at this table should have to introduce themselves, as so that we might ascertain whether or not they are…qualified to be sitting here, with us royalty.”
Ah. He’s looking straight at me now. Damn, this is going to be annoying, isn’t it?
He continued.
“By my generosity, I will be the first to make the proper introductions. I am King Beoth, of the Günter Royal line, spanning back over a period of fifteen thousand years. I am a level four-hundred mage, at age one-hundred and twelve.”
Each one of the Human Kings went after him, attempting to overwhelm the rest of us at the summit with their ‘power’, and ‘prestige’.
It went to the Elves after the Human Kings had finished.
The two royals introduced themselves first, already displaying that the Elven royal lines stretched back in time measured in tens of thousands of years. As for personal power, they were about equal to each of the Human Kings.
Aunt Aspasia introduced herself, and she proved to be the weakest one at the table so far, with a level of nearly three hundred. She had gained the throne by virtue of her Grand Title—
Jasper introduced himself, naming himself as a Demon Lord, and causing many of the Human and Elven people in the room to bristle.
The woman by his side turned out to be his daughter.
I never knew I had a niece. It made me feel a little bad, since I thought I knew Jasper fairly well, even with the limited interactions we’d had.
Finally, it was my turn.
Everybody seemed to turn towards me, curious as to why I would be sitting at the table, when I looked no older than fifteen.
Jasper held a knowing smile for me, while Amadeus to my right started humming to himself. Odd guy.
“Hello everyone.” I started, “My name is Katariah Nadine Silver, daughter of the late Empress Isabella Silver, and a powerful demon named Hasan Nadine. I am level one-hundred and fifty at the moment, and am thirteen years old.”
There was a stunned silence for a moment, as everyone took in this information. I suppose they were also wondering what level they had been at thirteen years old.
The fat King spoke up, grinning maliciously while he did so.
“If that’s all, then you are not eligible to even be at this summit. Even more so as a bastard child of an elf and a demon. In fact, you should be dead, no? I vote that we expel this…creature from our noble assembly.”
I sighed.
I really hadn’t wanted to give any other bits of information away, but now that I have to in order to beat back the intentions of the Human Kings, I think I’m going to adopt a ‘go big or go home’ approach to this.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Besides, from the looks on the faces of the Human Kings, they have no kind intentions towards me. A few were even watching me lustfully.
“I wasn’t finished, ‘King’ Beoth. In addition to my…abnormal level and my lineage, I am the holder of the Great Title,
Okay, so I still withheld some of the more shocking facts. But, judging by the dead silence, and the blank stares, this much was sufficient.
Aunt Aspasia was looking at me like I had grown a third horn, while the Human Kings were now watching me, shocked.
Jasper was nodding to himself.
“So, does this mean that I can leave the Demon continent in your hands, sister?”
“No. Screw off. You still have responsibilities there.”
He wilted somewhat, while his daughter snickered to the side a little. It looks like I might have a comrade in arms.
There were no questions as to whether or not I was qualified after this, though I still saw some of the members at the table eyeing me in ways that left me feeling wary.
Needless to say, the ill attempt to kick me out of the summit failed.
Especially after Jasper had demonstrated his closeness to me through his comments.
The next issue was brought up by Jasper’s daughter, surprisingly. Her name was Dana, likely short for something else. Oh, and she’s over a hundred years old.
“The purpose of this summit is to foster relations between the three continents, right? Then, for the first discussion, we need to find a better way of handling the gates into and out of the Demon continent. The Elves and the Humans have practically cut us off from the rest of the lands. If we are to come together to repel any outside forces, then we need supply and communication lines. And, that’s just not possible with the gates closed off, like they are now.”
This spawned a huge debate lasting the rest of the day, where everybody argued about the necessity of guarding the so-called Demon-gates.
In was clear that the Human delegation desired to shut down those gates altogether, since they were still extremely wary of attacks from the Demons. They didn’t seem to care about the Demons joining in on any sort of alliance, even if it was in order to preserve the entirety of the continents. Unfortunately, it seemed that the majority of the Elves were of the same opinion.
Nobody seemed to want to deal with the Demons, preferring to keep them all bottled up on the Demon continent.
The Demons, of course, wanted to establish trade with everybody else.
They had found that there was a gross over-abundance of precious materials like diamonds and gold in their continent. They, however, had no use for them, since they had no practical survival value.
The Demons would much rather have food, and steel, than useless sparkly things.
In fact, Demons in general disdained upon the act of wearing fine clothing and jewelry.
They were a very martial society.
Jasper was a bit of an odd one out, what with his all-encompassing love for books.
Anyway, the Demons kept suggesting that a trade line was opened up, so that precious materials could come out of their continent, and things they have always badly needed could come in. Things like wood, grains, and seeds.
Of course, after this was voiced, the rest of the delegations present wanted to debate which gate would be opened, their greed for sparkly things having outweighed their caution.
Only a little though, since they only wanted one gate to be opened.
This would never be enough to let in the amount of materials needed by the Demons. Not even close.
It finally ended when Amadeus got up from his seat next to me, and stood up on the podium again.
“Enough…I said enough!” everybody quieted down from the bickering match the discussion had devolved into.
“We are not going to get anything done if everybody continues distrusting the Demons. I say that the past should be left behind. Especially since this past was over three hundred years ago, and is only serving to harm the Demons further.”
He looked around the table, meeting everybody’s eyes one after another.
“Four of the Demons gates will be opened. However, this will only be temporary, since I fully expect for all of the restrictions to be lifted in the future.”
A few of the Kings started to complain about his decision, but Amadeus gave them a sharp look, and they wilted. It helped that he used a little of his aura on them, which gave off a feeling like the earth was swallowing you.
The Demons happily accepted Amadeus’s compromise, knowing that there would be time later to convince the Humans to open more gates, after they had proved themselves to be trustworthy.
It also helped that they knew the Humans wouldn’t go back on this decision, since it was backed by Amadeus.
Dinner was served after this, when everybody went back to their respective buildings.
These buildings were where everybody would sleep and eat. Basically, anytime not spent in the big building where the debating happens, would be spent here.
I decided to stay with the Elven delegation, instead of going over to the Demon one, for a few reasons.
Anyway, the food was good, and afterwards, I spent my time meditating.
I really didn’t need to sleep, so it seemed like a good use of my time.
It meant that I wasn’t asleep when someone broke into my room.
Well, multiple someone’s.
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Author's Note:
Again, I thought I would put up a list of the Great Titles, for reference. Along with the title holder revealed so far.
Spoiler :
The Great Titles:
1.The King—Amadeus Jor
2.The Queen—
3.The Knight—
4.The Tower—Sarah Durst
5.The Mage—
6.The Swordsman—
7.The Builder—Aspasia Silver
8.The Healer—
9.The Archer—
10.The Bishop—
11.The Madman—
12.The Shield—
13.The Lost—
14.The Bridge—Rust Gleben
15.The Demon—
16.The Teacher—Caevern Niten
17.The Hero—
18.The Hermit—Harving Strump
19.The Warden—Selina Rochella
20.The Joker—Katariah Nadine Silver