“I see we are all here, so let us start the quarterly meeting” Said the bald figure as it sat in this seat of honor of the round table.

“You are late again baldy.” Said a massive figure sitting on it’s left at the round table. The figure sported impressive scars and a very short 3 day beard. He was visibly very contraried.

“Again with the survey hobby ?” Asked an old figure seated directly in front of the bald one

“Yes, it may be unworthy of my status but it allows one to glean quite a few information with a few apparently innocent questions.” Said the bald figure with a smile

“Humpf, gathering information is my job baldy. Don’t grow overconfident because you were temporarily chosen to lead the council.” Said another figure, his feature completely hidden by a long black coat

“Now my little snakey snake, don’t grow angry. We all know that if any of you had the power to steal my seat, you would do so without any hesitation. Yet I am still in charge ...” He finished, smiling.

“For now, old man, for now” Menaced the spy master

Annoyed, another figure interjected “Can we start with the council, I have much to do and only so much time.”

“Right, sorry about that, let us start with our praised general then. Battelmore, if you could.”

“Certainly” Said the scared figure adorning a short beard as he stood up. “The situation on the front didn’t change much in the last two hundred and fifty years. Our east front is still stable thanks to our Bryozoan allies. The Chtenophorian have even been slightly pushed back, which has been a first in the last million year.”

The man took a moment to let the few murmur of agreement die down, before continuing.

“Similarly the west front is rather calm, minor incursion here and there by various species, all swiftly pushed back by the local garnison. Concerning our south front …” The man pursed his lips “It is still an utter disaster, the daemonians attacks have grown more and more insistent and we have been constantly retreating, bit by bit, just so that we could maintain a defense front. Without aid, I do not know how long we can hold ...”

“In the best situation ?” A figure cutted

“A million year at most, not much longer. The moment the lines are pierced, all humanoid races will be decimated.” Said the general, while looking down.

“Damnit” Roared a figure while smashing the table with his fist. “If the winged hadn’t turned tail on us then we wouldn’t be in this situation !”

A few murmurs of agreement sounded in the room, some even spoke of retaliation against the winged in a effort of vengeance. Yet all murmur stopped when another voice, more powerful, roared.

”Enough of this, talking of retaliation will lead to nothing, we cannot afford another powerful enemy at the moment“ Roared the bald humanoid who led the council. “General, what about our north front ? Any progress ?”

“The disgusting Blattarian have been resisting our invasion. With so much of our force on the south front, we are left unable to advance. We have however consolidated our position, in a few thousand years, we should be able to push through their line.”

“Good” said the bald man. “As long as we can push through our north front and join with the Echinodermians then we have a chance to hold. Like us they have always been at odds with the daemonians. They will probably fear our fall and send help our way, alone they cannot fight the daemonians.”

Hearing that, the general nodded, obviously sharing the thought of the bald leader. A few sigh of relief were heard as the assembly calmed down.

Taking hold of the now silent room, the bald spoke again “Now let’s hear from our human resource department, have you been able to hire new gods in our rank. We are in dire need of competent personnel”

While the general sat down, another figure rose up, obviously flustered.

“We have been looking very hard for competent personnel my lord, we have trained a few dozen new gods which have already joined up to various offices. They have proven very useful and we are confident that ~”

“ENOUGH !” The bald figure roared as he rose up. “You said a few dozen gods, that is insufficient ! How many have you hired exactly ?” The figure said, emphasizing the last word by pronouncing it slowly.

“I wouldn’t know, my secretary is generally in charge of keeping such number in mind, but I assure you that amount of gods recruited is satisfa~”

“HOW MUCH ?” Roared the leader of the conference.

Cowering, the figure visibly shrunk as the whole council starred in his direction. Suddenly feeling very lonely in front of so many piercing glares.

“18 gods, my lord. 18 new gods were recruited ...” the man said, his eyes downcast.

“And how much left their function ?” continued the bald figure, obviously controlling his anger.

“23” murmured the man, making sure as few people as possible would hear him. Unfortunately, all of them were powerful gods and as such, all had heard him perfectly fine.

“23 ?” the bald figure asked “Tell me young one, do you believe I am some kind of fool ?”

“No, of course not, I would never dare belittle a man such as you” the figure hurriedly said.

“Oh, is that so ? How interesting. You see, a few minutes ago, I clearly heard you mention you recruited a FEW dozen gods. How you thought this amount was satisfactory in two hundred and fifty years is still a mystery to me but something actually bothers me even more.”

A few men in the room gulped, knowing full well what would follow. Other snickered for the exact same reason. The cowering man only realised at this moment, that he had no ally in this room.

He realised he had become the prey of their leader’s anger and the very thought terrified him.

“It’s a very simple thing, I simply don’t see of how 18 gods can be considered a few dozen. This certainly is more than twelve but not quite a ‘few’ don’t you guys think ?” He asked the crowd, receiving a few nods.

“So I will ask a simple question, my dear friend”

“Yes, anything my lord, I will ~”

“Tatata, don’t interrupt me” Said the bald figure while shaking a raised finger. “So, where was I, ah yes. A very simple question. How dare you lie in presence of the council ?”

“My~ My intention was not to lie” responded the cowering man that had started sweating buckets. “My team worked very hard to satisfy your demands but there are simply too few humanoid souls worthy of godhood, we could only try our best to attain such low number. I ~”

“Silence” the bald man quietly interrupted, gathering the attention of the whole room again. “You have already said more than enough.” he finished, smiling.

Reassured by the calm tone, the man gained courage again and opened his mouth to speak. He was once again interrupted, before he could utter a single world.

“Guards, seize this man, he is to be imprisoned and tortured for his defiance of the council authority.”

Flabbergasted, the man had no time to react before five towering figure instantly encircled him. It took but a moment for the man to be neutralised and brought out of the room. The council suddenly growing very silent.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

As the door violently closed shut in a deafening sound of clashing wood. The bald figure spoke again, speaking toward the bearded figure directly facing him.

“Now Old Ji, if you could make your report. We are in dire of need of some good news.” The old man nodded, quickly rising up, but the bald figure turned toward another figure before he could start speaking. “Also, before I forget, Hana will be in charge of HR from now on.”

Quickly rising, a beautiful female figure with long red hair protested “Father, that is impossible, I am already much too busy with the second defense regiment and I have no time to spare.”

The bald man nodded “Very well, then the second regiment will be transferred to Curtis, all so that you may properly take care of HR my dear daughter”

Another manly figure nodded, obviously thankful to receive new responsibilities. Before he could grow too happy however, Hana was already screaming in anger.

“FATHER, those are my men, trained for eons to follow my every command. You cannot do this to me !”

“Oh, then do you think you could take care of the human resource department and of your regiment at the same time ?”

“Of course not, that would be preposterous, there is no way such a thing could ~”

“Then this discussion is over, Curtis, you are in charge of the second regimen from now on.”

“FATHER !”

“Hana, you will do as I command, is that clear. Don’t force me to exact punishment on my own daughter.”

Clenching her fist the female figure responded “Fine, I will take care of both HR and the second defense regiment.”

“Oh" the bald man said "and how will you manage that ?”

“I will delegate as much as possible to my second in command. The rest I should be able to manage on my own”

“Good” said the leader of the council, smiling “I am happy to know that my daughter finally accepted to delegate some of her work to her competent subordinates. Now Old Ji, if you could start, I am sure my daughter will behave from now on.”

Old Ji nodded, throwing a sympathic look toward the pouting Hana as she sat back down. “Now my dear friend, I knew you would be in need of some good news, and luckily that is what I bring. We recently found three top grade planet right inside our controlled territory. Two of them of the highest class. All three of them are currently on their way to you palace with a complete report stating how to best put them to good use.”

A few gasp escaped the audience as the bald man roared in laughter. “Good, good, very good. You really never disappoint Old man.”

“I wouldn’t dare disappoint a dear friend” Said the Old man, grinning happily.

“Good, I wouldn't expect any less from you, anything else to report ?”

“Nothing in particular, except that we have finally been able to restock what we lost a few thousand year ago during the last great daemonic invasion. I am confident that we will be able to sustain the front line with an important number of supportive planets.”

“Good, don’t let me forget to reward your effort.” Said the baldy, grinning from the good news.

“I won’t” Said the old man grinning “In fact I took the liberty to reward myself with five most interesting high grade planet just now. They will prove to be very useful for my experiments.”

“Good, that will be quite an appropriate reward, you can even add another high grade planet to that if you so wish. It’s on the house.”

“Then it will be my pleasure to do so.” Said the old man, bowing before sitting down again.

“Now now, what’s left ? Ah yes, Governor Steven, what are the last news from the main plane ?”

“Nothing much my lord, the situation is calm. The line has been getting longer and longer but so far no riot started.” said a man quickly before sitting back in his seat.

“Good what about the MRO ?”

A female figure raised her head, not bothering to stand up ”We are seriously understaffed, as usual, but we are still managing. We hope the new head of HR will quickly find us new personnel, or we won’t be able to perform our duty if this goes on”

From the side Hana nodded, confident she could make that one of her priorities.

“Also, my lord” continued the MRO manager “We would like you to stop with your shenanigans, each time you make a mistake it is our reputation that is put in doubt. Rumors have already started spreading about the abilities of my agents.”

“Ah yeah, sorry about that. Those mortal where really pissing me off. I won’t do it again !” He said with an apologetic tone. Sounding sincerely sorry.

The MRO manager snickered "For once, it would be good if you meant those words ..."

“Now” continued the baldy, wanting to go back on topic “I think we have talked about all the most important topic, does anyone have anything to add ?”

The man let his gaze wander across the room, but only silence greeted him.

“Spymaster, you must definitely have something to report” Continued the bald man, seeing that no one wanted to take the initiative.

“No, nothing that you don’t already know and that should be mentioned in public.”

“Oh, so you do have something to report.” Beamed the baldy with a smile

“Yes, we will however only discuss it in private.” She responded sternly.

The bald man grumbled a “Fine, we will see each other later then” before looking expectantly toward his council again.

“Nobody seems to have anything to add” Said Old Ji with a smile “but maybe our great lord has something to share with us ?” He asked with a gleam in his eyes.

“Ah, finally, I thought you would never ask !” Grinned the bald figure “Let’s see, first thing first” he said as a stack of paper appeared from thin air. “I have made a few discoveries on various races under care of many offices, some of you should urgently have your subordinate correct their way. Here are the reports” He finished, clapping his hands.

Instantly the heavy stack of paper few in separate bundle across the room, each bundle ending in front of a different figure who quickly started to take a look.

“Theses reports contain various personal observations and notes on the way the mortals are treated and on the development of their culture. As always most offices are doing fine and the loyalty of their humanoid to the confederation will be guaranteed. However, a few mistakes have been noted and they are to be rectified, everything has been specified in the documents.”

He continued after looking around the room.

“I trust you will be taking those advices in consideration in the shortest delay” continued the baldy. Happy to receive various nod in response. “Also, on a side note, I have been going around and learned of quite a few recent gastronomic discoveries. It turns out that ~”

Old Ji reclined in his chair, tuning out the rambling of his bald friend.

No further important topic would be addressed in this council,

it was the perfect time for a quick nap.