The meeting with the ambassadors was going on for a while. Kevin insisted on wasting by speaking in political jargon and having to explain what each term meant. Only after Kadmek got too annoyed by that and complained that did the human started speaking more clearly. Rutigan could tell that the council was getting tired. Fethy was here primarily to talk about commerce, and so was Lural, but Telanz had almost nothing to contribute to the discussion. Bringing any type of medical equipment could only be discussed after the upgrade in the infrastructure. That wasn't all. Rutigan could tell that Kadmek and Valyra were holding back something. He tried to probe for some answer, but the ambassadors seemed guarded about whatever it was.

To help everyone regain some of their energy, the King attempted to offer a break so they could have some coffee and pastries, but Kevin shot that down. According to the human, meetings should only stop when their discussions were over. Luckily, Valyra had a better sense and cut him off, agreeing that they should have breaks, but it was better to schedule a specific time for their coffee break. After that, they went back to discussing what benefits they could get from being a part of each organization.

Unlike what Hera had explained to him, the MAZE was split into three different groups. The Explorers Guild controlled the majority of the rooms and was run by humans. Something that Kadmek pointed out was that the Guild was also an organization focused on expansion. They wouldn't start fighting other civilizations out of the blue, but their interests were focused on finding more rooms and more resources to send back to their private room. Hera had warned them about Earth and how it was an unfathomably large room where most humans were born and raised. It was just a shame that only humans could visit that place, but no one could explain why. If they agreed to being part of the Guild meant that its rules would be applied to Boothudurn, but it also meant that they would have the best resources and the most advanced infrastructure.

The Union of MAZE Nations, or UMN, consisted of all other civilizations who would rather rule themselves. This didn't mean that they were enemies of the Guild or didn't have access to its resources, but just that they opted to keep their traditions and laws closer to what they were. One detail about this that worried and excited the King was that the UMN was home to most of the various races inside the MAZE, from dwarves to elves, beastmen, and even mermaids. All these different civilizations worked together under the same flag. They also had access to the internet and much of the infrastructure of the Guild. However, those benefits had to be bought or traded for, and more often than not, they wouldn't have the most up-to-date version of a product. Kadmek gave one example of this. There was this huge room that could benefit from a better way of transportation. During the negotiations about what kind of transport they would use, the Guild offered to build a bullet train in exchange for having the room under their flag. This offer was ultimately rejected, but everyone agreed with the train idea, but the only thing they built was a train powered by electricity. It still had some luxuries of the modern days such as air conditioning, internet connection and comfortable seats, but it wasn't the most advanced option. For the dwarves of Boothudurn, much of those details were lost, but they were still able to grasp the overall idea.

Lastly, there was the Natural Resource Unit. This group wouldn't deal with things like territory or infrastructure. Instead, they were responsible for logistics and cataloging all the resources that each room had to offer. This helped everyone when in need of supplies or a specific type of product. Still, there were a couple of rooms that were under their direct control. When a place rich in valuable resources appeared, to avoid any conflicts between the Guild and the UMN, the NRU would step in to manage said resource distribution. This part of their discussion also took a long time since the people of Boothudurn weren't that familiar with the concept of purchase.

What ended up delaying most of the conversation were the explanations of basic concepts that the council members weren't familiar with. It was one thing to have Hera explain her society, another to have someone with knowledge about politics explaining what they would need to know. In the middle of one of those explanations, Hera and her group burst through the door.

"Hera? What's wrong? What is that?" Rutigan got up from the chair when he saw the bloodied white corpse that she was carrying.

"This is an issue that everyone here needs to know about," Hera walked to the middle of the room and held the body up, "This is a Wendigo. It's a deadly creature that must be killed on sight. If you don't, it can eat and get stronger with each kill. They can even absorb the skills and spells of people."

Kevin and Kadmek were skeptical about what the creature actually was, but a quick use of their [Observe] revealed that Hera was right. Valyra, on the other hand, didn't doubt her announcement for a second. She knew who that human was, and how she was the first low leve explorer to fight a wendigo alone and win. With this new information, the mood of the meeting quickly changed. Hera did her best to explain what the wendigo was, and Valyra had a video of what happened during the wall break on her tablet. After showing it to the council, they understood the gravity of the situation.

"Why is that happening now?" Rutigan asked.

"We are not sure… our best assumption is that it's because of the humans," Valyra replied.

"That is just speculation! You have no proof of that," Kevin protested.

"I don't, but this is an informed guess. Rampages only happen in rooms with a lot of humans. It stands to reason that the presence of Wendigos is triggered by humanity as well, but I can’t say for sure," Valyra explained to the council.

"Rampages… Hera told us about that risk. Do you know when that will happen or how many humans have to come here before the red sky appears?" Ogryn asked.

"We can't know that for sure. The number of humans that are required for the Rampages to start varies from room to room. And, after they start, they never stop. Even if there are no more humans inside a room," Kadmek explained.

"And on the matter of how often it happens, we also don't know. It can be anywhere from 12 to 24 months. It's never outside that window, and 24 hours before it starts, the red sky appears," Valyra added.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"So all the people in the city will be in danger once every year because of the humans?" Naka asked.

Kevin slammed his hand on the table and got up, "We are not trying to harm anyone! Even if we humans are truly responsible for the Rampage, the Guild has several protocols in place to protect all the citizens of each room."

"Kevin. Lower your voice. You are in the presence of royalty," Kadmek stared at him with an angry expression. In response, the human gritted his teeth and sat back down.

"I apologize for his outburst, but he is correct. We are not accusing the humans of anything. Yes, they might cause the Rampage, but they understand that responsibility and do their very best to protect us," Valyra added.

"Fret not. We understand that this is not something humanity has done on purpose. Besides, it seems like a low price to pay for all the technology you are offering us," King Rutigan replied with a smile.

"My liege, are you sure this is worth it?" Naka asked.

"I believe so, yes. Also, we have you and your guard to protect us, don't we? That's the real reason I can be at ease," Rutigan smiled at the captain.

"Of course," Naka replied with a proud smirk.

Hera had to hold back a giggle. Despite all her talk about how Rutigan's father was a better King, all it took was a single compliment from the current ruler, and Naka would let it go to her head.

Rutigan turned back to the ambassadors, "With this new development, I believe it will be best if we make a decision soon. The council will have a meeting, and by tomorrow we shall have our reply to your offers. I have prepared some rooms in the castle for you to stay, and a guard will be stationed nearby if any of you need anything, and do feel free to explore our city. I ask you just to keep our customs in mind. Oh, and if our meeting is over by then, you are more than welcome to join me for dinner. However, I have a rule. No business talk during meals."

"Of course. We appreciate the hospitality," Valyra gave a slight bow after getting up from the chair. The ambassadors mainly used their tablets for everything, so there wasn't even a need to clean up when they got up.

"Before agreeing to dinner, let me ask you. Do you have any booze around here?" Kadmek asked.

"We were experimenting with some options that Hera and Blue told us about. I believe we have some wine, beer, and one clear liquid made out of potatoes called vodka, but that is giving me some trouble to figure out," Lural replied.

Kadmek turned to Hera, "You taught them how to make vodka?"

"Not really, I just said it was a thing. I have no idea how to actually make that, and without the internet, the best I could say is that vodka can be made from potatoes," Hera shrugged.

"That's fair. Most people barely understand how to make wine, much less something stronger," Kadmek turned to Lural. "If we have some time, I would love to take a look at what you're doing. I dabble in making my own brews. Maybe I can help."

"That would be great!" Lural got up from his chair but cleared his throat before sitting back down, trying to hide his excitement, "But let's discuss that after the council meeting. We must keep our priorities straight. I'll send for someone to get you a bottle of our vodka so you can see where we are at."

"Perfect, thank you very much. It's been a while since I could drink on the job," Kadmek laughed.

Valyra joined in the laugher, but Kevin gave the dwarf an annoyed look. The ambassadors left the area, leaving Hera's group and the council.

"I supposed I should've said this before. Hera, I wish to hear your opinion on the offers they made, yours too, Silah, if you wish to stay. However, I would feel more comfortable if your friends were not here so we can talk more freely," Rutigan turned to Helena and the others, "I hope you don't take offense to that. As much as we trust Hera's judgment, I…"

Before he continued, Helena chimed in, "Don't worry, King Rutigan. We understand. Just because you know Hera doesn't mean you know us. We can leave you to talk in private without any issues."

"Yeah, there is no offense taken," Alex nodded.

"Trust me, the last thing I wanted is to stay in a business meeting," Bonnie shrugged.

"Thank you for your understanding," Rutigan turned to Hera, "Can we start now, or do you need to do something beforehand?"

"I'll just take them to my house and come back," Hera replied.

"I can do that. Honestly, as long as we get those tablets that let me talk to you anywhere, I'm fine with whatever. Besides, deciding this is way too much pressure. I'm good," Silah said.

Hera thanked her, and her party left towards her house. Hera also asked Silah to grab some food for them since Alex and the others didn't know how that worked in Boothudurn. After they left, King Rutigan explained what the ambassadors told them about the Guild, UMN, and NRU. The dwarves weren't used to acronyms and ended up calling the groups by the full name all the time. Hera found that a bit odd, but endearing at the same time.

When all the explanation was over, Rutigan opened the floor for discussion. Some people were more interested in being a part of the Guild. The people from Boothudurn were used to frequent changes to their culture, and because of that, the 'threat' of change wasn't something they were that worried about. Even the general population was fine with that. After the announcement they were opening the room, Fethy set up a survey to understand everyone's thoughts about the change. The vast majority of the citizens were excited about the prospects of joining a large human civilization, even if that meant a considerable change to their lifestyle.

Among the six council members, only Ogryn and Laurel were leaning towards the UMN. Fethy was excited about the cultural exchange among any civilization. So for her, it didn't matter who they picked. Naka's primary concern was how close they were with the Guild. Despite their talks about being friendly, her first thought was what would happen if that peace was broken. They would be too close to the human territory, and that could cause a myriad of problems.

Hera barely said anything during that discussion and when Rutigan finally asked her opinion. Kadmek and Valyra sneaked inside the council chamber.

"Is everything ok?" Rutigan asked, seeing the two enter quietly.

"Yes. Apologies for intruding, but we have something else to say," Valyra walked forward.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do not join the guild," Kadmek replied.

"Do you have a reason to say that? I thought you were supposed to be neutral," Hera asked.

"Shit, I didn't see you there. This could be complicated now," Kadmek scratched his head.

"It may not be so. First, help us understand. Why shouldn't we join the Guild?" Ogryn asked.

"If you do. I fear you might lose more than just your culture," Valyra replied in a serious tone.