Yunia still remembers the first time she heard the word Purification, when it was used by her father, who was explaining to her why the imperials were seen as "bloodthirsty" (and other pejorative words) by the elves.
"When the empire becomes too calm, when the nobles grow too fat, when the whole structure starts to rot, the temple organizes the 'Purification,'" Mavel lectures, his small nose wrinkled in disgust. "An excuse to purge the ranks of nobility as if they were mere monsters."
He turns to Yunia as he correctly predicts her frown of concern, then he smiles warmly and soothes her, "As barbaric as it may seem, it's quite an effective strategy considering how the empire hasn't collapsed under its own weight yet, but instead of trying to improve the noble class or impose higher standards, they prefer things to remain as they are because it 'just works.'"
Yunia initially saw Mavel as a gentle and dignified man, the exemplar of a "noble," but his contempt for the other races made him become callous and hateful in her eyes. Elves are "cursed" to be beautiful, but that doesn't change the ugliness within.
He was also exaggerating a bit. The temple oversees the battles and ensures that nobody dies, but deaths still happen, though not even Nero has a good opinion about the Purification.
"Whatever noble goal the temple has for organizing the Purification, it doesn't matter to the pissers," Nero explains with a dark grin as he looks out from the balcony and sips on his not-earl-grey. "They all treat it as a tool to eliminate their enemies, but out of all of them, the ones who control Katasko are the most conceited. They've used the company as a shield, creating a layer of obfuscation that has prevented others from accusing them of being complicit in the mercenaries' more 'unsavory' actions, but most of the pissers don't realize how truly hated Katasko really is.
"Maybe the higher-ranked pissers will survive, but the lower ones will just be used as fodder. Not only have they forgotten how to fight, but they don't even have enough knights to bring to battle, and the temple has never allowed commoners to participate.
"It's quite likely that it was one of those lower pissers who ordered the company to harass you. Coercing a rising adventuring fellowship into becoming knights wouldn't be that hard of a job, at least not until I learned that you were all fucking Gifted…"
"To bring the High Forest into that insanity is a terrible idea, Yulania," Confiel sternly replies, bringing me back to reality.
Yunia doesn't even flinch, and promptly explains, "I'm not proposing that we dive into their blood games, but rather, that we strike at Katasko, weaken them, then let them limp back to the Mainland, where the predators will smell the blood and rip them to shreds."
"You want to… be the kindling that finally starts the Purification?" Fram hesitantly questions, his eyes narrowed in skepticism, and Yunia slowly nods.
But Infa isn't convinced. "You'll still set a precedent," he concernedly points out. "Maybe in a few generations, there'll be someone who'll think that they're strong enough to challenge us elves and pull us into their games."
"The High Forest will always stay united, for we will represent the elves," Ciel gently, but firmly, asserts.
And we choose Hana for more impact. "We'll be the sword, and the Elder Council will be the shield," she boldly states.
Infa frowns in confusion. "And the Council has agreed to this…?"
I scoff, "Of course not. They're far too busy being passive and 'leaving any change to the younger and more energetic Lords.' Their words."
"You wager chips that you don't even have!" He exclaims in disbelief.
Yunia grits her teeth in annoyance and sternly states, "Again, you've misunderstood the plan. We aren't joining the Purification."
"We can't really comment more until we learn what, exactly, you have in mind," Herbaco calmly points out.
And Roxanne takes over, her cheerful demeanor completely at odds with the mood, something only achievable through intense mind pampering through [Bind], "Katasko's main purpose is to keep it unclear as to which noble is giving them their orders, but they still require paperwork to make sure that the orders are followed properly and to separate the different affairs of each noble.
"Their base in Goldcross is a command center for their operations in the elven lands, so that is where we need to attack, but not the base itself. We need to identify the Commanders since they're the ones who have the orders and know the agendas of each noble. Then we capture them, extract any information they may have, and expose it."
"'Expose'?" Lotus asks confusedly.
Now it's Lina's turn to speak, and she does so with perfect stoicism, "We'll build a machine that can copy thousands of written pages per day, and we'll use it to duplicate a compilation of all the information we'll extract, then we'll just need to spread the copies throughout the empire."
Lotus' eyes widen in realization. "Wait, what sort of information do these Commanders have?"
And Roxanne readily answers, "They speak directly to the nobles. They know who they are, what they want, and how far they can go to achieve the goals of the nobles."
Lotus grabs her own chin in thought and glances at both of her husbands, who seem to also understand the implications. "Katasko has been carrying out underhanded and clandestine operations in Goldcross for a long time. If we can find out who has been giving them their orders…"
"It's not just you who's been having problems with them," Herbaco joins in, and Infa grunts in agreement.
"If we can paint targets on all of their backs…" Lotus deliberates.
"But capturing these Commanders isn't a legal act," Fram sternly points out. His piety for the God of Law is unquestionable.
"The Tribunal and the temple might get involved," Confiel sides with him.
"'No law is absolute,'" Yunia quotes the God of Law himself, and Fram hesitates to reply, then he leans back in his chair as he goes into deep thought.
And I take the opportunity to assuage him, "We'll assume responsibility for it. As the self-proclaimed swords of the High Forest, we believe it's our duty to eliminate outside threats to the sovereignty of the elven lands."
"You play with fire," Herbaco dryly remarks.
"We can afford to get burned," I reply in kind.
"And nobody else seems inclined to start the fireplace, so we might as well," Alissa cheekily joins in.
"We only need your cooperation for this matter, and for you to not interfere with our handling of Heretic's Rest," Yunia sternly states, and the table goes silent as we've now touched a very sensitive topic.
"Have you been dealing with the old, heretic royals?" Lotus suddenly asks Fram, her tone a mix of slightly amused with a dash of accusation.
"Of course not," he immediately replies, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
Then all eyes turn to Herbaco, who nonchalantly replies, "Fram hasn't done it directly, but his answer is still misleading as it's obvious that all Root Lords and even some Heart Lords would've traded with them."
"We aren't talking about other Lords, Herbaco," Confiel sternly states.
His wives frown angrily, and he snobbishly turns his face away. "This is unfair."
"They're exiles, and they should remain exiled," Confiel continues, and the pressure on Herbaco continues to rise.
His wives seem to want to complain, but he subtly grabs the hand of the elven one, and they quickly get their emotions back under control.
"And where is it written that it's illegal to trade with them?" He calmly asks.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Lords should be virtuous wherever there aren't any laws to guide us," Ciel stoically retorts.
"You're asking me to turn my back on them and see them starve," Herbaco sullenly responds.
And Ciel immediately halts the hostility, "There's no need to completely cut off all relations, but do remember that our family will likely be in conflict with them in the future."
And Yunia delivers the ultimatum, "Are you going to support the side that's trying to unite the High Forest, or those who actually split it?"
Herbaco's expression hardens, and he raises his palm, asking for calm. "We're not allied with either. We just trade with them," he deftly evades.
"We aren't asking for an alliance, only your cooperation," Yunia calmly replies, and the tension quickly dies down.
"Though we know very well that you can enforce it," Lotus wryly remarks.
That forces me to act diplomatically again, "It's not in our plans to create a new hierarchical rank in the High Forest, but we do wish to join the Council." We shouldn't lie to them, but we also can't come off as overbearing, forcing them onto the defensive.
"A child wants to sit with the adults," Infa declares with a hint of disdain in his tone.
"It's not your place to judge or decide," Yunia promptly snaps back.
"Hmph…" He grunts snootily.
And I let Aoi assume the diplomatic role again to show them that dragons aren't just wild creatures, "We believe that the Council's passivity is detrimental to the High Forest, which is why we're being so proactive and trying to build stronger relations between the Crown Lords."
Her eloquence makes the Lords uncomfortable since they don't know how to deal with her, which is somewhat beneficial for us since it makes it harder for them to properly oppose our ideas.
Her deep, double, draconic voice is also really fucking cool and intimidating.
"Your plans are… not unreasonable," Fram hesitantly confesses.
And one of Lotus' husbands kindly follows, "Aside from personal matters, there's little reason to go against it." Then he gives both his wife and Yunia a glance.
"It won't be easy. Don't forget that, and don't underestimate Katasko," Confiel warns them.
"If all six Crown Lords together can't deal with a single mercenary company, then we might as well keel over and hand them our positions," Lotus boastfully declares, lifting the spirits of the other Lords a little.
"They are backed by a good number of nobles from the Mainland," Fram cautiously points out.
But I shake my head and try to soothe them, "Backed, not protected. The nobles use the company as disposable soldiers."
"As long as we respond to them as a unified front, they won't be able to counter our might," Confiel affirms, emboldened by the rising mood.
"Let's show them that elven harmony is not to be underestimated," Yunia lands a crit on their pride, and the excitement of the Lords skyrockets.
We internally congratulate ourselves because we've managed to unite the Crown Lords in the pursuit of a single goal: fucking Katasko.
The talking continues for a long while as we iron out the plan. More food is brought before us, and we have dinner as we talk. The dishes are explicitly selected to be simple so that we don't have to spend any time cutting or chewing it, making it trivial for us to switch between eating and talking.
When almost everyone in attendance is mentally exhausted, we finally call for an end to the brief summit. Then we retire to our quarters for the scarce amount of time we have left for today to spend it leisurely before we have to go to sleep.
Who should I cuddle with this time?
I really like how Aoi has been so eager to help out by talking with the other Lords, so I choose her as the target of my endless need for attention and desire to give my love to others.
She hears my thoughts and immediately comes towards me with a toothy smile, then she wraps her warm, scaly body around mine, becoming a hard bed of muscles for me, yet it's still quite comfortable.
She rests her heavy head right next to my body, and I'm marveled at how much she has grown in such a short time, then she suddenly shrinks back down to lap-dog size, and I almost fall backward from the sudden loss of my backrest.
"You reminded me that I miss sleeping on your lap," she remarks, her chipmunk voice so jarring when compared to her usual deep, double voice that I let out a short laugh.
I cross my legs and make a proper nest with a blanket for her to curl up in, which she promptly does.
Gify is too much of a brat to feel like a pet, so I miss moments like these.
"Gih," she complains and shakes her claws at me, which is all she can do right now since she's currently splayed out with her belly up and Alissa fawning over her.
Aoi doesn't even react to being compared to a pet, she just pulls out a chewing gold coin with a *poof* and relaxes on my lap like a playful cat.
Her mindset is quite curious to me. Hana says that dragonkin all have a "vice," such as pride, sex, food, fighting, etc, but it's always something that becomes a part of their individual identity. She is quite obviously a sex addict, a "sex beast," as she calls herself, but Aoi doesn't show any obvious signs of addiction aside from loving my cum, and that isn't that much of a "vice."
Even domination isn't a thing for her, again unlike Hana, who has quite the intense fetish for it. For Aoi, I've already asserted myself as the leader of the harem, so obeying me is just a matter of fact, leaving no room for her to think anything perverted about it.
She's simply puzzling.
"She wasn't raised by dragons, so maybe that's why she's different," Alissa interjects.
"Oh? Are you having a mental talk about dragons?" Klein curiously asks as she waits for her turn in billiards.
I nod and reply, "I'm just thinking about how special Aoi is."
"I like being called 'special,'" the little dragon replies with a grin.
I smile and lovingly praise her, "You definitely are. The first converted dragon who can also transform into a humanoid; of course, you're extremely special."
She closes her eyes in delight and slowly chews on the scratched coin.
"She's very curious, though," Lina suddenly chimes in. "She's always listening and thinking about things."
"So? Are there any times when your head is empty and you're just thinking of nothing?" Roxanne immediately jumps on the opportunity to tease someone.
Lina pouts and refuses to look her in the eye. "Her thoughts are a lot deeper than any of ours. She's always learning something new, and that requires her to reflect upon things a lot."
My tail slowly sways in curiosity. "You know a lot about her," I remark, quite impressed.
She shrugs. "I've had to read her mind quite often for us to be able to work together on your projects."
"You think that 'curiosity' is her vice?" Alissa questions.
"It's certainly one of her main driving motivations to explore metallurgy."
I stare at Aoi as I pat her scaly head. She can't really explain why she enjoys learning about things. She just does.
Today is the 27th. Fis, day of Nature. Due to how fast Nature mages can make plants grow, today is harvest day for basically the entire Realm. The elves, specifically, have so many little customs related to this day that it's hard to name them all. The farmers dance with the Eia plants, whisper to the flowers, have little parties with the animals, thank the cows for their milk, kiss the fruits so that they can gain a little more sweetness, feed their tree-houses nutrients so that they'll remain sturdy, give the veggies scented baths to make them more appetizing, groom all the plants so that they'll grow more beautiful, and even feed them buckets of blood so that they'll become more attuned with their humans. It's simply the most important day for elven culture.
Alissa wakes me up quite happily, putting a lot more enthusiasm than usual. She wants to go to the Farmer's Market today with Krysta and Ciel, so she even has to skip breakfast to make it there in time before all the good stuff is sold out.
It's not actually necessary for her to buy anything herself ever again, but I approve of her idea. It's good that she still has her own hobbies to distract her from time to time.
The three of them also send a request to the temple for a Templar escort, and they send Kyora's harem, Ciel's old Templar comrades.
After breakfast, we begin our mana circulation training as usual, with Alissa and Ciel joining us a little later than normal. Today's background for our training is Gify's room because the flowers' calming scent is extra potent today.
For lunch, we have a light, not-apple salad, steamed gourds with a mild flavor, and a simple roasted ham. Our stomachs can't hold up against successive feasts, except for Aoi's and Gify's, so today's is a simpler meal.
Then the time for me to begin the first batch of baby golems finally comes, but Yunia wants Roxanne to inform Nero of the success of the summit, so I put it on hold while I watch through her senses.
Nero has a thing for balconies and tea, it seems, as he's always spending his free time on the one in the barracks.
"Ah, it's Lord Roxanne this time," Nero amusedly comments as she walks in.
"It's 'Her Highness Roxanne' to you," Sandoro corrects him sternly.
Nero clears his throat and perfectly re-enacts his previous exclamation, "Ah, it's Her Highness Roxanne this time." Then he twists his posh mustache as he grins.
Roxanne forces a smile and takes her seat while Sandoro just stares tiredly at him. She needs to use [Acting] just to stand interacting with Nero because he creeps the fuck out of her.
"The negotiations were successful, they've accepted our plan," she calmly reports.
Nero claps pompously and replies, "Wonderful. Stalking the Commanders won't be a job that I'll be looking forward to, though."
"You don't have to worry about that. We won't be putting you on the front lines for that task."
He shakes his head in disappointment and takes a sip of his tea, then he tiredly explains, "I'm already a Blood Slave, and I feel like the Gods won't let me out of this one, even if I tried to break the bond with all of my 'Endurance.'"
Now it's Roxanne's turn to tiredly explain, "We aren't worried that you'll run. We just want you to rest while you can because we have something else that you'll soon have to begin working on."
He raises his eyebrows in honest surprise. "Oh? What's it about?"
"We want you to infiltrate Heretic's Rest and inform us of everything you can discover over there."
Nero immediately bursts out in laughter, laughing so hard and so suddenly that his eyes begin to water, but it quickly dies down once he realizes that nobody is laughing with him. "Sorry about that, but you have no idea how wrong the nobles are about His Highness Wolf."
And now, it's her turn to look surprised. "Oh? What do they think about him?" She asks curiously, forgetting all about the creepiness that she feels from him.
He shrugs casually and takes another sip, then he stares out over the balcony as he lists it all out, "Depending on who you ask: a stupid youth, a sex-addicted dragon, an easily-manipulated Hero, a wretched schemer, a reckless researcher, a distinguished explorer, an idealistic worshiper, or a savage hunter. The truth is, though, that he's all of those things and more, but nobody understands that it's only because of the harem around him."
He suddenly becomes serious and looks at Roxanne again, the creepiness coming right back in full force as it hits her like a truck, and we even need to support her so that she doesn't frown and squirm away from him.
"The creepy show you put on by each speaking in turn tells more about you than you think. It shows that your unity is more than just a performance, it's what you all are, a united being. So I don't blame them for not understanding you, Ryders. I didn't, and now I'm here…" Then he suddenly grins manically. "But being underestimated is perfect for us, so let's use it to our benefit, hm…?"