Chapter 79: Aggressive Diplomacy

News From Around The World

Flamethrower Units Being Sent To Torch Poisonous Forest Near Berlin

Global Pollution Levels Plummet

Owner Of Game Trail Restaurant In Toronto Plans To Open A Restaurant That Serves Xothican Creatures

Renowned Scientist, Doctor Crawford Tillinghast, Missing After Experiment Gone Wrong, Foul Play Suspected

"The SYSTEM proves we are living in a computer simulation!" Says Rick Nostrom, Philosopher

VVVVVV

Secret Island

Lucia was in a deep sleep inside her room. One leg was poked out from under the covers and over the side of the bed. Her quiet breaths were overshadowed by the pitter-patter of rain on the house's roof and her window.

A smell came into her room and drifted towards her nose. The delicious smell of cooked meat peacefully roused her from her slumber. Her eyes cracked open and she groaned as she sat up. As her hearing adjusted to her waken state, she could hear the others talking.

Lucia quickly got out of her bed and went into her washroom to brush her teeth. She splashed her face with some water and looked at herself in the mirror. Lucia dried her face with a towel and moved to leave her room. She opened her door and followed the smell towards the kitchen where everyone sat except for Tom who was at the stove.

"Oh, she's up," Amber said.

"How long was I asleep for?" Lucia asked.

"About thirteen hours," Vivian answered. You pretty much conked out after dinner.

Lucia immediately felt stressed from finding out that she slept in for so long. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in so long."

"It's fine, it's fine," Reia said while waving her right hand dismissively. "We're in no rush. Tom here has been up for four hours now."

"What?!"

"Oh, you don't know?" Sylmae said. "Humans don't sleep as long as us. The average human sleep between six to eight hours."

"Holy shit," Lucia muttered under her breath.

"Please sit down," Tala said as she gestured towards a chair. "Tom is cooking us sausage, scrambled eggs, and toast."

"Is that what I smelled?"

"It's done," Tom announced.

Tom piled the eggs and sausage onto seven plates. The plates were completely covered and the eggs were stacked high. The three toasters went off and the toast launched up. Tom added the toast to each of the plates. Tom placed the plates in front of everyone and quickly put butter, jam, peanut butter, and ketchup on the table.

At this point, due to their high levels, their caloric requirement was massive. Each of them needed to consume at least seven thousand calories per day. Failing to achieve this over a certain time frame inflicts a debuff called "Caloric Deficient". This debuff constrains the person's Stamina and causes their body to use five times more Stamina for Stamina actions. They also face fatigue and lowered focus. Tom's team never suffered this debuff, but it was discovered when a French soldier tried to lose weight by restricting their food intake while on duty. They recovered quickly but were reprimanded by their superiors for their actions.

Lucia took her fork and dug into the fluffy eggs. She took the bite and the flavours overwhelmed her. Lucia couldn't help but let out a pleased moan. She found herself eating mouthful after mouthful.

"Try using this," Vivian said as she passed the ketchup.

Lucia grabbed the red bottle and flipped open the lid. She spread a little ketchup on a section of egg. Lucia ate the section of egg and her eyes widen. She spread ketchup all over her eggs.

"I get the feeling you don't usually get to eat this much at once," Tom said.

Lucia looked up from her meal. "I usually don't. If I ate a lot, it would have raised suspicions. I had to steal from my kitchen everyday just to survive."

"Well, no need to hold back here. I cooked more than enough for everyone."

Lucia picked up a sausage link and bite half of it. "Oh my goddess, this sausage is good."

"Tom's sausage is always great," Vivian said under her breath.

Reia unintentionally puffed out air as she tried to stop herself from laughing.

"So what's on today's itinerary?" Lucia asked.

"Well, Tala and I are heading to the Magic University library," Tom replied. "Everyone else here can do whatever they want. I especially want you to rest, Lucia."

"Me?"

"How much sleep did you get in the last week?"

"Well, I..." Lucia really thought on the question and realized that between her "night job" and escaping her country, her sleep schedule was abysmal. "Not much..."

"There is no shame in admitting when you need a rest. I actually had Reia wrestle me into submission to get me to see how destructive I was with my obsession with completing missions and saving lives. You'll get plenty of opportunities to do good."

"Yesterday was meant for us to dip our toe in the water," Tala explained. "I'm entering the Skysign Magic Tournament in several days, so we're going to try and get me as many spells as possible before then."

"Why the tournament?" Lucia asked.

"My father's staff is the prize. I need to get it."

"Your father's?"

"Oh, you probably don't know!" Vivian exclaimed. "The Heroes are our parents."

"They're your parents?!"

"Yup. Right now our focus is to retrieve our parents' weapons. The closest one to get is Tala's. After that we want to get Sylmae's and get her family fortune in the Duellia Kingdom. Reia's and my weapons are going to be the hardest to get."

"Why's that?"

"Reia's weapon is in the Eikoryu Empire treasure vault, and mine is in the Bolaweth Kingdom where I am currently wanted for attacking a superior officer."

"Oh... What's the problem with the Eikoryu?"

"The prince has made a claim on me," Reia replied. "Wants to marry me. I'd rather be with Tom and the prince is not happy about that. The UN has sent some people that way to open up relations with them and try to get the weapon through diplomacy."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"We'll probably just steal it. Tala can turn us invisible."

"That's a last resort," Tom reminded with a chastising tone. "We're not about to risk an international incident useless we are given no other choice. Let the politicians do their thing. For now..."

VVVVVV

Royal Palace, Nari, Eikoryu Empire

The large doors of the throne room opened and a single naga man walked into. He was dressed in dark blue regal clothing with a red collar. The doors were closed behind him by the guards. On the other side of the throne room, were several thrones. The Emperor sat in the middle chair while his wives sat in the four by his sides. Prince Uraki stood to the side. The man approached the Emperor and bent the knee in front of him.

"Rise," the Emperor commanded after he was shown his due respect.

"Your grace, a diplomatic envoy has arrived claiming to be the representatives of the new race known as humanity. We had them checked. Three of them are diplomats, the rest were soldiers. At least a couple dozen. All of them between level five and ten. They all came in large metal self-propelled wagons."

"Where are they now?"

"They are at the gate. Should we allow them in?"

"Yes, but tell them to leave their wagons at the gate and that only the diplomats and a handful of soldiers can enter my throne room."

"Yes, your grace." The attendant pulled out a communication orb and spent a few moments communing with the gate guards. His eyes opened. "The message has been sent."

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"You are dismissed, Givuns."

The man bowed his head and then got up and left. While the Prince would normally avoid political meetings, knowing that the guests were representatives of humanity garnered his interest. The supposed lover of the woman he is after is a human. It would serve him to know more about these humans.

The Emperor and his queens waited twenty minutes for the guests to show. The doors to the throne room opened to reveal the three humans dressed in formal clothes and escorted by several soldiers. The three diplomats kept their gaze focused on the Emperor. The soldiers on the other hand, scanned all over the area to look for any threats.

Each soldier was armed with the latest assault rifle model: The MEAR (Magic Enhanced Assault Rifle). This weapon is the first magi-tech weapon created by humanity. The MEAR looked like a bulkier version of the SCAR assault rifle. This weapon used research done by Umbra with the knowledge of the Icelandic elves. Runes are carved into the rifle and bullets.

The runes on the rifle were used to reinforce its structure to allow more powerful bullets, to reduce recoil, and to allow the bullets to fire faster. For the bullets, runes were used to create a wide variety of elemental bullets. Each magazine has a coloured bar to label the different elements.

The humans stopped five meters away from the Emperor's throne. They just stood there to the annoyance of the Emperor and his family.

"Usually those in our presence bow to greet us," the Emperor said hoping to get the response by the newcomers.

"We are representatives of humanity," the human in the center said. "To bow would imply policy and relations that humanity agreed to. We are here to clarify that."

Deciding to ignore the impudence that these humans displayed, the Emperor rose to his feet. "I am Emperor Calvous Eikoryu, the twenty-first emperor of the glorious Eikoryu Empire."

"I am Ambassador Helen Jules, representative of the United Nations of humanity," the woman in the middle replied.

"I am Ambassador Aleron Bisset, representative of Canada," the man on the left said.

"I am Ambassador James Ford, representative of the United States of America," the man on the right answered.

"What is your purpose here?" the Emperor demanded as he sat down.

"We are here to discuss recent events and to try and mend the relationship between your empire and human territory," Helen replied.

"Mend?" the Emperor repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Your son sent soldiers to attempt to kidnap a citizen of the country I represent," Aleron replied. "Reia Zyer is a citizen of Canada. Not only that, but she is a beloved icon to humanity. Your son's actions has enraged members of our race and many are demanding retribution."

"You dare make threats here?" Uraki roared. "That woman is mine by right."

"Not threats," Helen replied. "Just stating facts. And she does not belong to anyone."

"Uraki, silence," the Emperor hissed. He returned his focus on the three ambassadors. The Emperor doesn't know anything worthwhile about these humans so he had to carefully approach this diplomatic meeting. The fact that these humans are so calm in their presence while nonchalantly making threats implies they can back their threats. Or their race are master bluffers. He needed to gauge the humans and try to learn about their military power. "Let's talk. I do not know much about your race. I've only heard of humans recently."

A thick book appeared in Helen's hands. "This book was prepared by us to inform Xothicans of humanity's origin and what happened to our world."

The Emperor sat back down in his throne and gestured for one of his guards to take the book. The guard took the book and kneeled in front of the Emperor to hand him the book. The Emperor picked up the book and opened it to quickly read the summary section.

"Damn demons," the Emperor muttered under his breath. "Do you have proof that Mordiggian and Ithaqua are dead?"

"At this point, Everett's team has handed in their proofs to the Guild," Helen replied. "Word of their deeds will quickly spread across this world."

"Which leads us to our current situation," James said. "Hastur's forces are mobilizing for a new war. Specialist Everett has reported the appearance of a red obelisk north of Skysign."

The Emperor's hands tightened on his throne. Cracks appeared on the chair. The reappearance of the red obelisks was a clear warning sign that a new war was on the horizon. He still remembers the horrors he witnessed in the last war caused by the red obelisks.

"Humanity wishes to focus our militaries on the threat of Hastur and other monsters," James continued. "In fact, we wish to build a coalition to fight back against Hastur."

"So are you all here to offer an alliance?"

"I'm afraid not," Aleron replied. "Due to certain practices of your empire, it would be a detriment to our troops' morale to militarily cooperate with your empire. So we are here to negotiate a non-aggression treaty."

Irritated at the insolence the humans have displayed at this point, the Emperor stood up. "You come into my throne room, throw around threats and after all of it, you refuse any aid from us in a coming war with the demons? Where do you get the gall?"

The Emperor stood up in a hurry which made the human soldiers raise their weapons in response. The throne guards raise their swords and spears. To the Emperor's and Prince's surprise, the human ambassadors remained calm. Helen gestured towards the soldiers to lower their weapons.

"While our race is fairly new to the concept of magic and the SYSTEM, it does not mean we are defenseless," James explained. "Our total military might is in the millions. And we excel in long range combat using high speed projectiles and explosives. Mass destruction is not outside our capabilities."

"You're bluffing," the Emperor scoffed.

"Allow me to show you what we are capable of by showing you recordings of their past usage." James took out a digital scroll from his Inventory. The scroll was about a foot and a half in length. James opened it by a foot and pressed a few places on the rolled out screen. He turned it around as a video played. The video was a compilation of the most destructive weapons humanity had in its arsenal: Artillery, miniguns, rockets, mortars, and so on. The video escalated with destruction and ended with the demonstration of a MOAB (massive ordnance air blast bomb).

In normal circumstances, these diplomats would not employ such scare tactics in a diplomatic meeting. Their strategy changed after what they learned from Thomas' companions and other Xothicans. The empire would not see them as equals in a diplomatic discussion and would not be trust-worthy allies in the war against Hastur.

With these facts, it was decided that their diplomatic approach would be to overwhelm them with fears of human technological capabilities and get them to agree to a non-aggression pact. This would hopefully keep them out of humanity's way while they dealt with Hastur and the Zokot Kingdom. With the war over, it is believed that they can be in a more advantageous position for future diplomatic negotiations. This tactic carries the risk of starting another war, but humanity's leaders felt like they had little choice in the matter.

"As we said before," Helen continued. "We are focused on Hastur and the Zokot Kingdom, and we would rather not escalate the situation between our people. Maybe in the future we can have a more friendly conversation, but right now I don't think that is possible."

Helen pulled out two copies of the non-aggression treaty from her Inventory and held it in front of her for someone to grab it.

"This is the treaty that our three organizations have put together," she said. "A copy for you and a copy for us."

The Emperor signalled for his son to go grab it. Reluctantly, Uraki walked over towards the three humans. Up close, they could see the Prince's true height. For a Naga, he was massive. He stood a head higher than Helen. Uraki flared out his wings as he approached the humans: an aggressive gesture. None of the humans flinched at the childish display.

Uraki grabbed the treaty and walked back to his father. He handed the stack of papers to him and then returned to the side. Uraki glared at the humans once more. The Emperor looked at the document before him and began reading it.

"To summarize the treaty, humanity and its allies will not attack the Eikoryu Empire and vice versa. The Empire will not trespass on humanity's territories nor will humanity trespass on the Empire's. Trade routes within your territories and with allies will be respected so long as it does not cross our territory. Most importantly, all humans are off-limits for your slave trade. Reia and Thomas' other companions are off-limits. If your Empire is found to have one human slave... If you try to go after Everett's group again, it will not be war with just our three organizations, it will be war with every country of humanity."

Reading over the document before him, the Emperor saw that it was a fair treaty. Both sides are given their sovereignty and result in the status quo with his own empire. Upon further thought, this non-aggression pact would prove to be beneficial in the long term for him. The Empire is still recovering from the last skirmish with the Zokot Kingdom. This non-aggression pact would ensure that his empire could rebuild without worrying about Zokot retaliation since they'll be busy with the humans. At the same time, he can have his spies check on combative capabilities and come up with counter-measures.

A smirk came to the Emperor's face. He got to the last page where the signatures of the humans was placed. There was one blank line for his signature.

"This proposal is acceptable," the Emperor declared. "Pass me my quill."

One of his nearby attendants quickly walked over with a well of ink and a quill. The quill was made from the tail feather of a rainbow pheasant. Uraki became furious at the response.

"Father, you cannot be serious!" he argued. "To kowtow to these powerless, hairless apes!"

"Silence!" the Emperor roared. His voice boomed and even made the soldiers internally jump. "We will speak later."

The Emperor picked up the quill and dabbed the tip in the ink. In several strokes, he signed his name on both treaties. He left the signed page uncovered to allow the ink to dry. The Emperor held up one of the treaties so that his attendant could pass it to Helen. Helen took the treaty and placed it back into her Inventory.

"It is done," the Emperor announced. "Apologies for my son. He is still learning."

"Thank you for your time," Helen said.

"There is still one more thing," Aleron said. "Your treasury vault currently houses the weapons and armour of Delix and Niala Ryezious. A weapon and armour that no one can use."

"How do you know about their restriction?"

"Before their passing, the Heroes had magic placed on their gear that only the worthy can wield. The truth is that during the demon war, the female Heroes were pregnant with children. They gave birth and hid the children because they feared that Hastur would go after them. The child of Delix and Niala was Reia Zyer."

This got Uraki's attention and he stood up away from the wall he was leaning against.

"We are prepared to offer compensation for Reia's gear. We can offer the financial equivalent of ten platinum coins for it."

The offer definitely made the Emperor's eyes widen. While the gear does have historical significance to the Empire, it has no practical use. Any soldier that tries to wield it gets electrocuted. Even his own son was scorned by the gear. With the ten platinum coins, it would allow them to quickly rebuild with little burden on his empire's finances. Eventually he can get the gear back by using his renewed army to attack the weakened humans.

"How long will it take to put together that amount?" the Emperor asked.

"About a week," Aleron replied.

"Then we meet back in a week."

"Thank you for your time, Emperor Eikoryu," James said.

The three ambassadors turned around and walked towards the doors. As they passed by the soldiers, the soldiers followed beside them.

The royal family watched as the humans left the throne room. As soon as the doors closed behind him, Uraki turned to his father.

"You do not contradict me in front of others!" the Emperor roared.

"What have you done?!"

"I did what I believe is best for my empire."

"You cowered before the humans!"

"I provided us time and resources to rebuild our armies."

"And what about Reia?! You just agreed to never allow me to take her. If they are right about her being the daughter of the Ryezious, it's all the more imperative that she becomes my wife!"

"I agreed to not allow you to take her for now. You'll get her eventually."

"And how long do I wait? Weeks? Months? Years?!"

"Uraki, dear..." one of the queens tried to speak up.

"Shut up, mother!" Uraki growled. "The men are speaking here."

"You say men, but all I see is a boy having a temper tantrum," the Emperor commented. "I know you're angry, but these two deals grants us a glorious opportunity to not only rid ourselves of an enemy, but to also weaken a possible future enemy. Patience, my son. You will get what's coming to you."

"And what?! Wait for Reia's body to be ruined after all this time? I cannot stand for this."

"You will abide by the word of your father and Emperor! Go to your room and cool off. And don't you dare take any actions towards that woman. Just because you're my son, don't think that I won't have you put to the sword."

Uraki flared his wings and stomped off. The Emperor sank back into his throne from exhaustion and groaned.

"That boy is going to be the death of me."