In case you’re wondering… yes… this is still about a week prior…

After reconstruction and clean-up following the Insurrection was underway, with the Consultation Clinic and Minion Help Centre being razed to the ground to prevent a repeat of the heinous events that had transpired, a group of my first Adventurers came wandering through the gate of my city, having finally returned from their quest to find Hekkenfelt.

As I occupied the Guild Master’s body, I discovered that they had not only found the village of Hekkenfelt and its Guild Office, but they had also made contact with the Guild of a large city, over twice the size of Toad Town, called Lillebrünnr.

I’d only just finished crafting the Pacifists’ Guild, so the news of a major city to our southwest was a great opportunity to try my hand at some diplomacy.

Finding three pacifist minions to evolve to Diplomats turned out to be rather easy, as all the minions who had stayed in Viola’s Buffet sanctuary for the duration of the violent class conflict had adopted her peace-loving mindset. I picked three at random and put them all into the strange Pacifists’ Guild building, which was a conglomeration of bubbles formed from quarried stones with flowers growing from their rooftops. Selectively targeting each of the three pacifists, I sent my essence into their bodies and they emerged from the strange building after an explosion of pink light and smoke.

Each wore a strange knitted outfit that looked like a toad, with their faces visible from a hole just below the big bulbous head with enormous soulless eyes.

Viola had joined the small viewing party, as it seemed she felt some sort of responsibility for the pacifists she had moulded, and, when she saw the three new diplomats, her only comment was, “They’re adorable!”

Toadskandarr had decided that each of the three diplomats should have two Cavalry Men as bodyguards, so I quickly evolved some Guards and toad Mounts for the purpose. Additionally, the Lord decided that they had to travel in style, so three more Jackicorns were shaped by the Mad Scientist, which the Siege Engine Builder outfitted with massive harnesses that bore small bronze-armoured houses for the Diplomats to live inside, while the Jackicorns took them to their destinations.

I had no say in the naming of the three War Beasts, as their names were chosen during their creation for some strange reason, but the three new Jackicorns were called: Ec, Tric, and Idad. For some reason, none of them were as strong as Él, the first of their kind, whose level was 100/100, while theirs was 75/75. Additionally, they were also a bit smaller and their horns were shorter.

The first Diplomat and his guards I sent to Hekkenfelt, while the second was sent north in search of a port-city that would grant access to a great ocean I’d been told lay that way, and the third I followed alongside of as he went to Lillebrünnr.

Alongside the two bodyguards and the Diplomat came the Adventurer Vagan, whom Toadskandarr had decided to be our guide for the city of Lillebrünnr.

It struck me how much Toadskandarr had taken charge of my settlement in my brief absence, but I supposed that my attention should be focused more on the big picture and the minutiae of governance left to my minions.

Hopefully, he would be able to prevent another violent uprising in my absence and keep my Core safe. Though I hoped I would never find out, I wondered what would happen to all my minions if my Core was destroyed. It seemed unlikely to be anything good, as my essence, my very soul, was imbued within each and every one of them.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After about ten hours of travelling, I spotted the city on the horizon. It was definitely larger than my own, and it also had an enormous mountain behind the castle that lay at the very back of the city. In terms of utilising the terrain to their advantage, they had me beat for sure.

“The King who rules over Lillebrünnr and its environs was made rich by the mountain against which he built his fortress,” Vagan told me and my Diplomat, who insisted on staying within the strange toad costume.

The Adventurer was riding his own Jackicorn, which had been gifted to him by Toadskandarr, because of his help in finding the leader of the rebels. His mount was half the size of the one my Diplomat rode atop of, and matched the two Cavalry bodyguards’ mounts in size. Also, its fur was a strangely-reflective black, as opposed to the silver-white, and its name was Skygge.

“Is the mountain full of gold and jewels, like my Quarry?” I asked him.

“Yes, but not only that. They also find artefacts and powerful tomes of knowledge, not to mention a cartload of experience to level up their troops and Aristocrats. You see, a Dungeon Core resides within the mountain.”

Now this piqued my interest! I’d only ever heard about such Cores from Imu, but had never experienced one myself.

“I wanna see it!”

“You probably won’t be able to,” he replied, dashing my hopes.

“Why not!?”

“They guard the entrance well, only letting chosen individuals enter its depths.”

“I’ll find a way to get in,” I told him.

Vagan eyed me curiously for a moment, then grinned, “Let me help you with that.”

“But first!” I reminded him, “I need to establish a peace-treaty with the city!”

“That should be simple enough if you just vow to transport goods to them. I believe Lillebrünnr has a bit of a food insecurity crisis at the moment and I noticed that the fields in Toadskandarr’s lands are bountiful.”

“You mean my lands,” I corrected him.

“Aren’t you just his servant?”

“No! I am Toad! Son of Toadimer and Toadilda, grandson of Toado and Toadette, who are also my uncle and sister-cousin! Toadskandarr is the Lord I evolved and installed on the throne of my town!”

“I see,” was all that he replied, looking more confused than re-educated, but I just took that to mean that he had been sufficiently awed by realising whose presence he was in.

When we arrived to the massive central gate of Lillebrünnr’s outer walls, a contingent of armed guards halted us and asked,

“For what purpose have you come bearing arms into King Eskilder’s fair city of Lillebrünnr!?”

Both Vagan and I were about to explain, when my Diplomat emerged from the hut atop the back of his large Jackicorn mount. The assembled guards took one look at his outfit and seemed mollified, a few of them even smiling.

“I see,” said the lead guard. “You have come in peace. We’ll lead you to our Pacifists’ Guild at once!”

No sooner had the Diplomat gone back inside his hut than we were being led through the city by two dozen guards. Many of Lillebrünnr’s citizens came out to watch as we were paraded down the street and most of their people remarked at the strange animals we travelled with, with the children especially wanting to ride on the back of the toad Mounts or the big fluffy Jackicorn.

After following the guards as they led us down the main thoroughfare of the stone city, we came to a strange-looking building that, amusingly, looked nearly identical to the Pacifists’ Guild building back in my own city.

Idad, the Jackicorn, knelt down before its entrance and the Diplomat once again emerged from his hut, before awkwardly clambering down the ladder on the side of the animal’s harness, though his big knitted toad outfit made it a rather cumbersome affair.

No sooner had his squishy big costume frog-feet touched the cobblestones of the road than the door opened and out walked two people who wore their own strange outfits, which looked like brown bear with goose wings.

“The animal on King Eskilder’s Coat-of-Arms is a winged bear, hence why they are wearing mascot outfits to represent Lillebrünnr in such a way,” Vagan explained to me. “I assume your Coat-of-Arms must have a frog on it.”

“He’s dressed as a Toad, not a frog!” I corrected him, incensed that the two be so casually mistaken for one another.

As we watched the three animal mascots exchange words, the guards who had escorted us left to return to their posts, seemingly happy with the outcome.

Suddenly, the three Diplomats started holding hands and jump-dancing in a circle, which I found quite ominous for some reason.

Then an achievement emerged:

Congratulations! For establishing a peaceful alliance with a bigger power than you, you have gained the [Soft Power] perk!

[Soft Power] – Influence allies and foes through spreading your culture within their borders and turning their citizens towards viewing your settlement as a nice vacation destination, where they will spend a lot of their hard-earnt money and in turn bolster your power and influence in the international struggle between Kingdoms and Nations.

“Now,” Vagan started, “Let’s see if we can’t sneak our way into the mountain Dungeon.”