Chapter 121: Chapter 114 – The Meeting of Two Settlements

The feast ended up taking quite a bit of time.

Even while only sipping on my drink here and there, the others ended up outlasting me, though that was caused mostly by having eaten a full meal earlier in the night.

I really didn't expect the food to be received so well, but when I thought about it there was a clue regarding it, and I had even used it as a basis for when I was making this feast.

When I first met Elli, she was eating some sort of sad looking meal that more resembled random ingredients boiled together than a proper soup. If that was what an elder of this settlement ate, either they were even worse off than I imagined, or their food culture was quite limited.

Maybe it was the latter if all the food they ate was things they could hunt.

The thought of hunting for apples and carrots was a bit hard to take in, but it really wasn't that different from drops in the dungeon. I got honey and berries from alraune, various fruit from treants, mandragora gave me carrots as the common drops, and many non plant based monsters dropped fruits and vegetables for their own reasons.

If everything they ate was hunted, then what was commonly available would be completely different from the light lands. Grains would be sparse as very few monsters dropped that in the dungeon. Herbs and spices would be virtually nonexistent as, aside from cinnamon which came from only one variety of treants and very few others, didn't drop from monsters and had to be harvested from the respawning patches along the ground and walls of some of the floors.

It was quite likely that from where they came from, it was easier to get their hands on a huge steak than to get a single egg.

Seeing eggs go for more than a steak at a grocery store would be quite a shocking experience for sure, but to these people eggs could be a luxury food while most meat would be closer comparable to wheat in terms of availability.

Personally, if I had that much meat in my diet when I was human, I'd quickly get sick of it, but maybe the dark people had adapted to a more carnivorous diet in the first place.

It did make me wonder how they got enough salt in their diet though. It was quite possible that they gathered it the same as people did in the middle ages. Extracting it from the oceans and mining for it underground. Or their diet just happened to contain enough to sustain them.

As I mused about such mostly inconsequential things, the feasting slowed down, and after a little longer, everyone had stopped eating.

Some people from the dark settlement came into the circle and started to clean up. Gathering the bones and food scraps into pots, piling the empty plates together, and taking everything away. Another group came and brought large jugs together with trays of cups.

"Ah, wait, I got that covered!"

I had forgotten when serving the food, but I did technically have drinks as well.

It was probably a consequence of being a vampire, but I completely forgot to serve the drinks I had prepared beforehand. For me, there wasn't any distinction between such a thing, as I lived off of a liquid diet in the first place.

With the central table mostly cleared, I plopped out several pitchers as well as a few tea pots. They were all simple things made from nothing but the dirt from the dungeon, but once compacted and heat treated they looked like decent ceramic items. Too bad it wasn't as good as the things found even at a dollar store back on Earth, but at least they were presentable, even if undecorated.

The pitchers had various drinks in them, from chilled and freshly squeezed juices to steaming Shanghai milk tea and honeyed milk. The tea pots had both fresh tea and coffee prebrewed and left preserved in my bag, ready to be served at any time.

I also took out a bowl of honey with some small spoons and a small jar of cream half mix with milk, then promptly poured the contents of the pitchers and pots into cups of varying styles, determined by the type of drink put into them.

While it was more than the number of people here, I served three of each pitcher drink, and six each of tea and coffee. Just in case, there were extra cups if more people wanted to share in the same drink, and there was plenty left in the pitchers and pots.

"Unfortunately I couldn't prepare any liqueur so quickly for this meeting, but please enjoy these drinks in place of a digestif."

With their hands free, and more than one person having a visible bulge in the belly, both the leaders and aids looked on at the various drinks with curiosity. The fairies all went for the juice without any hesitation, and the imps quickly followed suit.

Just like with the food, it appeared that the imps had similar tastes to the fairies. It was probably connected with their childish dispositions.

The next to pick their drinks was Elli and the dokkalfar who followed her. The three of them all went for the coffee, and to my surprise they took them without any cream or sugar. I was the same in that I took my coffee black, but honestly, I didn't expect that pattern from others. Everyone around me tended to go for a double double, and a few even a triple triple. Only one of my old coworkers had his black as well.

After them, Alvaldi and his titan aide were next. To my surprise they both went for the honeyed milk. While I didn't exactly have any expectations as to what they would chose, something sweet and creamy like that certainly wasn't what I would have figured.

Next to the table were Frigg and her two aids. After sniffing a little at several drinks, they settled for the milk tea. I couldn't say if that was expected or unexpected, but it certainly was a good choice. Thick, evaporated milk and plenty of honey in a cup of hot tea made a, albeit a thick, but delicious drink.

Finally Harja took her drink along with her aids. They went for what was left, the hot tea. But without even taking a sip to taste, they returned back to their position in the circle.

"Alright, now that everyone's ready onto...umm, is the drink not to your liking Elli?"

Just as I tried to get the talks started, the sight of the frowns on Elli and her aids faces entered my sight. They didn't seem to really be enjoying their drinks.

"Oh, the scent is wonderful, thank you Scarlet."

(Just the scent huh?)

The problem was obvious. Freshly brewed coffee had a scent that most would find attractive. That nice, earthy aroma which tickled the nose with its spiced and fruity tones, together with with the warm steam was like quality incense.

The taste, however, even when well brewed, could easily be challenging if one wasn't used to it.

I levitated over the honey and cream and came over to Elli's group.

"Here, let me."

Two heaping spoonfuls of honey and an equal amount of cream went into each ceramic cup then I stirred them with the accompanying teaspoons. The black liquid marbled with the light brown before settling with a tone somewhere in between.

"Try it now."

The three dokkalfar hesitated, but for Elli it only lasted for that one moment. She closed her eyes and brought the steaming cup to her lips, taking a small sip. Her eyes shot wide open and she took a larger gulp of the drink.

"That is very good..."

The elder took another large sip, savouring the flavour as she swirled the drink along her tongue. Seeing their leader's reaction, the two aids tried their drinks as well, and had similar reactions as well.

Content with the reception of their drinks, I stepped back to restart the conference.

The talks themselves ended up revolving around Frigg, the demon elder, and Aurae of the fairies.

It seemed like the fairies had brought seven elders in total, five of whom I hadn't even been properly introduced to yet, but considering how the fairies acted, they probably just didn't consider such a thing important in the first place.

At one point the imps grew unruly, which in turn instigated some aggression from the fairies, but the moment I hinted at never serving any treats to either side in the future, they both quieted down in an instant.

I may have gone a bit too far with that, as a dark cloud loomed over both groups heads for a while. But as the talks progressed, the fresh wind of subjects changing blew the heavy atmosphere away.

The talks themselves started as arguing about the differences of culture and expectations, but in the end it was all rooted in the eternal wars between the dark and light. Such longstanding animosity couldn't simply be swept away so easily.

It was a fair point.

That was, until I stepped up and used myself as an example.

It wasn't really a fair point, as even as a member of the dark races, my first contact was with members of the light races, and my prior life had already prepared me for rejection for nothing more than my race. The additional caution that all that brought had led me to successfully interact with the light races during my travels, and in the end integrate myself quite decently with the fairies.

To concrete that idea and blow away any thought that it was simply a fluke, I brought out the stories of my predecessor. While like myself, she had hidden her identity, she had successfully interacted with the light people and ended up being revered despite people suspecting her identity. In fact, the suspicious were so strong that the knowledge of the possibility had still been told through the generations and many believed her to be a vampire.

With two examples firmly in the open, together with pointing out that just earlier they were able to enjoy a meal together, even if they basically ignored the other party during it, the resistance against moving forward with the talks eroded and clear progress quickly grew evident.

Especially since they were dealing with issues revolving seven races with the potential of the remaining ones getting involved in the future, the talks ended up concentrating around the differing things that each needed and expected.

Everything from living conditions to materials needed for their settlements, methods of gathering said materials, trade and social interactions, and how leading and responsibilities would pan out. Pretty much everything I could imagine that could touch on running settlements were brought up, and the various differences between the races pointed out.

Though due to the sheer volume of issues, most of it were only brought up and discussed, and the leaders moved on without even making any real attempts at reconciling these issues.

That might have been for the best, as this was only the first step to setting up a basic treaty, and the more detailed issues could be settled on a differing day.

Here and there, I suggested my own opinions, like sending representatives to each others' sides, building their settlements towards each other so that they may one day merge entirely, and even building something akin to the adventurers' guild in the light lands to organize material gathering in the dungeon.

I also added that I'd contribute by making as complete a guide as possible for the monsters, traps, and materials that could be found on each floor of the dungeon. As someone who had lived in this dungeon for three years, I was obviously the most suited towards such work.

The fact that I had promised such a list to the fairies meant that it wasn't even any extra work for me either.

After a while things looked like it was going well, so after brewing some more tea and coffee as well as mixing up more Shanghai milk tea and honeyed milk, I snuck out of the meeting and went home.

 

[Is it really alright to have left them by themselves?]

Practically the moment we got back to our room, Alicia let out those words.

"I think so. Things looked good. They seemed to understand the importance of coming to an agreement, and even if they end up leaving a lot of details to the wayside, the important thing is that they had already found some common grounds and the will to work together."

[And that's enough?]

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"I'll probably have to poke at both sides here and there, but once they get used to interacting with each other, even if it's only a little, things will slowly grow smoother. In the end, the goal is a long term one, so even if it takes a few years to get things working, that's actually not a problem."

(At least for them. Personally it would be nice if most of the issues are settled in a few weeks.)

It was an unrealistic dream, but then again, forcing your dreams to be bound by reality was stupid. It was better to hope for something that was a bit beyond what was possible so that you could strive for that extra little bit. As long as you don't get disheartened by not achieving your dreams at least.

At the very least, that's something I tell myself on occasion, but my lack of dreams was probably pretty telling of how I really was.

Create a new body for Alicia, survive any future assassination attempts, and live a life without worry as I enjoy myself diving deeper and deeper into this seemingly endless dungeon.

One dream was pretty close in reach, another was just plain common sense, and the third was only slightly better than wishing to be able to laze around for the rest of my life.

But that was what I wanted. I could clearly affirm that.

The two settlements would soon be free from any major conflict and wouldn't need me to interfere for the most part. In theory there shouldn't be anything big for me to deal with for the foreseeable future, so there shouldn't be any issues regarding me concentrating on raising Alicia and otherwise just enjoying myself.

This part of the world was plenty isolated so the chances of someone from the outside trying to cause trouble was exceedingly unlikely. It wasn't like anyone even knew we were here building up an entire society.

Even if the perpetual war grew hot once again, it shouldn't effect us over here in any way.

"Anyways..."

Now that I had finished all that tiring stuff, I was finally free to enjoy the rest of the day. Soon my daily troubles should be something of the past.

Claret, having gotten the hint, used [Materialize] and joined me in the hot water, using soap and properly washing her body even though there shouldn't have been any traces of any dust, dirt, or sweat on her body. After a bit of training she had learned to enjoy the act of bathing.

"Come here Claret."

Once I rinsed out my hair and hung it outside of the bath, and finished scrubbing the dust from my own body, I called out to my precious familiar with open arms.

She didn't need anything more, and gleefully dove into my chest.

I held her body in my arms, lightly combing her hair with my fingers as I enjoyed the feeling of her warmth against my own body. One day, soon, I'd be able to enjoy a similar sensation with Alicia.

The three of us were family, though despite being technically the youngest, it felt like I was the mother of two daughters.

But it wasn't a bad feeling. Not in the slightest.

After a while of enjoying ourselves, we got out of the bath.

I opened up a seal at the bottom of the tub, revealing a hole. A modification I had made to make things a bit more convenient.

The hole connected to a simple pipe made of stone that lead all the way out of the room, allowing the bath water to drain out into the dungeon. without my interference.

Once I dried both of our bodies, I lay down on the bed, my cute little familiar back in my arms as I slowly stroked her head.

It was quite unfortunate that us mana based beings were incapable of sleeping.

That would be the one thing which would make this all perfect.

But we lay there. Listening to the sound of Claret's breathing.

Eventually my laziness gave in to my desire to hold Alicia in my arms the same way I was currently holding Claret, and I opened up my skills.

In the end I had made three skills to make my dream come true. The main skill so I could carry Alicia's new body inside of me, and two support skills which would allow the first skill to work exactly as I wanted.

"We've been pretty busy lately, so I hadn't been able to ask."

[What is it Scarlet?]

"For your new body, do you want it to be the same as your old one, or do you want it to be half your old one and half of my blood?"

[It can't be all of your blood?]

(Hell no!)

Making her a clone of myself was fully possible, but thinking about the future it didn't seem like a good idea. There were just too many things which could become a problem if people would have trouble telling her apart from me. It wasn't I would grow to look different due to age, but instead age would bring our likeliness together.

I'd rather head off any potential problems regarding that at this point, or people might start demanding things from her which should have been asked of me. My cute little daughter shouldn't be pressured like that. It would be far worse than how I already had to deal with the expectations of being the same person as my predecessor.

"It would cause a lot of problems. Sorry."

[Oh...okay.]

The disappointment was clear in her voice, but I really didn't want her to suffer such issues. I could only hope that she would understand that once she grew up.

[Umm, in that case, I want half of my blood to be yours!]

(Well, yea, considering how the talk was going, that was a no brainer.)

"Sure. I'll do my best to make that happen then."

[Okay!]

The pure joy in her voice caused my cheeks to rise up.

With my motivation freshly filled past capacity, I started my first pass of the day through my new skills, looking for any possible problems in the code. It wasn't as critical as the last new skill I had made, but I still would prefer that I not make any mistakes. Relying on second chances was pure folly.

 

The next few days, I repeatedly went to each settlement to check on the progress of the negotiations.

It seemed like things were going well, but I checked each of the leader groups just in case each day.

In the end, it took almost a week for a treaty to be made. When I visited Elli once the talks were over, she made a report for me that stated the terms.

For the most part it wasn't anything special. It looked like they decided to incorporate all of my suggestions on one level or another, and were already looking for volunteers to go live temporarily on the other side.

The document she handed me, written up on a solid plank of wood, even listed the name of the new country: The Hourai Commonwealth.

The name was surprisingly good. I didn't have a single complaint regarding it. I certainly hoped that the results of this new country they had established would reflect the name they had chosen for it.

"Wait, what the hell is this?!"

I couldn't help but yell out when I saw the last section.

It was a list of the members of the new council along with each member's official title.

I recognized most of the names. The elders and chieftains of the dark settlement were all listed, and their titles reflected their previous positions. Aurae and Vodnik were also on the list, along with five names I didn't recognize, but they were probably the other fairy elders who arrived after the initial wave.

My own name being on the list wasn't a surprise. Or rather, I'd be worried if it wasn't, as I had insisted to be a part of the leadership council even before the two settlements' leaders had even known of the others' existence.

What had shocked me, though, was the title beside my name.

[Vampire Elder] was fine. That wasn't really an issue. I didn't really feel old enough to be an elder, but that was a minor point, and being called a chieftain was probably worse.

My problem was that there was a second title attached to my name.

"Why am I the premier?!"

All of the sudden, my future looked bleak.

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