Chapter 241: Chapter 239 ~ Coming to a Deal

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“You should take more care for who you take as your friends, and lovers too, as they are essentially your nearest allies,” Malea says, her mind overflowing with plans and manipulations. I’m sure she’s already aware that I’m reading her mind, and perhaps that’s the reason that her mind is a mess of webbing thoughts, a shield made of headache-inducing chaos.

“I know, I know,” I say, “I need to take a break and focus on managing my relationships, professional and personal.”

“That’s not what I was referring to,” Malea smiles up at me, her human arms crossed propping herself up to seem a little less flat. She meets my eyes with a glimmering smile. This isn’t the flirting that Vii is concerned about, is it?

I’m just getting in my own head, she still feels so dispassionate about it, like an actor forced into a disagreeable role.

“I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but do you have any friends?” I ask, leaning forwards.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Malea growls, her feet clacking against the stone as she stomps out her indignation.

“Like what?”

“You’re pitying me. Don’t.”

“So you don’t have any friends…” I nod to myself, finally understanding just why she’s so aggressive. Born into royalty and having to stand over the peasants, while competing with all the other nobles and royals, I can see why it would be so hard to have a healthy friendship with anyone.

“I said stop that. I’ve had plenty of friends.”

“‘Had’? Past tense?”

“Have you prepared for the next Grand Council meeting?” Her words growled slowly through ground teeth.

“I will be ready. I have another meeting with my alliance members before the Grand Council starts. Is there anything important that you want to bring up?” I ask. “Aside from your friendlessness, that is. If you want, you could try and make some friends around here, go see a play, or join in on some games or something.”

Malea’s smile is wider than I’ve ever seen it, but her eyes entertain none of the humour.

She’s surprisingly fun to mess with, I should do this more often.

“Your silly alliance would risk my everything and gain me nothing that I cannot earn for myself in time.” Malea shakes her head, “Unless you think you can offer me something more?”

“A few more caverns maybe, if our deals go well,” I reply.

“Then I’ll be leaving, call for me if you need me.” Malea says, “And don’t lose your city before you can gift it to me.”

She passes through the teleporter in a flash, before I can come up with something else to annoy her with.

“Why do we keep her around?” Nel asks, watching the teleporter carefully. “She’s offered her wisdom on the nature of politics here, what more can she offer us?”

“She’s fun to mess with,” I reply, but Nel turns in her seat just to give me a clearer view of her disapproving expression.

“Fine.” I put up my hands in surrender. “There’s a difference between information, knowledge, and wisdom. We have all the information we’ll ever need to navigate the politics of this world, but that doesn’t mean that we know how to use that information. It’s like we’ve got a complete map, but it’s torn up into little pieces that we have to tape together bit by bit. Malea knows how to put it together, and she’s aware of details that would escape us, which waters are dangerous and what paths are safe. Her advice is still useful.”

“I’m sure there are others we could rely on instead,” Nel replies. “I don’t trust her.”

“Well, I can trust her when she admits that we shouldn’t blindly trust her,” I reply. “She’s not so bad, and I haven’t seen her doing anything against our interests.”

“She has aspirations,” Nel replies. “She wants to use us for her own ends and that can only end badly for us.”

“Sure, she wants to use us for her own ends, but isn’t that true about everyone?” I ask. “That’s life. Anyway, dealing with her is good practice. There’s more than a little crap that we have to put up with considering this Grand Council nonsense and at least she’s pretty enough not to be an eyesore compared to most of the others.”

“There’s the real reason,” Nel smirks as if this admission was what she sought from the very start.

“I have my hands full with you, darling,” I say. “I don’t have the time to be flirting with Malea, on top of all the rest of my duties.”

“Then perhaps now is the time to be seeing to those duties?” She suggests.

“It is about time…” I say, resigning myself to the cruel fate coming. Wasting half a day with politicians, nobles, and worse. “I need to go gather our allies and get this alliance meeting dealt with before the larger and more bothersome meeting after it. Why does it have to be so much easier being a warlord than a politician?”

“Because killing people is generally simpler than listening to their demands,” Eshya suggests, but her wisdom is too much for us right now.

“I think we have a real chance of making a deal for new caverns, including our precious crystal cavern,” I say, turning the conversation to more peaceful topics.

“Oh? You’re going to beat them all into submission? Use blackmail?” Nel asks, resting back into her soft chair as she chuckles with Eshya.

“I’m selling them a solution to the problem that I created,” I reply with a shrug, smiling up at the sky and the capitalist ancestors that are surely proud of me. “They’re all scared of what Skills and information I can steal from them, so we’re going to be selling them the ability that offers them some protection against that.

“I’ll trade the new devices to have influence over the new academy we’re building, but after that, trading this ability should afford us a few hundred caverns, at the very least.”

“So, we’re abandoning the alliance and taking all the caverns for ourselves?” Vii asks, her head lifting with a vicious smile rising on her lips. A predatory bird seeing defenceless prey.

“That would be ideal, but unless you can conquer and rule a hundred caverns in a few months, it simply isn’t an option,” I say, rubbing the side of my head.

“We can’t make use of the hundreds of caverns that we’re trying to claim?” Vii asks, her smile souring as she thinks it over. “We don’t have the power or the people to make use of them, or hunt down the powerful beasts we’ll find in them, so it’s better to reinforce our alliance while making sure that everyone knows that they owe us big for getting them all this new land?”

“Yes. That’s what I was thinking at least. More than that, both factions should also be more willing to accept our deal if the gains are spread between members of our delicate alliance and not simply hoarded under my own banner,” I say. “We just have to be careful that we don’t have alliance members who take our winnings and trade their allegiance to either the republic or monarchy while screwing the rest of us.”

“An easy dilemma to deal with,” Nel says. “We just make sure that the wording and intention of the resolution is kept strict, that way we can ensure that the land’s ownership is tied to the alliance and can’t be reappropriated for the monarchy or the republic.”

“That’s the idea,” I say, “I’m hoping that it might encourage more people to join the alliance, too.”

“A promise to get new devices, Skill shields, and free land?” Nel asks. “You’re too nice to them.”

“Well, we’re asking them to make a stand against the two greatest powers short of the goddesses themselves,” I say. “If this isn’t enough of a carrot to bring them to our side, then there’s nothing we can do.”

“How well can we trust these allies?” Nel asks.

“Not at all,” I reply lightly. “Apart from a few, who seem disinterested in politics, they’ll stab us in the back the moment that they think it’ll work out for them. I’ve found a few spies in our ranks already, but they’re just watching for now.”

“What will you do if they start causing problems?” Nel asks.

“I’ll send some of Red’s death squads out to deal with them,” I say, shrugging away my discomfort at the idea of it. “Their solutions tend to be permanent, so I need to be sure that the spies are trouble before… well, killing them.”

“Perhaps we need a proper police force,” Vii suggests, shuffling her wings about and hopping from foot to foot as she looks about the room. She still has trouble keeping eye contact with people for longer than a few moments, especially when she’s trying to bring up a point.

“Well, I suppose I’ll be going,” I say, standing and stretching. “Need to round these idiots together and settle things before any more fights break out. Maybe we can even do this without any violence.”

“That’s an option?” Adler asks, her voice rather dry as she takes a seat beside Eshya, watching the elf carefully. From Eshya’s expression, I suspect that she’s been somewhat overbearing.

“If all Council members agree to the resolution, then there’s nothing to fight about. Or if one side backs down from a fight that they’re doomed to lose, it can end without a battle.” I say, stepping up to the teleporter, and stretching out my arms as I consider the problems ahead.

“Good luck,” Vii says, hopping up beside me. “I’ll keep you company.”

“Thanks,” I reply, pulling her close and trying to put aside all the worries that are storming into my mind.

“Try not to start a war,” Nel asks, her voice quiet and grave.

“No, please do start a war, I need the experience,” Eshya laughs, though the sound is still a little off from her usual self. An act to make us feel as if nothing is wrong.

“I’ll be back,” I step through the teleporter with Vii by my side.

Immediately, waves of plots and schemes flood through my mind as I take it all in. I wait for only a moment before diving into the noise, rallying these idiots to my cause with shouted threats and quiet promises. Warmth fills my mind as I act and react, shouting down the loud idiots that just want to disrupt the meeting while letting the quiet geniuses have a few moments in the spotlight.

The details of each moment slide by my attention, as I watch the corners of the room, looking for those who would escalate this meaningless political charade into a violent war. More than once I catch a reflection of myself in one of the mirrors that have been recently added to the room.

I find no one, and our non-violent arguments continue without interruption. My burning anxieties warn me of villains that simply aren’t here, or at least they’re not acting against me today. Can I accurately describe an evil monster as a villain if they’re keeping to themselves?

Even Gale, who’s turned his hateful rants my direction, is doing little more than throwing a childish tantrum. He’ll still die by my hand, what he did to Eshya was… unacceptable, but seeing him as nothing more than a particularly insistent pest that we can’t easily crush, I can maintain my self-control.

Eventually, the meeting room quiets and we come to an accord.

The alliance is forged just as we planned.

What I offer is too much for them to ignore, and while there are still some who leave us, a fearful few unwilling to take the gamble, the vast majority accept the deal that I offer them.

I try to ignore the incest king, and the other monsters in the room, a little bothered by just how easy it’s been to get their support. Yet, even as the full Grand Council meeting starts, and I set out our proposal, there is little issue worth taking note of.

This is a relatively momentous alliance, and a deal that carries significant historical meaning, but the events themselves are so very dry. I almost want them to refuse me just so that I can stretch and beat up a few of the idiots sitting around me.

“The unclaimed lands should be distributed between all factions,” President Braun says, standing at the head of his republic trusting them with his back. Many who stand here with him are fighting to take his presidential seat for themselves, yet I wouldn’t believe it seeing them here now. They might be enemies, but when they face the monarchy, they set aside their differences and stand together.

That’s just how society is.

“That sounds agreeable,” I reply before anyone else can interrupt. “Still, if you want any protection from my Skill stealing technique in the future, then you’ll be allowing us these lands.”

The list of caverns that I provide them has gone through a few layers of revision until my new alliance were willing to agree with it. While I had hoped that we could arrange for this to be dealt with quickly, my offer only brings about another shouting match between the factions, most of the weaker members of the factions are quite indignant about my proposal, but the royals and the president remain in stoic consideration.

Again, we exchange empty words. Frustrations are released in shouting matches, that I want no part in, and each faction allows their lesser members to look the fool for the sake of their own goals. The important members hold back from the battle of words, somehow maintaining their dignity as their lesser members throw insults and threats.

As this drags on, I gradually fall into deep apathy.

“I refuse to allow the Grendal noble house to gain any land until they’ve returned the Grey Gallows to us!”

“That war ended two thousand years ago, the land is ours by right!”

Ancient grudges rise to the fore yet again, only distracting from the very purpose of this meeting, but no one is stepping in to silence them.

Why should I care about all of this? This is an argument that I want no part in. The battle of wits and schemes, the important battle, is already well over. The Queen and her close allies, the president and his close council, all of them were already prepared for this, and already have their answers, there is no reason to let these idiots keep shouting at each other.

It would be impossible to shout them down at this point, and adding my voice to the din would only make me seem weak.

I grit my teeth and turn my attention away from the toddlers and their tantrums. My farmers are out working their fields and are proving a far more interesting distraction.

By the time the president and the queen finally agree to my deal, I’m ready to commit genocide against all politicians and nobles.

“Is that how it’s meant to go?” I ask Malea as the meeting ends and the important figures leave. Even having my resolution passed isn’t enough to make up for the utter bullshit that I’ve had to go through in the last few hours.

“It is… a measure rowdier than is usual,” Malea admits. “Everyone is still getting accustomed to this council, meetings of this scale we only see every odd century.”

“So, they’re like excitable kids on an excursion running and shouting because they’re in a new environment?” I ask, rubbing my temple. “I can’t wait to get enough power that I can just tell them all to shut the hell up, or even better, depose them and force them to clean toilets for the rest of their miserable lives.

“Or you could leave all this to me,” Malea replies insistently. “This is what a leader must suffer through. We are not violent beasts that just hunt down and consume every opponent that we face. This is the task that you’re taking on, this is your responsibility.”

“Yes, and if you want to help, you’re welcome to do so,” I reply. “You’re not taking my empire, however.”

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“Keep that spirit up as you sink into the true depths of political discord.” Malea covers her mouth as she releases a refined laugh that seems more an act than a natural expression.

Shaking off her words, I return through my own teleporter.

My strange new family have gathered around the throne, to welcome me home. Eshya claps her hands with a laughing cheer for my efforts, while Nel’s lips curve slightly as she turns to face me. Vii flutters up into the air to stretch her wings, just as glad as I am to be away from the council.

“Welcome home,” Adler says. “So, the meeting was to your satisfaction? You didn’t have to kill anyone, did you?”

“I wish murder was an option,” I grumble. “Everything passed, but a few of the other leaders wanted to throw a tantrum in public, and apparently no one wanted to hold them back.”

“So, we have more caverns now?” Nel asks.

“We do, who wants to be a queen?” I ask. “We have the crystal cavern, a flooded cavern filled with fish and tentacled monsters, and a cavern filled with rivers of lava.”

“Frey has quite a few different elemental vortexes, doesn’t she?” Vii asks. “I mean, that’s where she gets the power to create all these different places.”

“Interesting, interesting, I call dibs on the volcano world,” Eshya says, perking up and nearly falling as her nerves twitch out of control.

“We want fighters,” Nel says. “So, I’m going to avoid taking any such role. You’d want Red to take one of these places, but that leaves one spare.”

“We’ll have to think it over, then,” I say. “For now, let’s go explore them a little and see what’s what. Arduelle says we can’t actually claim ownership over the caverns without the permission of one of her Lords, meaning we have to hunt down the powerful beasts, or tame them, if we want to get the extra votes in the Grand Council.”

“Let’s get hunting,” Eshya says, leaping to her feet and stretching as if there’s nothing wrong with her.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” Nel asks, “If you get yourself injured again…”

“I’ll look out for her,” I promise, but Nel turns towards me with a raised brow and doubt written clear in her eyes.

“I mean it, no dangerous fights. Red will be with us and everything,” I say, rushing through the doors before she can call us back in. “It’ll be fine!”

“Be back before dinner,” Nel’s message slams right into my mind as I think I’ve made my escape.

“Let’s go,” Eshya says, skipping ahead. Her foot nearly slides out from under her, but she recovers before she falls, leading us on our new quest.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Stats and Skills

 

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 38,977 / 60,892 units

Current mana volume: 19,376 / 30,271 shards

 

Mana volume at crystallisation density (Max. mana volume):

Kyra: 30,271 shards

Kyra’s armour: 20,777 shards

Kyra’s throne: 1,109,298 shards

 

~Forms

Mana Canon

-Annihilation Heart (Adapted)

-Blood Fuel (Adapted)

-Bone Magic Storage (40,000 mana shards)

-Nail Shifters (50,000 mana shards)

 

Dancer

-Flash Nerves (Adapted)

-Quick Perception Mind (Adapted)

-Burst Reflex Muscles (35,000 mana shards)

-Layered space Muscles (80,000 mana shards)

 

Turtle

-Rebinding Tissue (Adapted)

-Catalyst Sweat Glands (140,000 mana shards)

-Repulsive Skin (80,000 mana shards)

-Prehensile hair (10,000 mana shards)

-Fatty Tissue Blood Storage (100,000 mana shards)

 

Investigator

-Wide eyes (Adapted)

-Wide ears (Adapted)

-Sharp nose (Adapted)

 

Misc.

-Clean bowels (Adapted)

 

 

~Favourited Skills:

 

Magic:

-Annihilation Magic (Customised)

-Fire Magic (Functional)

-Space magic (Broken)

-Force magic (Functional)

-Ice magic (Broken)

-Wind magic (Broken)

 

Movement:

-Hand-to-hand casting (Functional)

-Mana surge movement (Functional)

-Stealth (Functional)

 

Senses:

-Eyes of an Empire (Customised)

-Combat Awareness (Functional)

-Watchmen (Functional)

-Hidden bug (Mastered)

-De-tagging (Mastered)

-Anti-stealth sight (Mastered)

 

Special:

-Spirit Transformation (Broken)

-Conformity (Broken)

-Training mana form (Functional)

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