Chapter 614: Negotiation With An Old Acquaintance.

“How long has it been since we last met? Two years? I believe the last time was when we handed you your [Crystal of the Divine System], and since then, we haven’t met. In that case, please allow me not to break courtesy again. Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, I, Maverina von Dareinburgh, greet you on behalf of the Magical Capital of Aleistunum.” The finely dressed woman stood up as she saw me and gave a graceful curtsy. Once I accepted her greeting, she straightened her back, smiled widely as she turned to face Tasianna… and Vifi.

“Greetings, Lady Maverina. It has been a while, so you probably haven’t heard about a little change to my party. I know you left your guards and companions outside, but my mother, the sixth empress, suggested I bring mine, even if it breaks decorum,” I replied as I saw Maverina twitch a bit. Her eyes couldn’t stop looking at Vifi, and for good reason, as the latter had her lightning horns out.

She was revealing her demonic features to her without a sense of shame.

“You already know Tasianna, so allow me to introduce you to the latest member of Aurora. A demonkin of wrath and a former Warbringer of Bole’Taria, who occupied the third seat. Vifi’Yok is her name, and she is my designated bodyguard.”

Keeping up her poker face, she nodded, prompting Maverina to give me that same surprised look she had when I first revealed my true identity to her. She probably wouldn’t kowtow, but scaring this woman every time we met made me feel like a bully. Actually, not really. A bit of schadenfreude, especially if it wasn’t harmful, was fine.

Once Maverina calmed down, I sat down on the sofa while Tasianna poured our tea and Vifi stood behind me. This was the Nordor mansion’s guest house, so I could have had one of the dragonewt maids do it, but Skardvro told me the Aleistunum wished for a private conversation between Maverina and me. It almost made it sound like we were doing something illegal.

Thanking Tasianna for the tea, Maverina sipped it without even adding any sugar and enjoyed the aroma. Her hasty gulp told me that Vifi’s appearance had greatly thrown her off balance. Seeing this, I decided to clear up any misunderstandings.

“You do remember I went to Elyonda, right? The information about the accident must have spread throughout Altrust, especially since Aleistunum’s archerudite was seen helping the Yeosian royal family cull the threat,” I said, prompting her to nod. “Vifi was the commander of that operation. Though after her defeat, she deserted Bole’Taria, and after some twists and turns, she joined my party. Our goals align, which is why she is here with me.”

“I-I see… so—”

“I am not focused on the destruction of Folschreck,” Vifi chimed in, spooking Maverina. “I only wish for this war between our two nations to end, and for my fellow countrymen to eat some proper bread. Not the dry stuff even dwarves wouldn’t eat.”

“She’s my ally and friend. I am not on Bole’Taria’s side, but that doesn’t mean I want to harm the people living there. I have specific targets to fulfill my Divine Quest for the Goddess, though, so don’t worry. Do you understand?”

“W-well, if she has Your Highness’s favor, then I should not judge.” Putting her teacup down on its saucer, she placed a sugar cube and some milk into it before using her spoon to twirl it. “Things have been quite hectic, you see. I apologize for being so on edge, but the mood in Aleistunum hadn’t been so good.”

“Oh, did you visit the magical capital before you came here?”

She shook her head. “I requested a return. I am no longer the guild master of the Griffonpeak mages’ guild.”

Hearing that, I stopped sipping my tea, tilting my head a bit at that news. Seeing this, Maverina giggled a bit, probably feeling a sense of revenge after how often I teased her.

“The atmosphere in Griffonpeak hadn’t been good for any Folschreckians, or really any foreigners outside of the Estralians and Yeosians,” Maverina explained. “Although King Drangleic hadn’t fully announced it yet, the fact that Griffonpeak had aligned with you, Ankor-Nazta, and Saelariel has become an open secret. People were afraid that a war would start once the announcement was made. I fled before then.”

“That’s smart.”

“So you don’t deny it?”

I shook my head and kept silent about any further details. The world didn’t know about Father having a conference with not only King Elutis and High King Fugnarus, but also Abyssal Warden Ashana and King Drangleic. It was better to keep it like this until they finalized the alliance between our countries.

Seeing me tight-lipped, Maverina sighed. “Well, I am not here for such details. At this point, even if a war were to break out, I could just assume neutrality within Aleistunum. I won’t be endangered.”

“What about your family?”

“I am not the third child of a family of four. My elder brothers handle everything concerning the house, while my younger sister and I were sent to Aleistunum to expand our house’s magical achievements. She has already been married off, but I’ve been… unlucky, you could say. I’m getting on my years, so I don’t think they will mind me being a bit selfish now.”

“You don’t look that old, yet, my lady.”

“Flattery is nice to hear from a younger woman, but it also feels a bit disingenuous, hehe.” Maverina unfurled her fan to hide her smile. “As such, you do not need to worry about me, my lady. If you must, then I would love to finish our meeting. With those three Event Quests, I must leave Kargryx and the open ocean soon.”

I nodded. “Before that, though, why were you sent, specifically?”

“The archerudite himself requested it, since I know you and we’ve done business together before with the crystal.”

“Huuuh, that sleepyhead woke up? And let me guess, it’s because he heard about my Digital Media Guild, right?” I asked, prompting her to nod. “Knew it! But the streaming function debuted about a month ago, so how were you able to send the message to Aleistnum and then send it to me? Without a wyvern, it would still take you longer than a bit over a month to reach Kargryx, whether through land or water. The train is fast, but you still have a long way to go. Skardvro mentioned you also arrived in Coral Beard first, so you needed even more time!”

“Connections,” she stated as if that was what she needed to say. Seeing me still confused, she shrugged. “The archerudite is a long-lived elf. He has both connections in Saelariel and Kel’Thun. I traveled with the dwarf’s train to Inkoran-Tazul, and from there, the Saelari had arranged a wyvern to fly me to Caedhul. A levianewt ship is the swiftest there is, especially if they have a water mage on board. Allow me to be frank, my lady, I am beyond exhausted. All I did was sleep on my way here.”

Can’t disagree with that. The flights from New York to Tokyo were always so long, and don’t get me started on the extended layovers. Brrr. Doesn’t matter if you enter one of those airport hotels and lounges; it’s still uncomfortable.

“And you plan to go back immediately afterwards. Hmm, yes, that’s tough. Okay, I’ll make sure to give you a farewell present after this, so don’t worry too much about the trip back.”

Maverina let out a small sigh from her nose, looking forward to what I would give. If she thought I would give her something expensive, then she was being delusional. I might be a spoiled princess, but I’ve learned how to be frugal. A present should be beneficial to the receiver.

“Then, with that done, allow me to express Aleistunum’s wish. Lady Hestia, you do remember when Lady Thyra and I talked about that ‘long-range’ communicator, right?” she asked, prompting me to nod. “I’ve added the ‘stream’ function on my party bracelet, allowing me to access the Coral Beard and Iceskale information tower. I may watch any of the streams right now. Furthermore, although I haven’t interacted in the ‘chat’ yet, I noticed Iceskale citizens speaking with those living in Coral Beard. I believe there is no interference, right?”

I nodded. Even without the chat, the fact that you could see Coral Beard even while lazing around in Iceskale was enough proof that I’ve invented a type of long-range communication. It wasn’t the type Maverina talked about—hers seemed more like a messenger app or a phone call—but this was a good enough alternative.

“I shall be frank, Aleistunum wishes to buy this invention.”

“Rejected.”

Sharing was caring, sure, but I had no intentions of selling the idea outside of the digital media guild. This was soft power. The power of a new invention like this would make any country want it, even if you ignored the entertainment value of it. Militarily and politically, it had shown its value in these last few weeks.

As such, to help Kargryx if it wanted to expand its influence beyond Loatryx, the digital media guild had to belong to the dragon empire. At least here, I could make sure to style Peolyncia’s version of the internet to my liking, and hopefully, spread the idol culture to more than a few people who watched my concerts.

Seeing Maverina looking at me with this quizzical look, I explained, “The Digital Media Guild is mine. I invented it for the purpose of spreading my music to other people and to perform my idol concerts. That alone makes it important to me, so I have to keep a tight grip on it. In addition, my father has officially subsidized it through the imperial treasury, meaning my guild has a vested interest in ensuring its competency and relationship to the imperial family, beyond just me. Empress Forminaxtrass has a high stake in the guild since she was the one to invent the information tower, and I signed an exclusive contract with Dusk Nest to build the various information towers. Selling the ideas is impossible.”

“Too greedy, correct? That’s fine; the archerudite expected as such, but the other members of the Aleistunum’s council wanted me to try it anyway. Fine. Then I shall proceed to my second request: we wish for you to build your next information tower in Aleistunum.”

“Do you know how it works?”

She shook her head. “However, you made it work with Frozen Nest and Coral Beard, so you must have managed to find a way to connect both towers. Since you mentioned Empress Forminaxtrass, then the idea must have something to do with dark magic, no?”

Man, this woman was still too sharp.

Considering the process was more difficult than using a single spell, I decided to be forthright and nod. “Mhmm, then let’s leave it at that. Yes, it would be possible, but it’s currently not possible to do so from too far away. Even the one in Coral Beard is extremely taxing on the mana batteries, but it was necessary to build it there for Father’s sake. It was how we could ensure the success of the product for the entirety of Kargryx. Now we have the funding to expand.”

I explained to her that Forminaxtrass planned to build an information tower in each nest and major Loatryxian cities first. This would allow the whole empire to stay connected, allowing people to always obtain important announcements without the need for messenger wyverns.

Once we were done on Miononbolax, we would build the next one in the Loatryxian colony on Altrust, before spreading it to the Caedhulen colony and Ankor-Nazta. Considering the distance between Miononbolax and Altrust, this would also serve as the first test of the viability of connecting two continents in the same network.

Aleistunum was too far away for this.

“Information towers are currently being built in Sacred Nest, Dusk Nest, and in Loatryx, so it will still take a while. We built the one in Coral Beard quickly since we sent a large number of artificers from the digital media guild there, but we still haven’t even started the third wave of recruitments yet,” I explained.

Jadhund was extremely conservative when it came to spreading trade secrets, like all dwarves. A guild to the dwarves was a band of like-minded and talented artisans, and while this allowed them to recruit talented apprentices, it did stifle their growth. Yet, that didn’t matter to them, as they preferred quality over quantity when it came to guild members. A clear contrast to how the humans recruited whoever showed even a glimmer of talent.

Since a dwarf led the digital media guild, the culture shared aspects of Ankor-Nazta. As such, the dragonewt members were just as conservative as their guild master. Coupled with how the majority were from Frozen Nest, that only made things more complicated since they didn’t want to invite “outsiders.” Regardless, despite all their grumbling, the guild had been growing, even if it wasn’t at the speed the imperial family wanted it to.

Hopefully, it’ll change once the Dusk and Sacred Nest artisans start building the guild halls over there.

“So, how about this: why not have the archerudite come over to Kargryx?” I suggested, causing Maverina’s eyes to widen while Vifi whistled. It seemed both understood what I actually wanted. “I’ll ask Empress-Mother Forminaxtrass and Guild Master Jadhund, and if it works, Archerudite Uzerra will be able to learn how everything works. I presume he isn’t interested in implementing the invention in Aleistunum. He just wants to understand how it works, right?”

Maverina stayed silent as her poker face held strong, though that was enough to confirm my suspicion.

“It is the Aleistunum council who wants the information tower to access Kargryx’s network of streams, and also to obtain a seat as I continue to innovate on it, right? My father advertised that this is my invention, and everybody should know that I am an otherworlder at this point. It’s obvious. You see me as another ‘Revolution Queen,’ correct?”

“Lady Hestia… I presume you understand exactly what you are suggesting, right?” Maverina’s tone deepened, clearly a bit offended by this negotiation.

I leaned forward. “At the same time, I have a very, very big problem on my hands. An ancient leviathan is targeting my Mother, Frozen Nest, and me. She wants me dead. What would happen if I were to die, and they destroyed the digital media guild? The information tower might never leave Miononbolax at that point, right?”

“You would drag Aleistunum into this conflict? I had heard from King Drangleic that you’re the type of person to avoid dragging people into your battles.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Hearing this, I smirked, unnerving Maverina as she saw it. “That is true.”

“Then why are you asking for the archerudite to come?”

I pointed at myself. “Naturally, due to his soul. You want him to survive as well, right?”

Maverina’s brows twitched, but she nodded in the end.

I snapped my fingers. “I know your information on Kargryx is rather limited, but you must have at least heard about my father’s situation, right?”

“I recently updated myself.”

“Good, then I can tell you that my father is feeling better than ever. I had planned to sing to help rejuvenate his soul, but I found a different method to do so. It won’t work on Lord Uzerra, but I do believe I can at least enervate his soul a bit. That might add a few years onto his lifespan.”

Maverina’s eyes widened a bit, only for her to squint in the next second. “Lady Hestia, you must understand that there are factions inside Aleistunum as well, right?”

I nodded.

“I heard you talked with the archerudite. I know that the vampire’s blood fortress had visited Yeos, so you must know about his relationship with the vampire princess, yes?” she asked, prompting me to nod. “Many current council members disapprove of the archerudite because his existence is a threat to Aleistunum. If the vampire princess believes her forces are ready, she will attack the magical capital. Even if we managed to fend off the threat, there is a high risk that many scholars will die, not to mention the facilities, books, and various research projects. To us mages of Aleistunum, the pursuit of knowledge is more valuable than our lives.”

“… I would think something like this wouldn’t be common knowledge.”

“It isn’t, but my master had already briefed me on the conflict.”

“Which side are they on?”

“… We wish to appoint a new archerudite,” she admitted, looking a bit conflicted, before steeling herself. She closed her fan. “As such, I ca—”

“I don’t care what you want, then.”

Her face froze. Tilting my head to the side, I frowned, letting out a sigh. With this small moment of pause, Maverina cleared her throat.

“Lady Hestia, I must ask you to stay away from Aleistunum’s internal affairs. You have your own business to deal with, so why meddle in ours, as well?”

I raised a brow, feeling unamused at this type of statement. “Lady Maverina.”

She shuddered as I lowered my voice.

“I am Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, eighth imperial child of the Empire of Kargryx, daughter of the sixth empress of Kargryx, Melloxtressa, and currently a candidate to the throne of Kargryx with the support of two dragon rulers and their nests. I am a rank B dragon whelpling who can defeat senior rank Bs and even younger rank As true dragonkin. I am a rank A adventurer and an arcanist of the mages’ guild at the pure age of three. I have plenty of connections, and your opinion does not matter to me when it involves the safety of my life and my people!” I asserted. “If you will not deliver my message, I shall do so through another method.”

My underworld connection probably weakened due to my absence, but I still knew Muraina, the guild master of the Griffonpeak hunters’ guild. If I had Arcanuess Helvas deliver my message to her, she would easily deliver my missive once she agreed to my plan. I still had the support of Estralia through the alliance, and this didn’t even mention the elves of Saelariel and the dwarves of Ankor-Nazta.

I didn’t need Maverina to do any of this. I’ve already built enough relationships to leverage them now.

“The mages’ guild does not have much of a presence on Kargryx. In fact, many mages here are dragonewts. They might have reported my invention to Aleistunum, but that doesn’t mean most of them will side with you once I declare that the mages’ guild is enemies to the digital media guild. I do not need your support to spread the information tower. Yet, you want mine? Shall we continue?”

Maverina’s hands started to grip her dress, and you could feel her brain fuming to find an answer to this situation. She picked up her tea and sipped at it, only to realize that she had already finished drinking it. As she placed it back on its saucer, Tasianna was already there to refill it.

Too nervous that you forgot to drink? The talks haven’t lasted that long, Maverina.

“What is it that you want?”

“I want Archerudite Uzerra to visit Miononbolax. I don’t need him to participate in the battle, but I need his advice on something. Thus, I need him here. If you are willing to accommodate me on this, I will allow you to speak with the digital media guild, despite Aleistunum being a foreign country.”

“What do you wish to ask him?” Maverina demanded. It didn’t seem like she would acquiesce on this.

“On how to get a leviathan to leave the abyssal layer of the ocean.”

Seeing how the negotiation wouldn’t proceed from here, Maverina accepted my offer and decided to pass this message to the archerudite as I wanted. This outcome was far better for me since I didn’t want a diplomatic incident to occur, but since the option was available to me, I had to bring Uzerra over to Miononbolax.

Mom didn’t think we needed him, but I still wanted to ensure that our trip down to retrieve the demonic artifact would be foolproof. For that, I needed the best mage out there for this. Sure, I could get a true dragonkin to help me, but they would all be occupied with the battle with the leviathans, and I didn’t want to ask strangers in Kel’Thun for help. I haven’t met any of them yet, after all.

With our meeting over, I hosted Maverina for two days to allow her to rest. To help her make up for “wasting those two days,” I managed to persuade Virrflax to give her a piggyback ride back to Aleistunum to cut down on a month-long trip. Virrflax Airlines was ready to work!

With my business in Iceskale over, I returned to the elemental’s village to see the true dragonkin and wyverns off to the Dungeon of Infinite Feasts. Rhekk and Fehrkatruk had wanted an overblown, extravagant ceremony, since I promised to make them my retainers, but I just winged it, since I felt too embarrassed to perform a “knighting ceremony” for twenty true dragonkin.

I had decided against promoting any of the rank Cs in the cohort, as in the end, I accepted Nong’s idea that the weak were too weak to participate in a war of this scale. Anybody who was still rank C hadn’t gone on their pilgrimage yet, meaning they were children in the eyes of our culture, so I had no wish to allow them to fight. In the worst case, they would help with supplies.

Kylu did pout in the end, but Fehrkatruk managed to soothe him enough for me to start the ceremony. The rank Bs were, naturally, an obvious choice since they needed the experience boost the most to quickly evolve into rank As, while the rank As had a long way to go to catch up to the ancients. Fehrkatruk was the only one amongst them that I fully trusted to grow strong enough to fight an ancient, though, even if he probably wouldn’t beat one like Kahalameet and Phso did.

“We won’t fail you, Princess Hestia!” Fehrkatruk and Rhekk announced after the 21 true dragonkin offered me their scales, sealing our “master-retainer” relationship.

Although the dragoons and wyverns were loyal to Frozen Nest as part of the dragoon and wyvern corps. I also took this time to grant sixteen of them [Hestia’s Retainer] to help them with training. Though I only gave the members of my clan the title, to the chagrin of many. There were too many different clans!

I was already overwhelmed giving the title to true dragonkin I hardly knew, so that awkwardness only got worse with them. Man, up until Rego and the fire wyverns joined me, I’ve only given [Hestia’s Retainer] to very close allies, so this felt like I was devaluing the title. I knew it was important to help as many people grow stronger, but it didn’t feel right to me.

<[The Light] is telling you that most of them are more similar to your fans than true companions in your mind. You cannot compare them to people like Saori, whom you deeply care for.>

Aurena had a point. Maybe that was why [Hestia’s Retainer] evolved into [Hestia’s Imperial Guard] for those who were truly close to me to create this important distinction. The fact that they even received [Hestia’s Retainer] in the first place meant our trust for each other was legit enough.

Haaa, just gotta trust the process.

After the ceremony ended, I said goodbye to the majority of them as they departed for the mainland for the dungeon. Only Uriahn and a few dragoons stayed behind to keep the elemental village safe, while also giving me a chance to train with both of them.

Another week passed as I resumed my normal training schedule, now with a fresh mind, allowing me to fully focus on developing a few more skills. In this time, Kahalameet and Phso appeared on a stream in Coral Beard, explaining why they had attacked Maustoovaka in the first place. I zoned out since I already knew the truth from Mom, and only really focused when Father appeared to announce that Kahalameet was now the Dragon Ruler of Fire.

That brings up his popularity. Let’s see if it will overshadow Phso’s contribution, though.

Being so far away from the rest of my family really made me feel distant from what they were doing.

In other news, Taim had visited the subspace for a day, but before I could question him about everything, he told me he would explain everything once I was done with my training. He told me that he was planning on having all of us siblings meet to discuss the plan from here on forward. Though only once, Wendriosa and Nong finished their business.

“That brother of ours is being a bit stubborn. Wendriosa said she could handle it, but it doesn’t seem like he would back down, seeing how Storm Nest voted for him. Well, we’ll see in a few weeks.”

And thus, the 16th of AutumnSun had finally arrived. Sure, for many people, it was just another day of the year, but for Iceskale, the Nordor Clan, and me, it was a day none of us could even think about forgetting. Today was Mom’s birthday.

And I had already prepared the best birthday present ever for this very moment.

“Tasianna, let’s do this. Today, Hikari and I will beat up your butt, you giant popsicle!”

“Then… to arms, my lady. Don’t disappoint Her Majesty on this fine day.”

Custom spell gained: [Strengthening Flames] [Sturdy Earth]