Chapter 2102: Public Discussions

The show of the day was a comedic murder mystery that Opal had adapted from a story that one of the New Home members had told her about a failed applicant to the Assassin’s Guild.

The story was either an outright comedy, or a tragedy of ineptitude, depending what side you were cheering for.

It was about to start when the pair sat down at a private table on the upper balcony, drawing much attention from the other VIP guests in the private lounge.

The dinner service was just as exclusive as it had been designed to be, with eighty percent of the hotel plus all the walk in guests dining in the main restaurant, while a small selection of visiting dignitaries enjoyed the dinner show, before the evening public showing that did not include the full dinner service.

That got the bunnies all the viewers they wanted, while also getting Andrea and the VIP guests the private time that they wanted to discuss important matters.

Karl knew that the Succubus would be listening in on their conversation, but it was a Guild matter, so she was going to find out either way. In fact, if she wasn’t so busy with everyone else in the room, and her managerial duties, he would have called her over to help represent the Darklight Host.

He might be the branch leader, but there was a vast power difference at the table.

In most situations, someone in the mid Ascended Rank wouldn’t even qualify to negotiate with a Legendary City Leader. Especially one that held as much influence as Eryman. However, the Legend was remarkably easygoing, in Karl’s mind.

In Eryman’s mind, the alliance between his city and the Darklight Host was much more about politics and appearances than about who he negotiated it with.

Karl had the position of Branch Leader, so he was the one who spoke for the city, no matter what his rank was.

It was the fact that he was the World Dragon’s Avatar, and that Peerless Grade constitution that his nameplate showed, that made his authority so much more than what his rank would imply. With that sort of qualification, it could be assumed that he was going up the ladder very quickly, and would likely end up poached from this world to the Divine Battlefields.

Assuming that things didn’t spiral so far out of control here that this world became one.

That was a definite possibility in Eryman’s calculation.

"Now that we’ve got time to sit, I suggest that we form a pact of neutrality. We can declare that interplanetary accords prevent us from leading our factions into battles that involve each other, and that gives both of our groups a perfectly plausible excuse for sitting this one out.

Even if we’re both still supplying trained soldiers and equipment to the battlefield.

There is a huge Academy within my Capital city, and the graduates there are all Paladins and Clerics. Naturally, they will be joining the battles when they go home, and the Darklight Host isn’t going to be able to stop the Elves from selling wherever they want without stopping all trade with them.

So, declaring official neutrality, and a Divine Battlefield Edict preventing us from engaging in open war together or in opposition, will allow us to step aside."

Karl considered his words carefully.

There didn’t seem to be any sort of trap to it. The Legend meant what he said about staying out of the battles, and not just because he didn’t want people to think that he was pushing for Divinity.

"Alright, I can work with that. Do you have people to write up the alliance agreement? We have template forms, but they’re all designed for trade agreements, not a neutrality pact."

Eryman nodded. "I had one in my inventory that only needs a few tweaks. We can have the Inscriptionists turn it into a proper magical contract tonight. There aren’t many details that will need to be changed, and it’s designed to be used as a ceasefire or armistice document."

That’s very close to what we’re looking for here, so we can go with that document and a few changes that will make it much more viable for us to show the world that we have an agreement.

They’ll likely all take my word for it, but they might pressure us both for a public release of the signed document, so that they can show it to the alliances trying to pull us into the battles. At best we’ve got a few more days before it reaches our borders, but you might get a full week before the Almeixei Sect is forced to choose one way or the other.

They make a pretty decent buffer around your territory, and the New Home Merchant Clan doesn’t have enough allies that they’re going to get pulled into a larger battle.

Being out here in the middle of nowhere, so close to the dead zone, is an advantage in some ways."

Karl shrugged. "It’s not as bad as it seems. We’ve managed to get a pretty solid mana balance here, and we’re drawing up the ambient level a little, so it’s more tolerable.

But the isolation is part of the charm. Nobody will come out this far looking for us unless they already know that we’re here.

That means that we can usually work in peace.

Now there is so much war going around that we find we simply can’t work in peace anymore, so I will admit that we do need this deal, just to keep things from getting out of hand. Some of our members get a bit too enthusiastic when it comes to battle, after all."

A woman at a nearby table covered her mouth to hide her laughter, or perhaps the fact that she had been eavesdropping. But Karl distinctly heard the words "Rue Gathuzan" from a few tables over.

They did have a point, Rue did love battle, and she was apparently incredibly good at it. Not that Karl had gotten a chance to see it much since she had arrived.

But she did have a reputation.

"The Inscriptionists say that they will have it ready in an hour, so we can sign once the show is over, but before the dances start," Eryman explained.

"Perfect timing."