With the help of her guards, Emily stepped off from her carriage and viewed the crowds lined on both sides of the carpet that led to the reception.
She then cast her gaze upon the three standing at the reception post.
She made out the form of Warmarshal Verruca based on her prior knowledge, but she wasn't sure on the other two undead.
She knew The Holy Witch King was a skeleton undead, and was very impressive looking, but this undead looked to be more clergy than ruler... She walked toward these leading undead with purpose, flanked by her attendants, Servants Janet and Chrisy and to the side Warmarshal Ken.
The Officials that made the crowd cheered for the ambassadors. Having more allies than enemies would surely be better than having more enemies, but having an enemy become an ally would be the best, so they cheered harder.
Emily waved politely to the crowds as she made her way to the reception. Arriving, Warmarshal Ken bowed to the three leaders, "Warmarshal Ken reporting. I have escorted Ambassador Emily until her destination without issues. I will now follow the request granted by his Grace, and go on leave."
With that Warmarshal Ken stood up, winked at Warmarshal Verruca, turned and left.
"....." Warmarshal Verruca had no comment on Ken's actions
Looking down at the short skeleton called Emily, both Verruca and Lucius had the same thought, [[Why did they send a child as an ambassador???]]
Emily preformed a formal bow to the trio, "I am Ambassador Emily of the Grand Tomb of Neolith here to request an audience with The Holy Witch King."
She stated her name and purpose, as she wasn't sure who she was meeting. Even if they weren't The Holy Witch King, she didn't want to offend his aides.
After Emily spoke, this caught Lucius and Verruca off guard... This child -like undead was... an adult undead!? They both wondered why she did not complete her ritual of age. Was there a reason she was forced to stay in her childhood body, or did she prefer it...?
Leslie without any pause walked forward and bowed to the skeleton loli.
"I am Consort Leslie of his Grace, The Holy Witch King. We apologize that my Grace is currently making his way back to us from a emergency trip he took to one of our great cities." Leslie said with a sweet smile.
The biggest advantage that skeletal undead had in social settings were their pure bone faces that gave away no expression, else Emily's expression would be a mix of shock, fury, and a hint of sadness at the lowest depths of her soul.
[CONSORT! WHEN DID THE WITCH KING GET A CONSORT!!!! AHHHH! That's not how this is suppose to be! The prophecy and Uncle Spider said that I'M GOING TO BE THE CONSORT!]
Emily stood silently looking at Leslie, no one could feel anything from her, and so Lucius stepped forward.
"I am Grand Minister Lucius, head of our Faith of Deagoth. We welcome you and your party to Deagoth in open arms, in the stead of his Grace, The Holy Witch King."
Emily looked over and nodded her head at Lucius, while Lucius made a mental note that he was disregarded by this tiny ambassador.
Lastly, Warmarshal Verruca loomed high above Emily, and bowed to her politely, as Leslie had, "I am Warmarshal Verruca of our Holy Kingdom of Deagoth; commander of the War Breakers. I will safe guard your visit, while you stay in our holy kingdom."
Emily, too, nodded to Verruca, while the latter had no opinion about her action.
Emily was still processing the fact that The Holy Witch King had a consort, it had only been about a month and a half of travel... How did he pick up a consort so quickly... Why had he... Emily knew from her tutors that the Witch King had been single all his unlife.
Watching Emily stand dully while nodding to the Lucius and Verruca, a brief light flashed in Leslie's eyes. Leslie extended her hand out to Emily, "Come Ambassador Emily. Let us go into the palace to set up some burnt offerings and talk. We can get to know each other, while my hand maidens prepare your rooms."
Emily hesitated, but she wanted to know this consort, as well. She extended her small thin hand and took Leslie's as they walked up the steps and into the palace. Cheering ensued after they began their journey into the palace.
Verruca furrowed her brows slightly, making a stern expression on her pretty face. Lucius had sent a mental message to Verruca while they both watched the two disappear into the palace.
[Does Consort Leslie already know Ambassador Emily?]
[I don't believe so... I have a strange feeling about Emily.] Verruca replied with some hesitation.
[Like scheming feeling, or that this Emily is a strange undead?]
[Scheming, but not for nefarious purposes. More like I think she was shocked that his Grace has a consort.]
Lucius felt this was an odd assessment, [What makes you feel like that?]
[Call it a woman's intuition.]
Lucius didn't continue but decided to walk into the palace, as well. He had a meeting soon with Warmarshal Michael. Lucius had just today received the one million Glowstone cubiks; he had also decided to send Archbishop Edward to spread the faith of Deagoth among the Heretic Tribes.
Seeing Lucius off, Verruca stared at the palace. She felt that it was a good day to drill the soldiers at the barracks, and so she soon departed.
With mental messages from both Leslie and Lucius, the Officials soon went back to their work or homes, and a crew of undead workers began the clean up for the reception.
*******
[This has got to be the longest trip I have ever taken in my whole life... unlife... Whatever it is now... sigh] Jack was sitting at his desk in the Carriage made for the Archbishop of Sosuhalf, just as before. He had been traveling for half a month. In his last life, he could be anywhere in the world in less than a day by plane... Not that he ever traveled in his last life, just that it was a thing.
Jack had already finished a new spell that was going to solve Leslie's parent issues, and he thought up some plans for the kingdom. During this trip, he had a lot of time to think, and come to terms with being the ruler of an undead kingdom. He still wasn't sure if he was, in fact, The Holy Witch King that lost his memories, or a guy that reincarnated and transmigrated to this world. Either way, it didn't help him currently thinking about it, so he tossed the idea to the side. Jack thought this solved it, but it was really just putting it off.
He had also thought about how close he came to getting crushed by Boss Crag. His Angel of Death spell was actually a hologram he had made. The entire light construct was just for show with the exception of the very tip of the scythe. Even then, this spell still took up the remainder of Jack's power that day, as he had to get the light construct the presence of a entity. That pressure that made everyone tremble at it's might was akin to a small dog with a loud bark.
When Jack was a kid being bullied, it was his mother that told him that a bluff goes a long way. In the same way, that the gopher snake pretends to be a rattle snake, one can bluff his way out of being bullied or prey in the case of the gopher snake. Jack always took his mother's lessons to heart.
While in transit, he had frequent discussions with Jade, Leslie's mother, and had become very close to her. He found that she had a strange sense of humor and was slightly obsessive about some things, but she was very gentle and caring. She reminded him of Leslie a great deal, even some habits were the same.
He also spoke with Boss Crag a few times, but other than just passing the time, no serious business had been discussed. This was mainly due to Jack putting it off. He did, however, get good intel of the mafia families that made up not only his kingdom but the surrounding kingdoms. It was almost like the land contained two sets of kingdoms or nations. The first set were the ones control by governments, and the second controlled by mafia families or organisations. Interesting to Jack was that the territories controlled by the mafias were different in size and shape, and weren't bound by the kingdom or national borders. For example, the Crag Family controlled east side of Deagoth with a small portion that extended into Stonedge. As such, He had been making plans to incorporate Boss Crag and his family into his, and today he had finished. His servants had also informed him that he would arrive in the Holy city of Saigunrai in a week.
[I think it's time to talk to Crag.]
Jack called to one of the guards that came to escort him to the capital, "Templar Brent."
Brent walked into the spacious office room of the carriage. "Yes, your Grace."
"Inform Boss Crag that I would like to speak with him about some business."
"Your will be done, Your Grace." The guard turned and walked out to call Boss Crag over.
Jack arranged his papers on his desk and went over how he was going to speak to Boss Crag. He had already formed a speech in his head with a few possibilities of what Boss Crag might say.
A few minutes later, Boss Crag walked into the office, as he made his way to one of the chairs in front of Jack's desk he spoke, "So Witch King, Ya want to talk about business? I've still been wondering about what you want me to do in Saigunrai."
"You see Boss Crag. I've already told you I am the Boss of Bosses. With that being said, I've grown tired of people playing in my backyard and not getting any returns."
"What? Are you going to start ya own crime family? That don't make no sense, being the supreme pontiff of that faith you running." Boss Crag snorted a laugh, thinking it would be funny for a pope to run a crime ring.
"No. I'm not going to run a crime family, and neither are you."
"Come again..."
Jack had Boss Crag's attention now. Crag didn't want to make his family give up their lifestyle. after all, Crag was a fifth-generation crime boss.
Seeing the confused and slightly agitated look on Crag's face, Jack began, "I am going to incorporate you and your family into my kingdom's government and make you an Official of Unlife to represent the interests of your family. You will not be mafia."
"If We, not a crime family... Not mafioso... Then what you want us to do."
Boss Crag felt pressured. He played the game like he was suppose to, as he did his business and didn't mess with the Kingdom unless he knew he could get away with it. He wanted to get paid, but this didn't sound like getting paid... This sounded like charity. Boss Crag wasn't a charity worker, but facing the awe inspiring power he witness The Holy Witch King display in Sosuhalf made it hard to disagree with what he wanted. Boss Crag remembered something his father told him, when he passed. 'Whoever has the biggest fist rules. Remember that always.' So Boss Crag remembered those words, and worked hard to cultivate until he, like his father before, became a King rank Cultivator.
The flaming eyes of Jack's flared as he spoke his next line, "I want you and yours to do the same things you are doing right now, but with my endorsement for returns. Call this a takeover, and re-brand."