"This… 'Colony'. I don't like it, Theraz, but it's new, and new can be either good or bad for business. What I need to know, as soon as possible, is which it's going to be."
"Well, the first thing I can tell you is we aren't going to be able to dislodge them easily."
"Really? That mountain has changed hands so many times recently I was starting to think it was impossible to hold. First that tree had her roots all over it, then the ka'armodo seized it for whatever reason and now these ants are setting up shop! I don't like it when others set up shops next to mine, Theraz."
The Satrap didn't get as disgustingly wealthy as he had by tolerating competition, after all.
"We are directing as many of the lake monsters as we can toward their fortifications, and so far they haven't made a dent. Worse than that, since they're monsters, all we're really doing is flooding them with Biomass, experience and cores."
"Are you suggesting we cease the siren song?" Umizen muttered, leaning his cheek against one of his hands. "Your father had the same thought."
My father is a lot smarter when it comes to fighting.
It wouldn't do to say so out loud, of course.
"Any and all matters regarding the Divine Guardian Beast are for you and you alone to decide on," Theraz replied smoothly. "I am merely reporting the progress, or lack thereof, being made."
"Fine," the Satrap grumbled to himself. "After everything I've spent on her, you'd think she could deal with squishing a few ants."
"She isn't fighting," Theraz reminded him, "she's just using her song."
"Should I send her up? Make a direct assault?"
Clearly hesitant, the Satrap suggested it anyway and his nephew suppressed a sigh. Anything expensive was an asset, and the Siren was incredibly expensive. His uncle wouldn't risk her unless he had a very good reason.
"I don't think that would be a good idea," he replied. "I've seen… I'm not sure how to put this…. I've seen a very powerful ant monster, a Mythic one, tier seven or eight probably, it was hard to tell from the waterline. It came out of the mountain and scared off a sky dragon."
He shook his head.
"It was massive. Highly evolved and highly mutated. If there are more like that in the mountain, then those ants aren't going anywhere."
At the mention of the monster, both his cousin and uncle had leaned forward eagerly, though for very different reasons.
"Do you think it's strong?" Piris gasped. "Could you beat it?"
"Do you think it's valuable?" the Satrap breathed. "Could you capture it?"
"To answer both of you: yes, I think it's strong and valuable. The carapace sparkled under the sun like a jewel and I could feel the mana thundering in its core. Secondly, no. I could not beat it, certainly not alone, and capturing it would be even less likely, since that's the only time it has come out of the mountain. Fighting through a fortress guarded by hundreds of thousands of ants isn't something we can achieve."
"But they're just ants," Piris and her father protested together.
Theraz shook his head.
"Please put that thought from your mind. They aren't 'just' anything. If a group of monsters conquered a mountain and turned it into an impregnable fortress in a few weeks, you'd have a good deal of fear and respect for them, right? I implore the Satrap to not be blinded by what they are, but focus on what they've done. This Colony is strong."
The older, pudgier brathian leaned his scaled cheek on one of his open palms, eyes narrowing.
"There's an awful lot of money sitting in that mountain, nephew," he said, a hint of steel entering his tone. "We've confirmed that those monsters are tier five, some tier six, and they all have a core. Every single one of them, and there's hundreds of thousands of them, maybe more, according to what I've read. When we include monster parts we could salvage, that's a fortune equal to what I've amassed up to this point in my life, and I'm disgustingly wealthy. You understand what I'm saying, Theraz?"
The young man felt a chill run down his spine.
"You have to be alive, to enjoy the privileges of wealth, Uncle."
The Satrap sat back with a huff.
"That's what your father said."
"Then he agrees with me?"
"He's warned me off interfering with this Colony directly. 'You have enough money, brother', and 'what's the point of taking a risk like that,' and 'how many brathian are you willing to sacrifice to get richer'. I've heard it all from him for days."
"Those are all valid questions, Uncle."
"My fear isn't only about missing out on a fortune, nephew. Those ants represent such an enormous pile of cash that others are bound to come to get it. I worry about someone else taking it and supplanting our people from our dominant position in this area of the stratum. These monsters may be a threat, yes, but if someone conquers them and is even worse? What then?"
"We are not so easy to displace from our position in the Lake," Theraz assured him. "If it comes down to it, my father and I will give our lives to protect our people, and the rest of the Scale Guard alongside us."
Umizan considered him for a few long moments before he clapped his hands together before his paunch.
"Excellent! We will put aside the expensive and draining prospect of war and focus on that which is more profitable. Jolly cooperation! It's time for diplomacy, Theraz. You and your father will be part of my envoy, of course."
He'd probably intended on this outcome all along. Dealing with his uncle was exhausting at times.
"Of course, Satrap," he bowed.
Piris snapped and rushed to her father's side.
"I want to go as well! Father! Let me go!"
"What?" he boggled. "You want to go into that den of beasts?"
He blinked, then sighed.
"Of course you do. You take after your mother too much, she always has to be having an adventure. My daughter, the real adventure is commerce!"
She went to protest, but he raised a hand.
"If we can receive assurances from the ants, then I will consider it, but if you go, I will have double the military presence at the outpost. Keep that in mind. In fact, if you're going, your mother might as well go along. She'll be furious if I keep her home and let you out."
Taking the Satrap's wife and daughter to a mountain full of monsters, Theraz despaired. It was madness.
"Is there a problem, nephew?"
"Not at all, Satrap."