The next day Aldi arrived with Völsung.
Why did he come here? Did Völsung find out about my plans?
No, he couldn't know of it! I hadn't told anyone about my plan for revenge and I hadn't even made any inquiries about them.
Divination? If that was it... then they would know what I did to the royal heirs and march in here guns blazing. That is if they had guns...
Anyway, the chances that they knew of my plans were slim. Maybe they just suspected something. If I played my cards well there shouldn't be a problem.
When they arrived Aldi began his ascent to my top. It wasn't particularly arduous but still took a fair amount of time and stamina. Both of which Völsung seemed unwilling to use. He simply fixed his gaze to my top and jumped. He jumped!
That was a distance of 300 meters! Surprisingly, Völsung shot through the sky like a missile, reached the highest point of his flight and landed. He had perfectly controlled the kinetic energy of his jump to land without any problems.
"Greetings lord Eldar. I come bearing a request from Midgard."
'A request? Shouldn't we wait for Aldi?'
"That won't be necessary. Aldi is merely here to discuss the transport of the goods."
'What goods, did you bring me more savage beasts?'
"I fear that in the near future that won't be feasible. We have just entered into a war with the empire and can't spare any troops to hunt for you. That is also what I am here for. The weapons you made, those heavenly steel weapons, can you provide us with more?"
'Here you are, coming to me only when you need something. But why do you need my help and why are you suddenly at war?'
"The tensions had been there for a long time. The capital of the empire is called Asgard and is a city made completely out of gold. It isn't inhabited by humans but by a race called godkin or Aesir as they call themselves.
They look like humans but are much stronger in both physique and magical ability. They aren't as versatile as we humans but make up for it with their sheer power.
The Aesir have been locked in conflict with their neighbors the Vanir, the fire giants and the Jotun. Back then humanity was much weaker and we were ignored by all sides. However, the Aesir approached our king, asking for payment since they were apparently protecting the humans from the Jotuns.
The king accepted and sent the supplies requested. Little did he know the Jotuns would see this as a provocation and attack the humans. The protection the humans had paid for didn't come!
The Aesir used the giant's attack on the human lands as an opening to strike the enemy capital, Jotunheim. Unfortunately, their plan was foiled by the fire giants and they had heavy losses.
Humanity wasn't doing any better. They had barely held the Jotuns back long enough for news of the Aesir's attack to arrive. The Jotun realized that they had been fooled and retreated.
The Aesir then blamed the humans and promised to take vengeance. However, for the last 200 years, they were too busy fighting off the Jotuns and recovering their strength. Now the emperor's son, Thor stepped past his bottleneck and became a king magus. With his newly gained strength, terrifying physique and a magic weapon he pushed the Jotuns back singlehandedly.
Now that they've got some breathing space, they're coming for us. Not in full force but even one legion of theirs can bring great devastating to us."
'And why is that my problem? Go ask the elves, they are your allies!'
"We've tried that but they answered that they were busy and could only send two hundred archers. With our current strength even if we add those elves, things will get bloody. But if we had your weapons and maybe a hundred beasts-"
'Now you want beasts too?! What do I get out of it?'
"We have coins."
'I can just grow gold.'
"After the war, we can bring you savage beasts."
'I don't do delayed payments.'
"We can give you status, nobility, land!"
'All those things don't really matter to me... Anything else? If not, then thi-'
"Myself!"
'Wait, what now?'