Vorenia pours us all some tea as we take a seat around a table inside one of the tents. Taking a sip from her cup, Aurelia brings up the topic of our deal.
"With this, our original agreement has been fulfilled. You have received the weapons and blueprints, and I have established myself as the undisputed ruler of Lausiel, at least for now. From here on, the Central alliance of Talonia, specifically the Dragonoid Khanate, has an ally in the Lausiel Empire. Naturally, I will continue to send new weapons developments over your way, but I'm curious, for what purpose do you even want them? I don't believe I ever asked this."
"We wanted them for... because... why did I have to come all the way here for them?"
"... wow, you're telling the truth, you really don't have any idea why," Aurelia says as she turns to Lia, "I'm sure you have a better idea of the situation."
"I suppose I can trust you with this, not like I can really lie in front of you anyway. There are two reasons, the first is the most obvious, to increase the military strength of the Alliance. The second is a more personal one for the Khanate, our region borders the Elves who have shown suspicious activity in recent years and we have found evidence of being the origin of several strange events through the Alliance but even more so in the steppe lands. The Elves had also backed the original proposal to obtain guns through Lausiel's black market trade, but thanks to Cory becoming drinking buddies with the Dwarves, her proposal for acquiring and producing the guns was unofficially chosen. As for the rest, you've already heard, acquire a sample and with Cory's abilities along with help from the Dwarves, mass production and research can begin."
"While a single country on the surface, the Alliance is, in reality, a collection of several large nations, it's only natural for there to be conflicts from within. And an increase in overall military strength is never a bad thing, and because the guns use special metals only found in Lausiel, they can't be reproduced easily without either having Cordelia around or us sending you resources. Under most circumstances, the second option would never work, which leaves the source of materials to Cordelia, effectively securing the Khanate's position within the Alliance and making it harder for the Elves to do things against you. Not a bad plan, but why not follow the Empire's way of doing things and uproot the entire problem by subjugating the Elves?"
"The Elven realm is relatively small compared to not just the other factions of the Alliance but even to realms outside the Alliance. The reason they have survived so long is because of their homeland, the Western Forest, also known as the Elven Forest, provides the greatest natural barrier for anyone but the Elves in Talonia. Although it's called a forest, it's closer to being a jungle, an incredibly dense jungle, but it's actually all just a single tree. The Great Tree of the Elven Forest is immune to the elements, this coupled with how dense it is makes it incredibly difficult to manoeuvre through. The Elves, however, have some way of moving unhindered through this area, thus as long as they remain in the forest they can't be touched by outsiders and any enemy trying to invade is subject to their guerilla warfare. Thus we are pushed to taking a more diplomatic and social approach to dealing with whatever problems the Elves bring."
"Your description kind of reminds me of the Empire's attempt at invading Mons. We have mapped out the borders of the continent and by the Empire's estimations, the continent of Mons is just barely small in size compared to Talonia, making it the second largest continent but there is nearly no information about it other than its name. Right past the shoreline is a seemingly endless expanse of mountains and we've never been able to push past the shoreline. According to the records, all military invasion in the past has ended in complete failure, meeting an unknown enemy when trying to cross the mountains. No records of any diplomatic contact have ever been made, thus making it the last place on Grauntia to be explored. There are also records of the Empire searching and hiring clairvoyants to see into the continent of Mons, but something had been blocking their sight. This brings me to my next proposal, instead of returning to Talonia, would you two like to accompany me on an adventure to Mons, the Land of Mountains?"
"Not that I'm completely opposed to going with you, but why?" I ask.
"The strength of the people is reportedly high based on previous combat records so they should have to nice things to pick up. Personally, I just want to explore, but my if my eyes aren't wrong I am pretty sure I saw traces of Divine energy when I was looking out towards the continent when we arrived here the other day, so you might be able to get Divine Essence you need for you next evolution," Aurelia says.
"Sold! I want to go! Can we go, Lia?" I ask.
"We still have a job to finish, to bring back the guns and blueprints, you also need to provide the Dwarves with the materials they need."
So she says, but her face and body movements say otherwise, Lia herself seems to be rather interested in going, likely to satisfy her curiosity much like Aurelia.
"This can be taken care of rather easily, the Interdimensional Restaurant. Using the Guild to pass on a message to the Khatun, we can arrange a meeting at the restaurant to hand over the goods and get the permission you need."
"That's not a bad idea actually. I'll go to the Guild Branch here and get the message sent," Lia says as she stands from her seat.
"Do it once we return to the Maia, I need to make the necessary arrangements with the boss of the restaurant first. For now, let's begin to pack things up here and prepare for our triumphant return to the Capital."