Sitting in my chair i look around to see the ambassadors still not responding as i pour myself some Kvass and wait for their reactions. Osmond stayed in the room as i need him to help with the discussion while Matt is outside tearing the guards a new one for assaulting me though in some case it would be attempted murder if i wasn't undead. Selene was the first to recover and i think she gave herself whiplash seeing how fast she bows down on the floor, wait what?
Selene: i'm so sorry for our actions, we didn't know you were suffering from a curse, please forgive our foolishness.
Selene looks up and see Lucius still locked in place and she grabs him by the throat then tosses him to the ground as she nudges (smack him in the back of the repeatedly) to apologize.
Lucius: ow-ah...um...i...didn't mean to... try and kill you, sorry
Me: It's okay, it happened a lot before and no i'm not cursed i'm just an undead.
Malcolm: wh-what? How?
Me: Long story short, i died and came back then killed a crap load of powerful entities.
Lucius: Pfft how powerful can they be, what's the highest level you have faced?
Me: Do you really want the answer to that?
Hearing how serious i sounded, they start to question it themselves. How powerful could this undead be, there's no way he can be as strong as if not stronger than the great heroes right?
Selene: tell us please, what was the strongest threat you have fought?
Me: Moris the descended, a level 100 mega lich.
And once again ambassadors.exe has stopped responding. Their mind couldn't process what i have just said, they can't believe it, they refuse to believe it. Moris the descended in the church's words was the strongest necromancer in the world and he have slain hundreds if not thousand champions of the church. They said that he has been defeated but there was no real proof of it so people sometimes speculate that Moris is still out there, plotting the end of the world. Hearing the words from the undead before them leave them extremely conflicted. On one hand, they trust the church more but on the other hand, there are no signs of lying from Yosif at all.
Me: if you want proof to back up my claim then it is right here.
When their eyes laid upon the diadem i put on the table, they nearly faint for everybody recognizes what the trinket was. It is said that Moris has discovered a powerful artifact that aided him in his conquest but they didn't know what it was as nobody survives the encounter to tell the tale. seeing the ludicrous amount of power emanating from the artifact has cleared all of their doubts. Then it struck them (except Malcolm), they have angered this being that could kill a legend, Selene was quivering and cold sweat slides from her forehead while although Lucius doesn't show any change, inside he was panicking trying to think of a way to make amends.
Me: Oh don't worry about it, i won't hold it against you. Naturally, it's not everyday you see someone like me. We're here to talk business after all.
Selene and Lucius feel relief upon hearing my words and sit up straight again before pulling out some of their notes to read. Malcolm seems relaxed, maybe he has practiced for a while and perfectly remember all of his notes. Malcolm raises his hand to go first, i allow it with Lucius and Selene agreeing as well.
Malcolm: Mr Yosif, the trading routes that my men have been using seems to be getting attacked more and more. But what's worrying is these trade routes are kept secret, i'm afraid there's a traitor in my organization but i can't stop all of my operations to find him, the loss would be too much. So until then, i would like to request reinforcements to guard my caravans while i focus my men on finding the spy.
Lucius: I'm sorry Malcolm but the distance between our kingdom and yours are too much for my men to effectively reinforce the caravans, not to mention it's monsters season back home so i can't spare any men.
Selene: Sorry Malcolm, my hands are tied as well. Poachers have been frequenting our forests causing unrest with the spirits so i have to station guards everywhere in the forests and they are already thinned out as it is. I also can't spare any men.
Me: hmm depends on how much you need and how much are you willing to return i may be able to help you.
Malcolm: i need a total of 15 silver rank guards to guard 5 of my caravans and in return i'm willing to pay double of their usual fees.
Me: actually, i don't think i need the payment. Instead can your traders sell of a product of mine to the public, you will of course have a cut, how does 20% sound?
Malcolm: Of course i can and that offer sounds great but what will you be selling?
Me: Perfect, as for the product, it's a beverage that i made and i think it would sell for quite a sum, actually Osmond can you get the guards and tell them to bring the meals i have prepared, the should be finished cooking by now.
As Osmond leaves the room, i pull out the crystal and create 10 more skeleton knights for the day and order them to protect Malcolm's caravans. The ambassadors were astonished at such a feat, they haven't see the face of the knights outside and Sergei had his hood pulled down so they didn't expect all of my forces to be undead like me. The new knights stand behind Malcolm and salute before standing guard, Malcolm himself was overjoyed two have them protecting the caravans. He was originally planning to have 3 silver rank per caravan and give them tactics to be able to deal with bigger threats but with 2 gold rank per caravan, it's guaranteed to repel all the bandits. Lucius sees that Malcolm was done with his request and begins presenting his own.
Lucius: as you have already known, it's currently monsters season in Lycathiel and their activity would increase. With most of our land being desert we only have a few usable farms and with the season in power, my farmers have to abandon the farms for the time being leading to a decrease in our food supplies. I would like to request food in exchange for minerals gathered in our mines.
Malcolm: I think i'll be able to send some caravans there to trade with your people, you can keep the minerals, i'm fine with the profit gained from trading alone.
Selene: I may have a way to help with your problems, a spirit of the forest has recently asked me to spread nature around using these seeds i have. I think you would be able to create more small farms with them. As for the minerals, i would like some platinum and silver.
Lucius: that is arrangeable, thank you for your help.
Me: i believe it's Selene's turn now, i'll save mine for last. It's more important than you think.
Selene nervously fidgets in place like a shy child at that. Something is wrong with her, or maybe something is wrong with her request.
Selene: this is more of a... personal request. Queen Elisif, my mother, has recently been poisoned... W-we summoned every spirits, tried every cures but it wouldn't go away. The poison has been laced with a curse making it immune to elven magic and human healers who are capable of dispelling it belong to the bastard king who would never help without demanding something outrageous. Please, does any of you have anything that can help her, the elven kingdom is willing to trade anything for her health!
Her final words were almost yelled at them and she is now shaking in place from the despair, the fear of losing her mother. The other ambassadors all feel bad but they couldn't say anything, they didn't want to crush her hope and tell her the truth. It is as she said, the healers that can cure something like that belong to the king and knowing the asshole, they are sure he would try something. Yet just as Malcolm was about to tell her, i raise my hand to stop him, i'm pretty sure i can fix this.
Me: don't worry about it Selene, Sergei can help you with that.
Selene: B-but how? All the healers are bound to the king by contracts, they can't help even if they want to.
Me: Correction Selene, all of the HUMAN ones.
I transfer my knowledge about the cure disease spell to Sergei and with him being a skeleton paladin, the spell would be much stronger in his hands. Sergei walks in from the door and lowers his hood for Selene to see.
Me: You see Selene, Sergei might be the head of security but he is also a skeleton paladin, he can easily cure her. Don't worry about repaying me, all i ask is that you listen to my request when the time comes.
Selene eyes lit up before she launches straight into me giving me bear hug. It was a bit awkward since she was smaller than me and i was wearing armor but i still hug her back lightly. Selene hears snickering coming from Lucius and Malcolm and sends both of the man a death glare that is even scarier than Roxanne's.
Selene: Not a word of this to my mother or you can kiss goodbye to your family jewels.
Malcolm and Lucius nearly wet themselves from the terrifying glare being sent their ways and instinctively cover their crotch. As fun as witnessing that would be, i should probaly stop this before it gets out of hand.
Me: alright alright calm down, i don't another hole in my walls or another broken door. Speaking of which, it looks like the food is here, bring it in knights. 3 knights one by one walk each with a serving tray in their hands as they set the trays on the table in front of the ambassadors. Knowing Lucius being a meat lover, i made him an extra large portion of triple french pork covered entirely in mayonnaise and cheese. Then for Malcolm, i made him a Russian salmon log or in other words Kulebyaka. While for Selene, i made a tray of herring under fur coat. All of it served with vodka as the product i introduced to Malcolm while i gave Selene strongly steeped tea made of sugar, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and orange juice, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Selene was slowly enjoying the meal with bliss in her eyes while Lucius is tearing the pork up with fecrocity in his eyes. Malcolm however is just admiring the Vodka while occasionally eating his salmon log.
Malcolm: How did you manage to create such a delightful drink?
Me: The answer is simpler than you think Malcolm but for now i'll just say trade secrets.
Me: Now that you have your meals, let's take about my request shall we?
Selene: of course
Lucius: spit it out then
Malcolm: I'm listening
Me: my request is... to have your support in overthrowing the king.
Total inventory:
Brigand's greatshield
The iron castle
Warp dagger
Diadem of supreme arcane might
Helm of clairvoyance
Old knight captain's armor
11 slime essence
130 bone powder
10 scrap metal
Crystal of decay
7 healing potions
Greater ironskin potion
Captain Lambert's journal entry #1
76 copper 53 silver 45754 gold
Current familiars:
- Sergei the Skeleton Paladin