"What!?" Gray's mom said in shock.
"For the sake of consolidating my authority, I think it would be a wise move to marry you." Gray stated simply.
"But that's... How would we tell your sister? Plus, I haven't... Not since your father..." She said frantically as she blushed.
"I know, it's just an idea. I was thinking that my words would have more weight if the people thought you were behind them, or at least supported them." He said. His mother took a few deep breaths.
"So... You just want to ensure that you're taken seriously?" She asked. Gray nodded. "I see... It's a bit strange, but not unheard of... I think it's a good idea." She said.
"Indeed, I think we should wait to announce it until after I've been instated as chief though." Gray said.
"Alright." She said. "To think I'd be marrying my own son for the sake of ensuring chaos doesn't ensue his ascension..." She mumbled.
'Well, that aside, I've also noticed another issue... All beast tribes are separate and only have alliances with tribes of the same subrace... If this continues, the rest of the developing world will see us as nothing but land to conquer... I need to do my best to prevent that...' Gray thought to himself as a flat expression encompassed his face.
"You have that 'I'm thinking' look again, is something wrong?" She asked.
"I want to meet with the other chiefs, I have an offer I want them to think about." He said.
"You aren't chief yet, though." His mother said.
"I suppose I should run it by you first, then, since you're acting chief." He said. She nodded. "I want to form a more solid union between the beast tribes, starting with the wolf tribes. For this, I want to propose the idea of forming a federation." Gray said as he lightened his expression a bit.
"What's a federation?" She asked.
"It's a union of self-governed provinces where they give up partial control in exchange for certain protections or benefits, such as guaranteed trade or universal trade networks." Gray explained.
"I see, but why change what we have now? It seems to be working well." She stated.
"Only because the rest of the world hasn't realized how vulnerable we are. We may have a non-aggression pact, but we don't have any protection pacts. If we were suddenly invaded by an advanced naval force, we'd be completely dominated and forced into subservience." Gray said.
"I-I see... I think I could get a meeting real quick. We do have a meeting room that's private from the rest of the building." She said. "Excuse me while I set up the meeting." She said as she walked away.
"Okay." Gray said approvingly. He leaned against the stone wall. 'Now to deal with that...' He thought to himself as he focused on the corner of his vision, where an exclamation mark has a flashing red circle around it.
Upon focusing on it, a menu opened showing two new abilities and a message. 'I increased your mana pool and talent for magic as a little gift~! - Goddess' The message read.
'That's... Useful...' He thought to himself. 'Now these abilities. Hyper regeneration and General. According to the information I have just received, hyper regeneration uses mana to increase the rate at which I heal wounds and the General ability allows me to give a stat boost to anyone who is operating as my soldier as well as anybody who I target a motivational speech at.' He thought to himself.
'They're certainly useful, but for now, let's put them to the side. I need to think about how I'll present the idea of a federation, I need to make sure it makes the right impact.' He thought to himself. A few minutes later, the meeting started.
"Why is there a sniveling brat in our meeting?" One of the chiefs asked.
"He is the reason I called this meeting, he had an idea that I think is worth hearing." Gray's mother said.
"If that's what this is, then I'm out." The chief from before said as he stood up.
"Itan-!" Gray's mother yelled but was quickly interrupted by Gray.
"Even if it involves the safety of all the tribes?" Gray asked.
"And what would you know about the safety of the tribes?" Itan asked as he put his hands on the meeting table gently.
"Seeing as I'm going to be the new chief upon getting back, I think I know a fair bit. Now, sit." Gray said as he targeted a status ailment to the chiefs using the General ability. 'Before entering, I learned that I can not only give buffs but also ailments to a person's status, so I inflicted each of them with an effect that forces them to see me as an authority, but only for a few seconds...' Gray thought to himself.
"Hmph, fine, I'll listen, but only because it might be important." Itan said with an emphasis on might.
"I would like to propose a federation. Put loosely, it's a joint effort between all the tribes to ensure the safety of all the others." Gray said.
"Look kid, I don't know what you think the world is, but not everyone is interested in protecting each other, most of us are only interested in protecting ourselves." A girl said.
"She's the chief of the Sage-Claw clan, Nati, you can tell from her hair and eyes, the green hair is a common trait of the Sage group and the red eyes are seen amongst the Claw group." Gray's mother whispered to him. He nodded.
"The rest of the world consolidates its power and sets its sights higher, looking for new territories to conquer, and here we are, ready to be conquered. If we don't come together soon, we'll be wiped out, enslaved, and tortured. Now I don't know how you want to live, but I'd rather keep my freedom." Gray responded. A man cleared his throat.
"And what tells you they'll aim for us next?" He asked.
"He's the chief of the Sage-Ear tribe, Katak, the silver eyes are seen in the Ear group." Gray's mother whispered.
"Chief Katak, if you had a military ten times the size of each of the tribes present here combined, what would you do? You know what, don't answer, you'd just lie to save face. I know each and every one of you is thinking the same thing. You'd take over the other tribes." Gray stated. The room fell silent. "Need I say anymore as to what threat looms over us?" Gray asked as he looked over the room. "Do I!?" He yelled and slammed his hand on the table after a few moments of silence.
"No." Each of the chiefs said in unison.
"Now, this federation has a few more things that need to be said about it." Gray said as he straightened his shirt and went back to his original position. "Firstly, we'd act as a council and elect somebody as the head. They remain in that position for five summers. The head may call meetings at any point, they are required attendance. The rest of the council must get a total of five people together to call a required meeting. The council will vote on laws and various other matters." Gray started his explanation.
"There are twelve chiefs, what happens if there is a 6-6 vote?" Katak asked.
"In order to avoid such a circumstance, the head will receive a voting power of two, so if we are ever in a situation where there is a 5-6 vote, it will end as either 5-8 or 7-6." Gray explained.
"I see. So the head will have more power than the others?" A girl asked.
"That's the Bone-Tail tribe's chief, Ina, the bone group has white hair and the tail group has green eyes." Gray's mother whispered.
"Yes. That's why we vote on the head of the council and why they change every five summers. Furthermore, we will act to protect each other and form a consolidated military, and before you say it, I know, and you will retain the right to a private military, you are only required to give ten percent of your force to the consolidated force. The force is to act as a protection force to defend each of the tribes." Gray continued his explanation.
"So if-" Katak began speaking.
"If your question is along the lines of 'if somebody were to declare war on someone else, then would that force be used in assistance to that war', don't finish." Gray said.
"That was my question..." Katak said slightly indignantly.
"The answer is no, the protection force acts in defense of the other tribe, so if, say, a rabbit tribe declared war on the Steel-Ear tribe, the consolidated force would act as aid, however, if the Steel-Ear tribe were to declare war on that same rabbit tribe, then the force would not act as aid. The only reason it would act for war is if the council had decided on declaring war on another tribe." Gray explained.
"So, if I were to summarize, then this federation would serve as the standard of law and power and help us when a war is declared against us. It will not aid us if we decided to declare war on someone else, as that was the individual tribe's decision, and we all retain our independence for the most part, yes?" Ina asked. Gray nodded.
"Generally, yes. Now, I'd like to meet again in a week, once I've been properly instated as chief. Until then, farewell." Gray said then left, his mother following him. Upon leaving he sighed. "Geez, that was tiring and nerve-wracking..." He mumbled.
"You did really really well, I was captivated by how well you articulated your point and how well you held your ground!" His mother said happily as she patted him on the head. "I was worried that you would have a hard time at first, but now I feel like it's for the best that you become chief." She said.
"Yeah, that's fair." He said as he moved down the hall to the main room where all the other people are.
"He's..." Ina started.
"Intimidating." Katak finished. Ina nodded. "Far more intimidating than any young adult should be. It was like he had an aura about him that made me feel like if I didn't listen, he'd kill me." Katak said. Ina nodded twice.
"It's to be expected, Yanat was the same way." A man with steel-colored hair and red eyes said.
"Yanat was intimidating, sure, but it wasn't the same. It's like the kid was consciously pressuring us into listening. If we aren't careful, he may just pull the rug from under us. It's as if he was trying to say, 'you can agree to this, or become mine later,' or something along those lines." A man with Iron colored hair and green eyes said.
"I have to agree with Jatt on that. He was... Warning us." A girl with green hair and green eyes said.
"Sinast, you can't really think that a kid like that is really capable of that!" Itan said. Itan has steel-colored hair and silver eyes.
"Itan, keep in mind that he's not just any kid, he's Yanat's kid." A girl with white hair and red eyes said.
"Not you to Lanti!" Itan said. "Katak, what'll you be doing?" He asked.
"Sage-Ear will be accepting. No matter how I look at it, it's a risk not to. Not because of the risk he mentioned, but because I believe he's more dangerous than that." He said. "I also want to mention..." Katak said, then hesitated.
"If you're gonna mention it, spit it out." Sinast said.
"The amount of mana coming off of him was... Terrifying." Katak said.
"The more we speak about him, the scarier the idea of him becomes." A man with steel-colored hair and green eyes said.
"Indeed. By the way, Fikat, you speak to little, that, of course, goes for Asana and Gatet as well, speak more you three." The man with steel-colored hair and red eyes said.
"Haka, you know they prefer to observe more than interact." Nati said.