Elyun carefully took a sip from the cup of tea she was holding with both hands. "I contacted my father. He will send an official introductory letter on behalf of Empress Elmesia El-Ru Sarion."
The moment Tempest found out about her status, she was treated like royalty and was allowed to address the three leaders on a first-name basis. It has long been a tradition for royals to treat each other as close friends even if the nations were not on good terms, and Tempest was seemingly following this tradition as well.
"And the official stance?" Buku asked, taking a sip as well. She, Elyun, and Momonga sat around the table in her quarters. As her friend was eager to point out, Buku was rather good at diplomacy and had pretty much been appointed to deal with Tempest's external affairs.
Demiurge and Albedo stood as guards off to their side, while Kaval and Gido were guarding Elyun. Although both human men looked to be a step shy from a full mental breakdown, they somehow managed to keep some resemblance of composure. It was obvious to anyone present that they served more as decorations, and would not be able to stand up to the two demons who looked at them with their polite smiles.
Not that this was a big surprise for her considering that in her previous line of work, reading people was a necessity, the same as the diplomatic skill of talking things out, something that was critical in order to progress her career as a voice actress.
"The Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion officially recognizes the nation Tempest Hegemony as a sovereign nation and as of now claims neutrality if a conflict between Tempest and a third party arises." Elyun recited the official answer given by her father. 'Dad also threatened to burn the entirety of Tempest to the ground if something happens to me, but I better not say that. Sometimes he is such an overbearing idiot.'
Elyun took another sip of tea, put the cup down, "I am also appointed as the official envoy of Sarion." She added, trying and failing to not sound too disappointed.
Buku leaned forward with a smirk and asked, "I guess you wanted to remain an adventurer instead of taking an official position?"
Elyun smiled weakly and said, "I like it here and I'm honored to represent my home but… I liked being an adventurer."
Momonga chuckled and said. "Everyone sometimes thinks of just running off and having an adventure, but we all have our duties."
"Like in the old times…" Buku added.
"You also liked to travel around?" Elyun asked, surprised. 'Why does Buku feel like an older sister I never had?' Sure, Elyun was good friends with her cousin, but the Empress couldn't just go on an adventure as a ruler of the state.
"It was a long time ago." Buku said. "Sadly, those times had to end once our other responsibilities took priority."
"I know what my duties are. I have been told that all my life, but I wanted a few more years of not being tied down, you know?" Elyun sighed heavily.
{ This girl is like an open book. } Buku messaged Momonga.
{ Are you sure it's not just an act? }
{ I doubt it. Besides, Demiurge would have probably already made up ten different countermeasures against Sarion. }
{ I can't wait to get all the proposals. I should really have a talk with him about it. } Momonga responded grimly.
{ Each has his own thing to do. Soon I will have two teenagers to deal with, and you have two demons at your beck and call that will do anything to please you, especially Albedo. } Buku messaged and gave a subtle wink.
Dealing with Elyun was the easiest part. Next came the representative of the Free Guild, Fuze. The man politely bowed the moment he came in and sat down at the offered seat without any protest.
To his credit, the man spoke with his diplomatic calm tone, although it was noticeable he was barely holding it together. "The Free Guild operates in all human nations, and both Sarion and Dwargon as well. The grandmaster, Yuuki Kagurazaka, extends an offer to open a branch here in your domain."
{ Well it was inevitable that he would try to get eyes and ears on us. } Buku remarked.
{ Why not let him? If we clearly know who his spies are it's easier to let them see what we want them to see. Besides, why do you worry about that guy so much? Was he really that dangerous? } Momonga questioned.
{ Call it a hunch, but I think he is more dangerous than he leads on. We better be on the safer side, right? }
{ Absolutely. } The Overlord agreed.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it the Free Guild who were responsible for the majority of the monster deaths, including the intelligent ones, until we took over the Forest of Jura with the blessing from Veldora?" Momonga asked.
Fuze visibly gulped at the mention of the Storm Dragon and said, "The Free Guild operates as a mercenary and trade organization, and abides by the laws of the country they operate in. For example, in Dwargon, it is illegal to kill intelligent monsters and the Freedom Association has followed this law with utmost diligence."
He then proceeded to take out a small scroll from his pocket and unscrolled it on the table. "This is the standard agreement the guild makes with each government."
{ Looks kind of fishy. They are asking for too much freedom. } Momonga, Buku, and both demons were reading the document as well.
{ If they agree to abide by our laws we can greatly limit their ability to operate within Tempest. They surely will try to act as spies either way. If we let them in and then carefully monitor their activities, it would make it easier to curate any information the organization gets on Tempest. } Demiurge added in.
"I will agree for the Free Guild branch to be built in Tempest. But if anyone tries to raise a weapon against one of our citizens, we will deal with them ourselves."
"All the guild asks in such cases, which I assure you should be rare, is to have its representative present during the trial to ensure that the procedure is fair."
As nervous as the man seemed to be, he still carried out the conversation with a calm and collected demeanor. Only when the agreement was signed did he allow himself to relax a little bit.
The final one was Baron Veryard. Even when talking with monsters the man seemed to be in his element and could carry the conversation with casual ease.
"As you see, Blumund is in the perfect position to be a mediator between Tempest and the rest of the human nations in terms of both geography and political standing." He said as he pointed out his nation's location on the map.
As for now, humans in general, save for a single individual, were not proven to be any sort of threat. But knowing that there was at least one hero who could pose a serious threat, a diplomatic approach was needed.
"And what would Blumund require from us in such a case?" Momonga asked.
"Our first priorities are to establish a mutual non-aggression agreement and engage in trade."
"Would Blumund even be able to ensure that our merchants will not get attacked on sight?"
"Considering the historical hostilities between humans and monsters, it would likely not be easy at first, but a mutually controlled trade hub could be established here. A small, controlled area where a non-aggression pact could be easily enforced," He pointed at the region not far from one of Blumund's border cities. "When both parties get more used to each other's presence, we can arrange the expansion of such hubs deeper into both nations to facilitate cooperation."
"I will agree to this proposal, but only if Blumund is contributing an equal amount to its construction." Momonga said, leaning forward to look at the map.
"Of course. The Kingdom of Blumund is fully prepared to contribute equally." Veryard said with a salesman's smile.
'Maybe I should let Pero deal with this. But I guess he will not mind. The plan sounds good.' Momonga mused. 'Why do I feel this is the kinda man that would push an unfair deal under your nose when you are distracted enough.'
Overall, it seems that humans were at least for the most part willing to cooperate. Of course, a sizable part of Nazarick was not exactly thrilled with the idea of working with humans, but as of now, it was a necessity to get along.
Some sort of conflict was inevitably going to boil over at some point, as the church despises monsters and advocates for their extermination at every turn, after all. But if Tempest showed that they are willing to cooperate, humanity could be pitted against one another in the case of the church attacking them for no reason.
‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›
Dealing with politics was a tiring endeavor, and Buku for sure wanted a little break. She appeared on the sixth floor at the giant tree just as two blurs passed her.
'Momonga's Ranga and Aura's Fenn are at it again.' She mused as she walked towards the entrance of her children's home. Both wolves were competing in almost everything and them running around the sixth floor was a daily occurrence.
Although both were fearsome beasts in their own regard, they didn't even come close to the eighth floor beast Fenrir, who Buku had seen only once, and the monstrous wolf surely was awe-inspiring, even rivaling Veldora in his dragon form in size.
Even before getting inside the giant tree, she could hear a commotion. Buku chuckled and opened the doors to Aura and Kenya arguing over the manga they were reading together and stuffing their faces with sweets.
'So nice to see them getting along.' Buku lightly smiled as she stopped at the door, just watching the children for a moment.
The rest of the kids were scattered around the room with their own reading material in hand. The only ones that were not reading manga were Mare and Chloe, who both sat in the quieter corner with regular books in their hands.
"Having fun?" Buku asked.
"Mom, you're back!" Aura was the first to react.
"I was away for only a few hours. Did all of you behave?" Buku asked as she slowly closed the door.
"Yes we did!" Her seven children responded.
Before she could sit down, there was a loud knock on the door. Surprised, Buku walked to the door and the moment she opened it Veldora barged in.
"I need Dragon Ball volume twenty!" He loudly and shamelessly announced.
"Okay, and you came here because…?" Buku asked, arching her eyebrows.
"They are hoarding all the manga. I need it!" Veldora pointed over her shoulder.
"They are kids, and they are reading it." Buku said, pushing his hand aside.
"I'll trade you candy for it!" Veldora leaned to the side and shouted over her shoulder.
"You will get it when I am done reading it!" Aura shouted back.
"I need it now! Don't make me fight you for it Aura!" Veldora roared and let out his laugh. "You can't hope to stand against my might!"
Suddenly, the room's temperature seemed to plummet. "Veldora, did you just threaten my daughter?" Buku slowly asked, her voice dropping low and dangerous.
Veldora quickly looked away and said dismissively. "No, I was just playing around. Some action is good for the kids, you know."
"Mom he…" Aura tried to say as Buku interrupted her. "I will deal with this."
She quickly got into Veldora's face with a snarl and declared in a low, frigidly cold voice. "If you ever threaten my children again, I will tear you apart with my own bare hands and no bubble will protect you! You got that?"
Veldora stared back with a haunted expression and then said quietly. "I should go." And practically ran out of the treehouse.
"Mom, he was just playing." Aura said again.
"What do you mean just playing, he threatened you!" Buku said as her hands shook in anger.
"Miss Buku, he just comes to play checkers or chess with us and sometimes exchange manga if we have volumes he wants to read. He isn't bullying us." Alice explained. "He sometimes pretends to fight us for fun but never hurts us."
'Did I just overreact? They do not look scared…oh, shit!' Buku dragged fingers over her closed eyes. 'I really need to work on my temper.'
"So at no point was he being aggressive or taking things away from you?" She asked as she composed herself again.
"No. He sometimes eats some of our snacks, but that's it." Aura said. "Besides, Veldora is a lot weaker than me and Mare in his current form, he couldn't hurt us even if he wanted to."
'Shit! But he was acting like a jackass… wait a minute, he looked like he was genuinely scared of me.'
{ Hey, is Veldora afraid of me? } She instantly messaged her brother.
{ Were you a complete bitch again? } Pero asked in an all too familiar tone that practically screamed, 'You fucked up, didn't you?'
{ Not a bitch, I just overreacted a bit. } Buku quickly responded defensively. { I don't think it was that big of a deal. }
{ I know what your 'overreacted a bit' looks like. Being a bitch doesn't even begin to cover it. }
{ Fine, I was a bitch. Happy now? Is he afraid of me or not? } Buku asked with a groan.
{ You remind him of his sisters, so probably. We don't exactly talk about our feelings like thirteen-year-old girls while we hang out. }
{ You are so useless! }
{ Thanks sis, love you too! } Pero replied with clear sarcasm in his tone.
'I'll go and apologize to Veldora just in case. He didn't deserve to have me exploding on him like that.'
She teleported to the ninth floor and quickly reached Veldora's quarters. Rima was the one who opened the doors, and once she saw Buku she just froze in place.
"Is Velodora in? I need to talk with him." Buku asked the vampire bride politely.
"Master, Lady Buku is at the door." Rima shouted without turning to face Veldora.
"Tell her I'm not here!"
"Master is not…" Rima said in a quiet tone with a gulp as she looked up to face Buku.
"Can we skip this." Buku said with a sigh, gently pushing the vampire bride aside and walking in.
Veldora glanced at her and then put a manga in front of his face.
Ignoring the childish act, she just stepped forward. "I'm sorry. I overreacted and should have asked what was really going on first." Buku said and waited for the dragon's reaction.
Veldora slowly lowered the manga he was holding and looked at her with a confused expression. "Sure…"
"I mean it. I was wrong and want to make things right. You can go play with the kids and exchange manga. I just was afraid you were hurting them because you are a world-ending dragon and they are just children." Buku emphasized the world-ending part to appeal to the dragon's pride.
"An almighty being like me doesn't need to threaten children to get what I want." Veldora said, letting out a boisterous laugh.
"I see you are fine. Just don't crush them too hard next time, alright?" Buku said with a cheerful chuckle.
"Sure, I'll spare them for their sake."
Buku just smiled and turned to leave, 'Come to think of it, none of his sisters came to get him out of the prison or even tried to help him. I may be going on a hunch here, but...' "I am not like your sisters. I may get angry sometimes, but you are my friend as well. If you need help with something you can ask me and I'll try to help."
"Me needing help?" Veldora laughed again. "I am the great Storm Dragon Veldora!"
"That you are. Just, know that you can rely on your friends." Buku said as she left his quarters.
"...I know." Veldora said when he was sure she could not hear him.
Proofreading by I AM THE STRING CUTTER, placid_void, Sad_Smiles, Somnium Hypnos and kamijazz
AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (Link is in my profile) where additional chapters are available.