Save for the initial meeting and the sparring with Buku, the first day of the visit wasn't particularly eventful. The maid assigned to Gazel wasn't particularly talkative and didn't provide much information.
The second day was bound to be a lot more interesting with a banquet in the evening.
For the first time in history, five demon lords and two nation rulers would gather in the same room and on top of that, it would be hosted by a true dragon, as according to the maid, the Storm Dragon Veldora was planning to attend the event as well.
Gazel ate breakfast in his quarters, joined by Jaine, Dorf, and Henrietta. He eyed them for their mood, and it was clear that all three were still unhappy about his stunt even though none dared to chastise him yesterday.
"You have permission to speak freely in private. I must rely on your opinions more than ever." Gazel said, keeping his cool. 'Here it comes.'
"My King, how could you do something as reckless as sparing with one of their leaders without knowing if you could best her?" Dorf was the first to let his thoughts be known.
"But now I know what I'm dealing with and can plan accordingly," Gazel replied. He picked up a piece of soft bread, took a large bite out of it, and downed a delicious treat with wine. 'I have never eaten bread that tasted so good, and this wine, even we can't make anything this good.'
"We are outmatched in every way imaginable. There isn't much we can do." Henrietta said. "If you, your majesty, the champion of champions, lost to one of Tempest's Lords, no amount of soldiers will be enough. I cannot detect these shadow creatures who are everywhere, and Jaine is unable to formulate a theory on how the veil surrounding Tempest works."
"There are no shadow creatures present in this room. But you are right, we are outmatched." Gazel said with his usual deep, calm tone. "I would like your input on the possibility of forging an alliance with Tempest."
"The Church is likely to become hostile towards Tempest. If Dwargon was to ally with the monster nation, we would have to get involved in the conflict and by proxy…" Henrietta started to give her opinion.
"I know that. I am not asking for your opinion on the political situation but on our chances of forging an alliance. I do not believe the church could come out victorious in a war against an opponent like Tempest, especially with the Storm Dragon being free." Gazel interrupted her.
"Maybe neutrality would be the best approach. The constant danger of the Eastern Empire is still looming and we cannot fight two fronts at the same time." Dorf said with a sigh. "My King, we have no guarantees that Tempest would honor the agreements."
"Momonga comes off as a man of his word. If we decide to keep neutrality, no one will help us if the Eastern Empire attacks. Considering what we know, we would have to enter a defensive war and fortify our cities, and maybe suffer for many years without any outside support." Gazel remarked, taking another large gulp of wine.
Before the conversation could continue, there was a knock on the door. With the King's permission, one of the maids opened the door and let in Elma.
The young elven woman approached the table and kneeled. "My King, I have arranged a meeting with Lord Peroroncino as you requested. He is ready to receive you in the crafting district at your earliest convenience. However, Lord Peroroncino suggested conducting the meeting before noon to have enough time to prepare for the evening banquet."
"How far from the castle is the crafting district located?" Gazel asked. He stood up and motioned for the maids to prepare his armor.
"It's less than a ten-minute ride away." Elma said.
Not wanting to waste any time, Gazel put on his full plate armor, strapped the sword to his hip, and left his quarters followed by his entourage. The Pleiades battle maid was waiting for him outside as usual.
According to Elma, Shizu was one of six battle maids that were in charge of guarding the innermost sanctuary of a mysterious place called the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Although no one had seen them fight, it was at least implied that the group was by no means weak as their equipment was worth a fortune.
There was something peculiar about Shizu, but Gazel could not pin down what exactly was off. The maid as usual wasn't talkative and responded to his questions with short replies.
Reaching Peroronchino was as uneventful as Gazel imagined. The locals gave little thought to his presence and just went on about their day. He found Peroronchino engaged in conversation with a strange majin in a yellow coat as the pair were surrounded by Kaijin's crew.
The air was scorchingly hot as it should be in any properly run forge but it seemed that neither majin even felt it. Both chatted about golem-crafting in a casual manner.
The dwarven smith was first to notice him and ran up to Gazel as fast as his short legs let him, kneeling instantly without uttering a single word. His three brothers followed suit and also kneeled without speaking.
"It's good to see you Kaijin. I hope you have been in good health. You can speak freely." Gazel said.
Pero and the other majin also noticed his presence but didn't interrupt the reunion. Kaijin looked up and said in a shaky voice. "It is good to see you again, your majesty. I am relieved that Dwargon is not in conflict with Tempest."
Gazel gave him a quick smile, a strong pat on the shoulder, and then walked past Kaijin, saying. "So am I. Lord Perorocino, you have my gratitude for taking good care of Kaijin and the three dwarven brothers."
"Your majesty, you are finally here." Peroronchino gave a light bow that looked more like a formality.
"Guten Morgen, Majestät, I am Pandora's actor, the head of the research department," Pandora said with a deep and theatrical bow.
'Oh, so this is the enigmatic majin who speaks some unknown language half of the time. If not mistaken, he is supposed to be the son of Momonga.' "Good morning."
Usually, it was a very bad sign to show eagerness in any sort of diplomatic talks, but now there weren't that many options left. He needed to push his foot in the door and find a way to get a beneficial deal. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking about golem construction."
"Oh, we are only planning to make bodies for elementals, nothing too advanced." Peroronchino said.
"I assume Kaijin had already told you about the magi-soldier project." Gazel asked, glancing at Kaijin, who nervously shifted around.
"He only told us of the general idea of what dwarves tried to build. By what he described, it sounded similar to automatons but much more simplified and without artificial intelligence." Peroronchino said.
"Automaton? I'm sorry, but I am not familiar with the term." Gazel once again glanced at Kaijin and then at Elma who quickly sent a message. { No information was publicly available, so my guess is that it was simply another term for a golem. }
Gazel chose not to respond and just waited for Peroronchino's answer.
"Right… I sometimes forget that this world doesn't have such things. I am not an expert on the topic but in short, an automaton is a golem with fully functional artificial intelligence. Pandora, maybe you can explain it better." {Please try to avoid using German, Gazel will have a hard time understanding the topic as is. } Peroronchino tried to protect the dwarven king from the doppelganger's antics.
"An Automaton or Robot, unlike a much simpler golem, is constructed from the ground up to be either programmed or fully self-operated. It may vary from simple looping actions to very complex ones which use fully self-aware artificial intelligence. A properly created automation can be indistinguishable from a naturally created life form." Pandora explained with great enthusiasm.
"It is an interesting theory, but I doubt it is even possible to make a fully autonomous golem." Gazel said. "I would be interested in joint research into golems who can be given orders and do not need to be operated."
"The problem is not the know-how, but how to set up the necessary scale to create a fully functional automaton. They are not only possible, but we already have a working model, albeit a unique one." Pandora pointed at Shizu.
Gazel turned to look at the maid as the gears in his head slowly turned to process the information.
{ Why the hell did you tell him that Shizu is an automaton? Until we are certain he is on our side, the information sharing needed to be kept to a minimum. } Peroronchino scolded Pandora.
{ I apologize, Lord Peroronchino, but I think the best way to fully convince King Gazel to submit is to show how outmatched he and his nation are compared to the glory of Nazarick. You'll see, once he gets over the shock, he will seek any means to join us. } Pandora replied.
{ I'll take your word for it. But if it ends up biting us in the ass, I'm not taking the fall for you. }
{ Understood, Lord Peroronchino. I will explain everything to father myself. } The doppelganger mentally saluted.
Gazel finally processed what he just had heard and turned his head back and forth between Shizu and Pandora. "She? You mean… The maid is an automaton? H-how? What are you people?" None of his usual regal presence was found in his current demeanor.
"Shizu, or CZ2128, is an automaton, but we do not have the means to create someone like her in this world," Peroronchino said, adding, "At least not yet."
"But, how is this even possible? I have heard of technological marvels of the world most otherworlders come from, but this…" Gazel closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "How unsightly of me. Let's return to discussing a potential partnership. Even if a much simpler version is the best we could recreate, I would be interested in sharing both the know-how and resources on such an endeavor."
"Doesn't sound like a fair deal. We would have to provide the majority of know-how and the materials with no guarantees that the results are not used against us afterward," Peroronchino said while carefully observing Gazel's reaction. His ability to read people may be a far cry from his sister's but it was enough for the most part.
'He is trying to push me into a corner! It's now or never. I'll just make a proposal, and if it's denied, look for other options elsewhere.' "What if I proposed a full alliance between our nations? Dwargon has been both an economic and military power for centuries, and we could be a perfect ally in case of hostilities from the human nations."
"'Full alliance,' you say? I guess we could find a mutually beneficial solution." Peroronchino scratched his beak. "We could benefit from Dwargon's industrial experience, and we in turn could provide resources and information on how to make leaps of advancements. If your nation is willing to help us develop underground facilities to guard our discoveries from the angels, then I think the alliance is possible."
Not only Buku did know about the angels through the memories of Shizue, but many other locals also warned against angels that appear once every five centuries and destroy all advanced nations. They could safely fend off the attackers but the collateral damage would be inevitable.
Having a nation that thrives underground as allies would surely help to make the necessary preparations.
"I agree. I'll have my people draw the rough draft of the contract and then we can go over the details." Gazel said. 'Now I only have to keep a close eye so that the terms are not too unfavorable.'
"Sounds good." Peroronchino said as he extended his hand.
Gazel accepted the avian's handshake but just in case didn't put too much pressure on it. The idea of the man's sharp talons suddenly digging into his hand didn't sound too pleasant of an idea.
For the most part, a deal was made, now it was important to see what the other leaders plan to do. If a demon lord managed to get a similar deal, then it would surely put Dwargon at even larger odds with the western church.
But then again, if they could destroy Dwargon, then they would have done it already.
Proofreading by Sad_Smiles, Visur Nyxan, I AM THE STRING CUTTER, Dtrackt, RottenPizza, Ethal07, SwissChocolatess, and Alassandro.
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 or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader.