Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. The pattern repeated itself ad nauseam as we marched in forced march stance to reach Treven, the gathering place the emperor had set for the noble forces, and we had been walking non stop for days from sunrise to sunset.
The reason for our forced march pace was due to an urgent plea from the dwarves of the southern mountains. According to them, the goblin forces were speeding up their attacks. Several outpost fortresses had already fallen to the hordes, and in the deep tunnels of the mountains, a series of constantly retreating battles were taking place. If the Imperial forces did not arrive soon, then the city best able to defend against the goblins would surely be lost, and the dwarves might even be forced out of their mountains entirely due to the lack of other adequate defense positions.
"Papa, I'm tired!" Gerde whined as she leaned against me for support. She may have been an expert warrior, a budding smith, and taller than me to boot, but she was still only a couple years old, and was exhausted by the constant walking.
"Hi, Tired. I'm Papa." I grinned as I mentally fist pumped at finally being able to use that joke.
Bekhi rolled her eyes as she walked next to me. "A dad joke? Seriously, Kvalinn?"
"She's right, Kvalinn." Richard said. "You're way too young to be telling dad jokes. Wait until your beard has grown a little." He then twirled his scraggly red beard with a teasing grin as he looked down at me.
I glared up at him in frustrated annoyance. I hadn't shaved even once in my eighteen years of life here, and all I had to show for it was some patchy facial hair, while Richard had just not shaved for a couple weeks, and he already had a short beard growing out. It almost made me question whether I was a bona fide dwarf.
"How much farther to Treven, Richard?" Delimira asked. She and Jenise were sluggishly trudging just behind us. Their thin elven bodies weren't exactly suited for long walks wearing heavy arms and armor.
"Not too much further. According to my boss, we'll be there tomorrow tonight. Unfortunately we'll likely be the last to arrive, and won't get much time to rest before everyone starts marching south to the mountains."
Richard's remarks were met with a series of groans, and not just from the elves. The humans in our group were hard pressed by the constant exertion as well.
For what must have been the hundredth time, I mentally apologized to every simulated army I had set to forced march in my video games. The misery I must have put them through was definitely not worth the achievements and gamerscore.
"How's Miyata doing?" I asked. After the first day of walking, she had been tired and foot sore but ok, midway through the third day though, she had collapsed due to exhaustion, and was now riding with the Viscount.
"She's alright now that she's riding a supply wagon instead of walking." Richard replied. "Also, it seems that my boss's boss's boss, Duke Friedrich, had a half elf working under him, so he's charging the translation device for her and teaching her Imperial."
"Well that's good." Jenise said with just a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Although it would be better if all of us could ride the wagons."
Jenise had been raised and heavily spoiled by her narcissistic uncle. Evidently the fatigue was bringing out that nasty side of her that I thought we had done away with.
Even though we should have chastised her for her rude comments, none of us had a response. We all knew it would be a much more pleasant journey if we could ride carriages instead of walking, but we also knew that it was impossible. If we all rode in carriages, then there wouldn't be enough wagons to carry the supplies. So we were stuck walking.
Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Ignore the pebble in my boot. One foot in front of the other, all the while dealing with the blinding dust kicked up from the thousands of men and horses in front of us.
"Hey, Kvalinn." Bekhi broke the silence, speaking the dwarven language in a casual tone. "What would you say to us settling in the empire?"
I looked over at Bekhi in surprise, my eyes widening a bit. "I thought we were going to use the empire's march to settle down in the southern mountains? Sure, we got a little sidetracked, and now we have to escort Richard back to the capital after the battle, but I thought we could just circle back down south after getting paid."
"We could do that." Bekhi said with a nod. "But what about Jenise and Delimira? We may have put aside our ancestral grudge against the elves due to circumstances, but what about everyone else who lives there? Do you really think they'll want to live alongside elves?"
I now understood why Bekhi was speaking in a language that no one else in our party could speak. (Well, there was Gerde, but she was too tired to translate for the others.) She didn't want to accidentally offend either of the elven girls in our party, and she didn't want them making statements like 'we can take it' or 'as long as I'm with my teachers.' Those were noble sentiments to be sure, but neither of us wanted to put them through that.
"Good point, I hadn't thought about that. But why the empire?" I asked. "There are still several countries we haven't explored yet and one of them might be better than the empire."
"Yeah, but aren't you tired of constantly being on the move? It's been three years since we left Einangrad, and since then we've only stopped for a couple seasons before moving on to the next place. I'm so sick of meeting people, making friends and connections, and then leaving them all behind for the next adventure. I want to start making a home, some place I can spend the next hundred years making my own, some place where we can safely raise Gerde, without worrying about the next monster attack or who has to stand guard."
"But why the empire?" I asked again. "A few years ago, we opted to head north due to them being in the midst of a civil war, and now they're getting called to war again. Who's to say that they won't get into another civil war?"
"I can't, but maybe we can follow Richard's example, and buy a title with the empire. If the nobility here is anything like being a Thane, then that should give us enough leeway that we can stay out of any human conflicts. And if the worst comes to worst, then I'm sure you can equip us with enough weapons to keep us safe."
The idea did have certain merits. When a dwarven Thane was called to war, he put out a call to arms, but residents of the town were only bound by honor to answer. Also, based on my limited knowledge of feudalism from my previous life, if a civil war broke out, then it would be up to the nobility to choose sides. If I bought a title, then, depending on who my future boss supported, I might not even get called out to fight. Plus, Sir Kvalinn had a nice ring to it.
The drawback of buying a title though, was that I would be signing my life over to whatever noble ruled that piece of land. If he went to war, then I'd be going to war, if he stayed out of a conflict, I'd be staying home. Depending on the noble, I'd have little to no say in the events of my future. Also, as a former yankee, I hated the feudal system and the practice of nobility in general.
"Hey, Richard." I said in Imperial, after a long pause. "What's Viscount Detlev like to serve under? Would you say he's a good boss?"
"Where's this question coming from?" Richard asked, giving me a quizzical look.
"I was thinking of maybe following your example, and buying a title. But I wanted to know what I was getting myself into before approaching him."
Richard let off a long low whistle, before sucking air through his teeth and pursing his lips. "Well, to answer your question. Viscount Detlev's a decent boss, doesn't work me too hard, doesn't abuse the commoners below him, and keeps the rent relatively low compared to the other nobles. But I doubt he'll be able to knight you like he did me."
"Why not?" Bekhi asked.
"Because no other dwarf holds a title in the entire empire. Or at least none that I'm aware of. If Viscount Detlev knighted you, then he'd probably get in trouble with the other viscounts in the area, his boss, and possibly even with his boss's boss."
"Good to know." I wryly said. "What if we just bought citizenship in the empire? Would we be able to live in your town? I trust you more than a random unknown noble, who might use my weapons to oppress his own people."
"I don't see why not. Just know that Wittenfeld is very quiet and very boring. Most of the time you'll just be making arrowheads for the local hunters. Chris over there will probably be your best customer." Richard gestured at the only person in the group shorter than me and Bekhi, the halfling Chris Wanderfoot.
Chris looked over, and spoke slowly with half closed eyelids. "I've seen some of your work. I look forward to hunting with better tools."
"That's as close as Chris gets to being excited about something." Richard said with a chuckle. "Once we get to the capital, we'll fill out the paperwork to get the three of you set up with citizenship in Wittenfeld. After that, we'll throw a house building party!"
"Party?" Gerde perked up a little, her ears lifting from their exhausted flat against the head stance. "Will there be sweet rolls?"
"All the sweet rolls you can eat!" Richard said with a grin, while patting her on the head.
"Yay!" Gerde smiled brightly and gave Richard one of her linebacker hugs. It was a little weaker than it usually was, due to the constant walking, but I still heard his back crack a couple times like he had gone to a chiropractor.
"Owowowow, OW! Uncle! Uncle! I surrender! I surrender!" Richard's pained cries caused us all to chuckle, me and Bekhi in sympathy, and his men in amusement. They hadn't been subjected to one of her hugs, but they had watched her train with an axe and shield in camp and knew how strong she was.
Once Richard had recovered his breath, I continued from where we left off. "So once we're set up as citizens, will I be able to experiment a little with my runes and gadgets? I promise not to blow up the town."
"I'm gonna hold you to that, Kvalinn." Richard grumbled as he worked the kinks out of his back. "But yeah, I'm not sure what gadgets are, but feel free to make them. Maybe they'll attract more merchants to Wittenfeld."
I felt myself grin a little. Finally, I'd have a place where I could go nuts with my experiments. I'd be able to finance the import of metals with weapon making, and with Richard acting as my shield from the nobility, I could get to work on kickstarting the industrial revolution! I could almost feel the comfort of mass produced goods and electricity already.
"Uh, Bekhi, what's that face Kvalinn's making?" Richard asked, inching away from me.
Bekhi just shrugged. "That's the face he makes when he's about to blow something up. I'll make sure the damage isn't too bad though. I'm sure he wouldn't do anything to get us kicked out just as we got settled in a new home. Right, Kvalinn?" Her last words were extremely pointed and cold, leaving no doubt in my mind that if I blew up our future house, I'd be in for a world of hurt.
"Of course not!" I nodded vigorously to emphasize my point. "I'd never do something so foolish. It would only be a bit of light tinkering at best."
Our conversation was interrupted by a page wearing Viscount Detlev's colors riding up to our group. "Sir Richard. The Viscount requests that you bring the elven adventurers to Count Nicholas, it seems the half elf charging the translation device has run out of magic, and they are having difficulty understanding the summoned hero."
"Ulrik's undies." Richard quietly swore. "I'm already tired and footsore. Now I've got to go be a noble for the rest of the day." Turning to the page, he nodded respectfully. "Alright. Tell Lord Detlev we'll be there as soon as we can."
The page returned the nod, and rode back up the line at a steady trot.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Richard looked back to where Jenise and Delimira were walking in the line. "Alright, you two, you heard the man. They need your magic to talk to Miyata. Let's get a move on." He then started walking at a faster pace to catch up to the page.
"Do we have to?" Jenise asked in a slightly whiny tone. "Can't they just deal with her themselves? Or better yet, have the half blood drink a magic potion."
"Com'n, Jenise." Delimira grabbed her fellow elf by the scruff of her neck and started following after Richard. "They're probably saving the potions for the battle like we are. Now hurry up, if we impress the influential people here, maybe they'll give Kvalinn the title he was asking about."
"Why would we want that?" Jenise moaned as she was dragged along. The rest of the conversation was lost as they drew ahead of us in the line. I wasn't sure myself why Delimira would want me to get a title, but it was nice to know she was listening, and wanted me to get ahead in the world.
It wasn't until later that night that we were all reunited again. A tiny fire that was too small for heat or cooking, inconsistently lit up the tired faces of our party. Gerde soundly slept on Bekhi's lap, occasionally muttering something about sweet rolls and cookies while her mother lovingly patted her hair.
"So what was the deal with Miyata?" I asked the two elves as they plopped down next to the fire. "How's she doing with all the nobility?"
Jenise gave vent to a frustrated groan, while Delimira awkwardly smiled before replying. "It would seem that the topic that Miyata wanted to discuss, but couldn't convey via gestures, was that she wanted a bath."
"She didn't take advantage of the river we passed a couple days ago?" Bekhi asked.
Delimira shook her head. "She was too shy to bathe with so many men around, and used up the magic of the half elf by constantly asking in various ways if there were any 'bath houses' around."
"Stupid otherworldly human." Jenise muttered.
"Jenise." Bekhi said in a warning tone. "I know you're tired, but you can't call people stupid. Or do you need to do a few rounds of training before bed tonight?"
Training had been the disciplinary tool that we had used when tutoring Jenise back in Issanore. It was how we were raised as dwarves so it was normal for us, but for Jenise, who had been pampered and spoiled through her sixteen years of life, it was pure hell.
Mumbling an apology, Jenise took a sip of elven wine that she kept in a flask. It was a little taste of home for her, and that seemed to calm her down.
"What do elves think of otherworldly humans?" I asked Delimira in idle curiosity. "Among dwarves, they're hardly mentioned since our history focuses on the ancestors and grudges."
"We try not to mention them, or even think about them." Delimira responded. "The first summoned hero overthrew our 'pacification' of the continent, and both before and after turning into a demon lord, he slaughtered tens of thousands of our kind. True, the second summoned hero retired to our island, but that was due to a personal friendship he developed with an elf while fighting the demon lord. Every other hero that the humans have summoned has been staunchly ignored by Issanore."
"Heh, so many heroes' hopes of seeing elves must have been dashed." I muttered to myself with a chuckle. "You said that the first hero retired to Issanore, but what happened to the others? I'm guessing they didn't get as comfy a retirement?"
"I doubt it. The Council Intelligence probably has reports on their lives, but no one outside the council would have access to those archives."
The council was the group that ran Issanore and they were more than a little wonky, having their positions decided not by election, or appointment, but purely by influence. It was beyond my comprehension how they decided it, but once you accrued a certain amount of influence, you got a seat in the council while someone else got the boot.
"I'll have to ask Richard when he gets back then. Maybe he knows something about the past heroes."
"What's this about past heroes?" Richard entered the dim light of the fire, and flopped down next to me as if totally drained of energy. "Kvalinn, I don't suppose I could have a sip of the dwarven beer you're hoarding? I need something really strong after that meeting."
Taking pity on the pale and nearly lifeless knight, I measured out a thimbleful of the XXXX beer from my flask. He threw it back with a grateful gasp.
"Thanks, Kvalinn. Turns out it wasn't just my boss's boss, Count Nicholas, who was there, his boss and several other counts were there as well. Every single one of whom grilled me like I was a questionable sausage. And not just about Miyata, they were intensely curious about how I hired two elves and a beastkin into my group."
"What did you tell them?" Bekhi asked.
"For Gerde, I told them about our time together going through Tochka, and on the Vermogen run. But for info on the elves, I told them to talk to Kvalinn. No way am I sticking my nose into noble politics."
Richard then elaborated that there was always a constant power struggle going on among the top dogs of the empire. Some of them wanted to use the magic of the elves to gain dominance, some wanted to use dwarven weapons, while others wanted nothing to do with either race and wanted to gain supremacy using humanity's achievements alone. So far, the last couple of emperors had managed to keep all three parties working together for the betterment of the empire, but it was a constant dance on the edge of a knife to keep any one political ideal for achieving dominance and wiping out the other two.
"The girls were stuck talking to Miyata during our conversation, so all of you will probably get called to a meeting with the nobles tomorrow night to give them answers. I don't know what they have planned, but I managed to convince my boss to send an overnight runner to the emperor. That way, when we get to Treven tomorrow, he'll be able to do all the tough thinking and keep the nobles in line."
"Thanks, Richard." I said. "While you were there, did you hear anything about dwarves from Einangrad being in Treven? We heard some rumors that people from our home would be fighting."
"Are you kidding? As the bottom rung in a very tall ladder in that meeting, I could only answer questions, not ask them. But I'll ask around when we get to the assembly point, I've still got a few connections in the Adventurer's Guild and they'll probably know something."
After begging for, and getting another thimbleful of dwarven beer, this time diluted in a cup of water to prevent a hangover the next day, Richard let out a more relaxed sigh. "So what were you guys talking about before I got here? I think I overheard something about past heroes?"
We quickly summarized our conversation from before, and asked Richard if he knew what happened to the past summoned heroes, and what would happen to Miyata if we survived the coming battle.
"Well, if we go off the stories my old granny told me, which I've been more inclined to believe lately ever since meeting Gerde and learning that beastkin actually exist, most of the summoned heroes got some land, a title, a beautiful wife, and 'lived happily ever after'. Or at least that's how my granny told the tales. The reality was probably more mundane then that, but I'm no historian. Miyata will be alright though. The current emperor isn't the type of guy who'd welch on a debt."
"What type of man is the emperor?" I asked, thinking back to all the people, both good and bad, who had claimed that title back on Earth.
"He's alright." Richard said with a shrug. "More comfortable with a sword in his hand than a scepter, but he's a strong ruler who keeps the nobility mostly under control."
"Mostly?" I cocked an eyebrow, waiting for Richard to explain.
"The rebellion from a couple years ago is still causing headaches for everyone." Richard explained with a scowl. "I've had to listen to more than one rant from my boss about it when he comes back from socializing in Altenweil, the imperial capital. I wouldn't bring it up when you meet the nobility tomorrow."
He then emptied his mug down to the last drop, and bid us all goodnight before rolling himself up in a blanket. The rest of us soon followed his example and went to sleep.
The next morning, he was 'invited' to ride alongside his boss for the day. So we were left to our own devices.
After a few hours of trudging along, I found myself walking next to Chris Wanderfoot, the halfling fighting under Richards banner. Since he and I would eventually be neighbors in Wittenfeld, I tried to strike up a conversation with him.
"So, what's life in the empire like?" I asked.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Chris opened his half closed eyelids a little, and spoke in a slow and thoughtful tone. "It's peaceful."
I waited for him to elaborate, but his eyelids just resumed their former half closed position and he plodded on without a sound. Evidently, any attempt to get information from him would be difficult, but since the humans among Richard's men were all too haggard to even attempt a conversation with, I kept walking alongside Chris.
"So what's Richard like as a master? I only know him from his adventurer days, and he didn't seem to be the responsible type."
There was another pause before Chris responded in a relaxed and quiet voice. "Sir Richard is a good landlord. Ever since he was appointed by Lord Detlev, monsters have been much less of a concern to the people in Wittenfeld. We no longer have to wait for our lord to send men to dispose of any monster, since Sir Richard hunts them down without even sending a report."
After yet another pause, Chris lazily gave me the side eye. "If you're worried about Sir Richard making unreasonable demands once you've bought citizenship, don't be. He's not one to rock the boat and make life miserable for those beneath him." He smirked as he recalled a memory. "Well, unless he's in love. Then he tends to become very annoying."
In his own easy manner, Chris then related how Richard had fallen in love with a farmer's daughter in his town, and instead of using his title to demand she marry him, he had wooed her as if he were still an adventurer. It was all very romantic, but quite irritating to the other men in town, since their girlfriends and other single ladies were now holding them up to the same standard of romance.
"What about Viscount Detlev?" I asked. "Does he often call you out to war?"
Chris slowly shook his head. "This is the first time he's done so in the past ten years. As for his rule the rest of the time. He keeps the taxes at a reasonable amount, and doesn't let his game wardens go too wild, so as a hunter I appreciate his ability to govern. Also, he doesn't discriminate against demi-humans like me and you, unlike some of his peers, so your girlfriend and daughter will be safe in his domain."
"Thank you for telling me that, Chris." I had been a little worried that Viscount Detlev might harbor discriminatory views after our encounter with the Imperial Army, but I guess that was just a couple bad apples, or it was just in the army. "One last question then." Chris eyed me as if he was going to hold me to that promise. "What technology does Wittenfeld have?"
"Technology?" Chris cocked an eyebrow at the unfamiliar word.
"What do you use for fires? Are there any modes of travel besides horseback? Are there at least any windmills there since it's a farming town?"
"I believe there are a couple windmills by Lord Detlev's castle, but since there is a tax to use it, we mill most of our wheat ourselves, and only send off what we plan to sell." He then described daily life in Wittenfeld. It was nearly identical to life in the surface dwarven town of Vesturhildrun. It was just more dismal, dull and dingy since humans aren't the natural builders that dwarves are. My road to getting the industrial revolution was starting to look like a very long path, with my end goal of 21st century tech being centuries away.
"I wish there was at least a steam train." I muttered to myself. "Then we could all just ride on that."
"I'm not sure what a pot boiling has to do with travel." Chris commented. Further depressing me that not even steam power was known in the empire.
Several hours of walking later, just as the sun was about to set, we reached the crest of a hill and looked out on the sea of tents. There were a myriad of colorful banners from hundreds, if not thousands, of nobles and their knights, all fluttering in the spring breeze.
"Hjerouhrdinn's hammer." Bekhi said in awe. "That's a big army."
It wasn't until some time later that I learned the exact numbers, but including the men in our group, there were over fifty thousand men, assembled in haste by the nobility from all walks of life and every corner of the empire.
I tried to spot any camp that looked like it may have been dwarven so that we could possibly see our families again sooner, but among such a vast number of humans, anything remotely dwarven would have been a speck of sand in a desert.
"By the gods." Delimira said as she looked over the sea of multicolored tents and banners. "There are a lot more humans than I expected, my dad has his work cut out for him if he wants to defeat all of them."
I nodded in agreement. Her father nursed a semi secret wish to pacify the continent like his ancestors had done thousands of years ago, but since he was still in the midst of solidifying his grip on the island, he likely had decades to go before anything came of his dreams.
"And this is just the fighting power of one nation. Tochka to the north, and Alginall to the west probably have large armies as well." I said. "I suspect that if your dad ever gets his invasion plans off the ground, he'll probably die of old age before they're completed."
"True, but I wouldn't put it past the rat to make a deal with some of the less reputable gods so that he can live longer." Delimira said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
She had watched her father basically sell off her brothers and sisters, his older children from several wives, to influential families across the island. All for some meager power and influence. So she had a low opinion of her dad.
As we followed the line of men and wagons down the gentle slope, a squire wearing unknown colors trotted up to our group. "Are you Kvalinn Runecursed of the Yankee Adventuring Party?"
"Yes, can I help you with something?" I asked, eyeing the squire with just a little wariness. He was dressed a bit too much like a popinjay for my liking.
Nodding to himself, The squire handed me a piece of paper. "Duke Friedrich requests the presence of you and your party. Sir Richard bid me bring direct orders from him to that effect."
Opening the folded parchment, he basically told me to follow the squire and wished me luck. I wasn't sure why I'd need luck for a meeting, but kept it in mind. "Very well, Sir Richard ordered us to follow you, so lead the way."
Turning his horse back towards the camp, the squire set his horse to a slow walk while we followed behind him.
"Where are we going, Papa?" Gerde asked in a murmur as she dragged her feet in a weary gait. "Aren't we gonna eat?" As if to punctuate her question, her stomach growled assertively.
The meals during our forced march had been scarce and taken on the move. Breakfast was a stale loaf and a cup of stew, lunch was dried meat sticks, and dinner was the same as breakfast but with a small portion of beer to go with it. Definitely not enough for a growing kid.
"Soon, Gerde. Richard wants us to meet with some nobles, so maybe they'll serve us food there." The only response I got from her was a tired whining sound. I wished that I had more comforting words for her, but I was too tired to think of anything.
As we approached the camp, Bekhi started tiredly chuckling to herself. "Y'know, Kvalinn. I just realized this, but if your father is among the dwarves who came from Einangrad, how are you planning on explaining to him that you have an elven apprentice?"
I had absolutely no clue how to answer that. Dwarves still held an ancestral grudge against the elven race for their harsh reign over the continent over a thousand years ago, but due to our race's inability to cross the ocean we had never had the chance to strike out the grudge. Taking an elf as an apprentice would be unthinkable to any dwarf, and if I wasn't already cast out of my clan, then they'd probably ride me out on a rail for that offense.
"I'll think of something." I grumbled. "What about you? How are you going to tell your dad that his adopted granddaughter is already taller than him and killed a dragon. Not to mention that we're the legal guardians of another elf."
"... I'll think of something." We walked along quietly, each of us thinking of how we would explain everything to our respective parents.
For my part, I planned on distracting my father with lost weapon crafting knowledge that I had learned in the elven island, and hoping he'd forget about Delimira. Not exactly the best strategy I admit, but it was all that my drained and starving brain could think of.
"Kvalinn! Over here, Kvalinn!" I heard the excited voice of Miyata, and saw her waving at me while sitting behind Richard on a tired looking horse. When she got closer to us, she bounced off the horse and skipped over to our group. "We're finally here! Is it time for me to save the world yet? Will I get an awesome party to adventure with me? Will there be a bunch of cute boys like in anime? I'm hoping for at least one tsundere guy."
She spoke in her usual machine gun chatter, but now she was speaking roughly every other word in Imperial, and the other half the translation device was catching and translating. It seemed that she had spent her time in the wagons productively.
Ignoring her inane prattling, Richard rode up and gave the Imperial salute of pounding his left breast with a closed fist and holding the fist out vertically, all while jerking his head to point out the big whigs riding their chargers beside him. He was trying to silently say that his boss and boss's boss were there so we needed to use his title when speaking to him, and act like humble commoner adventurers.
"Thank you for quickly responding to my orders, Kvalinn. I know you and your party are tired, but I promise you will be able to rest soon."
I returned the salute with a simple nod. "Thank you, Sir Richard. What did you need from my party?"
Instead of replying, Richard glanced up at a noble riding a sturdy black charger. The noble was wearing expensive well fitting mail and armor, and a gold embroidered surcoat, his face was hidden by a visor. He looked down disdainfully before speaking to us in a haughty voice. "So this is the dwarf who leads such an unusual adventuring party. Very well. Follow behind us, dwarf. The emperor would have words with you and your party, despite my pleas that he need not bother himself with commoners."
He then moved his horse to the front of the now much larger group and led the way at a slightly faster pace. I tried to walk next to Richard's horse, to try to ask him what was going on, but he glared at me and made the "Zip it" gesture. So I fell back to where the rest of my party was walking.
"We're meeting the emperor, eh?" Delimira said with a wry grin. "Hopefully this goes better than the time you met my dad."
I nodded in firm agreement. I had met the Chancellor of Issanore precisely once during our time there. The result of the meeting would have resulted in mine and Bekhi's deaths if Jenise's father, Valtnur, had not sacrificed himself to smuggle us out of the country and into the Empire.
It wasn't due to anything I had done- actually, I may have ticked off the Chancellor a little by helping his teenage daughter escape from several arranged marriages by equipping her with runed weapons and armor for her magic duels. Bekhi may have also contributed to his anger by teaching Delimira how to use those weapons with a ferocity not taught in elven combat classes. But the root cause of his fury was just plain old racial superiority.
So while it was highly unlikely that our meeting with the Emperor would go as poorly as the one with the Chancellor, it would be really, really bad if it did.
"Well, we're on our way to fight on behalf of dwarven mountains. So at least the emperor probably won't have any grudges against dwarves like your dad does." I commented.
"Possibly, but there might be nobles here who don't like dwarves and elves. We'll have to keep on our toes during the meeting in case they try to pull something."
We both nodded to ourselves, as we silently hyped ourselves for the meeting. However, Miyata was done being ignored.
"Kvalinn! Del! Stop talking in that weird language! Geeze, how many languages does this world have?" I realized we had both been speaking in Issanorian, and since I had wired Miyata's translator to only work on Imperial, she hadn't understood a word we were saying. "Aren't you excited? We get to see the emperor! Do you think he's anything like Japan's emperor? I wonder if I should kneel or bow, or maybe I should curtsey since this world is like western europe. Ooh! I know! I'll do a mix of all three!"
I rolled my eyes at Miyata's harebrained chatter, and was about to follow Delimira's example, and tune her out, when she said something that caught my attention.
"Hey, Kvalinn! Can I join your party and be a yankee?" She moved her face way too close to mine as I glared questioningly at her. "I overheard Sir Richard talking about you and your party to Duke Friedrich, the guy we're following, and he said that your party is really strong. He also said that you can make, like, really good weapons, weapons that can take down dragons! If I was part of your party, then I'd get some of those kickass weapons!"
"So you just want to be a yankee for some weapons?" I shook my head. "Sorry, I only make the dragon killing weapons for those I trust not to misuse them."
"Aww, can I join your party anyway? The only people my age around here are boring squires and pages. Can you believe that none of them are girls? After seeing your party, I thought that there would be at least a couple girl adventurers in the mix."
"The women in my party are all special cases." I said. "Bekhi is my girlfriend, Gerde is my daughter, Delimira is my apprentice, and Jenise is our ward. Speaking from experience, female adventurers aren't that common."
"Really? But what about-" Miyata proceeded to name several popular anime and manga that had a lot of female adventurers, a couple of which I was familiar with from my previous life. Unfortunately for her, none of them were remotely realistic.
"I'm not sure what all those words are," I bluffed to prevent my reincarnated status from leaking, "but going off the human female adventurers we've met. They all had strong motivations to escape from their past, and I doubt any of them would sign on to fight in a war. And before you ask why we're fighting, it's a long story."
"Aww. Anyway, can I join your party if I manage to save the world from the goblins? I wanna spend more time with Gerde and Del, although I could do without the training from Bekhi."
"I'll think about it." I said with a shrug. "IF, we survive. And right now, that's a pretty big if."
"Kvalinn, are you sure about this?" Delimira asked, speaking in Issanorian so that Miyata couldn't listen in. "I don't want to spend too much time with this annoying otherworlder."
Delimira wasn't exactly fond of Miyata. She was always poking at her elven ears, and calling her 'Del', a nickname that she only allowed Gerde to use.
"I doubt she'll ever actually be allowed to join us." I replied in the same language. "If we survive, then the empire will probably keep her close by as a trump card against Zaihan and Alginall."
Both countries were originally part of the empire, and while neither country was the type to grab up land, the severe drain of men and resources that this campaign would bring might cause them to make some moves in that direction. Especially Zaihan, who was always seeking out new sources of slaves.
Delimira nodded in understanding, the elves had a game similar to poker, and as the daughter of the Chancellor, she was familiar with how politics worked. "Well, just so long as she doesn't end up visiting too often, maybe we can give her honorary membership or something like that."
"Geeze! Why are you two speaking that weird language again?" Miyata fussed. "Are you guys talking about me? That's very rude of you!"
Before I could answer her, Duke Friedrich stopped his horse in front of a rather large and especially bannered tent, and dismounted. "Listen well demi-humans, and otherworlder, you are about to meet his imperial majesty, Emperor Wilhelm Kant. I do not know, or care to know, the traditional greetings of wherever you are from. You will follow the example of Sir Richard when we enter, kneel exactly when and how he does, and do not speak until spoken to."
Without waiting for an acknowledgement from us, he then turned to a page standing outside the entrance of the tent. "Inform his imperial majesty that Duke Friedrich has brought the Yankee Adventuring Party, along with their master Sir Richard of Wittenfeld, and await his majesty's pleasure."
"Excellent timing." The page said with a bow. "The dwarf representatives from Einangrad just arrived, I will inform his majesty of your arrival."
With a swish of colored fabric, the page left the door, and after a few minutes, gestured for everyone to enter.
I walked behind all the prim and proper nobility, excited to finally see dwarves from home again after so long, but also nervous. Would the news from home be good? Would they have information about my father? Also, I was going to meet an emperor! I really hoped that this meeting went well.