"Why are the Slane priests leaving Re-Estize that big of a concern? We can still get healing if we need to." Barbro loudly voiced his dissatisfaction with being dragged towards a meeting with his father and a few nobles, along with his useless younger brother.
The appearance and height difference made the brothers walking side by side almost comical. Barbro shot down annoyed glances at his brother lecturing him, only enhancing the effect. The maids and guards quickly parted ways, some trying hard to keep neutral expressions.
"Because we would not have enough priests to heal our soldiers should Baharuth launch a full attack on our soil. This could have a devastating effect on the workforce, especially around harvest time. At worst, we could face riots due to the lack of food for the peasants." Zanac explained, his voice echoing through the halls.
"Why do you care what peasants think? We can suppress the riots and put them in their place." Barbro scoffed.
"It only works until a certain point. A cornered rat will attack a dog if it sees no way out, and as a king, you should at least pretend that you care and give an impression of a benevolent king while keeping the masses content. The rats know of food, and a starved rat will bite even the most aggressive hand even if it is gloved. That is what Jircniv is currently doing, and you know how popular he is among his people." Zanac played the role of a useful advisor, just as he was supposed to.
The current goal according to Renner was to get their idiot brother presentable enough for coronation and then let him do something so idiotic that even Marquis Boullope would have no choice but to turn his back on his son-in-law. Then the real schemes could begin.
"You know what, I'll let you deal with that, to be the good person the commoners look up to for me. But you better tell me how you plan to convince father to retire." Barbro switched the topic as the brothers had almost reached the meeting room.
"We will show him that not only me but both factions stand behind you. Just keep your temper in check and show him you can be level-headed when needed. That should be enough to appease him." Zanac advised his brother as he pushed open the door to the conference room.
Their father, King Ramposa, and both nobles, Marquis Boullope and Marquis Raeven were already present, actively discussing the recent events. The three men sat at the table made for eight while sipping wine and going over various reports, debating over this and that. Considering the importance of the discussed topics, there was no servant staff present in the brightly lit room, only them.
The documents haphazardly scattered around the long table, with bottles of wine and plates of cheeses and meats taking up the remaining space, painted a picture of urgency behind the meeting.
"I'm sorry for the delay, but we had a few topics that had to be discussed between us, Father," Zanac announced, taking a seat with Barbro doing the same.
"It's good to see you two finally getting along." Ramposa nodded with a faint smile. "Barbro, you are finally shaping into becoming a man I can entrust the kingdom to. Willingness to listen to the advice will help you the long way."
"Father, now you see that I can succeed you. Maybe it's time to take a long-needed rest and let me handle things." Barbro not so subtly dropped a hint.
"I'll consider it. Zanac, would you be willing to counsel your brother on topics that you are better versed in?"
"Our nation's future demands nothing less than our full cooperation, but first let's go over the recent events, and then discuss the succession," Zanac replied, motioning for Raeven to proceed.
"I couldn't get any details, but the capital of the Slane Theocracy was attacked by something that scared their whole nation into isolation, expelling even longtime merchants and forcing them to recall all of their priests," Raeven revealed his findings.
"It must be related to that Research Guild. They must be the ones that terrorized the other nations as well." Barbro gruffly remarked, his dislike for the mysterious organization fully on display.
"I agree. The sudden appearance of those people is too big of a coincidence to ignore the correlations." Boullope grumbled while emptying the wine glass in one go and reaching for the bottle.
"What are our options?" Ramposa asked with a tired voice. Despite his age, he was still sitting upright, barely resting his back against the chair, but for anyone in the room it was plain to see that the King couldn't keep this up for long.
"I think our top priority should be to finance the training of priests serving the crown, Your Majesty," Raven suggested.
{ Be prepared. Father is about to pass away. } Renner suddenly contacted him. With him having no way to respond, Zanac waited for additional instructions that came a moment later. { Make sure to act surprised and concerned. I don't need you being suspected. Lord Ulbert is casting the remote spell in fifteen seconds. }
'He can kill a man just like that? How is this even possible?' Zanac tried to wrap his head around such an outlandish concept, quickly suppressing his surprise. Nobody in the room having noticed.
{ For someone as powerful as Lord Ulbert, it is quite easy actually. All he has to do is clog a few arteries and someone as old as your father will pass away by seemingly natural causes. } Zalarta, his succubus handler commented. The ever-present demoness was lurking by the windows while making no sound.
'That is terrifying.'
{ I'm sure it is. That's why you have to take better care of yourself. A weak heart makes a man vulnerable. We wouldn't want you to kick the bucket before you reach forty now would we? } Zalarta appeared behind his back and playfully blew her breath in his ear before quickly disappearing.
'Right…shouldn't you concentrate on your duties instead of lecturing me?' Zanac retorted in his mind, knowing that his handler was reading his thoughts at the moment for easy communication. As a courtesy, Zalarta had shown him how to block her ability to read his mind, although he wasn't particularly convinced that said method really worked since it was her who had taught it.
{ I am ordered to keep you safe. If you were to die from a heart attack that means I would have failed my duty! }
'I don't intend to die that young. And I'm not in bad health despite what you might think.' He retorted to the overly nosy succubus. His health and private life, or lack thereof, wasn't her business even if his handler had decided that it was.
{ I might need to work on that if you decide to be so stubborn about your well-being. You are not as immune to me as you might think. I will get my way and ensure my career is not sabotaged by your disregard towards yourself. } She dragged a singular index finger along his neck, leaving a subtle red line behind.
He was still unsure what to make of her. From one side she was almost like an overbearing wife, nagging him about the smallest of things that vexed her about his behavior or habits. On another, she could switch to an impersonal guard within the blink of an eye, stauncher than the royal guards of the king.
At that moment their interaction needed to be put to a halt as Zanac noticed his father slumping over in his chair, the old king's crown sliding off his head and clattering onto the table.
"Father?" He voiced his concern, already knowing what had happened.
"Your majesty?" Raeven gently patted the king's shoulder as he was the one sitting right next to Ramposa.
"Call the royal physician!" Zanac jumped to his feet and approached his deceased father. Despite the rather cold relationship he had with most of his family, he still cared about his father to some degree. Seeing the old man just unceremoniously die did put some strain on his expression, thus he didn't need to put up an act. He was genuinely concerned after all.
Ramposa was declared dead ten minutes later by the physician, while the physician's assistant quickly removed the body to prepare it for burial.
While he and Raeven showed distress at the passing of the king, Barbro and Boullope didn't seem to care, as the latter declared that Barbro was now the new king.
"Prince Zanac, will you agree to your brother's claim of the throne?" Raeven asked, being the only one out of the loop about the agreement, and only knowing that Zanac and Barbo had struck some sort of deal.
"Of course. We had come to this agreement a while ago. I fully support King Barbro's ascension to the throne." Zanac nodded, still shaking from the sudden death.
"I see. In that case, there shouldn't be any problems with the succession." Raeven glanced at Zanac who seemed oddly calm despite the grim situation. As far as his spy network could reach, he knew that Boullope and the second prince had reached some sort of agreement, but he lacked details on what this agreement entailed.
"Considering the rather tumultuous situation, I think we can agree that King Barbro must take over his duties immediately and form his cabinet," Boullope announced.
"We already talked about this. You will take charge of the army and Zanac will serve as prime minister." Barbro casually stated as Boullope subtly nodded at Raeven.
Barbro looked up at his father-in-law with that all-so-familiar smirk of his radiating superiority. "You may speak what's on your mind."
The elder noble looked back with a stunned expression at being addressed so carelessly.
"Your Majesty, I recommend including Marquis Raeven in your circle of advisors," Boullope replied with barely hidden anger at how quickly Barbro had changed his attitude and started to look down on him.
"Raeven, my late father did trust you, right? What can you offer?" Barbro spoke as he slowly stood up and walked to the seat formerly occupied by his father and sat down in a slouching position, the ankle of one leg resting over the other.
"My expertise lies in both diplomacy and finance. I would gladly help you keep our nation prospering under your wise rule, Your Majesty." Raven stood up and bowed with a hand on his heart.
"Zanac, I want the development plan by the morning so I can approve on how you both will make me more popular among the peasants. I want cheering crowds at my coronation." Barbro's smile grew wider, bordering madness.
"But Your Majesty, there is another pressing issue that you must resolve as fast as possible. With your ascension to the throne, a possible successor needs to be appointed. It would be advantageous if my daughter gave you a son within the year." Boullope spoke up, his hands twisted into knuckles.
"I'll get to it. It's not my fault she isn't pregnant yet." Barbro dismissed his concerns.
{ Excellent. That fool is doing our job for us. Be sure to nurture Boullope's paranoia. You can think of a response and the shadow demons will relay them to me. } Renner once again messaged Zanac.
'I will do as you suggest. What should we do with the possibility that Barbro does produce legitimate offspring?'
{ Don't worry about it. Lord Demiurge will ensure she has a miscarriage at the worst possible moment, killing both. }
'She is a monster indeed.' He was glad that he had joined his sister earlier on, even if he was nothing but a pawn.
{ And? }
'Nothing. My apologies .' He hastily replied. With one of the last bastions of privacy taken away from him, Zanac could only hope he could keep his thought process in line.
Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix, the Emperor of the Baharuth Empire, was laying on a sofa, holding his head with his right hand. The young ruler was clad in a red and golden robe befitting his status, a golden circlet held his golden locks away from his handsome face. Almost too soft-looking for a man of his status, his appearance was a mix of delicate and authoritative that was disarming, to say the least. One that was frequently useful for his reign.
At his feet stood his secretary Loune Vermillion. An older man dressed in a simple dark robe, his graying light blonde hair cut in a bowl cut, he was reliable and had been since his father's reign.
On the sofa opposite him sat two of his Imperial knights, Baziwood Peshmel and Nimble Arc Dale Anoch, both clad in dark brown full-body plate armor with red accents. Nimble had a similar appearance to the young emperor both in body type and overall features. Described as a perfect knight, he was almost too formal and stiff for Jircniv's liking, but everyone had their flaws.
Baziwood, on the other hand, was a mountain of a man, with almost no filter when he spoke. The knight was comfortable spilling his opinions to anyone from the lowest of servants to the emperor himself, treating everyone equally.
For this exact reason, Jircniv considered him his most trusted servant and never reprimanded the man, even when receiving criticism. After all, a man who shuts himself off from scrutiny is bound to grow too arrogant to see his downfall, and an honest advisor is better than a scheming one.
The last person in the room was an ancient-looking man with a wrinkly face, a very long gray beard, and equally long hair. Dressed in a white robe, he sat in a chair with his shriveled hands on his lap. Fluder Paradyne the imperial court mage was the only official sixth-tier caster in the world and the Empire's trump card.
"Loune, you may start. Bring everyone up to speed so we can continue." Jircniv ordered in a pleasant tone. He had already heard the gist of it, but now a full report was available and he preferred to hear it together with his advisors.
"As you might already have heard, the Slane Theocracy is recalling all their priests back home and declaring total isolationism as their new policy. This means in a single day we have lost forty-seven percent of our healer force." Loune dutifully reported.
"What could have made them do that? Are the beastmen trying to conquer them?" Baziwood asked.
"Two days ago Silksuntecks suffered an attack from an unknown type of angel who devastated their defenses and declared the Great Six to be false Gods." The secretary continued.
"Hmm, are there any details about this angel available?" Fluder questioned in a soft quiet voice.
"The on-location spies couldn't provide much information, but the angel was described as a young woman in crimson armor with metallic wings."
"I see." Fluder leaned forward and slowly stroked his beard with his right hand.
"Do you even have any opinion on this event, old man?" Jircniv sat up to face the old wizard, knowing the old man's wisdom.
"This cannot be a coincidence…" Fluder uttered apparently lost in thought. "The appearance of the Research Guild and the angel's attack must be connected. Yes… this must be it. I think I get it."
"Gramps, mind sharing with the rest of us?" Baziwood leaned forward to grab a wine cup from a table and took a large gulp, staring at the wizard.
"This must be the appearance of players. It has been a century since the last appearance." Fluder mumbled under his breath.
"You mean those strong entities that appear out of nowhere and cause massive change in the world?" Jircniv questioned, his mask of calm confidence slipping a tiny bit. As a man who had done everything to be at least familiar with almost all types of knowledge available, he had a deep knowledge of history and how the appearance of players had shaped it.
"Yes. I think we are dealing with players. Fascinating. The one declaring himself the God of Life and Death might be the one who has summoned that angel, considering that angels only serve the gods. So much knowledge could be obtained from them!" Fluder's voice grew sharper and louder as a smile, with a slight hint of insanity appeared on the old man's face.
"Your Imperial Majesty, If such creatures now walk the world, could we even oppose them?" Nimble asked.
"I don't know. But it's not set in stone that we need to oppose them." 'Why did they attack Slane? The most likely reason is to dismantle the old religion to spread their worship. This means that if it comes to worst I could just declare their worship as the official religion and put on a mask of obedience until some weakness could be found.' "I would prefer to explore diplomatic options first. Could it be done?" Jircniv turned to Loune.
"For now there is no concrete information on how to contact the Research Guild," Loune replied apologetically, sighing.
"In that case, utilize any means necessary to find a way to contact them. Old man, I need you to do the same. Could a spell for this purpose be devised?"
"Perhaps. I will start my research immediately." Fluder stood up with surprising agility considering his old age, but the anticipation of new knowledge always did that to him.
With the old wizard teleporting away, Jircniv dismissed his advisors, choosing to remain alone in his quarters.
'The world is about to change, and I will be on top of the game, to not only not be crushed by these players, but gain the upper hand on them. The fact that they didn't come and just declare the world as theirs means they are careful and calculating, meaning I can determine how they think.'
The young emperor stood up and slowly paced back and forth. 'If a means to contact them is not found soon, I will have to provoke Re-Estize in enticing their wrath and make a clear path to follow based on that.'
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by aidan_lo, Lightflan, NuggetLover, nate051499j6, LionLoverFabian, Saphire_Drake, clagan, Cay, x4x, Sluethen, fvvck and Milk.
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