Chapter 59: Empire
Dimitri just smiled before taking a swig of his beer before asking the waitress to grab more for us.
"So, why is this place such a dump?"
As I asked, I couldn't help but look around. Everywhere the eye could see, from the streets, to the bars, even the castle in the distance looked gloomy and creepy.
"It's a combination of several factors. Everyone's too poor, constant attacks from the sea, constant attacks from bandits and marauders, miasma in the air, not enough food and clean water, high taxes and to top it all off? The high elves have just declared themselves the supreme rulers of Rosary."
"And now that they've declared themselves as the supreme rulers they've taken it upon themselves to 'enforce' some of their own rules and policies onto others. The problem with that is that this continent was originally a multiracial land. I'm not talking about skin pigments. I'm talking about races that come from completely separate realities, continents, worlds and cultures."
"All of them are being forced to adapt to new elven laws and religious customs. Lord Diamond especially has become a major figurehead across the city."
If I recall, Lord Diamond was the god of elves, agriculture, war and peace. The guy reminds me a lot of Mars from the Roman pantheon.
He's not exactly an evil god but just like every other religion his followers have clearly misinterpreted his intentions. The only issue I have is the fact that he hasn't bothered to correct it.
"What about the local religions and small-time cults?"
Dimitri scoffed, "I won't lie, they've definitely been stirring up trouble. According to my sources some of these disbanded religions are trying to make a comeback. The problem is that they've been doing so in less than pious ways. As for the smaller cults? Most of them are a bunch of useless godlings. Like the god of the great eastern river… It's not even a river, it's a small creek."
According to Dimitri the most they do is stop the water from flowing for about a day or two before they get tired. There are also rumors that a giant sea god is attacking the local villages around the coast.
This would be fine under normal circumstances if the people had other places to go but thanks to the miasma in the air, the constant monster attacks on the road and the abundance of bandits, nobody was ever willing to travel outside of their own homes.
Not that I could blame them.
Regardless of the situation there were stories everywhere involving the suffering and death across the continent. The late discovery of a depth dweller hive was one thing but inviting the elves introduced a whole new slew of problems for the native people.
"I would say Rosary was a bomb just waiting to blow but honestly I think the people are too tired to even pour the black powder in the bomb in the first place."
When Dimitri said that I couldn't help but agree with him. This place was a mess, there was no denying that. Yet instead of feeling pity or anger, all four of us couldn't help but smile.
"It'll be much easier to conquer this way."
The other three couldn't help but silently agree with me. Why wouldn't they? Dimitri works for the UDE, an organization starving for resources and wealth, Makoto was a pure blooded demon who may have been a Japanese terrorist or mobster in his old life. As for Alora? Well she might not feel comfortable with causing misery but the demon in her definitely thrived on it.
My opinion? Why should I care? I didn't cause it, but I can end it.
Who doesn't want to go down in history as the savior of the people?
"Any suggestions on where we should start?"
Dimitri had to think about it for a second before speaking up, "My suggestion? Make a name for yourself. Nothing beats good old fashioned reputation. As for how you can do that… Well you could always start out small, if you have the money and the patience you can start up a charity or if you want to go in guns blazing you could kill a dragon?"
I raised my brow at that, I couldn't help but ask, "There's a dragon around here?"
Makoto spoke up for Dimitri, "There are dragons everywhere Jess. Those things breed like rats once they find a partner to mate with. Honestly I was surprised your grandfather only ended up with one kid. Most dragons usually have dozens every hundred years. Then again Queen Ava wasn't around that long."
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about grandpas first wife. They should still be legally married if I recall.
Alora spoke up this time, "There are plenty of continents out there that are being completely ruled by dragons too. I believe Lady Amelia went searching for her mother in some of those."
We continued talking about our plans but honestly I already had something set up for a while.
"I'm going to make a general store. Let's be honest, I'm no fighter. I'll train in my spare time and do some exploring but for now I'm going to talk to the local authorities about starting up a small shop."
Dimitri seemed to agree, if only reluctantly, "There's nothing wrong with that, after all it's best not to draw too much attention to yourself but you can't forget that the UDE will be here in three years. Once they create an outpost they will surely hire several local mercenaries to stir up trouble. The only thing stopping them from going too far is the fact that they will have to be discreet."
"And my services will still be for sale. This changes nothing."
Makoto couldn't help but speak up this time, "Jess, this changes a lot of things. Once the elven empire finds out what the UDE plans they will most certainly attack the UDE outpost. The UDE considers these outposts as sovereign land. That's another way of saying that the elves will unintentionally declare war on the UDE."
I didn't realize that, but I understood where he was coming from. The UDE has dozens of S rank supers. Nobody knows how many the elves have, but my guess would be around one or two at most.
"The high council isn't known for its foresight." Dimitri said while drinking his second mug of beer, "I wouldn't trust the elves to surrender. Even if it were in their best interest."
I scrunched my brows while looking a bit confused, "Why do you say that?"
Dimitri burped and put his beer back down, "I'm no politician nor am I a general, but even I can tell Rosary has no material worth. My guess? The UDE isn't the real target."
I sat there for a second thinking about his words before I nodded in understanding. Makoto didn't say anything or react in any way, he just continued to lean in his chair while drinking his beer.
The only one who didn't understand was standing behind me.
"Uhhh… Yeah… Totally."
I turned my head at her and I could see the gears turning in her head.
"What he means is that Rosary is just a foothold. UDE will most likely assassinate the current rulers and make one that matches with their desires. That new ruler will declare war upon… Everything I guess."
Alora opened her eyes in astonishment but quickly reeled in her surprise before scoffing.
"That's ridiculous Jess, nobody can declare war on everything. Not even the UDE. They'll run out of bodies in no time."
The three of us just stared at Alora while she proudly declared that. She noticed our gazes and was wise enough to reflect on it and try to figure out the hidden meaning.
After a solid minute she finally spoke up.
"Oh, right… The UDE isn't attacking anything is it?"
I just smiled at her while Makoto sighed and Dimitri chuckled.
"That's right. The UDE will most likely pay the elves back with minor concessions or nothing at all. They could easily claim that this is only right considering the old regime is only paying them back for attacking them first."
Of course the new elven ruler would go along with it because he's the only one being showered in rewards and treasures.
"That's ruthless."
I just shrugged without saying anything for a while.
After that the four of us continued talking about the state of the environment, the surrounding religious groups and the new regime until something caught my interest.
"Wait, so not all of the elves are together?"
Dimitri just spat on the ground before speaking, "They may share the same ears and the same god but they are not all the same. Humans are such simple creatures. The biggest difference among us is our skin color and the sizes of our… Ah, I forgot we have a lady in the group. Apologies."
"You were about to say cock though right? The difference in humans is related to the sizes of their cocks." Alora just said that so nonchalantly that I sometimes forget she's a perverted demon.
Dimitri just coughed for a second before speaking, "Uh yes. That… Anyway, elves are different. They might have been created by the same god but each elf thrives in different environments. Moon elves thrive at night, dark elves thrive in caves, snow elves thrive in snow, forest elves thrive in the forest. So on and so forth."
I knew about moon elves personally, from what I knew from reading about them they were meant to be healers too. I think the queen of that island was a moon elf but now she's just a dirt elf. On account of being buried alive that is.
I'm sure she's having a happy and healthy life.
"So what's the problem?"
Dimitri gave a wry smile when he spoke, "Lets just say, if you think this town has got it bad you should see how they live."