"And with that, the whole western world was in a period of its most weakest point. Many powerful beings were killed in that massacre. One of them was the Grand General King Gral. In an act of bravery he faced the Overlord to protect what little army was left, but in the end he too was killed.
He was succeeded by his son Gazef Dwargo. The boy was only 20 years old at that time, and by the standards of Dwarfs who lived for up to 300 years and more, he was but a child. Still, Gazef was said to be a genius in swordsmanship and a great ruler, something which can be witnessed from the thirty years he has been rulling Dwargon."
Narrated the king of the whole story of the Great War.
"Alright, let's stop all these history lessons and focus on the cold food at hand." Said the Queen as the family ate dinner quitely.
The prince was silently thinking about the impact of that war. Although he wasn't even born at that time, he saw the old soldiers who were Survivors of that time, have an episode just hearing the term Overlord.
As if a deep impression was attached to that name only. The suddenly a doubt came in his mind.
"Father, why did the Empire no sieze the nations then?"
"An act of Superiority. It was a statement, that they were able to take over the whole Western nations in one fell swoop if they wanted. But instead of the obvious, they just annexed the small western kingdoms, leaving Ingrassia, Dwargon free. The only terms were that both nations will have to worship Bael as the Supreme Deity."
Explained The King as they finished lunch.
"And what about the Holy Kingdom? Surely they would have opposed it?"
"They didn't, no one knows why but the Holy Kingdom denied any claims that it was against their law. They sort of distanced themselves form this events. The only Declaration was that Bael was truly a divine being and nothing else."
'Strange, why would the Holy Kingdom known for its aggressive stand against monsters choose to ignore such a thing?'
Thoughts like these ran in the Prince's Minds but no answer came .
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It was now nighttime. The whole capital was shining brightly from the lanterns and lights propped up all around the roads. There were even long poles on which a lantern shaped object was placed, a luminous yellow light was emitted from it giving the most light of all the light givers.
Children as well as Adults wore masks of different depicted monsters, fantastical figures or even heroes. Stalls were set up all around as vendors sold food and wares.
Overall, the atmosphere was that of a festival. The air filled with joy and happiness.
Inside the castle, a similar scene was going on. But somewhere in a chamber deep inside the castle, four figures stood surrounding a magic circle.
They were the king, prince, the military commander of Listeria and the Duke of the nation. They were waiting for the arrival of the Delegation from Orion.
The magic circle drawn before them was sort of a marker so that the portal opens in the right place. Soon, the circuit lit up illuminating the room as soon a female figure made herself known.
"Greetings, King of Listeria. I am Medusa, the Prime Minister of Orion."
"It's an honor for us to welcome such a beautiful Lady in our Kingdom." King said.
"Let us discuss in the meeting room." The Duke presented as everyone travelled towards the meeting room.
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"So, you want to ask for aid in gearing your military with our magic equipments. Is that all?" Medusa asked.
She was seated on a long table where opposite to her was the King, Prince, Military commander and Duke of Listeria.
"Yes Lady Medusa. We hope to purchase your services with that." The King replied.
"Very well, but I must tell you, the charges for all these will be quite high. Almost 1,000 stellar coins." Medusa said with a smile, as if the price was very low.
But the mere words startled the King and the others. Their kingdom was very small, they barely had more than two hundred stellar coins. A full thousand was just too much.
"Why is it so much?!" Slammed the Duke as he abruptly stood up, shocked at the number of Stellar Coins they were demanding.
"Please calm down. Taking into account the logistics, equipments and the training we will provide, all these will quickly sum up to be a 1000. And this is quite a small amount to that we asked for from Ingrassia and Dwargon after the War, which was 30,000. You should Know which war right?" Medusa said with a smile, unfazed of the sudden burst from the Duke.
Hearing the Minister Medusa mention about the war, he had a chill come on his spine. He was about 15 years old when that Great War took place and had heard and even witnessed the devastation caused on the battlefield after the war. He didn't want to same to happen in his Mother Land.
"I hope we can come to an agreement Lady Medusa. You must understand that currently we have but not the amount you are asking us of." The King said solemnly.
"Worry not, The Supreme One is kind. I will give you a discount of 50% only if, a temple is to be built by us in the capital along with us taking 50% of the Annual income of Listeria, until the debt is cleared." Medusa offered.
Hearing this a shadow spread on their faces. The Kingdom's annual income was 20 stellar coins. Stellar Coins were equivalent to a Million copper coins. For a commoner, even a single silver coin was equivalent to his annual income.
[A/n I hope my maths mathed mathingly otherwise it would be quite embarrassing.]
A fifty percent decrease didn't help reduce the problem even one bit, the kingdom had to account for all the economic and other expenses. And the added fact of building a temple. For that they had little objections because for them, faith didn't matter. It won't even will if there was no kingdom to rule on.
"I...agree..." The King reluctantly agreed. He had no other choice. On one hand, deny the offer and the weak military will stay weak or on the other hand, they will be indebted to Orion but will have a relatively strong Army.
Calculating altogether, the King had found that they will be indebted to Orion for half a century. Even he is quite unsure if he would live for that long or not. Considering the plots of enemies brewing.
"Very well. The first batch of magic equipments will be sent tomorrow. With the new beginning of another year, a new bond will be formed." Medusa declared with a smile as she stood up to shake hands with the king.
Although she said such words, in the mind of the King, he had already interpreted the meaning. They were now bounded by the chains of debt and if no solution come up in the near future, they might soon get a very disturbing future.
As the Deal was confirmed and a Magical contracts were signed. The fireworks began to fire outside as midnight came, bringing along the end of the Year, And the beginning of a new year.
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★★★★★★