Our next stop is the Best Kingdom Eurazania. After a "light talk" with Shuna, I was currently on my way there after parting ways with Milim. Phobio and his pals should be on their way to town right now. They should arrive a few days after Milim visited, so I still have some time before Phobio does his little nonsense and the circus comes around to revive Charybdis and attack our town.
Right now, I don't have much leverage to convince Carrion to ally with us. I could just say that Phobio will be the cause of reviving Charybdis and since he will be targeting our town, he is sort of responsible for it. But that hasn't happened yet.
I can't wait for it to happen first cause that would ruin any chance with Frey. Whether or not she has accepted Clayman's offer or whatever doesn't matter. I can manipulate the fear, worry, and anxiety she has about Charybdis to convince her to ally with us. It's probably not the best way to do it, but it would be the fastest way to do it since she probably won't take me seriously since me or Shuna don't have wings.
Kind of discriminatory, but who am I to tell someone how to run their nation? I didn't do that with Milim when I taught her how to run her nation. It was only some basics and a few advanced topics. How she wants to run it is up to her. I'll only focus on our nation and how to run it. I don't need to spend time stressing over how someone runs their country when I have my own thing to focus on.
Moving on. The terrain was once again changing. This time, it went from rocky and barren to more lush with vegetation that only increased the further I traveled. The environment was more like plains. There was a warmer climate and temperature. It was nice. It reminded me of the ranch I lived on during the spring.
As we got closer, there were signs of civilization. There were some dirt roads and some farms being cultivated. From what I know about this kingdom, they are mainly an agricultural economy and state. Most of its population are "lower class" citizens because they lack a certain amount of strength and they are the ones that manage farms and plantations that are worked on by slaves.
These farms and plantations were huge and I could tell at a glance that these were high-quality crops. Farming wasn't our main focus on the ranch. It was livestock. Well, it's a different kind of farming. Crops were a secondary focus at best. It was usually around a tertiary focus, at least where I was.
Anyway, I needed to make my way to the capital. That's where Carrion is supposed to be. Residing in his palace or whatever. Me personally, that's a bit excessive. I don't see the appeal of a palace or some grand mansion. I only see them as a symbol of power rather than somewhere to live in. Something to constantly remind the people about who rules over them. There may be a cathedral in our town, but it's open to everyone to visit. It's not restricted to "class" and things like that.
Making my to the capital, I would notice the occasional glance here and there from some people. It only increased as I got closer to the capital, which was very easy to find since one, there's a giant waterfall that's behind the capital, and two, when there's a large concentration of strong lycanthropes and other species, it's easy to follow with some the senses I have.
I was just waiting to be stopped at any moment. I mean, a knight-looking figure with a kijin companion riding fast toward the capital is certain to attract attention and I was right. There were some people following us or at least paying attention to us.
'Dun Stallion, go a bit faster. There are some people trying to follow us. I want us to get he attention of some higher up, so I can get to Carrion faster.'.
'Understood, master.'.
Dun Stallion sped up, and while we were still being followed, they were falling back a little. At this rate, someone stronger will have to show up.
We were still going fast when finally, someone stopped in front of us. More like jump in front of us. The one who was in front of us was a tiger lycanthrope. She had long, white hair. She was Suphia.
"Stop! Who areyo-", unfortunately for her, she couldn't say much as Dun Stallion just jumped over her. She was a little in shock before she recovered and started running to us. "Get back here!".
'Good jump, Dun Stallion.'. If this were the Olympics, He would win all the gold medals in equestrian.
With Suphia still chasing us we made it to the palace. Well, I stopped a bit before. I don't want to just barge in. I stopped and got off Dun Stallion. I helped Shuna get off to. We were standing around waiting for Suphia to get to us and she eventually did.
"Finally! Who are you two?! What business do you have in this kingdom? Why shouldn't I beat you to a pulp after that little stunt you pulled on me?!".
I don't think she was very happy right now. Not sure.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Artoria Pendragon, one of the leaders of the forest and town, and this is Shuna. We come from the Jura-Tempest Federation. We've come here seeking an audience with Demon Lord Carrion.".
"You can't just ask for something like that. What kind of connection or relations do you have to think you can demand an on-the-spot talk with Lord Carrion?".
"I don't think you heard where I'm from. I'm from the Jura-Tempest Federation. You might know it as the monster town that Demon Lord Carrion sent over a small group to investigate. You even know someone in the group that was sent. Phobio. That's the relevant connection I have.".
Suphia got on guard. "Are you here for some kind of retaliation? Payback or something?".
"No, not at all. On the contrary, I've come here with the goal of seeking an alliance with Demon Lord Carrion with our newly formed nation. It's only fair, right? I mean, sending a small group of military personnel into another nation certainly sends the wrong message. I'd prefer to discuss this peacefully and diplomatically instead of going towards some…other options.".
I saw Suphia get more on guard. She was getting ready for a fight.
"Are you threatening us?". She was flaring a bit of her aura. It was cute.
"Nope, not at all. I never said anything about threatening you or anyone in this kingdom. I just wanna talk.". I focused a bit of my aura on her. Not a lot, just enough to overpower hers and to let her know that if I wanted to I could easily beat her.
I saw her eyes go wide. She was trying to keep her composure. I think I may have gone a bit overboard.
"You say that, but then show off your aura like that. That's clearly a threat.".
"You did it first. I'm merely responding to a possible threat to me and my companion. From what I see, you're the aggressor. I don't know the exact laws and rules of this kingdom, but I do know that you guys go by the principle of 'might makes right'. So think about that before you do something…unwise.".
I could see her contemplating what to do. If I were in her shoes, I would just get Carrion. No need to risk fighting an opponent who is stronger than you. She may like fighting, but she knows she can't just fight this time without some consequences.
"Fine. Just wait here.".
Suphia went off to who knows where. I think I handled that pretty well. Normally, being sort of hostile like this isn't really the best way to do this, but that's how things are here, so I'm going to use it to my advantage.
We waited awhile and Suphia finally came back. This time she was with Albis. They were walking towards me and I could see Albis look at me with those snake-like eyes, as if she was analyzing me. She didn't seem to be looking for a fight. I'm assuming Suphia told Albis what she heard and was able to piece together some things on her own.
I don't want to say anything, but I trust Albis more than Suphia to handle more delicate matters. I consider Albis the "brains" of the Three Beastketeers.
"Quite the entrance you made into our kingdom, Artoria Pendragon. How did you find out about Phobio and the group sent to investigate your monster town? That's only known by a few people and how do you know his name as well? I don't you've ever seen him. You might have head of the Three Besatketeers, but you certainly haven't seen any of us before.".
Albis is starting off strong. Unfortunately for her, I'll just pull out my old reliable.
"It doesn't matter how I know. Just know that I do. Also, why would I give away where I get my information from?". That last part is very misleading. I do have a source of information, but just not how they think I do. Well, I guess Milim would count, but I'll reveal that later to Carrion. Let Albis think of something else.
"What are you implying?".
'I'm not implying anything. I'm just telling you something I won't do. Any implications you think of are coming from your part. Why would I, as a leader of the monster town, come off as aggressive when I just want to make an alliance. Do remember who is investigating. You two know Phobio well given that y'all are teammates, and know that he can be a bit aggressive.".
I saw Albis and Suphia glance at each other. They know exactly what I'm talking about and they just seem to realize that if Phobio does something dumb, it will lead to some difficult circumstances, to say the least.
I decided to give it one tiny push. "We wouldn't want anything to happen now, would we? You should make a decision fast cause time is going to slip by faster than sand through your fingers the more you think about it.".
That's putting the pressure on them. Whatever happens, they don't need to know that I'm also kind of going against the clock. I want to make these alliances before the Charybdis attack. I can't show I'm in a hurry. I need to put the pressure of time on them so they move fast. Ideally, I spend a few hours here and then I'll go to Frey.
Albis and Suphia were still having a silent conversation. Probably thought conversation. They nodded to each other and looked back at me. Albis spoke up, "We'll contact, Lord Carrion and tell him of your request. Just wait here. I'll have Suphia look over you.".
'Thank you.".
Albis set off for the palace. Now that we're alone with Suphia, it's time to start influencing them. If talks with Carrion don't go too well, I hope Albis and Suphia will voice their opinions in my stead.
The method of influence? Of course, it's alcohol. I go to Dun Stallion and reach into one of the bags we came equipped with. The sound of glass bottles could be heard and I saw Suphia's ears twitching. She knows exactly what this is.
"Hey, Suphia, have you ever tried whiskey?".
Suphia raised her eyebrow, "What's that?".
"It's a kind of liquor made from grains. It can be malted as well. You should try it. Might as well, since we might be here awhile waiting.".
I saw her ears twitch and her tail swaying back and forth after I told her.
'Hook.'.
I opened up the bottle and the smell came out. I saw her take a peek at it and I could see the exact moment when she smelled it.
'Line.'.
I poured some into a glass and offered her a drink. She took it and she tasted it. Her eyes lit up like the 4th of July. She instantly downed the whole glass. She looked back at me and was basically asking for more.
'Sinker.'.