Chapter 430: The Actual Summit of Ankor-Nazta. [Release Version] (Patreon)

<Custom magic song gained: [Strength and Wisdom]>

<Custom magic songs [Strength and Wisdom] have been perfectly integrated into the System>

[“So you can’t fix her?”] I asked Klea.

[“Why would I ever lie to my second favorite person who calls me by my first name? Awfully rude, no, dear?”] the demon responded, sounding as sultry as always.

Unfortunately for her, I witnessed her breaking character upon being confronted with her fondness for Ellaine. Whether all of this was an act or if her constant teasing was a real part of her personality, it was clear she could be wholesome. It was just a matter of how you handled it.

[“I have no way to prove it, but that is why I asked Ellaine to ask you to do it.”] My comment silenced the demon before I looked up, seeing Ellaine showing me a wry smile.

She shrugged. [“Vifi actually was the one to ask us about it first. She said Franz’s contact would be able to heal her damaged sin powers, so she wanted to see if Klea could be an option for her.”]

Franz’s contact? Who exactly are you working with, cousin?

Nevertheless, I shook that idea away for now to listen to Klea.

[“Regardless, the answer is no. If there was anyone who could help her, it would be the Archdemon of Wrath; not even a Prince of Sin should be able to fix such a serious blunder. You require a god or some miracle elixir, as the issue concerns her blood and biology being affected by the aftermath of [Original Sin: Satanael],”] Klea elaborated. [“To cheat death, one must pay some price. Ellaine’s near death costed her a vampire necklace, and Vifi’Yok received the recoil of using an extremely strenuous ability.”]

… Who exactly are you working for, Franz?

Whoever it was, hopefully they would help him succeed with whatever he was planning, as I couldn’t with everything I had going on. From a political standpoint, what was about to happen would affect the world as a whole, and I recently just gained some more stakes into making sure the Summit of Ankor-Nazta went off without a hitch.

I looked around inside this medium-sized waiting room, decorated to the brim with stone statues and furniture, showing off the skills of the dwarven stone artisans. Nevertheless, the red fur carpet and silk window shaders, along with the ornate wooden shelves and table, kept everything from looking too much like a boring cave.

Sitting with me was Neill, Ellaine, and Vifi’Yok, as each of them were needed for the upcoming talks. In addition, Shay and Beth were also around, acting as Neill’s and my guards for the sake of appearance; although I had intended to also bring Tasianna with us, she had to stay back for the sake of Grimnir’s new project. We might have Cernust and Rita as helpers, but the former wouldn’t always be around due to his fiance, so our party’s resident alchemist had to oversee things at the forge.

All five members here were people I already knew well enough, but there was a sixth person aside from me here. Somebody I had not thought would wake up in time for the summit persuaded me to bring her along after a ton of pleading.

“Saintess Fleindia,” I called over to the person sitting on the opposite side of the table.

Pale and slightly sickly, the woman was currently brushing her almond-colored hair, trying to get rid of the knots her two weeks of sleeping had caused. She was wearing her clean saintess clothes, showing no signs of the blood and dirt it previously had from her trip down the dungeon and her meeting with Galg.

I offered to help her. “… Are you sure you don’t need help with your hair?”

“N-no, it is fine …” Her hand jerked, nearly causing her to rip out a few strands of hair with her comb. She relaxed her grip after brushing through, before looking down on the table. “Champion Hestia … it will end up in a war, right? All of this? Because we blessed failed to stop the pope from exacting his plans?”

“Right now, yes,” Vifi suddenly interjected.

I snapped my head around, shouting, “Hey!” but the demonkin only shrugged her shoulders, reminding me of the war declaration High King Fugnarus gave after the end of Maagneil’s battle. Neill, too, agreed, nodding her head and telling me to calm down and face the reality of the situation. As candid as Vifi was, trying to soften the blow wouldn’t help as Fleindia had already heard all of this already.

“No use repeating this stuff to us when you’ll have to say everything to the kings at the summit anyways,” Neill stated.

Fleindia nodded. “Of course.”

I sighed as I felt the tension dissipating, but the atmosphere still felt uncomfortable. Sadly, it only got worse when a steward called for us, telling me it was time for the summit to convene. I stood up, letting out a sigh of stress as I looked down at my long red-white dress with green sashes and frills, designed with Victorian England noble dresses in mind. Most of it was made from mana threads, but the embroidered bits were made entirely from my shed crimson scales, as it was standard for dragons to wear their scales on human clothing.

Neill’s outfit had the same scale concession, a mana thread kimono fitting for a noble lady from medieval Japan, decorated with her black scales to form petals. Compared to mine, hers looked far cooler and more reserved, due to the black and purple colors used to design it, with only white used to showcase the Kargryxmor clan’s emblem. She had her lion mane hair tied together into a ponytail, with my maids making sure it was properly combed and taken care of to elevate her youthful beauty while also showcasing both her kirin and two dragon horns.

If you looked at us, you could easily figure out which of us was the younger one, as my dress exuded energy while Neill’s demanded respect.

Saori, as always, was the best fashion designer I could have wished for. Even while escorting the beastmen to Inkorna-Tazul right now, she still made the time to sew our clothes. It was so surprising to see Neill wearing normal clothes, despite being more accustomed to using her scales to make her clothes.

To finish our appearances, the both of us placed our royal tiaras on our heads. Mine was the same frozen ice one with the diamond-like scales made by Mom, while Neill got a surprise delivery from her mother! Apparently, Pradreo and Skardrvo had preemptively sent a letter to Neill’s mother before the Event Quest, reporting her on the latter’s health and ongoing antics. As such, Neill got sent a violet jagged tiara made from crystallized mana, with lightning-like seams flowing through it due to her mother using the dragon paths to create it.

We looked like two princesses. With Ellaine, the twins, and Vifi all wearing their armor—the latter got a new set from Grimnir—our entourage seemed as respectable as any noble’s. The only one who stood out a bit was Fleindia, and only due to a lack of grooming.

With this group, we all followed the steward as she led us in front of a large door. I could hear some muffled talking behind it, causing me to gulp as I felt multiple people with [Detection Sensor]. Six people sitting around something and facing each other with other signals standing behind each.

The steward bowed before she shook a bell, prompting the door to open up. She walked forward and stood to the side as she presented the brightened room to us.

“Attention!” She raised her voice, straightening her posture. “I present, the leader of the Summit of Ankor-Nazta. The mediator and figurehead! Third Princess of the Dragon Empire, Kargryx, Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor! In addition, standing next to her as her guardian, Second Princess of the Dragon Empire, Kargryx, Princess Fargryneill Qilinus Kargryxmor! Lastly, a blessed of the Pantheon of Light, and a Saintess of the Goddess of Nobility and Wealth, Erithia—Saintess Fleindia Alsternich.”

Yup, Fleindia’s patron goddess was Erithia, the one who hated me. We didn’t talk much when she woke up, but hearing this still irked me. At the very least, it didn’t seem like she was hostile, but I still needed to hear her out. Hear the entire story from her.

Nevertheless, for now, I had to focus on other things.

We entered the room and were greeted with the sight of a large, round fainite table with bronze adornments, which looked a bit like shields from here. Everybody in the room stood up from their seats, with six of them wearing fine robes and garments to display their riches and from which house they came from, but what was the most predominant was what five of them were wearing on their heads—crowns.

Perfectly split into two halves, you had the members of the northwestern nations on the left side of the table, while the rulers of the human nations on the right. I didn’t know if this separation was intentional, but I did know that three chairs were unoccupied on the top of the table, perfectly in the middle between these sides.

My group took our seats, with our guards standing behind us. Once I was seated, everybody bowed slightly before taking their seats, with their guards and aides also standing guard.

“With this, I commence the begin of the Summit of Ankor-Nazta!” Taking my role as the mediator seriously, I began using the tips the students gave me on how to conduct myself today. “I am Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, third princess of Kargryx and the mediator for this summit between Ankor-Nazta and the Kingdom of Artorias on the formation of an alliance. I bid all members invited to this meeting to introduce yourself.”

As the one responsible for calling for this meeting, King Drangleic stood up first. The arvisian king fluttered his brown wings for everybody to see.

“I am King Drangleic var Artorias, ruler of the Kingdom of Artorias. I am the initiator of this summit, wishing to rekindle the alliance between my forefathers of the Kingdom of Leosfalt with the Ankoran ruler of Ankor-Nazta. May the Goddess of Light watch over us.”

Now it was the dwarven king’s turn. “I am Ankoran King Fugnarus of the Ankor-Nazta. I am the recipient of this summit, wishing to see the Kingdom of Artorias secede from their vassalship to the Empire of Folschreck, and to reestablish formal trade routes in an attempt to weaken the human empire. May the Goddess of Earth bless the ground we sit upon.”

I noticed Fleindia furrowed her brows. She wasn’t a prisoner or anything, but she was still a Folschreckian, so hearing this was most likely unpleasant for her. Despite knowing this, King Fugnarus had to make his stance clear to everybody. This was politics and everybody had to know what our goals were if we wished for a proper alliance.

With those two finished, it was time for the rest to stand up. First and foremost, the first nation invited to this meeting—Saelariel.

An elven man with hair as green as grass stood up, his head adorned with a white wooden crown. Elegant with every movement, he looked at me and the rest with reserved eyes, almost as if he was inspecting us for any weakness. The eyes of a reserved intellectual, compared to the resolute look King Drangleic and Fugnarus gave.

This would be the first time we properly spoke.

“I am Saelari King Elutis Anduriol from the elven Colony Kingdom of Saelariel. I am an invitee of this summit, and my reason for accepting it is to overwatch the sincerity of King Drangleic in this alliance, to assure another betrayal shall not happen between his nation and ours. May the Origin Gods guide us with wisdom.” He bowed before he looked at me, addressing me specifically this time. “Princess Hestia, I do not know if you had heard this already or not, but I was there to bless you while you were still inside your egg, before the accident happened with your egg carrier. Truly, I apologize I could not have found you earlier. This incompetence of us Saelari could have costed you your life.”

My birth in the Belzac forest, right?

I raised my hand. “My stay in the Belzac forest wasn’t the most pleasant, but it shaped me into the person I am today. I know you hold it as your duty due to your alliance with my father, but let us not sully today’s meeting for this, King Elutis. There will be a time for us to speak and for me to learn from you. I can see there is much to talk about, but not today. I do not blame you for anything.”

He bowed his head once again. “Your forgiveness removes this immeasurable guilt on my people, your grace. I apologize that our proper meeting had to be today … I felt ashamed meeting you, especially after I heard that Princess Fargryneill was accompanying you. Even as ruler of the forest people, we could not find you within our neighboring forest. It is our shame. Please, it would be a pleasure to talk over tea next time.”

Ashamed? I stared at him in wonder as his head lowered even further. Maybe I misinterpreted his reserved eyes form before, maybe he was just unsure how to speak with me?

Regardless, he sat back down to allow the next to speak—a bulky black dragonewt. Behind him, I noticed a familiar person standing next to him, realizing that was actually Midirn, one ofLoatryx’s representatives who joined the expedition. I had heard he was the forerunner to become the next general of their military, and that he was a member of the Kargryxmor clan of dragonewts; these two are apparently my relatives.

I returned my gaze to the black dragonewt in front, who lowered his tail and tucked it in between his legs—a sign of respect and submission. He pulled up the sleeve of his haori—the jacket worn over a kimono—and pulled out two scales from his arm and placed it on a dish before the dwarven steward from before presented it to Sis and me.

“This scalekin lowers his tail in the presence of our princesses,” he spoke in a low, growly voice like most dragonewts. “I am Maelexus Baccus Kargryxmor, head of clan Kargryxmor of Loatryx and the current representative of the kinkyuro of the Republic of Loatryx. I have accepted the invitation to greet our long-lost Princess Hestia.”

Neill and I accepted his scale, as it was equivalent to accepting another dragonkin’s loyalty or fealty. The scales of a dragonkin was their pride and joy, as it represented strength, so to remove a scale was essentially similar to a wolf showing another their belly. This too was my duty as a princess.

“I, Princess Fargryneill, accept your display of fealty,” Neill said, which I copied.

“I, Princess Hestia, accept your display of fealty. Please, continue.”

He nodded. “Upon review of the situation during the aftermath of the attack, the kinkyuro has unanimously decided to change our goal. We shall respect the wishes of Princess Hestia and Princess Fargryneil, supporting what they decide. Our decision shall be dependent on what is best for their safety. May God Kargryxmor the Tyrant grant us with the power to remove all threats.”

Good! At least I will have one supporter for the upcoming discussion.

With the original two invitees finished, it was time for the two nations I personally invited after what had happened to them. Both had experienced issues concerning the demonkins before and would benefit from joining the alliance for various reasons.

However, for one of them, it was more like coercion. The only reason why she was currently the leader of her nation was due to my help and the fact I decided to delay her judgement for the crimes she committed. In fact, it wasn’t even guaranteed that this nation would join the alliance and it all depended on what would be said by their president.

“President Reajaen Resclave of the Republic of Estralia. I am an invitee of this summit, and the reason why I am here is due to Princess Hestia’s request to ally with Estralia to disincentivize the human kingdoms around us from attacking the Kingdom of Artorias due to a loss of proper supply routes and the risk of losing trade with us. May God Mercurias assure we all come out of this with a good deal,” the scarred foxian stated, placing her one arm on the table. She closed her one working eye, taking a deep breath. “… In addition, I wish to also admit my crimes on Saelarial and the royal family of the fairies. I am here to face judgement.”

King Elutis’s expression didn’t change much, but I noticed him breathing deeper than usual. He knew why Reajaen was here, I made sure to have King Drangleic inform the elven king about everything. This was why Estralia was not a guaranteed ally, even if we currently had their underworld under our grasp through Artorias’s undercity, Shaturein.

King Elutis did not respond, knowing this wasn’t the time for it. Reajaen acknowledged it, looked at me, before sitting back down. Her guards lowered their heads, biting their mouths in frustration.

Everything had a place afterwards. For now, it was the last member’s turn.

A prepubescent boy far younger than any other representative stood up, trying his best to keep his shaking hand in control as he addressed the adults. “I-I am Prince Markval Caimlace the Fifth from the Principality of Yeos. I am an invitee for this summit, here to offer our access to the middle seas. May we uphold honor in the name of God Yeostar … Also, I would also like for my guardian to take over as my voice on this table. Would that be all right?”

Neill smiled as she heard this, eying the woman standing behind the young prince. A short-haired woman with a slight androgynous face bowed, taking a step forward. I knew this friend of ours was trying to change her nation for the better, but it seemed like she was ambitious enough to even participate in diplomacy.

“My name is Rhea Renee Sealight, the current royal guard for Prince Markval Caimlace the Fifth. In addition, I am also the current Champion of Yeostar. Due to His Majesty’s age, Yeos wishes for me to speak on his behalf, including accepting a decision concerning our diplomatic stance.”

“The current Champion, I see. I had heard a woman was chosen despite Yeos’s lack of interest in promoting women into power,” King Elutis stated out of nowhere. “I see your nation has changed for the better.”

Yikes, thorny.

“Enough.” I stopped him before raising my hand. “Let us proceed. Everybody who agrees with this proposal will raise their hands in support.”

“Let her,” Sis stated, letting everybody know our stance here. As such, there was nobody who hesitated and Renee was voted in.

With this, every member of this summit had given each other their goals, meaning it was time for me to sit back a bit and let people talk. After all, we had a ton of information to go through, and I certainly had no idea how to best start it out. As such, let the people best suited for this job begin.

As such, King Fugnarus began, taking a piece of parchment from his wife who was standing behind him. “The highest talking point of this meeting is certainly the fact that I announced the founding of our alliance to everybody. The ‘Shakaie-Narn’ Alliance, named after the leader of our alliance.”

“Indeed.” King Artorias nodded. “The purpose of this alliance had always been to allow Artorias to secede from the Folschreck Empire to escape our duty to supply them with levies and tax every year, used to continue fighting in the demonkin war. As a ruler of a human nation, I understand the importance of this war, but at the same time, the number of Artorian lives lost had grown to the point I, nor my dukes, can accept this any further.”

“And we from Ankor-Nazta wish to assure the Empire doesn’t expand even further. Their wars with the beastmen of Carmaniate had only caused our relationship to sour even further. Not to mention the ending of the War for the Faefolk. Due to us trading with both nations within the neutral zone, my vassals fear some glory hungry or foolhardy noble might try something.”

“Certainly unwise,” King Elutis stated. “They already have two wars on two different fronts. The Empire might be large, but the fact their pride compels them to continue an unnecessary war is just proof that there is no real unity. They only need to fight the demonkins, but wish to subjugate the beastmen for slaves. This same greed caused the War for the Faefolk.”

Renee nodded. “And this war has only hurt its vassals. I have testimonies of parents and siblings losing family members as young levies in the meat grinder that is the northern and southern warfront. Yeos personally had lost a king and a Champion in the war effort against the demonkin, and we still haven’t recovered from that tragedy, driven by a false sincerity to God Yeostar, cursing our nation with debt and death.”

“Champion Renee, considering King Elutis’s comment, I suspect from your words that you too wish to secede, no?” King Fugnarus asked.

Renee did not react much, keeping her expression neutral. “We cannot say for sure, Your Majesty. Yeos is a small nation, in addition, we are geographically far too far from the other members of our alliance. To reach us, you must sail through four different nations’ waters, and this isn’t even considering the many grimgarian pirates and invaders lately. In fact, without Princess Hestia’s subspace, we would not be able to be here as our nation requires us.”

“‘Tis smart, Champion,” King Elutis agreed. “We will not force you. An alliance is here to serve all parties equally. Proper relations are far more important in this deal to maintain trust and unity. The fact the Empire could sail to your land in a matter of hours makes it impossible for you to betray the Empire, otherwise you would feel their wrath as we cannot reach you in time. Is that so?”

He looked at me, so I responded, “Even if my mother, Melloxtressa, were currently awake, transporting an army through my space-time portal would be an enormous task, purely due to arcane corruption. Mana cost increases with distance from the original entry to the destination. My party circumvents this by placing multiple destination ‘Bs’ in between to teleport towards, but this is only properly feasible with a few people.”

“And only if she can trust the person to hang onto the portal,” Neill continued for me. “In fact, there is a massive gap between Yeos and Estralia, as we have nobody trustworthy living in between them. They are three countries apart. To reach Yeos with this method, you need to teleport to Estralia before taking a boat down the river.”

“Meaning, logistically, one must march their army as usual,” Renee concluded. “While it is clear Yeos cannot join due to our current circumstances, Estralia, on the other hand, is willing to join.”

“You wish to confirm this before we speak, President?” King Elutis asked.

She nodded. “We are not beholden to the Empire. Our trade is too invaluable and our capital’s geographical location is a fort, making it impossible for somebody to invade us unless they wish to destroy us. As such, Estralia is a republic who only wishes to further our mercantile goals. Estralia wishes to trade with Loatryx, Caedhul, and Saelariel.”

It was a clear answer to everybody’s understanding. As such, I wanted to draw the discussion away from it for now.

“Speaking of which, does this mean Caedhul will not join?”

Maelexus shook his head. “As you know, their representative is actually inside the city right now. They informed us that as long as Saelariel and Loatryx agrees with the terms, Caedhul will join. Unfortunately, due to King Fugnarus’s declaration of war, they have told us they are unsure if they wish to participate. After all, unlike the many underwater tribes, the Republic of Caedhul is the unified nation between all aquatic beastmen in service of the church of Plesia. A hub of exploration and trade, they are unsure if they wish to incur the wrath of the demonkins.”

I winced. “They do know what happened two weeks ago, right?”

King Fugnarus nodded. “They fear the difficulty of the campaign and how much it will cost them. We might be allied, but they have tried to persuade us to reconsider. Sadly, that cannot be the case.”

He then waved his hand, calling his wife to speak. “Even before the war declaration, a war was impossible to avoid. I have used these two weeks to speak to the different dwarven clans. Every major and the vast majority of minor clans have accepted to fight for honor’s sake. A grudge needs to be dealt with, and the throng is mustered for it.”

“The casus belli is clear,” King Elutis added. “The only reason why Saelariel held back is due to this summit, Princess Hestia. The Empire placed a bounty on your head. They sent dragonslayers after you! We were patient enough in respect of what we had heard of your personality through the guild master of Griffonpeak, Muraina. However, the demonkins have attacked Ankor-Nazta—our most precious ally. ‘Tis a slight too much!”

“Loatryx agrees.” Maelexus grumbled, causing me to grimace a bit.

“We fought and bled during the attack, Princess Hesita. The four of us killed for each other.” King Drangleic pointed at Fugnarus, Elutis, and Maelexus. “Artorias was always prepared for a war, and with the truth coming out that the Empire of Folschreck is being controlled by the demonkins, even from within the very church of Aurena’s holy capital, there is no other question. If they wish to demean you, our benefactor, then Artorias is honorbound to right this wrong!”

“Consequences,” King Fugnarus said. “I know your stance on everything and what you are planning, Princess Hesita, but you should know ours now. This cannot be avoided. Even after the attack on Aureolis to kill the false pope, we will make our stance clear to the Empire and the demonkins. Now, can you say something to persuade us?”

The alliance had already talked things through behind the scenes. King Drangleic, King Fugnarus, King Elutis, and kinkyuro representatives Maelexus were all on board after the attack. Maagneil’s attack united all of them.

This was already clear to me. It was now my turn to present my points, and whether something changes depends on the information on hand.

“Saintess Fleindia,” I called out. “Vifi. Ellaine.”

The latter two stepped up while Fleindia stood up to curtsy.

“My name is Saintess Fleindia Alsternich, a noble of the Folschreck Empire and a Saintess of Goddess Erithia for ten years. I was recently paired with Champion Cleionvall, but he and many other blessed of the Light Pantheon were recently murdered due to our attempt to overthrow the Prince of Envy posing as our pope and the corruption that had overtaken the cathedrals inside the Empire. I wish to present my story.”

“The name is Vifi’Yok,” she introduced herself after Fleindia. She lowered her collar, revealing some of her cleavage but also a large scar in the middle of her chest. “I am a former Warbringer of the Prince of Wrath, making me a commander of the demonkin army of Bole’Taria. I now work for Hestia, and she wanted me to speak.”

“Huh?” Fleindia’s eyes widened; however, before she could speak, Ellaine did.

“My name is Ellaine Fiero Helvas, and I am an unofficial knight in service of Princess Hestia and her party, Aurora. In addition, I also serve as the caregiver for the Archdemon of Lust, Klea’Hatma, with the blessing of the Goddess herself through a unique skill.”

[“Hello, darrrrrlings!”] Klea’s voice entered everybody’s minds.

“… WHAT?” Fleindia shouted, now completely flabbergasted.

Oh yeah, did you think you were my secret weapon, Miss Fleindia? Think again! Those two are!