Chapter 376: Kingly Business |
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SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY USER NAME: [EMPRESS RONA LITTAE]
ADDENDUM NOTE: Men with just cause for war often mistake war for justice.
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Lieutenant Nokomi Moonwing flexed the soreness from her wings, then resisted the urge to take a stamina potion. She’d burned every point of SP she had while making her mad sprint into the forest, barely bringing the extraction point into range of her Gate spell in time. Her comrades were now safe, she was no longer responding to an emergency, and while she still felt like she might vomit a fourth time, her regen was slowly ticking.
Just nine more hours until she was fully recovered…
While Nokomi wanted a roost more than anything, she’d been swept up in the continuing action after portalling Lieutenant Colonel Tavio’s company out of the Labyrinth. The colonel was a ball of anger, radiating a frustrated heat as a supply sergeant helped him don a new suit of armor. The gear he’d gone into the Labyrinth with had been destroyed down to the last piece, and the quartermaster was turning the man’s ruined helm over in his hands with a dumbfounded expression. It was the only thing Tavio could even recover, and it had been half melted.
“How did you say you survived this, sir?” asked the quartermaster, looking between the helm and Tavio. The colonel tightened a strap and glanced at him.
“Sumrann’s mercy,” said Tavio, “and a lot of cooldowns.” The supply sergeant held out a new helm, which Tavio accepted and placed in his inventory. He then snagged the kite shield leaning against the wall near the quartermaster, nodded at the pair, and ducked out of the armory. Nokomi followed close behind him.
She looked around the group, suppressing her questions about the party’s missing members. Only half of the Littan soldiers who had gone into the Labyrinth had come back out, and none of the ones who’d returned were in good spirits. Captain Pio looked even more murderous than Colonel Tavio, moving as though her small frame were incapable of containing so much fury. Staff Sergeant Baltae hid his expression behind a helm as dark as his fur, but his floating grimoire gave his mood away, its flipping pages slow and morose. Lieutenant Madel’s red eyes were fixed on the ground, staring blankly while her mind was a thousand miles away.
Pio finished running her mana through a wand to check its spellwork, then nodded at Tavio. Without a word the group headed off again, this time towards the hospital, although they wouldn’t be receiving treatment. They found their way to an office that had been commandeered by Surgeon General Olivia, its door swinging open as they approached. The general was in the process of debriefing everyone returning from the forest, and the man she was currently interviewing cut himself off mid-sentence at the interruption. He looked like he’d been given no chance to recover, his brigandine still stained with dirt and grass. His fingers plucked at it as he stared at the new arrivals.
“Ma’am,” said Tavio with a sharp salute, which was mirrored by the rest of them.
“Colonel,” she replied, then continued a discussion Nokomi hadn’t been part of. “Captain Pio will remain in charge of tactics while you join her team temporarily to replace Guar. You, however, will handle strategy for the joint operation with Closetland.” Her pale pink eyes ran over the five of them. “Is this everyone? Where is Specialist Cezil?”
“Unknown, ma’am. We only realized her absence after we’d already portalled out.”
Olivia frowned, twisting the pattern of her brindled fur. “Lieutenant Nokomi will be staying in Closetland, so you will need a fifth.” She looked at the man across from her. The wiry fellow froze with a cookie halfway to his mouth. “Sergeant Alanor, I’m assigning you to Team Pio for the moment. You’ll accompany them in pursuit of the United.”
The soldier stood and stuffed the cookie into a pouch at his waist. “Understood, ma’am!” he barked, saluting so fast a few crumbs flew from his fingers and bounced off Nokomi’s cheek.
“Sergeant,” said Tavio, “why are you eating snacks during your debrief?”
Alanor swallowed. “I took a passive skill upgrade in the Labyrinth, sir! It helps my regeneration.” He looked nervously from the colonel to General Olivia, both of whom stared him down intensely.
“Well?” said Olivia. “You’re going to need your mana. Keep eating, Sergeant!”
“Yes, ma’am!” said Alanor, beginning to fumble at his pouch to retrieve his treats.
“King Xor’Drel’s Checkpoint to New Krimsim has already been used today,” said the general. “Specialist Tono will take you to Fort Ruiz, after which you will travel to Eschengal to accompany a group of Eschen diplomats through the portal there and into Closetland.” She gave them a final assessing look. “Take them away, Tono. Dismissed.”
Nokomi was unfamiliar with Specialist Tono, but stopped thinking on the matter after the Level 35 revealed himself to be standing right next to them. The man was little more than a dark shape with a subtle glint where his eyes should be, and with little fanfare he teleported everyone other than the general directly to a courtyard at the center of Fort Ruiz, more than a thousand miles to their north. He was gone before Nokomi had even gotten her bearings.
While she carefully contained her surprise over the monstrous teleport, Alanor wore his openly. “Yara’s tits,” he muttered, drawing a sharp look from Captain Pio. The man gave her a contrite expression, then yelped as Madel grabbed him and Baltae before blasting off towards Eschengal. Pio, Tavio, and Nokomi were left to find their own way, each being fast enough to make the journey in a handful of minutes.
They arrived to find a group of Eschens waiting on them. A pair each of scaled Geulons, feathered Deijinons, and lumbering Hyrachons made for a balanced representation of the three loson races, all of them wearing formal robes of the Eschenden. It was a stark contrast to the battle-worn attire of the Littans. Tavio gave them a diplomatic, if curt, greeting, and the group waited awkwardly for a few minutes before a portal appeared.
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They walked through it to find themselves outside Closetland’s capitol building. They were quickly ushered aside to make way for a line of people and wagons, which began hustling through the portal out to Eschengal. They were of all different races but most looked like ordinary folk–traders, merchants, and haulers primarily. The Eschen delegation seemed to consider this ordinary, although it was the first time Nokomi was encountering this kind of business on the other side of a Closetland portal.
Her group garnered different reactions from the people on the streets. While the Eschens received looks of curiosity or respect, Nokomi recognized that most of the laborers around them were former Littan slaves. While Tavio had done nearly as much to aid in their freedom as King Xor’Drel, the presence of imperial soldiers still drew a degree of scorn.
The only warm expression directed towards them came from a Littan woman who stood awaiting them. Governess Lena was the current administrator over Closetland’s capital city of Pending, and the mundane woman was flanked by two Level 1 Delvers wearing the odd equipment Nokomi knew to be Zng in origin.
“Bishop Kullol,” she said, nodding towards one of the Hyrachons. “Lieutenant Colonel Tavio. Guests.” She made eye contact with each of them as she gave her short greeting. “We are dealing with time-sensitive matters, so I hope you’ll forgive such a blunt welcome. If you’ll please follow me, I will take you to the king.”
She led them across the street and into the capitol building. They went through a large ballroom that appeared to be in the middle of being converted to a training hall, then into a large sitting room adjoining it. King Xor’Drel stood at the room’s center, speaking to King Filix Celeritia.
Nokomi knew that Arlo himself was inhabiting one of his Mystic Magisters, and despite appearances she thought it likely the king of Hiward was also here in facsimile. There were no members of the Kingsguard present, after all, and a squad of Littans as powerful as the one she was traveling with wouldn’t be allowed within a mile of the Hiwardian king without ample chaperones and safeguards.
“We need assurances, Filix,” said Arlo. “House Heronwyte has unilaterally chosen to put Hiward into conflict with Closetland, and if that’s not enough for you to take this seriously, they’ve put you in conflict with the Littan Empire as well.”
He turned and nodded at Tavio, their group’s arrival having such grand timing it felt almost scripted. The colonel stepped forward and gave a respectful bow to both kings.
“While I cannot speak for Her Imperial Majesty,” he said, “I have been given a message to deliver from Grand General Tyvus Thaddacleus Connatis.” Tavio pulled an ornate scroll case from his inventory and respectfully presented it to the king of Hiward. The man looked a little exasperated as he accepted the case, then popped it open and read through the document within. He rubbed wearily at his eyes once he was done.
Filix sighed and looked at Arlo. “Do you have anyone else lined up?”
“I believe the delegates from Eschendur have some concerns,” King Xor’Drel replied. The Hyrachon, Bishop Kullol, walked forward serenely as King Celeritia patiently waited to hear what the man had to say.
“The actions of House Heronwyte have endangered the new trade routes made possible by Closetland’s portal network,” said the bishop with a voice like tumbling stones. “Never before has the expense of sending goods to and from the Kingdom of Hiward been so low, and Eschendur would deeply regret the loss of such efficiency. If Closetland were to close its anchor portal in Hiward, many of the goods being bought and sold would inevitably find a more convenient marketplace.” The Hyrachon bowed to signal that he was finished.
“Thank you, Bishop,” said Filix before turning back to Arlo. “I have to admit, I’m impressed you put all this together in, what, an hour?”
“Kind of you to say.”
“I hope you’ll also recognize that the fact I’m speaking to you myself shows you how seriously I’m taking this.”
“Likewise.”
Filix crossed his arms and looked thoughtful. “All right, so how about this…”
Governess Lena got their attention and gestured for them to make their exit. Tavio followed the woman–their business here apparently done–the other Littan Delvers following behind. Nokomi’s sensitive ears could still make out the rest of the conversation as they walked away from the sitting room.
“...Hiward’s position will be that all members of House Heronwyte are banned from using the anchor portal. If we find any of them trying to sneak in, we’ll treat it as an act of treason. If any of them do manage to sneak through, then Hiward won’t ask for extradition. You can do what you want with them. I’ll get something drafted up that has more specifics–safeguards against abuse, for example–but is that enough for you to keep the portal going for now?”
“That depends,” said Arlo. “Are they going to face domestic repercussions as well?”
“They just pissed off the Ravvenblaqs, the Duckgriens, and most importantly, me. Yeah, they’re going to face some consequences. The extent of what I can do formally is going to depend on a lot of other factors, but informally, well… Patriarch Ravvenblaq might go north and start taking some Heronwyte heads whether I say he can or not, and I won’t be inclined to get in his way.” King Celeritia let out a heavy sigh. “This is about to be a mess, especially if Cera gets involved personally.”
Nokomi lost the conversation as Lena waved the Littans through another portal, this one dropping them off inside Closetland’s enormous armory. The large haunted golem called Vaulty was busy constructing fortifications around an empty spot of ground, even going so far as to have a forty-foot-long cannon aimed at it. Nokomi studied it for a moment, thinking that it looked suspiciously like–
“Is that one of our cannons?” asked Captain Pio. Tavio silenced her with a firm look and signalled for their group to wait. After another few minutes the cannon began to whine as mana fed into it, and a dozen more weapons sprang up from the fortifications. Nokomi hadn’t even realized they were there. All the guns trained in on a new portal that appeared in the middle of Vaulty’s prepared area.
With a gesture, Tavio led Team Pio through it, leaving Nokomi behind.
She watched them go, slightly befuddled by the entire whirlwind trip, then turned back to Lena. “Forgive me, Governess, but may I ask how the king of Hiward was projecting himself into Closetland? It was a very convincing illusion.”
Lena blinked up at her, surprised by the question. “Oh? Oh! No, that was King Celeritia himself. Since the anchor portal puts us within spitting distance of Hiward’s capital city, His Majesty likes to stroll over and take advantage of our hot springs.” She held a hand over her mouth to hide a spreading grin. “King Xor’Drel went and dragged him right out of the bath!”
“But where are his guards?!” asked Nokomi, shocked at the lax security.
“I think King Celeritia’s been giving them the slip. He’s quite fast, you know.” Lena shrugged. “Anyway, we should get back to business, Lieutenant. We’re going to have to work out some serious logistics.”
“Right,” said Nokomi. “I also have guidance from Count Starion about the legal framework for such large-scale cooperation.”
“Excellent,” said Lena with a bright smile. “We’ll be sending a multi-nation army through one of these portals in no time!”
[END ADDENDUM]