Valkyrie's Shadow

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 5, Chapter 2

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 5, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Florine leaned back in her seat, staring out the cabin window at a puff of cloud in drifting the azure skies above. Clara’s carriage conveyed them away from the E-Rantel’s Royal Villa, slowly rounding the bend to go down the central promenade. Spring blossoms still clung to the trees along the cobbled streets. Beneath the colourful display, the streets were busier than they should have been – a mark of the change that had come over the Duchy of E-Rantel.

“It’s strange to see so many manors active in the district at this time of the year,” Florine said.

“You should worry less about other people’s households and more about yourself,” Liane frowned worriedly. “I can’t believe you said that right to the Prime Minister’s face! If your family mausoleum is still standing by the end of the week, I’m gonna inscribe ‘Called Lady Albedo a Dummy’ onto your sarcophagus.”

Her best friend stirred restlessly in her seat. Florine sighed. Her gaze returned to the window.

“I didn’t call her a ‘dummy’,” Florine replied. “I said that what was happening was stupid. All of our hard work and preparations were about to get destroyed because everyone started to frame the Draconic Kingdom’s court as an obstacle.”

“What else were we supposed to think?” Liane threw up her hands, “There was no sign of them doing what you said they were doing.”

“But they were doing it,” Florine replied. “If they were doing it, what more do you need?”

“All I saw was them just refusing everything. If I have to go through ‘Lady Soruel’ fluffing her boobs at us while rendering some poetic refusal one more time, I’m going to twist them off!”

Florine eyed Liane, who was pouting in her seat with arms crossed over her midriff. Salacia Soruel was being ever more antagonistic towards them. She regularly acted to incite Queen Oriculus’ court against the Sorcerous Kingdom’s proposals and over half of the Draconic Kingdom’s Royal Court could be seen as supporting her in one way or another. That being said, the dusky noblewoman was entirely genuine in her position and a crucial participant in their ongoing negotiations.

“If you knew what was going on,” Clara said, “why didn’t you say anything to us? We’re all supposed to be part of the same effort.”

“I was serious when I said what I said just now,” Florine told Clara. “Anyone who didn’t know isn’t supposed to know.”

“Why?”

“Because it would result in fake diplomacy. Every member of every party is supposed to genuinely represent their respective interests to the fullest extent of their ability.”

She didn’t get why they didn’t get it. Liane and Clara were both much smarter than Florine. They were educated and trained as noblewomen in much the same way that she was.

“This thing Queen Oriculus is doing,” Liane said. “If it’s even actually happening, she nearly screwed her kingdom.”

“But she didn’t.”

“Because you were brave-slash-stupid enough to say what you did to Lady Albedo! What if you weren’t a part of our delegation?”

“Then Queen Oriculus would be doing things differently.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because if I wasn’t there, she wouldn’t have done it.”

“Why are we going in circles?”

Florine sighed, looking out the window again. It seemed that no one had issued instructions to the driver, so they were now just parked in front of Clara’s city manor.

“How old is she?” Florine asked.

“Who?”

“Queen Oriculus. The two of you see her as a capable ruler, but, at the same time I think you’re underestimating her.”

“Mmh…the Demon Gods popped up two centuries ago and started burninating everything,” Liane scratched her chin lightly. “It took the

Thirteen Heroes like a decade to gather their strength and maybe another five years to run all over the place banishing all the Demon Gods…”

“Why would it take thirteen people a decade to gather?” Clara asked.

“Because it wasn’t just thirteen? That’s just people trying to downplay the role of every race but Humans in the fight against the Demon Gods.”

“Then how many were there?”

“Um, the Karnassus version of the story claimed that there were over a hundred of them. There were the Nine Goddesses that came down and helped them as well. Anyway, the Demon Gods didn’t all run around together either: they split up to destroy things all over the place. Some of them were alone while a few moved around in twos and threes.

“Since hundreds of millions of lives were at stake, the ‘Thirteen Heroes’ split up into big parties to stop the Demon Gods as quickly as possible. Some of the parties succeeded; others failed. In the end, the ‘Leader’ of the Thirteen Heroes defeated the Demon God King. After that, the Thirteen Heroes went somewhere and got their collective asses kicked by some Dragon God.”

“Why did they go fight this ‘Dragon God’?”

“Who knows?” Liane shrugged, “Maybe they were pissed off that someone so strong didn’t come out and help the world. Or maybe they thought they could tackle something big and get stuff for it. Dragons have treasure, so a Dragon God must have godly treasure.”

It didn’t seem right to attack someone just because they could. Strong people often let their power get to their heads, however, so it stood to reason that a whole lot of strong people working together might end up being a huge menace if left to their own devices.

“I think we’ve digressed a bit,” Florine said.

“Huh? Oh yeah. So let’s say a generation passed between when the Demon Gods popped up and the dust settled. The Draconic Kingdom is the Draconic Kingdom because they have a Draconic Bloodline, so let’s also say the Brightness Dragon Lord gave them a bit of a head start by helping to unify and stabilise the country for his future descendants. So the Brightness Dragon Lord did the dirty with…wait, how does that work? A tub?”

“Skip that part!” Florine reached over and swatted Liane, “I’m just asking how old the Queen is.”

“Queen Oriculus is the great-grandchild of the original…pair, but we don’t know how long Dragon-blooded people live. Maybe they have regular Human lifespans, but I somehow doubt that. Maybe it depends on how strongly their Draconic ancestry manifests. Anyway, my guess is around fifty.”

“Why fifty?”

“Something Ilyshn’ish told me. Dragons are considered Adults at a hundred years of age. Queen Oriculus reportedly has the powers of a Dragon and looks like a ten-year-old, so fifty.”

“It’s good to know that you’ve finally accepted that the age of adulthood is twenty,” Clara nodded. “But I think she looks like she’s eight.”

“I thought she looked around twelve,” Florine said.

“Uh, sure,” Liane said. “Whatever. Why did you ask?”

“I’m just trying to point out how old she actually is,” Florine replied. “Queen Oriculus is a highly experienced sovereign that has led her country through all of its trials for around two generations if your guess is correct. She’s been dealing with much stronger countries to ensure the survival of her people. If you match her apparent capabilities with her experience, it’s impossible to imagine that she’d screw up when it comes to court politics. Plus she knows so much about the world and how it works.”

Queen Oriculus never described things in explicit terms, but she demonstrated a high degree of working knowledge about the systems of the world. Florine wouldn’t be surprised if Queen Oriculus understood how to weave the tapestry of her nation to maximise the effect of the groundwork laid by her grandfather, a being who was older than any known history.

The Queen had already offered a sample of that knowledge to them. Cultivating an amicable relationship with her might give them access to a vast repository of lore. It was a golden chance to learn about the world from someone who wasn’t limited to the strangely sterile history of the region.

Florine was flabbergasted when the meeting with Lady Albedo had taken an antagonistic turn. It was like watching someone who was doing their best to become close to someone instead get treated as an enemy.

“Well…” Liane said, “now we know and there’s no way we can forget. What now?”

“I don’t know. She’s going to notice what’s changed the moment we resume negotiations.”

“You said something about the Queen being ahead of us,” Clara said. “About how she’s seeking answers for the future. I understand why this would be important to her, but, at the same time, is it really so complicated?”

“It is,” Florine nodded. “I’m not confident I can articulate it well, but…how about we see someone who knows better than us about this sort of thing?”

Florine opened her cabin door and stepped out onto the street. Their household staff chatting nearby came over to attend to them.

“So,” Liane came around the carriage, “where are we goin’?”

“To see Countess Jezne.”

“Eh…? Is she in the city?”

“I saw some of her household running around performing errands…”

She pointed past Liane’s shoulder. Her friend turned to see two carriages with the sigil of House Jezne roll to a stop in front of the noblewoman’s Manor.

“Since it’s come to this,” Clara smiled slightly, “we should at least head over to offer courtesies.”

Their greetings were received with a frown from the venerable matron of House Jezne. Her head of curls had only grown more steely in appearance since the winter and her gaze was no less so.

“Your guard dog is missing,” Countess Jezne noted.

“Baroness Zahradnik is currently attending a meeting with the Grand Marshal, my lady,” Clara replied.

“Hmph. I heard she’s gone from an unofficial nanny to an official one, too.”

“She has two apprentices with her now, yes. Speaking of which, I don’t see Lord Albert…”

“I locked him up in a manor out in the county,” Countess Jezne replied. “He’s behind on too much and the city has too many distractions.”

The Countess’ grumpy gaze turned to Florine. A dire frown creased the older woman’s face.

“And just what in the gods’ names are you wearing, young lady?”

What am I wearing…? Oh, gods!

Florine wrapped her arms around herself and hid behind Clara. With the Royal Court’s summons dominating their attention, she had forgotten about the shameless outfits that she and Liane were in.

“It’s the Draconic Kingdom’s local fashion,” Clara said. “Though Oriculon is only about six hundred kilometres away, the climate is remarkably different. Something to do with how the wind and the seas affect the weather, if I’m not mistaken.”

Another set of carriages rolled to a stop behind them, bearing the sigil of House Völkchenheim. A pair of footmen came out to open the door of the central carriage. The Count of Völkchenheim stepped out and then turned to help the Countess of Völkchenheim disembark. Adelia was about six months pregnant, but the Count looked like he was afraid that the baby would pop out the moment Adelia’s heel touched the pavement.

“Count Völkchenheim,” Clara smiled, “Countess Völkchenheim. It’s so good to see the both of you healthy.”

“Likewise, Countess Corelyn,” Count Völkchenheim replied. “I hear that you’ve gone off on yet another grand adventure.”

“I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a ‘grand adventure’, my lord,” Clara said, “but…actually, since we’re all here, there were some related matters that I’d like to discuss. Would it be an imposition?”

Lord and Lady Völkchenheim glanced at one another.

“We were just coming over for some afternoon tea,” Count Völkchenheim said. “There were some sundry matters to discuss, but since we see one another so rarely…Countess Jezne?”

“Oh, sure,” the aged noblewoman rolled her eyes, “just barge in on an old woman in her own home, why don’t you?”

Countess Jezne turned and stormed through her gate. The rest of them stared after her.

“I-is that a ‘no’?” Count Völkchenheim asked.

“It’s a ‘yes’, my lord,” a footman at the gate answered.

They followed the Countess into her manor. Several members of her household led them to a drawing room furnished with antiques and pieces of art. Everything had the look of being several generations old – perhaps even as old as Re-Estize itself.

?Ah, I haven’t been in here for so long. I still think everything here is older than Jezne so she can feel younger by comparison.?

?Liane!?

Once they were seated, Florine examined the couple across from them with a warm smile.

“So do you think it’s a girl or a boy?” She asked.

“Hmm…I’d like for it to be a boy,” the Count answered, “but my dear Adelia insists that it’s a girl. Whenever I ask why she thinks that, she just answers ‘it’s obvious!’”

“If you could feel what I’m carrying around,” Adelia told them, “you’d think so too. She’s nothing like Torkel. I adore your outfit, by the way.”

Florine resisted the urge to shrink in on herself.

“Y-you do?”

“It’s so exotic! I bet you’re the centre of attention down there.”

“I think it’s just normal,” Florine said before Liane could begin to brag. “For there. Our northern fashions would receive more attention since it would be ‘exotic’ to them.”

“Hmm, you’re probably right. You’ve always been better at reading that sort of thing than the rest of us.”

Countess Jezne entered the room, followed by a set of Maids and footmen bearing refreshments. She seated herself on a cushy armchair facing the table between the two couches where her guests were seated.

“So,” she said, “what’s your business? You easterners hardly come by for anything else.”

“We apologise for that, Lady Jezne,” Clara lowered her head. “If things weren’t so hectic on our end, we would have been certain to interact on a more casual basis.”

“Are things so dire in the Draconic Kingdom?” Torkel asked, “We hardly hear anything about what’s going on down there, though I suppose it’s barely been a week since we last saw you.”

“There’s no delicate way to put it,” Clara said. “When Zahradnik arrived, the invaders were storming the capital. The entire country has long been overrun.”

Adelia raised a hand to her mouth with a gasp and a distraught look.

“The…the invaders are Demihumans, are they not? Man-eating Beastmen.”

“They are,” Clara nodded solemnly.

“That’s terrible!” Torkel said, “What happened then?”

“The capital was secured. It will be weeks yet until the rest of the Draconic Kingdom is cleared of invaders.”

“I can’t imagine what those people have gone through,” the Count shook his head. “Is there anything we can do to help? This seems far beyond your preparations for the river trade.”

“It is,” Clara admitted, “but the…nature of the Beastman occupation has resulted in a different sort of problem…”

A half-hour passed as Clara went over the issues facing the Draconic Kingdom. Even Countess Jezne seemed shocked at what had transpired, but, as Clara broke down what they needed, the other Nobles put on thoughtful looks.

“So they’ve been razed down to the roots,” Countess Jezne said.

“But even so,” Torkel added, “those roots can grow back as long as they have their land and people. With leased security forces from the Sorcerous Kingdom, they’re in a better position than they were before. Impervious, I would dare say. Once the Beastmen are driven out, things will turn around. It’s just a matter of time until they exceed their former prosperity.”

“It’s a great opportunity for us, as well,” Adelia said. “Since they’re down to their primary industries, We can finally pursue the ‘urbanisation’ that Lady Albedo always goes on about.”

“That’s true,” the Count nodded. “We didn’t have much of an outlet for our secondary industries before, so we’ve barely seen any progress with it. The Draconic Kingdom will have a high demand for manufactured goods. I do not wish to sound callous, but the Draconic Kingdom’s grave situation is a fortuitous one for us.”

‘Urbanisation’, as the Prime Minister put it, was a concept used to describe the shift of demographics from rural to urban. It wasn’t simply the migration of spares to urban centres that they were familiar with, but a broad transformation of society as a whole.

The most telling change brought forth by the advent of the Sorcerous Kingdom was a revolution in agriculture. Even if tenants didn’t see any benefits from Undead labour due to the limited amount of land available for farming, the broad use of druidic magic consistently enhanced crop yields. Crops were similarly free of disease, drought was nonexistent and extreme changes in temperature were regulated.

As a result, agricultural lands that once produced a surplus of five to ten per cent now produced a surplus of roughly two hundred fifty per cent. In the near term, it meant that they had plenty of food to export. In the long term, it meant that there was no longer any need for a vast rural population to tend to primary industries.

The former equilibrium between rural and urban populations for Humans in the region was ninety-five per cent rural to five per cent urban. In the Sorcerous Kingdom, projections based on its first year of operations placed equilibrium at somewhere around seventy per cent urban. Unfortunately, this couldn’t all happen at once. They lacked work, housing, infrastructure and proper systems of administration, education and social welfare for such a society.

To start everything off, however, urban centres needed industries for migrants to work in. For those industries to remain solvent, there had to be a market for their goods. They had plenty of food and raw materials, but their domestic market was tiny compared to any neighbouring Human countries.

“I take it that means no progress has been made in western markets,” Clara said.

“I wouldn’t say that no progress has been made,” Torkel said. “It’s just that our options have been…limited. Only a handful of Merchant companies from Re-Estize come across the border to trade in the Sorcerous Kingdom, and they are the same ones from shortly after the annexation. Merchants from the Empire and the Theocracy don’t carry goods from the Sorcerous Kingdom into Re-Estize.”

“That part is quite infuriating,” Adelia added. “Merchants from the Empire will purchase Dwarven goods from Dwarven Merchants in E-Rantel, then sell them in Re-Estize. I understand that Dwarves are renowned for their craftsmanship, but Re-Estize won’t even look at our goods! They act as if even touching a piece of charcoal from us will turn them into a Skeleton.”

“If that’s the case,” Liane said, “what are those Merchants from Re-Estize doing?”

“They purchase commodities,” Adelia replied. “How does it go again…ah – they have workshops that reprocess raw goods into something marketable. For instance, they take our grain and use their facilities in Re-Estize to process it into flour. Fodder is used to raise livestock in out-of-the-way places. Timber is shipped whole to be turned into lumber at their mills. Our territories can’t take any pride in our exports because everything is relabelled as something else so it can be sold without issue.”

It also meant that Undead-powered machines with much lower operating costs couldn’t be taken advantage of. The profit margins presented by Undead labour would be next to nonexistent when it came to their exports to Re-Estize. Even with everything brought about by the Sorcerous Kingdom, the western houses couldn’t take advantage of their improved situation beyond having basic needs and security.

Florine glanced over at Liane and Clara.

?Do you understand now??

?I’m afraid not…?

?Understand what??

She sighed. The western Nobles of the Sorcerous Kingdom – who were in many ways similar to the Nobles of the Draconic Kingdom – had laid out their feelings through their account. Her friends, however, seemed oblivious to those feelings.

“You said that you had some ‘related matters’ to discuss with us,” Countess Jezne said. “Better get on with it before teatime turns into supper.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Clara nodded. “Now that you understand what’s going on in the Draconic Kingdom, I thought that you might be able to bridge the chasm that they’re facing. We’ll also be using regular channels of trade, of course, but those channels are insufficient to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. It should also clear up the glut in supply for certain goods until at least the end of summer.”

“That sounds good to me,” Torkel said, “what do they need?”

“At the top of the list is wood.”

“Wood?” Torkel frowned, “That has to be the easiest thing…”

“The demand is temporary,” Clara told him. “Their fleets have been destroyed and the river trade is central to their economy.”

“Fair enough,” the Count said. “I assume that charcoal is in demand because lumber is in demand.”

“In addition to a list of other things that we can source from around the Sorcerous Kingdom. How that list will evolve will depend on what’s left of the Draconic Kingdom’s liberated provinces. For the time being, you can be sure of those commodities.”

“How will they pay for all of this?” Countess Jezne asked, “It had better not be some sort of colossal favour.”

“Their gold supply is still somewhat intact,” Clara said. “We’ll simply be trading at their major ports.”

“From what you’ve said, we don’t need anything that they’re capable of producing right now. They’ll be running a colossal trade deficit. That gold will dry up sooner or later.”

That much was evident, but knowing didn’t bring them any closer to a solution.

“Lady Jezne,” Florine said. “In an effort to mitigate the issue long enough that they can begin balancing their trade, we’ve presented several dozen proposals to the Draconic Kingdom’s Royal Court. Unfortunately, they’ve been rejecting nearly everything. I was hoping that you could help us find more elegant solutions.”

The Countess snorted.

“You’re hoping that I can help you?”

“Yes, my lady,” Florine looked down at her lap shyly. “Corelyn is intimately familiar with all aspects of those proposals…”

Clara sent a dubious look in Florine’s direction, but went along with her prompting. It took all of one minute for Countess Jezne to interrupt her.

“What insanity have you been proposing to the Draconic Kingdom? Of course they aren’t going to accept anything like that.”

“It may be a bold set of proposals, but there is nothing inherently wrong with each one. As a whole, it should all come together to result in a quick and healthy recovery.”

Countess Jezne snorted.

“That’s so typical of you. Never mind your Merchant roots, Prime Minister Albedo has gotten you good and brainwashed too.”

“I beg your pardon?”

The Countess turned her attention away from Clara to address Torkel.

“Völkchenheim, would you take this deal?”

“I, erm…no? Wait, we never got to the details.”

“Essentially,” Clara said, “Our proposals revolve around leasing land. We’ve started by leasing a stretch of waterfront in their capital to serve as an exclave for the Sorcerous Kingdom. Traditionally, land for exclaves is granted by the host nation for free, but we offered to lease the land instead since it would require extensive restructuring to accommodate our freight and our citizens in the future.”

Torkel Völkchenheim nodded slowly at Clara’s explanation.

“It’s unorthodox,” he said, “but it feels reasonable enough considering their circumstances. Charitable, even. I wouldn’t have thought of it myself. Where did you go from there?”

“A minor trade exclave at each of their major cities,” Clara replied. “For the same practical reasons. They reluctantly accepted, but that was as far as we were able to get.”

“I see. What were the proposals they rejected like?”

“We thought to use unutilised land, first,” Clara said. “There’s a piece of completely undeveloped frontier in their northwest that goes by the name of the ‘Deadmarch’. It’s a bit larger than Corelyn County. The Deadmarch was originally used as a buffer zone where Adventurers would intercept Undead wandering out of the Katze Plains. There should be no concerns from that front as we’ve taken the Katze Plains and now manage its borders.

“We would use the land to produce commodities that were in demand in the Sorcerous Kingdom. A share of that production would go to the Draconic Kingdom to pay for the lease, which they could use to both supply their country and help balance trade with the Sorcerous Kingdom. It wouldn’t be a threat to their food security since we planned to cultivate textiles.”

“Were you planning to extend a similar proposal to other ‘underutilised territories’ had this one gone through?” Torkel asked.

“We were,” Clara replied. “It is the optimal course of action and contains only merits for all involved.”

Count Völkchenheim crossed his arms, staring up at the painted ceiling.

“Merits, huh…I’m sorry to disappoint you, Corelyn, but, if I were in their position, I would also reject your proposal.”

“Why?” Liane frowned, “It solves their biggest problem – well, not including the Beastman one. We can even use the land to showcase Undead labour. The Deadmarch doesn’t even belong to any of those Nobles: it’s under the direct control of the Queen. We’ve set everything up perfectly!”

“Perfect for a Merchant, maybe,” Countess Jezne said. “And perfect for the Prime Minister and her Elder Liches. But not everyone sees things the way that you do. The lot of you that’ve jumped onto everything the Sorcerous Kingdom offers are too used to having everything work ‘according to plan’.

“You have absolute authority over your territories; Elder Liches keep track of everything. Death Knights minimise crime and eliminate foreign threats. Production is so ridiculous that development is a matter of course. There’s no opposition because no one would dare to oppose His Majesty’s establishment. You might suffer some setbacks here and there, but, ultimately, everything goes right because nothing can go wrong. I’d like to remind you that the rest of the world doesn’t work that way.”

“It could,” Liane replied. “All they gotta do is hop on board with us.”

“Oh, yes,” Countess Jezne rolled her eyes, “let’s just jump into bed with someone we’ve just met. They can move into the spare manor, too!”

“From their perspective,” the corner of Torkel’s mouth twitched, “there would be too many risks. Too many risks and not enough trust. It’s as Lady Jezne says: your approach to ‘diplomacy’ is akin to Merchants conducting a transaction. This may work for some minor things here and there, but what you’re proposing is no minor thing. No country in my knowledge does what you’ve described.”

“Except us, apparently,” Countess Jezne muttered.

Count Völkchenheim cleared his throat.

“Yes, well…first of all, leasing land beyond those Merchant exclaves is out of the question. Land is entrusted to us by our sovereign. It is something earned through deeds of loyalty, chivalrous conduct, and the trust of generations. Asking to lease land from the Draconic Kingdom’s aristocracy in front of their Queen is an attack on both their pride as Nobles and their moral integrity. Leasing a march – undeveloped or not – is similarly shocking. If I didn’t know the three of you better, I would be disgusted by the idea.”

“There are political implications as well,” Adelia said. “Both internally and externally. Land is power. What you’re asking erodes that power. Torkel said it before: they can grow back as long as they have their land and people. By demonstrating that you can keep those lands secure, you’ve given them a sense of security. By asking if you can have it, you’re turning around and threatening that security. Honestly, if someone asked me what you did them, I’d laugh in their faces and have a Death Knight throw them out.”

“But we’re perfectly sincere in our intentions,” Clara said.

“They can never really know that,” Adelia replied. “Again, as Torkel mentioned: too many risks and not enough trust. I’m afraid that this will always be a problem for anyone who volunteers to represent the Sorcerous Kingdom. We’re just too strong. The weak cannot trust the strong because those with sufficient strength can do whatever they want. Everything is at the convenience of the strong. The Draconic Kingdom has no way to enforce the terms of that lease should the Sorcerous Kingdom decide to renege on its side of the contract.

“There is nothing that we can do to address the sheer difference in power between our countries. What we can do, however, is cultivate trust. Building sufficient trust to facilitate a genuine relationship takes time. You can’t expect the other party to simply take you at your word within a week of first meeting them. The whole Undead thing adds another layer of difficulty to it.”

“If the Sorcerous Kingdom wanted to control their land,” Liane noted, “we’d have just conquered them. I’m pretty sure that they understand that. There’s no need for this roundabout stuff.”

“You’re right,” Torkel said, “but the Sorcerous Kingdom has opted for diplomacy in this case, so there are certain rules by which both sides must play. Also, what you’re asking is potentially a way to legitimise a claim. You can develop the land and argue that most of its value is in that development. Moving people in and having them live there for a few generations will turn it into ancestral land. The claim doesn’t even need to be that solid – just enough to muddle diplomacy and prevent other actors from intervening. The Sorcerer King has a proven history of making territorial claims and using force to press them. This is in no way a criticism of His Majesty, but it is a fact that any party negotiating with us must consider.

“Also…the Deadmarch is right next to the Theocracy. I’m sure that they’ll have more than a few choice words to say to the Draconic Kingdom if they see that we’ve taken control of it. What you’ve done amounts to asking for the Draconic Kingdom to risk angering what they have long known to be the most powerful nation in the region. Even if they do plan to take our side eventually, it’s not something they’d be willing to do right away.”

“In that case,” Clara said, “what would you do if you were in our position?”

“Conduct diplomacy?” Count Völkchenheim tilted his head slightly, “I thought that’s why you were sent there. In fact, the most capable Human diplomat in the Sorcerous Kingdom is in your delegation. Why not ask her?”

“When we asked her,” Clara smiled wryly, “she had us come over here.”

“Then I would say that she lives up to her reputation,” Countess Jezne said. “Diplomacy is the process through which two sides explore one another’s position, understanding as much as they can. Culture; the land; the people; history and relationships. It’s not just hurling threats, proposals, solutions and deals at the other side. All of those things should be end products of the diplomatic process, demonstrating your understanding of the other party’s position relative to your own and the nature of the relationship you intend to fashion.”

Clara and Liane leaned back onto their couch and sighed. Florine tried not to look at them, idly running her finger along the rim of her teacup. She couldn’t be sure if what Vilette Jezne and the Völkchenheims conveyed had sunk in, but having Clara and Liane bounce their proposals off of friendly ‘traditional’ aristocrats felt like the most effective way to have them see what was wrong with their approach.

After confirming that Countess Jezne and Count Völkchenheim would begin the transfer of their stockpiled goods to Corelyn Harbour, Clara, Liane and Florine said their farewells and boarded Clara’s carriage once again. Leaving the city in the evening meant that there was little in the way of traffic and they were soon speeding down the highway to Castle Corelyn.

“We should have you lead the delegation, Florine,” Clara said.

Florine blinked at the sudden proposal tossed onto her lap.

“Um…no? That would be entirely inappropriate. You’re the highest-ranking member of our delegation. Additionally, if we returned and I was suddenly in charge, it would give off so many wrong signals…”

It would indicate that the Sorcerous Kingdom had lost confidence in Clara, which would be horrible in various ways. Queen Oriculus’ court would see her replacement as a ‘victory’ and grow overly aggressive. The Queen herself would have to rethink her position…

“But we’ve already ‘ruined’ what was going on,” Clara sighed. “How do we fix that?”

“You were already on the right track, I think.”

“How so?”

“You already knew that we couldn’t go much further the other day,” Florine said. “We were already beginning our ‘exploration’, so we’ll just continue doing that. Queen Oriculus will notice that the tone of your ‘offensive’ has changed, but she’ll hardly throw a fit over it. She’s far better at this than we are, so, if anything, she’ll adapt faster than we can.”

They arrived at Castle Corelyn to find that Ludmila had already returned from her meeting. The gallant Frontier Noble was practising with her glaive in the atrium of the palace. Two dozen men and women from Clara’s household were watching her from the stairs and walkways overhead with sparkly eyes.

I could use this scene somewhere…

As busy as they were, Florine still wanted to get volume four of Dreams of Red out before the winter, but she wasn’t sure if it was possible.

Ludmila’s glaive flashed out in a Blossoming Iris, except this time the blade of the glaive was wreathed in arcs of dark energy. Sounds of admiration rose from around the atrium. Ludmila seemed to cringe behind her stoic mask.

“That’s new,” Liane said.

“Sister Alessia shared some theories about Martial Arts development with me,” Ludmila replied. “I’ve been keeping them in mind, and It’s so much faster than trying to brute force things that aren’t suited for me. Once I get the hang of it, I’d like to start formulating new Martial Arts from scratch.”

“Uh…I’ll take your word for it? What does it do?”

“Well,” Ludmila performed a Blossoming Iris, “this one is three Pierce attacks combined into a single strike art, then I added a knockback component to it, meaning that it requires–”

“I lost you about nineteen words ago.”

“Instead of the knockback, this new Martial Art deals negative energy damage.”

Ludmila performed the Midnight Iris again. Liane scratched her head.

“So your weapon deals holy damage,” Liane said, “but your new pokey thing deals negative energy damage. Y’know, whoever gets hit by it is gonna be hella confused.”

“I don’t think they’d have time to think about it,” Ludmila’s glaive vanished. “Anyway, I received a Message from Lady Shalltear. She’ll be arriving at sunset. We’re to prepare for her arrival and await her pleasure in her court upstairs. She said to make sure that Florine was there, but I don’t see why she wouldn’t be.”

?Uh…can we run? I bet Albedo sent Lady Shalltear after you.?

Florine glanced at Ludmila, who was looking straight at Florine with her calm, brown-eyed gaze. It was the look that every other Noble feared the most from her. Perfect composure that veiled the power to obliterate entire armies with no indication as to how that power might be directed at any given point.

Even if she tried to escape, Florine couldn’t imagine that Ludmila would let her.