Valkyrie's Shadow

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 5, Chapter 8

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 5, Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“You should start a romance subplot between Julian and Ludwig.”

Florine nearly tripped over her own feet.

“Julian…and Ludwig?”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re Julian, and Ludwig is…”

Liane’s mouth worked like a fish for several seconds before closing again. Her fingers drummed against her thigh.

“Th-that’s not what I was suggesting. Really, I wasn’t.”

Florine didn’t see anything wrong with Liane being attracted to Ludmila. Ludmila had many larger-than-life qualities that many would be drawn to. More importantly, she was calm, affectionate – though outsiders wouldn’t think it – and reliable. But…

“My intelligence network indicates that Ludwig x Julian and Julian x Ludwig are only about one per cent of the fanbase combined. If I wrote a romance subplot for Julian and Ludwig, it would cause all sorts of problems. Dreams of Red has so many fans and there’s a non-zero chance that some people might kill themselves over having their preferred pairings invalidated. I don’t want to be responsible for that…”

“I-is that so?” Liane said, “Darn…”

Liane turned her attention to the nearby townsfolk. Florine thought she heard her friend click her tongue. Did she really like Ludmila that much?

Since they had been barred from observing the proceedings of Queen Draudillon’s court in Seagate’s town hall, Florine suggested that they go and observe the proceedings of the townsfolk instead. As the leader of their delegation, Clara stayed behind with Lord Tian just in case the Queen needed her for something.

They were still at a loss as to how to proceed with their diplomacy, but, fortunately, they had a schedule that kept them mostly busy. Queen Oriculus was on a planned tour to and from Seagate – one of many such tours she would be taking around the country – and the day’s events continually provided them with information and ideas to work with.

As the morning went on, Clara remained reserved in her interactions, even with Liane and Florine. Florine saw all sorts of important things that their previous confinement to the palace and the city had not afforded her before. Liane, as expected, was starting to get feisty.

People don’t change so easily, I guess? Even Merchants…

Florine feared that knowing what was going on would alter her friends’ behaviour, but it seemed that they couldn’t help but be what they were and react accordingly. With their ‘industrial offensive’ underway, Liane was determined to bring her ‘Undeathstrial Revolution’ to the Draconic Kingdom. If the Nobles wouldn’t give ground, then she would appeal to other parties.

?Woahwoahwoahwoahwoah. Temple of Crazy ahead.?

?Temple of Bounty.?

?No, it’s the Temple of Crazy. Let’s go around before a Priest pops up and tries to turn me into a model broodmare.?

Liane turned to walk away. Florine grabbed her by the elbow.

?Wait, Liane.?

?That sounds dangerous.?

?We have Invisibility items.?

Her friend sighed. Florine dragged her over to a nearby alley, where they activated their items and stood out of the way of any potential traffic.

“So…why did we stop?”

“Just watch.”

The temple was about as large as one might expect of one serving a town, but it was far busier than it should have been. A long line of men and women stretched down the block and around the nearest corner.

“Aren’t there too many people going to that temple?” Florine asked.

“I think so?” Liane answered, “What did that big-boobed Banshee say again? Eleven per cent of the Draconic Kingdom’s subjects worship The Six, making it the second-largest religion in the country…”

If she recalled correctly, the Faith of the Four was the largest, and even they only made up thirteen per cent.

Florine took Liane by the hand. They followed the line of citizens around the corner, then another and another.

?Okay, this is weird. Why are there hundreds of people lined up at this temple??

?Did you see any other temples on the way in? Were they like this as well??

?I doubt it. It’s impossible to miss a huge-ass line like this.?

Florine disabled her Invisibility item in another alley and crossed the street, stopping to speak to a young man that looked a year or two younger than she was.

“Excuse me, what’s this line for?”

“It’s for the Temple of Bounty,” he replied.

“Is it some sort of holy day?”

The man gave her a strange look.

“No, we’re just gettin’ married.”

“All of you?”

“Yes?”

“I see. Thank you.”

Florine returned to the alley.

“They’re getting married.”

“All of them?” Liane frowned.

“Yes.”

“That’s a helluva lot of marriages. Hmm…what did that guy back at the village say again? The kingdom’s handing out a quarter hide to married couples. I guess it makes sense, but it still feels weird.”

Florine examined the faces in the line. Everyone looked like they were younger than she was.

“I’m staying invisible,” Liane said. “I don’t want a guy popping up every five minutes proposing that I have a family with him on his shiny new farm.”

Ever since Liane’s encounter with the Priestess of Bounty in the capital, they had purposely stayed away from the Temple of Bounty. The resettlement of the lands to the west of Oriculon started a few days after that, so there hadn’t been any lines of young men and women waiting to have their partnership officially recognised at the time.

The way that the Draconic Kingdom incentivised resettlement and repopulation was something that any Noble in the north would – at least in theory – do. It never happened in practice, however, as none of the northern Human countries faced the same situation. The closest to it was Ludmila’s campaign to attract tenants to her territory, but a different set of obstacles faced her.

In Re-Estize, there were places that were considered ‘safe’ from raids – namely the developed interior. Frontier territories had a difficult time attracting migrants. Not only was this because the risks that came with the land were too high, but survival on the frontier usually required skillsets that people from developed lands didn’t have. Even with the highly-secure state of the Sorcerous Kingdom, this perception and the attitudes it fostered were deeply entrenched in local culture.

In the Draconic Kingdom, however, a Beastman raid could end up anywhere in the country. Even the capital wasn’t safe. The Beastmen saw raiding as both a way to secure resources and a way to definitively prove their personal strength and prowess. They would attack fortifications, go all the way to the coast, and actively seek out strong opponents for prestige.

“Is this the ‘truth’ that Ludmila talks about?” Florine half-said to herself.

“Huh?”

“That thing that she brings up sometimes,” Florine said. “You know, where she says that Re-Estize was sheltered from threats and our society has ‘drifted away’ from the truth of the world as a result.”

“I remember her saying something like that,” Liane replied. “What about it?”

“The Draconic Kingdom might have received help from time to time, but nothing shelters them from being constantly raided by their neighbours. When the Demon Gods ruined the region, it wiped out the cultures and the web of relationships between nations and races that once existed here. In the north, culture developed on a foundation of falsehoods laid by its unearned state of security. If that’s the case, the Draconic Kingdom’s society is probably ‘correct’ for a solely Human nation. Everything exists because it’s necessary.”

“They still failed.”

“They did,” Florine admitted. “But the Sorcerous Kingdom is here now. What matters is what they will become from this point onwards. To see that, we need to understand what the Dragonic Kingdom is now and why. Queen Oriculus already understands all of this and she’s been reaching out to shape the future.”

The more she thought about it, the more awe-inspiring Queen Oriculus was. Within a few days of meeting them, she appeared to have a better idea of what the Sorcerous Kingdom wanted from the Draconic Kingdom than the Sorcerous Kingdom’s delegation. She also understood her country’s position and was manoeuvring the entire world around them to produce the outcomes that were necessary for her country’s healthy future as a member of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s hegemony.

Florine only had the barest sense of what those outcomes would be, but she was certain that they would accomplish the objectives of both nations in ways that she would never have dreamed.

Compared to that, the Sorcerous Kingdom was very ‘presumptuous’ in its operations. Everything seemed to run on raw numbers, ‘intelligent’ solutions and brute force. As Countess Jezne pointed out, the Sorcerous Kingdom’s ‘diplomacy’ was not true diplomacy at all. They were simply devising ‘solutions’ and pushing them into the other party’s face without understanding what it was that both sides truly needed.

Despite her leading a country that was constantly on the brink of destruction, no one in the Sorcerous Kingdom could hold a candle to Queen Oriculus when it came to statecraft in the totality of its aspects.

No, that’s wrong, there is one person…

The Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, was guiding the Sorcerous Kingdom in the same manner as Queen Oriculus. He had been doing it from the moment of E-Rantel’s annexation. While Prime Minister Albedo and many other of His Majesty’s vassals concerned themselves with matters of bureaucracy, industry and economics as if everything was some sort of giant business, the Sorcerer King focused on the character of the nation. To him, the Sorcerous Kingdom was not merely numbers on a page: it was a dream given form.

Florine’s hand went to the Infinite Haversack on her left hip, wherein resided the item Lady Shalltear had granted her.

Congratulations, Florine Kadia Dale Gagnier. Eternal service awaits.

She constantly feared being left behind by her far more capable friends. Yet, His Majesty saw past all of the material things that most tended to focus on. He knew exactly what it was that his country needed and had appointed her to see to the needs that she was adept at addressing. Florine was both humbled by his wisdom and proud that she could be of some use to her sovereign, and she could only hope that she could continue to meet his expectations.

Beyond figuring out how to ‘attune’ the item to herself, however, Florine had no idea how it worked. Maybe that was a test in itself. She worried over the fact that she couldn’t seem to deactivate the item, but Liane figured that it was probably supposed to stay active and do what it was supposed to do over time.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t do it while Florine was walking around on the street. She would be hard-pressed to explain why she had suddenly become a shrub or whatever it was supposed to change her into.

The song of hammers on iron and lumber sounded in the air as their wanderings brought them to the southeastern part of Seagate. With so many people running around delivering goods and conducting their business, Liane disabled her Invisibility so she wouldn’t get run over. They stopped at one of the smithies, watching a man in his mid-twenties and a half-dozen apprentices at work.

“That’s strange…”

“I don’t see anything strange,” Liane said.

“Not what they’re doing,” Florine replied. “It’s…”

She walked over to the smithy’s forge, poking her head into the doorframe.

“Excuse me, are you the master of this shop?”

The man looked up from his work.

“I am,” he said. “Is there something I can do for you, m’lady?”

“Are these all new apprentices?”

“Some of them are,” the Blacksmith said. “Most are my juniors. If you have some kids to dump on me, I’m afraid to say that I’m already at my limit with this.”

“I see,” Florine nodded. “Thank you for your time.”

Florine went to rejoin Liane. Her friend gave her a funny look.

“You’re so active today. You’d think this is a town of Demihumans with how you’re running around talking to everyone.”

“That’s because…well, no, that’s not the only reason. I’m also trying to learn how things work here.”

“Whenever you say that,” Liane said, “it’s always something that’s just way out there.”

“Who is the oldest person that you’ve seen in this town?” Florine asked, “Aside from Queen Oriculus.”

Liane scanned the street with a furrow on her brow.

“Uh…probably the Merchant Guild representative. He looked about in his mid-thirties?”

“How many people that old have you seen in the Draconic Kingdom?”

Her friend fell silent for several seconds.

“…see what I mean?” Liane said, “You just see things that are way out there.”

“How is that ‘way out there’?” Florine frowned, “It’s right in front of our faces!”

She already knew the answer, but it was still frustrating. Most people didn’t actively watch out for that. It was always the relationship or potential relationship one had relative to some other person. They were a vocation first – usually identified through their attire or the establishment that they were in.

Very few looked at the big picture – or even a part of it – unless it was important to them in some way. Or until it became a problem. The Draconic Kingdom’s demographics, however, were only significant to Liane as a consumer base for the Sorcerous Kingdom’s exports. Since it was primarily commodities and industrial goods, her target demographics were sorted by industrial sector rather than age. For Clara, they were also part of her political calculations. They were well-meaning calculations that she pursued for the greater good, but they were faceless, impersonal calculations nonetheless.

“Fine,” Liane said. “So most of them are young. There’s barely anyone in their thirties around unless they’re Merchants or the people that they managed to safely stash away. That makes sense, though. Even if they’re civilians, they still get stronger the more experienced they are. The Beastmen go after strong things. The old sacrifice themselves to protect the young. Kids aren’t much of a meal, either.”

“Right, but what do you think it means?”

“For us? Or them?”

“Them.”

They stopped to watch the activity of the town’s central plaza from the shadows of another alley. Despite it looking odd to Florine, no one there seemed to act as if the lack of old people was out of the ordinary.

“Queen Oriculus is like some super granny by comparison,” Liane said. “A mythological figure, even.”

“That may be true,” Florine said, “ but I was thinking more along the lines of their general behaviour and cultural attitudes.”

“…this better not be one of those ‘older and wiser’ deals.”

“It is,” Florine replied. “At least in part.”

“But which way does that go?” Liane asked, “Our parents always said that young people are more willing to take risks. They even encouraged us to. ‘Screw up while you can still afford to’ or something…but Oriculus’ Royal Court isn’t like that. If anything, they aren’t willing to step out of their comfort zone.”

“It’s both,” Florine said. “We can afford to screw up because we have family and friends to turn to. A home. The people of the Draconic Kingdom can never afford to screw up so they stick to what they know works. You heard Orban back on the ship: trying to tinker around with economy and industry while amidst their recovery efforts is considered a heedless risk. We know that it isn’t, but to them, there’s a clear reason behind what they’re doing. We’re outsiders challenging their collective common sense, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that everything we do just bounces off.”

Liane leaned her shoulder against a wooden beam nearby, stroking her chin in thought.

“Hmm, how can we use that against them…”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re not here to ‘win’,” Florine told her. “Don’t tell me you’ve just conveniently forgotten the last two days of discussion. Or what our ultimate objective is.”

“I haven’t, but they’re the ones comin’ out swinging. We’re an official delegation from the Sorcerous Kingdom. Y’know, representatives of the Sorcerer King. Screwing with us is the same as screwing with our sovereign. If it was Lady Albedo in our place, the Draconic Kingdom would’ve been turned into a crater four days ago.”

“That’s probably why we’re here instead of her,” Florine said. “Besides, they didn’t attack first: we did. We’re the ones who made all of those proposals without properly considering their position.”

Liane’s point, however compelling, was likely an invalid one. It was true that they were representatives of a sovereign and some of Queen Oriculus’ court approached an unacceptable threshold of conduct. But at the same time, Florine doubted that they would.

A major part of the ‘problem’ was that the Draconic Kingdom’s Royal Court was, in fact, quite capable. While Liane might throw a fit over their lack of cooperation, none of them showed any signs of incompetence. Each had at least one area of significant expertise and the Ministers were all well-versed in multiple fields.

Salacia Soruel was especially sharp. She quickly discerned the boundaries of their delegation’s authority, knew exactly how to stop them at every turn, and who to use to do it. That sharpness was double-edged, however: it could be used to discover the Draconic Kingdom’s true boundaries when it came to foreign relations.

Florine eyed her friend, who had an ear cocked as she listened to nearby Merchants conduct their business. Another part of the problem was as Countess Jezne had pointed out to them: they were too used to being ‘in control’.

Upon assuming their places as the heads of their households and adapting to their new circumstances, they all enjoyed an unprecedented level of situational awareness, organisation and real authority. Furthermore, their respective ventures were seen as desirable by the Royal Court and received their full support.

The fact that nearly all of their ventures focused on domestic spheres made for a situation where everyone that they worked with more or less cooperated with them. In the Great Forest of Tob, the subservient nature of the Demihumans who were subjugated by the Sorcerous Kingdom was so extreme that Florine often had to ensure that everything that she did was, in fact, beneficial and not simply accepted because they thought they would be obliterated if they refused.

Their trip to the Empire, though nominally a ‘vacation’, was much the same way. Everyone recognised them as ‘officials’ of the Empire’s suzerain and stepped lightly around them. Every request was accommodated and they were allowed to see whatever they wished to see. It took forever to pull Frianne Gushmond into their camp, and even after the fact she remained wary in her dealings with them.

In short, their experiences fostered a sense of complacency and blindness. Their one true attempt at diplomacy – Fassett County – had failed in a spectacularly terrifying manner, but that was somehow lost on everyone. Now, they were paying for the ease of their past progress with all of the troubles they faced in the Draconic Kingdom.

Above all else, Florine felt it unacceptable that they might fail to live up to the expectations placed upon them by His Majesty and the Royal Court. She certainly wasn’t going to let it be their own fault.

“You should stop directly antagonising Soruel,” Florine said.

“Why?”

“Because it’s pointless. We’re already advancing to the next stage. All you need to do is what you planned on doing and that will infuriate them to no end on its own.”

“At least when they finally notice.”

“I’m sure they’ll notice fairly quickly. They’re already moving to block us from gaining court intelligence, so they should also have a substantial enough intelligence network to believe that they can counter ours.”

“…but we didn’t bring one here. Aside from reconnaissance for the Royal Army.”

“They don’t know that. Admittedly, it might be fun watching them chase their own tails, but the point is that they’re watching what we’re doing now. Before, they might have believed the activities of Merchants beneath them, but now that their ‘opponents’ are Merchant Nobles, they’ll be sensitive to what goes on.”

“Hah! Good luck with that.”

Liane’s reaction was in no way bravado. As the situation stood, they would be running circles around the Draconic Kingdom’s nobility.

Even when it came to the Draconic Kingdom’s Merchants, the most flattering thing that could be said of them was that they were ‘lean’. The vast majority of their trade was domestic and the domestic markets were not so much bustling hubs of commerce as they were distribution nodes in a land constantly ravaged by Beastman predation. Their focus was on ensuring that goods smoothly flowed around the country because every logistical inefficiency brought the Draconic Kingdom one step closer to annihilation.

Upon joining hands with the Sorcerous Kingdom, the era that necessitated the Dragonic Kingdom’s existing domestic paradigms would come to an end. Taxes, laws, infrastructure, security – everything involved would need to be reassessed and reconfigured to fit their new reality.

It was Clara, Liane and Florine’s task to stir up all the issues that they could see so the Draconic Kingdom’s administration could address them. Of course, they had no intention of showing the Draconic Kingdom any mercy on that front, so Florine could already imagine all the screeching coming out of Oriculon.

“Do ya think they’ll do anything like detaining our Merchants or enacting legislation designed to block our activities?”

“I don’t think they’d do anything out of spite,” Florine replied. “So far, all of their activities are in service to their country.”

“They might slap tariffs on our stuff,” Liane said. “The Farmers I spoke with at that village were all aiming for food security.”

“That’s to be expected. They just came out of a siege. Depending on what they decide on using this season, they may quickly realise that they don’t need to use all of their lands for food.”

The limited land of the Sorcerous Kingdom was, for the most part, utilised for food production. Starvation was no longer a threat in their country, but reports of the worsening situation in the Kingdom of Re-Estize made it inadvisable to switch. No one wanted to be experimenting with new crops when a dramatic increase in the price of existing ones appeared to be imminent.

In Liane’s eyes, the state of the Draconic Kingdom was an opportunity to raise those experimental crops. Even without druidic magic and Undead labour, the Draconic Kingdom could still see excellent returns if they exported raw textiles like cotton and flax to the Sorcerous Kingdom. Additionally, cottonseed and flaxseed were a source of oil, which was also in high demand. In Liane’s eyes, everyone would win from the arrangement, making it especially infuriating when they ‘arbitrarily’ refused.

“I don’t think they’ll be using the Undead any time soon,” Liane said. “This is gonna be ten times worse than trying to convince the Empire. The Sorcerous Kingdom isn’t their suzerain and we’re letting them run themselves. They’re gonna do the bare minimum to stabilise. They’ll try to do everything else themselves.”

“And that’s perfectly fine,” Florine replied. “I understand that you two see so many opportunities that could be exploited, but it’s simply unnecessary to pursue them right away.”

“It might not be ‘necessary’,” Liane grumbled, “but it’s still stupid beyond belief not to.”

“You know that’s not true,” Florine said. “What happened to that spirit of patience you had when we came up with Death Bread?”

“Things are different now. We’re bigger and we should be doing bigger things.”

“We are doing bigger things. You just want bigger things to happen immediately.”

“Y’know,” Liane said, “it’s no wonder they picked you first: you have, like, an eternity ofpatience.”

That was probably as close to a concession as she could get for now. Florine looked across the plaza at the town hall.

?Clara, how does it look in there? Are they close to being done, or do we have more time??

?There’s no sign either way. Having fun out there??

?We’re seeing a lot of interesting things. Well, I am. Liane’s trying to hide from surprise suitors.?

In a way, their roles were reversed in the Draconic Kingdom. Florine no longer felt the need to stay in the background where she actively tried to avoid the intense gazes and lust-tinged behaviour of seemingly every man they came across. Liane no longer worked furiously to attract their attention away from Florine to herself. As a result, Florine found herself more and more taking the lead between them, going to places Liane would rarely frequent and seeing things that she wouldn’t usually see.

Their shared interest in commerce still tended to always bring them to whatever markets were present, however, and they wandered over to the town’s warehouses to watch villagers fill their wagons with grain.

“I didn’t really think about this,” Liane said, “but that occupation must’ve screwed with their seed stock.”

Now that she mentioned it, it did appear that the variety of grain was limited. The vast majority of it was oats, which Florine assumed was part of the grain delivered to the Draconic Kingdom.

“Do you plan on using that?” Florine asked.

“I sure as hell am,” Liane answered. “With all of those Nobles’ screaming over everything else, our distribution plan’s been entrenching itself without resistance. They’re restoring their fleets faster than expected, too.”

“I suppose we did figure out how to win in every direction.”

“Uh-huh. If they don’t want the Undead then we’ll sell ‘em all of the draft animals we’ve been trying to get rid of for the last year. It’s their loss and our gain. Once their Merchants get their feet under them again, we’ll have them encourage the Farmers to grow more lucrative crops. All of their mines in the south are still occupied and they’re short on timber, so we can pretty much dominate half of their markets. Once they start using our vehicles and machines, they won’t want to go back to the old stuff.”

“The plan to strengthen the Queen’s position really was a lucky move. I wonder if these systems of theirs are the product of past struggles.”

Or maybe it had been set up that way on purpose from the start. Unlike Re-Estize and the Empire, where Nobles had chartered urban centres within their territories and continued to rule over them to the present day, the crown chartered every urban centre in the Draconic Kingdom. With over ninety per cent of the Draconic Kingdom’s population being rural, this may not have been significant at a glance, but it made Nobles in the Draconic Kingdom substantially weaker than those in Re-Estize and Baharuth.

Urban centres were where the wealth and surplus population of a country ultimately pooled. While peddlers, travelling blacksmiths and village apothecaries existed, the vast majority of commerce and secondary industries solely existed in towns and cities. Towns did not send Merchants to villages: villages delivered goods to towns and made purchases from them.

Licences to operate businesses were issued by the crown. Rent and taxes from advanced industries went straight to the royal treasury. The Draconic Kingdom’s Royal Army never had issues replacing its regular losses.

“I dunno,” Liane said, “but Re-Estize would sure look different if they did things this way. The Empire might never have been able to split. Y’know, if it wasn’t for the Beastmen constantly knocking them down, don’t you think that the Draconic Kingdom would’ve been hella strong?”

“I think you’re right,” Florine replied. “And we’re eventually going to find out how strong it can be.”