Chapter 42: Main Quest Chain, Updated
Westria was a pretty interesting region with most of its history centered around the eventual creation of Crown City, the knowledge hub of the continent. For one, Westria was not a country but nation—historically the area was a mixture of villages and isolated fortresses amongst wilderness, so even when the groups united and made Crown City in cooperation as a sign of mutually working together, each area did not fall under any particular government or rule but their own.
Westria was a coalition of groups that formed a single community that strived for fairness, equality, and acceptance. They followed a Code of Ethics I thought was rather advanced compared to my own homeworld's history but seemed only logical when one considered the multiple races that called Gaellia home (but, when did logic ever win? Color me surprised when I read about that early on in my research of the world).
I'm not exactly sure on the accuracy of the drawn maps I've seen, if they were to scale, but the continent I'm in reminded me of Japan in the sense it was clearly delineated into regions. Westria was, of course, the Western Region. The Aurean Forest Elven Independent Territory was half part of the region and half uncontested land; a chain of mountains was to the east and past that was the Eastern Region. Further still would be the no man's land that was the Northern Wastes. To the south—Crown City basically smack dab in the middle of the Western Region—was the Southern Region.
I might have arrived hanging off a tree like wet laundry in Aure Forest and thrown in tree jail in less than a day but, knowing more about the world I found myself in, the Western Region was one of the best places to be on this continent for me.
The Eastern and Northern Regions' history sounded like Game of Thrones met Romance of the Three Kingdoms and had a baby and the result was the current rotting mess. And I meant that literally, since the East had a prolific infestation of ghouls and "Forbidden" magics. It was Grimm Fairy Tales (Nightmare Version) past those mountains.
Meanwhile, the South had a strong history with piracy. They were a region filled with numerous cities and independent kingdoms that bickered with each other like spoiled children. I put the fact that some of them were ruled by "former" pirates/vikings to blame for the lack of order the south had. A lot of them were vagabonds prone to boredom, with the power of the navy and an army behind them.
So, in actuality, I was not surprised to find their records a mess they needed to refer to Crown City's Library for the legislature.
'What a mess,' I thought to my partner as I watched the Southern delegates hold a barely civilized conversation with each other, filled with hidden barbs and backhanded insults. 'And these were their diplomats.'
I was hidden in the rafters within the shadows, looking down at the group and feeling rather exasperated. This was like looking at freshmen coming into college totally unprepared instead of officials part of a settlement or group's governing structure. The Southerners seemed to have a skewed sense of priority and I'm guessing only the fertility of the region has kept its citizens from starving. Civil management seemed like a joke.
They also seemed rather clueless to this "danger" Shamaness Verk foresaw, mostly since the South had a dearth of general magic practitioners and theorists. In the Studium Generale, I saw that most of the Southerners learning magic specialized in a set of skills that would be useful out at sea. The most I learned was that the waters seemed just as restless as the land, with more sea monsters in Spring when they should be retreating to deeper waters.
Also, Arend Raske had apparently been distracted the morning before he literally disappeared late in the night. The Hero-King was a bit of a night owl, so there were multiple witnesses seeing him disappear into thin air. Only, he was known for his speed and inhuman feats, so no one actually realized it wasn't a "King Raske" eccentricity until several days later.
How they found out their Hero-King was actually missing? It was since the store of wine was untouched.
I rolled my eyes remembering what I overheard before deciding this was the most I'll learn from the Southern Contingent and left without them ever noticing me.
'Where are the people that are participating in the meeting and are from Westria?' I asked since I was aware the meeting was originally for the experts around the Western Region even if the other regions were made aware there was a conference going at all and had an open invitation to join. I was aware of it even if ignored 37's constant entreaties to get me to join the meeting (or at least find out what was happening).
The AI listed the various parties locations after a minute and I made a face that I was currently nearest the Aure City group.
What I do for my reading hobby…
Getting a rundown of the place which was apparently the Aure embassy, I took care to muffle my presence with the help of magic before perching on the roof and peaking into one of the open loft windows. I snuck in and found myself a spot barely seconds before more alves filtered in.
Mentally tilting my head as I took in the newcomers, I was fairly sure I hadn't seen this flashy alfr before. It was one of the newcomers, dressed in robes of white with gold and green embroidery of vines and leaves. He kind of put Legolas and Thranduil to shame—but, of course, those characters had been portrayed by human actors in the end.
I focused on the tall blond alfr, intending to find out who he was—
Blond hair whipped into the air as his head swung in the direction I was hiding, electric-blue eyes searching.
Time to run! In a blink, I was out the window I sneaked in from and into the air, heart hammering as I looked down, enhanced my eyes, and saw the alfr on the roof looking around for the intruder.
He must have sensed me when I tried to use <Scan.> Ugh, why were alves so troublesome?
Seeing him not bothering to look up, I calmed down and flew off before landing on a high tower. Flopping down onto the roof, I tugged my hood further down.
He must have felt <Scan> and not my other cantrips because interaction with the object or person was necessary. I might have slipped by if it were a surface <Scan> but I wasn't going to risk it with this guy. My gut told me he was Dangerous much like it did with Nostradamus and the Head Librarian.
So with the Aurean side out of direct spying for the moment, I was left to try to puzzle together what exactly was happening on Gaellia. I'd spy on the other Westrian groups later but I had a feeling it would be more of the usual "more active monsters" talk.
I felt a vague sense of surprise from my partner. 'What is it?'
[When I searched for the Westrian members involved in the conference, I covered the entire city. I just checked the dissimilated information that was returned.]
"And?" I asked as several crows landed near me. With a thought, I whipped out some of the meat from 37's storage of my monster kills, sliced the raw boar meat to bits with a wind-based spell, and scattered it to the cat-sized crows with scales mixed into their feathers.
The murder of crows gathered and I was sufficiently camouflaged considering my black attire.
[Another Partner seems to be in the city, Nori.]
I sighed but focus when a crow hopped toward me and dropped something on my lap. "For me?" I picked up the unpolished stone and <Scanned> it. "Thank you. Want more? Or do you want some nuts instead?"
'Why am I not surprised,' I thought to the AI as I watched the crows banter back and forth with each other before one hopped toward more of the meat.
"More meat it is."
[There seem to be several actually. But this one I feel like we should meet, Nori.]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
PenOugi
PenOugi Game of Thrones is the television adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of books.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 14th-century historical novel from China.
Legolas and Thranduil are from Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
Weekly Power Status
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