Bab 27: Chapter 27 - The Beautiful Lady
{A/N:Hello my readers! Happy December! We are finally approaching Christmas and another full year.
Hope that everyone is having a good month. I will already say in advance, I was full of things to do because I was REALLY sick since mid-november and had some study writing to do as well... + I'm sending this chapter just after had finished it (with one single re-edit), so if there is any writing/spelling errors, you guys already know what happened.
See y'all on the discord servers I'm in or in the next chapter!}
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"...I've been out there for a lifetime, plus I'm very important in my group..."
A slime was thinking that phrase over and over again as she watched her object of desire leave the front yard. She used one of the spy mirrors to perform this act, while being in the comfort of her own room.
"hmmm... You were here for two decades... and you say something like that? Didn't it change too quickly?" She said this due to her own selfishness, it was clear that he would gain a new life, new responsibilities, in the context he found himself in.
But she hated thinking that way.
For her friends, it had only been 5 years, however, since she almost never left YGGDRASIL, her perspective was that she had also been away from him for 20 years.
The same period of time, but he's gotten used to it and she hasn't?
Well, it wasn't HE who had to see his loved one dead in front of his own eyes. This was certainly an important factor.
". . . . " She remained silent, remembering another conversation she had had with him a few days before he leaving.
"So, I at least hope that you can come here to visit your children and your wife after we connect some portal in the kingdom you live in."
"Wife and children.... huh? Well, of course I can come visit. But as I told you before, I have already made my own life in this new world."
"For you to say it like that... are you already married?!"
"No, of course not... But I already have a loved one... She uses me as emotional support, and I help her with some other things... I've known her since I was little, but we only started dating 2 years ago."
"T-then break up with her, that's simple!!!"
"Unfortunately, this will not be possible. She's someone who helps me maintain my status, and if I break up with her out of the blue, it might even affect my plans to guide you all to an essential ally. Making her shed a single tear could cause extreme trouble for me, actually..."
A cup of tea that Bukubuku carried was broken into pieces by one of her tentacles that served as hands. That memory made her angrier and angrier the more she thought about it.
"My husband was snatched from me by the jaws of death... He was given to me by pure luck.... and now it's being ripped away again because of some important slut?!" She said that while her tentacles swung aggressively, knocking some of the things off the shelves. "I don't know who this bitch is! But if my man was stolen by her... I just need to kill her and change places with her! Yes! I just need to train my shape-shifting and copying skills!!!"
She was laughing a lot, almost hysterically, but as she tried to get more tea, she finally realized that she had destroyed the cup. "Argh! It's the third time in just one week..." One of her tentacles goes to a button near the door, clicking it.
After a few minutes, one of the 9th floor maids appeared, smiling, but also showing nervousness. "Bukubukuchagama-Sama! To what do I owe you the honor of being called to your chambers?"
"I would like you to bring another set of glasses and some tea so I can drink... This time you can bring sturdy glasses, it doesn't really have to be a fancy mug." Her words seemed serious, making the maid tremble a little.
"O-Okay, Bukubukuchagama-Sama! Tea will be here soon!" The maid said, leaving Supreme Slime's quarters.
While waiting, she took a strange black box that was in the room, positioned the item on the bed and then took a type of data crystal, putting it inside the box. It didn't take long for a holographic recording to appear in front of her, being from one of the shows she did with Keiko, one of the first shows, being more specific, with the background scene being on the 6th floor, in the middle of the dense forest.
Seeing that, she didn't even notice the maid returning with what had been ordered. She left the items on the coffee table and left the room to leave that Supreme Being alone. However, soon another person opened that door to come in and see how the slime was doing.
It was the demon player.
"Haruka... I finished doing some tasks with Demiurge... I was hoping you were available so we could do something together." He said that, arranging his top hat.
"Akatsuki, I already told you that when I'm watching old recordings, I don't want any interruptions." The slime used that player's full first name, making him understand the seriousness of the statement.
"I understand that, but I think it will be even better for you to interact with others than to be locked in your room. Or are you going to deny that you were watching the footage of those two walking away from here?"
"Argh... What do you mean by that, Ulbert?" She went back to using the name of the player character who was now in front of her.
"It's just that Tabula is having fun with his disciple, while I've just finished doing some sessions with that woman called Clementine, in addition to having gotten more information that Keiko wanted. And Momonga just went out with Lupusregina and Shalltear to get fake identities for the two of them. So I was thinking that you better at least do something healthier... because it's pretty obvious that you were just looking at footage from the past."
"Is it that obvious?"
"You've been basically crazy this whole time in pure delirium, and then your fantasies come true, but not absolutely everything is as you expected... basically it seems like something a character from an old anime would suffer."
The slime made a noise, as if she was sighing, even though she had no lungs. Ulbert gently caressed the top of her body and then continued speaking. "That won't be healthy for your slimy body. Okay? We could do something together, break out of your strange habits... Until now, you're always stuck with your children, as if nothing had changed."
"I understand... So could you tell me some of the things we could do together?" She asked with a tone of voice that clearly shows bad humor.
He laughed, adjusting his clothes again and creating a portal using his guild ring. "I was thinking about showing you one of the things I managed to do with the help of my son... I haven't spoken to the others yet, but I've been experimenting with a theory called... forced race change~"
"And you used that tangerine head as a lab rat for this?" She was soon answered, with Ulbert showing some images.
The slime looked like this with a smile forming on her gooey body, with a perverted laugh emerging. "Ohohohoho!!! That's what I expected from my brother! You really are a perverted sadist!!!!"
Ulbert continued to smile, he seemed proud. "What can I say? That woman had many characteristics.... just like those of a feline~"
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The bluish sky was clear and free of clouds, as if the wings of a divine being had removed any possible trace of rain. The sun was shining, having already passed its absolute peak, with pleasant sounds of some sweet animals, such as birds, being heard.
The landscape was that of a large city, with countless buildings of light and pure colors, with their roofs made of a special bluish wood that would make it almost impossible for any resident to complain about leaks, an architecture that largely remained the same throughout that time. That entire landscape was far below the vision of a beautiful lady, who could see a little of the green lawns that went beyond the limits of the capital.
A soft knock on the door drew the attention of the beautiful lady, who was in a soft trance watching everything from the balcony of her bedroom. She didn't take long and went towards the door to open it slowly, keeping a smile on her face.
"Did something happen?" She asked, keeping an innocent look.
"My Majesty... We have received information of the arrival of the High Priestess' group. They passed through the entrance gates no more than 2 minutes ago." The one speaking was one of the castle's maids, who was bowing while delivering the information.
"Thank you for informing me... I hope the reception for their arrival is already prepared."
"Yes, Your Majesty. The reception was almost completely ready two days ago, the internal and external guards of the castle must have already been warned to stay in position as requested by Miss Remedios."
"Perfect. You can leave, I'll be finished to be ready." And so it was ordered, with the maid disappearing from sight while the queen just went to the mirror in her room, a smile forming on her face as she brushed her own hair.
"I hope this news is great." She said to herself, remaining relatively optimistic according to the information given by the people she trusts most.
Meanwhile, on the main street of that capital, the carriages were attracting a lot of attention due to the symbol on them, with several commoners passing by, noticing their level of importance. It was even possible to hear some whistling and random gossip going on.
Masato watched everything through the window of the carriage, giving a soft sigh. "This is all better than I expected."
"What do you mean by that?" Letyan questioned.
"The appearance of the city and the people who would walk down these streets... I know we are in a capital of a magical world, in a religious kingdom... Yet, not even the images we got before look as attractive as this." The paladin expressed himself, speaking this way because at the moment, Neia was sleeping against CZ.
"Well, the reference you had so far was Re-Estize... and those guys are pretty rotten..." Letyan spoke honestly. "Whereas, in Hoburns, we have the best academy for paladins in the entire known world. In addition to our most powerful political figure, the queen, she is also our most important religious figure, with the function of a saint, for the religion we see... 4 Players as gods... eeeh let's not take that little detail into account... But anyway, it was something based on values of something similar to Christianity. So taking all this into account, I think seeing the main streets of the capital like this would be the least that would happen."
Masato thought about it carefully, laughing "Yes, taking that into account, I was actually a bit stupid to think that it wouldn't be something so clean and grand."
The paladin continued to observe the landscape carefully, while Letyan slowly woke up Neia with light slaps on the cheek and a gentle shake. "Neeeeh... You can wake up. You're going to get out of here before us."
It took a few more attempts at those methods to wake her up, she would have drooled on her own face and a little on CZ's shoulder, making even Masato laugh softly when he saw the scene. The girl on the other hand kept wondering why she should wake up now, perhaps still too drowsy to remember.
"You said you didn't want to go to the castle, so Kelart said you should get out of the carriage halfway, even Kathy said she would go with you." After that information was exposed, it took a few seconds for those naturally frightening eyes to open completely, small pupils, as if some divine revelation had been spoken in a casual moment.
"Ah-Ah?! Y-Yeah!" She said, rubbing the sleeve of her shirt to wipe the drool off her face, opening the glass part of the carriage window, her eyes went in search of Kathleen, the white fur demiwolf. When she found her, being a little behind, she gave a characteristic whistle.
Even beneath that helmet, upon hearing that, her ears tried to perk up at the familiarity. Noticing Neia there, Kathleen made her horse go a little closer to one of the doors. The girl soon opened the door, waving to Shizu, Touch and her brother, before jumping onto her horse and moving away from the main group.
"As I remember, she said at dinner yesterday that she would go to your residence." The paladin states, almost like a question, as he closes the door, Letyan nods. "Understandable. Anyway... The queen here... You and the others said about her in a way, which gave me the impression that she was the most caricatured form of an innocent saint... is she really like that?"
"Heh... You'll soon see... I wouldn't say she's so literal in this example, but she can really make people think about it if they don't know her determination..." Letyan sighed as if his head was in the clouds by have such thoughts. "What a lovely woman... Honestly, if it weren't for the context of her being the queen and saint of our kingdom, I think I would squeeze her cheeks whenever I could."
"So she's this kind of woman... hmmm... should I act in my exaggerated way?"
"I think your exaggerated roleplaying style is perfect for your meeting with her... just don't shout 'JUSTICE' like a Chunibyo... Please."
"Alright, I'll do it then... Should I imitate how they do it in fantasy and isekai anime?" The question made Letyan laugh and confirm.
"And what should I do? How to act? TouchMe-Sama... Hikari-Sama." CZ immediately joined the conversation.
"Oh, I recommend not talking too much, but if you are forced to talk, use the story we have fabricated about you." Letyan answered her while wiping off some of the saliva that his sister had left on the automaton's shoulder with a tissue.
"Understood. Using the story that I am a human, daughter of a deceased member of the guild, and who now works as both a maid and a shooter in moments of danger.... And when I use my name, I have to say it's spelled as 'S h i z u'... is something I said wrong?"
"Nope, everything is fine, we don't want problems like what happened with that guard finding it strange that his name was just two letters... so let's take advantage of Kelart understanding it that way and use it as your human name." Touch said with a slight laugh, but soon he had a thought. "Wait... what about me?"
"I thought you would want to use your player name as your codename and use your real name as people should know you as a human. No?" Letyan said this while looking at a small piece of mirror that he had inside his cloak, he seemed to be checking if his face was clean or presentable.
TouchMe thought for a while before finally responding. "True... I'm already used to this name, so it shouldn't be a problem... If there are too many questions and I'm forced to say my real name, I'll be honest and give the name Masato Senju, if I can't say it, I will continuing to be known as Touchá... seems more coherent than TouchMe... like the name of a paladin in this world."
"Masato? Senju...?" CZ questioned.
"Oh...it was my name before I became a member of Nine Own Goal and Ainz Ooal Gown... You may have heard our friend here calling me that."
"Yes... I understand... I was more surprised by the 'Senju'..."
"It's my last name. Nothing else." He answered that, thinking too much about that last name... with his daughter and his wife appearing again in his head...
Staying inside his mind for so long made the paladin not realize that they had arrived at their destination, with Letyan having to poke his helmet to awaken him from that trance. He shakes his head, symbolizing that he is awake, and so he waited for the human to get out of the carriage first and then follow him.
The view was what he expected, a large castle was ahead, with guards stationed at the entrance, which was formed by a small flight of stairs. Looking back a little, Masato noticed that they were in a kind of front garden, very simple and with some flowers to decorate, possibly structured like that just to have space between the walls of the entrance and the castle itself.
He was following Letyan, with CZ being right behind them. A little further on, Kelart was talking to some guards, in particular, a woman who looked a lot like her, but with short hair and stronger armor. Only this appearance made Masato understand who she was, through the descriptions given during the trip.
The woman soon approached them, initially looking at the boy, with a smirk on her face. "Kiddo."
"Medios." Letyan was also smiling, doing a fistbump with her.
"And you two must be our guests from so far away." She said, looking closely at the new paladin in place from top to bottom. "What beautiful armor, I don't know much about magic, but I can feel from afar that it is full of passive defensive barriers... even with my ignorance of the subject... It must have been quite a find."
"Oh... thanks... eh..." He seemed uncomfortable with a slight detail.
"Eh? Did something happen?" She questioned, but soon her answer came... and it was one she didn't want to hear.
"Oh, it was no big deal, we were telling stories during the trip and apparently... we talked so much about you and your moments of impatience, that apparently he thought you were a brute." The voice came from Kelart, who seemed to be smiling mischievously.
All the paladins who were on that mission, including Letyan, seemed to be paralyzed by that speech. Cold sweating when they saw Remedios' look... The famous look that everyone could read as 'We'll talk about it later.'...
Masato also seemed to understand that look, as being one that even his wife made at times when she was irritated with him focusing more on work than on family. This made him swallow his words along with the others and they went back to what they should do, enter the castle.
Walking through the entrance hall and corridors, it was possible to notice how much the structure closely resembled that of the Renaissance era, or at least what Masato remembered studying, due to his fascination with knighthood and paladins. Everyone was uniformed with that white color and blue symbol in the center, with few wearing black instead of white, maybe it was a second version for the same outfit.
Upon arriving at a large double door, after a long flight of stairs, Remedios was the first to enter, and then allowed the others to enter. That was the throne room, in parts Masato saw that and thought of Nazarick's throne room as the most similar thing to what he had ever seen before.
It was a tall room, around 5 to 6 meters high, there were some chairs that were obviously only there so that the noble guests could sit... and speaking of them, there seemed to be a considerable amount, around 10 nobles on each side of the room. Still on the sides, it was possible to see two rows of guards in each, one of paladins and the other of what appeared to be clerics, as the attire closely resembled Kelart's.
But something else caught their attention, besides the decoration inspired by a Renaissance copy. In front of everyone, at the end of that large hall, a throne stood there, with a small throne next to it. On the small throne, a man with a good jawline, long blond hair, who looked like he had his eyes always closed and a simple smile that didn't reveal any emotion.
On the central throne, a beautiful woman, very long blonde hair, a silver tiara and a completely white garment that almost covered her feet while sitting. She kept her hands on her lap, with a sweet smile that seemed to become a complete ray of sunshine when she saw everyone approaching her. Everyone knelt when she raised her hand, Masato copied that and pulled CZ's head so she could do the same.
"My great knights. I am happy to welcome you after such a journey... which for the most part, was kept a secret, but due to the results, such a secret was told to those closest to you..." She then looked at Letyan. "And you... Oh... my champion... I hope the results are more productive than what was reported to me by the communicators."
"Of course they were, my majesty... I feel that a new era will prosper from our results. And may this possibly silence your opponents in the south." Letyan responded, kneeling down. His words seem to make all the nobles present there interested, with the man next to them holding tight to the arm of his throne.
'Wow... She really looks incredible... all the compliments weren't an exaggeration.' Masato thought when he saw the whole scene, but soon he was drawn to attention, with the queen calling him.
"Toucha, is this your name? Or am I wrong, guest?" She spoke very softly, it seemed to be her base voice.
He soon stood up, nodding his head. "This is my codename as a paladin, Queen Calca, but yes, I accept being called by it."
"Good, outsider Paladin. I'm curious about your origins and would like to hear from you why you were invited here. I trust the words of my halo and left wing, but I would like to hear your sincerity." She got straight to the point.
'She seems to be sharper in her words than I thought... Of course she would be like that, she is a queen.' He thought carefully about the story he was going to create, it had to be something related to his life so that she wouldn't feel so many lies, so he said. "About my origins, I lived far from the big cities that your lordship may know, my parents were simple and poor people, living only on what the surroundings could provide in the middle of the forest... I heard about paladins during times when my father's acquaintances appeared to tell stories... So that's why I decided to become what I am today..."
Everyone seemed to listen to that attentively, some nobles didn't seem to buy the idea, since it was very simple for someone to end up having such beautiful and powerful armor. But no one decided to argue the point, as it was a response to a direct question from the queen.
"As for why I was invited, I think it is also part of my trajectory as a man. After some time, trying to be a paladin through just my own knowledge and training, I ended up joining a group of people who were recluses either by choice or by exile. Thus creating a kind of guild..." Masato sighed, having some good memories of YGGDRASIL and when he ventured with Hikari, continuing. "Among all of us, there was a great man who tried to be a little of everything, to always complete the group, in case someone died or was too sick for our survival tasks. This man is currently dead... However, a sword that he had cursed for only him to touch, ended up being taken from us... and is now in the possession of your champion."
The nobles seemed to have their eyes wide open, some who were at the back of the room were whispering among themselves. Letyan gave a slight smile, taking the sword out of its sheath, just to illustrate what had happened.
"In short... One of the main reasons for me to be called here is that my guild is extremely connected with the appearance of this item, full of negative energy, in this sacred area..." he finished part of his answer.
"Yes, paladin Toucha, that was partly what I also heard, but you said it was one of the reasons you think you were called here... Could you tell me the others? And... please... remove your helmet, if that's okay. I'm so intrigued, I want to hear your words looking into your eyes." She said giving an excited smile as she slowly stood up from the throne.
"It's not a problem, Queen Calca." He sighed and removed his helmet, carrying it in one of his arms. Thus, showing a pale face with some bandages on the sides and neck, short dark hair with some white strands, but in general, he looked like an adventurer in his prime, with no exposed injuries.
His face made the way the nobles saw their visitor change. Some tried to hide the fact that their mouths were open. Even Remedios was a little affected, making her blush slightly, while her sister seemed used to that face due to the expedition.
"There may be several and several reasons that can be discussed, in addition to what was said previously... But I feel that only two are main enough for me to mention here, in the presence of others." He gave a slight twitch to adjust his voice before speaking. "The most important thing of all, for me to have accepted this, my group and I knew the real objective that your highness wants to achieve during your reign. The idealization of peace between species, a concept in which humans see themselves as equal to all beings born from the same origin, the world itself, where we can use them to our advantage in some areas, and they use us in others... An environment of balance and support with each one focused on their best... And such peace would also bring great strength, because if something tries to cause chaos, everyone would already be accustomed and prepared to face a common enemy."
This caused several nobles to start gossiping more among themselves, and with good reason, since Calca's ideology was seen by many as something to repudiate, it was no wonder that this was used as one of the motivations for the disapproval of all the southern region of the holy kingdom. There was so much talk that Remedios was forced to hit the floor hard to make everyone quiet so that the new paladin could continue talking.
"Well... my colleagues and I are very powerful if we take into account what we know about the common sense of this world. And our goal as a guild is the same. During all our travels around the world, we encountered beings of different races and species, we saw those who were friendly, and we also saw those who only wanted to cause harm, and of course, we, humans, also have the power to cause harm or be friendly... We don't have the act of 'humanizing' them, but rather protecting those who are weak and have good intentions, no matter their race. So, we wanted to take advantage of your champion being chosen as a user of my colleague's sword, as a way of creating an alliance with similar interests." The queen listened to all that with an even brighter smile, had she never heard anyone speak that way other than herself, and especially, a paladin saying all that? This was incredible and made her have a slight hope for her entire kingdom.
"Hey! Sorry for the question, but why do you call yourselves powerful?! Do you think Queen Calca couldn't achieve this with the strength of the Paladin Order?" A nobleman decided to meddle and at the same time step on a small problem.
"Well, dear noble... I'm not trying to diminish anyone, I'm just providing support in case something happens. And I'm not exaggerating when I said that." He smiled slightly, turning towards the man, but without leaving where he was. "My guild really has many powerful people... Among them, currently alive, we have 4 main members apart from me, their roles being, a tanker, an alchemist, and two mages, one focused on fire magic, and the other on necromancy. The tier of magic considered the maximum, humanly possible, is 6th tier... The two mages I mentioned can use spells of this tier with ease... And according to the reaction of several of the companions I had on this trip so far, I assume that it is extremely rare for there to be two 6th tier magicasters, especially these being people who taught themselves, starting from the basics."
"U-Unbelievable!!"
"Is this serious?!"
"Woah?!"
Many seemed to be quite surprised, with the main faces being the queen, her brother, and Remedios. But there was still one more thing to talk about...
"And now, the third reason that I see as essential for me to have come here on this visit, to create a contact between Guild and Kingdom... Crops!" His voice made everyone silent with the last word, leaving everyone confused and the royalty more intrigued. "We brought some vegetables and fruits that we have in abundance being produced within my guild base, I showed them to High Priestess Kelart, during our trip, and she confirmed that they are S-Grade items, with your crops in this comparison being of B-Grade."
"Kelart." The queen caught her friend's attention.
"He doesn't lie, nor can I understand, but they have access to very high quality plantations." she replied, making all nobles there in shock.
"And as you noticed while I said it, we make them grow within our guild. So one of the trades we would like to make would be to give you priority access to these items, while you will provide us with land to plant and organize. There will be other exchanges that will be of advantage to both sides in the future, obviously, but I think what I said now would be THE essential for an acceptable alliance."
The queen seemed quite happy listening to all that, as if she was satisfied. "Oh yes! That would be incredible! I will ask for a conversation with our sector responsible for this part, to get the opinion of people completely specialized in crops. Other than that... an alliance with mutual agreements and a similar objective... yes... perfect! But we will see some details in a more private moment, so that our thoughts are not influenced by other nobles."
"Thank you very much for your consideration." TouchMe bowed.
"Now, to finalize our formal meeting. Letyan Baraja, could you tell me what was discovered about this sword, besides the fact that it came from the paladin Toucha's group?" Calca now looked at the boy.
"Of course. It appears that the item has some sort of blood-related ability. The negative aura that we discovered in it... is actually some kind of stone used in the composition of the blade, which allows the user's strength and speed to be increased if blood is constantly delivered, regardless of the blood type. Furthermore, it seems that the more I use it, the more techniques arise in my mind regarding blade mastery, possibly related to the fact that this item has some connection with the late owner."
The information impressed everyone, including the queen, not because of the skill with blood and fortification, but the fact that it gives knowledge. An item that can tell the user how to use it... this has never been written before, not even in the holy books. And with that said, everyone there was dismissed, leaving only the two visitors, Letyan, the Custodio sisters and the royalty members.
"So... You must be tired, after all, you arrived from a trip and came directly here... Remedios, can you take them to appropriate rooms for them to stay... And Letyan, I would like to stay with you for a personal conversation with me and my brother , if you are not busy." Calca spoke, walking towards the group after they had been alone for a while.
"I don't see any problem. . . ." Letyan was speaking calmly, when suddenly his voice stopped, with him looking around.
"Eh? Baraja? Any problems?" The prince asked.
"Caspond... How long were we out of here anyway?" The question was a little strange to ask, in the prince's opinion.
"Eh.. 2 months, you weren't here for two months... But why-"
"Remedios, when was the last exchange of maids and butlers?" He interrupted the prince, this would be seen as extremely rude, but his expression showed too much seriousness for this point to be raised.
"This happened a few weeks after you left... 14 maids came here who were at the Bessarez's beach house and 6 more who were hired through our contacts with the aid program for families in need and I myself was there when they arrived .... Why are you asking that?"
He walked slowly towards the throne, passing it and walking towards the curtains that were behind it. "Uhm... I felt something not so inviting here..." And then he moves behind the fabric, showing that there is a kind of circular device there. ". . . . And that's what I was feeling."
Everyone looked at it, with Touch approaching. "And what would that be?"
"According to the engravings on the part that faced the room... As well as other things... This here seems to be some kind of recorder."
"H-Have we been heard by that the entire time?" Caspond questioned.
"Like I said, it appears to be a recorder, they must have designed it that way so that there wouldn't be the sensation of mana waves traveling from it." Letyan sighed. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Touch. But it seems that there are some undesirable insects that infest themselves here in the castle... I will sort it out, so I won't be able to stay with you for the afternoon."
Calca kept her hands close to her mouth, unable to hide her surprise at the situation, while Kelart looked at her sister in disappointment. "And apparently you didn't do a proper search while I was gone... Argh... Letty, do you want me to help you at least call all the employees?" the High Priestess asked.
"Yes, you can do that, say that you want a meeting with them, in the main hall of the second tower, to find out about our visitor's preferences..." Letyan snapped his own fingers, a sound that made everyone there shiver. "I will try to resolve this as quickly as possible... My queen, you already know very well what I am going to say, don't you?"
"If the tea party really takes place, I will have to allow only the maids best known to me to attend, I know that. Don't worry and solve our little time problem." She smiled softly as she watched both Kelart and Letyan leave the throne room.
Soon she looked at the visitors and Remedios. "Since they don't know that we have knowledge about that recorder... You don't need to worry about me, I'll stay in my brother's room with him."
"B-But, Queen Calca-" Remedios tried to give her opinion, but Caspond interrupted her.
"She'll stay in my room until it's time for our little private party. May you guide Sir Toucha and his friend to the appropriate rooms they will use." Caspond's voice didn't show a command, just a statement.
"Wouldn't it be better for me to stay together for protection in case the person who put that recorder ends up doing something impulsive?" Touch_Me tried to give some safer idea.
"Don't get me wrong, I can feel that you are someone of high caliber, but at the moment you are a stranger." Remedios commented as he walked out of the throne room. "Follow me."
And so Nazarick's paladin and the automaton battle maid were following the paladin order chief. The queen and her brother soon left, heading in the opposite direction.
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Masato was sitting on a bed, looking at the scenery from the window in front of him, he was stuck in some kind of thoughts of what happened just now.
He had barely arrived in the capital of the kingdom, and he had already discovered that there could be possible spies there. Of course he trusted Keiko to fix the problem, but it made him uncomfortable taking off the bandages that hid the parts of his body that showed him as a heteromorph. CZ was still with him, due to the way she was programmed and other details, she tried everything possible to make Remedios let her stay in that room with the Supreme Being, and obviously she succeeded.
But there were also other small details that had occurred between his arrival and now...
After arriving in his room, he tested the shared guild skill, [Message] and managed to discover that it still worked there. Symbolizing that after seeing the details with the queen, he could create a connecting portal between Horburns and Nazarick.
While using the skill to keep up to date with what was happening, he ended up hearing that Sebas Tian, his beloved NPC, ended up getting into some problem related to a black market group in Re-Estize... The paladin wasn't able to get that many details, but from what he understood, apparently that kingdom is actually more governed by shadow organizations than by royalty, and it was because they were everywhere in the capital that Sebas ended up getting in their way.
It was as if Sebas was a normal person trying to step on a square of hay that was full of needles. It would be impossible not to notice something wrong, especially with the butler's high karma level.
'When I finish things here... I think I'll go to Re-Estize myself to annihilate these vermin...' He thought, his paladin side completely agreeing with the cop mindset he still had. "Really, now I understand why Keiko said how rotten that place is..."
"What did you say, Touch_Me-Sama?" CZ questioned, making the paladin realize that he ended up exposing the last part of his thoughts.
"It's no big deal... I just received a report from Sebas about how things are going in the capital of the kingdom that Nazarick is in... Apparently the place is actually dominated by a mafia hidden behind the nobles."
"Impressive. So two neighboring kingdoms are so contrasting." CZ expressed her opinion, making him give a slight smile.
Indeed, the kingdom he is in at the moment at least appears to be the absolute opposite.
"That's interesting news." He looked at CZ. "Apparently another of your sisters is also creating an identity as an adventurer."
"Oh... and who is it this time?" She left her face tilted to the side.
"Lupusregina. Apparently it will be her and Shalltear joining Naberal and Momonga's group..." He smiled imagining this. "I wish I could be doing something like this now... But well... important things come first than fun."
"That's good to hear, Touch_Me-Sama."
The lively conversation was soon interrupted by someone knocking on the door. CZ went there and opened it, revealing Remedios who was not entering the room. She was there to announce that preparations were ready for a small, friendly, private meeting with the queen. Without much to say against it, the duo followed the paladin chief, but they were interrupted along the way, upon seeing a shocking scene.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU SHITTY BITCHES!!!! [VOL BRANDO]!!![TORPOR]!!!" It was clearly Letyan's voice, which was soon followed by a crashing noise a few corridors ahead.
The three ran in that direction to see what had happened, and when they arrived, they noticed a corridor covered in dense layers of ice. In the center of that area was the boy, while, a little further away, there were 4 maids who were now inside large spiked cubes of yellowish ice.
He turned to those who had just arrived, smiling and saluting Remedios. "Spies arrested! In addition to these 4, there was a butler who I managed to freeze in the room we were all in."
"Ah... okay..." she looked at those maids, recognizing them from the day the exchange took place. "Anyway... The little tea party and private meeting will take place now... You can leave it to me and I will take these spies to the dungeons.... Take visitors to the room you know very well."
Giving a smile, he accepted, but first he at least separated the ice on the floor from the yellowish ice cube that the maids were trapped in. Waving to the paladin chief before leading the others.
"Your work was very quick... finding 5 spies after just 2 hours inside the castle..." Touch commented, unable to hide the fact that he was impressed.
"I have several techniques... But I used the most obvious of all. Asking general questions to everyone in the room, and in the midst of these questions, saying things that they shouldn't know under any circumstances... This way, the spies end up losing focus and thinking it was common information." Letyan smirked.
"I think I did something like that when I was a guard. No wait... I actually saw one of my colleagues doing this a lot when I was focused on fieldwork." Touch_Me said that, laughing, as if he was remembering great times.
As soon as the boy arrived in the room with the two visitors, it was possible to see that it was a kind of small internal garden, with several white, blue and gold flowers, at the top, there was a glass roof, providing natural light while it was daytime. There were also common walls, with few glass windows, but at least they were painted in a very attractive and elegant style, it was as if that internal garden was a complete art painting.
The queen, Calca Bessarez, was sitting in a chair, with a pot of tea and a plate full of biscuits in front of her, above a table. "Welcome to my private garden... Feel comfortable and sit in the chairs~" She smiles when she notices that Letyan has really come. "If you're here... It means that you completed the little trouble we discovered before."
"And seeing as how Caspond is not here, I imagine he got busy with something all of a sudden." he replied, closing the door after Touch_Me and CZ had passed by.
CZ had decided to stand between Touch and Letyan, leaving one side of the table vacant. With Letyan being the only person sitting in a chair next to Calca and Touch_Me facing the queen.
"First... I wish I knew your real name, rather than just your codename." Calca began, while taking a sip of the tea. "After all, you already know my name and codename by which I am also known... If you want to make a kind of agreement where we are equal, we must have this confidence."
"You're right, Queen Calca." He answers, taking off his helmet so he can put some tea for himself, but CZ interrupted, and the one filled the cups of the two men there.
After also taking a sip of tea, he continued. "My real name is Masato, Masato Senju, it's really a pleasure to meet you." He gave a small nod of his head, since he could not bow in the position he was in.
Even so he was holding back a lot of expressions not to be disrespectful, since that tea looked garbage and very plain, dull, compared to Nazarick's teas. He was aware that the outside food was crap compared to the one at his new home, he knew it from the first time he tasted the stews during the trip, but there was something this time that made the annoying taste more concentrated.
"I say the same, Sir Masato Senju... I hope we get along very well... Would you like cookies?" She says smiling, offering a small plate.
"No thanks." He replied as he saw Letyan accepting the offer and eating it. 'Yeah, his taste buds must be extremely accustomed.'
Having eaten all the cookies that were on that small plate and had her first cup, Calca returned to her questions. "As for the secret about your guild... And the origin of the sword... why did it only want to come to my champion now... Could you answer that?"
"Oh well... this really is something intense."
"I heard... Kelart told me that you all said nothing to her... So, could you respond?" She said with a calm smile, but soon her look showed strangeness when Letyan and the paladin stared at each other. "Is there a problem?"
"Eh... my queen... How can we start this... hmm.. You remember the ancient legends, don't you? Especially those who formed the Temple of the Four Great Gods..." Letyan would start to help.
"Yes, of course I know the legends and stories related to the creation of our religion."
"Can you remember the name the gods used to refer to themselves?"
"Hm..." She was thoughtful, as it wasn't a part of religion that was talked about much. "Puh-lyahn...? No... Puh-Lers?... I remember it was 'Puh' something... but what's relevant about th-"
"Players." Masato responded, ending up interrupting. "The correct term is Players..."
Calca looked at the paladin for a moment before looking at Letyan again. "Uh... Yes... but I think the pronunciation is still wrong..."
"No, he's right, this is actually the real pronunciation." The boy replied, giving a long sigh. "He's one of the best people to talk to about Players, actually..."
"Nothing better than talking to someone about themselves, right?" Touch said looking at the princess, who seemed to have a silly smile.
"It's not good to make jokes like that, you know?" She said, still smiling at them, but little by little she started to get a little scared, noticing how serious they both looked on the subject. "It's a very bad joke... And I'm sorry for seeming disrespectful... but... Are you telling me that... this paladin is like our gods?"
"In addition to the memories of how to use the sword, I also gained general memories of what the life of the former user of this item was like... So I can say without having any fear of divine punishment... He is a player, Calca..." Letyan did not use the honorific of 'queen' to demonstrate the seriousness of it.
She stood there, staring at her champion and then the paladin in front of her, her vision going from one to the other again and again as her mind tried to comprehend what had just been said. Her mouth remained slightly open, as if her brain was completely focused on the current situation.
"Are we having a god as a guest...?"
"I wouldn't call myself a god..." Masato tried to explain himself, but soon CZ entered the middle of the conversation.
"Touch-Sama is not just any Player, he is a Supreme Being." The automaton's voice remained cold and direct.
"Supreme Being...?" Calca's gaze showed shock and confusion.
"Ehh... it's the way the NPCs in his guild call members who are players..." The boy was trying to help his queen to understand. "And NPCs are... the beings that are created by the players themselves... I think we call them 'En-Pi-Sees' in the religious books."
"Anyway... I don't see myself as a god. Where I come from, we are the common inhabitants and we have beings above us... You only see Players as gods, because you are very weak in comparison... Not wanting to seem rude or threatening... But it's the same as if an ant was always getting a sugar cube you gave... the ant would see you as a goddess for having the 'power' to bring delicious food so easily." Masato tried to explain in an understandable way, using a combination of the comparisons that the Nazarick NPCs and Keiko had made a month ago. "But returning to the reason why we are telling you this, Queen Calca... You asked why your champion has only now been found by the magic sword... It was because... we only recently arrived at this place."
Calca remained silent until she had the courage once again. "So... Were you somewhere else?"
"Another world. Yes... A completely different world than this."
"A world where Puh-lers are so common... that they are not seen as close to a divine being....?" Her question received a confirmation from the paladin. "But... why now?"
"I don't know either... Your champion was able to speak calmly to me and my group, due to the memories he obtained. And he explained to us how other Players had appeared in this world before, but why my guild only arrived here now is a complete mystery, we have some theories, but they are not that precise to say."
"Wait... why would a group of gods, whether newly arrived or not... want to ally with me?" And finally Calca asked the most obvious question in that context, still showing a little nervousness.
"One of the basic reasons was our friend here." Masato looked at Letyan for a moment and then returned to talking to the queen. "But I already told you the reason in the throne room... my group and I believe in a world where all races could interact with each other in a harmonious way... There were problems like this in the world of Players, which we call... Yggdrasil ..."
"Yggdrasil.... Hm... This name.... It has already been... spoken of in some ancient books and scriptures... But recently it was discarded, as being a translation error of the word 'World' by those who had transcribed legends about the gods..." The queen seems to have become much more thoughtful after hearing that word. "So it was the correct word..."
"Yes, Yggdrasil was an immense universal tree. In which each leaf was a realm, small worlds where each one had its own geographic and demographic diversities. But this level of information does not lead to the case now..." Masato tried to take some air before continuing.
"We were hunted by humans, elves, dwarves, these types of races seen as 'close to humanity', just because we were different. We were threatened and often robbed of our glory, for being seen as villains and wicked monsters... So we decided to create our guild as a way of finding harmony where everyone could have fun and not be afraid to be who they are. Queen Calca... you look for the same thing as us, and you are a being on the side of humans... it's like we are two different sides of the same coin, and how can I say... you know the value of the coin, no matter which side it is on."
"I can understand... you guys really want the same- wait... you said before that everyone from the other world is a Player, but you still used the term 'humans' to differentiate... so..." Calca finally noticed that detail.
"Yes. I was a human, all the players were, but due to circumstances, we ended up having our bodies transformed." Masato sighed, having to use the excuse that Letyan and Tabula helped plan. It wasn't a lie by any means, it just wasn't being told completely.
"So you were and stopped being...."
"Yggdrasil's situation was precarious, to the point that all residents were forced to be of a race other than human. I won't go into the details completely, but that's more or less the context." He sighed. "I may look a lot like a human, but that's because I'm a Half-Insectoid."
Masato removed his glove, demonstrating how his hands had no nails, it was all a pure exoskeleton. "Among my companions who are here, we have a young actress who turned into a Slime, a book fanatic who turned into a being made of tentacles... A big fan and connoisseur of Magic, who ended up taking the form of a goat man... And a companionable, friendly and sentimental man, who ended up having the misfortune of turning into a skeleton... I mean... every time he has an ounce of excessive emotion, his body cancels it out, it's to be pitied, really...."
He said those things, using his words to make the queen consider them as good people. Of course they were, even with each one's flaws, all of his companions were friendly, always helping not only each other, but talking and interacting with other guilds when they proved trustworthy. Still, nothing was excessive at that moment...
He was talking and trying to convince a queen, a saint, a faithful follower of a religion that could be comparable to Christian, with countless paladins and even problems with races that were minimally different from basic humans. So demonstrating the human side that everyone absolutely had, before transforming into their characters, was the best option.
"We want to establish an alliance with someone trustworthy, someone who is sweet and can understand our suffering, someone who doesn't just care about appearance. As far as I know, a pure saint who wants unity and peace for all beings is the best option... and honestly, I was a guard, someone who tried to seek and fight for justice, even if there was corruption in my home... I would love to have you as an equal, someone to talk to, someone who knows what is right..."
She looked at it very well, the confusion and fear seemed to have gradually disappeared as she heard those requests. "You don't need to sugarcoat so much to gain someone's favor, overdoing it can cause problems."
"I know, but I like to start a card game with my initial hand completely facing the opponent." He responded calmly.
"No need to turn the cards the other way... I accept the alliance between your guild and my kingdom... Player Masato." She gave a slight laugh. "I could feel the pain and frustration in your words as you spoke about the injustice you suffered and how you became."
The queen's last words were like a nail in Masato's chest, as if he was remembering how he was suffering for possibly leaving his wife and daughter alone. But he took a deep breath to compose himself. "Yes... It was painful... Isn't that right, Hikari?"
Letyan smirked. "Yes, it was awesome, I can access the memories of this friend of yours, you two had a lot of problems, right? You and the whole guild... What a great family you were. And yet they were the best."
"Best?" Calca asks, curious.
"Due to the fact that we were all from races considered monstrous and diverse, we all occupied different things that became more and more than something common. We ended up being seen as the greatest monster guild that ever existed." Masato laughed lightly remembering the good times. "We even have an impressive amount of world items."
"World Items?"
"These are items that existed in Yggdrasil, in which they were so powerful, with such absurd effects, that many players also called them 'Balance Breakers'... Ainz Ooal Gown, the guild we are allied with, has several of them... But I can't say with certainty how many, as something may have changed after Hikari died." Letyan spoke calmly.
"Yes, exactly, these items threatened Yggdrasil's balance of power so much, that there were only 200 of them in the entire great universal tree. The guild with the most of these items, apart from mine, only had 3. We have more than 10 of them." Touch_Me took some tea to drink, even though he didn't like the taste, he needed to hydrate his throat. "So basically, we were the most powerful that existed.... But that's what I would say, if there weren't some other guilds that beat us in terms of number of players. Ainz Ooal Gown had 41 members, and of course there were those that had 100 members or much more than that."
"I think the existence of these giant guilds was insane." Letyan was biting into a cookie. "It was extremely complex to organize things... I think the maximum limit that Punitto Moe accepted was 50 members."
"Exactly..." The paladin was thoughtful, but noticed a small detail and looked at the queen. "Ah... Punitto Moe was one of our companions, the combat strategist... We currently have someone else doing this job."
"I can understand.... eh... Is there anything else that... would be good to talk to me about in this meeting?" The queen's question made them both very thoughtful, until they remembered a small detail.
"Oh yes! We were thinking about creating a portal between Nazarick and here, it would be a method for us to have better connections for meetings... Besides... in a way, it would serve as an escape method if you needed to quickly leave the kingdom... or even urgently needed to go somewhere outside the kingdom. Because currently our guild is close to the eastern border of the Re-Estize Kingdom." Letyan commented on this, looking at his queen.
"The idea would be to do this in an external area... The most responsible thing is to create some kind of hut in which the portal will be. This way, your paladins can still guard the new 'border' without many dangers." TouchMe added.
"You're already thinking of ways to bring us closer together, while still making us comfortable with safety... And I can understand the logic, possibly your guild members must be too important for you to be forced to leave some here to take care of the idea of plantations that we talked about..." Calca commented, already able to see the logic of it all. "So it would be more appropriate for us to put this portal in the same place where we will let you have control over the crops."
"Exactly..." Letyan gave a slight smile. "And I already know the perfect place for it... What do you think of Kalinsha?"
"The Fortress City in the east?" Calca asked just to confirm and the boy agreed. "Yes.. it would be perfect, from what I know the surrounding area has a lot of green fields, you could use the fields to the west of Kalinsha."
"Okay, so we have already agreed on several of the things and information we needed to deliver... Queen Calca, you would still like to meet the other members in person, correct?" The paladin's question was met with a smile and a nod from the queen. "Great, I will see who is available at the moment, and also present the possible candidates to be responsible for the planting area."
"How soon can this be done?"
"Well, we can have the base of things ready in 5 days." The paladin's response made Calca's eyes widen.
"5 days?!"
"Yes... Ahn... We, players, have methods of doing things very quickly... so the cabin and the teleportation portal can be made in less than 2 days, the other 3 days are just for us to fix the bureaucratic part and do the choices of who should be presented to you..." He gave a slight cough as he spoke. "I understand how the whole situation is emerging all at once, so in addition to choosing someone based on their mentality, we will also choose based on their appearance, so as not to scare you too much."
"Thank you for your consideration... But if you say things like that... does it mean that there are many who could, just by their appearance, cause chaos and confusion?"
"We are a very diverse guild... We have demons like basic Imps and Succubus, we have undeads of different categories, some demi-humans... And even... The being that I created and consider my son, he is a dragonoid."
"A dragonoid...? This is incredible..."
"Yes, I was thinking about maybe we can also form an alliance with Dragon Kingdom and Argland Council State. With Masato's 'Son' being one of the possible chosen to represent Ainz Ooal Gown, along with one of my daughters." Letyan's words make Calca scared.
"An alliance between two other kingdoms... I mean, making a peace situation with Argland would be the best option, since we are neighbors.... wait....Daughters? Do you have daughters?!?"
"Oh! Sorry! Player Hikari's memories end up making me say this, but well... he has 4 children, and one of them is a mix between dragonoid and angel, so she's another candidate for us to do this new search for alliances. And well... we are first making an agreement between AOG and HolyKingdom, because this is my home and I want you to have an advantage in this, Calca... But if it weren't for that, I think I would have asked them to make an initial alliance with Dragon Kingdom. Because... you know... helping a nation that is on the verge of collapse, and that has dragons as leaders, would be the best option."
After some time thinking, Calca was able to realize that Players would actually gain more by allying themselves with dragons, like how happened in the ancient texts from 200 years ago. And yet they had decided to make that choice, instead of just answering the questions when they were in Re-Estize Kingdom, they had decided to come to see her.
And all because of Letyan...
'You really do everything for me... love...'
And so that meeting was over, everything was already organized to happen and even Calca was prepared to make a real speech that would make that union official, and of course, she wouldn't mention the secret of those charitable souls being players and heteromorphs, that should be something they themselves should disclose if necessary.
But... Unfortunately, everything is not a bed of roses.
This is called Karma... But some might call it Chaos...
It is an ancestral order, older than time...
The bigger one side gets, the more the other evolves.
However, the question to ask is, which side is getting bigger now?
And who is a participant on each side?
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