Knock. Knock.
“Master Henson! It’s Bernard.”
“Come in!”
The door opened.
“Just put them over there. I will take a look later.” His master responded, eyes still glued to the documents in his hands.
The old butler complied. He gently closed the door behind as quiet as possible to not disturb his master before bringing in the new papers. He put the knee-height stack on the floor near the pile right in front of the entrance. This was the untouched documents. The butler took a quick recap. Base on how his master usually worked, the neat piles on the left of the door were the low-priority files. The smaller stacks on the furniture opposite to those piles were those holding crucial information. His master’s desk was in between those two.
While the many papers have covered his master desk to the point Bernard could not see his face, the butler could tell from memory there would be 4 distinct areas. The ones near his master’s left hand are unprocessed papers. They would be moved to the center when he worked on them then being sent to the right. For those that would be used as references he would put on the fourth area on the back which were blocking the butler’s view.
With these papers lying around, Henson’s office looked more like an unorganised storage room of some lazy officers. There was no trace of the spacious, well-keep room months ago.
“Sir. May I suggest some refreshments?”
“Thank you, Bernard, but I will have to decline.”
“As you wish, sir. Please call me if you need anything.”
At the moment, in the entirety of Teroku no one had such unholy amount of works as Henson. He has funneled every piece of information he could get his hand on to this place, be it from the government or shady associates of his. Henson was no workaholic. He just did what is necessary, and these files were necessary. Tasks that could be delegated to others he has already delegated. These were the remained. To understand his situation, it is vital to explain the current chancellors.
Starting with Weslor, he is the youngest chancellor as well as the newest on his post, being appointed last year. The air he gave off is that of a shy intern. None of the chancellors was confident in assigning tasks that are too important or difficult to him. At the current time, everything is difficult and important as the nation encountered a situation they have never faced off before, being transported to another world. Next, to chancellor Temona and chancellor Erwin. If Weslor is the intern, then this pair is the regulars. They have solid experiences and adequate ability to complete their assignments. Overall, they were reliable. Yokka is a senior among the chancellors. She could be seen as the future of Temona and Erwin, someone with more experience, skills, and a more dependable personality.
Then, there is Mufusa. He is similar to Yokka plus the aptitude for leadership. He also has a powerful background to boost. Given his age and political power, it is normal for the chancellors to see him as the team leader. However, he could be stubborn sometimes, and despite other chancellors’ competency, they don’t have the incentives to recorrect Mufusa in case he is wrong due to various reasons.
Henson is the cogwheel enables the machine that is the House of Overseer to function properly by covering any potential defectives created by his team’s incompatibility and incompetency. He is the failsafe. If someone suggests something, he will think about how such thing could fail, what aspects that have not been considered etc.
If Mufusa’s suggestion is flawed, Henson would be the surgeon that “dissects” and “fixes” it. Pretty much everyone in the State listened and respected Henson. It was almost to the point that he is the mastermind of the House of Overseer, such is the effectiveness of his work. The key for his success involves two things, his logical analysis and his intuition.
Right now, his intuition alerted him of an upcoming split of the State. He has sought to assure this complication wouldn’t turn into an outright civil war or something even worse. Thus, he has resolved to employ other means of collecting intel about the many parties within the country.
Running through the relevant information, he had at least got some good news. Among the many powerful people, four of his fellow chancellors were “safe”, Weslor, Erwin, Temona, and Yokka. The only one with the most powerful background of the four is Temona. The Wyrmsking house has its root went back to the historical age of monarchy. However, Temona and her Wymsking relatives have no character with ambition at of current. Erwin’s house is a dying power. Erwin, being the clan head, is barely above a civilian. He was taken as a chancellor due to his ability rather than political power. Weslor’s house is only behind the house of Wyrmsking, but they have been struggling to maintain their status quo. Weslor, the man himself, is a fawn. Henson had already had his arrangement to keep Weslor’s naivety in check. Yokka has already retired from the scene. Her relatives were mostly unremarkable.
The only person that he would have to put in high priority is Mufusa. His house is the most powerful political power in the country with good connections across the system. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem since he usually acted in interest of the State, but for the moment it is unknown how Mufusa would interpret this “act in interest of the State”. Henson hoped whatever Mufusa wanted would not jeopardise the delicate balance within the country and of the new-found foreign relations.
It seems at least Mufusa had contradicting view with the 3rd Army Commander, Tulma, on how to manage their relations with the Land. Tulma was a child refugee many decades ago when his kingdom was put on the torch by Belenor, the local great power. While not a Terokene by birth, he has great respect from the army, even the other commanders which should be his equal considered him as their superior. He owned a large food distributing business. Using his wealth, Tulma has stretched his helping hands to many corners of the State. Thank to that, he got both the army and the citizen’s support.
It is likely that witnessing the horrific nature of war during childhood directed his attention to the citizens’ quality of life. When War is on its saddle, Sickness, Famine, and Death are within sight. Not repeating the old tragedy must be his motivation. Thus, the commander would rather they submit to a greater power than struggling in a painful death. Mufusa, however, wanted to lessen foreign influence as most as possible. Greater foreign influence would mean the importation of their culture and custom into the country. What comes next is a slow process of assimilation where a portion of their legacy is forgotten. The old chancellor thought it’s better to lose in a way that their legacy is preserved by being stern in their diplomatic.
Henson doesn’t pay any heed to those things. He only knows that they need to gain access to new technology fast if they even want to safeguard the country. Communication, transportation, daily utility, and weaponry are aspects within the top priority list. Worse, their upcoming number one concern would be the future of their food production. Food has already become more expensive, and it would rise even more. The northwestern region has turned into an island. The Sandy River that flows through that place became a salt-water channel cleaves through the heart of one of the two largest harvest lands. Would be lucky if they even retain a third of production from that area. Then there is the salt-water intrusion. This year is a 30% decrease in national harvest. Next year and the year after that is another story. Belenor learned the hard way when they worked on that Hydro Power Plant near their major river delta. The food production now laid in the south at the Ariella-Muriel-Santo region sitting right next to the Land of Harmony. If their relations turned sour, the country would experience a worse tragedy than Tulma has seen.
In any case, Teroku could not walk alone. The communication devices of the dwarves, the promised new material from the elves, two marvelous warships ready for commission, magic knowledge from that Chimera and those travelers, the master blacksmith that produces unearthly powerful ballista bolts, these imported products and services are only possible due to their friendly relation. It would be most unwise to not utilise this gifted opportunity and build up Teroku. They need to level up their game. Henson estimated it would take Teroku 20 years of studying knowledge from the Land, building up infrastructure, solving environmental issues, training personnel, amassing skilled workers and soldiers to be on comparable level as the Land of today. That “20 years” is, of course, a very generous number. Given the current knowledge, he felt “35 years” would be more appropriate. In case there were obscure knowledge, it could be more.
Laying down the document, his eyes turned to the window. Outside, the gardeners were tending the garden under afternoon light. Henson made a speculation. What if they submitted to the Land of Harmony right at the start? What would happen? With the resources from Teroku, the plausible action would be expanding their power by quickly transforming the education system. Terokenes would be taught new magics and knowledge. Workshops would pop up in many places to create communication installations or weapons. Since Teroku’s magic is unusable in the New World, and the Land also suffers problems regarding some of their magic, investment would be concentrated in researching technology and magic.
What else? Hmm. Caroline. What would happen to him? That madam, Feron, found Caroline quite interesting. There were a couple of invitation sent to Caroline which they kept hold. Teroku don’t have much to offer to Caroline but the Land sure is. That master blacksmith could give him equipment in quality far exceed in Teroku. Their great understandings of magic may improve Caroline much more through magic enchantment, magic teaching, and advanced training using magic. How much military power would a stronger Caroline equal to? There are so many things for Henson to imagine. He decided to stop since dwelling into the “what could” is useless. Furthermore, these are just guesses in the best scenario.
For now, he should continue what he was doing. The most important thing is keeping watch of Mufusa and the conservative group. That group consisted of people with low power, and Mufusa didn’t seem to be interest in them, but he would not leave thing to chances. The second priority is obtaining as much information about their “friends” as possible. They are a group with too diverse characters. There is no clear leader, and people came from different allegiance possibly possess different goal. They need to be able to distinguish each party and their goal. It is the same in their old world. Trying to appeal to a strong nation is ok, but knowing the many facets of that nation would allow them to bargain more effectively. If it is needed, pitching each of them against the other.
Taking out the most recent report from their northern expedition, Henson skimmed through its 5 pages in minutes. Teroku’s soldiers being inferior is a given considering the army haven’t gotten into any major conflict for the past decades. What noteworthy is the extension of this inferiority. Henson‘s eyes squinted at the words “rag-tag militia” being used, and he agreed wholeheartedly with John’s sentiment. Their weapons, the bows and crossbows, are human size. Meanwhile the dwarven rifles are less than half size, yet they shot faster, were easier to aim, and produced as much damage. They lost 7 men to that naval combat while the dwarves lost 3. Their crews picked up tracks, patterns a month ago in the forest while Terokenes were clueless.
In addition, the COs (communication officer) commented on the resourcefulness of the many individuals within the ships. Their group of less than 50 built 3 log cabins in half a day. The houses are of small size but it still requires a week for Teroku’s most skilled builders to complete. That is not to mention they have to get the raw materials and process them before usage. Perhaps, this explained how they could provide Teroku with those communication installations by building things from scraps. Teroku have already bought 29 more of these which would be delivered some months after the dwarves returned to mainland.
Moving onto another issue. By the tales of the tribesman there is advanced civilization up north. There might be more information there. They needed to find out about the ogre fleet that destroyed the tribesman’s village and other nearby tribes. It would be good fortune that those man-eaters do not belong to any legit nation, else there would be war.
The chancellor opened the drawer beneath his desk. He brought out a paper. This is the rough map of the New World Henson asked a subordinate to make. It is just a draft for the officials to use for now. Teroku sit on the far left. The Land of Harmony is located on its southeast. Roughly 5000 km to the east is a legend Henson drew last night. The legend bears the appearance of two swords crossing with a big question mark beside it.
The two expedition ships had burnt down more than half of that fleet. The remaining 50 ships had made their escape with the tracking devices of the groveship stuck on their hull. The trackers were outside the map of the two ships but like a star its life signal is visible to the grove. They could sense its direction and how fainted the signal is. Using their locations at the time of launching the tracker and their current location, a bit of trigonometry calculated the result. It is not certain, could be more, could be less, but roughly 5000 km. It is a safe distance. Even if those ogres want to seek them for revenge, it would be a large body of water to search.
Henson stole a look at the pile of papers he had yet to touch. He had done so many works, read horrendous number of documents, processed the inhuman influx of information, ran scenario after scenario within his head, and yet there were still so many to be done. He could see that stack increased by tomorrow. His eyes wandered to the decorated ceiling. All these works, and the end was not within sight. In the light-filled office, chancellor Henson let out a tired sigh.
Outside the military post, two soldiers stood guard, one old and one young. They each held a wooden spear with metallic tip. From a far, a group in similar uniform drew closer. One of them waved at them. The young Davi recognized the familiar face, he greeted back with his hand raised high. A pair separated from the group. They each bade the other goodbye. The large group went on while the pair strolled toward the guarding soldiers.
“Gramp! Davi! It’s our shift now. Get yourself something to eat.”
“Finally! I am starving.” Said the old man with his raspy voice.
“Good to see your appetite still strong as usual, gramp.”
“You bet I am.”
“Bye, guys.” Davi waved his hand followed by the gramp and the other two soldiers.
On their way to the market, they chatted with other guards who were also released from their shift. They merrily walked to their favorite store as they noticed some people running. Then many more joined the running. The group found it unusual, but their stomach was in higher priority. They finished their order as more people rushed out.
“Nana (grandma/old lady). What’s wrong with them?” One curious soldier asked.
“You, boys, don’t know?” The old lady gave a toothless grin. “They said very big ships are coming to the port.”
Receiving their food, they joined the running stream of people. Their ears picked up gossips on the way.
“They are huuuge!” A man described.
“How big? It is even bigger than the villa.” Another man said.
“How are something so big float on water?” His friend asked.
“The port is crowded. You won’t see a thing. Follow me!”
“Where are you going, Filipe?”
“To the Owl tree. We can climb on its branches.”
The children ran after Filipe.
The soldiers luckily got a good spot. The old guard froze on his place just as everyone else. Due to a disease, his left eye was filled with a dull white color. His sight forever rests on the other healthy eye. This right eye saw many things, but nothing can be as outrageous as what he was seeing.
“Davi. Is my eye playing trick on me?”
“Great uncle. It’s real!” Davi replied.
On the widen pupil of his eye, there was an incredible sight to behold. Two massive ships were following the lead of their cog (a type of sailship). The old guard knew too well the size of their small ship. It was a new vessel built at 20m in length with single mast. For a poor place like this island, ships more than 15m are luxury. Years ago, a stronger kingdom gifted them the carrack, “Pandolla’s Blessing”. It was the largest ship they have ever come to possess at 30m in length but even it was pale in comparison to these monsters.
The closer the huge ships, the heavier his breath became. He slowly grasped their true size. They are at least 5 times the length of their largest ship, and yet they caught up with their cog. He heard from the younger folks that the greater kingdoms have this magic called “Tear of the Wind God” that creates wind to push their sails. Thank to this godly magic, the kingdoms’ ships move even faster than those on tailwind. However, no matter how hard he looked, no sail was within sight. What great magic allowed these behemoths to move at such speed?
He recalled the tale of an adventurer who landed on their island with his longship. The rowdy fellow spoke of Superpowers who have large ships without sail. Almost everyone on the meal store ridiculed him. “May be children will get excited with your tall story.” They snorted. Who would imagine such thing was real. That adventurer probably would have laughed his nose high to the ceiling if he were here. As they were marveling at the great ships, groups of officials loudly ordered the people to disband.
Per usual, none of the ship can get close to land due to the shallow water. The guards on land asked each other with puzzled eyes.
“For real? We built this port for large ships like the galleons of the kingdoms, and it is not enough to let them come near shore?”
“It seems that way.”
“Whoever build this ship must be even richer than the man on the hill.”
Super large ships with no sail moved as fast as smaller sail ships but that is not the end of their surprise. The moment multiple boats were released from the ships, everyone exclaimed in shock. These small boats also had no sail and they moved even faster. Seeing the boats were reaching sooner than they expected, the official on land promptly ordered his men to get in position.
As the guests finally secured their boats, they moved as a group toward the waiting official and his men. From afar, the officials could see the group moved in a clear formation comprised of three columns. Each column consisted of a different species. The young-looking one on the left was an elf, their racial trait of long pointy ears is unmistakable no matter where they go. The one in a middle look similar to normal man, they probably are human. The one on the right was leading those as short as him, these persons must be the dwarves.
As they reached a distance the leading official deemed sufficient, he bowed deeply to the strangers. Everyone behind him followed suit. For the first time in their life, the sailors saw this many people greeted them with such… politeness!? They felt uneasy. Their eyes frantically confirmed their reality. Some turned around to see if they were blocking way of some royal families behind them. As they saw one of them bowed down in return, everyone decided to do just that. Under the scorching sun, two group of people bowed at each other like some weird contest.
The official felt the odd silence. Normally he would hear the opposite say or do something since nobody like to stand under the hot sun. He lifted his face slightly just enough to catch a glimpse of the situation. He fearfully begged the sailors to raise up. It was the most awkward situation the sailors encountered in this mission. The official then calmly introduced.
“My greeting to you, our great guests. I am Pinochito. I spoke for the Totoi Islanders.”
After the brief introduction and stating their intention, the sailors of the great ships were invited to the governing house on carriages. Spying at the direction of Pinochito’s hand, the sailors face turned uncomfortable. These carriages are powered by human. Each has four laborers in front. They exchanged look before stepping on those carriages with heavy sigh. The age of slavery was long behind them. People of the past might enjoy this style of living but to them it is so embarrassing. Worse, their crewmates were watching them on the bridges. On his seat, Paul blamed himself for trying to be the first in contact with alien civilization. Not knowing to Paul, John was thanking Paul from the bottom of his heart for taking a bullet for him.
It took 20 minutes of travelling to arrive at their destination. The group studied details on the great hall in front of them. In comparison to the slums that is downtown, this building belongs to a different dimension. It is glory and wealth. It is completely remote from the poverty they saw in the houses of those common people near the port. They were directed to a luxury guest room to rest.
“You see anything?” Dimithil asked.
“This place… was very underdeveloped. Cloth armour, 15 or 20 layers. Very little trading activities. Spare use of metal. Sail ships dated back to the primitive age. The town of Muriel (Teroku) has better standard than here.” As he finished, Borag eyed at Paul for his confirmation.
“I agree with shipmaster Borag. Even the poorest village in our territory has guards in better equipment. They also seem to lack… beasts of burden.”
“May be that’s why they need to use manpower.”
“And then…” Borag turned his face to the decorations in the guest room “…there is this place.”
Ceramic plaque, glass window, sophisticated wooden tables, cushion coach, stone carvings, oil painting in bronze frame… just to name a few.
“It doesn’t take a genius to see most if not all are imported, and I don’t see how that poor port can pay for these.”
“Guess I am dumb then.” Dimithil casually commented. “I don’t understand though. Why are they acting like that?”
“Perhaps, they mistook us for someone else.”
They spent the rest of their time strategise for the upcoming diplomatic talk.
Pinochito stood up and greeted the arrived guests. Comparing to the guest room, Pinochito’s office is much humbler. Even his chair is just a basic wooden one with backrest. There are no decorations that can be seen. Even weirder, his office was separated from the large building that has the guest room.
“Excuse me, great guests. If you don’t mind, I would like to reaffirm the information. Mr. Paul is the communication office that will act as envoy of the Independent State of Teroku. The same nation that commissioned captain Borag and captain Dimithil for exploring the world and establish relations with other nations.”
“Technically, yes. However, I want to stress that shipmaster Borag and shipmaster Dimithil belongs to the Spiroline Dynasty and the Elven Council respectively. It would be best to considered us as three different sovereign powers.”
“I will note it down but, great guests, I must ask. How come I have never heard about your great nations before?”
“To be honest with you, we are not from this world.”
“Not from this world?”
“We don’t know how or why but our nations were transported to this world several months ago. Thus, we were sent in a diplomatic mission to establish friendship and trade route with other nations in the New World.”
“Great guests. I do not want to be impolite, but your story is very farfetched. Moreover, I don’t even know where your country is.”
“We understand, but it is the true. As for the location of our country, please forgive us if we couldn’t give you an appropriate answer.”
Pinochito thought about all the weird thing these guests have brought with them. Those large ships, and boats that moved without sails as well as the strange ensigns on top of their masts.
“Although I do not want to believe, I am not knowledgeable enough to deny your claim. However, great guests, please understand that it is almost a custom to introduce the place of your country. It makes people very suspicious if you don’t mention such information. Could you, perhaps, let me know the general direction?”
Teroku’s Foreign Affair Office after a brief discussion finally agreed.
“We can not say the detail, but we have traveled from the South.”
“Oh! The South?”
“Yes.”
“I have heard that there are giant sea monsters in the southern sea. Are you saying that you just crossed such dangerous water?”
“Well, yes. We did encounter a group of them. You can ask anyone on board they would say the same.” Paul had his eyes at Borag.
“Indeed. Even the juveniles were as long as 30m. I can see why they are dangerous beasts.”
Hearing the nonchalant remark, it feels like the sea monsters were not even a threat worth mentioned to them. Pinochito reasoned it must be so. Since they commanded such massive ships, they must have some terrifying weapons capable of trivialising the monsters.
“O great guests, you have made a long and harsh journey. It was a great honor for us, islanders, to be visited by you. Once again, welcome to Totoi Islanders.”
“To celebrate this occasion. We of the State of Teroku have a present for you, as a guest to the host. I hope you forgive such simple gift.”
The soldiers brought forth a large wooden box. From the time Paul announced of this gift, Pinochito has stuck his wary eyes on this box. The nations that passed this water, none has ever gifted them anything. It makes sense for strong nation to ignore weak country that could offer nothing to them. It is even more sensible for strong country that has ships as massive as these guests. Why did they want to appeal to them with gift? If they take this gift, what would they have to give in return? However, rejecting the gift of a strong country would be rude to them. Pinochito smiled with his squinty eyes.
“Then I can only say Thank you.”
Just as they were about to move on with the discussion, a soldier rushed in and reported secretly to Pinochito’s ear. He quickly excused himself while telling the guests to wait for him in his office. About 20 minutes later, Pinochito returned with heavy breath and sweats on his face. He apologized for the interruption and invited them to come with him since there is an important figure wanted to meet them. As they returned to the luxury building, he explained that this person is ambassador of the Pandolla Kingdom, their benefactor. Most of the nations that went through the Totoi Islanders will have to meet this ambassador.
Here they stood before a great double-door room. Seeing them, the guards crossed their halberd into an X sign. These guards clearly are not from Totoi. Their weapons were iron if not steel. Their uniform is far more impressive than Pinochito’s. Even their frame and facial traits are different from Totoi’s Islanders. Pinochito quickly informed that they have come as the ambassador’s request. One of the guards knocked lightly on the door.
“Lord Pennity. Those you requested have arrived.”
“Let them in.”
They saw two other guards in the room standing at left and right. These guys glared at them studying every detail in their outfits. While they stayed silent the entire time, it is no doubt they were looking down on them. It became literal when Borag walked through. Their head held high, but their gaze was downward. The most infuriated part is they didn’t even pretend to hide as their eyes met Borag’s scowl. Borag set it aside. He is an officer of a different state. Setting thing straight with subordinates from another country is not his thing to do. If he got any complain, it will be with his counterpart of the same rank.
Dimithil who intentionally let Borag and Paul heading first saw everything. He was trailing on the right side. Feeling intense heat, the guard on the right immediately turned around meeting the ire in the young elf’s pupils. In that instance, he fixed his gaze staring straight ahead. He tried to ignore the eyes of predator that were scanning him for any disrespectful attitude. Dimithil’s attention left the guard. His steps while still walking up were obviously leftward to the other unaware guard. The moment the other one took notice, he jumped up a bit. He repeated exactly everything his partner did before, eyes straightforward.
The elf later joined Borag and Paul at scene only from fantasy novel. Glittering objects of gold and other precious metals made their eyebrows furrowed in discomfort. This wealth flaunting is at least one step above that in the guest room. This level of showing off is irritating if not offensive to the reality downtown. Are they allowed to build such outrageous place not taking the situation of their host country in consideration? Borag and Paul turned the cogwheels in their head.
In front of them was an oversized man with a skinny aide by the side. The coach he was on should have enough room for two, yet it looked miserable having to handle just the man alone. His body was covered in extravagant clothes while his face wore obesity. He was enjoying the tiny teacup not caring for his surroundings. The only saving point for him was probably his hair. As much as this man invited revulsion, his hair was silky, beautiful, and almost shining.
The aide alerted his master of the arriving “guests” to which he calmly finished his tea.
“Oh! Where is my manner. Please, sit.”
The tune sounded more like a command than an invitation but that was not the problem. Following the direction of his gesture, there was only a single chair in front of his tea table. Who will sit and who will stand? Paul was the closest person to the chair, and he was leading them, but he dared not settle down. The two behind him far outranked him, captains to a mere communication officer. That is not mentioning the power they commanded. Having spent time with their ship, Paul knew well not to disrespect these two.
Pinochito who was on the far back drenched in cold sweat. He took all the courage he could muster to walk up. He stopped just behind Borag begging this Pennity to let him go get some more chairs for the guests. The obese man only paid Pinochito with an annoyed look hinting that this was not his concern, and he should sort off.
Borag and Dimithil picked up all the cues. They looked at each other exchanging wordless agreement. Borag walked up holding Paul hand and directed him to the seat while Dimithil patted on his shoulder.
“You should take the seat, Paul. You are the envoy.”
“Indeed. Nah, no need to worry. We’re just the commissioned.”
Paul was a little unnerved but complied anyway. He just hoped he hasn’t done anything to damage the relations between Teroku and these two captains. If chancellor Henson were here, he would have felt the bitterness in his mouth. The pair of dwarf and elf obviously had shoved Paul into the chair out of consideration for Teroku and Pinochito. It is apparent they also deemed this Pandolla’s ambassador wasn’t worth their effort. This can only mean that this talk would be troublesome.
Looking from the back, everyone can see another detail. The chair while elegant, and possibly comfortable was nothing to the coach the ambassador was on. They may come from the same set, but you don’t let your guest on a single chair while you enjoy a coach twice the size. If that ambassador needs a coach to be comfortable, his guest should be granted a similar coach. Equality is the basic manner to conduct diplomatic, there should be no excuse. Sitting on this humble chair, Paul has already felt his negotiation power decrease looking at the larger seat on the opposite.
“Ehem. I shall begin. I am Lord Justice DeGrand Pennity of the Great Kingdom of Pandolla. His Highness, My Majesty, Great King Righteous, have appointed me as the ambassador of Totoi. As his Majesty’s will, Righteous be his name, I bring glory of the Great Pandolla to these Islanders.” Pennity spoke with great enthusiasm it almost felt like script from a drama.
Lengthy. Dimithil thought.
Redundant. Borag.
It was taxing for Paul. He was wondering should he follow with something similar or just stick with the regular. At last, he decided to not improvise. A slip of the tongue would turn him into a clown, and his State the circus.
“My greeting to you, Lord Pennity. My name is Paul Max. I am a Communication Officer from the Independent State of Teroku. Our mission is to explore the world and establish foreign relations with my country.” He then gestured to his left. “Our country has commissioned shipmaster Borag and-”
“We are not here to listen to the introduction of your subordinates.” Interrupted the aide.
“Sub- Subordi-” Paul’s blood turned cold at the remark. He wanted to check the expression of the two captains beside him but couldn’t since the other side was talking to him. He could only imagine the monstrous look on their face right now. Suddenly he felt light taps on his shoulder with a whispering voice that he barely made it saying “Keep going”.
“Uhm. Okay. Then. Lord Pennity. Why do you want to meet us?”
“Before that. This name, Teroku. I don’t believe I have heard about this before. Montity, is there any country that I perhaps didn’t know?” Pennity turned the fat in his cheek to the aide nearby.
“Lord Pennity is the ambassador appointed by His Majesty. Clearly His Majesty acknowledged your wisdom and knowledge worthy of presenting the Glorious Pandolla. If even Lord Pennity doesn’t know, how can I, a mere aide, know?”
“Then.” Pennity turned back to Paul. “You lied.”
Paul cursed in his mind at this insult. An ambassador insulted envoy of another nation right in the first talk. If this were a cartoon, everyone could see smoke coming out from his ears. Paul calmed his inner thought. “Of course. You wouldn’t have heard about us before. We are a new country here.”
“Oh! So you are a newly established country. It is no wonder I didn’t know.” His voice felt more like he was reasoning why he haven’t heard about Teroku than acknowledging there is new country he didn’t know.
“No, no. We are a country with more than 400 years of history. We are just a new country in this world.”
“I think you should stick with one story. How can there be something so contradicting as an old country that is new?”
“That’s the case of our nation. By unknown mean, our entire country has been summoned to this world several months ago. That’s the reason we have to send our expedition like the one we are taking to explore and make contact with other nations in this world.”
As expect of Pennity’s oversized mouth, the laughing erupted from his vulgar hole was as loud as his mouth was big. Behind them, the guards also had their giggle. It took a while for his laughing to die down. He pulled out a handkerchief wiping the tears on his eyes while holding the huge grin.
“Since the great jester show at the palace party last year, I haven’t been able to laugh this hard. What a super thing!” He looked at Paul who were visibly distressed. “Ah! My thank, envoy from Teroku. Being in this poor pigsty without any entertainment of my homeland have caused me so much trouble. Well, it’s duty from His Majesty. I should not complain. Pinochito must have spoken to you about my situation. I have to thank you for caring so much about my health. To think you would humor me this much with such joke, I should have treated you with greater generosity.”
“Lord Pennity. What I have said is not a joke!”
Pennity hugged his stomach and erupted in a short laugh. He visibly made effort to hold down his laughter. “That joke… and that stern voice… ha ha ha… please, stop… I can’t handle this… ha ha ha…”
The last few minutes watching Pennity insulted the envoys has been the worst ordeal for Pinochito. He threw any restraint he has had through the window. “Lord Pennity. Please, stop disrespecting our guests. They are not joking to you.”
Pennity looked at Pinochito. The Totoi Islander spokesman’s face was bright red. Any joking gesture along with his laughter ended as abruptly as it has started. “I thought you would have understood but this is not your concern. Stand aside.”
Pinochito retreated in anger.
“Lord Pennity. Mr Pinochito is correct. We are not jesting with you.”
“Please! Such tale is only popular to either the children in bed or the drunkards at the filthy tavern. It can be passed as a good joke once or twice, but this is the third time already.”
“Lord Pennity. They are speaking the true. They have passed the dangerous water of the South to reach our islands. What kind of country in this region has the power to do something like that?”
“You shut your mouth! This is the last warning I have for you. You are only a mere peasant in this slum beneath the feet of our Great Kingdom. What do you know about the world? For your answer, there is a barbaric country named Annonrial also in the South. They have sometimes passed the water in the South. If such a barbaric country outside the civilized zones can do so, then everyone can. It’s whether anyone wants to or not.”
He turned back to Paul. “So you are from the South. Well, I can sympathize with you. To be born in a barbaric country can be a curse. I understand that you don’t want to reveal the sad truth but fear not. If you become a good ally to the Great Kingdom of Pandolla, we can share with you our superb technology. In a century, no decades, your name shall be known to the entire world.”
“Oh! That sounds great. Can you tell me more about the Great Kingdom?” No. Paul was not interested. He along with the Foreign Affair Office on the other end have already left the stage. They decided to let the bastard played out the drama he wanted while collecting as much information from this Pandolla as possible.
“Let me see. Where should I begin to let you understand the greatness of the Great Kingdom Pandolla…”
Pennity dragged about his army with 100 000 men strong, all were equipped with full body armour that would strike fear to anyone who saw them. Thus, the guards here didn’t wear those as to not scare off ambassador of other country. He continued about how lucky Teroku was for becoming ally of his kingdom. He explained that this world has 3 civilizations known as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd civilization. Although Pandolla is outside the civilized zones, it is still a fringe nation of the 1st civilization, the greatest civilization in the world. This gave them technologies far surpass other uncivilized countries in the 2nd and 3rd civilization. One of these technologies is the ability to tame wyvern, the ruler of the sky. Even a single wyvern rider can eliminate thousand of soldiers by itself and the kingdom has an entire wing comprised of 60 fearsome wyverns. He moved from military to economics and infrastructures without a care about the person in the room. “…and that is just a tiny portion of the Glory of the Great Kingdom of Pandolla. Hm. Please, excuse me. I must get some drinks to soothe my throat after all that talking.”
The aide quickly catered to his need.
“Well, what do you think?”
“It was… wonderful. It was hard for me to think of the worthy word to describe the Kingdom of Pandolla.”
“Surely. Even someone well-read like myself found it hard sometimes to describe the greatness of Pandolla to barbarians outside the civilized zones. Of course. I don’t want to insult you but it’s the harsh truth. The faster you accept it and try to improve yourself to meet our level, the better. Then about becoming our ally. Let me see. You will have to make some sacrifices. Oh, sorry for scaring you, it is not something as barbaric as it sounds. You just need to make some gifts to Pandolla.” Pennity took a sip. “They say nothing is free in this world but the Great Pandolla is different. We wouldn’t charge you anything. We just want some proof of loyalty which is the nature of these gifts.”
“Then what do you think would be an appropriate gift… for the Great Kingdom?” Asked Paul.
“You understand fast. I like your spirit. If only all those barbarians in the past even had a portion of your intelligence. Now let me see. Are those ships out there yours?” He pointed at the two great ships near the port.
Paul dared not say yes as technically it was not theirs.
However, Borag was quick to cover. “Aye! They are ours.”
“Then give me the bigger one. It has the color of metal worthy of my strength and grand figure. I will add good words for you. If the Great Kingdom saw how much you care for their great Ambassador, my great kingdom would easily accept you even if you are just barbarians. Hmm, what else?” Pennity put a finger to his chin. It was like a bulb just lighted up in his mind, he pointed as Dimithil. “You, there. You are an elf, correct?”
“I am.” Another decided to play for a bit.
“Do you have other elves?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Round up 100 of them. Remember to select only the purest and youngest. As much as I am ashamed to admit. If there is anything my Great Kingdom lacks, it would be elf slaves. If I brought back 100 of them, everyone would have to hat off to my ability. Also, you. What do you do?”
“I am the shipmaster of the smaller ship out there.”
“You look very young. What a sad thing that you were not born under a good star. How about this! My cousin, she is a lovely lady. I can guarantee that she would adopt you as one of her pet. I know this may sound like a downgrade for you but heed my advise. There is a saying “to be servant of a good master is better than being master of the poor”. A captain of some barbaric country is nothing to a servant of The Great Pandolla’s nobles. What do you say?”
Paul and Pinochito wetted their clothes with sweats just by listening to the whole conversation. If not for having to keep their manner, they would kneel out on the ground gasping for air. Their face was as red as a tomato giving off the impression they were in high fever. Their heart was pumping blood at insane rate anticipating a fall out from the exchange between Pennity and the two shipmasters. This was the worst ordeal they had to endure in the entire life. While not being a telepath, they both were thinking about how many years they just lost listening to the bullshit of Pennity. Finally, it seemed Pinochito has won over Paul at being patient.
Paul raised up from his seat. “Forgive my manner but I don’t think my country could afford to become ally of Pandolla.”
Paul turned his back to Pennity but before he could take as much as 4 steps, the guards blocked his way.
“The Ambassador haven’t finished talking to you!” The aide yelled out.
“I have hoped you were different. You saddened me.” The fat on his face wavered as Pennity shook his head. “Let them go.”
Although surprised by the order, the guards still obeyed. Paul walked out as fast as he could. It would be more precise to describe it as slow running. Borag and Dimithil met his pace with Pinochito giving chase.
“Lord Pennity. Why did you let those barbaric manners go unpunished?”
“What are you talking about, Montity? I have always been a merciful Lord. I have reached out to those lowly barbarians, but they rejected my helping hands. What could I do beside letting them taste the hard truth of the outside world?”
“As you say Lord Pennity.”
“Beside you remember their ensigns, don’t you?”
“Of… Of course, Lord Pennity.”
“Then inform our Glorious Kingdom of the event today.”
“Yes, my Lord. But what is that for?”
“Montity. Montity.” He rolled back his bored eyes at Montity’s question. “You have served me for all those years why didn’t you pick up a speck of my wisdom. We are the Pandollians. We guarded the Southern entrance to the first civilization. In short, we are the first teacher. If we don’t educate those barbarians about the consequences, what do you think would happen if they carry that attitude to other civilized nations like the Dukedom of Justinador or the superpowers like those warmonger Parpaldia Empire? They would be extinct. As a merciful person like myself, do you think I could stand and watch such tragedy happens because some idiots of their nation didn’t know what is better for them?”
Pennity showered in raises from his aide as he happily imagined the distorted faces of those three from Teroku when their navy exacted punishment on them.
Pinochito had chase after the great guests down to the Port. His crying face was filled with tears and sweats as he pleaded for the guests to stop. He has cried out to them along the way nonstop while trying to catch up with the fast speed of the guests. His throat hurt but he had never stopped crying out. Such distressing call alerted other soldiers and they too ran after. Their voice pleaded them to stay.
At first, Paul was the one at the head, but his inferior stamina gave way for Dimithil. Feeling the sincerity in their cry, Borag turned around along with other sailors. Paul checked up on Dimithil. He didn’t show much emotion. The young elf just didn’t want to stop.
“Please… Please… listen to me… Please…”
Borag decided to give Pinochito a chance. Everyone else also stopped. Noticing the sound of footstep has dropped, he too turned around.
“…Thank you…” Pinochito would have fall into a coma due to out of breath have they not halt their step.
“Great Guests… Please… I know you have been insulted… but that was the ambassador of the Pandolla Kingdom… They are a great country in the north of our position. In comparison to them… the Totoi Islanders… is merely a group of 4 islands with less than 2000 people… We used to be different tribes… until the Pandolla defeated our chieftains and established their dominion… Our chieftains of the past decided to surrender… thinking that Pandolla would take us as their territory and treated us as their citizens… but… we have too little value for them… and own ethnic blood is treated as mud to them… Thus, they let us be as a different entity… although they technically owned us… they just don’t want to take the responsibility… Great guests… I believe you are not from this world as the way you treated us… was different from this world custom… Those Pandollians are arrogant… They considered those from a nation further from the civilization than them to be inferior… but we know… any power that can have ships as massive as yours… are beyond Pandolla… Please… I ask… no… I beg you… The innocent of Totoi Islanders didn’t do anything wrong… Please… don’t unleash your anger upon them.”
Pinochito kneeled on the ground. His trembling hands held onto the tip of Borag’s left shoe while his forehead rested on his wrists. The guards realised the horror in Pinochito’s words. They too let go of whatever they were holding and dropped on their knees. Their hands were on earth as they prostrated to the sailors. Everything they have seen ever since they set foot on this island have been unbelievable to the last.
Dimithil approached the kneeling Pinochito.
“Stand up!” He commanded.
The islanders obeyed without a sound.
“Is it how it works in this world? If a weaker nation displeased a stronger one, they will be destroyed at the whim of the offended?” It was a cold interrogating voice.
The islanders fearfully nodded. While everyone else were sympathized to these poor islanders, Dimithil was different.
“Borag, Paul, and me in that room were infuriated. That creature spouted rubbish after rubbish like it owned this world. It was so low on our scale that anger was a waste upon it. We too were angered by your lack of reaction as a host country. We know now that you have your own situation, not because of your ill-will.”
The islanders felt relaxed as they heard these words. However, the look on Dimithil didn’t seem to match the mood they were expecting. He was clearly enraged.
“But then you tell us to not unleash our anger upon your people. What do you think we are? You think we are so stupid to not know what was right and what was wrong? You think we were the savages that would make carnage on innocent people? You dare comparing us to that animal?”
The islanders were shaken at his accusation. They had no word to speak for themselves.
Dimithil turned to Borag and others. “I will be returning to my ship.”
Dimithil’s logic was not sounded but Borag knew best. His friend was just overloaded with emotion and the words of Pinochito was the last drop. Dimithil just felt offended at those words and before he could prove that his reasoning was wrong everything broke loose. He must have decided to go cool himself down in his quarter. It’s better this way. He was young and so was Borag but even more inexperienced about the outside world. The group minus Dimithil headed to the nearest place with tables, chairs and private space. They have a lot of things to ask the Islanders about this world.
