CHAPTER 2 - I - THE HOLY COALITION
January 6th, in the first year of the Saint.
The Holy Congress had been dragging once again, not because of its old format of bilateral talks between the rulers of Chersea; but the human monarchs were divided about what to do with the Empire’s blatant disregard for Maddie’s ultimatum.
That the Emperor should appear before her, as soon as possible, didn’t happen. I asked Lily about the travel time between north Chersea and the empire, just for reference. She told me it’d take about two ‘long sleeps’ for the Imperial ambassador, the Prince Vendette, to send Maddie’s demands, a ‘long sleep’ for the Emperor to act on it, should he plan to delay it a little, and a further two ‘long sleeps’ to appear at the Holy Palatial Gardens via the fastest transport available.
“…”
However, it was the sixth ‘long sleep’, or ‘day’, since Maddie made her ultimatum, and there was no sign of the Emperor, nor an envoy from the Empire.
“…”
Naturally, Maddie and the other human kings were indignant.
“If that bastard wanted war, then he could’ve told us sooner!” it was King Rambo, “I’m itching for another round against that old geezer!”
“We can’t let this blatant disregard for Her Holiness’ demands!” another ruler, the Duke of Savoy, commented, “I say, we gather our armies and drive his legions back to the sea.”
The room erupted into cheers at the Duke’s suggestion. However, there were a few dissenting voices.
“Don’t be so quick to go to war, Your Majesties!” the King of Calabria sought to calm his peers, “It can be that the Emperor has a grave reason for not attending. We should smooth this out through talks!”
“Yes! It’s not your kingdoms that would be ruined should the trade between north Chersea and the Empire is cut-off!” another monarch—the King of Galad, took the stand of the King of Calabria, “As you know very well, my kingdom is an island, and with my population, there are only a few lands we can spare for food! Please reconsider!”
The floor soon devolved into another loud mob of royals trying to convince the others to either attack the legions stationed in Amaranth or exercise caution and prudence. Maddie was once again getting stressed-out by the exchange of arguments, and she sought to silence everyone.
Naturally, I and the other paladins intervened.
“Your Majesties!” Maddie spoke, “While there are merits in your suggestions—both for and against war, let me point out that we have given the Empire ample time to show their respect to this institution that we all agreed upon and tried to follow. However, as your saint, I wouldn’t allow anyone, slave, commoner nor even a royal, to trample our collective wishes and goals to have a peaceful and stable Chersea for humankind!”
“Yes! That’s my point as well, Your Holiness!” King Rambo shouted.
“Please keep silent, Your Majesty.” Lily drew near and admonished her friend.
Disregarding them, Maddie continued with her speech, “I implore you, wise rulers of men, to exercise wisdom in these trying times. My proposal is that we approach this problem in two ways: one is that we’re still open for communications, should the Emperor decide to avoid the course for war, and second, we should keep our vigilance and prepare for conflict, should it come to our borders!”
“Your Holiness!” it was the King of Calabria, “Does this mean, we’re avoiding war?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Maddie cleared it for him, “I do not wish for conflict to happen. However, I also advocate that we should prepare for war, should further violations be committed.”
“It is well understood, Your Holiness!” the King of Calabria bowed, “Thank you for imparting your wisdom.”
“Alright.” Maddie clapped, “For now, I’d like to adjourn the Congress a bit early, for I’d like to show the human kings the ‘hourglass’ my adviser, Sir Kuro, had invented. I’ll show you what its functions are”
At the mention of my name, I bowed before the kings, who took an eyeful of me. It’s awkward since Maddie insisted that I ‘invented’ the clock. However, though embarrassing, I’m quite proud that I was of help to her.
The moment Maddie stood was the cue for the human rulers to follow suit. As I was a Paladin guard, I immediately prepared to come after them. Who knows? Maddie might’ve wanted my explanation for introducing and using that device.
However, Lily stopped me.
“Kuro…”,
“Hm? You need something from me, Lily?”
“Come with me.”
“Eh? Is this something about Maddie?”
“If you’re referring to what happened to both of you six days ago, we’ll talk about that later. But now, Maddie had already created a diversion for us.”
“A diversion? What?”
“Just come.”
Though I felt uneasy about Lily’s request, I came with her anyway. Soon she led me to another room, quite far from the Congress venue.
“Sorry for calling you out suddenly,” she whispered.
“It’s alright. I’m just surprised by the sudden request, that’s all.”
“Well, it’s great!” Lily then unlocked the doors, “Please come in, to the War Room of the Holy Palatial Gardens…”
The War Room of the Holy Palatial Gardens…
It was a big room, almost identical to the size of the place where the Congress was being held. There was a round table map in the middle, with a small recreation of Chersea’s geographical features. There was also a group of ornate chairs that circled around the table. Thick curtains covered the windows, which added to the mysterious atmosphere in the room. The only source of light was the little candelabras that were installed along the War Room’s pillars.
However, what further drew my attention was not those things. It was rather the figures that were hidden in the relative darkness of the place. Honestly, I felt like I was getting myself into a cult meeting of sorts; it’s freaky.
“Lily?” I hesitated and turned to her. One look at those people and I get the vibes that they were important characters.
But the head maid gestured I proceed into their circle. She then removed her maid headband before coming over to the table map. The figures stood up to pay their respects to her.
“Thank you for coming, Your Excellencies, Your Highnesses.” Lily greeted them, “May I present the captain of the Paladin Guard Corps, Sir Kuro…”
“Ah yes!” I heard a familiar voice from the crowd. Is that Sir Simon?
“So, you’re that commoner they call the ‘Fist of the North Lands?’” someone commented. And then murmurs floated around.
“I half-expected him to be…a bit heroic-looking?”
“So do I…”
Well, pardon your disappointments. Even though I’m the ‘Fist’, I’m just an ordinary guy from another world. Besides, what I did before to the Imperial prince was pretty common back in my world, especially when my friends were pretty drunk and could not even stand properly anymore.
Of course, socking the Imperial Prince’s face is extraordinary, but punching a face is what I‘m referring to…
“…”
Anyway, Lily then began introducing me to the people in the War Room.
“Sir Kuro, these people before you are the various ministers of the human rulers who are going to side with us if ever there’s a conflict.” she explained, “You know Prince Simon Hugh Reed of Nerfes; he’s the second Prince and the Minister of the Army to King James Walter Reed II.”
Sir Simon stepped forward to greet me with a handshake and a wink.
Well, I certainly expected he’s some bigshot. But I never knew that Sir Simon’s concerned with the fearsome army of Nerfes.
“This is Duchess Sylvia Henristone, a high official in the army of the King of Colveente, Baldwin V Hans Levine.”
The Duchess silently approached and did nothing but stare at me from the head down to the toe. Well, I guess they think their noble status gave them the license to disrespect others of lower standing. However, I don’t plan to fight these people in case I had to work with them, so I’ll just let it pass in the meantime.
“The Duchess had weak eyes.” Lily whispered, “But she doesn’t want to wear glasses.”
Oh…my bad.
“Count Robert Brooke, Minister of the Right to the King of Amarth, Sylvester Neuman.”
This noble had a sarcastic smirk on his face as he reached towards me for a handshake. And then, after that, he took out a bottle filled with some kind of liquid, and splashed some of it on his hands…all of that in my broad view.
Heh, typical nobility. So fucking entitled.
“Oh? Did that offend you, Sir Kuro?” the Count of Brooke asked, “Don’t worry, it’s just that I’ve got allergies to everyone’s hands. And please don’t mind my face’s mischievous looks as well; I often get into fights because of how I look. My apologies for the misunderstanding.”
I stared at Lily, and she nodded.
Riiight. I guess I’m mistaken after all.
“Prince Giuseppe Uhrian of the city of Stadtsberg of the Alliance of the Valley Cities, councilor.” Lily then whispered, “He’s a half-dwarf, hence the beard and the height.”
“Hey! I heard that Your Highness!” the Prince of Stadtsberg complained.”
“Honestly, Your Highness the Prince, I think your beard is badass,” I admitted my thoughts to him.
“‘Badass’? What in the demon’s testicles is that?”
“It means ‘great’, Your Highness.” I explained, “I wonder if I can grow a beard like that.”
“Your Highness Princess Lilyhaven, I think I’ll like this boy!”
“Ahem. Your Highness the Prince of Stadtsberg…” Lily replied in her prim and proper ‘maid’ character, “Sir Kuro is already engaged.”
“I don’t mean that, you fool! And I don’t swing that way!”
In contrast to the two other nobles, this old man gave an amicable impression. He carried a smoke-pipe with him, and he wore a red military uniform with a pair of golden epaulettes. His bearded face told me he was a veteran of several wars, which was further reinforced by the way he gripped my hand as if he’s expecting a lot from me.
What did Lily tell these people, anyway?
She continued introducing the rest of the nobility present in that room: three more people who had connections in their countries’ army.
If I remember correctly, their titles are the Count of Tillie, the Earl of Yaris, and the Duke of Greene.
Upon finishing with the others, Lily introduced herself, “I’m Princess Lilyhaven Tamriel of the Royal House of von Leese, also known as the Iron Princess and a former general to the army of Nerfes.”
Everyone then took their seats. The Prince of Stadtsberg was quick to comment, “I’m surprised that only a few of the kingdoms actually supported the cause of our beloved saint. Almost everyone was pretty vocal about going to war earlier, and then when it comes to the shove, we only have seven brave souls.”
“Well, you know how human politics work, Your Highness.” Lily answered him, “No matter how loud their voices are, most of those monarchs would only watch from afar, and side with the winning faction pretty late into the situation. Her Holiness expected little from them.”
“Too true, Princess, too true.” the old noble puffed his smoke-pipe.
“So, we’re all sure we’re going to war?” I heard the Count of Tillie asked.
“It’s not a question of ‘if’, Your Excellency.” Sir Simon told him, “It’s a question of ‘when’. That the Imperials landed five whole legions into another sovereign territory is a grave disrespect to the Saint’s Peace, and into the territorial integrity of Amaranth itself. If we don’t do something now, soon, we’ll deal with the Imperial legionnaires within our borders.”
“Besides…” Lily was quick to back him up, “The Imperial envoy was just delaying us; the Emperor didn’t plan to show himself, after all. However, that they sent the Prince of Vendette to negotiate is proof that the Imperials were bidding for their time, maybe to reinforce their armies in Amaranth, or set another invasion force somewhere here in north Chersea. So, what’s a good time to strike back but now?”
I agree with their explanation. If I was the enemy and I wanted to wage war, yet I’m still preparing my positions, I’d talk to my opponents for a while and prolong it so that my men could consolidate our defenses. Plus, only a fool would say that the Emperor would still be willing to negotiate; after all, he sent killers to assassinate Maddie.
“Bah! These talks of when the war would begin is making me sleepy!” the Prince of Stadtsberg complained, “Let’s get ahead on how we should kick the Imperial arse.”
“Hold up, old man! Don’t rush us!” the Count of Brooke countered.
Laughing, Lily asked us, “Then, shall we proceed to our talk?”
