Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 120: Legends of Mattarglos

~A/N: Hey Dear Readers! I recently decided that keeping track of all of the different names for the elemental summoned by Daniel's scarf is too complex for me, let alone for my readers I imagine, so I've decided to 'singularize' the elemental as Luceniel, and then each element gets a unique name (when I remember it). I mention this in case you see that she is being treated as 'one individual' no matter the element. It is canonical to treat elementals specifically like Luceniel as 'one' or 'many' in the sense that elementals don't have the same sense of 'self' as normal living beings. She just likes being helpful to Daniel and getting attention. If there does still seem to be a glaring clash, please feel free to mention it. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy!~

***

If Daniel had known that a week-long celebration would take place in what seems to be the whole of Mattarglos, he would have braced himself a little better. He requested Ucahote spare a shuttle to make deliveries of wine and rum for the celebration in order to cultivate goodwill, and most of the ‘reject’ batches have been cleaned out -ones that Daniel simply didn’t like and slated to be used for trade, since they’re still good batches-. 

That said, the drinks are a great hit, and Aramellianna began planning her own production and distribution immediately. The Grand Duchy is secure for now, but she has been considering establishing a territory within the Fievegal’s captured territory -with permission of course-. 

The Imperial part and Mornistae-controlled parts of former Bromlund isolate the Grand Duchy from Mattarglos as it stands, but once Daniel has gained control of the Mornistae capital and removed Rikuto and his superweapons, they’ll re-work the distribution of Mornistae territory to allow the Grand Duchy a duty-free route to Mattarglos before turning the remainder of the kingdom over to the Mornistae Royal Family.

“Rikuto was fine as king until he became obsessed with his fear of Daniel’s weapons,” is Aramellianna’s stance on the topic.

Today, the third day of the nine-day celebrations, Veiranoei is Daniel’s consort for the day, and he escorts her as requested by Kalegrynten to give the appearance at least that she is an Empress. She holds his arm gently as she walks with him to the meeting place on the airship. It has been too chaotic for him to progress his desired outcomes, so he finally gathered everyone together.

The meeting place is the lounge of the airship, where there is comfortable furniture for everyone, and Wenlianna is slowly and wearily setting up the magic radio. “Ughhh… Why did I let them convince me to drink so much…?”

Reignleif replies with her soft voice, “It seemed like a good idea at the time, huh?”

“I see why you are cautious about the amounts you give out, your Grace,” adds Aramellianna as she watches in amusement. Wenlianna is only mildly hungover, while Treia and Gwenesphia are laid out on lounge sofas with pillows over their heads. They only had a single small drink each to not disrespect a toast made by Kalegrynten, but it was enough to exacerbate their morning sickness. Daniel also suspects they had their drinks on empty stomachs, so he’ll have to have Xyreko monitor their health more closely to be safe.

Ryuogriar and Geirahoel can’t -or rather, agreed with Daniel not to- drink due to their pregnancies, so Reignleif is the only one happily tipsy from enjoying a few drinks during the endless celebrations. Senn, of course, has never had an enjoyable alcoholic drink, so she is also down for the count, being watched over by Vaergraes and Hekate.

Hekate perks up, asking, “Daniel? What kept you?”

“F-Forgive me, your Greatness,” cuts in Veiranoei instantly. “Many of the visiting domain lords and chieftains wanted to wish me thanks and congratulations.”

“It seems you’re quite popular, my Lady,” replies Magnir, the blue dragon who followed Daniel and Veiranoei as their guard while Neith is running a personal errand.

The young feldrok empress crosses her arms, frowning lightly. “It’s no fun if you immediately take the blame, Veira. Daniel’s a butt. You can let him be scolded for a bit.”

Daniel brushes off the remark with a retort of his own. “Obviously, that’s just the lie we concocted.”

Hekate glares at him. She knows he’s toying with her, but she also is immediately suspicious. She glances at the gatonine knight and then back to Daniel several times each. Veiranoei desperately exclaims, “Th-That’s not true, your Greatness! I swear, it was just a few social greetings! I-I felt bad brushing them off! Please.” She bows her head.

The feldrok girl sighs. “I am forced to believe you. Otherwise, I’d look like the butt.”

Daniel and a few of the others chuckle. Vaergraes teases, “Remember the lesson you learned recently, Hekate. The words of an empress are law.”

The ravenette teen flinches. She pouts, grumbling as she marches back over to the seat next to Ryuogriar, and she plops down. “Let’s hurry up and get on with this meeting.”

The door bursts open, and Neith jogs in. “Am I too late?” He kneels at once. “Forgive my insolence and my tardiness, my Liege, your Greatness. I have just returned.”

“You could have taken more time,” replies Ryuogriar. “We are in good hands with Sir Magnir and Dame Roeta.”

“Y-Your Grace,” murmurs Roeta adoringly. 

Neith adds, “I sufficiently accomplished what I needed to do, and I’d like to make sure we accomplish our mission here.”

Daniel watches as Neith walks to his normal post nearby, but out of the way. He seems to be a bit happier thanks to his personal errand, but Daniel will ask him about it later.

“Hello? Lady Ahok? Are you there?” Wenlianna operates the radio as everyone is settling in.

“Y-Yes! I’m here, Lady Wenlianna!”

“Did you get my notes?”

“I did. I think I understand what you’re looking for. I’m not sure I understand the purpose of the crystals. And, I’m not an expert on the urmalium, but I’m not sure it would allow it to work, would it?”

Geirahoel bursts out, “Hah! See? I’m not the only one!” Her comment is directed mostly at Reignleif, who corrected her last time. Fortunately, Ahok can’t hear unless the radio is transmitting.

Wenlianna waits for Reignleif to respond, and the blue female dragon replies gently, “I’ve been learning English.” She smiles and states in fairly good English, “[I won’t let you stay favorite forever without a fight.]”

Geirahoel gasps. Even Hekate doesn’t know what was just said, since English isn’t a language from Zenkon, so it doesn’t fall into her automatic language comprehension feldroks are born with.

Wenlianna replies gently, “[I’d be happy to have someone to practice with, Great Aunt Reina. There are still a lot of words I’m struggling to understand.]”

Reignleif nods in agreement, and Geirahoel stands up, storming around the lounge furniture to Daniel. Hekate darts to him as well. “Mukori! Teach me English at once!”

“Yeah! I don’t understand it like other languages!”

Daniel holds her shoulders gently to try to calm her down. “Easy there! I haven’t taught either of them much of anything, except when they ask for help.”

The orange dragon pouts furiously at him, and Daniel pets Hekate’s head. “I assume it’s because it’s not from this world that you don’t understand it the magic way. Though, the spell works on it…”

Senn murmurs, “The feldrok ability comes from the world’s mana…” She does her best to sit up, clutching her head. She promptly gives up and flops back down into her lifeless-seeming slouch on one of the comfortable seats. “It’s the same reason Dawnseeing can’t see events on Earth… like Divine Summons being summoned.”

“Um… are you still there, Lady Wenlianna?”

“Yes! Sorry!” replies Wenlianna quickly into the radio. “Um, Great Aunt Reignleif was explaining to me that the radioactive material is called uranium. And, the lead shielding will protect the magic components around it. The small holes of increasing size and glass lenses in front of each hole will require greater and greater amounts of mana to light. The crystals work as a sort of ‘mana amplifier’...” She glances at Daniel, who nods. While Wenlianna is the one who made Daniel’s idea possible by interpreting what he was explaining into a magic equivalent, his base knowledge from Earth is the starting point. 

She continues, “The amplifier is meant to raise the ambient mana to a higher baseline and make it easier for the device to distinguish between small changes.”

There’s a moment of quiet as everyone waits on Ahok’s response. She has a few helpers on her side as well, including the Uhl’tall brewers working on revival potations.

“My Lady, if I may, would it work a little more simply if we use just two mana crystals, one to activate the other as an offset to the main glass orb, which has a single hole to the uranium? In fact, if we widen the probes away from each other and connect them to the core with mana links, they should be able to collect more ambient mana and require a lot fewer EMC’s, as well as a smaller piece of uranium.”

“Ah! Yes! I see what you mean!” Wenlianna scribbles on her copy of the designs, adding, “Alright, yes, that’s a bit better, but we should probably increase the number of sensor probes to make them individually more sensitive to ambient mana. Otherwise, I’m worried the larger piece of glass will release too much of the mana as a glow.”

“Agreed,” replies Ahok’s voice over the radio. “I’ll run some tests and report back to you as soon as possible.”

“Good, good. Are there any other issues?”

“Queen Heralesse is visiting the township at Illianna’s suggestion. She's observing the industrial and agricultural changes Daniel has implemented.”

Daniel requests the microphone, and Wenlianna hands it over. “Lady Ahok, this is Daniel. It’s alright if she studies what’s happening in town. I’ve never known Heralesse to be physically aggressive, and most of our methods are based on equipment she won’t just be able to replicate. As for farming, I suspect Rikuto’s methods are a bit better, since it was a portion of what he was studying in college. Our equivalent to academy here.”

“U-Understood, your Grace. Forgive me for overstepping.”

“You didn’t overstep. Thank you for looking out for the Fievegal. I’ll give the radio back to Wenlianna now.”

“Y-Yes, your G-Grace. Thank you.”

As Wenlianna speaks to her briefly, Daniel remarks to no one in particular while studying the drawings, “I wonder if an iris would be easier to gauge mana intensity.”

Wenlianna interrupts herself to say, “Hang on, Ahok.” Wenlianna looks passionately at Daniel, saying in a tone of almost betrayal; “Daniel? What did you just say?”

“Hmm? Oh, I was just wondering if an iris on the shield would give us better control over the exposure to the uranium.”

“Explain!” exclaims the passionate magic artisan as she springs up and grips his shirt. He chuckles, “Okay! Okay! Look;” Daniel sketches a basic iris mechanism, showing how the curved-wedge-like blades contect to the fixed inner ring and the pivoting outer ring, which they can make an extension lever on to operate. “When the outer ring is turned, the blades slide across each other, making the hole in the very center smaller. If we shield the blades, it’ll make the iris kinda thick, but functional.”

Wenlianna fumbles with the radio in her excitement. “Ahok! Ahok! I’m sending you another design! It’s really hard to explain, but I’ll get it out of Daniel and send you the drawings! Please see to it once I have it delivered to you.”

“Y-Yes! I-I will.”

“Sorry for putting all of the construction onto you, but I don’t have the equipment here to shape materials.”

“No need, Lady Wenlianna! I am pleased to be constructing beneficial equipment for a change. A-And… to work with someone so talented.”

“Oh my! You flatter me, Ahok. You’re just as talented. If you need any help, call for us on the radio, and I’ll help however I can. If need be, I’ll return to the Citadel.”

“Thank you, Lady Wenlianna. I will. I will go as far as I can from here. Please be safe, and continued good fortune on your mission.”

“Thank you. You as well, Ahok.”

Wenlianna sighs, sitting back in her seat. “Daniel, why do you always hold out on me?”

He chuckles as the others smile. Ryuogriar playfully adds, “Yes, Mukori. Why do you always hold out on your beloved consorts?”

Daniel points at Ryuogriar, retorting, “You know the answer to that question, Ryuo-Mukori.”

She feigns a meek pout, and Daniel replies to Wenlianna, “I try, Wenlianna. But, I’m juggling a lot of things.”
She smiles, briefly taking his hand. “I know. But, I’m catching up.”

The human mechanic nods. “You’ll overtake me in no time. You and Ahok combined have far more imagination than me. To turn my half-baked ideas into a tangible device is impressive.”

“You make it easy.”

“Yes, yes,” interjects Hekate. “We all know you’re both amazing. What do we do in the meantime?”

Daniel replies, “Until we have the mana detector in hand, we won’t be able to locate the mana sources causing the mutations. Unless I missed something?” He looks to Senn and Vaergraes, both of whom confirm. 

Vaergraes explains, “The anomaly is noticeable, or it would be better understood. I, too, and my father and grandfather have sought to reduce the number of monsters that are created at random. They pose as much threat to anyone in the world as any other.”

“They’re more annoying than anything,” remarks Ryuogriar.

“I-If we could,” starts Veiranoei. “I-I know your goal is to investigate the cause and prevent more monsters from being created, but…” She fidgets, and Aramellianna states, “You are among friends, and are an empress of the Fievegal now, if informally. Speak, your Grace. Nothing is gained by your sheepishness.”

The gatonine woman nods, looking down briefly. “If… I may humbly request, another corrupted beast similar to Tyror plagues our lands. I-... It is the fiend of the pure lake. Rohgattabor, a graetcheth mantarouck. The lake would be a good source of water, and if there are still fish and crustaceans, Mattarglos would be even more self-sufficient with a larger population than we can support now.”

“Is it safe to use the lake if monsters are appearing in it?” asks Hekate.

“Our… sorry, the Mattarglos Army can fend off most monsters. Tyror, Rohgattabor, and…” Veiranoei looks down, adding softly, “Yaulwembor.”

Daniel notices the six dragons twitch, and Vaergraes and Senn also seem to become grimly serious. “Do you know of that one?” asks Daniel.

The dragons glance at each other, and Ryuogriar asks, “Mukori, what do you call us?”

“Mukori?”

The three empresses can’t help but smile, while Roeta gets to the point, “Her Grace doesn’t mean that, your Grace. What do you call all of us?”

Hekate gasps. “Yaulwaun [Dragon]…” She looks at Daniel. “It’s close to the eastern word for ‘voumalas [dragon]’.”

Daniel recoils as he makes the connection. He looks at Veiranoei, and she nods without looking directly at him. “Y-Yes… I don’t know much about it, but Yaulwembor is said to be invincible. S-Similar to… the dragons.”

“Any comrades missing in action?” asks Daniel as he looks at his draconic companions. Neith was travelling for most of his life after the fall of the feldroks, which was several hundred years in the past now, so he remains respectfully quiet as he looks at the others. Ryuogriar and Reignleif give it the most thought, while Magnir also searches his memories, since the three of them are the oldest.

“Nothing is coming to mind, Mukori,” murmurs Ryuogriar. “Though, that is not to say that it can’t be a dragon who disappeared long before any of us.”

“A-Are we even sure it’s actually a dragon?” asks Kera’tai nervously. “Maybe it’s a drake… or a wyvern.”

“If it’s an old enough drake, it might as well be a dragon,” replies Reignleif gently. “Especially if it has evolved to use magic respective to the other monsters.”

Neith immediately suggests, “Whatever the case, I must insist the Empresses and Dame Roeta remain here, my Liege.”

Geirahoel snaps, “Are you crazy!? That’s even more reason for us to go! You don’t decide-...”

“Calm down, Mukori,” urges Daniel gently. She glares at him, and then back at Neith, but she stops yelling. The human mechanic asks, “I have my own reasons to agree, but why do you insist, Sir Neith?”

Neith looks at the four dragon women with a pleading expression, as all four of them stare at him with serious doubts. “Whether it is an actual feral dragon or a drake powerful enough to be considered one, there is a problem if it is a male. Specifically in the presence of… females carrying the offspring of another male.” He looks at Daniel, adding, “It will be risky enough taking you with us. If it’s a sentient dragon, we might be able to reason with it, and if it’s a female… we might benefit from trying to capture it.”

“Now I know you’re crazy!” snaps Geirahoel. “The four of us would easily-...”

“All of the female dragons obeyed Morthybargaron, even when not all of you agreed.” All five of the other dragons now, including Magnir, glare at Neith. He holds his hands up to try to disarm them. “I’m not scolding or condescending. I’m saying an old enough dragon -or drake- could be a threat to even any of us. Or, all of us. If it is in a rut, it will shatter its own body to violently try to obliterate all of us. The best case scenario is a female, and it would hopefully focus its attention on myself, Magnir, or even his Grace Daniel.” Neith looks at Daniel, adding, “It’s a failing proposition more often than not, but wingdrakes, particularly, have born dragon eggs in the past, from what I have heard overseas. Drakes are intelligent, even if they aren’t considered sapient, so it would obey a magic contract without issue.”

Daniel ponders Neith’s words. The grey dragon is being sincere, since he’s worried about the Empresses, especially, but Roeta as well. He’s weighing the chances of Yaulwembor going on a rut-addled rampage against the additional firepower and magic four more dragons would bring. If it’s relatively calm, Daniel can likely get a clean shot with one of his rifles. He needs to quickly make a replacement railgun, since the firepower alone is looking more and more necessary with the beings he’s coming face to face with.

He looks at Veiranoei. “Do the territories of the lake monster and the dragon overlap?”

She shakes her head. “N-No. Y-Your Grace.”

Daniel sighs. “Listen. And, this goes for everyone. I understand when we're in polite company, but can we be casual when it's just us? Please?”

Veiranoei fidgets, and she nods. “I-I’ll try… D-Daniel.”

He nods with a smile. “Thank you. Even if it’s in spirit only, you’re a consort. And, I’d prefer to be friends.”
She smiles and nods again. “Thank you.”

With his original question answered, Daniel adds, “Alright, so since they don’t overlap, we’ll investigate the lake monster first.”

“Rohgattabor,” replies Geirahoel a sliver of a second before Hekate says the same thing. “Rohgattabor! Gah! Geira!”

The orange dragon grins playfully.

“My love,” starts Doephluev. “I can’t imagine Rohgattabor will be alone in the lake.”

“Agreed. Any ideas what we’re up against, Veiranoei?”

The gatonine knight ponders the question for a moment. “Other than Rohgattabor, there will be other mantaroucks, including at least one other graetcheth variant. I’ve also heard father mention bog crabs and banshee serpents will be in the marshes surrounding the lake, so it’s possible monstrous variants of them will appear.”

Neith adds, “Do not forget about balinkons and feral demon-kin, like the goblins and orcs.”

“All the more reason we should accompany you, Mukori,” states Geirahoel. “You should be…” She suddenly halts, glaring at Neith with color filling her cheeks. She adds with a feistiness, “I mean to say, you have beautiful and powerful dragons at your side, Mukori. You should make greater use of us.”

Daniel looks at her, and her own face softens. He looks profoundly saddened and quite a bit distant suddenly. “M-Mukori?”

Daniel looks away. “Sorry… I just…”

Geirahoel doesn’t hesitate to move to him, and she hesitates only briefly directly in front of the human man before hugging him, pressing her head to his chest. Daniel gently hugs her in turn. No one interrupts them. 

“Say it…” murmurs Geirahoel. “S-Say it, and… I’ll obey…”

Daniel hesitates for a moment. She very clearly knows that he’s worried more for her safety, as well as the others, than for his own. And, their pregnancies don’t help him feel any more eager to bring them to the battlefield.

Daniel lowers his head close to her cheek so he can speak into her ear. “Mukori,... Please act as you always have, and watch over us until we need help. I’ll not store my helmet in a dangerous area, and I’ll let you know when I’m taking it off.”

Geirahoel grips his jacket at his back. “Fine… But, if I have to come retrieve you, I’m locking you up in the Citadel with me forever.”

“Hey!” snaps Hekate. “He’ll be with ME forever!”

Geirahoel keeps her head pressed to Daniel’s chest, but she looks at Hekate with a content smile. “Please allow me to correct myself. I shall lock Daniel away with all of us, lest he do something foolish.”

Daniel chuckles, and Hekate nods. “That’s better.”

“We have a plan, then. We’ll…” Daniel looks at the incapacitated members of his party, including primarily Gwenesphia, Treia, and Senn. Reignleif, who would also be part of the cavalry, is also heavily buzzed. “We’ll rest for today and head out tomorrow morning. Will that be alright, Veiranoei?”

“Oh! Y-Yes! Of course! No one goes near the pure lake anymore. I just… I wanted to ask… since you slayed Tyror.”

“I’ll make no promises. I haven’t done a lot of preparing for fighting aquatic enemies, but I have a few things to try. And, if push comes to shove, Neith or Hekate can vaporize the lake.”

Simultaneously, two things happen; a gatonine woman gasps and a feldrok girl cheers, “Ooo! Me! Me! I wanna…!”

Hekate halts when she realizes Veiranoei gasped, and she looks sheepishly at the nervous green-haired knight. Hekate does what she can to reassure the young woman, “Um… I mean,... It’ll only be if we can’t defeat the monsters any other way.”

Vaergraes chuckles, adding, “Regardless, the lake should return after time, if it came to that. But, if Daniel will allow, I believe we can draw them out onto land.”

Daniel looks at her, and Doephluev chimes in. “Mantaroucks are ambush predators, my Love. They like to spring out of the water and catch prey at the shoreline, and then drag it back into the water.”

Veiranoei nods in agreement. “When it’s normal mantaroucks, our soldiers lure them out of the water with livestock and then bombard them with spears and arrows. As… mentioned, Rohgattabor has powerful magic, and it has grown quite powerful as the decades have passed. S-So says my father and grandfather. I myself have never seen it.”

“My Lie-...” starts Magnir, before changing to, “Daniel, Sire; if you’d permit, during the time you and the advance team are facing Rohgattabor, I would volunteer myself to scout out the location of Yaulwembor and determine what kind of enemy it is.”

“Not a good idea,” retorts Ryuogriar. “If the people of Mattarglos regard it as a dragon, then it is likely more powerful than you are. Depending on its age, it could be more powerful than Neith, Vaergraes, or Hekate.” She gives him a sympathetic smile. “I don’t like the idea of any of us facing it at all.”

“Have Sir Magnir take a couple of the Stalvaltan Guards, then,” offers Aramellianna, having listened to the tactical side of their mission. She’s mainly present for political information, in case she needs to know what’s going on for negotiations. But, she is still Grand Duchess of the Stalvaltan Grand Duchy, and as such, the Commander in Chief of the Stalvaltan Guard. “As you know, they have stealth magic that is quite effective. To my understanding, and I mean no offense, Sir Magnir, our esteemed blue knight’s mana is more comparable to our battlemages, and should be easy enough for them to hide. For a scouting mission, I could offer no greater service.”

Everyone looks to Daniel. He is silent for a long time.

“I think it’s a good idea,” offers Hekate gently. “We can stomp Rohgattabor, and then go right after to take down Yaulwembor.”

Daniel looks at the four dragons that barely survived the mission to destroy the orbicharium. Magnir and Ryuogriar, specifically, were almost lost forever.

But, Daniel can’t do everything himself. He needs to trust his allies and be able to delegate to them.

He nods finally. “Very well. Prioritize safety, Sir Magnir.” Remembering something, Daniel retrieves his void bag from his belt, and he scrolls through it to find something he’s still working on; a simple sight-glass. Getting the lenses just right to be able to adjust focus and range has been more difficult than he hoped, but the sailing-style collapsible sightglass will work for extreme range. He hands it over to Magnir, explaining, “I’m still working on this, so it’s not as good as I’d hope, but use this and don’t get close.”

Wenlianna perks up, and Magnir inspects the device. “Is this something similar to Lady Wenlianna’s glasses, Sire?”

“In a sense, yes. But, instead of helping poor eyesight, it’s for seeing much further than normal.”

Magnir extends it, surprised by the extending tube. He then looks through the wider end first, and Wenlianna can’t resist. “The other end, Sir Magnir. I helped with the lenses, so please let me know how well it works from the air.”

The male blue dragon in humanoid form nods. “Thank you. I will gather as much information as I can.”

Roeta is hesitant, and Daniel says without hesitation, “Mukori, please monitor Sir Magnir as well, and inform Dame Roeta if anything happens.”

All three dragon empresses reply, “Of course!” They shoot glances at each other, realizing Daniel intentionally left it vague who specifically he was talking to. Just before they start to push it off on each other, Daniel adds, “I’m counting on the three of you to act as cavalry for either mission. But, of course, the priority for Magnir is scouting only. Understood?”

Magnir nods. “Yes, Sire. I am aware of my limits, and I’ll make the best decisions I can.”

Daniel nods. “Mother, I would humbly ask you to allow Sir Magnir to recruit volunteers from the Stalvaltan Guard to accompany him on the scouting mission.”

Aramellianna nods warmly. “Of course. I’ll speak to them and inform them they have my blessing for this mission.”

“Thank you. Then, we’ll go with that. Magnir, focus on learning whether or not it’s a dragon or a drake, what elements of magic it has if you can tell without getting close, and if possible, determine what gender it is. Though, I doubt that will be so easy.”

Neith adds, “Focus on the first two, Magnir. If you’re close enough to determine the being’s gender, you’re close enough to be detected. We’ll have to plan to capture with the intel you can safely gather, and adjust when we arrive for the mission.” He looks to Daniel for approval, and Daniel nods in agreement.

“Very well. I wasn’t sure if you can tell from far away.”

“There are ways, but it will reveal Magnir’s position to attempt to do so.”

Daniel nods. “I understand.” Having another revelation, Daniel asks, “By the way, is there any reason you wouldn’t want to capture it if it’s male, Magnir? I assume your mind is on increasing the number of bloodlines in future generations.”

Neith nods. “Yes, but a male drake or dragon would be too risky unless it can be rationalized with. If it is an ancient dragon older than me, though, it’s likely he’ll take his chances with… mmm… replacing you, so to speak.”

“I would die resisting,” retorts Reignleif immediately. Geirahoel nods in agreement. Ryuogriar murmurs, “I don’t want to even think it…”

“Good thing we have the Harbinger of Calamity,” jokes Vaergraes. “Not to mention the Demon Tyrant and an actual feldrok.”

“Hey! That's no fair!” complains Hekate. “How come I don’t have an evil-sounding nickname!?”

“Empress of Evil?” asks Yanidere out of the blue. Everyone looks at her, since it’s the first time she’s spoken up to the group since the meeting began. She blushes and clears her throat. “I-I don’t actually mean that… I just… thought it sounded… kind of what you wanted… y-your Greatness.”

The feldrok empress scoffs and laughs. “Not bad. Not bad. Thank you, Yanidere.”

Daniel ruffles Hekate’s hair, adding, “If it makes you feel better, I originally called myself the Harbinger of Woe. It evolved through the rumor mill.”

“Someone! Quick! Start rumors about me!”

“Tiny Terror,” blurts out Doephluev, while Ryuogriar adds, “Darling Daughter.” “Adorable cinnamon roll,” states Reignleif.

Everyone chuckles together when Hekate frowns.

A groan draws attention to Gwenesphia as she tries to sit up. “Danielll…”

The human mechanic excuses himself from the small circle formed around him consisting of Hekate, Doephluev, Geirahoel, and Veiranoei so that he can tend to Gwenesphia. He kneels next to her as she holds her forehead with her palm. She wearily says, “I’ve been paying attention, and… I have a request as well, Daniel.”

“Let’s hear it,” replies Daniel gently.

“My parents and second and third eldest brothers, as well as my youngest elder sister, have all arrived for the celebration.” She winces at her headache and mild nausea.

“You want to do introductions?”

She glances at him, as if that just now crossed her mind. “Oh… Yes, I suppose so.” She sits up a little more, and Daniel supports her as Hekate approaches as well in case she’ll need anything.

Gwenesphia continues her actual thought. “But, actually, my request is to… bring my siblings and father on the subjugation mission of Rohgattabor. Father’s domain touches Lake Halynd, and our ancestors… were part of the failed raids against it.”

Daniel sighs. “I understand your position, but…”

“I know having a lot of soldiers is dangerous with the strategy you’ll be using with magic. But…” She gently takes his hand with both of hers. “I’d like my family to have a chance to restore our honor.”

Daniel considers it quietly, wondering if there’s a way to keep them safe while also giving them a chance to help defeat the monster for their pride and honor -foolish concepts in his opinion, but a big part of many of the cultures of Zenkon-. He understands why Gwenesphia is asking, but he doesn’t want to lose any lives. And, trying to protect fairly regular soldiers will be additional burden on the party Daniel is taking with them.

But, in that same vein, he reluctantly agreed to allow the Fievegal army to lead the invasion into Mornistae on their own in order to prove their worth as a formal army. He can’t change the ingrained spirit of the people of this world. Certainly not overnight.

He gently squeezes her hands with the one she’s holding. “I’ll accept, but we’ll need a proper plan. And, they have to promise to adhere to it. That includes running away if we lose control of the situation.”

Gwenesphia nods. “I’ll make sure they understand.”

Daniel sighs and nods. 

“Don’t worry, Daniel,” replies Hekate. “We’ll just use another polonium grenade, right?”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

He smiles as he looks over his shoulder at her. “That’s where we’ll start, but we need to figure out the best way to keep it on shore, or the contamination will get washed off.”

“Ah… Yeah, that makes sense.” The young feldrok girl cups her chin as she thinks.

“Regardless, Gwen, when you get a chance, set up a meeting with your family. We’ll postpone the mission until we have a plan. Everyone in agreement?”

No objections are raised, which means the group will have at least one more night to relax and celebrate with the citizens of Mattarglos.

***

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