The Medusa, although they have opened up to me, my family and my friends, are still cautious as ever. Understandable. It kinda reminds me of Dana when she was first with the people of Amleth. Not as cautious as the Medusa, but still a little uncomfortable here and there. I have done my best and will continue to do so. For now, they have asked for a place with a good pond and forest to live in. There are two places I can think of, one is the lizardmen's settlement and the other is the giant's. Both meet their criteria, and both places are filled with nice people. I'm sure they'll get along if I explain everything, and explaining everything is what I do.
"Thanks for the ride" [Diana].
"Just hop on. I was told what you wanted to do. You can count on me, too" [Asterion].
The fastest person in Amleth, the Special Knight Centurion Asterion, gave me a ride when I asked him. I can just go where I want by myself, but I'm sure they'll just nag and scold me. I'm glad that Asterion is easy to talk to. He's also fun to play with.
It doesn't take long until we reach the settlement of the Lizardmen and Dragonewt. Since Asterion already knows the way, it is even faster than before. Once we are there, I look at the leader among them. I know him from before and I'm sure he'll listen to what I have to say.
"But we didn't know about this! We weren't told about this when we first settled here!"
"This is still a place under the jurisdiction of the Duke of Spear, and as such, his Excellency's rule still applies. I am not here to negotiate, but to give you all the news"
"Is there something wrong?" [Diana]
Trouble. I smell trouble. Did I hear that right? Someone representing the Duke of Spear has come to this settlement for something?
"You two! Thank goodness you are here.
"If it isn't Young Lady Diana Vars and Sir Asterion of Special Knight of Amleth. Greetings"
The lizardmen and Dragonewt look relieved, and as for the one representing the Duke, not so much
"As you can see, I am here to deliver the message on behalf of His Excellency. He wants to ask soldiers for his dukedom. He wants those who can fight to be trained under him, and as such we are to take them for a short training".
"First heard about this" [Asterion].
"Me too. Besides, it sounds suspicious" [Diana].
"And that's exactly why I wouldn't agree to it. We were told that we could live in peace if we settled here and now, we were told to send our younglings to war!"
"Sorry, it's not a war. This is just a camp to train young people to be better prepared for an emergency. Please do not misunderstand Your Excellency's good intention."
If I'm not mistaken, there are times when countries can do this. The Empire did it. Xianxia did it. Even the Southern Island did it. It wouldn't be strange for Amleth to do it. I guess it's perfectly normal, it even makes sense in light of the threat of the Devil King's resurrection, however
"Isn't this too sudden?" [Diana].
"Besides, you can't just take people away without compensation. Besides, they are brought here under Her Majesty's grace, shouldn't this matter go through her as well?" [Asterion]
"Should we get Mrs. Myle? I'm sure she'll know what to do." [Diana]
"Excellent. Little Diana, can you wait here while I get Myle? I'll be here with her before you know it" [Asterion].
"Right! Don't worry! I got this!" [Diana]
And somehow we both know at the same time not to let this person speak. We wanted to get to the point and let Mrs. Myle do all the talking. He seems reluctant and wants to leave as soon as possible. I wanted to give him a chance to run away before he met Mrs. Myle, but
(Sleep) [Diana]
His magic resistance is low. So low that I only imagine him falling asleep with my spell, and he did. Luckily, he's alone with his one guard, who also has low magic resistance. I can tell that they wear necklaces to prevent such things, but it's useless against me.
While Asterion goes to fetch Mrs. Myle, I tell the Dragonewt and the lizardmen about my request. They don't seem to mind too much. I thought there would be some reluctance, but
"If it's your wish, Young Lady Diana, we'll grant it".
"We are better off under the Vars family than any other family."
"True. We will always help you, no matter what"
That settles it then. I will tell the Medusa about their new home.
Not long after, Asterion arrives, carrying Mrs. Myle with a pile of documents. When she saw me putting the Duke's representative to sleep, she just let out a little chuckle before politely asking me to wake her up, which I did.
"Huh... My... Did you just!?"
"Hmm?" (Feign ignorance, Diana. Just feign ignorance) [Diana].
"Good evening, I am Myle of the Special Knights of Amleth. I am also one of the secretaries to Her Highness Queen Amleth herself. My colleague has informed me about the current situation. If I may ask, can you tell me exactly what you are going to do with this guest of Her Highness?" [Myle]
Oh boy, it looks like Mrs. Myle and her sly smile are back. This is the same smile that brought Iligast (Grandma Farhah's ex-husband) to his knees. This will be a sight to behold. In fact, I'm glad, I'm eternally glad that I'm not the one on the receiving end, and as such
"This is His Highness' decree. As you can see..."
"I understand perfectly. I do. But this is Her Highness's decree, which can't be overridden. I certainly wouldn't think that His Excellency would gather people just for his personal gain. I don't think so. Therefore, this decree can override the Duke's decree, so I humbly ask you to leave. Note that this entire conversation will be brought to the attention of Her Highness Queen Amleth herself" [Myle].
Asterion looks at the person representing The Duke. From laughter to now sympathy, he shares my feeling of not being on the receiving end of Mrs. Myle's barrage of questions and statements. At the end of the day, the two have no choice but to leave empty-handed.
"That's cool of you! You were born tongue first!" [Asterion].
"What does that even mean... Never mind, I can already guess" [Myle].
"First the weapon brought from the Empire by the House of Prosperity, and now this, I can already tell what's going on behind the scenes" [Diana].
"You're getting sharper and sharper" [Myle].
"Well, it's kind of obvious" [Diana].
Luckily, those Dragonewt and Lizardmen didn't hear what I just said, otherwise they would panic. For now, let us bring the Medusa here.
The Medusa, although they have opened up to me, my family and my friends, are still cautious as ever. Understandable. It kinda reminds me of Dana when she was first with the people of Amleth. Not as cautious as the Medusa, but still a little uncomfortable here and there. I have done my best and will continue to do so. For now, they have asked for a place with a good pond and forest to live in. There are two places I can think of, one is the lizardmen's settlement and the other is the giant's. Both meet their criteria, and both places are filled with nice people. I'm sure they'll get along if I explain everything, and explaining everything is what I do.
"Thanks for the ride" [Diana].
"Just hop on. I was told what you wanted to do. You can count on me, too" [Asterion].
The fastest person in Amleth, the Special Knight Centurion Asterion, gave me a ride when I asked him. I can just go where I want by myself, but I'm sure they'll just nag and scold me. I'm glad that Asterion is easy to talk to. He's also fun to play with.
It doesn't take long until we reach the settlement of the Lizardmen and Dragonewt. Since Asterion already knows the way, it is even faster than before. Once we are there, I look at the leader among them. I know him from before and I'm sure he'll listen to what I have to say.
"But we didn't know about this! We weren't told about this when we first settled here!"
"This is still a place under the jurisdiction of the Duke of Spear, and as such, his Excellency's rule still applies. I am not here to negotiate, but to give you all the news"
"Is there something wrong?" [Diana]
Trouble. I smell trouble. Did I hear that right? Someone representing the Duke of Spear has come to this settlement for something?
"You two! Thank goodness you are here.
"If it isn't Young Lady Diana Vars and Sir Asterion of Special Knight of Amleth. Greetings"
The lizardmen and Dragonewt look relieved, and as for the one representing the Duke, not so much
"As you can see, I am here to deliver the message on behalf of His Excellency. He wants to ask soldiers for his dukedom. He wants those who can fight to be trained under him, and as such we are to take them for a short training".
"First heard about this" [Asterion].
"Me too. Besides, it sounds suspicious" [Diana].
"And that's exactly why I wouldn't agree to it. We were told that we could live in peace if we settled here and now, we were told to send our younglings to war!"
"Sorry, it's not a war. This is just a camp to train young people to be better prepared for an emergency. Please do not misunderstand Your Excellency's good intention."
If I'm not mistaken, there are times when countries can do this. The Empire did it. Xianxia did it. Even the Southern Island did it. It wouldn't be strange for Amleth to do it. I guess it's perfectly normal, it even makes sense in light of the threat of the Devil King's resurrection, however
"Isn't this too sudden?" [Diana].
"Besides, you can't just take people away without compensation. Besides, they are brought here under Her Majesty's grace, shouldn't this matter go through her as well?" [Asterion]
"Should we get Mrs. Myle? I'm sure she'll know what to do." [Diana]
"Excellent. Little Diana, can you wait here while I get Myle? I'll be here with her before you know it" [Asterion].
"Right! Don't worry! I got this!" [Diana]
And somehow we both know at the same time not to let this person speak. We wanted to get to the point and let Mrs. Myle do all the talking. He seems reluctant and wants to leave as soon as possible. I wanted to give him a chance to run away before he met Mrs. Myle, but
(Sleep) [Diana]
His magic resistance is low. So low that I only imagine him falling asleep with my spell, and he did. Luckily, he's alone with his one guard, who also has low magic resistance. I can tell that they wear necklaces to prevent such things, but it's useless against me.
While Asterion goes to fetch Mrs. Myle, I tell the Dragonewt and the lizardmen about my request. They don't seem to mind too much. I thought there would be some reluctance, but
"If it's your wish, Young Lady Diana, we'll grant it".
"We are better off under the Vars family than any other family."
"True. We will always help you, no matter what"
That settles it then. I will tell the Medusa about their new home.
Not long after, Asterion arrives, carrying Mrs. Myle with a pile of documents. When she saw me putting the Duke's representative to sleep, she just let out a little chuckle before politely asking me to wake her up, which I did.
"Huh... My... Did you just!?"
"Hmm?" (Feign ignorance, Diana. Just feign ignorance) [Diana].
"Good evening, I am Myle of the Special Knights of Amleth. I am also one of the secretaries to Her Highness Queen Amleth herself. My colleague has informed me about the current situation. If I may ask, can you tell me exactly what you are going to do with this guest of Her Highness?" [Myle]
Oh boy, it looks like Mrs. Myle and her sly smile are back. This is the same smile that brought Iligast (Grandma Farhah's ex-husband) to his knees. This will be a sight to behold. In fact, I'm glad, I'm eternally glad that I'm not the one on the receiving end, and as such
"This is His Highness' decree. As you can see..."
"I understand perfectly. I do. But this is Her Highness's decree, which can't be overridden. I certainly wouldn't think that His Excellency would gather people just for his personal gain. I don't think so. Therefore, this decree can override the Duke's decree, so I humbly ask you to leave. Note that this entire conversation will be brought to the attention of Her Highness Queen Amleth herself" [Myle].
Asterion looks at the person representing The Duke. From laughter to now sympathy, he shares my feeling of not being on the receiving end of Mrs. Myle's barrage of questions and statements. At the end of the day, the two have no choice but to leave empty-handed.
"That's cool of you! You were born tongue first!" [Asterion].
"What does that even mean... Never mind, I can already guess" [Myle].
"First the weapon brought from the Empire by the House of Prosperity, and now this, I can already tell what's going on behind the scenes" [Diana].
"You're getting sharper and sharper" [Myle].
"Well, it's kind of obvious" [Diana].
Luckily, those Dragonewt and Lizardmen didn't hear what I just said, otherwise they would panic. For now, let us bring the Medusa here.
