Chapter 5
(Two months later)
The great merchant nation of Balbadd has finally regained its status as one of the world's leading economic superpowers, the sheer volume of land and sea trade that flows through the country on a daily basis is more than some countries see in a month, it's ports were expanded to cope with the increased traffic, the overall infrastructure of the nation was overhauled and upgraded, new housing districts were created to replace the old ones, individuals would be hard-pressed to find anyone not solely committed to criminal activity in the former slum areas, orphanages were created to house the orphaned children, while also teaching them essential skills such as reading and writing, mathematics, and any other topics they express an interest in, trade schools were also made for the older teens, and adults teaching them skills necessary for higher-paying jobs, there was a notable increase in the number of business establishments in the country further boosting the national economy.
The backbone of most of these changes were the ASLAW Trading Company and their corporate partnerships, and Magnus's magicians. The use of magic cut down on the time needed to complete all the new construction projects.
The government was restructured; most of the high-ranking positions were given to people loyal to Alibaba, only Barkak from the previous government retained his position, several individuals were given positions in the new government, they were appointed to their positions by the citizens of Balbadd to represent them.
Balbadd now maintains a standing military presence as opposed to before, recruitment for the army has begun in earnest with several former gladiators, and pit fighters joining up, a formal navy was being established as well, the core structure of it was made up from the private navy ASLAW maintained for its own naval protection, the navy was actively hunting down pirates both to expand the area of protection for vessels coming into Balbadd, and the capturing of their ships to be repurposed to use in the growing navy.
Magnus had established an order of magicians in Balbadd, they recruit any potential magician who shows an interest in joining, magicians are taught magic theory and practice, magicians have joined solely for the large research departments, others have joined to be more effective healers, and a few joined due to having nowhere else to go. Aladdin has been thriving in the order and has made several new friends from among the younger members.
Balbadd has prospered ever since Alibaba set foot in the country, with his crowning as King the good fortune has simply kept increasing as time went by.
(Kou Empire, Royal Palace)
It's the middle of the day in the Empire, we find the five metal vessel users in the private study of the eldest son crown prince Ren Kouen, the topic of their discussion is the upcoming royal wedding between King Alibaba of Balbadd and Princess Ren Kougyoku, with all the drastic changes brought on by the change in leadership in Balbadd, they now have to reassess all their options.
"That concluded the reports of the overall situation in Balbadd, as reported by our agents," Koumei says to his siblings.
"His achievements sound impressive, to be able to turn around a country like that in less than a year, it speaks to much more than just being a merchant," Hakuei commented.
"She's right, it takes a certain type of person to do what's necessary even if it meant going through your family to do it," Kouha states.
"Indeed, he won't be easy to bring to heel. Kougyoku you will have your work cut out for you," Kouen said.
"I understand elder brother," Kougyoku responds.
"I've also heard he is quite the talented swordsman with a rather savage approach to slavers, bandits, and pirates," Kouha comments with an excited grin.
"Anyone can dispatch those scum," Kouen scoffed.
"Father wants him underfoot or dead. He is too skilled at an area that none of us are well versed in, he has done quite a bit of damage to the Empire's plans of expansion." Koumei said to Kougyoku.
"What do you mean?" Kougyoku asked.
"The military campaign into the west has had several runs in's with ASLAW's private military forces it has not been gone well for our men," Koumei revealed.
"Indeed, they may be mercenaries but they are exceptionally skilled in warfare, they have never met us in a situation to our advantage, only choosing to hit the army where it's weak quickly leaving without full-on confrontation," Kouen comments.
"So, their cowards scared of a real fight" Kouha dismissed.
"No, Kouha their not cowards. They achieved their objectives; the attacks were intended not to kill our soldiers but to destroy the resources of the army in an effort to destabilize the logistical framework of the army, the frontline commander didn't take the threat seriously until it was too late, now the campaign needs a large infusion of financial aid or it would be delayed by six months to a year. Quite convenient isn't it that Balbadd proposed to settle all their debts, not a week after the reports came from the army of the financial problems." Koumei finished saying that with a hard look in his eyes.
"You are saying that he destabilized our western campaign solely to ensure that father and the ministers could not ignore his proposal to settle his country's debt to reclaim the sold rights," Hakuei voiced in disbelief.
"Wow, I definitely have to meet this man he sounds insane," Kouha says excitedly at the audacity of the plan.
"I think he does not fully understand how powerful our Empire is or he would not be challenging us," Kougyoku states.
"Well we will see which he is soon enough, Kougyoku finish the preparations you leave in the morning," Kouen orders.
"Yes, elder brother," Kougyoku bows lightly then left the room, along with Hakuei, and Kouha.
"You know she will be unable to truly hinder the new king of Balbadd, father plans for her giving birth to an heir to the throne, then he will have the king assassinated, or in the event of open war he wants her to destroy as much of the country as possible with her water djinn even if she dies doing it," Koumei said when it was only him and Kouen were alone in the room.
"I don't like it, but it's the Emperor's order so we must comply," Kouen says without emotion.
(Balbadd, Royal Palace)
Alibaba is sitting on his throne as Court is currently being held as he listens to the various issues being brought before him, he is mostly doing this on autopilot, yes he wanted the throne, yes he wanted to help his people, yes his kingdom was prosperous, and one of his largest projects with Magnus is close to completion, but the days at Court has started to gnaw at his sanity, if it wasn't for the crazy stuff Aladdin gets up to, who always finds a way to drag him into it as if sensing his need for a break, truly that little Magi is definitely his best friend.
Suddenly, a messenger interrupts whatever was being said by a noble, quickly makes his way to Alibaba's side telling him that Scarlett and Morgiana have caught a naked pervert that tried to approach them, the girls swiftly knocked him out, and brought the pervert in who Harahb later confirmed the pervert is actually King Sinbad of Sindria. It takes all of Alibaba's self-control not to physically react to the news, he dismissed the messenger then excuses himself from the throne and swiftly makes his way to the dungeons.
(Palace Dungeon)
The scene Alibaba walked in on was strange, to say the least, Morgiana, and Scarlett were glaring at a purple-haired man in borrowed clothes who was obviously trying to get close to them, probably flirting thankfully he was being held back by Harahb who just seemed annoyed by the whole thing.
"That's Sinbad?" Alibaba asked in an unimpressed tone of voice.
"Yeah, that's him alright," Harahb said.
"Well, hello king Alibaba, I am king Sinbad, Conquer of the se-" Sinbad was interrupted by a voice.
"Shameless flirt and disgusting pervert is more like it," Scarlett comments with venom in her voice.
Sinbad had a hurt look on his face, while dramatically holding a hand over his heart as if physically struck.
"My dear I am a perfect gentleman, not a-" Sinbad is once again interrupted.
"Perverts are bad," was Morguana's flat reply.
Harahb just laughed at the situation Sinbad found himself in, Alibaba also laughed at the situation.
"So why is the King of Sindria walking around naked in Balbadd, I'm not one to judge other's hobbies but that behavior does draw questions," Alibaba said with mirth clear in his voice.
Sinbad was irritated by them making fun of him but started to explain that he and two of his generals made their way to Balbadd after hearing about all that has happened over the last few months, when he had gotten to Balbadd he went drinking, and when he woke up the next day he had all his stuff stolen including his metal vessels, he met the girls after that now here we are.
The people in the room were stunned by his story, this is Sinbad the great king Alibaba and the girls were not impressed, if Sinbad had paid a little more attention to Alibaba he would have seen the admiration he held for Sinbad died never to be revived.
"So, you don't have any of your metal vessels which essentially makes you, and your two generals defenseless should Kou or its magi decide to kill you," Alibaba started bluntly.
"Well, I don't think they would do that in front of all the ambassadors from the other countries here for the royal wedding," Sinbad said in a laid-back manner.
"I'll have you and your generals stay at the castle so I can guarantee your safety while you stay in my country, it's non-negotiable so don't argue," Alibaba said with authority causing Sinbad to blink at him in surprise.
"So, now that your living arrangements have been settled, why don't you tell me about Al-Thamen?" Alibaba asked.
Sinbad's entire demeanor changed, now Alibaba could see the king he is reflected in his posture, his eyes held a myriad of emotions it seems this is not an easy topic to talk about, not that it really matters the Banker's rukh was very informative this is just about seeing how much Sinbad knows given the fact one of the reasons they messed with Balbadd was to take him out, Al-Thamen has a lot of animosity to Sinbad Alibaba wanted to know why.
Sinbad started to inform us of his knowledge concerning Al-Thamen, as expected the official mission statement of the group seems to be the same, some of the encounters Sinbad shared gave Alibaba a wider view of the organization's normal operating parameters, they have a fixation on creating a dark king vessel it was a bit unusual given that if the information Sinbad is disclosing is true then they already control all of Kou including the king vessels their, there must be a reason why they need a dark king vessel it's probably tied to their true goals, the new insights into the scope of their power was very helpful to think they had the power to destroy countries yet choose to use others to do the work for them, this was a bit troubling to Alibaba what kind of game were they really playing, for if they have been around as long as they have surely they could destroy Sinbad, but they would have to give up their anonymity alerting the world to their presence and power which ends with all the world against them, not a pleasing prospect for them.
"Thank you for sharing the information, it was helpful it helped make sense of the strange black rukh controlled doll we encountered," Alibaba says to Sinbad, who was now back to his laid-back self.
"Happy to help the son of a friend, so how do you feel about the marriage to a Kou Princess?" Sinbad asked lightly.
"As long as she is not a spoiled brat I'm fine, but going by process of elimination it can only be one Princess they can send which is Princess Kougyoku," Alibaba said.
"Really how did you reach that conclusion?" Sinbad questions trying to test how knowledgeable Alibaba is of the current state of the world.
Seeing what Sinbad is doing Alibaba decided to humor him, but before that, they should get out of the dungeons, so Alibaba motions for them to follow him to his Study.
(Thirty minutes later)
They were now seated in Alibaba's Study with the addition of Sinbad's two generals Masur and Jafar, they were informed of where to find their king when Alibaba had gone to speak to him the first time, they arrived as Alibaba left the dungeon with Sinbad in tow it was hilarious the way Sinbad tried to hid from his own subordinates yet the way he was treated by them for his behavior he could understand Sinbad's first instinct to avoid them, pleasantries were exchanged before they took Sinbad to the guest wing to get him properly dressed for the continuation of his and Alibaba's talk.
"So, you asked me how I came to my answer?" When Sinbad nodded he continues, "Let me break it down for you, Kou tried to take Balbadd in a quiet invasion using money, they would have succeeded if not for my intervention which I am sure they prepared for some resistance, but not the complete destruction of their position in Balbadd in a single decisive move, worst yet for them Ahbmad never told them about a third heir to the throne leaving them thinking they had conquered the country already, one other factor that help was Al-Thamen," Alibaba said earning shocked looks from Sinbad, Jafar, and Masur.
"What do you mean by that?" Sinbad asked.
"Al-Thamen wanted there to be a conflict between the Nobles and the commoners they even gave them dark magic tools to make it easier for them to fall to depravity," Alibaba supplied.
"How did that help? Shouldn't it have caused more problems for you?" Jafar asked.
"They created a truly explosive situation where any big move from either side would most likely lead to a revolution, so I used the situation to my benefit, I came onto the scene as a opportunistic crafty businessman with plans of taking over the trade of the country by force, every action I made while had good intentions from their perspective it was just to manipulate everyone for my benefit, the more I muscled out the gangs and Nobles the more they depended on Al-Thamen thus giving them much better chances to get their plans off without a hitch, it was all going better than expected but then I took out the Banker, got all the evidence needed to purge the corrupt leaders legally, used the very hate they nurtured to get the people to give their consent to perform a spell that used the black rukh thus removing the negative emotions from the people allowing for them to move on with life without the baggage, so their plans worked its just that i reaped the rewards not them," Alibaba finished leaving them speechless.
"With that taken care of, I collected all the Fan in the country and from other sources to be able to both pay back the debt plus getting the currency out of circulation in Balbadd, I knew they were not going to just accept the money when it wasn't what they wanted, it was truly convenient timing that the reports from the war front urgently requesting funds or risk a halt to all it's operation for six months to a year, then I agreed to the marriage as long as the rights of people were off the table, all that this told them was that I was not some weak king that will not bow down to their might but they can't just let me go after I strong-armed them to leave my country alone, so that meant that they had to send a princess strong enough to not be intimidated or controlled to push the Empire's agenda, that leaves only two possible candidates Princess Hakuei or Princess Kougyoku both are dungeon conquers, but Hakuei is the first Princess also she is well known for being a kind and understanding person so she would be unable to manipulate me it would be more likely I get her to see things my way than the Emperor's, if that happened they would have lost the first Princess a massive political blow, with Kougyoku there are less risks from what my people could gather she was raised outside of the palace away from everyone else, she was brought in when it was convenient for the Emperor, she is more of a fighter than a mastermind, her position in the royal court is fragile so she has little to no political power for me to take advantage of, she also is determined to prove her worth to her family so she will not be easy to control or turn to my side, finally if they have done their homework by now they know that my story is very similar to hers so I might trust her easier due to our shared background," Alibaba finally concludes his explanation.
The guests from Sindria were taken away by Alibaba's understanding of the situation and the maturity he showed in his decisions, Harahb and the girls were beaming with pride for Alibaba.
"All of what I have said makes it easy to see why they are sending her, but what my people confirmed recently proves that the marriage is a blade as much as it's a flower," Alibaba said drawing attention to him.
"What's that?" Sinbad asked intrigued.
"She uses a water djinn, and Balbadd is a nation dependant on the ocean so you can see imagine how much damage she can do if she wanted to," Alibaba said to the room.
They could all imagine the devastation such a djinn could do, especially Sinbad and his generals remembering when someone else used a djinn to cause an earthquake that nearly destroyed his entire kingdom.
"So, I have a question for you, no one I asked knew anything or were unwilling to answer," Sinbad asked looking directly at Alibaba.
"Depends on what it is, but go ahead," Alibaba says easily.
"Are you a dungeon conquer?" Sinbad asked.
"Yes," Alibaba replied.
"Just like that? Then why did no one know or those that did not talk about it?" Sinbad asked in confusion.
"Loyalty, they don't reveal what is not theirs to reveal, or blindly trust strangers after what happened with the old regime," Alibaba said smoothly.
"I see, then I will leave you to your business then," Sinbad says standing up and getting ready to leave.
"I hope to see you in the dining room for dinner, I would like to learn more about my father from someone who knew him but didn't work for him," Alibaba says to Sinbad.
"It would be my pleasure, goodbye," Sinbad says then leaves with his generals.
The room stayed in silence for about ten minutes, then Alibaba placed his hand on a small gold bird figurine it flashed bright then dimmed, this figurine is a magic tool Magnus crafted that emits a mild sound barrier that allows for private conversations.
"You never mentioned Aladdin, or brought him to the meeting," Harahb stated.
"You don't trust them?" Scarlett questions.
"No I don't, he has been fighting a secret war all this time, then went from struggling King to deadly threat in less than a decade something is amiss there, and until we figure it out we should be careful not to fully trust them, especially about our little Magi Aladdin," Alibaba said deadly serious.
The others didn't completely agree with him, but choose to trust in Alibaba's instincts on the matter with Sinbad and Aladdin.
"Now then, we have the Kou delegation to prepare for, they will be here by sunset is make sure everything is ready," Alibaba says to his people.
(Several hours later)
Flying several hundred feet in the late evening sky were the Kou delegation on a large magic carpet, they flew over the majestic city of Balbadd colourful lights light the city like tiny myriad gems in the late evening, from the sky one could see that one of the world's largest ports operate even with sun setting nothing has truly slowed down, ships were docking, goods were loaded off, cataloged then move to designated warehouses, goods are then loaded onto to ships, then ships were sailing off, this process is constantly repeated with each new arrivals, the efficiency of the work is on par with some of the most well-disciplined armies, as they get closer to the city the lights that they had thought were lamps or torches turned out to be magic tools with the sole function of providing illumination for the kingdom at night, this was intriguing to the group from Kou for they did not have this in the Empire they wondered how a relatively small nation could have the capacity to provide this on such a scale in such little time.
They also made out the new standing army making patrols throughout the city making sure nothing is amiss, the new navy could also be seen leaving port possibly to conduct its own patrols of Balbadd's territorial waters, the kingdom was truly breathtaking to the Kou group.
'This country is full of life and freedom, it might not be that bad being the Queen of such a country,' Kougyoku thought looking over the city, she had not been enthusiastic about being married off to a small nation but she could not refuse, she also wanted to prove herself to her family that she could be of great help to the Empire.
'I wonder what he looks like, I hope he is not ugly or a cruel person, I already know from what my older brothers told me that he is very intelligent, cunning, and is supposedly a very skilled warrior, but all we know about his physical appearance is that he is a tall blonde young man,' her mind was running wild with thoughts of her future husband and what kind of person he is so much so she didn't notice Judar focusing his attention on something fast approaching them until she felt a rise in the temperature around her.
The sight she saw took her breath away for floating in front of her was Alibaba Saluja.
His long flowing golden blonde hair was in a low ponytail, he had armored arms and legs, flowing white robe with a bare upper body, flame protrusions from his arms and legs, third eye on his forehead, a navel piercing, his large lean muscular frame on display, his strong muscular arms, his chiseled chest area, obsidian black great sword in his right arm, his piercing golden eyes sweeping over the Kou group.
'He's a dungeon conquer! No one told us that! What else don't we know?!' Were the thoughts running through Kougyoku's mind as she stares at Alibaba with wide unblinking eyes.
As she continues to look at him her thoughts were far from what a proper Princess's should be, 'they also didn't tell me how handsome he was, look at him! He has a warrior King's body! Those strong arms pulsing with power oh how wonderful it would feel to be wrapped up in those arms, his chiseled chest looks good enough to eat off of!' Her thoughts were running wild, she only hoped she wasn't drooling but going by the snickering from Judar she was she quickly wiped it off.
"Welcome to Balbadd, I am King Alibaba Saluja," Alibaba greeted in a warm, welcoming voice.
His voice broke Kougyoku out of her thoughts, she dainty coughed into her right hand, straightened her back, squared her shoulders, cooled her expression presenting the visage of a Princess of Kou.
"I am Princess Kougyoku of the Kou Empire, thank you for welcoming us yourself King Alibaba," Kougyoku greeted back smoothly, there was also an undertone of strength showing she was no weak girl.
"Well met Princess, I have my people waiting to receive you on the castle grounds but before that, I have a request," Alibaba said to her.
Kougyoku lifts a brow in question, she studied the man before her what could he need to request from her, she looked at his eyes to see them gazing expectantly at her she wonders why then say his gaze move slightly up to her hairpin, that's when she figured it out, 'he wants to test my powers against his own,' she thought.
"Going by the look in your eyes you know what I intend to ask of you, so are you up for a spar King vessel to King's vessel? I know it is sudden but I heard you are quite the talented warrior so I am excited to test my skills against yours," Alibaba asked excitement dancing in his golden eyes.
Kougyoku was taken aback by what Alibaba said, most of the time she is berated or looked down upon for her choice of being a fighter, she is called unladylike and barbaric yet this man wants to see the warrior more than the princess, it filled her with a warm feeling that someone wants her to be her true self, even if they just she was starting to like this Alibaba quite a bit.
"I gladly accept, I too am interested in testing my skills against yours," Kougyoku said while pulling her hairpin free, with an excited grin.