Hello everyone. I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others but rest assured, the next chapters will be longer. I wanted to do another chapter where we see a different perspective than Naofumi and his party.
Enjoy the chapter!
"Meeting adjourned. That is all."
The Demi-human Werner borrowed, bought, and stole all the willpower he had left to not sigh in relief. Doing so would earn the ire of the other representatives. Never mind that some disliked him for being a Demi-human. It came with the price of being in politics. Trained from a young age, Werner knew the ins and outs of every political regime of each country. From the unified country of Shieldfreeden to the corrupt kingdom of Melromarc, to the magical and advanced kingdom of Innis, Werner made sure to know how they operate.
Today's meeting had to do with Melromarc. More specifically, how Melromarc went and disobeyed the summoning rules. Queen Mirellia Q Melromarc had been under scrutiny from other countries and kingdoms for essentially going against sacred rules of summoning the Four Cardinal Heroes. Several times during the meeting, Werner had glanced at the Queen and though she kept an impassive face, her eyes spoke volumes. Sometimes her lips would give a twitch, like she was holding back a frown.
For once, Siltvelt was not the main focus of the meeting. The country had never been on the good graces of the others. The animosity between them was palpable. So when the meeting had turned to the Church of the Three Heroes, Werner almost smiled.
For the better of an hour, Queen Mirellia had argued that she will handle the Church of the Three Heroes and to not worry about them. If there's one thing Werner never understood about Melromarc was the Church of The Three Heroes and the Teachings of the Four Gods. Two religions clashing against each other like swords. One was about unification while the other had a false god preaching hate for the Shield Hero.
If Werner had it his way, he would argue with the Queen on officially disbanding the Three Heroes Church and its teachings. How dare they desecrate his God? He sneered every time that accursed religion was brought up.
The only one who didn't voice their opinion was the Queen of Innis, Mirabella.
Werner may not be so loving to humans, but he had to admit that Mirabella was beautiful. At the ripe age of twenty-one, she ruled over an entire kingdom with all kinds of people, cultures, and backgrounds. Throughout the meeting, she impassively listened to each representative. Her eyes could go to one representative to the next. When her eyes landed on Werner, he glanced the other way, praying she hadn't noticed him staring. He found it curious as to why she hadn't said anything. Innis was far more advanced in many ways. From their magic to their military, to the technology, Mirabella had the most influence of them all.
So why hadn't she said anything?
Werner made a note to have a spy sent to Innis and see what is going on. He made another note to have the spy stay away from the capital. If Mirabella were to ever find out about the spy, no doubt Werner and all of Siltvelt would know the wrath of the Queen of Silence.
With the meeting now over, Werner was one of the first few to leave the room. Outside, guards with muskets lined the hall. They paid no mind to him or the other representatives. They were all in Faubley, the second powerful country behind Innis. Werner wished Siltvelt was more like Innis. Maybe then the Shield Hero – their God – would be willing to come. Maybe stay forever.
Werner walked down the hallway and into another until he was in a different wing of the building. This particular wing was his. Each representative had their own wing. Werner opened the door to his room and he was greeted by a lion Beastman. Jaralis.
"What the humans have to say?" Jaralis asked, takinga bite out of a cooked chicken left by a maid.
"Nothing of importance," Werner replied. "It was mainly about the Church of the Three Heroes and what Mirellia would do about them."
Jaralis sneered. "That church. We should raise an army and destroy that religion one and for all!"
"Settle down, Jaralis," Werner warned. "Need I remind you that we are in foreign land where anything said here could be used against us. I'd rather not have an entire country raid us. In due time, we will have the Shield Hero on our side."
"But when?" Jaralis countered. "As of now, the Shield Hero has given no indication of even traveling to Siltvelt. No doubt its because of those humans he's traveling with."
Werner was ready to argue back but he couldn't. When he heard from his spy that their God was traveling with humans, Werner had been shocked. That shock then turned to confusion. The man was literally a savior to all Demi-humans. Why is he traveling with humans of all people? Surely a Demi-human must've approached him. Or at least the ones who weren't indentured servants or wrose.
Jaralis took Werner's silence as conformation. "See? Thanks to them, our God has strayed from his path. Those humans who accused him of being a rapist to that bitch princess have no idea what they're in for. We'll teach them a lesson."
"Now you're sounding like someone who is with the Black Foxes," Werner said. He went to the dresser his room was provided with and pulled out a coat. Winter winds still blew by despite it being spring and Werner did not like the cold at all.
Jaralis flinched at the mention of the elusive group. Several times in the last twenty years, the Black Foxes has targeted several Siltvelt nobles. At first, the people believed the Black Foxes were on their side. They had freed Demi-humans from servitude and slavery. That is until one day, they struck a powerful noble Demi-human family and freed their human slaves. Werner had only been eight when it happened and overheard his parents talking about it. How they decapitated the nobleman and noblewoman. How they gouged out their eyeballs. They didn't just kill them. They tortured them. Since then, Siltvelt had been more mindful of how they treat humans much to the anger of the citizens. The Black Foxes had instilled a fear in them all.
"There are bigger things to worry about." Werner changed the subject. "We must find some way to extend a hand to Naofumi. Or at the very least, convince him to invite a Demi-human to his party."
From his seat on the vanity, Jaralis chuckled dryly. "I would do things a different way."
Werner did not miss the anger and darkness lurking in the beastman's voice. He glanced at his companion and wondered what was going through his mind. He had appointed the lion as his bodyguard to all meetings and each time they returned, Jaralis had more reasons to hate not just the humans, but also the other countries. Especially Shieldfreeden and Innis.
"Our kind consorting with theirs," Jaralis had muttered one day. Shieldfreeden and Innis had equality between the species. Even interspecies relationships and marriages were common there. Most notably, Werner remembered the Archmagus' daughter is in a relationship with a Demi-human. In Melromarc of all places.
Werner sighed.
'So many things wrong,' he thought. 'Is there a way to fix anything?'
He looked to the window of his room and the sun was beginning to set. He and Jaralis would stay here for another two days before leaving to Siltvelt. Faubley wasn't a bad country to be in. Though he could do without all the smoke from the industrial plants. He turned his focus to a full-length mirror next to the dresser. His flashy red hair and red feathers were remarkably well kept. As a Shusaku, he couldn't let anyone see him unkempt.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat somewhere else." Jaralis stood. "All these fancy meals are too small."
When the lion left, Werner allowed himself to relax. Today has been uneventful save for the meeting. Perhaps he shall go outside and look around. Jaralis didn't need to be with him all the time. Despite how he looks, Werner does know how to protect himself.
Leaving his room, Werner makes it halfway through the hallway when something outside catches his eye. The window was large enough for him to see a carriage pulling up to the embassy. An electric carriage, Werner notices. There was no horse and the front of the carriage was boxed with a man holding on to the steering Wheel.
There was only one person who would drive in one.
Queen Mirabella came into view, descending down the steps flanked by four guards. Two were human, one was a Demi-human, and the last was a wolf beastman.
Werner recalled hearing from another representative that Mirabella had to leave today to attend matters at Innis. He watched as the Queen stepped into the carriage followed by her guards.
The last guard to enter was the Demi-human. It was a woman. Or rather, a young-looking woman who was probably in her early twenties. Something about her was odd. She wore the basic Innisian armor with the emblem on the front. She wore no helmet so her ears were visible with long brown hair reaching her back. Looking at her ear and tail revealed she was a half-breed. Part of her was Tanuki. The other he didn't know. She kept one hand on the hilt of her sword as she stepped inside the carriage.
The man at the front veered the carriage onto the street. Werner watched at the carriage grew smaller and smaller until it was gone.
The sound of coughing nearly drove the nurse mad. The second where it seemed like it would stop, another person would cough violently. She hurried over to the person and covered his mouth with a cloth.
She didn't say anything. What could she say? It's going to be easy? It'll go away soon? That's what she said to the earlier patients who came in the morning. It was now nighttime and half of the hospital was filled with sickly people. Some were running fevers while others coughed violently, shaking their bed.
The doctor came running in holding several vials. The nurse nearly cried with joy at seeing the glass vials. She took half of them from the doctor and began administering them to the patients. But it wouldn't be enough. It will only hold off the symptoms until they returned.
The doctor slumped down in a chair, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead from all the running he did.
In the morning, one person came in with a fever. Now, more then thirty people filled up the room.
What the hell is happening?
Can you guess who Werner was looking at?
And what is happening with all those sick people?
Stay tuned.