Here we are, the negotiations. Hopefully things go well for our group of misfits with way too much power. This might legitimately be the final chapter, or the second to last chapter of the series depending on how things go so let's get on with it!
Oh, and if you want the map that I'm using it's on my profile now. Konosuba doesn't have it's own world map so I had to get creative. Visit my profile for the crudely drawn map I made from scratch. Or just don't care about geography IDK m8 you do you.
After a frankly fantastic meal our two parties began the peace talks. "Ok. Now that everyone's fed and watered. And I got the chance to flex my magical swag" Of course he was. "Let's get down to business shall we?" I couldn't agree more. But first.
"Before we begin, can we know your name? It would be a bit rude to say the least to just call you King for the rest of the talks." I've been curious about this for a while now, nobody from Belzerg knew his name either from what I could tell.
"...They forgot my name. 400 years of constant war and they forgot their worst enemies name. My god I've become the token big bad haven't I? Damn it! I was going for an enigmatic but still important overlord but noooo, humans just have to have memories the size of-" And so he went, ranting for a solid 5 minutes about the disrespect and then getting majorly depressed about being forgotten so easily. I kinda felt bad to be honest.
Kazuma walked up to the poor man and patted him on the shoulder. "It's ok man, think about it this way! You're pretty much the boogey man of the whole world! Like Palpatine or Vader. Barely anyone in those franchises knew their real names but they were still super cool!" He wasn't wrong, this guy did have quite the reputation, even though most of it was likely false.
"T-Thanks man. I-I've just been having a rough...Year really? You can probably guess why. Anyway, my name's Drake, though I've gone by the name Dracul since taking over this country. Again, for obvious reasons." Of course. At least he didn't completely rip off Dracula's name. And his original name made it slightly more forgivable so I'll let it slide.
"Speaking of your reincarnation, how did you get here? And more importantly, how did you end up as the king of all monsters?" Really, how does someone go about doing that? I was genuinely curious.
"Ah. Well.. You see that's a funny story. I actually wasn't reincarnated. I kinda just fell asleep one day and boom! New body. It was already dead when I got here too so imagine my surprise when I realized I didn't have a heartbeat anymore. Or a reflection. Or a-you get the idea." This is starting to sound familiar.
"From there I found out that I had several followers for some reason, each of which were unnaturally loyal to me. Oh and I had a daughter. Took me days to get over that little surprise- Not that it was an unwanted one!" He quickly amended as Pandora pouted at him. Ok this is getting very familiar.
"And to top it all off, along with the usual OP abilities that vampires had I also had access to high level magic at level one. And was surrounded by human purist nations that weren't too keen on other races in general. You can see where this is going." Yes. Yes I could, considering that it was literally ripped off from an anime. And it seems like Drake knew that too.
"So yeah, after a series of unfortunate, hilarious, and somewhat tragic events I ended up declaring war against the world. And through some black magic. Actually a lot of black magic now that I think about it, we managed to survive until now. Hell we were nearly winning. Until you showed up of course."
"And here we are. Two effective leaders who are ready and willing to cooperate for the sake of peace and equality for all sentient races. Since when did my life become a mediocre manga series?" I questioned the ridiculousness of it all.
"About the same time you died and went to another world. Please don't tell me it was a truck that did it by the way." He guessed incorrectly.
"No, but the supervillain that got me was about the size of a truck if that counts." Seriously how the hell did a guy that big move so fast?! How did he even breathe with all that muscle blocking his wind pipe?!
"Tractor." Kazuma muttered, not elaborating. I wasn't about to throw him under the bus either...What's with all these homicidal vehicles anyway?
"Hmm. Well that's enough for introductions I think. Lets get down to the nitty gritty. Pandora here told me that you guys already agreed to our primary terms. That's good, it makes the rest of this much easier."
Easier yes. But still a long, boring progress filled with legal issues and financial decisions. The kind of things that you'd learn about in an advanced history or politics class. And very boring to sit through and chip in on. Boring but necessary. '*sigh, this too, is a part of being a hero I suppose'
At least it was great practice for Iris, it was her first real experience dealing with a foreign nation. Might as well do it with one that had a sympathetic ruler, former enemies or not. It wasn't like I was really planning on being a politician, governing over Axel was stressful enough I'd rather leave these kind of things to Kazuma and Darkness who were better at it than me anyway.
I guess that's one of the traits I shared with All Might, a love of action and direct interference. I understood the value of passive and indirect interference but they just weren't for me. At about the 2 hour mark we started talking about our stances on the other nations of the world, to which we agreed on several points.
"A non-aggression pact with an embargo on supplies so long as they don't agree to our terms on the 'Civil Rights for all Sentients' Act." A set of laws that we came up with along the way. Basically it was our world's human rights but modified to work with other species.
And yeah, our two countries have gotten to the point where we can embargo the rest of the world and they'd be forced to respond or face the threat of obsolescence. Militarily speaking we eclipse every other nation combined. Magically speaking, Drake's nation has a near monopoly on the higher level stuff thanks to the magically superior creatures that are under their care. The rest belongs to Belzerg thanks to the Crimson Demon Clan.
Technologically speaking there's no contest. Belzerg wins, no way around it. Hell even before I got here the other reincarnates have introduced indoor plumbing, high quality clothing, and even video games! They just didn't show it all off to the international community for various reasons.
Realistically it was like comparing two post industrialization societies to a gaggle of states stuck in the renaissance. Not much of a competition. With this alliance and the nearly guaranteed support of the nations in the Demihuman Subcontinent world peace is a real possibility.
Hell we might even get help from the dwarves in exchange for our legitimate business. Those guys love tech and anything to do with advanced craftsmanship. As for the elves...Let's just say that most humans didn't get along with elves on principle and leave it at that, we could take advantage of that.
That just leaves one last problem. "I'm going to be straight with you, I want off this planet after you 'defeat' me. 400 years has been long enough and I want a change." Was his final demand, more of a request really.
"I can understand that but what about your kingdom? Don't they need you to rule?" I asked, he just started laughing in my face.
"Haha! Hardly! I'm a fucking college dropout that just got the job shuved onto him. Sure I got a few centuries of experience but that doesn't make me good at my job. It just lets me know when to keep my mouth shut and let the competent people take over. Like Pandora for example!" Ah. The old, train a successor then pass on the responsibility like a live grenade routine. And it seems like he made it out to be some kind of honor instead of a burden. Smart man.
"If your people accept that I don't see why we can't take you with us. But what about the gods? Don't they kinda want your head?" It was a question that's been bugging me ever since we began the talks. Though it wasn't so bad. We did have 3 goddesses to vouch for him after all so there was still room to bargain. Besides the gods wouldn't be mad about a peaceful solution would they?
"Eh, I can take em. Why do you think I've survived for so long? The gods are tough sure, but they rely on the same leveling system that we do, your party members for example. " He gestures at Aqua, Eris and his own former general Wolbach.
"They are all in the high 60s, over halfway towards the level cap. And while their stats are impressive it's nothing either of us could handle if we used all our skills. The gods aren't unbreakable, just very very strong. If we show them that we mean business then we can tip the balance of things in our favor. Call it collective bargaining if you want.
That, I could understand. And support to an extent. The gods were far from infallible. Eris' banishment and living with Aqua for so long quickly cemented that idea. "I'll try my best, but can't promise much. If the gods are all max level then I'll probably only be able to take on one or two on my own." Depending on the type of course. A war god and a god of wine are vastly different combat-wise after all.
"Yeah, but that's just now. Just wait until you reach max level yourself. And this muscled Mcgee you have in your party is just as strong as you now. It would be even better if the Belzerg royal family helped out, but that's a bit much to ask I know."
"Not really. We have no particular allegiance to any god besides Eris-chan, and now Aqua-chan and soon I imagine Wolbach-chan will join that list. We've always been pretty independant when it came to divine intervention, unlike those theocrats of the Empire." Iris corrected. The three goddesses grew smug looks on their faces at the fact that they would be picked over all the others.
"In that case I see no reason why we can't help you. I've already come up with several wishes that could leave us all happy after everything is said and done. Speaking of which, how do we contact them for that?" They never really made that clear.
"That would be my job Little Green." A voice spoke up from above, catching everyone by surprise. A certain dark robed figure levitated above them in an armchair while drinking...Something? Only four people seemed to recognize him though.
"YOU!" The goddess trio and I yelled out in unison, before said trio looked at me, wondering how I knew this guy. Drake on the other hand was just confused.
"Who?" He asked, out of the loop though he did sense a faint trace of divinity coming from the new arrival.
"Me! The names Asobi, good to finally meet ya Mr. Dracula knockoff. I've been charged with the duty of informing you of how to make your wishes upon the completion of your quest. Lucky for you the big boys and girls upstairs recognized this official surrender as a legitimate way to do so!" He confirmed in his usual jovial tone.
"Izuku-kun, how do you know Asobi-senpai?" Eris decided to ask the question that was on her fellow goddesses' minds.
"He kidnapped me a few months back for a 'science experiment' I think he called it. I got to see some of my old friends there while they watched various scenes from my past." I explained, funny how that was pretty par for the course as far as weirdness in my life went. To the point where the trio just accepted it as normal.
"Ah, good times. Anyway for your wishes I'll lay down some ground rules. Yes we were paying attention to your little 'wishing for more wishes' comment. Thanks by the way, you won me some serious money with that!" He whispered the last part to me. At least someone was keeping an eye on the loopholes.
"Now, for the rules: First and foremost. No wishing for more wishes! Yeah the higher ups wanted to topple that jenga tower before it could become a problem. The second rule is a bit more complicated though." He began to explain, and yeah I expected that first one.
"Essentially it says that you can't wish for anything that will go against the free will of other people. For example if you wish for something to happen to someone else, they must be aware of the wish and consent to it. Otherwise the wish fails." So no wishing for world peace, or an end to hatred I guess.
"Finally, and sorry about this. But you cannot wish for anything that is beyond my power to grant." he dropped the proverbial bomb on us as the goddess trio exploded at him.
"WHAT?!x3" the cry was followed by calls of 'bullshit' and 'shitty elders' that I happened to sympathise with. Though having experienced this particular god's abilities I wasn't too worried. At the very least he could already grant one or two of my requests.
"I know I know, it's dumb. I get it. Don't worry too much though, I may not be the strongest guy around but you three in particular should know that I have my ways of getting things done." He gave us a smirk as the goddesses collectively shivered. I guess this guy had a reputation.
"In compensation for changing the rules so suddenly it's been decided that you'll receive an extra wish along with the one's already owed to you. So four total. I'll give you a week to think things over and get your affairs in order before I return to grant your wishes. Ja ne!" And just like that he vanished. No seriously we just blinked and poof. Gone. How the hell did he do that?!
"Well. That's one problem solved at least. And I know for a fact that he can create portals between dimensions so one of my wishes is already safe. Anything to add Drake-san?" I asked for clarification, he was kinda shafted to the background in that last conversation.
"Who the fuck was that guy?! What was he?! How did he get past my defense?! And most importantly, HOW DARE HE CALL ME A DRACULA KNOCKOFF?!...I mean it's true but he didn't have to point it out so rudely…" And just like that his justified rage turned into a pout...I think I've had enough of today.
You and me both little green. You and me both. Well guess this won't be the last chapter, which means that the next one will most likely be it. So I'll ask this now.
What should Izuku's party wish for? I'm happy to take requests just remember the rules listed above and the fact that one of them needs to be reserved for dimension travelling shenanigans. Other than that I'm giving you guys free reign to make suggestions in the reviews!
Have fun and if your wish is particularly good, and within Asobi's power I'll add it in and give you a shout out. Well that's all for now, hope you all enjoyed and have a wonderful day!