It was surprisingly easy for Jircniv to get along with the enigmatic judge, and within an hour of being seated at the table and enjoying a warm bowl of soup, Momonga had him chatting as if they were old friends. It had been a very long time since the Bloody Emperor had found himself able to be at ease with anyone, and though he was still sure that Leinas would leave, the sheer charisma and magnetism of his guest wouldn't allow Jircniv to believe the wise judge had any ill will.

No, it was more than that, so much more. Fluder's discussions of magic were over the heads of almost all of his pupils, but as the old man leaned forward across the table and spoke to the wise judge, it wasn't to speak of magic, but rather to ask of it.

But Fluder was the most powerful human magic caster in the world. 'So if he's asking the way an enthusiastic pupil would, what does that say about the true depths of Momonga's magical power? I lost Fluder's loyalty the very second he knew what Momonga could do, and even if he intends no harm, I have to know more about where he comes from and how I haven't ever heard of him before.'

But despite that surface thought, there too was a natural curiosity about him, and it demanded answers. So he started with the obvious, what happened in the Draconic Kingdom.

"I raised enough undead to take care of the problem. They'll be stopped eventually, I'm sure. The beastmen seem to have some powerful champions, but as a Kingdom… they'll be a long time recovering and I don't think they'll venture west for a very long time, if they ever do." Momonga's explanation launched a slew of questions from the wide eyed old Fluder Paradyne.

"What tier magic did you use? What kind of undead? Could you control them all at once?"

And to Jircniv's surprise, Momonga answered with casual honesty, at least as far as the Emperor could tell.

It seemed utterly unbelievable, and perhaps Momonga saw it on his face, though if he did, he certainly didn't appear offended. He took a bite of soup soaked bread and said, "Of course if you doubt it, I understand. I'm sure word will reach you before too long, but if you'd like to confirm it with a message spell, or if you would prefer to ask her in person, I could take you to meet with the Queen in person."

"You what, now?" Jircniv asked, his dumbfounded face must have seemed absurd, because Momonga let out a deep belly laugh that endured for several seconds before he raised a hand and managed to form the words of an apology.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry, friend Jircniv. It's just, your face, you reminded me of an expression a dear friend of mine once made when he found out his sister was voicing a character in an H-Game he wanted to play. Never mind," he said when their faces became confused, "an inconsequential thing." He finished.

"But yes, I can simply open a gate and take you wherever you wish to go. There's no barriers for something like that, at least none that normal people can cast. It makes it very handy for traveling great distances." Momonga explained it so casually one would have thought he was speaking of trivial nothings instead of magic beyond that of the gods.

"Sadly we don't have scrolls capable of holding that tier of magic yet, but message scrolls are cheap and the gate can be opened easily enough from either side. Therefore I can always welcome my friends into my home again. That is, after all, what I truly want." Momonga said as he drank deeply from his cup.

While it wasn't enough to get him drunk, it was enough to loosen his tongue, "My friends and I, we were very close, but life took us in different directions, they away to… wherever they had to go, and for a long time I stood alone in what felt like an empty world. In my home, I stand at the top of a pyramid amidst those who worship me as a god. But who would want that for themselves?" He asked, and tilted his cup toward Fluder. "Because you stand at the peak, who can you share your passion with that is not a mere student?" He then tilted his cup toward Jircniv, "And you who are the Emperor, except in bed with a woman where pretense is dropped, are you not the loneliest of all men? Your throne had no companion, have you any true rest from your burdens?"

The two could feel the passion in his words thrumming in their veins, furthered by their own consumption of wine over the delectable meal. Perhaps because they were themselves dulled by the alcohol, or perhaps because he struck a bullseye in their hearts that maxed out their affection meters in a moment, neither could help but nod.

"That is why I do as I do now. To bring together those who share the burden of that isolation, where they can come together in common ground, at ease from the weight of their world, to share camaraderie, friendship, and a relief from their burdens, where no man is an island and the burdens we must bear are lighter because they are no longer only ours, even if only for a very brief period."

It rang so very true, so impossibly, unbelievably true that Jircniv could not bring himself to doubt it, but… ever the Emperor, he saw something more within it. 'If we have something like this, a central place of discussion, we could hammer out in hours what discussions would normally take weeks or months, we could do in days what takes years, and vital goods of trade would be possible in no time at all. Plus there would always be a way to flee if our lives were endangered…'

The only real danger was the fact that this figure at his table could simply have anyone killed at any time and there would be no way to prevent it… but the very fact that he was here talking, expressing himself with an open heart and a loose tongue full of words deeply felt… suggested that Momonga cared nothing for matters of that sort.

'He doesn't care about power at all. All the power in the world, and all he really wants is to spend his days in the company of friends… legends are made out of men like that…' Jircniv thought with the first stirring of reverential awe that he'd felt in a very long time. Not for power or magic, but for something else, like what he felt when hearing of legendary heroes when he was a child and before he knew a man's duties.

A stark rightness sparked in his breast and lit his heart aflame in a way that he could not feel it diminish.

"If you would have me, friend Momonga, I would very much like to dine in your home tomorrow, along with some of those others you have gathered together. It would be a great privilege to see the place you call home." Jircniv replied at last.

"I was going to invite you if you didn't ask, friend Jircniv." Momonga promised with an indulgent, crooked little smile, "The hour is very late right now, but I will return home, make arrangements, and invite all of you to dine with me again."

If there were any doubts about Momonga's statements regarding the 'gate' spell, as they made ready to part ways a short while later, seeing the vortex open up at a single command was enough to dispel them.

Then he was gone, and to his surprise, Jircniv's hall seemed somehow, a little bit duller and less alive. 'Is this what it is to miss someone you call a 'friend'?' He wondered.

He didn't like it. No, not one bit, and found himself already thinking about what tomorrow might bring.