Chapter 55: sorry for being a pain :(
Middle Fire Month, 16th Day, 600AGG
"Thank you all for convening on such short notice," the Pontifex Maximus, head of the Theocracy's Supreme Executive Council, addressed his colleagues. "It's been a while since we've all met at the same time, hasn't it?"
"A month isn't long," the Grand Marshal scoffed with his trademark curtness. "We've all had responsibilities to handle, so it's not like we're sitting there twiddling our thumbs."
"Agreed," the Research Institute's Director nodded. "We're on the verge of a few breakthroughs in a number of fields as well."
"I'm guessing it's something to do with your operations, Raymond?" Dominic addressed the thoughtful Commander of the Six Scriptures with no small amount of curiosity.
"Yes, I'd like to hear about what's happening on your end as well," Yvon followed up. "Is it about that traitor, Clementine?"
"She's been caught?"
"I thought it would take longer…"
"Calm down. Raymond hasn't said anything yet."
The clamor quickly died out as the other eleven leaders anxiously anticipated Raymond's report. Truth be told, none of them truly expected the problem to be resolved so quickly even with the First Seat of the Black Scripture sent out.
"We caught her—" Raymond patiently waited for the cheering to end. All the executives present were incredibly disciplined individuals, but in a world where Humanity had to eke out every last scrap of strength to survive, it was hard to fully restrain themselves upon hearing unexpected good news. "There's a few more details to it, but the First Seat has confirmed her capture."
"Great," the head of the Judiciary couldn't hold back his grin. "That's—wonderful. I've no words for it. The Black Scripture has outdone themselves yet again."
"What are the details?" Zinedine cut through the hubbub. "Does it have to do with how fast they were in detaining Windstride?"
"Our initial belief that she was working with Zurrernorn was correct," Raymond began. "Although, it was a self-proclaimed 'Night Lich' who gave her over to the taskforce upon being confronted. This confirms some degree of connection between Zurrernorn and Corpus."
Silence filled the meeting room. Of the Night Liches who made themselves publicly known, all three kept to their own territories. Had the taskforce stumbled upon some heretofore unknown bastion of a mighty undead?
"Are you certain it was a Night Lich?" The Grand Marshal scowled. "Damn abominations are powerful, but I can't see the First Seat losing to one—especially with those three supporting him."
"Could just be borrowing the classification," Zinedine mumbled to himself. "For what purpose though? Enhancing its importance? Did it provide a name, Raymond?"
" 'The Abyss,' was the epithet given. The First Seat reported that its strength was only around the range of a mildly enhanced Elder Lich, but that wouldn't match up with the zombified dragon accompanying it," the Cardinal of Earth clasped his hands over the table. "He believes that it might have been a decoy—I suggest we all go with this interpretation until further light can be shone on the matter."
"Then we don't have much to go off…" Yvon unhappily scratched his cheek. "Even the appearance is suspect. It irks me that they didn't kill the damn Lich, but I suppose caution was the order of the day."
"Have they checked for curses and enchantments?" Dominic furrowed his brows, focusing on a more immediately practical concern.
"She's been cleared by the Fourth Seat and the pair of Clearwater diviners we sent along," it was wholly possible a paragon of magical skill could place a curse beyond the taskforce's abilities to detect, but they didn't have access to a surplus of options while the group was still far from home. "We can double check later, but I doubt they would've shared much information of worth with her anyways."
The unspoken fact that the opposite was more likely dampened the previously festive mood.
"On the bright side, that's one less problem we have to worry about," Berenice smiled, lightening the somber atmosphere. "For now, let's devote our energies to what we can solve. Unless you have more to share, Raymond…?"
"Earlier yesterday," gods, he wasn't eager to discuss this one. "The Lady of Wings killed Zy'tl Q'ae—"
"What?" The Grand Marshal interrupted. "How—no, why?"
It was telling that none of them were particularly surprised that the outcome of the fight resulted in the 'Dragon Lord's' defeat; rather, they were troubled that the fight had occurred in the first place.
"Our operatives cite it was an 'accident' on her part," Raymond's lips thinned as he watched everybody sigh in various degrees of exhaustion. "A surprise encounter led to a confrontation that destroyed our entire camp in the area before ultimately resulting in the Catastrophe Dragon Lord's death."
"Should we even call it that anymore?" The Research Director wondered out loud. "Such a mindless beast could hardly be considered a Dragon—"
"Please consider that in private after the meeting," the Pontifex Maximus dryly put an end to their train of thought. "Go on, Raymond."
"She's provided compensation for the damage done to the base; it's a currency bearing a frighteningly close resemblance to the coins left behind by our Six Gods. That being said, we'll have to wait for our operatives to return before confirming."
"So this confirms she probably shares the same origins," or somehow came across a stash from people who did, but the simplest answer tended to make the most sense. "The time matches up, anyhow."
Berenice's expression was of immense satisfaction: the face of one who finally found vindication in a long-held belief. Raymond cracked a wry smile; her sentiment wasn't an uncommon one among the citizens of the Theocracy nowadays.
"An accident, huh?" Dominic doubtfully scowled. "What if it was a deliberate act? The timing coincides suspiciously closely with Dark Scale Dragon Lord's military buildup."
"How would they even know about it?" Raymond shook his head. "There have been no reports of angels wandering outside of the Draconic Kingdom and Beastman Country—the Lady of Wings has kept to the east until recently. Queen Oriculus certainly shouldn't be aware."
"Her subversion of the Adventurer's Guild though… again, I must emphasize the convenient timing."
"It might be a decision from the Lady of Wings and not Queen Oriculus—"
"Unlikely," Berenice snapped at Yvon. "She spends the vast majority of her time dispensing charity to the masses. Hardly the type who would resort to the devious measures you're suggesting!"
"Anyways, isn't this the same thing our predecessors would have done?" The Pontifex Maximus eased the Cardinal of Wind's concerns while simultaneously ending Berenice and Yvon's squabble. "Any halfway competent leader should understand the pitfalls of relying on a bunch of glorified mercenaries."
Despite being the country responsible for the establishment of the institution, the Theocracy's current leadership thought the Adventurer's Guild to be an unreliable group only good for exterminating nascent threats to Humanity.
If the going got hard, most adventurers would abandon their cities in search of safety elsewhere. After all, they had no sense of obligation instilling the weight of duty into them—no vows or pride tied to the people of their 'home.'
There were exceptions, but that's all they were: exceptions. It was for this reason that the Slane Theocracy had never placed its security in the hands of fickle glory-seekers.
Though that brought up another question: "It's odd Dark Scale Dragon Lord entrusts them with supervising parts of her army despite having the same understanding we do."
"They're the most readily available—and cheapest—option," Zinedine explained. "I doubt Queen Oriculus's decision is facilitating anything more than a transition. Once she's cultivated enough loyal people of suitable knowledge and strength, the adventurers won't be needed anymore."
Dominic snorted. "It would've been simpler had she entrusted everything to the Lady of Wings. It'll be a lot less for us to wrack our brains over!"
None of them seriously believed the Dragon Queen was that foolish. Relying on a single person for the security of an entire country—even if that person bore all the marks of godhood—was shortsighted in the extreme. The path to prosperity was paved with the careful nurturing of every person's strength: whether that strength lied in martial valor, magical prowess, performative skill, or even something as mundane as farming.
"What's the current state of their military anyways?" The Grand Marshal tapped the table, while Maximilian jotted something down on one of the many books he kept in his personal airspace. "Angels aside, of course."
"Our most recent estimates number their army at roughly fifty to sixty thousand," Raymond nimbly flicked through the encrypted notes consolidated from the reports of the Clearwater and Windflower Scriptures. "A disproportionately high number of warriors and rangers compared to spellcasters. Would be lower if the beastman offensive had more time."
"Less than Baharuth's… So how do they match up against our other neighbors?" the head of the Executive branch asked. "Even with the previously extended support from the Sunlight Scripture, it's somewhat surprising to hear a number that low."
"The Draconic Kingdom's average veteran is notably stronger than, say, a Baharuthian knight," a hint of respect underlined Berenice's commentary. The Cardinal of Fire had always nurtured a soft spot for warriors with the resolve to face death. "And now they're only going to improve even further as Queen Oriculus's domain recovers."
Raymond didn't completely agree with Berenice's assessment. On one hand, being able to focus on strengthening their economy and industry meant that they would gradually be able to outfit their forces in higher-quality equipment. On the other hand, the Draconic Kingdom's military could only grow to be so strong because of the beastmen that had pressured them so.
Of course, there were many methods to address the lack of suitable challenges. Powerful training partners for one…
On second thought, maybe he did agree with her assessment.
"They don't rely on their army to keep public order like Baharuth does, do they?" The head of the Legislature pointed out. "Everything was and is remarkably well run given the circumstances."
"A successful example of rulership classes working and synergizing properly," the Research Director bobbed his head up and down. "It's a shame that attempting to replicate it would require an entire restructuring of our government."
"The Draconic Kingdom only functions so smoothly because of Queen Oriculus," Zinedine reminded the two. "That kind of system relies too heavily on the few."
"We're getting off topic," the Pontifex Maximus amicably shifted the focus of the conversation. "What should we do in response to this development concerning Catastrophe Dragon Lord?"
"With Zy'tl Q'ae dead, we have Downfall of Castle and Country freed up again," Maximilian spoke for the first time during the meeting. "Do we have any candidates in mind, or are we planning on saving it for some unknown future threat?"
"How about the Dragon Queen? She's close with the Lady of Wings, right? It'll give us more influence over—ah, nevermind," Dominic clicked his tongue. "Dark Scale Dragon Lord's a practitioner of Wild Magic, so who knows if it'll work."
Raymond agreed, though more for the reason that it felt like an unnecessary risk when the Theocracy got along decently well with the person in question. It wasn't as if Draudillon Oriculus harbored some grand ambition to conquer the world and crush Humanity under her heel. 'Might anger the angel too, if they really are close to each other.'
"They're doing an acceptable job at holding the eastern front," Berenice concurred, albeit for a different reason.
"The angel herself then," everyone turned their heads towards the brazen Research Director. "Imagine having that kind of firepower in our arsenal—"
"Absolutely not," Raymond reminded himself to give an especially thoughtful present to the Pontifex Maximus come next holiday. "We enthralled the Catastrophe Dragon Lord because it was clearly a berserk natural disaster. The Lady of Wings is performing well enough by her own merits—instead of using the sacred relic on somebody already amenable to our goals, would it not be more prudent to point it at a more dubious element?"
"There's the off chance she's immune too. Like the True Dragon Lords," Zinedine added his own input to the discussion. "I don't want to imagine the consequences of the relic failing."
Downfall of Castle and Country was an all-powerful relic capable of controlling beings who could not be affected by conventional mind-alteration magics, but even it had its limitations. For example, the item had no effect on people gifted with the ability to use Wild Magic: a lesson painfully learned by their ancient predecessors. The world they lived in was populated by all sorts of beings—it wasn't unreasonable to think there were other qualifications for immunity.
"Then who else do we have in mind?" Berenice questioned the convened leaders. "There aren't that many feasible and useful targets that come to mind. The Dragon Councillors are off-limits, not much point in selecting anyone from the Abelion Hills, and we have no need for most of the stronger adventurers or workers—oh, there's that Azuth Aindra, isn't there?"
The mention of Red Drop's leader was enough to cause a round of grumbling to pass around the table. A classic example of how the Adventurer's Guild had failed; despite all the advantages the ex-noble of House Aindra received thanks to the tireless efforts of the Theocracy, he had promptly turned his back on Humanity to collaborate with the Council State.
"He's working with Argland now," the Pontifex Maximus rejected the idea. "That means he'll have ties with Platinum Dragon Lord. Besides, that man is only powerful because of that mysterious suit of armor he owns."
"The Elf King?"
"Certain Death wouldn't like that," everyone seated grimly nodded, even the one who had brought up their hated foe. "We made a promise to her after all."
"How about Fluder Paradyne?" Raymond put forth his own suggestion. "There's been some disturbing rumors regarding his activities in the Malithwood."
"I still think it's just another initiative by Emperor El-Nix to clear out the forest for development," Dominic disagreed, though not rudely so. "It's not like there isn't any precedent."
"He said it was because the demihumans there were preparing a foul ritual, right?" The Research Director rubbed his chin. "That doesn't make much sense. In the first place, it's hard to believe the tribes there could unite and collaborate for a task that complicated."
"Either way, I stand by my opinion," Raymond elaborated on his proposal. "We all know he's the twisted type of person who'd go to questionable lengths to achieve his goals. Whether he planned to replicate the ritual that had occurred at E-Rantel or not, controlling the Tri-Arts Caster is the safest and most useful option at the moment."
"So it's time to take a more active hand in the world then…"
"This shouldn't result in any pushback from the Dragon Lords, and we'll also be able to guide the Empire's development better."
"He'd be an amazing addition to our spell development facilities too!"
"Quiet please, everyone," all of the executives turned to face the Pontifex Maximus. "Taking our discussion into account, we'll activate Downfall of Castle and Country on Fluder Paradyne. Anyone opposed?"
"None."
"None here."
"We'll have to send Tenjho Tenge for this, huh?"
The decision passed to a unanimous consensus. "Excellent. And what are your plans for Clementine, Raymond?"
"Leave Clementine to Antilene," Raymond felt a twinge of pity for the psychotic woman. "It'll be a good warmup for when we send her to the Elf Country."
"Sure wouldn't want to be her," the Grand Marshal mumbled.
The Commander of the Six Scriptures bitterly smiled.
Neither did he. Neither did he.
"Yuriko," Draudillon rolled around the grotesque tribal trinket in her hand. "What is this?"
It was a bulbous thing fashioned after some frog-like heteromorph, or maybe demihuman, with two gemstone 'eyes' that popped out from where they were socketed. The fetish's spindly arms had been made to be crossed over its chest—belly?—and two thick legs of wood carved into a squat with etched scaley patterns cutting across the idol's surface.
In short, she didn't understand her beloved's intent in handing her the item. There weren't any obvious signs of enchantments, no signs of value aside from the poorly cut gemstones, but she supposed the appearance could be considered… interesting?
"I thought it looked cool," the angel awkwardly shifted her feet. "And um…" They shifted their eyes to the ground and muttered something Draudillon didn't quite catch.
"Could you repeat that?" The question brought a new surge of red running riot across Yuriko's face.
"…wanted to give you a present," Yuriko repeated, barely audible. "Because you've been doing a lot, and—it's stupid, isn't it?"
"No," she reflexively answered. Sure, the souvenir was strange, but the fact that they had brought one back at all was enough to fill her with a heartening warmth. "I like it. Thank you for the gift."
It made her feel warm, knowing they still had her in mind while wandering the western wildernesses.
"You don't have to pretend to like it," Yuriko's blush deepened. "It looks weird. I should've got something normal, like, like flowers. Or um, yeah."
"I do like it though?" Besides, the talisman wasn't that bad. If it was given to Yuriko, the item was probably some important symbol to whoever bestowed it upon the angel. "It's from you, after all."
"R-Right…" They began fidgeting with their hair. "I'm glad you don't hate it."
"I don't. So," she pivoted to what she hoped would be a less stressful topic for the angel. "Where did you go to get this?"
"Found a bunch of Toadmen in Tob next to this big lake. They gave it to me after I killed this weird snake monster messing with them," Yuriko paused before continuing in a much softer tone. "It's like people only get happy when I kill stuff for them."
"That's a blatant falsehood," Draudillon rushed to comfort them all the while pushing down the self-directed nausea roiling in her gut. "You've resurrected thousands and continue to safeguard millions. Shouldn't that count for something?"
"Maybe. I dunno."
Gods, she was so tired. She wanted to help, she really did, but it was beyond mentally taxing when every word had the chance of triggering some depressive episode in her beloved. Every conversation felt like walking on eggshells—when talking with nobles and foreign delegates, she at least had an idea of what to expect.
But here? The only other time she'd felt this lost and helpless was when the beastmen were invading. Even then, at least the beastmen were straightforward.
Draudillon hated herself for feeling the way she did. When you loved someone, you should give your all to support them, right? You shouldn't be exhausted from trying to help them, shouldn't be failing as badly as she was, shouldn't be having the kind of thoughts running through her mind now—
'I'm just… not good enough,' Yuriko allowed her to draw them into a tight hug. 'So is it selfish that I still want to stay with her?'
"Do you want to stay home then? Since going out only seems to lead to more fights."
"No," the angel shut down the suggestion. "I'm fine. You gave me a chance to take a break—I'm not gonna just throw it away like that."
'It's not about 'throwing away' a chance,' Draudillon bit her tongue. "Don't force yourself, okay?"
"I won't," it wasn't really a lie, helping others came naturally to them, but—
That wasn't the point. They didn't understand, and she… she didn't know how to make them understand.
'They never talk about these parts in stories,' Draudillon let out a silent sigh. 'If only real life could be as simple as defeating an enemy and living happily ever after.'
But even so—even so!
She wouldn't give up what they had for anything. Sure, things were a little rocky now, but they could still hold each other like this, couldn't they? Just had to…
Try a little harder.
"There's a rather well-known troupe coming by in a few weeks," Draudillon suddenly suggested, driven on by a shameful desperation; because what else could she do? "If you're not occupied then, would you like to go with me to watch them perform?"
"A play…" The angel seemed to consider the invitation. "I, I've never seen one before. Not in person at least."
"Hopefully it'll be a good introduction then. I assume you're not opposed to the idea?"
Yuriko released a small 'ah' upon noticing Draudillon was waiting for an answer. "Y-Yeah, a play sounds nice. It'll be like, um, a date!"
"Something along those lines," her eyes traced theirs. "Yuriko?"
"Hm?" The angel tilted her head.
"I love you."
"Mm," a small, sincere smile flickered across their face for a split second before it was once again subsumed by a strained sadness. "I love you too."
Words had never sounded so heavy.
