[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 225 – Diplomacy

Bal’daz looked around sheepishly when Raiko separated the groups. “Should I go over…?” He pointed toward Kale and Chris.

“What do you mean?” Raiko asked. “You’re one of us.”

“I am a demon,” he reminded her.

“And Matt’s undead.”

“Hey!”

“Well, it’s true, Matt!”

“I know,” Matt said. “But you don’t have to make it seem like it’s a bad thing.”

“It is only bad if you also view being a demon bad,” Lenal told him, eyeing him up and down critically. “You don’t find demons distasteful, do you?”

“The point is,” Raiko began, talking over them. “We’re all very different. You are a welcome member of our society, Bal’daz. Just like every one of us.”

“Yeah, we’re a regular Benetton ad,” Matt muttered to himself.

The demon puffed out his scrawny chest a little. “I do not know what to say.”

“Nothing,” Raiko told him. “That’s just how people are supposed to treat each other. Now, moving onto what I wished to discuss. Which are two important things.” She hefted Haman in her arms, taking comfort in his warm presence. The ever-present fatigue from soul affliction was all but gone.

Raiko was beginning to feel more like herself again, if not for her deep worry over Sam. “I, Queen Raiko,” she began, feeling rather uncomfortable referring to herself in such a way. She never wanted anything to do with royalty before, and now she had no choice. People needed leaders. “Raise you all to the position of Sil’maran Lords and Lady. As your first decree, I ask that you deliberate on inviting Kale’s people to become Sil’marans.”

A silvery shimmer rolled across everybody in the group, much to the widening eyes of her friends and long-standing allies.

Skyshard Milestones Accomplished:

Earn Honor by protecting a camp under siege (Uncommon).

Defeat a First Layer Alpha Ogre (Rare).

Raise at least 1 Lord and 1 Lady to your kingdom (Rare).

Your Skyshard gains greater Experience!

Your Skyshard Levels Up!

Matt, Lenal, Bal’daz and Kai all deserved their new positions of authority. It wasn’t right for them to be considered equal to newcomers. Each one had been essential in establishing the roots of the kingdom.

Furthermore, becoming nobles tied each one to Sil’mara. The chance that some other faction might lure away Bal’daz or Lenal was much less now.

Luckily, such a feat was considered a milestone, enough to raise the Skyshard’s level.

Shutting her eyes, Raiko could feel the streams of mana circulating throughout the Sil’mara Skyshard surge in strength and depth. The land grew a little more resilient and durable, and its mana reserves deepened and partially replenished.

It didn’t escape Raiko’s notice that the Shardscript pointed out that the Alpha Oger wasn’t considered a unique monster. There could be another one in the First Layer. Possibly many more.

Ogres were terribly powerful, man-eating creatures that had a penchant for collecting gruesome trophies. On Islegard, it took the hardiest of adventuring teams to take them down. Sometimes even armies.

And Sam had fought one all himself. Well, almost.

Cold, dark anger wrapped around her heart.

She would be glad to slay the rest to avenge Sam.

Matt squinted. “So what’re we talking about here, Duke? Count? Viscount? Not sure if that’s any different but where are we ranked among ourselves? Just so we all–”

“Lord,” Raiko said plainly, putting aside her feelings. “You are all on an equal standing of power.”

“Right. Lord. Yeah, but like what kind–”

“Matt.”

He put his hands up and ducked his head apologetically. “Lord Matt is shutting up.”

Kai shook his head. “To what end, my Queen?” he asked. When it became obvious his meaning wasn’t clear he added, “These people are in need of our aid. I see no homes, not even rough shacks. With a wave of your hand you could make more of those earthen domes to house all of them. Surely they would prefer our guidance. Kale is not a bad guy, but he is not a leader. He works well with others, but in all my time knowing him, he did not present himself as a man who is quick to take initiative. He may very well prefer us to take his people off his hands.”

“They very likely would thrive under our leadership,” Raiko admitted. “But it would place a greater burden upon us. Though, I can’t say a kingdom can truly be much of anything with only five or so people.”

Bal’daz’s eyes sparkled. Raiko could imagine what he was thinking well enough. A market square full of people. A merchant quarter with the sound of money changing hands and the ever-present hum of commerce. “We could be so much more than we are,” he muttered.

“It is obvious we need more manpower,” Lenal said. “There is only so much the five of us can do. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Sam and Raiko do most of the work. With a few dozen people under us we could do much more even if everybody is less than a hundredth of Sam or Raiko.” She started to tick off things on her slender fingers. “Patrols could be issued alongside dullahan captains so that people with low levels could get Experience safely. Crafters who want to follow in one of our footsteps could be taken on as apprentices. Hunting parties, farmers, gatherers, and more could be set up to fuel our advancements and procure raw materials that would take us precious time. The list is endless.”

Raiko listened to them. She could have made the decision herself, but they had only made it this far because they worked together.

“As a Builder, I am more than capable of creating housing and such shelter as is required provided I have the requisite goods,” Bal’daz offered. “It is the work of a few moments once the materials are gathered.”

“The land could use tending,” Kai agreed. “Farmers for those who would prefer not to fight? That could be a valuable addition that does not come with much danger.”

“This could be the beginnings of a functioning society, rather than camps of people struggling to survive in the aftermath of an apocalypse,” Raiko said. “But it’s a lot of change all at once. We could stay as different factions.” She looked towards Matt for his opinion.

Matt hunched his shoulders self-consciously. “If we’re all equal and everybody is already on board, I don’t see what I have to contribute,” he mumbled petulantly.

“Are you still on about that?” Kai scolded him. “Your input–often irreverent and useless–is being asked for, and you do not wish to give it? You give your opinion on everything at all hours of the day!”

Matt scuffed the grass with his boot. “Yeah, well.”

Raiko normally would have pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, but she just petted Haman’s silky fur to calm herself. “You don’t need to provide your opinion, but it’s welcomed.”

“Oh all right.” He winked at Raiko. “You twisted my arm. I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but we don’t know these people. Kale, Chris, and Kylie I can personally vouch for. I don’t know them well, mind you, but I know them well enough to confidently sleep with them in the next room without worrying if I’m going to be carved up in the night.”

Matt looked at the surprised faces and shook his head. “Surely you all have thought about this? Those fifty some people could be murderers, cannibals, or well, anything. Perhaps they’re just good people, but I’ve seen one too many Black Fridays to have much faith in humanity as a whole. Individually we’re bright, beautiful people, but in a group? Nasty, nasty creatures that would sooner gouge out a pregnant woman’s eye than give up the last Vitamix that’s only discounted by ten bucks.”

Every eye turned to Matt’s rather incredulous rant.

“...I suppose Earthlings tend to be different than Islegardians,” Raiko said slowly. “He’s right, though maybe not about the eye thing. Hopefully not about the eye thing. While I’m confident in our ability to protect ourselves, they could easily be dangerous. But neither am I willing to let them live in little better than shacks.”

“What do you suggest we do then, Matt?” Lenal asked, then added nervously. “Lord…Matt?”

Matt looked at each of them in turn. “Why are you all looking at me? I just pointed out the problem, you want me to provide the solution too?”

“It would be nice,” Lenal said drily.

“That sounds like Count-level stuff,” Matt argued. But as soon as he saw Raiko’s glare, he chuckled, realizing he might have pushed the joke a little too far. “All right, fine, fine. Lord Matt has a nice ring to it. Maybe I’ll start going by Lord Matthew.”

“Matt.”

“Okay! Okay!” He put his hands up to pause any forthcoming hostilities. “Here’s what we do. Queen Raiko, can you make more of those dome things to house that many people?”

“Definitely,” Raiko said.

“Then I propose our first order of business is to make another dome within the settlement next to the interior walls. Put it as far away from the other as possible for the time being. Let them know it’ll be temporary, but they will be safe there. Safety is key. Then we set the dullahans up so they keep an eye on the settlement from inside under the guise of normal patrols. They can do that, right?”

Raiko nodded. “With their new forms it should be easy enough.”

“Keep them on alert then,” Matt said. “We don’t want anybody to think that they’re in a detention camp or anything, but we don’t want them wandering around either until we’ve vetted them.”

“And how do we do that?” Kai asked. “This is sounding very complicated, and suspiciously like something else in Hawai’i’s history I am not willing to repeat.”

“They’re not prisoners, nor slaves,” Raiko said firmly. “There are certain things the kingdom can do for different roles and citizenship levels. The Sourcestone and Sacred Tree will be restricted access areas unless one of us permits it.”

“What if one of them is a Black City plant?” Matt asked. “We need to be careful. They’re going to be in our home. I say we keep them seg–”

Kai turned to him, crossing his burly arms over his chest. “Yes?”

Lenal shuffled over to Kai’s side. She didn’t want to be included with Matt.

“Segmented, I was going to say,” Matt told him with a shake of his head. “Until we can provide them with jobs and tasks. In doing so, we keep tabs on everybody and can vet them a little as we determine what roles they want.”

“This is why it sucks ruling,” Raiko admitted. “Making the hard decisions. Opening yourself up to risk.”

“Bet you’re wishing you jumped off after Sam,” Matt said. “He’s probably having another grand adventure. The dude better not go Goku on us, I’m going to be so mad if he does.”

“It’d be nice to be free.” She did want to adventure and be on the road again, but things were different in the First Layer. There was a reason why Raiko’s First Order Job was Nomad.

She hoped the world would open up in the future, to make those roaming journeys possible to have with Sam, Komachi, Haman, and anyone else who wished to join.

Shardrune Il’dran was the multiverse. There had to be more to it than this sea of clouds and these broken pieces of civilization.

“That is what we’re here for, is it not?” Kai asked. “There are four of us, and you would make five. Aside from being Queen, you could simply chime in as a tiebreaker if you wished.”

“Probably. For now, I’m responsible for all of us.” She looked towards the endless clouds.

“If we cleared out the Academy…there would be room for people to live there.” Lenal shuffled self-consciously. “Though it is more dangerous than the settlement. Perhaps it is not a good idea.”

“Shelter is not a concern,” Bal’daz told her. “Between our Queen and myself, we can easily erect enough housing for all our needs. I have even begun work on this ‘bathroom’ you all seem so eager for, and I must say aside from the curious number of pipes, it is quite beautiful.”

“The line for the hole is going to be pretty long,” Matt said with a cringe. “Maybe we can work on getting those bathrooms furnished first?”

Raiko groaned. “We’ll have to.”

Bal’daz cleared his throat nervously. “I need…quite a lot of copper and brass. And seeing as our resident Blacksmith is missing…”

It was difficult for Raiko to get a hold on the bitter anger that roiled in the pit of her stomach. It had yet to go away, continuing to lurk in the background.

After everything they had been through, Sam was lost. He had saved Earth and Islegard, then Raiko many more times.

Where was the justice in that? The man who forestalled the apocalypse was stolen away by the Maelstrom. Even Komachi was gone. Their morale cat, merchant and healer.

The mood turned dark and somber after that, until Kai said, “The one-handed dullahan, he was Sam’s apprentice, was he not? Perhaps he can furnish the materials you need.”

“Yes, we’ll be alright,” Raiko said, keeping at least some of her emotions from coloring her tone. “So long as another Alpha Ogre doesn’t attack.”

Gradually, the group ironed out their plan. Kale’s people would be offered a place to stay among the Sil’marans with the opportunity to join their kingdom. With the resident Sil’marans elevated to Lordship, they would be able to manage the newcomers and help them settle in.