Chapter 98: Meeting Between Leaders

Note: Correction, the magic language used in magic circles in this novel is not Brahmic but Austronesian, if I said that it is Brahmic in the previous or future chapters, please comment in the word.

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That is what I said, but deep inside, I cannot help but lampoon.

_Will you enjoy my stay, though..._

[That is the question.]

Just as [Guide] and I were bantering internally, Eleanor returned the greeting and Bakunawa just nodded, my wife's eyes then wandered around before asking.

"May I ask, where is Queen Khearsenbelle?"

The King and the knight looked at each other before the two of them laughed awkwardly, it seemed like the King was professional enough not to hate the children of Urduja, or rather he had to admit that Urduja's children are vital assets to the Kingdom, so he has no choice but to tolerate them.

"Queen Khearsenbelle is not feeling well, it seems like the viruses she contracted when escaping from the palace and going to the forest are finally letting her pay, please forgive her absence."

I nodded as if I didn't care, but wouldn't it be dangerous for his wife to go out in this time of great uncertainty? Or is it that the Queen is too stubborn to believe the gravity of the matter? However, based on Uruja's instruction, the Queen is a former adventurer, which means she knows how dire the word "Loki" is in terms of strength alone.

I looked at the King, who was smiling, seemingly knowing why am I looking at him as he thought of a way to change the course of the conversation.

_He conforms to due process too much that he does not warn her wife of what is happening until he confirms it?_

[It seems like he is not the best book on the shelf.]

I agreed silently as the King started to guide us towards his palace, with me in his back and with my wife and Bakunawa in mine, the moment we entered the palace, my eyes suddenly constricted as some detectable yet unstoppable power suddenly entered my mind, it is not strong by any means but because I cannot stop it nor [Guide] can detect it, I became alarmed.

The good thing is that the power seemed to not have any bad intention to do anything against me, a whisper was just heard in my ear so suddenly.

F̷̢̧͔͙̣͔̭͔̟̠̲̦̬̰̫͇͉̺̥͉͕̳̈̃̔̈́̈͗̂̏͠ͅĭ̷̩͕̻̘̼̹̦̪̤̼̾̇̆́̍̓̂̈̆́̾̒́͂͛̕̚n̷̘͓̍̈́̌͐͋̈́̅̎̌̔̿͘͝d̵̡̛̲̬̰̙̖̥̻̰͓̟̟̼̼͋́̀̒̏̔͐͗͛̓͒̏̉̈́̃́̋̕̚͘͝ ̷̳͂̽̕͠m̵̛̘̯͔͂̈́͛̈́̆̃̅͌͆̎͗̂̄̚͠e̷͈̭͕͂́̎͘̚̕͠, ̸͓̣̮̻̹͍͚̩͉̿́͋̂̿̇͑̌̄͌̀̚͘m̸̧̘̻̩̼̣͖̮̪̦̗̪̩̦̃̀̓̐͊͂̉͂̋͛́̽̓̀͛̒̽̕͘͜͝ÿ̵̨̧̧̡͍̩̩̲̟̳̤̝̙̼̭͖̝̟̥̝͓́̉́́͆̍̅͒͑̈̆̂̌̑̿̆̀̄̆͝͝ͅ ̴̨̛͚͎̱̰̝͚͕̦̤͖̱̜͎̳͎̥͕͉̐͗̽̇͐͋̽̇̎̎͛̔͘͜ļ̷̡̯͇̖̞͇͇͕̻̻͓̪̞̩̌͌͌͋̅̇̀̋ͅͅą̶̧̢̯̰̫̣̖͔͎̺̱͔̙͇͖̇͆͆̈͒͗͜ͅd̴̢̝̮̥̯̬̗͓̺̰̘͎̜͍͚̬̮̩̝̩̞͐̑̒̈́̀̊̿̂̽̒̈́͒̕͝͠y̷̹̯͖͎̫̳͖̟͚̖͉͎͙̫̫̺͕̝͚̠̟̆̾̓̽̽͋̾͌͐͂͝͝ (Find me, my lady.)

After hearing that, I detected the mysterious power get out of my mind, I confirmed where it came from, simply because [Guide] immediately paused when it came and resumed when it disappeared.

_The Core really is here._

After learning that from the core itself, I immediately ordered Kabuto to lurk around the palace and look for any gem that fits the word "undead Core", because I have no idea what the hell does it looks like, I can only order as such, he can go to the jewelry room or the Royal Vault and other room that has gems on it.

Also, can you scan where is it [Guide]?

[Yes, but it will take a while, probably like this night at the latest, as the palace has a seal that protects against detection.]

Alright, I'm counting on you.

The King proceeded with his tour as I made these arrangements, I still wondered why the etiquette of the nobles here needed to tour a visitor the moment they came, but of course, I didn't mind, because I knew that this was just a way for the King to calm his tense nerves.

We went to the art room in which a lot of sculptures from all over the world were gathered with their subsequent history, there is also the hall of the kings in which paintings of the previous Kings with their wives and children are present, in my Queendom, we have the same room, but instead of paintings, we have bust up sculptures, my face and Eleanor's are the first ones to be placed there.

As I was looking at the paintings, I could not help but notice something.

"Roselle the III and his family's painting is missing."

The King suddenly stopped in his tracks, giving me some clues as to who this painting was.

"Ah... Well, he is not a very good leader as he started the troubles of the next Kings that no one might ever resolve, so I have decided to dishonor him, to get a little revenge."

The king is still smiling, but I can feel the anger in his smile, so it is the King who made Urduja into a duchess and thought she was stupid. I nodded silently as if I did not know what Roselle was talking about, he then said.

"This ends the tour to my palace, we have prepared a dinner for all of us, however, because we are expecting Lady Sophia to come next week, it is not as lavish as it should be. I hope you can understand."

I represented the three of us and smiled as I replied.

"That wouldn't be a problem, I mean, we have a lot more important things to do other than eat, right?" The King immediately turned silent at my remark as he nodded, he then invited us into the banquet hall, the hall for visitors and his family including his brother and his wife are separate, he also said that his brother was finding clues of the intruders himself.

_I don't need to protect the King, he has his younger sibling with him..._

After we ate the not-so-lavish (by royal standards) meal, it was time for the main event of the royal visit of mine.

"Lady Eleanor, Lady Bakunawa, the two of us will now have our first official meeting at the meeting hall, please be guided by the maids to your rooms."

The two of them answered in affirmation, however in my hivemind, the two of them had a different conversation.

"Sophia, the queen is suspicious, I have known her on a personal level and this is the first time I saw her be sick to the point of being bedridden. Shall I visit her?"

While walking with the King, Eleanor said as such to me, it is not the time to ask how personal that level of familiarity is, so I simply replied.

"You can do that, just be careful, Bakunawa, don't do anything for now."

Bakunawa simply answered: "Understood."

As the exchange between the three of us ended, King Roselle and I were already in the meeting room, the teapot was already hot and the leaves were prepared. The King said to me so suddenly as we sat opposite each other.

"This tea is called 'matcha', it is imported from the far lands of Leviticus in the domain of the Nubonagi Clan, because of the dangers of the sea and the high level of meticulousness needed for production, it has a high price that only nobles can usually afford."

I nodded silently as I sipped the matcha, I unconsciously used Japanese etiquette, I put my hand at the bottom of the cup as I ignored the question of what the hell is matcha doing in this world and sipped it, I commented.

"A taste fitting of its price."

After saying that, I immediately turned serious, as I said.

"However I think you have to go straight to the point instead of introducing tea."

The King jolted as he nodded and sighed.

"Queen Sophia... what exactly is the reason for your hastened visit?"

I smirked a little.

"What have you found out?"

King Roselle's expression immediately turned grave as gulped.

"There is a suspicion that the strongest soldier of Loki Darkbringer is inside Heimdall, can you confirm this?"

I also turned serious as I nodded, gulping a cup of tea, and replied.

"That, I can confirm, however, you should know that she is a hero specifically specialized in espionage and assassination, so it is hard even for me or my subordinates to be able to find her and other devils in a short period of time."

The King who is quite stressed because of this matter smiled rather brightly, his stress comes from the fact that they have a homing system-like spell in the whole capital and yet they cannot detect the entrance of these devils, also the devils are not detected by Arachne's spiders, so it is understandable.

"Will you assist us?

I nodded, my smile and gaze pure.

"Of course I will."

King Roselle, upon hearing this smiled rather brightly, even his blue eyes seemed to glow, however, as a King, he immediately learned the reason behind my "charity work", and his looks immediately turned solemn, as he asked.

"In your terms, what do you think is the best form of gratitude I can give you for your goodwill?"

He wanted to sound like a very sincere person, but King Roselle and I knew that no person who calls themselves "leader" is ever sincere, he immediately knew that I was here to assist him not in good will but for benefits of Kamatayan, and that is a fact he cannot deny because he would have done the same if an opportunity arises. That happens a lot in my previous life, I know that on a personal level.

_It's a good thing that he is smart..._

That is all I can say as I shook my head.

"Such matters shall be discussed after we have successfully subjugated the serpent bearer, for that will surely restrict both of our efforts to degrees that are worth what we have talked about, and I am rather fond of my freedom. So, I suggest that we agree on an advanced agreement that is not constricting, like a deposit."

After the King agreed, I pretended to think deeply, and after a minute or so, I looked at him who was also nervously waiting for my initial demand.

"How about this, after the operation, I get to keep the thing that is being targeted by Hebi?"

I sipped on my matcha slowly as I watched King Roselle ponder about this matter, after a minute or so, he finally realized the strangeness of my demand, I had already drained my teacup at that time, so I poured another matcha tea in it as Roselle asked me with a frown evident on his face.

"How did you know that she is here to steal something?"

I took a sniff of my matcha which is surprisingly good when hot, you see I did not loiter long when going to Japan, so I only know matcha as a boba tea flavor, after sipping a little, I replied while smiling a little.

"Hmm... Perhaps because this is your first time facing direct hostility from a hero or perhaps it is because of the bias of the education against devils that you did not see this part but, let me get this straight, on a very fundamental level, a hero can dish out mass destruction one way or another, you might think that only Urduja can do it, but if you study world history, I am sure you will find a lot of instances when that happened."

"In this regard, if Hebi wanted to destroy your capital, she would have already done so. Also, I don't think it is also about invasion because they are afraid of Urduja, as of the moment at least. After all, if they dared to invade Gjallarhorn, then Kamatayan was already erased from the map, but no, I can tell that all of my people are alive and kicking. Finally, if it is an invasion, then Hebi, as a hero who specializes in stealth and assassination should have already killed you, but no, she did not, this is the best indication that she needs something more valuable than your city's destruction."

After I finished my explanation, King Roselle turned completely silent as if contemplating my words, but at the same time, his eyes were full of enlightenment as he finally got out of his bias. I continued to watch him think things through whilst sipping my tea, I could aim for a third cup at this rate.

_It seems like he is really tense because of this matter that he forgot to look at things from a spectator's angle and can only look at the perspective of the receiver of malice, and the fact that he has been educated with: Hero=Strong, then Strong=Bad and wants to destroy the capital, he is just thinking of it that way. That is also the reason why is he on guard against Urduja._

It seems like he believed me to have that conjecture because of observations without knowing that I learned of it because of [Guide], seeing this makes me unknowingly satisfied, I wonder if this is what MCs feel, it's not bad.

Sadly, my unique skill glitches a lot.

[Hey.]

I ignored [Guide] as the King finally spoke.

"I see, your deduction makes sense, however, I honestly do not have any idea what is this 'treasure' inside the palace that can attract the attention of Loki Darkbringer... Of course, I might not be aware of some things that are intentionally omitted by my ancestors because of the dangers of such an item."

I silently nodded as I replied: "Indeed, it might be censored by the King of the warring period to not increase tensions further or seal the tension as long as possible."

Right now, I can confirm that he is not aware of the existence of the undead core, I am already quite sure, but having additional confirmation is never a bad thing.

_If King Roselle knew about the undead core, he would never invite me inside his palace even regardless of whether or not he is aware of Hebi Tsukaiza's threat._

Of course, he might just be hiding his nervousness, but I highly doubt that.