121 – Royal Banquet (10)

Zalan gulped, their face turning paler. “We...” The Changeling choked out. “We wanted change...”

I nodded. “See?” I gave their cheek a playful pinch. “Not so hard, is it?”

They whipped their head away from my hand while scowling.

“Now, what is it you want to change? The government? You want to do away with the ruling class? Perhaps you're tired of having little or no political involvement?” I asked, then gestured around me. “You have the rulers of six different countries more than ready to listen to what you have to say.”

Zalan took a weary glance around the room, then back at me. “They only listen when you lot show up,” they pointed out, grinding their teeth.

Negging it is, then, I concluded. “Why would they otherwise? Or are you deluded into thinking you have anything of value to say under normal circumstances? That can't be it, right? You can't be that stupid.”

Zalan glared at me. “You wouldn't get it even if I explain it.”

“Psh,” I scoffed. “How hard can it be? What is it? Equality of opportunity? Equality of outcome? Hyper-competitive economy? Representation of the populace in government office? That I would understand since Lumin Kingdom doesn't exactly have representative democracy like other countries, but I doubt there's heavy social issues that would warrant the need of minorities in office.”

Zalan raised an eyebrow.

“I may be two and a half months old, but I'm neither stupid nor alone,” I sighed. “Sociopolitical circumstances aren't really hard to grasp.” I turned to Gordon. “Are there ways for people to become Nobles, even if they're not Tigeas?”

He nodded. “Naturally, Your Excellency,” he replied. “One such example is Lord Punten who you've met in Riverfield. He's a Human who started a business and achieved results worthy of receiving the title of Baron. Not enough to become a Court Noble, however, but he's on the right track.”

Seriously? I wondered in surprise. I turned to the Changeling. “See? Easy. Start a business, acquired a fat purse, be a decent person, and you're on your way to being a Noble who has a say in politics.” I circled Zalan and placed my hands on their shoulders. “But that's too much work, right? You want it right now. For everyone. But this is a Kingdom, you see.”

The Rulers cleared their throats.

“This country is pretty old, right?” I monologued. “Almost a million years old. Bachat killed a monster and caught Lumin's attention, then his approval to found a country after getting a piece of land from Koluum. Pretty simple if you ask me. It's been quite a while. I would understand if people got tired of being under the rule of Monarchy. I would understand an attempt at change of government if the Royal Family was problematic and... say... imposed an abusive tax on people for profit.” I released Zalan and walked around the chair, facing them. “But that's not the case, right? People aren't rioting on the streets. Nobody has approached me with complaints to the Royal Family. I have visited a few towns and cities and things look good so far. Am I wrong to think people have good lives here in Lumin Kingdom?”

Zalan glared at me and frowned.

I raised the dagger.

“No,” Zalan quickly replied, staring at the blade in my hand.

I nodded. “So you're a dissatisfied minority, then. What good would your new government bring? Do you think the populace would accept your new system? Do you think I would approve of the new country if a very small group of people replaces the Crown? The rest wont like it, you see. You'd be replaced soon after by either the populace or the surviving members of the Royal Family. If, say, you used force to cling to power, then we Halves would come into the picture.” I frowned. “Even worse, you tried to kill me. Maybe to prevent your new system from being rejected, or maybe in your own words, sabotaged? Maybe to stop me from killing the Demon? I don't know... and honestly don't care. You are an absolute failure in every sense.”

“Fuck off,” Zalan grumbled.

“For the sake of argument,” I continued, ignoring the insult. “If half of the population of Lumin Kingdom was dissatisfied, then I would support a revolution. If they wanted to storm the Royal Palace and kill the Royal Family I wouldn't stop them.”

Gordon fidgeted, fixing the neck of his robe.

“But that's not the case either,” I pointed out. “And I wouldn't join them. That would be the populace's business, not mine. In the hypothetical case of you managing to kill Gordon, I wouldn't be involved either. I don't exist to punish the populace's insubordination. If Gordon was a tyrant, then yeah... that'd be my business... he isn't, though.”

“If we didn't try to kill you, would you have meddled?” Zalan demanded.

“I would have,” I replied. “You used a Demon, you see. You didn't have the guts to try and kill Gordon yourselves. I mean... what kind of shitshow would you have replaced monarchy with when you can't even do shit yourself? Some mockery to meritocracy? I would assume you'd put the Demon in charge since it wouldn't be you who killed Gordon if you have any sense of logic to you. The execution of your ideas is laughable, if anything.”

Zalan scoffed. “You Halves are all corrupt. You can't imagine a world without countries under your influence. You disgust me. Don't use Nerissa as an excuse.”

I smiled. “At least you're braver than her,” I commented.

“She was our bravest,” Zalan corrected me with a scowl.

“Not in front of me,” I retorted.

“What an obvious lie,” the Changeling chuckled. “The only thing she feared-”

“Was me,” I interrupted them in Infernal.

Zalan's eyes widened to the limit. “You're the-”

I quickly put my empty hand inside their mouth, pressing down on their tongue with my fingers and preventing the following words from being said.

So she told them, I concluded, placing my thumb on the Changeling's chin to keep them in place. They don't have the instinctual fear, though. Are Demons really their ancestors?

“Your Excellency?” Hanna asked from behind me.

“I think we heard enough,” I addressed the people in the room. “They wanted change, but failed.”

“That's right,” Gordon absentmindedly agreed, looking at the Changeling with a troubled expression.

“Hard to get anything of value out of this sort,” Paveli commented with a sigh. “Your Excellency did her best.”

Claudia nodded. “They can't be reasoned with. No matter what they hear,” she lamented.

“How much information do you have about them?” Plesani asked Gordon.

“Almost everything,” he replied. “Their names, where they live, who they meet, and where they work at. We're missing the other leaders and key members, however.”

Paveli nodded. “Please let me know if they have any connection to people in Chad.”

“Same,” Plesani added.

The other Rulers joined, asking to be informed if any connection to their countries was found.

Zalan was glaring at me and biting on my hand. They were pretty weak so all they did was hurt themselves.

Hanna sighed, ”They should be executed, the lot of them.”

I shook my head. “Nah. Let the law do its thing.”

The Ork nodded.

Gordon cleared his throat. “The crimes add up to execution, Your Excellency,” he pointed out.

“Heh,” Hanna uttered in joy.

“Haagi?” Zalan tried talking.

I looked at them and sighed, “I guess that's it.” I pulled my hand out of their mouth and stabbed their left eye with the dagger.

The blade went in without any effort and the eyeball got split in half. Blood quickly flowed and their body went limp like a puppet whose strings were cut.

“Nikontia would've been better,” I lamented. “But whatever.”

“Well done, Your Excellency,” Hanna praised me. “What a precise strike. No hesitation either.”

I chuckled. “Of course, these little shits tried to kill me.”

The Ork smiled and nodded several times. “By the way,” she said and produced a corpse.

It was another Changeling.

“This is Kulmonari, Your Excellency,” Hanna announced, putting the body on the ground. “They got the nikontia used to try and kill you.”

“So that's where they were,” Gordon commented, walking to the corpse. “We couldn't find them no matter where we searched.”

“Apologies, Your Majesty. But I came across this mutt and wanted to present Her Excellency with their carcass myself,” she excused her murder to the ruler of the nation.

“Understandable,” the King accepted the murderer's words with a kind smile.

I, a murderer as well, turned to my victim and pulled the weapon that took their life from their skull with the same nonchalance as when I did the act.

The body fell to the ground, lifeless and limp.

I like this world, I thought and stored the murder weapon. I really do.