...A few months ago
.
["A letter to the Dragon Empress,
I have dealt with the problem of your Empire, Destrian is dead,
Now go, and reclaim what is rightfully yours.
the King of the Wolfenstein Kingdom. Gama Feihren"]
.
.
This is what was written within a tiny piece of parchment that was handed over to her.
The Dragon Empress, Jacquelyn Brangian, had been in hiding for over a year now as she was considered a royal fugitive for different crimes she never committed. She was pinned down by allegations by the Noble Faction as the Senate was being controlled from the outside.
Although the throne and power were stripped from her, she had ruled this Empire for quite a long time that one could not easily deny the fact that she will always be someone influential.
She had been staying in the Jade Dragon District, an area owned by one of her trusted friend who's also a noble, their connection was deeply hidden that by the time Destrian took over the throne, none had bothered to check in this area to check if she was hiding, let alone her staying here.
"...Gama Feihren." Looking at the window where the people that have arrived from the 'trip' together with Feihren were all staying after they have handed out the letter, Jacquelyn muttered, "I'll be this debt as soon as I can."
***
Bainzen Empire's Capital, a few weeks after the death of Destrian.
Adrian traveled all the way from the western district of the Wolfenstein kingdom towards the tunnel that was leading to the Empire by foot. Although it was indeed a tiring journey, he had to move as quickly as possible, before any 'false information' arrives at the Bainzen Empire; He did not stop too long within the Mejuzo Kingdom and had immediately headed towards the Capital.
It was bad enough that he did not have any time to rest during the return, now it seems that he was also actually late. A few imperial soldiers that were bearing the coat of arms specifically assigned to the troops in the Mejuzo Kingdom had seemed to arrive way earlier than he did...
"... Your Imperial Highness!" Arriving at the throne hall was the lone figure of Adrian that was deeply kowtowing at Emperor Jason, who was seemingly not bothered by the sudden pleading, it was apparent that he had known what Adrian did from the soldiers that had just left.
His influence as a duke might come in handy within the business of a single kingdom, but under the fact that the entire Empire would be involved, Adrian was powerless as he could not refute what those soldiers did; The emperor held the final say as to what would happen to him after his tackless decision in intervening with another kingdom's affair.
"...I, I only did it because..." Adrian attempted to give an excuse as Jason raised his hand, stopping him mid-sentence. "It's fine."
"Eh?..."
"You heard me right, It's fine... But it won't excuse you for disobeying me; I know I'm still too young to rule this Empire, Uncle Adrian, but I guess I have to do something to prove myself that I can do things much greater than my Father..."
"... And for that, I have to set an example as to what happens to people that try to disobey me..."
...
***
Present Day...
The night skies of the western district of the Wolfenstein Kingdom was flocked with dozens of mounted griffons and wyverns carrying the carriages of the representatives of the western kingdoms.
They have arrived during the departure of Feihren and had decided to travel even though it was already past midnight. It would be better for them to arrive at the capital as soon as possible than reaching there on the next day.
Escorted by the personal troop assembled by Lucy herself, the kingdom representatives arrived shortly within the capital while all the others were asleep; Although Lucy and Feihren were already informed ahead of time.
Similarly, the eastern kingdom's representatives are being escorted by the dwarves as they traveled through the darkness of the night.
Different from the fast way of traveling by those that are from the Garudia Kingdom, horses were the only method used in the dwarven village, which made it a lot slower;
But aside from that, the pace was actually not that bad, they do not have to worry about any beasts nor bandits within the areas as it was entirely under the Wolfenstein kingdom.
The gap between the eastern stronghold and the dwarven fortress village was only about a hundred kilometers so it would rather be convenient to travel as soon as possible rather than wait for the morning.
All the four remaining kingdoms had arrived, only a few hours in the gap, as the eastern kingdoms also have to travel from the eastern district to the capital. But nonetheless, there is still a few more hours till morning for them to rest.
***
It was 8 in the morning of the second day of the week, the first day of the actual event.
According to the schedule that was agreed upon during the meeting a few weeks ago, they were to follow the normal route in which these meetings were held, which meant, the first day was the "Exchange of New Products" that would span the entire morning;
These types of meeting were considered as "essentials" and were most likely attended by those representatives that would be considered as brains rather than brawns; the second morning is dedicated to the trading route improvement, and the third morning is for those kingdoms that are having agreements about settling some exchange or trades that they might have come up during the first two meetings.
Opposite to the morning sessions for the three-day event, the afternoon till evening programs was allocated for a single thing; "Military Improvement", these were the events Feihren mentioned during the fiasco back in the banquet last evening. The three days were divided into three parts.
The first afternoon is dedicated to testing current troop quality; Pitting their best warriors that they had brought against the other 8 and ultimately winning, although casualties were highly discouraged; Deaths may sometimes be inevitable in this scenario, especially when the gap of strength between the two fighters would be huge and overwhelming.
The second is the different types of weaponry and research implemented in strengthening the forces of each kingdom. The purpose of these people carrying extra carriages was because of this part, aside from showcasing the 'marketable products', they were also carrying military weaponry that they could boast against the other kingdoms. It was comparable to "Weapon Demonstrations" or "Weapons Expo" back on Earth.
The third day would be the most important one for those kingdoms that were not that strong in terms of offensive military force. The last day would be dedicated to exchanging information and resources regarding the strengthening of defense for each kingdom.
Only a foolish person would think that they would always be in peaceful times, all the time. War is inevitable; When one attacks, the other defends. It was the basic logic when one does not consider conquering, they should at least be able to fight back and defend themselves.
***
The 8 kingdom's representatives gathered in the area assigned by Prime Minister Marvin where they would start of the products exchange, the center of the capital was bustling with activities as most of the prominent merchants within the western district were invited to stay here today for the meeting.
The atmosphere here was more festive than any other times as those people from different kingdoms were checking out the products that were sold here, only the 8 leading representatives were standing unmovingly as they waited for the arrival of Feihren.
"Oh, it seems that the representative of Ghiharki is different? And their people are now... How do I put this... well-behaved?" One of the representatives from the last four kingdoms randomly commented as he noticed that from the past 15 years (which meant this was his 3rd grand meeting), The Ghiharki Kingdom would always cause some commotion.
Duke Shencho heard the comment as he replied,
"Well... It should've been the same, but, you were late to the 'fun' part last evening... So I guess it would be better for us to stay put and not cause any problems for now... Just a friendly advice."
