My negotiations with Prince Leonard had ended for the day.
After our meeting, he returned to his inn together with his knights.
To those that wanted to partake, we offered the services of the city"s top-cla.s.s brothels.
Surprisingly, even the prince wanted to enjoy the company of a professional. However, due to his position, there was no way he could go to a brothel himself. As a solution, we sent nighttime companions to him instead.
For them to further like Avalon, we prepared aphrodisiacs based on the pink slime the late [Evil] Demon Lord used when he captured Aura. Furthermore, the professionals dispatched this time were actually excellent succubus-type monsters that preyed on the pleasure of men.
I had requested these monsters from Marcho to ensure quality, and thankfully, she gladly obliged.
Due to the recent attack on her dungeon by other Demon Lords, it would seem the number of adventurers delving into her dungeon had decreased, causing these kinds of monsters to be somewhat starved.
We also sent succubus-type monsters to the other high-ranking humans other than the prince. We"ve defanged them by making them feel great.
"I"m glad everything"s going well."
As of the moment, preparations were in place.
The next objectives were to build a church of our own in the Axela Kingdom"s capital and one other thing.
One could say that the [Divine Revelation]"s true worth would be determined in the upcoming endeavors.
Considering we would be stepping into his territory, we shouldn"t expect the [Black] Demon Lord to be as docile as he was at the moment. In fact, we should expect him to make contact soon… I"ll be waiting.
"Oto-san, Kuina did her best!"
"Yeah, you sure did. You were a very fine lady today."
"Yay! ♪"
I had returned to the carriage parked near the First Tree. While I lied on the bed, I thought of the things to do from thereafter.
Also lying down beside me was Kuina.
She had taken off her formal dress and had already changed into a pajama. It was her favorite penguin onesie. Needless to say, she looked unbelievably adorable.
That being said, it wasn"t exactly the one she always wore before. Since her appearance became older, her old one didn"t fit anymore, and thus she bought a new one with a similar design. Despite getting older, this cuteness still suits her so much.
"Oto-san, why were you so roundabout earlier?"
"Hmm, to limit as much as possible the number of human casualties, I guess. If we fought head-on with the [Black] Demon Lord, he"ll use the humans to wage war against us, right? If that happens, it"ll be genocide for the humans. To avoid that, troublesome steps were needed to be done. Besides, we gained lots of things from this deal too. More than them, in my opinion."
Depending on how things develop, we might end up fighting against three major nations all at the same time.
It would be b.l.o.o.d.y, but we still must win.
Frankly, if just in terms of destroying the human nations, simply sending the Darkness Dragons to bomb and burn to the ground their major cities would do. Clearing away cities—rather than actually fighting in the battlefield—was the easier route, if things ever escalated that far.
I had gained much more DP than I expected, so I had purchased another [Maelstrom] for the Graphross. The number of my Darkness Dragons now increased by two each day.
Also, since my [Creation] had returned, I was once again able to produce materials for our explosives. And since I leveled up a lot, my magic power rose too, meaning an increase in production for the said materials. Due to those factors, our stock of explosives—manufactured by the Skeletons in the factory—was high.
In other words, we were fully prepared for a war against the humans.
"We should just kill the humans!"
"No, we mustn"t. If we choose that path, it would lead us to ruin. Humans would stop coming to Avalon, after all. If that happens, you would no longer be able to enjoy the desserts and the cute dresses made by the humans. You like those right? As for me, I like humans and the things they make. And because I like them, I try to make them happy. That"s why we have Avalon."
We mustn"t lose sight of that.
We should avoid killing humans as much as possible. Also, even though I was willing to go as far as instill the teachings of our faith into the humans, we mustn"t cross the line and let it become brainwashing.
I had no desire in turning them into puppets. If anything, letting them become puppets would be harmful to us since they would then lose the ability to make amazing things. It was vital that we hold ourselves back. For if we didn"t constantly admonish ourselves, we would be strayed off the path in no time.
"Oh, Kuina wants to eat those delicious food and wear those cute clothes! So, I guess Kuina will protect the humans living in Avalon! Humans are weak, so they need us to protect them in order to not die!"
"Yeah, humans are weak and need your protection. Let"s do our best to gather more of them. The more of them there are, the more amazing things they"ll come up with."
"If we gather more humans, Kuina will be able to eat more delicious food?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Humans are amazing!"
Kuina the glutton said so with drool spilling from her mouth.
I smiled at the sight of that and then proceeded to wipe it off. Kuina was as cute as ever.
Perhaps she was tired from acting differently than usual, but after talking for a while more, she fell asleep while embracing my arm. Her cuteness was overflowing.
Humans were important, but so were my monsters. I want not only the humans, but also my monsters to be happy.
I"ll do my best tomorrow too. I said so to myself as a reminder.
◇
The next morning, I woke up early and readied myself.
In the afternoon, Prince Leonard and his party were going back to their nation"s capital.
I was going to have a meeting with them one last time before they leave.
Yesterday, I had discussed with him and his top advisors the details of my plan for them.
In response, the prince said they wanted to take some time and think on some items.
And so, I made my way to the place of our meeting.
The idea was to hold the meeting while having an early lunch.
I arrived thirty minutes earlier than the scheduled time, but the other party was already there.
"Procell-dono, you"re early."
"I can say the same. Did you enjoy last night?"
"Yes. So much so that if the friendship between our nation and your Avalon has been formally established and secured, I will come back again."
"It will be our honor to have you. Prince Leonard, you will always be welcome here in Avalon."
I had listened to the reports from my monsters about yesterday night.
According to the reports, the prince decided to let loose and have as much fun as possible last night. Apparently, he had lived a very sheltered life within the castle. Considering that, it was understandable that he made use of this chance to have a little fun.
Well, it was a drug-enhanced s.e.x with succubus-type monsters, after all.
The only downside was he most probably wouldn"t be satisfied with regular s.e.x anymore.
"Allow me to return the favor, then. Procell-dono, I"d like to invite you to our nation"s capital."
"That sounds wonderful. After your nation has accepted our Holy Grail Faith, it would be my pleasure to visit your capital."
There was no need to waste the invitation. Besides, I could use it as a means to observe.
"Please look forward to it. I will do my best to entertain you, my new friend. ..,at any rate, after giving yesterday"s talk a lot of thought, I want to ask for two more terms. First is that I want to observe the Holy Grail Faith with my own eyes. I want to obtain the vast amounts of wealth, a chance for a ceasefire, golems for transportation, and many more that you"re willing to give us, but I cannot, in good conscience, let your religion spread to my people without first verifying that its teachings are appropriate. I hope you understand my proposition."
After hearing his first term, I smiled a little.
He"s a good-hearted prince.
He truly cared a lot for his people. Not to mention, his proposal was extremely convenient for me.
"Then, before you depart, would you like to join a worship meeting of ours? I"m certain that once you"ve seen our proceedings, you will approve."
"Yes, please."
It was sudden but welcome since it would save us time. I was actually wondering yesterday whether I should drag the prince to such or not.
"The other term I"d like to add is that I want to meet with the [Dragon] Demon Lord."
"May I hear the reason why?"
"My nation has indeed suffered greatly in this war, but for [Dragon] Demon Lord-dono, he was just fighting back in a war we one-sidedly initiated. As representative of my nation, I have to apologize."
I was getting more and more amazed with the prince.
I would have never imagined such train of thought would come from a member of royalty.
For that, I have taken a liking to him.
"I"m happy to hear you say that, but shouldn"t such an apology come from the king, the first prince, or even the second prince, and not the third prince?"
"My father and older brothers are all so bullheaded though."
He said so with a frown. Looking at him like that, I began to grow worried.
"You don"t have to worry, Procell-dono. I guarantee you that I will persuade my father and older brothers. Thankfully, they"ll listen to me, given my achievements up to now and my popularity with the people. Moreover, I am in the right in this. I am just going to make them realize that this is the only way to save the Axela Kingdom."
…well then, what should I do?
Despite what the prince said, I couldn"t stop feeling uneasy.
I doubted he would be able to persuade them, but worse than that, it might get him killed. It was certainly far easier for us to act with Prince Leonard alive and in his current position. To that end, we needed someone to keep watch on him, protect him, and—in the worst case scenario—deal with the king and the prince"s siblings.
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I sent my thoughts to the water in my earring.
Through any water, I was able to communicate with Ruru who was in the other dimension.
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Where the heck has she picked up those terms?
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Rorono had been and still was working non-stop.
Thanks to that, she had made enough of the ED model a.s.sault rifles that Ruru wanted.
Additionally, she had finished repairing ten of the Avalon-Ritters. Five of which I planned on deploying to the Axela Kingdom"s capital as an emergency fighting force.
Even though it would mean less fighting force for Avalon, protecting the prince was worth it.
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Our conversation ended there.
I have always been relying on her, so I should give her a reward.
"Procell-dono, is something the matter?"
"No, it"s nothing. I was just thinking about something. Anyway, let"s head to the worship meeting, shall we?"
"Yes, please."
We stood up and then headed to the church.
In there, the procedures for a normal worship meeting was followed.
Attendants drank our holy water—which was actually Aura"s [G.o.d"s Smile]—and then Ruru and the Ocean Singers sang their song promoting peace, cooperation, love, and also the idea of worshipping the G.o.d Procell.
After that, I preached the Holy Grail Faith"s teachings.
Once all that was over, tears were flowing from the prince"s eyes.
"Those were amazing teachings! Love, peace, and cooperation despite of race, I want to spread these values to my nation at all cost. Procell-dono, forgive me for ever doubting you! I"d like to become a believer right away, so that I may spread your ideals!"
"I"m just glad you understand. Then, to spread these ideals, to promote the growth of the Axela Kingdom and Avalon, and most of all, to deepen the friendship between our sides, let us join hands moving forward, shall we?"
"Yes, of course!"
It wasn"t just the prince that was in agreement, his subordinates as well have become devoted to the Holy Grail Faith.
The moment I realized I had gained my first followers in the capital of the Axela Kingdom, I unconsciously smiled.
◇
We talked for a bit more before they left for home.
I considered this time"s negotiations to be a huge success. Not only have I accomplished all of my objectives, I have also established the ideal friendship with the prince.
As planned, Ruru and the others—while concealing themselves in the other dimension—followed after the prince.
Ruru wouldn"t be able to perform in the worship meeting this weekend, so that was kind of worrying, but her subordinates that were left behind should be able to pull it off. She had trained them hard, after all.
For now, I should bolster our war potential.
The [Black] Demon Lord would surely stir some kind of trouble and I needed the means to oppose that.
Unfortunately, the production of another MOAB—a trump card of mine and was our strongest bomb—would most likely not make in time.
If I can"t count on that to improve our war potential… Oh, why don"t I take a look at Kuina"s new special move? I want to see how strong she has gotten.
Kuina and Fel had been training in the [Time] Demon Lord"s [Time] Arena. Apparently, Kuina had obtain a special move that allowed her to not mind Fel"s [Time] powers.
Without a doubt, I wanted to see that strength with my own eyes.
"Well, it"s Kuina. I"m sure has developed an amazing special move."
Like that, I headed for the carriage in Aura"s orchard, excited to talk with Kuina.