by Hyougetsu
“You have our eternal gratitude for saving our comrade from the jaws of death and taking him into your fold.”
Looks like these guys are more reasonable than I thought. It seemed they thought I was the one who’d saved Hamaam from whatever predicament he’d gotten himself into. Though in truth, Hamaam was the one saving me right now. I nodded again and said, “I am currently heading to Shardier on official business. As I am in a hurry, I unfortunately cannot stay, but if it is silver coins you need, I shall gladly provide them.”
The nomads hurriedly shook their heads.
“We would never dream of asking our friend’s savior to pay a toll!”
“Such a dishonorable act would surely earn the wrath of the moon that sleeps up high!”
It appeared the nomads were Mondstrahl adherents. One of them unfastened a leather pouch at their belt and held it out to me. Judging from the smell, it contained alcohol.
“I beg of you, please look after our treasured brother.”
I accepted the pouch with a smile and said, “I promise you that I will do everything I can to keep him safe. May the light of the moon ever guide your path.”
The nomads bowed again, then remounted.
“We will let our brethren know to let your caravan pass unmolested! You need not fear being accosted on your return journey!”
I nodded a third time.
“You have my thanks.”
As they turned to leave, their leader looked over his shoulder and asked, “Would you be so kind as to tell me your name, o’ Diplomat?”
I had wanted to complete this journey in secret, but if we’d already been spotted I guess it didn’t matter too much. Hamaam gave me a stern look, but I felt like this man’s respect deserved respect in kind.
“I am known as Veight. I pray we meet again.”
When they heard my name, the nomads froze.
“Veight!? You mean... that Veight!?”
“The honorable werewolf-general Veight!?”
“The same commander who topped Ryunheit in a day!?”
“And slaughtered an army of four thousand heretics...”
Seriously, guys, it was just 400. Stop adding zeroes to it. Either way, this was bad. They were all looking at me with a mixture of fear and awe. I turned to the carriage driver and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
“Ah, yes, sir.”
We hurried away from the nomads. Once we were a short distance away, Hamaam leaned in close and whispered, “Don’t you think it was unwise to name yourself here, sir?”
“Yeah...”
I’d lost all interest in asking Hamaam about his past, and leaned back into my seat with an exhausted sigh.
The rest of our trip was uneventful, and we reached Shardier without issue. The trading city of Shardier had been built on the edge of a lake. Actually, since it still lay in part of the desert, technically it would be an oasis. Its culture was completely different from Ryunheit’s. Shardier had a more Arabian feel to it. Its viceroy, Aram, was known to be a gourmand and often ordered spices and sauces from faraway lands. Thanks to that, many foreign restaurants and stalls had opened up, and the streets were filled with the scents of a hundred different spices.
“This place is making me hungry,” I muttered. Everyone nodded in agreement. Though both Shardier and Ryunheit flourished on trade, Shardier was more focused on catering to caravans and travelers. There were far more bars and stalls here than in Ryunheit. It was a werewolf’s paradise.
In contrast, Ryunheit’s trade focused on bulk orders of goods and established local stores. Apparently Shardier even had an entertainment district. I was a little curious about what it was like. This world had no internet or television, so I was wondering what kinds of things people did for fun. Though since this was technically enemy territory, I doubt I’d have any opportunities to visit.
When I announced myself at the front gate, the soldiers stiffened. There may have been only five of us, and we may not have been carrying any weapons, but we were still the demon army’s ambassadors. However, the viceroy himself then appeared on the walls and assuaged the soldiers’ unrest. He didn’t have the look of a warrior, but he was clearly a capable leader. In that respect, he was a lot like Airia. Unlike Airia though, he looked more like a nerd than a dignified lord.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Shardier’s Viceroy, Viscount Aram Sukh Shazaf. I have been looking forward to this meeting.”
“I’m Veight, Vice-Commander of the Demon Lord’s first regiment. I apologize for requesting this meeting on such short notice.”
Now then, it was time to see just what kind of man Aram was.
I was led to the viceroy’s manor and ushered into a wide, luxurious room. From the looks of it, this was the viceroy’s audience chamber.
“Your attendants may wait in this room here.”
“Actually, we’re...”
Hamaam shook his head, but I held out a hand to stop him.
“No need to worry about me. You guys should rest here.”
He raised an eyebrow, but he knew better than to question my authority in front of the viceroy.
“As you wish.”
Hamaam reluctantly allowed himself to be escorted out, leaving just me and Aram in the room. The viceroy smiled, and offered me a cup of something similar to jasmine tea.
“I’m honestly quite shocked. I never expected you, one of the demon army’s preeminent generals, would come greet me in person, Sir Veight.”
“I’m just a vice-commander.”
I sipped my tea without hesitation. Being the coward that I was, I’d already used magic to make sure it hadn’t been poisoned. With that knowledge in mind, it was better to drink boldly in order to show Aram petty tricks would be useless against me. And though I had no idea what leaves he’d used, the tea was delicious. At any rate, it appeared a lot of unsavory rumors had started to spread about what kind of person I was. So in order to appear open and friendly, I decided to start with some small talk.
“This tea is quite fragrant. Did you import it from somewhere?”
“I did indeed.”
Not only was the tea good, but also the tea set he’d served it in was obviously valuable. This must be his way of showing off his city’s economic power. Aram was craftier than he appeared. Still, the tea really was delicious. I’d never had anything like it back in Japan. Maybe I should ask him where he got it from.
“If possible, I’d like to try drinking this tea chilled too.”
“In that case, we could prepare some for you later.”
“I imagine it would taste great with ice in it.”
“Ice?”
Aram’s expression stiffened.
“Ice... I-I see...”
Crap, I shouldn’t have said that. Refrigeration didn’t exist in this world. The north had icehouses to store ice year-round, but the south was so warm it never even got snow. In fact, it was possible Aram had never seen ice in his life; he’d likely only read about it. Because Master had often made ice even in the summer, I’d been so used to it that I’d forgotten normal people didn’t see it often. Most days, after our lessons had finished, she would create a massive pillar of ice and cut it up to put in our juice or tea. Those were good times... Wait, now’s not the time to be reminiscing.
“Drinking tea with ice in it while lazing around on Shardier’s oasis certainly does sound like an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon...”
Aram smoothed over his discomfort with a smile. Or at least tried to; his smile was pretty stiff. It appeared I’d ended up hurting his pride. Sorry. Honestly though, this guy was turning out to be a pain. I wasn’t trying to imply Shardier’s culture was backwards or anything. I’d come here to make friends, not enemies. He’d been nothing but polite to me thus far, so I figured I may as well compliment him on something to improve his mood. Oh yeah, I can talk about his tea set.
“That aside, this exquisite tea set really enhances the flavor. Both the thickness
and the curvature of the glass give off a soothing feeling.”
“Huh?”
Aram paled again. What’d I do this time?
“I-I see, so our glass appears... thick and curved to you...”
Oh yeah, I totally forgot. Back when I’d shattered Airia’s manor’s windows, they’d been the same thick, warped glass. Even the replacement glass we’d brought to repair the windows had been the same. The thick, blurry glass was convenient for me since I’d prefer not to be overheard or spied on during meetings, but thinking on it now, it wasn’t like the glass was made that way on purpose.
“I-I know it’s not up to standards, but... I’m glad you appreciate it...”
I could hear his voice sink as he said those last few words. I just keep messing up. Honestly though, I really did like the design. Back in Japan, a tea set like this would have easily been worth a couple thousand, or even ten thousand yen. At this point, I was running out of things I could compliment Aram on, so I decided to forego all the pleasantries and start putting on the pressure.
“Incidentally, I see there are other people in the room behind ours.”
At a glance, there was no door at the back wall of this hall. But my heightened sense of hearing and smell clued me in on the fact that there was a hidden room behind Aram. It was less an escape route and more a small space to hide soldiers in. Aram had hidden guards waiting in ambush. Sweat started pouring down Aram’s forehead, and he smiled awkwardly.
“Th-Those are just, uhh... m-maids. They’re cleaning the inner rooms... my apologies for not informing you.”
I didn’t really care if he was hiding soldiers nearby. In fact, it was a natural course of action considering he was meeting with the enemy. However, if those soldiers actually attacked me, there’d be needless sacrifices, so I thought it best to warn him of the idea. Pretending that those soldiers were maids was only going to make things more difficult for him.
“Maids, you say? They seem to have a distinctive masculine musk to them though. And I’ve never heard of maids wearing armor.”
My ears were able to pick up on the faint rasp of metal against metal with ease. I could tell they’d padded their armor to dampen the sound, but that was useless against my senses. Aram grimaced then once again gave me that awkward smile.
“Well... you know... it’s just... Ahahaha...”
Seeing as my roundabout hints weren’t getting anywhere, I decided to just tell it to him straight.
“No matter how much armor you clad your maids in, a mere six of them won’t be much of a match for me. Besides, the distance between you and them is too great for them to be any use.”
“Wha—!?”
The strength of their scent and the faint sound of footsteps made it easy to tell how many there were. Furthermore, they were a good two meters away from Aram’s position. Even if Aram dashed toward the wall the moment his soldiers burst out, I’d still be able to grab him and snap his neck before they reached him. Naturally, I had no intention of doing so, but the point was I could. For all intents and purposes, Aram was facing me alone. So it was in his best interests not to try anything. Holding back enough to not kill anyone was difficult.
Still, am I really that bad at communicating with people? I guess I have no right to judge Master or Lacy... There was no point in trying to be cordial anymore. I was better off just getting the negotiations over with.
“At any rate, let’s move on to the reason I came to see you today, Lord Aram.”
“And what is that?”
Sweat clung to Aram’s clothes, and his expression was as stiff as a board. He was obviously under a lot of stress. But then, he was facing off against an unpredictable werewolf whose deeds had been exaggerated beyond belief. If our roles were reversed, I would have wet myself. I pitied the poor guy, so I decided to keep my explanation brief.
“Would you consider breaking your alliance with the Meraldian Federation and forming a new one with the demon army?”
“Wha—!?” Aram stood up with a yell. “You want me to betray Meraldia!?”
“Now now, calm down. That’s not what I’m asking.”
I needed to word this carefully. Negotiations were only possible if both sides saw benefit in them. It was imperative to show off what he stood to gain by joining our side. Intimidation was one way to express that. I could just threaten him by saying we’d raid his caravans if he didn’t, but that was a last resort. Picking my words carefully, I explained in a low voice, “Is there any meaning in swearing your loyalty to a doomed nation?”
“Doomed?”
All empires, no matter how powerful, collapsed eventually. If there was one thing I learned in history class, it was that. The rest I mostly slept through. Regardless, the point was that if Shardier wanted to survive as a city-state, it needed to adapt to the times. To use a more contemporary phrase, Meraldia was old and busted while the demon army was the new hotness.
Aram scrutinized my expression with a pale face.
“So you plan on destroying Meraldia after all?”
“Depending on how we move, the federation may fall, yes.”
If the demon army gained control of all Meraldia, its structure would certainly change. Fortunately, however, Meraldia wasn’t a monarchy. If the Senate was willing to accept the Demon Lord’s sovereignty, assimilating them into the fold wouldn’t be too difficult. Judging by Aram’s expression though, he seemed to have misunderstood something.
“Please do not misunderstand. We have no interest in drowning the country in a sea of blood. The three cities under our control, including Ryunheit, are all operating normally with their human population intact.”
“Y-You mean to say... that if we ally ourselves with you... you’ll spare us?”
“But of course. Assuming you ally with us, that is.”
Not that I was planning on destroying the city even if he didn’t. But telling him that wouldn’t exactly be a good negotiation tactic. Aram bit his lip and looked down at the floor. Since his misunderstandings seemed to be growing, I figured it was time to switch to persuasion rather than threats.
“We know that the southern cities, including Shardier, have no love for northern Meraldia. It is for that reason that we’ve chosen to raid the north while peacefully occupying the south.”
That was a total lie. The reason the second and third regiments had different policies regarding conquered cities was because the second regiment had gone on a rampage during the opening battles of this war. Demons were a bunch of rural country hicks living in forests and mountains far from civilization. There was no way we could have known about the federation’s internal strife beforehand, but it didn’t matter if I was speaking the truth or not. All that mattered was that Aram believed me.
“Bernheinen, Thuvan, and Ryunheit are already in the demon army’s possession. Furthermore, the viceroys of Bernheinen and Ryunheit have willingly defected to our cause.”
Bernheinen’s viceroy had been turned into a vampire so they hadn’t had any choice in the matter, though. Of course, Aram had no way of knowing that.
“Of the eight cities that comprise the south, five still remain. The demon army is willing to reward those who join our side sooner rather than later.”
Better to convince him that there’s more in it for him to join willingly than to be conquered.
“Shardier especially is of interest to us. Though it’s far from our current holdings, it is Ryunheit’s sister city, and another center of trade. The sooner we can become allies, the better.”
Aram’s expression softened, and the color returned to his face. He was no longer terrified, and was instead calculating the costs and benefits of my proposal. I could tell this was as far as I should push for now. Shardier was a longstanding member of the Meraldian Federation. Betrayal carried a huge risk.
If Shardier declared independence and Meraldia decided to retake the city by force, I wouldn’t be able to reinforce it. As much as I would like to, I had no troops to spare. Hone
stly, if Aram was thinking only of his city, the most advantageous choice would be to refuse, even if it meant his death. However, if he refused my offer here, I wouldn’t be able to enter any further negotiations, which would be a problem. So I rose to my feet and gave Aram a slight bow.
“Of course, you have no need to answer me right away. I know very well that trust is something that takes time to build. I will return for your reply at a later date.”
Aram breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“I understand. Please give me some time to consider your proposal.”
“Gladly. I am in no rush. Now then, I’ll be taking my leave.”
Before leaving Shardier, I took a quick tour of the city. Trade was booming, likely thanks to the lake to its north. I saw merchants dressed in all manner of clothing lounging around the bars and inns. While the city seemed lively, and the average standard of living surprisingly high, I didn’t see too many guards or garrisoned soldiers. However, I did see plenty of people wearing soldiers’ uniforms. Who exactly are those guys? On the way back, I had to suffer Hamaam’s squad’s complaints.
“Commander, why can’t we just kill that viceroy?”
“Yeah, the five of us could have taken him down easily.”
“I thought we’d finally get to go on a rampage.”
Is killing all these guys ever think about? I sighed, and Hamaam mumbled, “Have some more faith in the vice-commander. He’s already proven that he’s a master strategist, even if his methods are unfathomable.”
Hamaam’s men exchanged glances, then nodded to each other.
“True that.”
“We trust you, boss.”
I was truly blessed to have such good subordinates. But I wasn’t a master strategist or anything, just a werewolf who’d happened to be human in another life.
It was only after returning to Ryunheit that I learned why Aram had refused to house Meraldia’s troops. According to the rumors Mao’s merchants brought me, he was raising his own private army. The Meraldian Senate had dispatched a scant 120 men to serve as Shardier’s garrison. That was less than even Ryunheit. Chances were this was Meraldia’s way of slighting Shardier for its actions during the unification war, but it was still far too few men.