Rupegia

Chapter 198: Acceleration – Part 1

Oops, this is a bit too much.

I hold back on my regal aura to not scare everyone off. I'm trying to look more "kingly," but I went overboard here. The people in Escanso are used to us, I believe, but these humble Titans and villagers haven't felt my Presence in a while.

"{Rise}; {Rise}," I command in both Ingua (for the elven villagers) and Reo (for the Titan villagers) after a tasteful couple of seconds. Now that they've already done it, hastily telling them to rise would've been improper.

Anyway, once everyone is standing, we have a short greeting and move on to the private meeting chamber.

"How have things been, Elder Echo of Bliss?" I kindly ask in Reo as Poosh serves us coffee with milk to go with gently sweetened bread.

The old, wrinkly, and surprisingly muscular man finishes taking a small (for him) sip of the curious brown liquid and then politely answers, "Our group continues united, but I still sense that there will be problems in our ways of living."

Yeah, I know because I saw through the girls' eyes, but that's too hard to explain so we'll start from the beginning. "That's expected. Our kinds are too different to integrate so easily," I reply in kind.

But Elder Echo shows concern and humbleness by asking, "Your Highness, do you truly believe we'll ever succeed?"

While they're godless and "broken"? I don't find it likely. Aoi didn't really light up the fires of her own determination until [Bind] started filling her soul, so the Exiles will need a lot more work and time.

"I believe," I answer honestly. We have our whole lives to fulfill our promise to The Throat, so there's no need to be impatient.

First, we'll keep them safe and smooth out any problems before they cause tension among our races, then we'll gently introduce them to the Massive Cock of Developed Society. Once they're all mindbroken from pleasure, they simply won't be able to stop craving for more, and then you just let the whores loose. They'll gobble up everything they can, but even that won't be enough, so they'll build their own perfect Cock.

Really, it's the perfect plan. I'm an expert on whores and whoremaking, so I'm confident I can convert them, too.

I need to talk to Teresina about this… and also about other things.

And the Elder lowers his head submissively. "I can only put my trust in your judgment, Your Highness."

This level of obsequiousness doesn't do anything to me, so I just move on with the meeting, "Please tell me more about your life here."

The Exiles had a simpler life as they never had to contend with monsters before, so the villagers are feeling a bit stressed lately. There's also more work to be done to maintain things, especially as the Titans are quite big and wear their tools out faster, so we have a Celestial Horn as a liaison always on standby to help things out. We're providing them with anything they want for now as we have resources to spare, but, of course, it won't last forever.

They really don't have anything special about their way of life, and I'm starting to think that they'd be more comfortable around imperials than elves, but I don't feel like that way of life would inspire them into sucking the Cock of Society. They'll do better over here as there's an incentive towards improving their own condition, but the only thing that bothers me is how their knowledge of Sky Island maintenance is going to be squandered here.

"Have you ever heard of Drifting Islands?" I curiously ask.

"Your Highness…" Oritiki cautiously interjects, perfectly silent until now.

"What is it?" I curiously reply. She only speaks when she has something very important to say.

And she wisely cautions me, "These are dangerous, Your Highness. To create a gem worthy of an island takes great skill, but any failure will bring it down, and then it'll fall too fast for any sort of repairs."

Indeed, she's right, but I know how to mitigate that, and I'm not afraid of paying for that safety. "I understand the risk, but we have the resources to create redundancies. We have all that we need to begin this project, and instead of copying old Hauhuri technology, we'll make our own."

"Bold, Your Highness," she answers with a nod, pleased with my response. She knows how to perfectly thread the line of flattery and skepticism, as expected of someone who dealt with the old Hauhuri "Divines" directly.

And I follow up with some eager encouragement, "We've been getting comfortable in our seats. It's time for me to do my part of my bargain with the Goddess of Knowledge."

Echo of Bliss gives me a curious look, and I get the sense he wants to say something, but I think his humble nature stops him from speaking.

"Are you curious about what you mean?" I gently inquire.

And he lowers his head submissively again. "Forgive me, Your Highness, but yes, I am. A 'bargain' seems to be a term used for exchanges of equal value, but when dealing with a God, that shouldn't be possible."

There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll just focus on the most glaring part. "I… think I understand what you mean, but even with Gods, such a one-sided relationship is abusive, and that's not a good thing."

"But the God rules, and we obey," he replies reflexively like a drone.

"But can you deny that such a way of ruling causes unhappiness?" I question further, staring just a little bit to pressure him into breaking from his conditioning.

The old man glances away, unable to take in my intensity. "I… I merely obey," he mumbles, but he's embarrassed by his response, so I just need to push him a bit further.

"And wouldn't you more readily obey if you were happy while doing it?" I continue, my tone a bit gentler to tickle him instead of bullying him.

Still, he falls silent and tenses up so much I can almost hear him gulp, then he lowers his head once again. "I apologize for trying to argue with you, Your Highness. I forgot my place, but your superior intelligence has reminded me."

So submissive, and not in a sexy way.

I'll reject his behavior no matter how many times I need to break their conditioning. "You don't need to apologize like that. I'm a believer of Knowledge, so it wouldn't be very pious of me to not answer your questions."

It feels a bit weird to admit that I'm a "believer," but it works for this situation, so whatever.

He slowly raises his head again, looking a bit reassured, and the budding signs of independent thought appear in his tone as he cautiously remarks, "That sounds… noble."

"The Humanoid Gods are noble," Oritiki smoothly chimes in. I wish I could kiss this woman because she's the best. Really, they're the most competent soldiers we have… though I do worry about letting such a powerful and elite force run loose, sometimes.

Ciel isn't paying attention to these thoughts, so she prods me to question the Elder, "What's your opinion of the God of Destruction?"

He answers with an indifferent tone, though I do sense a clear sign of scorn, "What is there to say about a God that I've never felt the touch of? Even those bound to Its Will have been abandoned."

And I fall silent as I reflect on his words. The monsters have always seemed like hostages of their God, and this pretty much confirms it for me, though most monsters aren't intelligent enough to come to this realization.

Then something catches my attention. "This is unrelated, but I'm impressed with your eloquence," I remark with a soothing tone to lighten the mood.

"For good or bad, The Throat taught me how to speak with dignity," the Elder answers, slightly amused. It's good that they can laugh about themselves, at least.

So I take the chance to lightly preach again, "Very well. Just know that the same kind of relationship that I have with my Goddess is what we want with you. Equal exchange of benefits with positive interactions."

"We're… forever grateful for Your magnanimous kindness," he answers and gently smiles without bowing for once.

We'll get there, one day…

They've been morally beaten and abused until they became almost nothing, but I'll bring them up again, not just to fulfill my promise to The Throat, but also to spite him. It actually makes sense to me, really.

The final topic we need to talk about is opening the Exile part of the village for visitors so that their shops can actually make a proper profit. Adventurers and other snoopers are already starting to gather and annoy the elven villagers because everyone wants to take a look at my "pet monsters," as the meanest of the nosy snoopers would say.

"Our shops survived merely through selling to our own people, they'll do fine for longer," the Elder replies, now calm enough to sip more of his coffee and eat the sweetened bread.

This is something Lina and Yunia thought about after their visits. "Perhaps the shops will survive, but will the villagers be able to make money to compete with the elves? The previous balance of your village has been shattered by the presence and need for elven goods, and I'm not sure if you'll be able to maintain it."

"I understand," the Elder replies after a short pause. I don't think he's being obsequious right now; he seems to understand what I'm getting at.

So I smoothly continue, "It's a priority to open up the village, so we'll have one of our Townsguard officers train the Enforcer, and we should also begin to look at candidates to join the Townsguard from among you."

"We've… never fought before," Enforcer Long Howl remarks hesitantly. He's just another Chad-chinned, light-blue man, but there's a more intelligent air to him that makes him look even more stern than the others.

"You'll learn, don't worry. Soon, you'll even feel pride in being able to defend yourselves," I reassure him, which is an odd situation to be considering how both of us look.

And the Enforcer nods. Of all the Titans, he's the one showing the most progress. He was just another hot-blooded youth who followed the Elder's every word, but now he's starting to think for himself and become more proactive, as Alissa has noticed. It's good that he's already being groomed into becoming the next Elder as he seems to have the drive for it at least.

Really, that's a thing lacking among the Exiles, drive. Their little corner of the village is quiet, slow, and idyllic, but even though it's similar to the elven way of life, the Titans are just… depressed. Their homes really don't look too inviting as they aren't putting any effort into decorations, unlike the elves.

After we finish delineating a plan of action, I decide to have a heart-to-heart with the Enforcer.

"Long Howl, come have a walk with me," I request as I stand up.

"Yes, Your Highness," he obediently answers like a good child.

We walk out of the meeting house and into the streets, then I stroll down the sidewalk, Long Howl awkwardly walking very slowly to match my speed. I just have to force myself to ignore how silly we look together.

"What do you think is going to happen once we let others into your residential area?" I finally ask after waiting a tasteful amount of time.

"What… do I think?" he repeats out loud, seemingly not understanding the point of the question.

"Yes. Imagine what your work is going to become like," I expand to help him visualize it.

He looks ahead and becomes pensive, his strong voice lowering down along. "It'll… it'll change, but I don't know how. I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I lack knowledge."

I hum, content, and my thick dragon tail waves a bit. "Good answer. I'd be suspicious if you said you knew."

"I know that I know little," he adds, and do I sense a bit of mirth in his tone?

"But do you wish to know more?" I follow up in the only way that I can.

"I do," he hums back while Alissa suffers.

And I clasp my hands, clacking my shiny claws and scales against each other. "Great. This desire, grip it, own it. You need to use it to create your own dream of the perfect village, and then you make that dream into your ambition. You need a fire inside you."

He looks away and becomes pensive again. He has a childish air -they all do, really-, but his seems more earnest than the others. "My dream… would be to return."

I'm sure he's big enough to handle being told no, but I still kindly retort, "Doing that is impossible, but it's within your hands to make a new, better home."

"Better? I don't know what I could even improve," he replies negatively, though his tone becomes more energetic.

"There's always something that can become better. The road to perfection is unending," I eloquently encourage him.

Ciel likes my words very much. I'm basically preaching the teachings of the Humanoid Gods to him and also a bit of the ones from the Old Gods, too. They're all always telling us to never give up and never back down, so most encouragements you can give to someone can be taken in a pious way.

"But where do I even start?" he asks earnestly, reminding me that he has a very powerful voice hidden under his depression, and it almost brings a tear to the eye to see an Exile being so energetic.

"Right now, there isn't much that you can do. It's for each individual Titan to find their own flame, but you can keep them safe while they find themselves," I answer vaguely because I don't have an actual answer; I just wanted to fan the flames.

Now he becomes childishly curious again. "Find themselves? I think I understand what you mean, but it's a whimsical way of saying it."

I shrug. "Life is about having fun, so why not have fun with words, too?"

"You continue to humble us with your noble heart, Your Highness," he answers with a chuckle.

"You flatter me," I hum back with a smirk.

"Still, I'll take your words to my pillow, Your Highness," he solemnly states.

And I nod. "Then I hope the rest of the Titans follow your example."

Intermission – Lina

No matter what I do, there's always something bothering me. No matter how much praise I get, there's always something stopping me from fully enjoying the happiness that rightfully should be mine. I simply can't control my own emotions, and now I'm getting bothered because I'm bothered, and not being able to enjoy my happiness is making me enjoy it even less.

I try to keep this feeling hidden from the others, especially Ciel, because I know that they'll force me to deal with it, but I think that everyone should have a little darkness in them; it's just that mine is being hard to control right now. Really, I'm fine, just a little bit worse than usual, but I should be able to keep working as if nothing was wrong as long as-…

I look to the side and see little Gify staring at me intensely.

"Gih," she accuses me. She isn't reading my mind, but she can look into my soul, so there's no way I can hide this from her like I managed to do with everyone else. "Giiih~…" she cryptically chirps.

"Helganst? What does she have to do with this?" I question evasively and attempt to focus on my enchanting again.

"Gih guh gih!" Gify retorts, her little white wings starting to flap with strong emotions.

"I'm not-… I don't care about her!" I exclaim and cross my arms as I pout.

"Gih," she sternly states and steps forward then pecks once at my arm to annoy me.

I turn away to get some distance from her and stubbornly retort, "The black in my soul is just frustration. It has nothing to do with her."

But her tone turns serious, and it makes me pause. She's never this serious. "Giih gih."

"Then why aren't you working as a therapist if you know so much?" I grumble back like a brat, making me feel embarrassed with myself.

"Gih!" she chirps frustratedly. She isn't a "slut" that "connects" with just anybody, which I find rather funny as it makes her the most "pure" out of everyone in this harem. "Guh gih!" she snootily chirps again.

"I don't want anything to do with Helgasnt," I whine and lower my head in shame.

"Giiiih…" she cryptically replies.

"What would I even-…" But I stop as I immediately remember something, and it fits so perfectly with what Gify was saying that I can't deny it anymore, making my cheeks burn.

"Gihihihih…" she teases me with a smug grin, warping her beak even though it's supposed to be fully solid.

"You should do that," Ciel suddenly whispers inside my head, and I realize that everyone is now paying attention to me, so I groan and hide my face in my hands as I wish I could disappear.

But this won't stop them from giving me comforting headpats, so I sigh and get up from my enchanting workstation. Now that they're all pushing me to do something, there's no use trying to resist, so I better get on with it, already. You don't get to have gloomy days in this family.

Back when we were dismantling Katasko, we came upon some information about some "blackmailing" being used against Helganst's family to keep them down. With the mercenary company dismantled, I don't think that they're in trouble anymore, but some of the nobles who benefited from those shady actions are still around.

It's a bit late for the Roth family to get vengeance on their enemies and hide it under the chaos of the Purification, but knowing who they are will still be invaluable. Even though the Templars got the rotten ones, there are still plenty of "sour Millos" in the bunch, and they can spread rot to the rest of the fruits at any moment.

Wolfy's Trivia: millos are not-apples, but they look like colorful balloons and are slightly rubbery.

Now that's enough stalling. I grab the list and meet up with my bodyguards. They're all wearing inconspicuous suits of armor to not attract attention, so I've also put on a cute little black dress with a lot fewer frills than usual for me. Then we enter the [Eternal Gate] to Goldcross.

The Roth family mansion is still the same, though I think it looks slightly more well-maintained than when I left. Pretty obvious that the lack of "blackmailing" is doing them good, but I don't remember Helgasnt being the smartest spender.

They only have one guard at the gate, who activates an enchantment alerting the people inside of guests, and it's Seigneur Friedrich who comes out to see who's there. I'm wearing a hood to not reveal my identity too soon, but it seems Friedrich immediately realizes who I am for the old man opens his eyes wide once he spots me and then runs back inside.

After an awkward minute in silence as neither the guard nor my bodyguards speak a word, we hear Madame Helgasnt's footsteps as her heels loudly clack against the traditional imperial tiled floor. The fiery woman comes out looking both annoyed and curious about the visitor, but then she stops the moment she sees me.

Am I really that easily identifiable…?

"Yes/Gih," everyone whispers in my head at the same time.

I don't want to dawdle, so I click my tongue as I pull out the list then quickly lower my hood and announce, "These are the nobles that were conspiring against you." Then I hand it to a bodyguard, who extends it towards her as it'd be awkward for me to give it to such a tall woman.

But she ignores me and frowns in both distaste and confusion. "Lina…? Why are you…? Are you really a Queen now?" she questions, her characteristic scorn completely missing from her tone.

I don't wanna talk to her, so I just deflect, "That doesn't matter. I'm just here to repay something that I think I owe to Hilde, so I don't need to answer anything you say."

Her face suddenly starts to become as red as her hair as she scowls. "Why, y-…" But she catches herself before she says something unwise as it's pretty obvious by the number of bodyguards that I'm not someone you can disrespect anymore. "What are you doing?" she "eloquently" asks, almost making me chuckle at how dull her golden tongue is now that she's afraid of me.

"I already said it; I'm repaying what I owe to Hilde, but I owe nothing to you," I harshly answer then turn around and start to walk away.

"We found-…!" Friedrich suddenly exclaims, making me stop and turn around. He deserves to be listened to at least once. "We found Dietgard. He's in Mountainhome, and… he's happy."

Then the old man gives me a brief, shy smile.

"That's good," is all that I say before I leave. One of my bodyguards is still holding the list, but he can catch up to us later.

Intermission end.