Rupegia

Chapter 198: Acceleration – Part 3

We do our orb-boosted mana circulation training in Gify's nature room while her spirit friends and she run around and play. They're so happy today that they even touch us of their own free will, but it's partially because they want to pester us since their touch causes tingles, which keeps pulling us out of our training, and they keep doing this the whole morning.

For lunch, we have Japanese chicken curry with white rice, but the moment we start to eat, the girls and even the nature spirits have a strange reaction.

"This is-…!" Alissa exclaims, wide-eyed.

"Gods-…!" Ciel gasps, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I can't believe-…!" Osaria loses her voice midway.

"THIS IS SO GOOD!" Hana suddenly shouts, drowning out all other exclamations.

I mean, yeah, it is pretty good, but their reaction seems a bit too extreme.

"I never thought rice could actually taste good," Yunia whispers in awe as she stares at the golden nectar (her words).

"Hngh…!" Klein moans loudly as she takes another spoonful, almost having an orgasm.

Krysta has joined us for the reveal of this meal, and she seems to be extremely happy with how things are going. "Yes, yes! It's such a perfect dish, I couldn't believe what I was tasting!" she excitedly explains, her monkey tail waving along with her gestures.

And I just stare at them in confusion. I mean, "kare raisu" is pretty darn good, but not "Food Wars"-gasm good.

"This is amazing. How complex of a dish is this?" Kaatohe questions, her noble senses tingling, telling her that there's something good to be gained here.

Krysta seems to already know where she wants to get at for the master chef directly answers, "That's the beauty of it; it's incredibly simple and uses a basic mix of common Maokai spices, so even the commoners will be able to afford them."

"We can awe so many nobles with this… though it feels imperial in taste, so it will have a limited effect on the elves, which are the ones we need to sway the most," Yunia remarks as she stares at the golden nectar.

Krysta knows very well how prejudiced elves are against the cuisine of other races, so she adds on, "The sauce already exists in Maokai culture, but combining it with simple cooked rice is the unique part that elevated it to this point. Without both of them together, it simply doesn't work."

I just smile and nod. It feels great to see rice finally being recognized in this world… and this suddenly gives me an even greater idea. "It's time that I teach you all about risottos, then."

The girls seem to love my cooking almost as much as my Cock by the reactions they give me.

Intermission – Luor Brilonte

Yes, this sort of thing was expected because why would they just immediately trust me if I don't give them anything back? I need to destroy the bond I had with the Soberanos before I can forge a new one with the Ryders… but this is still a scary moment for me. My future is uncertain; it's in their hands, and I wish the Gods were on my side so that I could pray for them, but my "Piety" has always been low.

Oh…?

I quickly glance at my "Stats" and see that my "Piety" has increased by 1 and is now 5.

Are the Gods making fun of me?

And I feel it again. My "Piety" is now 6.

This is why my people despise You. You make light of our stubbornness, but we're proud of having resisted Your influence for Millennia.

We have a… peculiar relationship with the Gods. Law, Knowledge, and Intelligence are of our race, yet we consort with criminals, blind ourselves to the Empire, and act like proud fools.

This is why I left; this is why I'm here; this is why the Spymaster is going to interrogate me about everything that I know.

"May I be allowed to make one impertinent request?" I ask as soon as I sit down.

"You're allowed to ask," the… fake elf man answers with an unsettling smile. I've seen him act like a proper, common elf, so I know he's choosing to be like this.

If he wasn't a Blood Slave, I'd question the Ryders' wisdom in having him as a Spymaster.

"I wish that this information to not be used to wage war and cause death," I boldly state. I'm a traitor, but not a kin slayer.

And he shrugs. "The Ryders wish the same, but whether or not this actually happens doesn't fully depend on them."

I know this, but the Ryders have more power to prevent it than the Soberanos, and it seems that there's no way to stop this conflict, so I'll bet on them to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.

"This… is the best I could hope to hear. You're kind, thank you," I humbly reply and lower my head.

But the Spymaster snorts frustratedly. "Foolishly kind; forced to by the Ryders and their unpredictable faith. May the Gods fucking watch over us, please, because I have no idea how this will end," he rants, his twisted expression looking unsettling in his fake elven face.

"May the Gods watch over us," I quietly reply. Our future is dire if even the Spymaster can't anticipate it.

And my words seem to calm him for I can feel his gaze bear down upon me again. "I didn't expect to hear this from you."

"I can't join the pious side without sharing a bit of it myself," I answer with a humble smile. I need to make peace myself with the Chosen Ajax if this situation is to finally be resolved.

And my "Piety" has increased again…

"What made you a believer?" Spymaster Nero continues, now more curious than investigative.

It's very uncomfortable to talk about this, so I'm just direct and sincere, "I'm not really a 'believer,' I just feel disgusted at seeing my kind do the opposite of the teachings from the Chosen of our race. Change and Creation are still our Gods."

"So is the God of the Sun," he argues back.

This is going to turn into an annoying religious debate, and I've had to break up enough fights caused by Imperial preachers that I learned how to easily smother it before the flame appears. "We just don't recognize him as being above the others."

And Nero doesn't immediately answer, carefully considering my words, then I remember that he already scouted Golden Glorampina, so he knows these exact tactics. "Why is it that religious talk with your people is always so exhausting," he finally grumbles with an exaggerated sigh, suddenly looking so childish it's unsettling.

But it also annoys me enough that I continue the argument with one more remark, "Our race is collectively as stubborn and proud as a God himself."

He isn't very impressed though as he replies with a bored tone, "That's horrifying. But enough of this distraction; I need to ask you questions."

So I breathe in and nod. "I'm ready."

Intermission end.

After eating a bit too much, it's time for some research.

Alissa is switching between training Illusion and Nocturna's magic with Thea, and training the new Rangers/Assassins of our Lordsguard. Now that we have accurate, magically silenced rifles, the elves are having a bit of an identity crisis, but they're still soldiers, so they're eager to learn. Thea's parents are taking up the rifle with gusto, though, so they become our preferred choice to lead assassination jobs.

Roxanne is attempting to work together with Kellogs and Aisco, but one is a stoner and the other is a sociopath, so she's having to learn how to wrangle them both at the same time. Of course, we're helping her all along, but it's teaching her a bit of responsibility too. She has always been a nerd, a hot nerd, but still a nerd about potions and magic, so she actually has little social skills that don't involve seducing people to have sex with them.

Hana is learning how to make her [Draconic Body] bulletproof as getting shot does crack her scales after a few hits, so she's preparing to become a Woman of Steel and survive getting machine-gunned point-blank. She also trains a lot with the Horns and is always encouraging them to become even tougher sons of bitches.

Ciel manages our Health Ministry, but it isn't taking too much of her time, so she guides the priests talking to the Titans while also studying [Redirect Mana] herself. It's a topic I had abandoned due to too many things needing my attention, but she has always been curious about it after our little moment in the Legado dungeon where we used the skill to wipe out The Lady with a flood of mana and also to kill a giant by using it to boost a spell. It might be a dead end or it might not, who knows?

Lina is fully diving into the Looping Winds project. The book about Looping Winds she's studying had no secrets about them, otherwise, the Hau-Hou royals would have their own Looping Wind Station by now, but it talks a lot about theory, and Lina has become quite adept at turning theory into practice by now. I mean, she already built one station that works, but the real challenge is scaling it up in a way that won't bankrupt the Lordship.

Aoi is having fun with Lyle. The boy is perfectly gay because he doesn't even glance at her nipples as they poke through her thin dress, or when they're revealed as she leans forward, or even lose his cool as the perfume from the tall Goddess invades his nostrils. He doesn't care about women, and Aoi doesn't care about being seen, so my jealousy is kept at bay.

Oh, yes, they're continuing their talks about magnetism and other experiments with new materials for computing. I gave them advice on how an HDD works, but magnetic tapes are the thing they need right now as there are mountains of data that need to be processed. They also do their best at training the new operators of the machines, but the pair are, understandably, pretty bad at explaining things, so we're getting more help. Surprisingly, Hatara, one of his friends, is pretty good at deciphering his technobabble, so I'm not needed to help as much.

Yunia is having trouble with The Tribunal lately. They're making some laws that are annoying to us, and she's worried this is the beginning of another plot. She also trains with the Rangers as she's trying to teach them [Silence], but it's a delicate [Weaverism] spell, so it's going to take some time until they actually become adept at it, especially since not all of the Rangers are elves.

As for me, today I have a meeting with Nero before I return to studying [Golemancy], though this research hasn't been very productive lately due to the complexity of the level of information I need to decipher. The golems aren't very helpful with creative thought, so I'm forced to become Rupegia's first neurologist, all on my own.

Now, the meeting.

As always, I'm the last one to arrive since I'm the motherfucking King, but I'm always punctual, so everyone had to arrive early… which isn't actually a good thing since it stresses my men into being too early to ensure they're never late. It's an annoying thing to deal with because everyone else thinks it's fine, and I have too much to think about already, so I don't want to spend energy trying to fix this issue…

Anyway, in this first part of the meeting, we have Caterina, Nero (our infamous Spymaster), Sandoro, Oritiki, Enomosa (the senior knightess), and the Fountun pair (Thea's parents).

"Begin," I immediately order the moment I'm comfortable in my big chair.

"I finished 'interrogating' our newest acquisition, Luor," Nero states. I hope he's a better actor while undercover because I've fucked so many elves I just can't not see how fake he seems as one.

Sandoro subtly rolls his eyes at the imperial's subtly insolent behavior and continues for him, "We have a much clearer picture of the situation inside Heretic's Rest now, including the names of the members of Idera's 'court.' They're as dysfunctional as expected, but where they lack unity and honor, they compensate with cunning."

"Lovely people, I see," I sarcastically remark with a bitter tone. I'm not looking forward to dealing with them.

"The name of the region is fitting for that lot," Enomosa piously adds.

"Any chance of them being actual heretics?" I follow up and give Caterina a hopeful look. That'd make things a lot simpler for us.

But she just shakes her head. "None. I'm in contact with the Punishers in that region, and we keep a tight watch over anyone showing dangerous behavior."

"Why didn't you tell us anything about Idera's royal court, then?" Nero quickly replies, and there's odd tenseness to his tone that makes me believe that he's angry at Caterina.

But the Templar Captain answers categorically, "That's not the type of knowledge that is freely given even to me. We don't allow the nobility to use us for your plots."

I'd immediately be extremely suspicious of this statement if it was made by anyone but the Templars. I've not been given any reason to mistrust them, and they always have the Gods watching them closely.

Nero's eye twitches as he suppresses his irritation, then he signs and whines, "Templars are always a pain." I don't get too annoyed at his behavior this time because it saves me from responding to her statement.

I mean, I've already accepted my fate as being dependent on the temple and the Gods for safety. We have a very good mutually beneficial working relationship, it's just difficult to phrase it to someone pious like Caterina, and I don't want to sound callous.

"And what, exactly, do you mean by that?" she sternly replies, staring at him intensely, and it's like the room suddenly drops a few degrees in temperature.

Not gonna help him with this one.

So I just stay happily silent as she grills our Spymaster.

He takes a second to gather his thoughts as this is no small predicament he's now in, but it seems he's going for the bold, courageous path as he faces her head-on. "Your people are difficult to deal with. Not only is your kind nosy, but you're also tight-lipped, so we never get anything but trouble by dealing with you," he assuredly replies, and Caterina actually seems to be pleased because she just leans back in her chair and relaxes her glare.

I feel like he just masterfully avoided offending her while still being candid. Impressive, but he'd be a bad spy if he failed at such a thing. Social engineering is the most effective way of infiltrating locations, not going all Mission Impossible, even in fantasy worlds.

"Any other information from Luor?" Sandoro quietly continues, not one to linger in this sort of matter.

And Nero is a very well-trained dog who immediately goes back into work mode. "A lot about their military might. They stand no chance, even without guns, but that was never an issue. The 'Loyalists,' as some of them call themselves, have a lot of outlaws and pirates under their call, so they use that as a deterrent against being conquered."

"Do they see us as 'betrayers'?" Enomosa curiously questions. It's an interesting question and also curious that she's the one asking it.

"They do, ironically," Nero dryly answers and chuckles.

"Using the fact that Arreira himself named us royals must sting," I add with a smirk.

And Nero confirms it, "It does, they just don't believe an ancient elf like him would be so welcoming of a non-elf like you."

"I don't blame them. Arreira basically stripped them of their lineage without them having a say in that," Sandoro remarks, sounding surprisingly sympathetic, but I kind of agree; Arreira was a dick.

It isn't like he was all bad, though. "He was more interested in the well-being of the elven lands than who gets to inherit the Title. He was truly a benevolent king," I argue back.

But let's not forget he was still a dick.

"He sacrificed himself for peace, did he not?" Oritiki curiously chimes in.

And I nod, but Nero smiles bitterly as he shares his knowledge, "Funny that. The Loyalists believe he was 'disposed' of by the Elder Council so they could usurp the throne while his descendant was too weak to actually inherit it. They see us as 'collaborators.'"

"Nothing unusual. I've read about similar situations many times across Earthling history," I remark with a shrug. People will always try to warp the truth to their benefit, and in times of war, they do it more than ever to make sure morale remains as high as it can be.

"It still amuses me," Nero replies with a smug snort. I don't think he knows much about history if that's something amusing to him, but that's not something he needs to do his job, so whatever.

But Yunia had enough banter, so she forces me to ask, "Do we have any ideas on how we're going to counter 'Loyalist' plots?"

"They don't have the resources to attack us directly, so they're going to use their cunning to hit our weak spots," our well-trained dog soberly answers.

"What can we do to 'discourage' such actions?" Oritiki curiously asks. As a Celestial Horn, she has done a lot of investigative work to deal with unruly and shady nobles, so we'll rely on her a lot against the Soberanos.

But Nero's answer isn't positive, "That's too broad of a question. The best we can do is reinforce our weaknesses as they'll want to damage our sources of power or distract us with numerous attempts at sabotage."

"What about shows of force? I assume we can assassinate the whole court whenever we wish," Oritiki continues assuredly. Lina vaguely knows the type of things the Horns were up to, and she isn't surprised by this conversation.

I raise an eyebrow at her, though. I know she's an OP enforcer, so she likely did a bit of the "discouraging" herself in the name of their Divines, but we don't have the luxury of being reckless with murder.

"Kill one and the rest disappear like rats, unless you're suggesting we kill them all at the same time?" Nero questions her back. He knows very well the constraints that we have to operate on.

And our bloodthirsty Celestial Horn subtly glances at Punisher Captain, who's staring at her like a hawk, awaiting for the response. "No," the bull woman quickly answers, hiding her nervousness, then focuses on Nero again. "I also understand the goal is to get them to surrender, not wipe them out."

"The last thing we need is for Heretic's Rest to wake up and revolt. We'll definitely anger the Elder Council, then," I remark tiredly.

Nero sighs along, a rather disrespectfully casual behavior. "This court is going to be so tiring to deal with I'd rather have my balls twisted."

"Not an option," I dryly reply, entertaining his joke, but only once.

He makes one last remark and then quickly becomes serious due to being indulged. "Unfortunately… So we must plot."

"Hit their sources of power the same way they do ours," Yunia forces me to say to bring the discussion back on track.

"May we hunt some pirates?" Oritiki eagerly suggests.

"I'll join," Caterina follows up in the same tone.

"We can't show our hand; we need to hunt them without revealing we're involved," Nero immediately states.

But this is a delicate matter, so Yunia takes over again to explain her thoughts, "Wait, the Crown Lord Herbaco Marealma definitely has some dealings with them. It's unlikely that the Crown Lord Fram Varze trades with them due to his personality, but we also need to be wary of this."

Nero still doesn't have a complete picture of the political situation due to being busy exploring Heretic's Rest, so he pays close attention to my words. "I haven't investigated much of their territories yet, so I don't know much about the Crown Lords. Luor's duties were also only related to the security of the land, so all he knows about politics is that the Western Glorampina is the territory the Loyalists take when they need to get out of Heretic's Rest."

That's Herbaco's territory.

"Why would they avoid Crown Lord Fram Varze?" Sandoro questions, eyes narrowed in displeasure at Herbaco's relationship with the Soberanos.

And our Spymaster simply shrugs, reaching the limit of his knowledge. "He seems hostile to their presence, but he could always be just keeping up pretenses to not ruin his reputation."

"Hmm… we're not sure how to deal with Crown Lords as the last thing we need is to gain their ire, so we need to be careful," I relay the conflicted feelings of the girls and I.

"Are we certain that Crown Lord Marealma is trading with the Loyalists?" Oritiki curiously questions, a plan brewing in her large cow head.

"Very," I answer with a nod.

"Then perhaps we should learn what, exactly, he's trading, and propose a better deal," she proposes. It's honestly our only actionable idea so far.

And all eyes fall on Nero.

He leans back on his chair and relaxes even though there's so much pressure on him, but that's actually reassuring because this means he knows exactly what he needs to do. "Spying on a Crown Lord? Now that's a lot more dangerous. I'll need more people," the fake elf lays down his terms.

It's not exactly easy to find recruits that have the potential to become spies… but we need to set up a career path that gives us a steady supply of them. It's time to recruit from among the Lordsguard and create an Intelligence department. The soldiers working on Cereleia's radar would be a good place to start since we've already chosen the more serious and tight-lipped ones.

"I'll allow you to gather volunteers from among the Lordsguard, but don't treat them as replaceable," I declare with a regal tone. It needs to be clear to all that the Lordsguard are my most precious soldiers.

Now Nero assumes an ass-kisser demeanor and lowers his head as he pompously replies, "Wouldn't think of doing otherwise, Your Highness. Your Lordsguard are known to be cherished and loved by the Royal Ryders, to the point others look at them as noble figures."

"Is this true?" I ask and glance at the others.

"It is, Your Highness," Sandoro calmly answers while Enomosa nods.

This is concerning…

I wave my hand dismissively. "Well, whatever. Anything else?"

"How may we treat Luor, Your Highness?" the knightess promptly comes forward.

But this confuses me. "What do you mean?"

"He could still betray us even with a vow," she gravely states.

The girls and I are in agreement on this, so I promptly reply, "Keep watch, but don't interfere; we must give him one chance. Allow him to integrate with the others, but pray he fear the Gods enough that he won't risk being cursed."

And she nods. "Very well."