“Isn’t that quite the rude reception?”
With a flutter, the white-haired, red-eyed vampire swung open the entrance and naturally walked into the tent.
Two subordinates, who had been sent out as a formality, hurried in a beat late.
Cardan did not miss the look of confusion and slight intimidation on their faces.
‘Indeed.’
When told to test the waters while greeting the guest as part of a reconnaissance, it seemed they had instead become intimidated.
Despite having an appearance so stunning it could steal one’s breath away, the intense energy that triggered their wariness instantly made Cardan understand.
Everyone brought to the Perkina Mountain Range today was the pride of Suwong Kingdom, yet facing the Vampire Queen meant there was little they could do.
“Welcome, Queen of the Allied Kingdoms. Given the circumstances, I ask for your understanding if our hospitality falls a bit short.”
Cardan lightly parried the sarcastic remark of the Queen, who was not hiding her displeasure.
Both sides had committed breaches of etiquette, so it was a mutual go-ahead kind of situation.
After glancing at his cat beastman subordinate standing behind him, he invited the Queen to take a seat.
Not wanting to ruin matters before getting to the point with such a fuss, the Queen, who had been looking down at them nonchalantly, soon seated herself across from Cardan.
“Pardon me.”
As the three attendants who entered with the Queen removed their heavily adorned outer coats, Cardan’s eyebrows involuntarily twitched.
“Quite the… unusual envoy.”
Among the four-member envoy from the Scarlet Allied Kingdom, aside from the Queen summoned by Suwong Kingdom, there was not a single vampire in sight.
Elves, beastmen, and even dragonkin.
It was doubtful that any country in the history of Terra had such a diverse envoy.
After all, it’s not every day you see a diplomatic mission from a vampire-ruled nation without a single vampire in it. That was nearly unheard of.
‘Was the rumor true?’
It had been a relatively recent revelation that the Queen traveled around with a dragonkin girl, but the gossip claiming that she garnered significant support from races other than vampires, to the extent that elves and beastmen would step forward, had not been confirmed until now.
‘Now it’s certain.’
Cardan’s gaze briefly lingered on Kanak.
Although they were both beastmen, the fact that they were standing facing each other instead of alongside gave rise to rather complex feelings.
“You must have your reasons for responding personally to the request of Suwong Kingdom.”
The Queen didn’t waste time on formal pleasantries and immediately got to the point.
Cardan nodded lightly. However, the Queen’s next words veered off in an entirely unexpected direction.
“However, since it’s my first time meeting the beastmen of Suwong Kingdom, I have two questions in hopes of better understanding your culture.”
“Go ahead and ask.”
Cardan expressed agreement, though he found the sudden shift in topic puzzling.
While he couldn’t take her words at face value as mere curiosity, at least he had no excuse to refuse on grounds of propriety.
“I’ve heard that Suwong Kingdom reveres strength over everything, leading to the strongest being favored. Is that true?”
“To be precise, the strongest beastman determines all rules. That is the Suwang, and the citizens follow the laws set by the Suwang.”
“That means there are consistent rules. But what happens if a stronger beastman appears than the Suwang?”
“The Suwang is always the strongest beastman in Suwong Kingdom. If a new Suwang appears, then the new rules will apply without exception.”
A hint of genuine amusement briefly flickered across the Queen’s lips before it vanished.
Cardan felt an indescribable awkwardness.
Was he perhaps overanalyzing every action of the Queen?
He shook off the stray thoughts and met the Queen’s gaze directly.
“Then for the second question… why are you keeping forty-six beastmen out in this cold? Is this all the prepared tents? Would it not be better to have them come inside?”
Immediately, the atmosphere in the tent became icy, and tension filled the air.
Before the talks could even start, Cardan had exposed the presence of the soldiers lying in wait outside.
But before things could turn sour any further, Cardan swiftly intervened to subtly halt the movements of his subordinates reaching for their swords.
“Oh dear, I had no intention of threatening the Allied Kingdom. To set up an impromptu meeting in such a harsh environment requires much manpower, so I had no choice but to gather personnel. Your consideration is truly touching, but they have means to ward off the cold, so there’s no need to worry.”
“Indeed. I had not considered that. But as expected of Suwong Kingdom, even the laborers are rather sturdy. Quite admirable.”
Fortunately, the Queen did not pursue her line of questioning any further, but Cardan elevated his wariness of her to the maximum.
‘That woman, she knows everything.’
It was clear that the Queen’s strength was on a few levels above what he had anticipated.
Not only had she likely sensed the elite troops of Suwong Kingdom lying in wait, but she had also walked in knowing it posed no threat.
The last thing she said sealed the notion.
Did she mistakenly believe that the carefully selected elites of Suwong Kingdom were mere laborers?
‘No way.’
She was sarcastically mocking them, despite knowing full well.
She claimed she was just thinking of them as workers, but she was well aware of the hidden forces they had.
‘Not just any ordinary character.’
For the elite of Suwong Kingdom, being seen as weak was an insult.
Yet at that moment, they had no choice but to accept even such disgraceful insults quietly.
The instant they attempted to correct her words, they would effectively admit to having prepared military forces for use if the situation demanded it.
“Now that all your questions have been resolved, shall we get to the main topic?”
Cardan had initially planned to cleverly use the Allied Kingdom as a means to achieve his goals while considering the aftermath of the fall of the Luminous Kingdom and the Empire but realized that might not be possible.
He cleanly acknowledged the need to adjust his plans slightly.
*
“It is true that Suwong Kingdom has long been stockpiling its strength, but we aren’t as comfortable as you might think, Your Majesty. Fighting both the Empire and the Luminous Kingdom at the same time would place a huge burden on us.”
“Even if it’s too much to handle at once, we should still be able to face just the Empire alone, shouldn’t we, Suwang?”
Four hours had passed since entering the main discussion.
The opinions of the Allied Kingdom and Suwong Kingdom were at a standstill.
Queen Aria Scarlet of the Scarlet Allied Kingdom hoped that while her kingdom attacked the Luminous Kingdom, Suwong Kingdom would strike the Empire.
Her confidence stemmed from believing they could easily win if they faced the Luminous Kingdom one-on-one without interference from the Empire.
And underlying that request was the calculation that, as the Allied Kingdom drained strength in its war against the Luminous Kingdom, Suwong Kingdom would also need to expend forces accordingly to ensure they weren’t betrayed afterward.
In contrast, Cardan Lionheart of Suwong Kingdom held the position that while he could lightly keep the Empire in check without moving his forces from the front lines, a full-scale offensive would be impossible.
He sought to utilize the strength of the Allied Kingdom to wipe out the humans while keeping Suwong Kingdom’s forces intact. After the war between vampires and humans concluded, regardless of who won, his plan was to devour the battered victor.
It was well understood by both sides that humans were the greatest enemy to Suwong Kingdom, but they also harbored distrust towards vampires.
Both parties were aware.
In this triangular standoff, the nation that preserved the most strength would emerge as the next dominant force on the continent of Terra.
Thus, both sought to offload burdensome aspects onto the other and this mutual understanding showed hardly any room for compromise.
At this rate, there would be no end.
By this point in the initial plan, it would have been perfectly reasonable for Suwong Kingdom to have drawn their swords, but due to the confidence Aria had shown prior to discussions, the beastmen were at their maximum state of vigilance.
It might have been simpler had they been in a nation solely composed of vampires, thinking, “So what’s to negotiate with vampires?” and attacking out of frustration, but upon confirming the envoy comprised various races, Cardan hesitated to kill the Queen for fear of turning all the other races into enemies.
“This won’t lead to any conclusion.”
Ultimately, it was Aria who ran out of patience first.
Or, it was impossible to verify if that was truly her intention, yet at least it seemed that way on the surface.
With a cold expression, she sat with her arms crossed, clearly showing her dissatisfaction.
“Very well. It seems the problem stems from a lack of trust between us, so how about we take this opportunity to lay our cards on the table?”
“A good idea. If it can lead to understanding each other’s positions and assurance of no betrayal, then who knows.”
While outwardly supporting her suggestion, Cardan’s attention was gradually shifting elsewhere.
Could they win if they fought? Exactly how strong was their opponent?
Despite the many uncertainties making him hesitant, if the deadlock continued, it might be time to reconsider the option to engage in battle.
Just because the Queen radiated confidence didn’t mean it was merely bravado.
Even while sitting, her impeccable posture and undeniable pressure exuded that of a strong one, yet strength has its levels, and there was no guarantee that even if the Queen was strong, she could undoubtedly dominate against fifty elite opponents.
‘If only I had a bit more to base my judgment on.’
To observe the subtle expressions and habits that would betray any openings, Cardan fixated on the Queen’s eyes.
“Hmm, so you were curious about Suwang’s true intentions, yet you’re sticking to that line of questioning.”
To Cardan’s unchanging reaction, Aria suddenly burst into a guffaw.
As he was about to ask what was so funny, a cold wave of discomfort brushed down Cardan’s spine.
‘…Wait a minute. Where is that woman looking?’
It dawned on him that the Queen’s gaze was not directed at him.
“Cardan Lionheart.”
Having casually dropped the title of Suwang, a smile formed on Aria’s lips.
And her next words were enough to freeze the atmosphere in the room completely.
“You’re not the Suwang, are you?”
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
