28 Charismatic King Rilo

"You must be the Paladin God Of Yggdrasil! Welcome to Amera! My name is King Rilo, known as the Cautious King! I hope that my soldiers didn't give you too much trouble!", Rilo said.

Judging from his personality, I could tell that Rilo was a charismatic person. He was a handsome person with black hair, light blue eyes, a lean muscular body, and a manly beard. He also seemed to be getting more carefree and relaxed, most likely due to my group's arrival.

"I'm Queen Draella, known as the Intuitive Queen. I've already taken care of your paperwork to become a citizen of the capital. You should have no trouble getting approved to enter through the capital's Royal barrier in the future", Draella said.

Even though the queen was supposed to be 120 years old, her beauty was captivating to me. She had blonde hair, gold eyes, an alluring body, and a miniature crown on her head. She also had a royal scepter, which seemed to be curiously unique and strange. If I had to compare, I would say that her beauty was on the same level as Daera. "She had to be a D cup" is what I thought for some reason.

"We did not expect you to come this early, so Princess Ena is currently training with one of the Colonels at the moment. However, we can still proceed with the meeting in her absence", Rilo said.

I didn't know how strong the army's royal titles were so Central showed the following information in my HUD:

Ameran Army Classifications:

General [lvl 1000+]

Lt.General [lvl 800]

Colonel [lvl 600]

Major [lvl 400]

Captain [lvl 250]

Gifted Knights [lvl 175]

Knights [lvl 80-100]

I thought that the classifications made sense. Regular humans can only reach a max of 100, while Gifted humans have the potential to reach their max at 1000 or higher. The 80-100 range also allowed a large number of regular citizens to serve their country, despite not being able to rank up past the knight title.

"My name is Brice Predillion, and these are my companions: Arcana, Daera, Shobe, and this lion named Titan. I heard that you asked for Arcana's help in summoning a legendary hero. I also heard that there is an Ameran Law requiring 'handsome compensation' for my efforts. I would like to confirm this before hearing the details of the meeting", I said.

"Of course! That's not a problem, Paladin! Initially, we asked Former Queen Umi to help us with the summoning but she recommended that we use her daughter, Arcana. Dragon royalty have the required levels and power to achieve a Legendary Summoning without any major issues. Luckily, we are on good terms with the Kingdom Of Dragons since Umi, Draella, and I were adventurers 100 years ago. As for your reward, we can negotiate a fair payout for your efforts. Amera is run on a royal, meritocratic system of government. The minimum that you and your party members can expect individually is 50,000 Engis per mission. However, I doubt that we will have to pay you such a low amount", Rilo said.

The fact that Rilo said that $100,000[Equivalent] was a "low amount" showed me that he was a person that I would take a liking to. King and Queen Dragonbane got up from their thrones and walked towards their war room. The knights that filled the throne room began to salute the royalty as they got up. Colonels and Generals that were nearby walked with us, wanting to hear the current plan and protect Amera's most important couple. While we walked towards the war room, I decided to talk to Rilo.

"How are you 120 years old? You still look so young! Your wife looks she could still be 30!", I said.

Hahaha! It's thanks to our royal blood! The dragonbane's enjoy many holy blessings! Thanks to our bloodline consisting of dragon and "gifted" human hybrids, we enjoy longer lifespans and almost eternal youth! Dragons and humans have been friends for a long time, originating from when my great ancestor fell in love with the dragon queen of that time. Luckily, the Supreme God approved of the couple and bestowed them blessings that would last to this day! Arcana, Umi, and the dragonbane's share similar blood. It's how the royal dragons are able to take a human-like form in the first place. Didn't you notice that Princess Arcana has the most human-like appearance compared to other dragons?", Rilo said.

I stared at Arcana, who looked away blushing. I guess that would explain why Arcana has the type of scales and wings that she has. Those golden markings were holy markings that were bestowed by the Supreme God.

"Daera!", Rilo said. "How has your father been? Or should I say old man Omus? Hahahaha-"

Draella punched Rilo in the stomach while he was laughing. Despite his armor, I could tell it hurt him a little.

"Jeez, Rilo. One of these days Omus is going to curse you! Then, I'm going to punch you for being cursed!", Draella said pouting.

"That old man isn't going to curse me! He still owes me Engis from our last strategy game! We're practically family!", Rilo said.

"You know Daera's father?! Isn't he the Supreme God? How do you know the Supreme God??", I said.

"The tiny details can wait, Paladin! We have arrived at the War Room!", Rilo said proudly.

In front of us was a large, golden door with a royal dragon crest on it. Guarding the War room was 2 large gold golems, whose design was strangely modern. If I had to guess, they were the earth equivalent of Humanoid tanks. Upon seeing the King and Queen, they opened the War room and stepped inside. They proceeded to stand in the corner of the room, watching us and the entrance. In the room was a variety of things but what stood out to me was the black and marble conference table. In the middle of the table was a map of the continent in holographic form. On the wall, they had a TV-like display that showed the current battles and information about the troops. They even had various weapons, paintings, gear, etc. that looked to be futuristic as well. I didn't really know what to say but I sat down at the table. I then realized that the matte-black chairs had no legs! They were hovering above the ground, seemingly yet another example of Ameran Technology! After everyone was seated, the humanoid tanks left the room and closed the door, resuming their watch of the throne room.

"Ok! Let's get this meeting underway!", Rilo said.

For 20 minutes, Rilo explained the situation that they were in. Here's the synopsis:

Demon Lord Associate Ringdrex has been assigned to take over Amera. He is known for pure brute strength, with his favorite units being tanks and blunt-damage based soldiers. He specializes in army management for Trirron's army. Demon Lord Associate Onnaron has been assigned to Kani. He is seen as Trirron's Second-In-Command and ranked above Ringdrex. He is known for not only his incredible strength but his magical aptitude and genius-level intelligence. He is considered to be highly dangerous to Amera since he is the only one intelligent enough to enact psychological warfare against his enemies. Finally, Demon Lord Trirron goes by the name "Supreme Demon Lord", an affront to Supreme God Omus. His goal is to take over Yggdrasil and hunt the gods down. He also wants to marry Daera, since she's Omus' daughter. He currently has a castle near Elu, the country comprised of demons. He is busy recruiting demons to join his cause voluntarily. Of course, if he really wants you, it ceases to be voluntary. Trirron is cited as being the world's greatest strategist, as well as the strongest demon that this world has seen in recent years. He is driven by logic and reason as opposed to bloodlust and hatred. This is what made him so dangerous. When you have one of the strongest demons in recent history become the world's greatest strategist, how do you outsmart him when he is already 7 steps ahead? The fact that he was able to recruit a fair amount of demons and other races was because he appealed to their minds. How can you hate a demon lord that's willing to not only save your children but to pay for your children's education? This was the central issue in the fight against Trirron: Is he really a bad person? As that sentiment grew, so did his army. It also doesn't help that he has the same Create ability that I do. If he doesn't find the troops that he wants, he can just make them.

As for the reason that he embarked on this conquest? Displeasure with Omus' treatment of the demons. He felt that Elu was left to wither away while the other nations prospered. He took it upon himself to change that.

"Now that you know the situation that we are in, there's only one question that we have to ask", Rilo said.

"Will you help us stop Ringdrex from taking over Amera, Paladin?", Draella said.

After thinking it over, I felt the answer was clear. The answer was clear since I came into this world. An answer that I didn't realize was the right one all along.

"As long as you keep paying me, I'll help Amera achieve the peace and quiet we deserve!", I said.

As the King and Queen smiled and laughed, the high-ranking officers began to laugh with them. They were happy with my answer, as unexpected as it was. Damaris, Daera, and the rest of my party began to smile and laugh as we high fived each other out of camaraderie. As we got up from the table to leave the War room, the King put his arm around my shoulder and praised me.

"I'm so glad that you agreed to help us! I wish you were my son, Paladin. I like your humor!", Rilo said smiling.

As I tried to get the slightly heavy King off my shoulders, I couldn't help but smile.

Even though I was primarily doing this for the money and influence, I couldn't help but want to protect this charismatic King.

I could see why Damaris said he was popular continent-wide.