Chapter 91: Preparations – Part 1

Chapter 91: Preparations – Part 1

Ciel goes to meet the Head Priestess of Escanso once again. She takes a more tough-looking scribe with her this time because the last one had been sweating cold during the whole talk, which couldn't have been healthy for the poor old elf's heart.

She encounters Oritiki along the way, and the two women smile wryly at each other. It seems that Hihiriwa isn't coming today, citing some vague "indisposition."

"[Ready for another round]?" Oritiki questions bemusedly in Reo, her long cow snout warped in a smirk.

Ciel sighs and gingerly massages one of her temples, forecasting a headache from the rain of complaints that will soon shower down upon her. "[No, but it wouldn't change anything if I were]."

They both snort and continue on, then they meet with the Chimeric translator waiting outside the dining hall, who's clearly too scared to go in alone. The nobleman immediately stands up straight and recomposes himself when he notices them, then gives them a stiff greeting, which they politely return.

Ciel and Oritiki look at each other, then they both breathe in to gather their courage and open the double doors to the dining hall.

Inside, they see a wide and tall elven room that's completely bare, except for a long table positioned near the glass wall that faces out onto the back garden of the mansion.

A witc-... delightful old woman is seated at the end of the table. Her gray and silvery hair tied into a tight bun; her back perfectly straight; her chest so still that it's almost as if she isn't breathing, and Ciel even wanted that to be so for a split second; her mean glare set upon the back garden, the poor plants struggling to survive under the pressure pouring from her; and her hands gently laid upon her lap but never too far from the sword at her waist.

The ex-Punisher is a very kind and gentle woman that deserves the nickname of "Nai," which means "mother" in ancient Ingua. That is, until she finds some HERESY, then she dons the black Templar garb again and starts purging.

Thankfully, she isn't wearing her Templar armor, showing restraint that's seldom seen in the Punishers. She also doesn't personally need the armor because she can always call upon the Punishers at any moment. She's wearing only a simple black priest robe with a white stripe on the shoulders and the sides of her skirt, signifying her rank, and a yellow embroidery of the dawn, a holy symbol for the temple. Though it's simple, many priests would complain that she isn't wearing her uniform.

She turns her wrinkled face to meet the pair, and they give her strained smiles in return.

"Good morning, 'Nai' Teresina," Ciel greets her politely, and Oritiki repeats the greeting, though with a heavy accent.

"Good morning. You're late," Teresina's stern and hoarse voice greets back coldly.

With a stiff smile, they sit at each side of Teresina, and the scribe sits beside Ciel, glad that he isn't too close to the... mean old lady. The seat at the end of the table should've been Ciel's, but since she's "late," the old ha-... strict Head Priestess stol-... for some reason, decided to take it for herself.

Teresina pushes some scrolls forward, all written with art-gallery worthy calligraphy. "The calculations have been completed. The predicted cost of living for the average Chimera is higher than what the lowest class can afford," she states and waits for the translator to do his job. "This situation is not acceptable."

The Tribunal is slow to act, but the temple complements them in this aspect by having strong and decisive leadership, exemplified by Teresina.

Oritiki takes a cursory look through the calculations and hums in agreement. "[In Rangatuhinga, we had staple crops that we focused our research on to increase their yield. This gave the poor a chance to live well, which resulted in increased production of goods and a higher return on the investment through taxes]," she advises, then both her and Teresina's gazes fall upon Ciel.

The chocolate angel smiles kindly, barely affected by their combined pressure, and calmly states, "We'll instruct the Spirit mages to research a cheaper [Materialize] as fast as possible. We have Arreira's notes on the spell, but he was focused on a faithful recreation of the body while being aided by Preservation Beds and dungeon infrastructure, so the Lordship can't help directly with this situation.

"Since the mana of the court and hired mages is insufficient, we'll have to institute a rationing of [Materialization] until we have enough."

Teresina's thin lips curl upwards so subtly that only Alissa manages to notice it through Holly's eyes. "The temple can teleport in Spirit mages to assist immediately, but we're currently constrained by the limit on combat-trained personnel that has been imposed upon us," Teresina not-so-subtly reveals her agenda.

"Consider that limit lifted..." Ciel immediately announces, then makes a brief dramatic pause, "on all of the Western High Forest."

This will make some of the Lords angry, but it's all according to keikaku.

Teresina leans back in her chair ever so slightly, appeased by Ciel's words, and even the scribe hesitates for a second in writing that down. Oritiki has no idea of the implications, so she just remains neutral.

"We won't pay for the Spirit priests, though," Ciel adds with a cheeky smile, and Teresina's arm muscles flex in annoyance for a moment.

"We'll just consider it training for their future. The Chimera spirits won't be the only ones that want to be land-bound after death," she gives in without arguing.

"[The Chimera need their senses more than strength or physical stability. Their lives will be miserable otherwise]," Oritiki changes the topic, and Teresina nods once solemnly.

"Of course. If they're to act as subjects, then they must live like subjects," she concurs completely.

They start discussing the details of the Chimeric lifestyle and their needs, brainstorming about the shortcomings and differences between that and the spirit lifestyle that they'll have to adapt to.

Once they start talking about the individual interviews the priests had with the Chimeras, Teresina turns her eyes to Ciel and gives her a suspicious look. "I heard something about 'Arreira's royal legacy.' Do you mind explaining what that's about?" Teresina questions Ciel with a tone that leaves no room for escape.

Ciel doesn't need our assistance in this matter, for she had a lot of experience with it back in Rabanara. "This is a matter of political maneuvering between Lords and the Council," she composedly answers, then uses Yunia's knowledge of [Acting] to make her face appear emotionless. "Don't overstep," she cautions Teresina with a flat tone.

The two of them glare at each other for a long moment, then the hag-... Godsdamnit Ciel, I'm allowed to swear inside my own head... Then the incredibly arrogant old woman gives the most imperceptible of nods.

Ciel whispers something to the scribe, then he pulls out a pair of delicate elven scissors that he uses to cut the scroll to excise the part where they started talking about the legacy.

Ciel receives the offending section of the scroll and incinerates it to nothing with [Fireball].

"I'd like to meet Lord Ryder. I understand his 'condition,' but his 'Piety' needs to be ascertained," Teresina requests with an unusual degree of politeness.

"We're preparing to deal with unruly Lords during the ceremony, so as long as it's brief then that should be fine," Ciel responds, returning the kindness.

"I just want to ask a few questions to understand his personality."

"That's perfectly acceptable."

Then they both nod at each other, but Teresina isn't done just yet.

"I've also heard rumors about a gigantic cloud coming out of the forest and flying away towards the sky. This supposedly happened sometime before your ships were first seen," she states accusingly, without any of her previous politeness.

Ciel's smile gets contaminated by Roxanne's smugness, which subtly angers Teresina before Ciel can slap the naughty succubus away. "So have we, Head Priestess," Ciel comments noncommittally and leaves it at that.

Teresina's mask breaks, and she sighs as she shakes her head tiredly, then motions for the scribe to continue his job.

"She's as attractive as Shala, so maybe you should try to seduce her to soften her up," Alissa suggests through [Bind].

"It's been my experience that people get cranky when they aren't pounded regularly," Hana adds, and I feel her smirk inside my head.

"Her face is beautiful, but her personality is ugly," I annoyedly respond, but then my draconic side starts to fantasize about dominating an ex-Punisher, quickly warming me up to the idea. "Fucking hell..." I get surprised at my own degeneracy.

Ciel's conversation continues, but they aren't talking about anything deadly serious anymore, so I just tune it out.

Meanwhile, Yunia meets up with the regent mayor. They need to talk about building the air dock so that our ships can get proper maintenance since they don't have anywhere safe to land in the whole High Forest.

We also have to build one for our personal ship, so it'd be a good idea to listen in, but I also have to continue my training, so I ignore them after I stop Yunia from letting the mayor kiss her feet. He's a filthy simp for Yunia, and only I am allowed to savor her delicious toes, so at most, he's allowed to kiss the dirt she stepped on.

After that, we change the topic to how the Chimeras are doing. They've all been housed at the mansions in the outer layer, so the commoners are quite happy, even though they can't have a solid body for all twenty-four hours of the day.

We'll gift a mansion to Oritiki and the other few Chimeric aristocrats that can fight, per imperial custom, so Korito, the not-Thor, has been quite excited. He and Rei, the warthog-headed husband, have not only the whole outer and inner layers to choose from, but also quite a few mansions in the Nobles' Quarters that the Lordship owns and reserves for guests.

"It's odd..." Korito tries to express something, but he stops for a moment, and the clear excitement from before partially fades away before he finally continues, "I was ready to leave for Paradise, but Oritiki convinced us to stay... and now I'm so happy that I did that I can't believe I wished for death-... well, 'the end.'"

"'A wound in the heart interferes with the decisions of the mind,'" Ciel quotes a godly teaching.

Rei exhales loudly in a snort and asks, "Oh? Is that one of your 'teachings'?"

Ciel nods gently, her angelic smile evoking therapeutic effects upon my heart. "It is. The God of War once said that."

"God of War..." Oritiki mumbles, sounding interested in the name, then Ciel immediately starts proselytizing to them.

After our meal, it's time for us to conduct the interviews for the High Officers.

Announcement

Hall of Fame of Patrons

The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:

Prince PreownedFIN.

Prince Creamy Spinach.

Lord Andrew Meyers.

Lord Samuel Lim.

Lord Bill.

Lord Novgarod.

Lord Ashadun.

Lord Michale Erwin.

Lord Bakerdea.

Lord Nathan Vanbrunt.

Lord Maurice.

Lord Empyrean.

Lord Mattirro Draca.

Lord Joshua Tal.

Lord Colorblind.

Lord RottenTangerine.

Lord Fullmoon.

Lord Joxsan Herrera.

Lord Sean Drake.

Lord EESDESESESRDT.

Lord Brody Haugan.

Lord FrostyCube.

Lord Mike Bartter.

Lord Cardinal Steiner.

Lord Krawn.

Lord Warwulfv.

Lord Cidant.

Lord Jorge Franco.

Lord Bradly.

Noble Salty Panda.

Noble Mild Fracas.

Noble Aclys.

Noble Shawn Plumley.

Noble CarlBaxter.

Noble WeirdWhirl.

Noble War God.

Noble Yeuromain.