Chapter Six: Peace Conference
Paladin, Ray Starling
“MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I’ve been waiting for you, Unbreakable!” Upon our arrival to the location appointed for the peace talks, I was greeted by a familiar voice — though it was laughing in an unfamiliar manner.
It came from the imposing shape standing in the middle of the path leading to our gathering place — a handsome red-haired man known as Hell General, Logan Goddhart.
“Heheheh! From what I can tell, you’ve only gotten two new low-rank jobs since we last met! And you didn’t even upgrade your gear! I’m different, though! I have been reborn! I’m so powerful now, I’m practically a new man.” I said nothing and just let him ramble. “...Hm? Ah, I see your Embryo’s clothes are different! Did you evolve it to high-rank?! Well, that alone won’t be enough to defeat me!”
That was unexpectedly direct of him.
Just like he said, Nemesis’ evolution to the fourth form had indeed slightly changed her clothing — she was dressed a bit more extravagantly than before. Her physical appearance didn’t change much overall, though, and she herself wasn’t too pleased about that.
“I’ve been waiting for the day I could wipe away the disgrace you and Franklin have burdened me with! It’s time for a rematch! I’ll beat you and prove my power to—”
“stfu”
“This isn’t the time, place, or situation for that.” Logan’s words were cut short by someone who came up from behind him and grabbed him by the neck.
“Ah...!” he gasped. The immense amount of pressure on his throat left him completely unable to say anything more.
The person grabbing him was a lady I’d seen way back when I first met up with Shu in Gideon. She was grasping Logan’s neck with her left hand while cradling a porcupine in her right arm.
Shu had already told me that these two were none other than King of Beasts, Behemot, and her Embryo, Leviathan.
“...Now that I see them, I can say this with absolute certainty,” said Nemesis as she looked at Leviathan. “She and I are birds of a feather.”
Just like Fuso’s Kaguya, Leviathan was a Maiden that had evolved into a Superior Embryo. She’d probably been wearing equipment to hide her true identity before, because the oppressive aura rolling off of her now was impossible to compare to what she’d been like before.
While Kaguya was best compared to the Moon dominating everything from the sky above, Leviathan was the incarnation of violence, bearing the potential to shatter entire planets.
But despite wielding such power, it seemed like she was behaving for now, and even holding back... if only barely.
I was so tense that I could feel sweat start to pool in my palms.
This was one of Infinite Dendrogram’s three apexes — the Physical Apex.
Barely able to make a sound, Hell General tapped on Leviathan’s hand. He was quickly turning bright purple from lack of air.
“Oh? Hit your limit already? You’re in worse shape than I thought,” said Leviathan as she let him go.
Logan fell to the ground and gasped raggedly for breath before glaring at her and the King of Beasts and grunting out, “You...!”
“You are here as a bodyguard,” Leviathan continued. “Keep the personal rivalries somewhere far away from these peace talks.”
“What?!” Logan raised his voice, nearly bursting a blood vessel in rage as he used Instant Equip to draw his sword.
“If you continue to misbehave like this, I can take your head off right now,” Leviathan said, grabbing his head again at a speed that made me feel like I was watching stop-motion. It was easy to see that her slender fingers could pluck it off with as much effort as picking a flower. “Have I made myself clear?”
The Hell General had no choice but to nod, and once she let him go, he blurted out, “Shit!” and fled immediately.
To my knowledge, Logan was a Master who primarily fought using his summons and wasn’t much of a threat from a close range. Still, he was a Superior, and Leviathan had just made him look like a weakling. Rather than meaning that Logan was insignificant, though, it really meant that the King of Beasts was far too powerful.
“Apologies for the unbecoming sight. Good day to you, Altarians. I have been entrusted by Her Highness Claudiah to welcome you. My name is Leviathan and this my Master, Behemot,” she said before bowing her head. “The peace talks begin in two hours. We have a room prepared for you, so we request that you wait there. Allow me to show you the way.”
“...Very well,” said Azurite, who seemed rather tense — likely because she was facing Dryfe’s most powerful assets. Had King of Beasts been chosen for this role just to put pressure on the kingdom? Or was there some other reason?
“By the way, where’s Chronooo?” Tom asked.
“I do not know,” Leviathan curtly responded.
[I think that King of Beasts is the one greeting us because they’re beary cautious of The Rabbit,] Shu said to me through our Telepathy Cuffs.
[Huh?]
[Assassinations before the event are one thing, but if they attacked us here, it would be complete panda-monium. I’m beary sure that Dryfe wants this treaty to go well.]
That made sense. That must’ve also been the reason why they stopped Logan from causing trouble.
I guess they don’t actually want this whole thing to fall apart, then? I wondered.
[...Or maybe they just want us to relax so we’re caught off guard by the real trap,] Shu added. I could only hope that wasn’t the case.
Last night, we’d agreed that Tsukikage, a few other Lunar Society members, and — by his own wish — Tom would scout the area around the building while the rest of us would accompany Azurite. We would act as bodyguards for her and the officials all throughout the meeting.
As I talked, King of Beasts and Leviathan led us through the assembly hall.
This place had been built right after Dryfe proposed the peace treaty to Altar, but unlike temporary buildings you’d see in real life, it actually looked really well-made.
According to Azurite, it looked exactly like the assembly hall she’d seen in Vandelheim.
Shu guessed that it had been made using a construction-focused Embryo that had copied either the existing building or its blueprints.
Well, there were people like Franklin, who could create monsters, so there was no reason there couldn’t be a Master who created buildings just as easily. Dryfe also had many more Masters than Altar, which made it even more likely that they could have someone with such an unusual skill set.
We now have as many Superiors as they do, but if a war breaks out, Altar will still be at a disadvantage, I thought.
“Please wait here until the appointed time,” said Leviathan, after she’d led us to a room that looked like the presidential suite straight out of an ad for a luxurious hotel. This had to be some sort of guest room for VIPs.
With her job done, Leviathan left the room. King of Beasts shot one last glare at Shu, but didn’t actually say anything.
“...Marie, are there any traps in here?” I asked.
“Hmm... No. Not a single one, and no listening device. I’m almost worried.” Marie was a Superior Job focused on hiding and finding hidden things, so I had absolutely no reason to doubt her on this.
“Even if there aren’t any traps inside, the right ultimate skill from the outside could easily kill us all,” said Fuso, and I glared at her. “Oh, don’t make that face. We have our devout patrolling the area.” Fuso then giggled mischievously. “Well, we’re outnumbered, so maybe they wouldn’t be enough. If numbers are their only advantage, though, then you don’t have to worry about a thing.”
“Hm...?” Was she saying that because her Lunar Divider Field was so potent in large-scale battles?
“So, Rook, did ya notice anything when you looked at their faces?” Shu asked.
“Hell General wanted to fight Ray, while King of Beasts wanted to fight you. That’s it, though. At the very least, I’m certain Hell General isn’t plotting anything.”
“Well, knowing the history between us, that’s a beary reasonable reaction even if Dryfe doesn’t have some plan in mind.”
That’s true, I thought.
“So, Ray,” he then spoke to me. “Did ya use your Reveal?”
Normally, the stats of high-level people were hard to see. My Reveal was at level 5. That was the highest level I could get as a Scout, but it could still be easily resisted by people who were high enough level. Even the lowest level of Conceal could completely prevent me from seeing basically anything.
However, I’d been able to see their stats without any problem — meaning neither of them were trying to hide.
“Yeah... For some reason, Hell General was only about level 500.”
“I guess he started respeccing after he lost to you. That’s some bad timing. Fur real,” Shu said before looking at Fuso for some reason. “What about the King of Beasts? Unlike in Gideon, she didn’t seem to be wearing any Conceal gear.”
“Yeah, I saw her stats too, but...”
In a way, what I saw for King of Beasts was even stranger than what I saw for Logan.
Behemot.
Job: King of Beasts.
Level: 1156 (Total Level: 1656)
HP: 108060
MP: 3350
SP: 48980
STR: 10050
AGI: 15315
END: 9980
DEX: 1502
LUK: 125
Her level was extremely high. She was in the same tier as Shu — one of the highest level people I knew. I couldn’t say the same about her stats, though. Most of her stats were higher than Shu’s — who’d specced heavily into STR — but on average, her numbers were far lower.
My guess here was that these stats were largely unaffected by Embryo stat growth bonuses. They were, however, far from deserving of the title “Physical Apex.” For a moment, I thought that she’d been showing me fake stats, just like Marie had done at first, but...
“The King of Beasts isn’t scary because of her own level or stats, is she?” I asked.
“Yeah. King of Beasts is bad news because of Leviathan.”
“...Guardian-Jaguarman Theory.” That was the thing B3 had mentioned once and the thing I’d learned about before this event — the blueprint for what was considered to be the strongest of all builds in Infinite Dendrogram.
It had been perfected in King of Beasts, Behemot, and that was what gave her the title of “Physical Apex.”
“We talked about this before, but... if a battle breaks out, I’ll be the one fighting,” said Shu. “...Right now, I’m the only one that can handle them. Though, if it was night, the she-fox could use the ace up her sleeve.”
“Hm...?” Oh right... it had to be night for Kaguya to use her ultimate skill. Did that mean Fuso was actually able to stand up to the King of Beasts at the right time of day?
“I don’t recall seeing the details of Prez’s ultimate skill in The Lunar Society’s database...” said B3.
“Ahahah! Oh, B. Of course it wouldn’t be there. It’s my top secret trump card that more or less guarantees my victory... The only one who’s ever beaten me while I was using it is this bear here... You real-life hacker.”
“I don’t wanna hear that fur-om you.” This reminded me that Fuso had once actually given Figaro the death penalty. Shu had gone on to fight and defeat her right after that.
“Well, the best thing we could’ve hoped for in our situation is Lei-Lei being with us,” said Shu.
“...More like the worst thing,” said Fuso with a grimace. “I can totally see myself getting caught up in whatever she does and dying anyway.”
Although Lei-Lei was part of our clan, she wasn’t with us here because of her business in real life. I also didn’t know anything about her fighting style or build. All I knew was that she liked spiking drinks.
“Hey, Shu, is Lei-Lei really that amazing?” I asked.
“...She’s so dangerous that you can ask any of us Big Three about the one person we don’t wanna fight, and all of us will point to her. She’s not ‘amazing’ or ‘strong,’ just beary, beary dangerous.”
...Now that was a lot of emphasis.
“If you ask her about it yourself, or if you ever get a taste of what she does... you’ll know what I mean,” he added.
“...I prefer the former.” I’d heard enough to know that I really didn’t wanna fight her.
An hour had passed since we’d been led to the suite, and an hour more was left until the start of the talks. Azurite and the officials were busy with preparations and final checks. They’d also contacted Altar and confirmed that there were no urgent matters that needed addressing.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
“It’s... just one person,” said Marie, just from one glance at the door. That meant it wasn’t King of Beasts and Leviathan. Who could it be, then?
“May I come in?” the person outside asked. The voice was unfamiliar to me — but not to Azurite, apparently.
With slight surprise on her face, she replied, “Come in.”
“Pardon the intrusion,” said the person before opening the door, revealing a very... princess-like girl with curled blonde hair. She seemed to be about Azurite’s age.
“Altimia! It has been so long!” she said.
“It really has been... Claudiah,” Azurite replied, and it was our turn to be surprised.
Her Highness Claudiah herself. She was the person Azurite would be negotiating with in these peace talks.
It was shocking to me that someone that important would casually come to visit us in the waiting room.
Azurite, however, just stood up from her chair and greeted her with a handshake.
“It has been... far too long!” Her Highness Claudiah, embracing Azurite warmly.
“Ah...?!”
We were all unsure how to react to this.
“Ugh! It really has been far, far, far too long! After you returned to Altar, we could only talk by sending letters, but even that became impossible because of the war...”
“...Yet you still love to embrace your friends, I see,” commented Azurite. Like a child, Claudiah clung to Azurite with tears in her eyes while Azurite patted her on the back as though used to all of this.
They seemed to be off in a world of their own, separated from us Masters.
“...Ah! I-I am so sorry!” Her Highness Claudiah said as she suddenly backed away from Azurite. “I only came to greet you before the talks begin, but when I saw your face, I was just overwhelmed with emotion.” She looked bashful and her cheeks flushed a rosy red.
“No need to worry,” said Azurite. “I am also happy to see an old friend again.”
“Altimia... th-thank you,” Her Highness said with a blissful smile.
“That aside, is this not a bit careless of you? You are the representative to your country and the only member of the imperial family besides the imperator.”
“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that!” Her Highness said. “I mean, I am sure that both countries want the same thing. Neither side really wants to cause any trouble!”
She puffed her chest as she said that, and her words left us all unsure about how to react. The Rabbit and Logan had already made a bit of a mess, so hearing all of that made us all want to chuckle wryly.
“Hm...?” One of us did have a different reaction, though. Rook was staring at Her Highness with a bead of cold sweat running down his forehead.
“Anyway, I just came to greet you! We can chat about personal matters after the talks! See you soon!” And with those final words, Her Highness Claudiah ran off like a gust of wind. While everyone was busy staring at her back, unsure how to react, I walked up to Rook.
“Rook... Did you notice something strange?” I silently asked.
“...I’m not sure how to put it, actually.”
“Did she lie or anything?”
“No. She meant everything she said. Nobody’s Truth Discernment went off, so I’m sure I’m not mistaken there. But...” he wiped the sweat off his cheek before continuing. “At times, she didn’t seem human to me.”
“...What do you mean?”
“On the outside, she was exactly as she presented herself, but I couldn’t even see what was on the inside. I’ve never seen someone like that.”
I had no words. Rook was extremely good at reading others’ thoughts and figuring out exactly what kind of people they were. The fact that he would give such an evaluation, combined with the prospect of Azurite facing her in the peace talks, sent a cold chill down my spine.
The remaining hour before the talks was uneventful, and the peace talks began as planned.
Azurite and Her Highness Claudiah exchanged a formal greeting completely unlike the one they’d shared earlier, and the negotiation began.
...And right after they began, we realized that our chilling premonitions weren’t unwarranted.
“Let us begin these negotiations by presenting our goals. To find a compromise, each side must understand what the other wants,” said Her Highness. They then exchanged the documents they’d prepared for this, allowing both sides to consider the other’s demands and decide where they were willing to compromise.
Upon seeing Dryfe’s document, I had to suppress a gasp of shock. I mean, who could blame me for my response, honestly?
Just as we’d discussed last night, Altar’s first condition was a counter-terrorist measure — “a shared wanted list.”
That condition had also been revised a bit to make sure that once the treaty was signed, false accusations and additions specifically targeting the other country would be strictly forbidden.
Well, one of Dryfe’s demands was... “a unified wanted list for both Altar and Dryfe.”
It was as though they already knew what the kingdom would demand. That wasn’t the end of it, though.
The kingdom’s second condition was “reparations to the bereaved families of those who’d died in battle as a result of the invasion.”
Dryfe’s second compromise was “the payment of condolence money to the Altarian families who lost family members to the war.”
Altar’s first compromise was “abandonment of the Old Lunnings Duchy.”
This was the best we could do to prevent terrorism. All that was left was for the leaders or representatives of both countries to activate the Covenant by signing it.
The acting ruler and first princess of Altar, Azurite, and Her Highness Claudiah of Dryfe, who’d been given full authority here, were perfectly qualified to do this.
“It’s done!” Her Highness said. She’d written down “Claudiah R. Dryfe” and handed the Covenant over to Azurite.
Azurite looked it over to see if there were any discrepancies between what was discussed and what was written on the official Covenant, but apparently she didn’t see anything amiss.
“Ugh! There’s no need for you to be so cautious. The Covenant has not been tampered with!” Claudiah said.
Azurite’s Truth Discernment yet again remained silent, so she just sighed in relief and said, “It seems you are right.”
She took the writing brush. Now, she would finally sign the document, making the peace treaty complete.
Still, I wasn’t sure why, but... watching her prepare to sign sent a cold chill down my spine, as if she was doing something really dangerous. Why, though? Was I missing something...?
“Ray?” Shu asked, noticing my apprehension. As I stood there, still unable to pinpoint why all these alarm bells were going off inside my head, Azurite put the brush to the Covenant...
“...Ah.”
...And that was when I noticed the Hell General at the edge of my vision.
The sight of him made me recall a particular conversation with Marie, in a flash of insight.
At that moment...
“...STOP!” I shouted out, as if in a fit.
Azurite halted right before she signed and looked at me in surprise.
Everyone was staring at me. Most were simply confused why I stopped Azurite...
...But Her Highness Claudiah was looking at me with eyes so cold they could have been mechanical.
“...I am uncertain how to feel about you raising your voice like that. This is a historic moment, signaling lasting peace between our countries. I did not expect someone to interrupt it like that. You are very like your brother, I see,” she said, looking at me as if she found this situation awkward.
“Ray...?” Azurite said as she shot me a worried glance.
Still... I’d noticed something that made me unable to stay silent.
Upon seeing Logan, I remembered the person who’d defeated him in a duel.
Marie had once described her like this:
“Speaking of The Fatal Seal of the Four Seas, she escaped Granvaloa after stealing a national treasure. That got her on their wanted list, and she’s more infamous than famous now.”
The person who’d defeated the Hell General and the current top of Dryfe’s duel rankings. The person who was on every wanted list... King of Thieves.
“Why...?”
“Hm?”
“Why isn’t King of Thieves included in the second condition?” Why wasn’t the King of Thieves among the Dryfean Superiors that Altar had to remove from their wanted list?
Her Highness Claudiah herself had said that they “would lose two Superiors.” She hadn’t even counted the King of Thieves, Zeta, who was also surely on Altar’s list, too. And yet, that hadn’t made anyone’s Truth Discernment go off.
My words had made Her Highness Claudiah’s eyes grow even colder, and Azurite looked at the Covenant again as though she realized what I meant.
“Oh,” said Her Highness. “It’s true that she is not listed, but she has not done anything within the kingdom, has she?”
“That’s not the point...” King of Thieves was not on the list not because they’d just forgotten to include her. “I should’ve realized what was going on when they completely predicted our conditions.” I had no idea why I hadn’t. Had I been overwhelmed by the shock? Or was that all part of the plan too? “I should’ve realized that they could take advantage of it.”
“Whatever do you mean?” Claudiah tilted her head, but I was half-certain that she was faking it.
She surely knew exactly what I meant.
“The Kingdom’s first condition covers requests made after the peace treaty is signed...” That was our blind spot — the trap that could easily be missed exactly because they’d predicted our demands so precisely. “...But the same doesn’t apply to requests made before the signing.” The treaty would forbid hostile requests after the treaty was signed, but there was absolutely nothing in there against requests made before the treaty existed, even if those requests were fulfilled after. “If you could figure out what we were thinking so easily, or if you were confident you could lead us into doing what you wanted, you could easily have requested someone to commit an act of terror on your behalf before the peace conference even started.”
“But Ray,” objected Azurite. “That would still count as an attack by Dryfe. That would go against the treaty.”
“It wouldn’t,” I curtly replied. She was partially right — the peace treaty included a line that forbade inciting your country’s Masters to acts of violence or kidnapping against the other country. Even if the request was made before the treaty, this line would mean it was still in violation of it.
That was why...
“That’s why King of Thieves isn’t named.”
Claudiah was silent.
“After all... King of Thieves is no longer affiliated with Dryfe — she’s a freelance Master.”
That was why she hadn’t been counted by Claudiah or even alluded to in the writing. If King of Thieves had been mentioned as part of Dryfe’s defense force, that might’ve activated someone’s Truth Discernment.
“If a request is made before the treaty is signed and the Master in question is no longer part of Dryfe, it doesn’t actually violate the treaty. That’s why Dryfe would receive absolutely no punishment if King of Thieves does something in Altar after this is signed,” I said.
Of course, it was possible that they hadn’t fully predicted the kingdom’s intentions. It was possible that the treaty’s terms would end up being completely different, or just that the final document would end up not including this loophole. In that case, they would be able to just send out an order to stop the request. After all, while orders to attack were against the treaty, orders to stop attacks certainly weren’t.
I kept going. “And here is the greatest problem of all.”
Yeah... the fact that King of Thieves was free to act was just the beginning.
The greatest problem for the kingdom was right there on the treaty, written down in black and white.
“If King of Thieves did what Franklin tried and kidnapped someone to Dryfe... we’d be unable to get them back.” If they took someone, Altar would be unable to rescue them. This could perhaps lead to future negotiations where Altar was at a tremendous disadvantage. “Once the treaty is signed, we wouldn’t have any way to retaliate against that at all.”
“Ah...!” Azurite gasped in realization.
Altar wouldn’t be able to restart the war.
Altar wouldn’t be able to dispatch Masters to retrieve the victim.
If the kingdom tried it, the treaty would punish us for attacking Dryfe.
The peace treaty would completely paralyze Altar.
In some senses, this would actually be worse than merely giving up or merging with them. Becoming a single country would at least leave room for rebellious factions within, but an opposing country bound by a Covenant would be completely powerless to reach them.
I now understood why Claudiah had come to say hello to Azurite today.
“I am sure that both countries want the same thing. Neither side really wants to cause any trouble!”
Truth Discernment confirmed that she was telling the truth there.
Of course she was. Both countries wanted to let the treaty pass without any problems. They wanted these peace talks to end without things escalating. There was no trap here.
After all, Dryfe’s trap would only activate after the signing.
They seemed to desire peace, but there was a cunning strategy hidden just below the surface.
“...Do you have proof of that?” Claudiah asked.
“I don’t,” I admitted. This was just something I thought of based on what she’d said and the loophole I’d noticed in the Covenant.
It was possible, but I had no proof that they’d actually done something like that.
That was why...
“If my conjecture is wrong, just say it, loud and clear.” If that was a lie, Truth Discernment wouldn’t miss it. “If what you say is true, you can throw me in the gaol as a delusional madman who endangered this important event.” If my worry was totally unfounded, I’d have no regrets even if it led to that.
In response...
“You are completely right.”
...Claudiah confirmed everything.
“Claudiah, you...!” Azurite cried out.
“...Franklin told me that your brain really starts working when it matters, but I didn’t expect you to notice something so minor. I am impressed that you could see through Reinhard’s plan.”
“...I don’t think it’s that impressive, actually.” Usually, Shu or Rook would’ve been the one who noticed something like this. However, Shu was closely watching King of Beasts’ every move, while Rook was laser-focused on Claudiah, whom he said he couldn’t even read. They couldn’t spare the attention for noticing this loophole, and I just happened to stumble over it by chance.
Even now, Shu wasn’t saying a word because of how focused he was.
After all, the peace talks were now officially canceled.
“Such a shame. The total casualties would have been far smaller if the treaty was passed without a hitch.” Claudiah let out a deep breath. “Because of you, I will now have to pull the trigger and expedite the situation.”
She took out a switch much like the one once used by Franklin...
“What a shame. I’d originally intended to signal that the peace treaty was signed, but, well... I suppose it’s time for plan B.”
...And pressed it as though declaring the beginning... or the end.
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