"This is such a pain...why am I tagging along, wouldn't Miss Split Personality over here have been enough?" I groaned in exasperation.
"Hey, that was uncalled for," Growled Fuo, swinging a punch at my shoulder, missing as I stepped out of the way and she stumbled a bit, her face turning red with embarrassment.
"Now, now, don't be like that," Sighed the headmaster, "This will only take a few hours, after all."
Remember my suggestion to offer refuge to the citizens of Bronztan? Yeah, to make sure we gave them the full picture in our effort to convince them that it was their best course of action, Headmaster Raedal Yiserir had gotten the idea to take Fuo and I along to help with the explanation. Well, he technically wanted Atticus, not Fuo, but they were a package deal. Oh, and there were two others with us, S-Ranked Adventurers from Bronztan.
"This should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway...please be respectful in the presence of the queen," Said one of them, a woman named Marti Touw.
"Yeah, allies or not, she won't take kindly to any disrespect. Unlike all the other nations with their non-combatant rulers, our queen was an S-Ranked Adventurer when she was still a princess, so she isn't to be trifled with," Added Lonfi Nemowd, the other one.
"Right, you already mentioned that...like three times."
Also unlike the other nations, Bronztan was a matriarchy, and women were held in higher esteem than men. Basically, it was the total opposite of my old world a few decades before the time period I lived in. Apparently, it hadn't been until about fifty years ago than men were even allowed to become Adventurers in Bronztan, so yeah. Personally, I really didn't care about the ethical side of it, I'm not here to preach equality or whatever, I honestly couldn't care less either way. I was just hoping that they wouldn't be a pain to talk to.
"So, on a scale of one to ten, how narrow-minded is your queen regarding the whole matriarchal thing?"
"Well, er...she only entrusts important Quests to female Adventurers like us, but we don't know much beyond that. The previous queen only retired three years ago, so our current queen is pretty new to the role. The previous queen did away with a lot of the rules and laws that were harsh or unfair towards the men in our nation, but the current queen hasn't done anything to continue those efforts. That being said, she hasn't undone them either, so maybe she's...neutral?" Replied Lonfi uncertainly.
"Just so you know, if sparks start flying, I won't bite my tongue or hold back...which is why you should do the talking, Fuo. Or technically, Atticus. And that once again raises the question...why am I tagging along?"
"I must say, the longer I know you, the more blunt and direct your way of speaking becomes," Remarked the headmaster with a chuckle.
"Yeah, well...now that I'm stronger, I feel more comfortable being myself and shutting off my filter. Fact of the matter is, I was politer before because I didn't want any unnecessary trouble that'd be too much for me to handle, but I feel like that's not something I need to worry about much now. So I'll say what I want to say. Also, is politer a word? Politer...politer...hm, it doesn't quite sound right...more polite? Eh, doesn't matter."
We stopped chatting as we reached the west gate of Bronztan, the guards letting us in after Lonfi and Marti showed them their Adventurer Cards. They then led us inside and headed for a Teleportation Booth, from which we teleported our way to the castle of Bronztan. Huh, this place is pretty nice, it was structured kinda like the Rustlands in that a variety of stores and building were all mixed together, instead of being seperated like the districts in Goldway, but unlike the Rustlands, not every area here looked the same, they had plenty of landmarks and stuff, like fountains, statues, monuments etc.
Well, I'm not here to sightsee, so it doesn't matter. We soon reached the castle and went inside, the two Adventurers leading us to the throne room. Marti knocked on the door as we arrived, and opened it as a voice from inside gave us permission to enter. We followed after the two and got down onto one knee and bowed, much to my irritation. Come on, suck it up, this much is not a big deal.
"State your business, I do not have all day," Remarked the queen.
"Your highness, we have brought the representatives from the Rustlands here in order to discuss matters regarding the Vampires," Replied Marti, gesturing towards us.
"You may rise. Now, then...speak," She stated, as we all stood up.
Whew, at least the bowing is over. I glanced up the queen, Cusana Bronztan, as we stood up. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, with metallic-brown colored-...specifically, bronze colored hair, along with the same colored eyes. She had a stern expression, was tall and slender, and wore silky red and purple robes with a sleek golden crown on her head.
Headmaster Yiserir then tentatively explained the proposal to evacuate the citizens of Bronztan to the Rustlands and have their Adventurers join forces with theirs and fight off the Vampires together.
"A bold proposal, you would have me command all my citizens to abandon their homes and businesses? I will need a more compelling reason before I am convinced," The queen responded after thinking it through, "Why not have your citizens evacuate here and assist our Adventurers instead of the other way around as you propose?"
Right, I'd been expecting that particular argument. Fortunately, I'd already told the headmaster and Fuo how to respond to that. The headmaster looked a bit hesitant, before gritting his teeth and responding the way I'd advised him to.
"Because we believe that...we believe that our Adventurers are stronger on average, additionally we have greater knowledge regarding the Vampires," He replied, a bit nervously.
Well, it was a pretty bold statement, especially from the Rustlands which had long been considered the weakest of the five nations. Things had changed a lot over the past couple of years or so though...for one thing, I was here.
"Hah, what arrogance! Pray tell, on what basis do you claim that your Adventurers are stronger?"
"A number of our new Adventurers and student Adventurers are exceptionally powerful. We have two prime examples here. Fuo Wesroh here has been an Adventurer for a little over a year, and she is currently one of our strongest S-Ranked Adventurers. And Kuro Black here is a third year student, and I can say with relative confidence that he is possibly the most powerful person in the world."
Ooh, I didn't tell him to say that, way to take the initiative, old man. If nothing else, he had her full attention now, she wasn't just going to brush what he'd said aside.
"Now that truly is an arrogant claim! The Rustlands holds a mere student Adventurer in such high regard, how laughable!"
"His accomplishments speak for themself, in fact he spearheaded the mission to infiltrate The Valaque Empire, you received the information regarding the results of that investigation, correct?"
"I find that hard to believe, but I suppose I do not mind humoring your claim. You, boy...can you prove that those were not empty words?" The queen laughed in disbelief.
Don't mind if I do.
"Yeah, sure...how's this?" I inquired, extracting all my Karma into my body and raising my hand, forming a massive ball of black lightning above me.
Karmic Lightning Nova! Well, can't fire it, so...I snapped my fingers, dissipating it in an instant. I transferred the Karma back into my Mana Orb, returning to normal. I went with Karma instead of Vampire Mode because sprouting out wings and a tail might have been a bit much.
"Was that convincing enough for you, or do you wanna see more?" I remarked with a smirk...oh, right, I'm supposed to be respectful, "Er, your highness."
"Even if you do have to skill to justify it, I find such arrogance in a man disdainful," She replied with a frown.
"Well, excuse me for having some self-confidence," I retorted before I could stop myself.
"You would dare speak back to me!? If you were a citizen of Bronztan, such disrespect would lead to your execution!"
If nothing else, I'll give her credit for not showing any fear. But her sexism was strong, and I'd originally not planned on saying anything about it, but...
"Look, I couldn't care less about how Bronztan's society runs, I'm definitely not here to impose my beliefs on you...so don't impose your beliefs on me. This is an international matter, so maybe try opening up that narrow mind of yours and act with a touch of professionalism. The fact of the matter is, Bronztan has a lot more to gain from this deal that the Rustlands does."
...was that a bit much? The entire throne room was silent, the queen was glaring at me, Marti and Lonfi were looking at me with alarmed expressions, and the headmaster looked a bit exasperated and nervous. Fuo raised an eyebrow at me, to which I shrugged in reply.
"You have some nerve...no one has ever spoken to me in such a way before, let alone a man. Even if you are not a citizen of Bronztan, I've a good mind to have you executed for your arrogance!"
Talk about dramatic. Pfft, and like anyone here could actually kill me. I'll present my case one more time...
"Think about this rationally...we have significant knowledge regarding the Vampires and even how to kill them, in other words, out of all the nations left, we have the best chance of defeating them. If you were to accept our offer, not only would your citizens be safe but the chances of crushing the Vampires increases as well. But if not, then Bronztan will probably fall under their control. If you have a valid reason for rejecting our offer, then so be it. But if you're going to reject it because you feel like you owe it to your pride...then ask yourself this, what's more important, the freedom and lives of your people, or your pride? Well, that's all I have to say, so what happens next is totally upto you. Oh, and if you still feel the need to execute me...I'd like to see you try."
Okay, maybe the last bit was sorta unnecessary. Huh, I never even gave Atticus the chance to chime in. Well, I hadn't planned on speaking at all, but I couldn't exactly keep quiet after the queen singled me out. Though I might have gotten a bit carried away, I felt like I'd said all I needed to say.
"I have heard quite enough out of you! Get out of my castle, the negotiations will continue without your presence! Leave my sight at once!"
Good, she was kicking me out but she wasn't putting a close to the discussion, which meant that my words had definitely had an effect on her, even if she wouldn't admit that. I was tempted to antagonize her a bit more, but I shouldn't push my luck.
"Certainly, as you wish, your highness," I replied with exaggerated politeness, before turning around and heading for the door, whispering as I walked past the headmaster and Fuo, "I leave the rest to you."
Sweet, I've always wanted to say that!
...
...
"What's taking so long, this is boring," I grumbled to myself, as I waited for the others.
I was outside the castle, on a bench not far from the entrance. It had been about forty five minutes since I left the meeting, or was kicked out, whichever you wanna call it. Come on, I wanna go back home already! I should've taken the teleportation cards before I left the throne room. Maybe I'll wander around a bit, get a snack to munch on or someth-...I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard several footsteps approaching me from behind.
They sounded metallic, except for one pair. I turned around to look back and sighed...a young woman with a grimace was walking towards me along with a bunch of guards. She looked a couple of years older than me, with bronze-colored hair tied up in two buns on either side of her head and bangs covering her forehead, the same colored eyes, and a freckled face. She was a bit short, wore a revealing purple leather armored outfit with a golden spiral pattern across it. The top was sleeveless with a deep neckline, revealing an eyeful of cleavage and her midriff. She wore a short skirt, with knee high black boots on her legs. And she carried two spears on her back, both with short handles.
Well, her outfit was easy on the eyes, but way impractical as armor. She was clearly walking right towards me, how annoying...and based on her hair and eyes, she must be a royal.
"You there! I demand that you prostrate yourself before the queen and apologize!" She exclaimed bluntly, pointing her finger at me dramatically.
"...yeah, nice to meet you too, lady."
"How insolent! Do you not know to whom you speak!? I am Princess Cusnai Bronztan, heir to the throne!"
Okay, the way she spoke seemed kinda forced, almost like she was imitating the queen. You know, like how real British accents and imitated British accents don't quite sound the same. Let's take a gamble.
"What's with the crappy act, princess? You laying it on way too thick," I remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"Wha-!? H-how dare you!? Enough of this nonsense, I can see that you have no intention of complying, therefore...I challenge you to a duel!"
Interesting, she toned down the degree of her speech patterns. It still felt forced though.
"You should withdraw that challenge, I'd totally wipe the floor with ya. And your acting is awful, like worthy of a Razzie Award bad," I laughed, smirking at her.
"Excuse me!? I could totally win an Oscar if I really wanted-...! Er, I mean, uh..."
Ah, so she had pride in her acting skills, shitty though they were. Also, she's totally a Reincarnator, no wonder her speech felt so forced. That was some pride though. So much so that she forgot to keep up the act when I trashed her acting, before trailing off as she realized what she did.
"Much better, I think my ears stopped bleeding. You should talk like this more often."
"Grr, shut up! Guards, surround us!"
"Oh, er...yes, your highness!"
The guards had seemed rather dumbfounded by this whole interaction, only snapping out of it when she addressed them directly. They formed a circle around the two of us, with a radius of about ten meters.
"So,like...what's all this about?"
"Like I said, I challenge you to a duel! If I win, you have to get on your hands and knees before the queen and beg for forgiveness!"
"And if I win...?"
"That won't happen. But in the unlikely event that it does, I shall let you walk away."
"In other words, there's nothing in it for me. Hard pass."
"Wha-...you c-can't just 'hard pass'-!"
"Careful, your speech patterns are slipping."
"Sh-shut up! Fine, what do you want if you win?"
She was really intent on dueling me huh...and she seemed confident in her abilities. I didn't really want anything though. Let me think...
"Oh, I know! Do you know who recreated the truth serum from the sample I stole from The Empire? I only know that it was someone from Bronztan who did it, but I don't actually know who it is. So, if I win, I'd like to meet the person who reverse engineered it."
"W-well, uh...th-that won't be a problem...because I'm the one who reverse engineered it. B-but I still don't believe that you actually infiltrated The Empire!"
Her speech patterns were normal now...much better, I had started to feel like I was at a really crappy medieval stage play or something...
"Seriously, it was you? Okay, then scratch that...instead, I'll take a page out of your book...if I win, you apologize to me for wasting my time. And not just any apology of course, you'll need to get on your hands and knees and beg for my forgiveness."
"Hmph, it's not like I'll lose, so fine, whatever," She remarked confidently, taking both her spears into her hands as lightning began crackling all around her, "Oh, I forgot to mention...I'm the number one ranked Adventurer in Bronztan!"
Seriously? Her? She didn't seem to be lying, but that didn't make it any less hard to believe. I'll choose to believe or disbelieve it after this fight.
"Before we begin...are we really fighting in this tiny space, and aren't we using a safety barrier? Oh, and you've been totally speaking normally for a bit now, did you realize that?"
"Ah, crap-...ahem, I know not of what you speak about."
...that barely even made sense.
"As for your queries...this space will prove to be more than adequate, and only a weak coward would duel under the protection of a safety barrier!"
"Fine by me, but I should warn you...," I remarked with a smirk, before my expression turned serious and cold, "...you'll die."
"I-I'm not afraid of y-...ahem, we shall began on my signal...now!"
I extracted sixty percent of my Karma and began charging up my right fist as I activated my Lightning Boost at full power, right as she zipped towards me and swung a couple of slashes at me, before swiftly backing away as I evaded them. Not bad, she's testing my capabilities.
And she's fast, I couldn't tell exactly what level her Lightning Boost was at, but it had to be more than x4. My total speed boost right now was just below x5.8, and she wasn't that much slower. She really might be their best S-Rank. Her skills with those spears was good too. All that being said...I had fought, like, so many people stronger than her.
She continued charging in, attacking and then backing away quickly to avoid any counters. I could probably get her with my Lightning Bullet or Incineration Cannon...but I was in the mood for a close range attack, and I probably shouldn't use an attack that'll result in significant vandalism. If she really thinks she can wear me down in a battle of attrition, I'll just have to show her how wrong she is. I'll end this soon.
She suddenly flung something at me, I swiftly deflected it away using a needle...it was a small vial. It fell to the ground and shattered, the liquid burning a hole in the ground. Yikes, some kind of acid? Talk about nasty.
She shot towards me and unleashed a series of rapid thrusts at my chest with her right spear, before swinging the other one at my head, which I ducked under. She then swung her foot up at me, I responded by springing back to avoid it. She was trying to hide it but she looked pretty tired...her stamina levels are pretty low. Well, to be fair, she has been moving almost nonstop since this duel began, barely giving herself a chance to breathe. She seemed a bit confused...I'm guessing she hasn't even had a fight drag out for this long. And another thing...
"Timeout for a sec...don't you think your armor is kinda impractical?"
"What? How dare you, it's my body and I'll wear whatever I want!"
She's too worn out to keep up the princess act, huh. Also...seriously?
"Yeah, that's not what I meant...okay, this should be really, really obvious, but when you unleash a high kick in a short skirt like you just did, you will inevitably flash you opponent...like you just did."
She stared at me with a blank expression for a moment, before her face turned red with embarrassment and anger, and she furiously charged in with both spears.
"Y-y-you pervert, I'll-...!" She began, thrusting both spears at me, before trailing off as grabbed one with my left hand and the other between my teeth.
I extracted all the remaining Karma to strengthen myself and shattered the blade of the spear I caught with my teeth.
"If anything, you're the pervert, Princess Flasher."
She began to let go of her spears and spring back, but she was too slow with me in this state. I swiftly closed the gap and got in close, placing my foot behind her heel and tripping her. She landed on her back with a thump and a groan, as I pinned her down and immobilized her. I had been charging up my right fist all this time, let's strike some fear into her heart, shall we...
"I warned you, didn't I? This is why I said we should have used the safety barrier...Karmic Shocker Punch!"
My fist slammed into the ground, the impact sending the guards surrounding us flying back, as I formed a small crater in the ground with my punch. I aimed my strikes right next to her face, so she was totally fine. Well, except for a few scratches and bruises from the flying debris upon impact.
"I win. Unless you want to keep going?"
"N-no, I...I give up," She stuttered, averting her gaze in fear.
Good, I was just about at the end of my current time limit with Karma. So if this dragged on, I'd have to use Vampire Mode. I hated to admit it, but she was faster than I was in my normal state. But it was over, I'd won. She then began to get back on her feet...
"Not so fast. While you're down there, you might as well get to apologizing," I stopped her, smirking down at her.
"F-fine...I-I'm sorry," She muttered reluctantly.
"Say it like you mean it. You agreed to get down on your hands and knees and beg for forgiveness, remember?" I remarked tauntingly, before adding, "Or is the princess of Bronztan a liar?"
"No, I...!" She began in protest, before reluctantly getting down on her hands and knees, "O-okay, fine...I-I'm sorry, I beg you to forgive me for wasting y-your time and...uh..."
Oh, right, I just said that because I was repeating the penalty she gave me, but I didn't actually have anything else for her to apologize about. Also, I was really tempted to step on her head, but I restrained myself.
"Eh, good enough. We're done here," I shrugged, stepping back and letting her stand up.
"So humiliating...," She mumbled with a downcast expression.
"Before you go, I've got a question...you're a Reincarnator too, right?"
"Yeah, what about it?" She grumbled, avoiding my gaze.
"Out of curiosity, what do you think of the way Bronztan is run?"
"What, you mean about the sexism towards men? I was a feminist in my old world, so this place is kinda like heaven," She replied wistfully.
"You don't say. By the way, you seem like a lot less of a joke when you talk normally like this."
"A joke-!? Hold your tongue, I see that your arrogance knows no bounds, you fiend!"
"...what even is your character?"
"Sh-shut up! I need not waste any more of my time here, I shall take my leave forthwith! Guards, our business here is over."
With that, she left with a huff, the bemused guards escorting her back. Man, what the fuck was that all about? Well, guess I can't complain too much, I definitely had fun. Heh, I totally felt like a villain back there, who knew humiliating royalty could be so much fun?
Ah, great timing...looks like the others were finally done. Fuo and the headmaster were walking down the stairs from the entrance of the castle, which means...I could finally go home!
"What took so long, I felt like I was waiting for ages," I greeted them as they approached me.
"We were discussing the details of the evacuation, it took longer than expected. More importantly...what happened here?" Inquired the headmaster, staring at the crater I'd made.
"Hey, don't look at me...I mean, yeah, I was the one did that, but I was challenged to a duel, so chalk it under self-defense," I replied with a shrug, before realizing and adding, "Oh, if you were discussing the details, then that means the queen accepted the offer?"
"That's right. Though she was in a pretty bad mood thanks to you, things were tense after you left," Sighed Fuo, frowning at me.
"Yeah, yeah, my bad. Can we go home now?"
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