Overlord Johann strode directly to Karl with a smile on his face. “It is a pleasure to meet you, young Prince. We have heard much about your talents and exploits lately.”
Karl took his outstretched hand with a smile. “It’s an honour to meet you as well. It isn’t often that we are graced with the presence of Overlords out here in the wilderness.”
The Shining Knight laughed and nodded. “That is true. But this is a unique situation. There are only a few repeatable dungeons active in the nation, and only one other is at the Commander Rank. The fact that this one is entirely Ogres and far enough from the border that it won’t be easily contested is enough to pull us out here for the day to take a look.”
Overlord Niall was more interested in Dana’s outfit, and he was silently inspecting her, turning Dana side to side to get a better look.
“Was that a reward from this Dungeon? It seems too high level for that.” He asked in a low voice that was clearly altered with some sort of voice changer.
Dana shook her head. “It was a gift from Prince Karl, made by his Royal Rank Bloodbath Spider.”
Dana looked shocked that she had said that out loud, and Karl began to suspect that the Overlord from the Inquisition had a skill that made people tell him the truth.
The final Overlord made his way across the rest of the group before settling on Karl.
“I am told that you can make skill books. Do you suppose that you could make me one of the Fire Element?” He asked, though the tone suggested that the request was merely a courtesy and declining was not an option.
“Certainly. I have an excellent Fire Element skill if you are compatible. Tell me, do you have any sort of bestial affinity? The skill was designed for use by a beast, so it can be considered a prerequisite to using the skill book directly. I believe you can still learn by studying the book, but you know how that goes.” Karl agreed.
The mage lifted his hood upward slightly, and Karl caught a glimpse of fluffy blonde ears on the top of his head.
“That should work wonderfully. I can make it for you before you go, or whenever we get time this afternoon.”
[Finally, not an evil magician.] Hawk cheered.
Then Ahmad the mage paused and sniffed the air. “Was there a celebration already planned? I smell all sorts of fancy baking.”
Karl nodded and gestured behind him. “It is Commander Dana’s birthday today, and our Nature Clerics were kind enough to make a remarkable number of baked goods to celebrate. Would you care to join us?”
“Once we finish with the rest of the welcoming. But do save me some of those cupcakes that I can smell, if you would.”
That shouldn’t be a problem, there were hundreds of them made. One case full reserved for the Overlord wouldn’t be a hardship to anyone else. The Overlords moved on, saying hello to everyone, or in the case of Overlord Niall, saying hello to his fellow Inquisitors and the Magic Knights, then standing back, so people didn’t bother him.
He wasn’t really the talkative sort, but that wasn’t all too surprising for a member of the Inquisition.
While everyone else was busy, Karl walked over to Overlord Niall and lowered his voice. “I don’t suppose we get to know what happened that you all came here today? It’s a monumental occasion, but you are an emergency response team, and there are still two Princes here and only one man with a camera, no reporters.”
Karl saw the thermal outline behind the mask change as the man smiled. “I suspect that we will find out sooner rather than later. But that is classified above your pay grade.”
“Shit, I didn’t know they were paying me.” Karl joked, making the Inquisitor laugh and pat him on the back.
“Let your Spider know that if she is willing to make another of those fantastic outfits, I will pay her full asking price.”
Karl nodded. “Rae is a simple and sweet character. She really only wants one thing. Blood from a King Rank or higher beast, enough to fill a bathtub.”
Overlord Niall blinked slowly as he processed that. “What in the world would she want with that? Is she short on food?”
Karl shook his head. “No, we’ve got plenty. But when she is getting close to advancement, she will literally bathe in the blood of her enemies and absorb their power to help her grow. It prevents bottlenecking.”
“So, as fresh as possible? I can arrange that, but it might take some time.”
[I will make it on credit. Thor says it’s good for people to owe you favours.] Rae suggested.
“She says that she can make it on credit, and you can repay her.” Karl relayed.
“So they actually speak in your mind? Interesting. Alright, I will make that deal.”
Rae started to work in her space as Karl and Niall shook on the deal. She couldn’t come out and play without terrifying all the workers, and the strange Overlords were a bit scary, so keeping them happy seemed like a good idea.
The two waited silently as all of the aspiring politicians and bureaucrats from the government group chatted up the other Overlords and their assistants, who Karl assumed were assigned to them by the military, as they were only Ascended Rank Elites, and couldn’t possibly be part of the actual response team.
“Alright, everyone back to work. Overlords, if you would like to inspect the design, you are welcome to.” Colonel Valerie informed them all in a stern voice that said they had wasted enough time already.
The crews split up, and the original three response teams went to supervise them, while the three Overlords grabbed the members of Team One and dragged them along to the fort, following Karl’s team.
“Did you make a tent out of… Wait, that really is Royal Rank Spider Silk, designed to mimic the Capital Cathedral. Bloody brilliant. How do you even pack it, though?” Overlord Johann laughed.
“It was actually created on the spot. Rae, the Bloodbath Spider, is quite the artist, and she likes to build art exhibitions to show off her skills everywhere that we’re going to be stopped for a while.” Karl explained.
Ruth laughed. “Look upstairs, it gets even better. It’s got dividing curtains and hammocks for two expanded groups, plus a shower room. The main floor is currently set up as the kitchen to do all the baking for Commander Dana’s birthday.”
Overlord Ahmad stepped inside, and Doug gestured toward the sealed containers full of baking. “Take your pick. We will be passing them around the camp later, but everything is made fresh today.”
The Catman Golem Mage happily grabbed a cupcake in each hand, and Karl could have sworn he saw the mage’s eyes glow in victory as he obtained his prize.
Overlord Johann laughed. “Well, Ahmad got what he came here for. I swear, that man shouldn’t have any teeth left with a sweet tooth like that. But we don’t have much else to do but sit here and watch the construction teams work for now.”
That made it even more obvious that the meet and greet wasn’t the reason they had come, but they certainly weren’t going to discuss it.