Chapter 196: Finalization And A Not-So Veiled Threat

Rael and Zafira had planned all of this out from the start. She just took a few unexpected paths.

Sylvaran wasn’t supposed to be mentioned. The initial deal excluded it entirely and instead proposed the double vote plan.

She tried to give me everything I wanted… maybe a little too much, Rael thought, glancing at the four rulers who had their hands raised.

Nyzzara, Halemire, Lilith, and lastly, Diederich.

They won the vote. But they also had to use their contingency plan, which was none other than riling up Diederich.

Rile him up, expose his past, piss him off further. Boom, a declaration of war, and a chance of taking over Celestara, the independent country, rather than a city.

Nonetheless, King Arthur stared between each of the rulers as a conflicted look appeared on his face.

“The votes are four yes, two no. Is anyone else going to chime in or change their decision?” King Arthur asked calmly. “This is your final chance to do so.”

“I’m fine as is.”

“Stand.”

“Stand as well.”

“I-I’ll stay too.”

King Arthur sighed, then turned to King Asolian of Drivania.

“What about you? Do you stand with your decision?”

King Asolian’s brows twitched. “I do. It doesn’t matter whether or not they receive their independence. In the end, Aztera will deal with them by week’s end.”

Rael chuckled but didn’t say anything. He let the situation play out as King Arthur repeated the same question to each ruler.

And finally, it was time.

King Arthur stood up and tapped his finger on the table exactly three times.

Immediately, five people came running from the palace, all wearing fancy black butler clothes. Yet each one had badges that resembled high status.

“I’m sure you’ve heard our conversation. Draft up the documents as soon as you can—”

“Already done, sir!” the butler in the middle spoke up and plopped down several hundred pages of documents onto the round table. “I prepared it when I heard the question come up.”

“Sebastian…” King Arthur muttered in shock before turning to the other rulers.

Everyone liked a good butler, and Rael was no exception.

A mind reading butler… maybe one day…

King Arthur calmed his excitement and proceeded to pass the document over to Rael and Zafira.

The two read through it within minutes. Finally, they opened a particular page, which needed only a single signature, and that was when Rael and Zafira’s smiles widened.

They were silly sometimes. So silly that they had come up with a joint signature.

Therefore, Zafira picked up the pen, and Rael placed his hand over hers.

Then, with a few brushes, they wrote a simple signature in cursive.

‘Z.R’

“Aaaaand… done!” Zafira said cheerfully.

Her playful, borderline-childish demeanor came out at times, but Rael didn’t hate it. He loved everything about her.

But obviously, he wouldn’t show too much affection here, since it would be pretty embarrassing in front of the other rulers.

Nonetheless, King Arthur took the document and picked it up. Yet as he stood up and began walking away, the butler, Sebastian, stepped up.

“Sir, there’s no need for you to do this. I’ve already prepared a copy,” Sebastian said and dropped yet another fat document on the table. “This right here is the copy. You may read through it if you wish, but I can assure you, as the esteemed butler of the great King Arthur, I have not altered the content.”

“Mhm…” Rael and Zafira flipped open the document and began reading.

After several minutes, they were done. They quickly signed and passed over the copy document before taking back their actual document.

Since Rael had a lot more space in his inventory, he stored the document in it.

With that, the talks were done, and their goal was achieved.

As for what happened after? Neither Rael nor Zafira could care less.

“Oh right, before I forget…” Rael trailed off, turning to Diederich. “We will attack you in exactly 24 hours. I hope you evacuate the citizens in that time.”

“Pfft…” King Diederich held back a laugh. “Joke’s on you though. Aztera’s defense is impenetrable.”

“We’ll see about that,” Rael trailed off with a smirk. “You’ll be very surprised.”

Rael sat back down, and Zafira soon followed.

The other rulers did as well, and after everything had settled down, Rael received a single message.

Rael sighed.

He saw Reinhardt flinch from across the table. However, Rael merely put it aside as he glanced around.

Halemire seemed amused, while Nyzzara was definitely confused. And then there was Lilith, who, aside from the occasional odd glance, he couldn’t read at all.

“Anyone else have anything drastic to announce or bargain?” King Arthur asked, his tone laced with exhaustion.

“I do.” King Asolian stood up confidently and turned to Diederich. “What do you say to merging with us? I heard you wanted to merge with the barbarians, but your talks failed due to a certain someone. We have manpower, and I’m sure in this current time, you’ll—”

“Don’t underestimate Aztera,” Diederich stated in a cold tone. “We will not fall, under any circumstances. I can assure you all that much.”

With those final words, the entire table fell silent once again.

King Arthur cleared his throat. “Anyone else?”

He waited a few seconds for a response, and upon not getting it, he let out a breath of relief.

“Alright, now that the important stuff is out of the way, let’s move on to some trivialities…” he trailed off, pulling out a few documents and reading one in particular.

“All in favor of imposing taxes on those who drink sewage water, raise your hands.”

“…?” Rael tilted his head.

Well shit. I guess the serious talks really are over, aren’t they?

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