Chp- 21 Meetings and Luck?

3rd Pov, Meeting Room, Castle of Gemmera.

Inside a large room where numerous chairs were set around a large central table. All the important Nobles along with Carlos and the Head warrior was seated. The King sat at the head of this Table on his throne. Beside him sat The Princess and Prince.

After Bael had solved the problem of the Monster infestation, he had returned to his Chambers. The King George immediately called for a meeting.

For a few minutes there was only silence in the room. Everyone waiting for one of them to speak up first. Finally it was the Duke of the Royal Faction , Lucas that spoke.

" Your Majesty, Are you really willing to offer the land of that fool to Lord Bael?"

Instead of the King, Carlos voiced his thoughts.

" What else could we do Grand Duke Lucas? We can't afford to offend him. Let me tell you this Grand Duke, I have personally witnessed the Powerful Forces that guy commands, our kingdom is simply too weak to oppose him."

" But Sir Carlos, if word got out and we all know that it will, that We yielded to an outside force then the neighbouring countries would see us as cowards.", Lucas tried to justify his reasoning only for Carlos to shut it down.

"It won't matter if there was no kingdom to begin with. With Lord Bael's prowess he very well could just decimate us."

"Bu-"

" Duke Lucas, you are starting to lose your composure...what you are implying is that we go to war with Lord Bael?", before Lucas could continue, he was interrupted by Richard, the Duke of the Noble Faction.

" No, Duke Richard, i simply meant that just giving what he wants so easily can be seen as an act of leniency on our part.", while being a bit offended at having interrupted, Lucas still gave an answer while glaring at Richard.

"We understand your sentiment, but let me remind you, that Fool who surprisingly had strength of an A ranked adventurer was effortlessly Defeated by him.", Ignoring his glare, Richard said seriously.

"Yes I know." Lucas unwillingly replied with a sigh.

"Gentleman, before you go further down the wrong track I want to disclose some information. Your Highness If I may?", seeing that the meeting was going nowhere, Carlos decided to add on the meeting.

With a Nod Given by the King as affirmation he started.

"As you all know, Lord Bael and His people has come from the West, more accurately the Continent of Death Lands.

He rules a Castle called Deudenia. This Castle houses innumerable number of power Beings, each I have seen exceeds the S ranked Adventurers."

" Impossible!! How can that be Sir Carlos!!" One of the nobles present exclaimed. The improbabilty of such a thing being the factor making him deny Carlos' statement.

With a stern side glance from Richard the noble quited down. But just like him every one had similar thoughts. For them, Gildard who had A rank strength was surprising enough for them.

Not because he hid his strength, no, rather his strength was enough to earn him the right to join the Knights Templars of the Holy Kingdom.

And to hear that someone commands a force who has strength surpassing That was Shocking. They would have Scorned in disbelief at the one who would spout such nonsense but it was the Court Mage Carlos himself who stated this. Thus they held some respect for his words.

"Sir Carlos, i don't mean to be rude but I find it hard to believe that someone like him would exist." Richard asked with a frown on his face.

"I understand your scepticism but what if I told you that one of his direct subordinates was the one who killed three out of Four demon lords all by herself?" Carlos stated in a plain way, hiding no lies in his words.

"!!?" " how could it be!?" "i don't understand!?" "Impossible!"

Shouts of Fear spread throughout the Room as Everyone started to question how this was unknown to them.

The Reactions of every nobles were justified, because although the news about the Happenings of the Walpurgis was known to all, but the details were only known by the kings and the close associates.

Given enough time it would eventually reach the populace but even if they knew of what happened there, they were still shocked that A demonLord could have subordinates whose strength equalled enough to destroy a nation.

Chief Commander Gowlard quickly roared to silence the uproar, "Silence!"

"Sir Carlos...is this true?", Having calmed himself down, Lucas asked.

" Absolutely, I believe you might have felt it too right Chief Gowlard?", Carlos said.

"Indeed, his subordinates, although they restrained their aura, I still could feel the vast difference in our strength. ", with drops of sweat dripping his forehead as he remembered the scene of Bael's arrival, Gowlard agreed.

" Wait! You are saying that his subordinates are strong enough to become Demon Lords themselves?", Suddenly having come to a realisation, Richard quickly asked.

"Indeed.", Carlos answered, nodding his head.

"I knew he was powerful but to this extent is something even I can't imagine.

If his subordinates are this strong then how much powerful would he be?" looking down at the ground Lucas muttered out loud.

"It would be so. But I think, he is actually a generous King. Someone who has patience and wisdom of ages. I myself have seen his Greatness on the Throne Room.", Carlos said.

"Carlos...can we build a relationship between us? Is Maou Bael really what you say him to be?", George asked, a hint of hope could be sensed in his voice.

" Indeed Your Highness. Talking with Him about an alliance, you can leave that to me."

" I see. Then, Carlos, as the King I give you the task to talk with Maou Bael and Form an Alliance Between us. If he agrees, then tell him that I am ready to Declare that land as officially his and Gemmera will have no ties to it.", George ordered Carlos.

" But Father!! that place is an important route from which the Resources from the mines come. If you Gave it to him he might use it at his advantage.", Robert, George's son quickly opposed the decision.

" Brother, please control yourself..you don't think Father would do such a thing without reason? Right Father?", Rubia, Robert's sister explained to Him his father's reasons.

"Indeed Rubia... Besides the plain which borders the place where the mine is.

The Mine itself is Owned by our Family. And that territory not only covers the Mountains and the Wild Forest too.", George, proud of his daughter's intellect answered.

Although the Kingdom had three mines, the mines from where the monster infestation occurred was it's most valuable one.

The mine was thus owned by the Royal Family itself, the remaining two respectively by The Grand Dukes.

The Mine was surrounded by treacherous mountains on two sides and by the plain of which the Gilded House rules and a forest from the east of the mine and the plains.

"We shall use that forest from now on to transport the materials.", George declared.

" Your Highness, although the forest is relatively small, it still houses some powerful beasts. One of the Beasts which reside there are the pack of White Dire-Tigers.

The leader of that pack, the Adventurer's guild reported to be A+ Ranked." Added Lucas.

" Don't worry Duke Lucas. Although the monster situation has ended, we still have the crystals I brought back are enough to make at least some worker Golems. And with adventurers, we can clear the forest too." Carlos suggested.

"Good thought Carlos.. how long will it take for the Golems to be finished?", George asked.

" Since I already have a blueprint for it, I will can immediately start on the production . This should take one week at most.", Carlos calculated.

" Also, Your Majesty, about the Monster Infestation. It seems the plot is thicker then what it looked like."

"Please Elaborate Sir Carlos."

" What I mean is that there is a possibility that someone might have conspired and planned this infestation."

Hearing Carlos, all of the people present became serious with frowns appearing on their forehead.

This revelation now made the solved problem a complex maze that now they had to investigate.

To be able to cause a large incident like the Monster Infestation, a large organisation or a country had to be involved.

" We shall discuss this at a later date. Grand Duke Lucas, investigate thoroughly about this matter and report to me. Then Carlos, you may go now and talk with Maou Bael. Duke Richard, gather the adventurer and worker teams. Issue an order to clear the forest as much as they can. The rewards will be provided from the treasury.", George declared.

" As you wish Your Highness."

"Understood Your Majesty."

" Understood."

Lucas , Richard and Carlos together affirmated George's order.

"The meeting has been Concluded."

With that everyone left the room. Only George and his children Remained.

" Robert, how is your studies going?", George asked his son.

"It's going well father, my teacher said that I was a genius for learning all the fighting techniques he taught me.", with a proud face, Robert replied to his father's question.

" That's good to hear. I hope you continue to perform well. But do keep in mind not let those praises get in your head.", Happy of his son's progress, George advised.

" Yes Father."

" Rubia..What about you? How is the orphanage?", Asked George.

" It's going well father, i managed to scout some talented kids. Their strength could be helpful for our future, more so now when it seems bleak with what has happened till now.", answered Rubia.

" Indeed My dear. You Two. Keep working hard, don't get discouraged by the little shortcomings you might encounter but learn from that to grow further." Encouraged George to his two hardworking childrens.

" Yes Father!", both enthusiastically answered.

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Bael Pov.

After I returned to my chambers, I and my guardians had a meeting together.

"Lord Bael, is it wise to let their transgressions slide by?", a slightly annoyed Aria asked

"I don't think so. But for my plans to work I will need to do that. There are many ways i could use to anex this kingdom, by force, mind control or by outright slaughtering. But I don't want the other nations to have a Bad Image of me. Although with force I could do what I want, they will just speak ill about me in the dark.", Bael said.

"My Lord, whoever even thinks about that we will just crush that insect.", Taking Bael's words literally ,Adrigal said.

" Hahaha! I like your enthusiasm Adrigal. But what will you do if all of them were to be against me? Will you kill them all? Keep in mind, to rule an Empire You need it's people or else it's just an Empty shell." Bael said, amused at his subordinates enthusiasm towards ending whoever opposed his rule.

" But you have us my Lord?", A confused Adrigal asked.

" Indeed, you all are precious to me. But because of the love I have for you all, I don't want to see you get harmed." Amused at how Fast Adrigal changed her expressions from an angry face to a oblivious cute face, Bael answered.

Hearing a few selectively lovely word Adrigal was elated and she started muttering.

"!! Lord Bael just said he loves me!! Hehe I'll definitely tease Medusa. She will be infuriated hehe....."

" A-ah I said You ALL! Do you hear me?"

Bael quickly tried to justify.

But his voice was overwhelmed by the constant muttering of Adrigal.

•••••••

*Beeeep* #Technical Issues Please Wait.#

•••••••

"*cough* Anyways, I want to rule this kingdom as a generous King. Someone who will be kind to all who yields and swears loyalty to me. That doesn't mean I will be lenient towards those who are against me."

After a short timeskip Bael coughed out.

" Indeed Lord Bael, all of them should bow to your greatness and even they are against it, they should happily accept your 'mercy'.", Rhombus quickly said.

"m-mn, Now, we should prepare to depart to the Gilded's territory. " Overwhelmed at the amount of worship he was receiving from his Zealous Subordinate, Bael quickly said.

As everyone were preparing to leave, there was a knock on the door. Soon a muffled voice was heard.

"Lord Bael, it's me Carlos. I have word from the king."

Recognising the voice, Bael immediately removed the barriers and enchantments he setup on the room as he spoke.

"Come in Sir Carlos, the door is opened."

Entering in, Carlos first noticed that everyone had gathered in the room. Thinking they were talking about something decided to ignore it.

He bowed a little and spoke.

"Lord Bael, I have a Request of Alliance from the King George. He wishes to establish a friendly relationship with your kingdom and further this connection by building an Alliance Treaty. He said that if you were to agree then he is willing to give up the lands where the Gilded House resided. Giving you full autonomy on the lands."

' Please agree please agree! This could be beneficial for our Kingdom. Please by the holiness of Goddess Luminous!', Carlos silently prayed in his heart.

" I agree."

'I thought so...*sigh* as if someone would agree to this, so easily. Of course he- wait what..' .."Did you say you agree?", just when Carlos was monologuing at how difficult it would be to convince someone, he immediately noticed something amiss.

" Yes, do I have to repeat my self?"

Raising one of his eyebrows, Bael asked.

Carlos quickly denied Bael's query,

"No no not at all!"

'Is he testing me? Why would he agree so quickly?....wait does he think we have ulterior motives? No no, he just might not trust us seeing what one of us did, so he must be testing me. Right! This must be so!'

Carlos tried to justify the completely off script line of conversation.

' Such a good opportunity, is lady luck looking after me?! Or did Yggdrassil suddenly had a Luck stat system I was unaware of? Nonetheless i should not let it go!', while contrary to Carlos' doubts, Bael was giddy inside at have recieved such an offer in basically a silver plate.

"I accept your king's proposal"

"Thank you Lord Bael! Oh! And also, His highness said that if you were to agree, he will recognise the Country Lord Bael will rule as legitimate.", Carlos once again bowed as he also added to the king's proposal.

' Great, even if I have declared my kingdom many would be doubtful about it but with Georg's help this small problem won't happen'

" Is that so?", Bael asked to confirm his guess.

'Why do I feel like there is something I am missing!?'

But having wrongly interpreted Bael's question as a trap Carlos sweated inside.

"Yes."

" Then I hope you give this news to King George the Vth that I have agreed upon his proposal. We shall talk about it at a later date. I must go and see the lands which I have acquired.", Bael said with a smile.

" Definitely! ", Relieved at how smoothly this 'negotiation' had went, Carlos said.

With that, Bael and His Guardians soon departed from the capital of Gemmera.

Then flying towards the hills near the capital where they had ordered the summoned dragons to rest and stay.

Retrieving the summons they journeyed back to the Territory.

Along the way out of the Capital, Bael noticed something.

' hmn the roads here are in such a bad shape, maybe I should capitalise on it. If even the main road to the capital is in tatters i don't need to imagine how other places would be'

With this in thought, Bael made a few more plans and decided to enjoy the rest of the journey.

Reaching the Manor of the Gilded House, Bael and his group landed.

They were greeted by a line of maids on all sides along with a line of noble ladies at the end headed by a Butler and a Lady who seemed More Beautiful than the rest.

Everyone seemed to be trembling in fear as Bael and his group approached.

How did they know Bael was coming you say? Well who would not notice the inconspicuous fleet of giant dragons flying out of the capital.

As Bael reached the entourage he was greeted by the Noble Lady.

"W-welcome L-lord."

" My name is Bael. I believe you have heard of the news?", Bael asked rhetorically.

By now the "news" must have reached the whole of Gemmera.

" *nods* certainly My lord. My name is Lissa, I am the daughter of Count Rippon and the Head Wife of Late Gildard of the Gilded House.", quickly replied the Lady as she was still bowing in a 90° angle, scared that if she even moved, this Demon Lord might get angry.

" Lissa huh? And who are these ladies behind you? Your handmaidens?", completely missing the fright the humans before him was in, Bael asked while in his own thoughts.

"N-no They are my sister wives, we are the harem of Lord Gildard."

" A Harem?", momentarily Bael's mind short -circuited.

'Damn, Till now I had never seen a harem in either Overlord or Tensura. This is my first time and to think that insect was the one?'

"Y-yes Are - are you going to kill us?", asked what was inside the minds of every human present here.

Being connected with the Fool, it was obvious that they would be killed for sure.

Asking such a question was just formality.

Her saying this seemed to turn some sort of trigger on for the females as they all started to tremble more violently.

" Are you associated with Gildard's actions?", rather than answer her question, Bael asked back his own.

" No! His actions was only his Foolish doings!!?", Lissa quickly retorted, having lost her composer.

"Then You are safe. I won't kill someone who have not Wronged me."

"Ahhh! thankyou thankyou so much Lord Bael!!" Lissa knelt while crying.

Everyone also started crying .Seeing this, Bael couldn't help but doubt what Gildard had done to them and felt guilt free for sending him somewhere he deserves.

------

Meanwhile, somewhere on one of the floors of Deudenia.

"Aaaaarghhhhh!!! Pl-pleassssee!! Ha-have mercyyy!!", screams of despair and pain was echoing in the dark hallway.

" A-A-Aaa, why would I do that oh great Gildard-sama? Our enjoyment has just started.", contrary to the horror the previous voice was in, another voice which was in a sing song tone was heard.

" N-noooo!! no moreee!!", Screamed Gildard.

" Hahaha, you have yet to say the 'safe word' so this doesn't count.", the torturor, Citrus smiled.

"S-safe word? Whatisit!!? Whatisit!?", without even swallowing his saliva, Gildard quickly asked.

"It won't be fair for me to say it you know? The Supreme One would punish this Citrus if he were to say it. So you should try hard to find it yourself. Let's continue then, you seemed to have gained some energy..", amused at his toy's desperate attempt of self-saving, Citrus stated.

" N-no no nhoo!! noooo-arghhhhh!!!"

" Hehehe, I am enjoying your screaming so much!! I must thank Lord Bael for giving me such a high quality toy!!!"

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May Lord have Gildard's soul mercy, or not?

Anyways that's this chapter's end.