[VRMMO] Dead One

While ClownFrog alongside the werewolf chieftain were about to hold the meeting with the king of the beastmen nation, both GreyHunt and Oron had already arrived at the capital city of the elven nation.

"…"

"So…. Do they hate demons?" – asked GreyHunt as he alongside Oron was waiting in the guest room.

"…. You mean the way they looked at us?" – asked Oron.

"So you could tell as well, eh?" – said GreyHunt.

(Civilians and soldiers both looked distrustful towards me.)

(Still, they didn't show a direct hostility towards me or Amelia…. So, I think we are good.)

(But… From what Amelia had told me, the elves of this nation are your typical elves.)

(They don't like interacting with the outside and they are distrustful of others.)

(They like nature and think it needs to be preserved.)

(They can somewhat tolerate human kingdoms, but the dwarven kingdom? They despise them since they destroyed any bits of nature they had.)

(As for us? We have nature…. But we also use the power of the demons, dragons, and dead.)

(…)

(Welp, we will see how it goes.)

"Excuse me." – said the castle soldier as he entered the room.

"Her majesty is ready to receive you, please fallow me."

"…"

GreyHunt alongside Oron followed the soldier through the castle, before arriving at the garden where the elven queen was waiting.

"Greeting emissaries from the Garog empire." – said the high elf with long blond-green colored hair.

"I'm queen Oam Wanna."

"Queen of the Palok."

[Queen of Palok – Oam Wanna]

"Greetings queen Wanna, I'm sorry if our sudden visit is inconvenient to you." – said Oron as she bowed her head alongside GreyHunt.

"There is no problem at all dear." – said the queen.

"Anyway, may we set down and have some tea?" – said the queen as she walked towards the table.

"With pleasure." – said Oron before then following the queen alongside GreyHunt.

GreyHunt and Oron approached the table and sat down while the queen sat down on the opposing end.

"…"

"Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of your sudden request for a meeting?" – asked the queen.

"…"

"I'm sorry if I'm rushing it, but it's better if we just tell you straight the situation." – said Oron.

"It is related to the holy kingdom."

"They are apparently planning to go to war."

"…"

"A war?" – said the queen as she just looked down at her teacup.

"Let me guess, the holy kingdom wants to attack you?"

"Yes. That is the situation." – said GreyHunt.

"They are not even hiding it at all."

"They even as far as assassinating their own king's advisor who was against the war in such a sloppy way that it instantly exposed them as well…. Which makes things worrying as they are that desperate for the war."

"Really now?" – asked the queen.

"…"

"Excuse me if I'm sounding rude right now…. But by any chance were you already approached by the holy kingdom?" – asked GreyHunt.

"Yes, I was." – said the queen.

"They went and offered me a deal to join alliance against your nation."

"However, I didn't agree to it…. Yet that is."

"…"

"I see." – said GreyHunt.

(So, we need to provide better benefits of joining an alliance with us instead of them?) – thought GreyHunt.

"…"

"Well, if you would join their alliance, you would have no choice but to work together with your mortal enemies…. Urop."

"…" – the queen's hand twitched for the moment, which was noticed by GreyHunt in the corner of his eye,

"…"

"Please explain." – said the queen.

"As you wish…." – said Oron before then she started explaining the reasons why would the dwarves join the alliance with the holy kingdom, alongside the information about two other kingdoms that are eager to join alliance with the holy kingdom.

"…"

*Sigh*

"That make sense. These bastards are extremely greedy…." – said the queen with worried look.

"…"

"Well, that is the thing that the holy kingdom did not told me about…. And so, I won't make alliance with them."

"But, I won't also make an alliance with you."

"…"

"May we heard the reason?" – asked Oron.

"Simple, no benefits." – replied the queen.

"Why should we risk our lives for nothing in return?"

"…"

"But… It would be an different matter if you hand over the thing that we once made a deal for, Amelia."

"I know that Amelia had failed her original succession war and was forced to join your empire…. But did you by an chance heard what she offered us in exchange for providing her with help?"

"…I did heard what she had offered you." – said GreyHunt.

"Then this will make things much more easier to explain." - said the queen.

"I know that original deal had failed and everything, since she lost…. But if possible, I would like to renew the original one into an new…. Form per se."

"And that deal I would want to make with you this time."

"So, how about it?"

"Are you interested?"

While the talk with the elven queen continues, both ClownFrog and the werewolf chieftain were also granted an audience with the beastman king.

"So…. You are Dead One, eh?" – said the tall tiger beastman who was sitting on the throne, made out of fangs and blades.

"Yes, that is me." – said ClownFrog.

"And you must be King Leonidas."

"Indeed." – replied the beastman.

[King of the beastman nation – Leonidas War]

"Honestly, I would never have expected you to come here…. If it wasn't for the holy kingdom suddenly appearing and demanding audience with me before you got here." – said the beastman king.

"…"

"There is no use glaring at me like that, mate." – said the king.

"I've already said no to them."

"They even went as far as to threaten me, saying that they will destroy my kingdom if I dare to side with you."

"Pfffff!"

"They straight up said in my face that they only saw me and all of my people as tools!"

"They thought that if they threatened me with "might of heavens" would make me "bow my head'…. Disgusting bastards."

"…"

"I will get straight to the business."

"Considering how you, the emperor himself decided to show up alongside only one guy, it would suggest that you want to make your own alliance with us."

"And my answer?"

"I'm willing to consider it."

"…"

"So…. If you are willing to consider it…. What would you like to demand from the alliance? What would you want from at the end of it all?" – asked ClownFrog.

"…"

"The entire territory of the holy kingdom." – said the beastman king.

"?"

"Oh? And why is that?" – asked ClownFrog.

"Because of the fact that about half of their kingdom territory was once ours and these bastards made us suffer time and time again." – said the pissed off beastman king.

"THAT is the main condition for the alliance."

"We want to make sure that these guys are good as gone."

"…"

(Huh… I wasn't expecting this.) – thought ClownFrog.

Leonidas War.

A tiger beastman.

He is a son of the Waor War, a leader of the rebellion that once rebelled against the previous royal family who were known as cruel, greedy and overprideful jerks according to Amelia.

And that very same previous royal family was a close friend with the holy kingdom… According to Amelia, the previous royal family decided to become "slaves" to the holy kingdom out of their own free will in order to revel in riches.

Simply put, they cared more about their pockets than the fate of their own kingdom.

Because of that, the Waor War, the once highest ranking general of the kingdom had declared a rebellion and took over the kingdom, resulting in the previous royal family getting publicly executed.

Waor War was an excellent king, and he helped out in the kingdom's recovery.

As for his heir and current king? Leonidas War?

Well…. He is a good king… But according to Amelia, he is a hot head.

He is trying to rush things too much or deal with too many problems at once when he can't.

There was a chance he would reject our proposition from the get-go and it would have taken us some time before he would listen to us out.

(But by the looks of things, I wasn't worried at all.)

(If anything, the idea is thought through... Was Amelia mistaken about him?)

(Or maybe just somebody gave him this plan?)

(....Either way....)

"…"

"Well, your proposition sounds great…. If you want the holy kingdom territory, then it will be entirely yours." – said ClownFrog.

"However, it is better if we talk more about other things regarding this alliance, in order to make sure we are fine with each other."

"Very well." – said the beastman king.

…

HUH.

IT WAS WAY TOO EASY.

The alliance…. Was formed way easier than we all had thought?

Both sides are getting reasonable benefits.

The beastman king's demand WAS quite big, since he wanted a whole ass kingdom…. But for us it's quite good?

I mean, we really don't need the holy kingdom territory very badly and if anything, if this grows our relationship with them even bigger, then it could benefit us in a long run.

As for the two other small kingdoms? We can just take their territories or turn them into vassal kingdoms…. Things are looking good.

…

Expect for the elves.

All of us returned back home and held a meeting regarding the alliances…. And GreyHunt said this from the get go.

"So…. The elves won't work with us." – said GreyHunt.

"!"

"Wait, so does that mean they would work with the holy kingdom?!" – asked Tail.

"No…. They would not work with them." – said Amelia.

"Apparently, the holy kingdom approached the elves, just like you said they did with the beastman kingdom."

"However, they did not told them that they are possibly planning on doing an alliance with dwarves, which pissed off the queen a bit."

"…"

"She said she wouldn't join their alliance…. And she did gave us an offer where she can join an alliance with us."

"But her offer was outrageous." – said GreyHunt.

"I think she knew we would never accept her deal…. She was straight-up mocking us."

"…"

"So…. What did she wanted?" – asked Tail.

"…"

"She wanted 2 out of 3 great danger zones that are located in our empire."

"!"

"Wait, what?! Is she fucking mad!? There is no way we would accept it!" - said pissed off Shri.

"Does she know how much income does things gives us every day?! Even losing one would cost a fortune!"

"Yes…. And that is why I originally made a deal with her." – said Amelia.

"During the succession war, I've made a deal with her where I would hand over one of the great danger zones, [Mad Beast Garden]."

"I originally agreed to their deal…. However, since I've lost the war and ended up joining your side, the deal was null and void."

"I did proposed to hand over the great danger zone again to them, alongside letting them decide to take over a huge chunk of the dwarven kingdom…. That deal would have worked for them wonders, AND it would also make up for the previous deal."

"…"

"She knew that." – said GreyHunt.

"She knew if she were to take that deal, then everything she did before would had paid more than enough…. And yet she just chose to show us the middle finger."

"That bitch not only demanded the 2 great danger zones, but also other stuff…. To the point I could do nothing but to laugh."

"However…. That hostility was…. Weird."

"…"

"I don't trust her."

"She said that she may not join the alliance with the holy church…. But who is to say that she wouldn't just attack us on her own?"

"I will say it straight."

"I don't trust this bitch one bit… No."

"I honestly think we should prepare in case the elves decide to join the war on their own."

"…"

"As much as it pains me to say it…. I have to agree with GreyHunt." – said Amelia.

"The elves are planning something….. And it may be really a war."

"…"

"Well…." – said ClownFrog.

"This just turned out pretty…. Didn't it?"