[VRMMO] Dead One

"So, wait." – said Blueberry.

"Is that tomb of the lich lord something like a dungeon of sorts?"

"Well…. Something like that." – replied ClownFrog.

"Do you know about 'Dead Land'?"

"Who doesn't know?" – replied Blueberry.

"One of the biggest hunting grounds in the game where monsters ranging from the lowest level to highest are gathered."

"Apparently that place is considered a 'Hell difficulty', no matter what level you are."

"But the EXP and drops you could possible get from that place is something everybody wants."

"Then do you know the origins of that place?" – asked ClownFrog.

"?"

"No? That place has one?" – replied Blueberry.

"It does." – said ClownFrog.

"Simple put, the entire Dead Land, it was once upon time a giant forest, a forest that housed one of the greatest World Tress there as well."

"A elven forest."

"So, how did the beautiful and massive elven forest ended up being completely killed and turned into Dead Land?"

"The answer? The elf from the Elder Forest Elf race."

"The elf that would betray his own kind for power and would sacrifice the World Tree for the power, turning himself into the Lich Lord."

"The Dead Land was his creation, his birthplace and the place where he met his doom."

"Honestly, I've tried to look into that place, since let's be honest."

"A necromancer like would never let go of a chance of investigating that place."

"But, nothing came up."

"And anything that was there was already looted by the other necromancer players."

"And anything even more important was looted before players came to this world by the NPCs."

"So, that place should had become nothing more than a ginormous kingdom sized hunting ground with nothing left in it."

"But as it turned out, there is something that wasn't taken."

"Something that is hidden in the temple of the Lich Lord."

"A temple that shouldn't be real."

"And yet, they are telling me that there is one AND that isn't looted."

"Not only that, but the Dead Land isn't exactly owned by anybody, meaning that anybody could go in and out from that place."

"Honestly speaking, any gear or items or maybe material that could be used to upgrading my next evolution from that place would be massive."

"But is she telling the truth?" – asked Blueberry.

"Definitely. If she would lie to me, then the deal would end up instantly nulled and it would instead make us into their enemies." – replied ClownFrog.

"But the question is 'WHY'."

"Why are they willing to give me that kind of informations?"

"They are already willing to give me method of archiving the high dragonian form."

"And with the amount of sacrifices we have from the criminals, we could conduct the elder lich transformation."

"Is she dumb?"

"Or maybe she realizes what she is doing…. Or more specific, the king of her clan?"

"She must had definitely contacted him after our last meeting."

"He must had been the one who told her about the offer."

"…"

"Maybe….. This is just theory." – said Blueberry.

"But maybe they want to contribute to your next evolution?"

"Like – 'your current power is owned to us'. They want to make a big deal out of this."

"Honestly, this is either a pure desperation type move…. Or they are planning something else."

"From what is known on the interment, the clans that are ruling that dragon empire aren't exactly untied."

"Some people are whispering some stuff about 'war' or 'conflicts', but I doubt most of these talks are real….. Most I say."

"Hm….. Maybe there is something about it." – said ClownFrog.

"If they were to give me that kind of informations, the other clans would realize that my new form was the doing of their clan."

"It could end up provoking or even worsening relationship with the other clans."

"Honestly speaking? This deals now looks way worse if they are doing that kind of thing."

"They maybe trying to rob us into their conflict between clans...."

"But there is something that they may have forgotten…. Or maybe that princess haven't told her papa what his stupid son did."

"!"

"Oh….. You want a 'hush money'?" – asked Blueberry with smile.

"Yea." – replied ClownFrog.

"If the deal would fail, they fear that the other clans would get ahead of them and offer up a better deal."

"Not only that, but if the situation regarding the dragon prince who tried to both assassinate me and assault me during the negotiation talks without being provoke in any way or form, how would the dragon empire react?"

"How handpicked envoy of their would end up making the clan be seen as?"

"There are two possibilities right now."

"First is that she hasn't told the king about his foolish son behavior and she is trying to protect him."

"Or the deal with the Lich Lord tomb includes the hush money."

"Depending on whenever or not she has told her king about what he has done, the deal may end up signific changing if not be completely abandoned all together."

"…"

"By the way, what….. Well….. Em…."

"About the political marriage?" – asked Blueberry.

"Honestly, after I've heard how it works with the dragons as well…. Well, you are extremely high status and everything, so honestly that whole political marriage talk does make sense now."

"It still does feel odd, I mean…. Hm….. Honestly, I still don't know HOW exactly I feel about this."

"But….. Well….. I think I understand your position and I think…..I think I will be fine if you take her as political wife?"

"Only as political wife." – said ClownFrog.

"You are my empress, aren't you?"

"Oh. You son of a bitch." – replied smiling Blueberry.

"Come here!"

[2 days later.]

"Sorry for calling you so soon, but by the looks of things the decision about your proposition was considered much faster than we had thought." – said ClownFrog after calling back the dragon princess.

"No need to worry about this, your majesty." – said the dragon princess.

"Thank you for understand." – said ClownFrog.

"Now about the deal, I'm going to be honest… I'm considering accepting it."

"!"

(Wait! So, the deal really-)

"But! I want to know one thing!" – said ClownFrog.

"Does your king knows about your brother behavior?"

"I'm not spying on you or anything, but based on your actions from back then, I somewhat understood that you must had made contact with dragon king and asked about what you could possible offer me."

"But the question right now is."

"Is the deal includes the 'shush money'?" Is the deal is also about silencing me?"

"Or does the dragon even know what his son did?"

"…"

"Yes…. He is aware of it." – said the dragon princess with straight face.

"?"

(She did?) – thought surprised ClownFrog.

(Honestly, I was wondering about whenever or not tell the king about this….. But after understanding what kind of person ClownFrog is, hiding the truth from the king would end up causing way too much damage beyond anybody control.) – thought angry dragon princess.

(King…. He didn't said anything…. But I know it will end badly for my brother….)

(But it had to be done.)

"…"

"So, the deal about Lich Lord tomb is so good that it would count as 'hush money' as well? To make sure that I'm kept silenced about the whole incident?"

"Or does your king has something else in mind that would shut me up?"

"Or what about possibility of me rejecting your deal?"

"Do you have something that would shut me up?"

"The dragon king is considering the offer of the informations regarding the tomb of the Lich Lord as valuable enough…. But if it isn't enough, we are willing considering giving a 'gift' in the name of peace." – replied dragon princess.

"…"

(Well, this should had been a personal "gift" and not something major.) – thought ClownFrog.

(But considering how she had all answers prepared shows how desperate they are to secure the deal.)

(….)

(Should I push more?)

(Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if other dragon clans were already trying to make contact with us…. And they are desperate to end this talk before it turns into conflict between the clans.)

(But if I were to 'wait' or try and extort more from them, it could end up starting off our official relationship as very sour…. It could also give the entire dragon empire a bad impression of us.)

"…"

"Tell you what." – said ClownFrog.

"Do you have communication orb with you? Or any communication device that can connect me with your king?"

"If so, bring it out. I want to talk with him."

"…"

"Yes, I do have it on me." – said the dragon princess before then taking out a sphere shaped device and activating it.

"…"

"Your majesty. The emperor ClownFrog wishes to talk with you directly." – said the dragon princess as soon as the device activated.

"Is that so?" – said the voice from the orb.

"Greetings, ruler of the Pyrgos clan." – said ClownFrog.

"My name is emperor ClownFrog Phobos, ruler of the Garog empire."

"I've heard about the proposition about the 'friendly relationship' and what you are willing to offer in exchange for forming the bond and having me marry your daughter as my political wife."

"I'm willing to accept your offer."

"BUT!"

"Before I even dare to accept, I need to confirm something."

"I don't know the true value of the tomb of the Lich Lord."

"What I want right now, before the deal closes, is for me to get right now informations about that tomb of the Lich Lord and possible investigate it, before I would accept your deal official."

"I need to confirm its value."

"You probably understand where this is coming from."

"So, what do you say?"

"If the tomb is really valuable enough as you make it sound, I will accept the deal."

"But if turns out as sham, then you know what will happened."

"How about this?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I understand." – said the dragon king.

"I will provide you with informations about the tomb."