The meeting between the ruler of Elves, Dwarves, and representatives of Humans progressed smoothly, thanks to Ayleen's ability to dig out information by exploring the memories of others upon meeting certain conditions.
In addition, apart from some doubtful information, similar to the existence of a Crimson Princess saw publicly, the details were trusted by the Queen of Elnira, as well as her equerry and other close trustworthy subordinates; and by the Dwarven King and also those under him.
"In all my life, I have experienced war against them nine times, in the span of 360 years, and this one will be the tenth. And in every war, there are only losses because of the lives that ceased to exist.
"Although it's impossible to have a war with zero casualties, I hope this time that it'll be minimized."
The Queen of Elnira spoke, glancing at each and every one in the meeting hall, but Russell inwardly told himself as he listened to the solemn tone…
'It'll minimize because of this alliance, but considering how pesky those vampires are, we have no choice but to join hands.'
"Furthermore, during the wars that I've fought, there's never been a time when a Crimson Princess was exposed or seen even by a low-ranking Vampire Commander. In other words, I can safely assume that there's something different about that Crimson Princess that you've seen in the memories of the vampire."
"...Can you tell us more about it? Aside from being royalty, what's the big deal about a Crimson Princess?"
Ayleen couldn't help but ask even though she was the one presenting the superficial information, at the very least.
"First of all, you need to know that there are 12 Vampire Clans, but each clan doesn't necessarily have a Crimson Princess. Although that's the case, I can say that there might be more than 9 of them.
"According to the ancient history of our race, especially those that were recovered from the old lands of the vampires before coming into this world, there's something called the Apostle of Crimson, which is prophesied to be chosen successfully clearing a series of challenges presented to the candidates. by the Crimson Goddess – their progenitor.
"That aside, it is said that only a Crimson Princess can be considered a candidate, but the selection of the Apostle of Crimson will only happen if each Vampire Clan has a Crimson Princess that can participate.
"But… even though it's been a long time, there's never been a case where 12 Crimson Princesses exist at the same time. It's either one came after another's death or the secret determiner to be considered a Crimson Princess is being kept hidden from others for some reason or perhaps both."
Russell meticulously listened to the information given by the Queen of Elnira, trying to find a fault that would he consider a deviation from what he knew that's written in his unpublished novel.
'So far, nothing's changed. But… is he on his bedtime?'
Russell, after some time of looking around since the start of the meeting, didn't see or even just feel the presence of the father of the Elven Queen, though he was aware that the queen's mother died in one of the wars against the vampires before even the occurrence of the Emergence.
"Hmm… if we take into consideration the nature of vampires based on your history, we can not rule out the possibility that some Crimson Princesses died even before the completion of 12 candidates. In other words, similar to us humans, we can say that there's a clan or clans among them that tend to get rid of a Crimson Princess.
"Since we don't know what will happen to the 12 Vampire Clans if the Apostle of Crimson is chosen, some of them might have thought that their powers will be centralized. And it's something that they do not want to happen."
This time, after a while, Artorious Hall voiced his opinion as he unintentionally, but successfully gathered everyone's attention.
"Ho… aren't ya ashamed of degrading your race by saying that those crimson punks are similar to yours in a way?"
The Dwarven King scoffed, but Artorious shrugged his reaction, waiting for the Elven Queen's perspective. Then after a few seconds of processing Artorious' words, the queen found it probable, but she added:
"We don't know if the birth of the Apostle of Crimson will be for good or destruction, but what's important right now is to become proactive and launch an attack first. If they're keeping the number of Crimson Princesses in check, then we should at least be grateful. However, if it depends on our ancient knowledge, something like an Apostle of the Crimson Goddess would do more harm than good."
"Whatever it may be, based on our agreement, I'd be providing some manpower and mostly weapons as it's our specialty."
The Dwarven King interjected, feeling that the so-called prophecy for the Vampires wouldn't pose much threat.
"Alright. Let's formulate the plan of preemptive strike according to the memories she had gathered."
Looking at Ayleen, the Queen just nodded to the Dwarven King.
Ayleen then continued as she spoke in a polite manner.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
***
After a few hours of inquiring about other confusions and formulating a plan on how to proceed from this moment onwards, the formal strategic meeting finally came to an end. It was now time to address the people behind the success of this mission.
"We formally introduce to Your Majesty, and the King of the Dwarves, the people behind the mission and the reason why we managed to possess valuable information that'd help us against the aggression of the vampires.
"They're a group of young mercenaries, but their skills proved that they're capable individuals."
Ayleen, in general, introduced them.
After that, Russell, who was sitting just beside Ayleen, stood up and bowed to the Elven Queen and the Dwarven King.
"It is my pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty, the Embodiment of Nature, and the Dwarven King, the Volcanic Craftsman."
"I'm Russell Moon, the leader of the Mercenary Group, Umbra."
As he addressed the two rulers of their respective kingdoms, he shifted his gaze to each of them. His deep blue eyes were calm, exuding a convivial atmosphere, even though his tone of politeness had a mix of seriousness and formality.
The two looked at them with suspicion upon hearing a modifier that should have been known yet by their respective races and not by a human that they just met at this point in time.
Before Freya could introduce herself, the Queen of Elnira asked Russell based on how he addressed her.
"Embodiment of Nature? Interesting, but what do you mean by that?"
Russell revealed a faint smile before answering without much thinking since he knew what to say in this situation.
"Your Majesty, as I looked around before my lowly self stood here before you, I've seen the happiness painted on the Elves, and the environment of your kingdom, for me, is all nature and serenity.
"And a thought struck me, Your Majesty. Their happiness and this environment must have come to the one who rules this kingdom and its people, who love nature and respects it as if it's the blessing of the Elven Goddess, whom I heard about as we proceeded in this mission."
<Oppa, stop being cringe. Why are you acting like that?! I'm about to burst out laughing!>
<Pfft.>
In his head, Freya and Amelie didn't contain themselves as they tried their best to remain serious as possible, especially in front of these big shots. In addition, for these two, Russell sounded like a poet, trying to court a woman who simply loved flowers.
Not minding the mockery he would get, Russell continued, but this time, he addressed the Dwarven King before this man managed to ask the same curiosity he was feeling.
"King of the Dwarves, as I saw your kin fighting in the tournament, I realized how advanced your kind could create.
"And based on the geographical location of your kingdom, I believe you're the one who can handle fire more than anyone else. That's why this lowly man referred to you as the Volcanic Craftsman."
A few seconds after Russell spoke those words, the Dwarven King scrutinized him as he boisterously cackled.
"HAHAHA-!! I adore your perspectives, young man!"
"Hmm..."
The Queen's gaze seemed to have been nailed on him.
'Oh, come on! Don't pry further and give us our rewards! Perhaps getting formal is a bit much, but it's not like we can act casually, though.'
Russell inwardly lampooned.
After that, the introduction proceeded.
"Greetings, I'm Freya Moon, the younger sister of our leader."
Somewhat nervous, Freya managed to contain her demeanor.
Then, the last one introduced herself, gathering the attention of everyone.
"It's my pleasure, I'm Samantha Hall. A member of Umbra Mercenary and the only daughter of Artorious Hall."
***
"Oh...? I see the resemblance, indeed."
The Queen focused on Samantha, who then just smiled at her words.
"Alright. It's been a long night, so we should proceed in granting all of you a reward."
"But before that..."
The Elven Queen looked at Ayleen as the former shifted her gaze to Artorious, who barely spoke. Understanding the meaning behind the queen's gaze, Ayleen spoke to Samantha's father.
"Sir Artorious, before we proceed, is there something you want to say?"
"Hmm. I think it'll be better after this meeting."
As the Elven Queen and the Dwarven King didn't voice any questions, the distribution of rewards then started.
***
"Russell, Samantha, and everyone who's part of this mission, based on the agreement we've had, each of you will be granted a wish as long as it's within the powers of Your Majesty, the King of the Dwarves, and the Obelisk Organization."
Without hesitation, Russell raised his right hand after hearing Ayleen.
"Uh, excuse me. Can this reward be saved up for later?"
'I'm planning to claim this by knowing the details of what happened to one of the queen's subordinates after the 2 World Announcements just because the Egg didn't get enough attention from me.'
Russell muttered to himself, recalling the ridiculous scenario where some True Ancient Constellations had cast their gazes on Earth just because the mysterious Egg didn't receive enough comfort from its master.
"That will be alright."
The Elven Queen said in a soft voice.
'Thank you for that. I have two favors to be utilized sooner.'
He muttered, somewhat grateful to the Elven Queen. One of the two favors was when he requested Artorious to turn a blind eye when he committed a certain crime in the future – about breaking out "Lunaria" from the secret facility of Obelisk Organization.
Because there were no objections from the Dwarven King and Artorious Hall, receiving the fruits for mission accomplishment continued.
***
"How about you, Samantha? What do wish or want to have?"
Upon hearing Ayleen, she pondered for a moment before responding in a serious manner.
"I wish to obtain information about the Towers."
Her words confused everyone.
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