"Once again, thank you for granting me a opportunity for this meeting." – said the princess Azr'rao.
"Well, it would had been better if we held our little conversation face to face, instead of using communication orbs." – said king Gravar.
"…"
"Okay. Let us drop the bullshit formalities and get right down the business."
"Why is the enemy like you talking with me? What do you want?"
"…"
"I want to form an alliance between us against the holy empire." – said the princess.
"…"
"And why is that?" – asked king Gravar.
"Why is a ally of the holy empire, a friend of an aggressor is trying to join hands with us?"
"Ha! A friend!? More like pet!" – replied princess.
"Those bastard are not seeing us people, but as convenient animals."
"And they are already planning on exterminating us."
"!"
(The holy empire plans on getting rid of merfolk?) – though Gravar.
(But that doesn't make sense.)
(The holy empire NEEDS them.)
(Even if they would win the war and conquer this continent, it would be extremely crucial for them to use the merfolk to transport both goods and people.)
(Especially during the winter, they need the merfolk help…. And yet she is saying that the empire is planning on betraying them?)
(….)
(Sounds like a lie to me.)
"And how can I trust you?"
"No hard feelings…. But honestly, the empire needs you."
"And I highly doubt it that they would just exterminate a useful "tool" that they would need now and later."
"Because we are useful right now, yes." – said the princess.
"But because we are also weak."
"Our kingdom was almost destroyed by the armies of hell and their worshipers."
"Over half of our population was killed, while the remaining people were either terrified or injured."
"My father, the king, bowed his head to the holy emperor and asked for the assistance."
"With the assistance of the holy empire we were able to rebel the forces of hell…. But at the same time, the king became a willing slave that also sold his entire kingdom in order to secure our future."
"…"
"But in reality? He is a coward… He is scared and will do anything to survive, saying stuff that it is for our kingdom and such."
"And the holy empire knows it."
"But this isn't all."
"Right now, we are weak because of the war we had with the demons."
"But once the time passes, we will be able to restore our lost strength and this is something that empire does not want."
"They want to "MILK OUT" any usefulness we have and then get rid of us before we became problem."
"We are not worshipers of the gods of either heavens or hell. We are also not part of the whole organization you are part of."
"We are just neutrals."
"But because we are just neutrals, the empire sees us as "animals"."
"…"
(True…. But also, not truth.) – thought Gravar.
(Merfolk kingdom are usually neutral kingdoms.)
(And one of most neutral, the true neutral kingdom would be Wiu kingdom.)
(Attacking and destroying that kind of kingdom would damage and leave a massive scar on the holy empire as well as heavens reputation.)
(I just don't see it.)
(The merfolk maybe really just "pets" and "tools" in the eyes of the holy empire, but exterminating them?)
(This out questions.)
(Church's and gods gain more power and authority the more {faith} they possess.)
(And those actions? They would definitely hit the empire.)
"…"
(She maybe trying to deceive me.)
(Maybe empire is trying to trick us while using her as their puppet?)
(I really can't trust a word she says.)
"…"
"Can you prove it?" – asked Garav.
"Can you prove that you really are not some puppet of empire in this very moment?"
"You are asking for the help, but honestly speaking, everything you said up to this point could be a lie."
"We know what you and your people did, everybody does."
"So, give me a good reason or anything right now."
"Or I'm ending this call right this instance."
"…"
"Hearth Of Molten Inferno." – said the princess.
"?"
"What?" – asked Garav.
"A artifact of the dwarves, hidden in the deepest depths of the volcano that is a center of your kingdom."
"On the very bottom of that magma, there is a artifact."
"A artefact of the demon god that was once worshiped by the dwarves."
"Not many people knows about its existence and maybe even you are not aware of it."
"The holy empire wants that artefact."
"…"
"And why is that? Why would they want a supposable unknown artefact that nobody knows a existence of?" – asked Garav.
"To save the goodness of beauty and fire." – said the princess.
"The goodness Akima is dying."
"…"
"What?" – asked Garav.
[Few hours later.]
"Okay, so let me summarize." – said "Kid" as he was suddenly called by Garav and held a meeting right after ending the original meeting with the princess.
"You or more exactly, SHE is saying that the goodness of beauty and fire is slowly dying?"
"I've….. I've never heard anything about that."
"…"
"All though, it would make sense if you think about it."
"The heavens, especially the mother of light as well as the holy kingdom would make sure that the news regarding the "dying" state of goodness Akima remains hidden."
"But how does she found out about it?"
"I bet the empire would never tell her about it…. And the dwarves would had long ago gave us informations about the so called a "Hearth Of Molten Inferno"."
"No matter how I look at it…. She is saying stuff she is supposed to not know… Or she would had died ages ago."
"Yes…. Honestly, I think the entire story is bullshit as well as her reasoning." – said Garav.
"But…. The whole thing about the artefact and the goodness status did made me question something…. And honestly, it would make sense."
"It would explain why the holy empire is so desperate to conquer this continent and why they are spending so much resources on this entire operation."
"The more I started asking questions and using the informations she provided, it started making more and more sense….. Expect for one thing."
"The holy empire betraying merfolk."
"That part does not make any lick of sense to me."
"…"
"Same here.... Nope. I can't see it either." – said "Kid".
"There is really no logical reason to betray and exterminate the merfolk."
"This part is nagging me…."
"And also, why the hell the goodness is suddenly dying?"
"If the organization did that, the informations would spread like wild fire and the culprit would not only gain support but also power…. So, I doubt it was anybody from our side."
(During the war between the organization and her church, she was not only defeated multiple times, with both of the Holy Vessels she had created being stolen by us…. But she was exposed word wide, making people see her evil nature that was hidden behind lies.)
(It would make more sense for her to just lose her status as goodness instead of dying.)
(…. Or maybe she is "dying", since she is losing her status of a god bit by bit? Maybe that is what the merfolk princess meant by "dying"?)
"…"
"Either way, we can't be sure if that informations is even correct."
"Actually, there is one more thing." – said Garav.
"She told me about the empire orders."
"She said that the empire ordered merfolk to attack us from behind via sea."
"They plan on spreading our forces to deal with the chaos caused by them."
"…"
"A attack… Huh?" – said "Kid".
"…"
(Honestly, this is bad.)
(If they were really to attack us from behind, it could prove fatal.)
"Did she told you where the attack would be made?"
"Yes, she gave me all the details of their plan." – said Garav.
"…"
"But can we trust those details?" – asked "Kid".
(One thing would be if the information was fake and there would be no attack what so ever… But another if the information was half true.)
(Like, she told us about the attack, but she did not told us correctly where the attack would really happened.)
"…"
(Should we gable and trust them?)
(But the chances of her manipulating and lying to us is pretty high as well.)
"…"
"The artefact, what about it? Do you know where exactly it is?"
"No… We would need to search it thoroughly in order to find it." – said Garav.
"Not only that, but the "Molten Blood" would easily melt any protective suits we have if we were to try diving so deep into that lava."
"The only ones that could do it would had been probably the priest that fallowed that demon god…. But they were all executed."
"So we really don't have any ways of confirming if she is saying truth or not…. Eh?"
"…"
"Wait…. What about the attack?"
"Can't she call it off?"
"…"
"Well… She said she can't but also can." – said Garav.
"The order was issued by the king himself."
"She cannot really call off the attack… Unless she rebels."
"And once she rebels, the empire would then attack."
"The only way for her to call off the attack would be per deal, "JOIN ALLIANCE WITH US" and provide the merfolk a temporarily shelter until they can find themselves a new home."
"That is the deal they are offering."
"…"
"So, even more gambles, eh?" – said "Kid".
"Fan-fucking-tastic."
"…"
(The question is, what do we do?)
(Do we take the deal with the merfolk?)
(Or do we reject their deal?)
(Either option is a gamble…. And honestly speaking, both gambles have the same success rate.)
(God dammit….. This is really annoying situation, isn't it?)