Reborn as the First Boss, Chapter 127 (Patreon)

Chapter 127 – Audience

Once the King had eaten his lunch, he sequestered himself in a side room, and started summoning people for private audiences. The barons each got a private meeting, as well as the bishops from each of the churches represented during the ceremony earlier. The reason the barons got private audiences was obvious, but the fact that the church leaders got an audience was surprising, considering the pact that ensured a clear separation between church and state in Dascora.

At least, it was surprising on the face of it. Once you considered things for more than a moment, though, the reasoning became clear. This ceremony was not just political theater. It was also a chance for the king to meet and interact with the leaders in his lands, in a way that was ‘natural’, and did not feel like a summons from the crown. Those kinds of meetings were essential if you wanted to actually know what was going on in your lands, and figure out problems before they started.

While the audiences were not wholly political theater, there was a bit of political gamesmanship going on with who got seen in what order. It wasn’t strictly a ‘most important people first’ or ‘leave the good stuff to the end’ situation, or anything like that. Rather, the challenge was balancing the representatives from the seven churches and the six baronies, to make sure that no one believed that they were being slighted, or that the churches were being lumped together too much, and so on.

I was the last meeting. Considering the fact that I was going to be taking part in a ritual on the King’s orders later that night, something that everyone had heard the King proclaim during the earlier session, that was not surprising. There would be details to work out, things that could not be easily spoken of in public. The fact that I was the youngest and newest of the barons, while also being the highest-leveled, added to the care the king needed to devote to this meeting, in the eyes of the other movers and shakers in the kingdom. Of course, they did not know about my true nature, even though the King had almost certainly been informed, by now. Which meant this was the perfect chance for him to have a private conversation with me, without looking as if he was playing favorites.

The audience was in a private room, with only the King, Princess Mariun, and myself, while the King’s Consort had her first taste of playing hostess back in the main hall. King Sewell waited long enough for the servant to set up a bottle of wine and some glasses and then retreat before he spoke. “Well, Baroness, I must say that I’ve been wanting to make your acquaintance ever since I started hearing about the Goblin Hero, but there was no way to make the meeting happen so quickly without looking as though I were either playing favorites, or calling a noblewoman who defended her territory in for a reprimand. Neither impression is exactly favorable to the Crown, obviously.”

“I can imagine,” I chuckled. “And afterwards, things were moving too quickly, so the Anniversary was the first ‘natural’ chance for a meeting, yes?”

King Sewell nodded easily as he sipped his wine. “You are well versed in politics for one who came to our world so recently.”

I smiled at him, and said, “You may have magic, inhuman creatures, and this Voice of the World, but people, at the end of the day, are still people. Once you know that, you can work with things. Of course, having the [Diplomacy], [Sense Motive], and [Leadership] skills through the Voice of the World makes that even easier. And that is without accessing any of my abilities through different skills granting me additional knowledge.”

I shook my head slowly. “At this point, I think it serves both our ends to be as honest as possible. Or at least to say no lies to each other. As I told the Princess, becoming an enemy of Dascora does not serve me in any way, and we both know that I am powerful enough that Dascora making me an enemy would be a fatal miscalculation for the Kingdom. Beyond the not inconsiderable damage I could do, there is also the truth that, if I were made into an enemy of Dascora, I would not be here to help defend the country from the Theocracy or the Demons, should they make a move in force.”

“Blunt, and to the point, but without attempting offense to anyone who is not looking to be flattered and fawned upon. Just as the reports said.” King Sewell chuckled. “This, I can work with. And probably more easily than other options. And your stated goals, according to my sister, are to simply make Windwater prosper, and do so in a way that is not stealing from the rest of Dascora to make it happen. If you’d wanted to seize the throne, you could have done so before now, and no one would have been able to stop you. Yes, I can work with this.”

“And I offer connections beyond Dascora, as well,” I added. “My recent trip has put me in friendly contact with the Farstriders of Bikar, including the current Hero, and with the Lord Mayor of Crystalshield, which opens up other options, as you may expect. And I bear the blessings of both Zetar and Krenrena, which are two churches definitively unaligned with the Theocracy, and I just had an interesting chat with a Videa-touched Priestess who apparently got a vision from her goddess saying that she would keep my secrets since I’ve been entertaining to her, and the Succubus Queen.”

That got a laugh out of Princess Mariun. “I wondered how long it would take one of the churches to reach out to you. The fact that it was Videa… well, even if this priestess does not have any official position in the church, the churches always keep their god-touched close. They are, after all, descendants of the gods. So, that offers a connection to Videa’s church, and a possible route into the Theocracy, if one were to look in that direction.”

“All the more reason to cement a friendship between our Baroness and the Crown,” King Sewell nodded. “Though I would rather keep the Theocracy at a distance, rather than trying to involve Dascora in its affairs. A defensive battle, or even a counterattack, where we respond to overt actions taken? This much is fine. But if we start a conflict, and invade the Theocracy, then we will have to constantly watch the churches behind us, to ensure that they are not going to get swept up in a ‘holy war’ against us. That is a set of problems we are not yet ready to handle.”

The princess raised an eyebrow. “Yet, brother?”

“Yet. You are the one who always tells me to consider the future. And the reality is that General Helecan mentioned the Lesser Dragon skeleton that Baroness Pureheart offered to turn into an undead, which will be a substantial power boost to the Northern Reaches. Then, the Baroness and her party are all Tier 2, and that includes a Lesser Frost Dragon. And finally, whether or not the Baroness’s firstborn child is born a dragon, there is no doubt that they will be incredibly powerful. And, assuming that the fates do not frown upon them, they will grow to be more powerful still. Which means that Dascora will be more powerful, in that future. Perhaps powerful enough that taking down the Theocracy without giving them enough time to force the churches in our lands to call a crusade will be possible.”

I chuckled. “I’m glad you’re so enthusiastic.”

“It was be enthusiastic or try and fight the tide. And I have more sense than to try fighting the tide. Especially after everything you’ve done so far.”

“True,” I nodded.

Princess Mariun took a breath, and said, “So, since we have you alone, there are a couple things we should discuss. Your [Bed of Skills] ability is very interesting, since it appears that giving someone the skill temporarily allows them to later purchase the skill as a General Skill. Did you know that?”

“Yes, though I haven’t had much use for playing around with the skill, until our liaison. Those kinds of things add way too many questions to the mix, usually, so I keep those abilities quiet, for the most part. Why do you ask?”

The king took a breath, and said, “Because there is a chance that you have some skills that I would like, and I may have some skills that would benefit you. Especially considering tonight’s ritual.”

“Which is the second thing,” Mariun nodded. “What about the [Skill Stealing Ritual] mentioned during the opening ceremonies? Could you use it on the fallen god during your ritual tonight, to squeeze more power out of the fallen god’s corpse before sending his spirit on to his angrier brother.”

I took a breath, and said, “I would not advise the [Skill Stealing Ritual]. The other gods, those from the human pantheon, at least, will be watching. They will not appreciate our wounding a god’s soul and their divinity like that. My other abilities, such as the Black Widow title, [Bed of Skills], and the effects of a sacrificial dagger I own? These could be used without issue.”

“Speaking of wounding divinity,” Sewell said, “what about the ritual itself? You said it would keep too much of the divinity from being lost, or settling on the one conducting the ritual. What risks are there of that?”

“I am blessed by both Zetar and Krenrena. The majority of the divinity not kept by Eztar would flow to them. But I will likely end up absorbing some of it, likely taking on a title, or possibly more than one. But it would not be the same as if we did something like this without the rite, where there would be a chance that I could be raised to the level of a demigoddess, if not divinity outright.”

“And before you get any ideas, brother, the Voice of the World is almost certainly going to put out at least a couple Global Announcements when this happens. If Pureheart becomes a goddess, not only would we lose her as Baroness, but everyone would know about it. There’s no way that doesn’t blow up in our faces like a drunken alchemist’s laboratory.”

The king sighed, but didn’t look to be too put out. “Yes, yes, I know. An idle fancy, but I understand it would cause too much trouble, especially with the churches, and the whole reason we’re going to be doing the ritual is in order to get out of this situation with as little ‘trouble’ as possible.”

He turned his gaze to me, and asked, “What about this [Bed of Skills] ability? If you get something good from the Fallen God, would you be willing to share with my sister and I?”

I smiled wickedly, “Oh, your Majesty! Are you asking me to have a three-way with you and your sister, before your Consort is even made Queen?”

Princess Mariun burst out laughing. “You forget, brother, that our Baroness Pureheart is actually Mhyrsha Shadowsoul, the first Greater Angelic Succubus. I’m sure she would be more than happy to take the form of your favorite stableboy, with or without some extra equipment.”

“Ah, then don’t worry, your Majesty, I have good news about your bride-to-be. She’s able to create magic tattoos, and she placed a tattoo of a Greater Angelic Succubus on her flesh, taking up the same item slot as a belt. One of the abilities the tattoo gave her was [Shapeshifting]. So, she’ll be able to ‘adjust’ herself to match your interests, or perhaps guide you to whole new ones. And that is before she starts putting ink on you.”

The King seized upon my words like a life raft, and said, “Wait, are you saying that the Longchaser sister knows about what you are?”

“Yes, though other than the two of you, and the merchant spy Shadescar in Crystalshield, the only others who know that truth are bound to my service, or are some of the Farstriders of Bikar, who are in the same unit as the Hero. So, they aren’t likely to go spilling my secrets.”

Mariun grinned. “I can’t wait to see the results of the ritual tonight.”