Spirit And Council

Although we had suddenly arrived at the central town of Gigil-Po without contacting them beforehand, the dwarves treated us more politely than expected.

While we were resting at the inn Cougar had reserved, a messenger from the council visited the inn not long after we arrived and guided us to the guest house.

It did feel rather hectic, but the other side must have prepared with all their might, so I had no complaints.

Well, I was surprised that after our sudden visit, they prepared everything in about the amount of time we had spent resting a little at the hotel, and then someone came to receive us.

Despite their appearances, dwarves were quite light on their feet… no, that was discriminatory.

However, it was true that their response was nimble… I had thought a council system would move much more slowly… Was it that? Was it because I remembered seeing councils that only kept pursuing the same kinds of responsibility forever, just with a lot of people?

Setting that aside… that was not the only thing that surprised me.

For some reason, the neatly dressed dwarf who welcomed us at the hotel also welcomed us at the guest house.

No, in reality, he was a different person from the one who had welcomed us at the hotel… he was his twin older brother.

When I heard him, his voice sounded the same too, so I thought he was the same person and ended up asking, and that was what I was told. Identical twins, then… DNA was amazing… to think even their hairstyles and clothing would be the same…

No, this was no time to say foolish things.

After spending the night at the guest house, the next day… in other words, today, we had been invited to the assembly hall where the dwarves’ council was being held.

“I heard from Cougar, but they move even faster than I expected.”

Yesterday, Cougar had investigated the state of the town chiefs’ meeting, and apparently, since they did not know what we had come here for, they did not know how to respond… so they decided to quickly hear directly from us first, then decide how to respond afterward.

Since they had no information about us, that was likely their only option, but they reached that conclusion quite quickly.

Apparently, that meeting had been held while every participant drank so much alcohol they were practically bathing in it…

I had often heard that dwarves loved alcohol, but… important figures of a country drinking alcohol during a meeting… in Japan, that would not merely cause a scandal. It would be an inferno.

“Fels-sama personally came here. A swift response can only be called natural.”

That might be true inside our country, but in another country… no, if it was a country that knew Einheria well, I could understand that response, but it seemed the dwarves knew almost nothing about Einheria. If anything, wasn’t it due to the impatient nature of the dwarves… no, of the town chiefs?

The fact that they had held a meeting all night, even while drinking alcohol, was worthy of admiration… but for some reason, Cougar had confirmed at least ten occasions where fistfights broke out during the meeting.

Well, they did fight with their fists, but it was reassuring that winning by brute strength did not mean one’s argument would be accepted… was that really reassuring?

Although the exchanges clearly had problematic content for something taking place in an assembly hall, thanks to the long meeting they held, we were able to learn what the dwarves were currently troubled by, so we were lucky.

Frankly, our negotiation cards had increased tremendously, and unless the other side ran off into emotional arguments, I did not think we could lose.

The uncertain factor was… the dwarves were emotional enough to start fights immediately, so the question was whether I could handle that well.

“For our part, their swift response is helpful. Now, I will basically handle the exchange with the dwarves, but Otonoha, when the conversation turns technical, I will direct it toward you, so please handle it. Also, Bangagonga, rather than negotiations, let them hear about things like how the goblins live in Einheria. I intend to bring the conversation toward that too, but if the flow seems like you can join in, enter at your own discretion.”

“Sure thing!”

“Understood.”

At my words, Otonoha nodded powerfully, while Bangagonga nodded with a slightly tense look.

“Lynferia, Renge. I ask you to do as usual.”

“Understood.”

“Got it. I’ll sleep—”

“No sleeping during the meeting.”

Without letting her finish, I spoke over Renge’s line… and for some reason, Renge gave a small smile.

“Then I’ll stay alert during the meeting.”

Renge lightly tapped her own chest with an expression that seemed to say, “Leave it to me.”

For some reason, she looked slightly proud… well, she seemed motivated, so I would not say anything.

“As for Cougar…”

“I’ll protect Fels-sama from the shadows as usual.”

“…I see.”

Ururu was the same, but… our diplomats did not often show themselves at diplomatic occasions… no, during the exchange with the Lufelon Holy Kingdom the other day, Ururu had been there too… though I felt like she had not said anything in particular.

Well, they were all capable, so it was fine… but sometimes I did think we should change the job title of diplomat.

As I looked at Cougar and thought about such things with deep feeling, the door was knocked, and I heard the voice of the sharp-looking dwarf who had been taking care of us since yesterday.

“Everyone from Einheria, I apologize for the long wait. If you are ready, I shall guide you to the meeting hall. Would that be acceptable?”

The people in the room turned their gazes toward me, and when I nodded, Lynferia spoke toward the door… incidentally, Cougar had already vanished from the room.

“There is no problem. Guide us.”

“Certainly. Pardon me.”

With the same gentle smile as ever, the sharp-looking dwarf opened the door.

He really was a perfect butler… though I doubted he was actually a butler.

Come to think of it, we did not have a butler… In terms of appearance, Arandor seemed like he would fit, but… there was no way I could make the Grand General a butler.

Kiriku also seemed like he would suit a young butler character… should I send Kiriku a butler-like tuxedo next time?

Without letting even a hint of those pointless thoughts show, I maintained an Overlord-like attitude as I was guided to the meeting hall where the town chiefs were.

Now then, although I had plenty of negotiation cards, failure was not permitted for Einheria’s future.

Time to go into this with spirit!

View of Galgad-Ebo-Suyan, Gigil-Po Town Chiefs’ Council Member, Chairman

Basically, we town chiefs held meetings once every two months.

The state of those meetings could truly be described as heated debate, and it was not uncommon for things to ultimately be settled through fists. No, rather, one fight per agenda item was on the low side.

That meeting hall, which always showed such a chaotic state, was completely silent.

The cause went without saying.

It was probably because, for the first time in Gigil-Po’s history, races other than dwarves had stepped into this meeting hall.

Four humanfolk and one goblin.

It was not rare for humanfolk to visit Gigil-Po, but was this not the first time in several hundred years that a goblin, a member of the same fairy-folk, had visited Gigil-Po?

At the very least, since I reached adulthood, I had never seen a goblin.

Well, to call him a goblin was somewhat… no, he was unbelievably enormous… However, the humanfolk who radiated an even more overwhelming presence than that giant goblin was the true person responsible for making this meeting hall fall silent.

After that person introduced himself as the king of Einheria, he apologized for the sudden visit, then stated his thanks for our swift response.

His words were haughty, but they were not discourteous, and rather, the way he spoke in easy-to-understand terms was favorable to us.

However, the overwhelming aura released by the king of Einheria made us more tense than anything else possibly could.

When I had been invited as a guest of honor to ceremonies in the Kingdom of Sorakil and the Kingdom of Kugarlan after being requested several times, I had opportunities to see the kings of both countries, and including changes in reign, I had also had opportunities to speak directly with about five kings.

Certainly, compared to other humanfolk, they also had presence and something like intimidation.

But this was completely different from those kings… that overwhelming presence, as if I were facing an accursed dragon, was natural, yet it clearly made me feel something like a difference in rank.

That was why this assembly hall was now completely silent.

Seeing us frozen like that, the king of Einheria opened his mouth.

“I have heard that you gentlemen are the leaders of this Gigil-Po, the town chiefs of each town. Is that correct?”

Damn it, as chairman, I should have taken the initiative!

“Indeed, King Fels of Einheria. I am Galgad-Ebo-Suyan, serving as chairman. Please call me Galgad. And the one sitting at the end is…”

I introduced each of the town chiefs seated at the round table one by one.

Normally, the twelve town chiefs sat around this round table with plenty of room, but today, twelve people were gathered on one half of the round table, so it was a little cramped. Even so, it was not as if our shoulders were touching.

The reason this round table, normally used by only twelve people, had been made this large was… it had long been said that if discussions were held within arm’s reach, they would immediately develop into fistfights and make no progress.

Incidentally, the center of the round table was carved out in a circle, and the rule of this council was that if one wanted to fistfight, one did it there… but honestly, I absolutely did not want to fistfight the king of Einheria.

While thinking about such things, I finished introducing everyone and immediately decided to bring up the main topic.

“Now then, King Fels of Einheria. Would you tell us what business brought you personally to this Gigil-Po?”

“Indeed. I will be straightforward. My country, Einheria, wishes to borrow Gigil-Po’s strength.”

“Gigil-Po’s strength? What exactly does that refer to?”

“Technical skill. I wish to borrow the skills of dwarf engineers.”

Seeing the king of Einheria say that powerfully, I inwardly sighed… and held my head at the difficult task of persuading this king and having him peacefully leave Gigil-Po.