68 Forces from Above

As Lester enters the casino manager's office, he expects to find Astur and the others in some kind of predicament but is surprised to see a cordial atmosphere as everyone is getting along playing games.

"Can someone explain what's up? I had to wait half an hour only to find this."

"Good afternoon, Lester. It's like this…" Elizabeth says explaining the previous events.

"So I was only called because Astur needed someone to bail her out. She could have at least mentioned this on the phone earlier… but from the looks of it, everything has already been settled. Are you free to come and visit my father, he's been pestering me about your arrival. He's really keen on speaking to you," Lester says.

"I would say so," Astur says, looking to the casino manager for confirmation.

The casino manager nods, "Yes, your group is free to do as they please. But if you come again, try not to win so much, it isn't good for our business."

Leaving the casino manager's office, the group exchange their winnings into cash and make their way to the Dresuar family residence.

But halfway through the drive, Ystur mentions that she feels like she was forgetting something. Astur put a light smile onto her face, "If you forgot then it probably wasn't important."

Thinking it over for a few more seconds, Ystur puts it into the back of her mind and figures Astur is right. In fact, it wasn't just Ystur, but Elizabeth, Kretea, and even the casino manager. They all seemed to have forgotten that Astur was actually cheating in the casino and by all means should owe the casino a large sum of money. Of course, Astur isn't in a rush to remind anyone.

After a quarter of an hour of following behind Lester's car, they arrive at the Dresuar family residence. Although the Dresuar Family isn't as storied as many of the other noble families of the Kingdom, their house is defiantly far grander than the usual Viscount's. The Dresuar Family earned their noble title five generations ago, coming from a merchant family, thanks to their successful business, they managed to buy their way up the social ladder. In addition to the tax revenue earned from their land, the plentiful business they own gives the Dresuar financial power equal to the Archdukes and Archduchesses of the Kingdom.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think there was no way this house was the residence of only a Viscount," Elizabeth says.

"Now that I think about it, what even are the various noble titles here?" Ystur asks.

"I actually don't know either," Astur says.

"At the top is naturally the King and Queen, and in descending order, the rest are Archduke and Archduchess, Duke and Duchess, Margrave and Margravine, Count and Countess, Viscount and Viscountess, Baron and Baroness, and finally Lord. But I'm not sure about the placement of members of the Royal Family outside the monarch," Elizabeth explains.

"Princes and Princesses are close in rank to Margraves and Counts," Lester says as he walks over."

"Now that I think about it, didn't the other NPCs from the other starting planets refer to Mom as a Princess. Maybe I should ask about it later," Ystur thinks as the tangential thought passes through her head.

"Impressive isn't it, our house is on another level compared to the other families that border our land," Lester brags.

The Dresuar family residence consists of three parts, each being three stories high, the central area and the right and left wings. The central area is circular in shape with the two wings being long strips that curve upwards at the end. When looking down from above, the Dresuar residence is commonly said to resemble a bull. The land surrounding the house has a large hedge maze in the backyard and a beautiful garden in the front yard surrounding the driveway.

As Lester guides everyone in, they are soon met with his father Viscount Dresuar not long after entering the foyer. The older gentleman shares some facial similarities with Lester, but his most outstanding feature is unfortunately his grey receding hairline.

"Welcome to our humble abode, Miss Kojuuin. I hope that brat of mine hasn't caused you any trouble. I've heard a great many things about you and have been looking forward to being able to meet you," Viscount Dresuar says.

"No need to be polite and humble yourself. Anyone can tell that your home is grand and outstanding, even your servants have strange looks on their faces," Astur says.

"It is as you say. On a personal level, I'd rather have a smaller house that's easier to take care of, unfortunately, my late grandfather had the opposite mindset and expanded our home to what it is now. Who might your companions be?"

"The red, short, and flat one is akin to my secretary or something like that, basically she's a friend of mine. The Long-haired one is my guard. The other is… a relative."

Elizabeth and Kretea, not amused by Astur curt introductions strike back, "She's her daughter," as Ystur also confirms it herself.

Feeling as if he probably shouldn't intrude on this topic, Viscount Dresuar pushes the conversation along, "A pleasure to meet all of you. Now on to the main point, follow me to my study. We can have our discussion there and in the meantime, I'll have a set of rooms prepared for you and your friends."

Passing through the halls of the Dresuar family residence, it's apparent that the inside is comparable to the outside. Various antiques and works of art decorate the halls while having furniture made with the finest materials available.

Arriving in the study, everyone takes a seat around a round mahogany table covered with a white silk cloth with floral patterns.

"I hear you wish to speak with the bank, is that right?" Viscount Dresuar asks.

"Yeah, we had wanted to negotiate terms for setting up a branch in my domain within the Sea of Trees," Astur says.

"I believe I can arrange a meeting for you. But I don't think it will be today. At the earliest, I should be able to arrange a meeting for tomorrow, of course, this is depending on their current schedule. But I'm curious, what is it you're up to? I haven't seen it personally, but I hear there have been a great many changes to the Sea of Trees and its surrounding areas, as well as this new State of yours. My rank isn't too high so I'm not privy to the details, but I do know the people at the top aren't too fond of your sudden emergence. The same goes for the Church of Light, but I know even less of what they're thinking."

"My goals, huh… I'll admit my end goal is inherently selfish, though the process should ultimately be beneficial to everyone. What I want is…"

Hearing Astur drags out her words, with the exception of Elizabeth everyone leans in, making sure they can hear every word clearly as this is could be the first time Astur has ever mentioned her personal goals. But people like Asterion and Elizabeth more or less have an idea of her personal goal.

"I just want to live comfortably in a peaceful environment. To live undisturbed to do as I please. To put it simply, I just want to be able to laze around all day. But to do that I first need the world to conform to me. I need the other nations to quit fighting and either unite or turn subservient. The Church is a major thorn in my side as well and will need to be dealt with. The Demons, or Mystics as you people call us, need to be able to live as openly as everyone else without discrimination. The people need to unite under a single unified Vopalian banner. There are more important things to worry about in the cosmos rather than the petty squabbling on Vopal."

No one says anything for a moment. With the exception of Elizabeth, no one in the room had been expecting this answer. While Astur personal goal is not something to be admired, the process she is outlining to achieve her goal is incredibly ambitious and grandiose. She speaks of a unified Vopal, a dream that many people have given up hope in.

The first to break the silence is Viscount Dresuar, "Hahaha, to unify the world so you can laze around all day! I have heard many people speak of dreams such as world conquest or to unify the world as one, but you are the first to do so for such a reason. But you brought up something interesting at the end there, didn't you? You know about That, don't you?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise," Astur lied as naturally as she breathed, she has no idea what the Viscount is talking about.

"What're you talking about old man?" Lester asks.

Viscount Dresuar gives Astur a knowing look as she nods and glances at the butler in the room. Coming to a tacit understanding, Viscount Dresuar dismisses the servant. "What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room, understand?" As the others besides Astur nod, he continues, "This information wasn't easy to obtain since very few people are aware of it. Only the leaders of the seven nations, including the higher-ups of the city-states belonging to the Church and the Bank, as well as a select few from the upper echelons of each nation are aware of this. But around a century ago it was confirmed that we aren't alone in the universe. What I mean to say is that aliens were confirmed a hundred years ago. Currently, there is a space station in orbit around our planet that belongs to the aliens who have dominion over our system Vopal is in. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, we are considered underdeveloped primitives by the aliens. Thanks to this we are protected from any outside interference by some kind of space law. But I think Miss Kojuuin sees the problem, right?"

"The law doesn't cover terrorists and other criminal groups. In the event groups like them want to harm whoever claims this solar system then Vopal is a potential target. They can use us to spread their enemies resources thin since there should be an obligation for them to assist us in the event of an outside extraterrestrial force causes trouble here. Essentially our planet is at the mercy of these space-faring civilisations and their contenders. And even the civilisation that is supposed to be overseeing Vopal shouldn't be completely trusted since they probably have some kind of ambition towards Vopal, be it big or small," Astur says.

Satisfied, Viscount Dresuar nods, "It's good to be aware of the potential dangers an unknown enemy holds."

"So let me get this straight, aliens are real, their civilisation is more advanced, and there's probably a lot of them? And they're a potential threat?" Lester asks.

"Yep, that pretty much sums it up," Astur says.

"But why hide this information? Isn't this important for people to know?" Elizabeth asks.

"If I'm not wrong, it should be because the rulers of Vopal want to remain the status quo. They fear such a revelation would disrupt society and potentially displace them from political power," Astur says.

"This is also my suspicion. But it's hard to say for certain since such discussions are often ridiculed in public. But this could also be the result of propaganda," Viscount Dresuar says. "On a different note though, would you be interested in setting up official trade agreements between the Dresuar Viscounty and the Holy Oulvgar State?"