66 Skyhaven City - Emperor Valinor (2)

"Well then, before we go elsewhere, there should be several questions between the two of us, just for insurance. After that, we will head to visit His Majesty. Is that fine, Sir Greenwood?" The aged prime minister peered at the demigod, smiling in a way that wasn't fully a smile. After the 10-year-old gave his approval, he folded his hands and continued, "First question: what is your goal with this visitation?" Straight to the heart of the matter with nary an extra word, this man was a master of diplomacy and politics with a straight-forward style.

Seran had expected this answer much earlier and had long since prepared a response, "Initially, I didn't have a goal or even a plan. I guess I was hoping to achieve a mutual friendship pact or such. Now, on the other hand, it's changed due to Andrew becoming my disciple after circumstances directed him to me."

This made old Wyndham's eyes enlarge with genuine surprise, "Disciple?" He stared at Andrew, who had a proud yet nervous look at being referred to as a disciple.

"Yes, disciple. I completely purified and reforged his body to clear out the… darkness and restart his journey. His talent should be more than a match for the current Crown Prince, only he has a far later start. Quite an unfortunate fate, you could say." He hinted to Wyndham, who took practically an instant to pick up on the meaning. Nobody was truly ignorant towards the secret hostilities between the various imperial family members, save for Andrew prior to meeting Seran and maybe children. The downfall of one prince is the benefit of another, and Wyndham had seen enough of this to not only notice the demigod's hint, he quickly discovered the person benefiting the most from it. "I have given Andrew gifts as is customary for a master to do so, but another gift was given to Rexus for his loyalty."

Wyndham sighed, "A belated yet highly welcome addition to the race for the throne, it seems. At any rate, such is how politics, especially imperial politics, continues to play out." He gave Andrew a deep look, "While I fully believe Sir Greenwood's words, I'd like to hear confirmation from the disciple in question."

Andrew respectfully responded, "I made a vow prior to being healed that, should Master manage to heal me, I will offer myself as a disciple. I will not go back on my vows."

The aged official's eyes sparkled as a small grin crossed his face, "A man that does not fulfil his vows is not a man worth supporting." Returning his gaze to Seran, he continued, "In that case, what would you intend to do now?"

"After thinking it over, I've decided that I'd like to achieve a similar status as that of my good friend Queen Layla's elven homeland. Speaking of which, I can mention this part since it's not a secret, but I spent a year going through the ancient forest setting up teleportation arrays and such. They're in the process of condensing their original tribal culture into towns for the first time. There is a capital location now, though, but until they're ready, the only place to access it from is in Greenwood City. So, in essence, I am also the current trading hub and general relay location for the Primevil Forest's residents. I guess I'm also technically a diplomat for two countries at once..."

"Hoh... Does that mean you're also planning to convince the elves to allow visitors?"

"No, that's not my intent. Without Queen Layla's explicit instructions, there will be no teleportation into the forest from anyone. I've also added a spatial lock to the forest, so teleporting in won't work, but teleporting out will. The only exception to this rule is the elves themselves, and the array in Greenwood City, which will only work with prior approval via an extra command to the array. However, she does hope to allow visits from those of important statuses in the future, once their civilization becomes more focused." Luca coughed briefly, "Sorry, dry throat. Ah, also, compared to their total isolationism before, they will begin contacting the outside world via Greenwood City as their startup."

"You've even managed to convince the elves to do so much in just one year. No wonder you're considered a miracle worker. Well, the Primeval Forest is considered a completely independent and autonomous country, compared to the two other major empires, which are vassals on a legal standpoint even though we influence them very little. That having been said, with the capabilities of your kingdom, even at present, I have half a mind that His Imperial Majesty would agree that he'd be hard-pressed to be able to conquer it, even at his prime. At the time, there were indeed several other S-ranked Adventurers among the elves 2000 years ago likely to still around today, but there is a large difference between humanoids and non-humanoids when it comes to prowess. You have an entire flock of newly revived Golden Crows, the first true appearance of Divine Beasts since the ancient Abyss Invasion, an Alpha Chimera that is capable of individually becoming S-ranked beings, a guardian spirit and a Blessed One of Demeter herself, and on top of that, there's you, the one recognized by the world and all deities to be the strongest demigod. I don't picture any good outcome from a war between our two nations, so it would indeed be best to avoid that." The old prime minister pondered for ten-some minutes before coming to a decision, "I'm sure I can convince His Majesty of the autonomy of the Greenwood Kingdom, but His Imperial Majesty might become involved directly for some matters."

"I can guess what some of those reasons will be, and I understand that. I would agree that those matters would require him. Of course, there are other things, but they are not important at present, so bringing them up now is not necessary... Ah, except for one, but that will also need to be brought up to the Founding Emperor himself due to its magnitude. Johann is also involved, so he would have to be present as well."

Johann, having been relegated to a silent witness, was briefly stunned upon being mentioned. "Huh, what?" After getting Seran's eyes rolled at him, followed by a repetition of what the demigod had just said, he understood the conversation's direction. "Ah, right, it involves my clan, so that topic, in particular, requires my presence, at the very least to relay it back to the clan."

Wyndham was quite intrigued as to what the pair meant, but if it was important enough for both the World's Strongest Demigod and the Juneau Clan to be involved together, it was likely an extremely important subject. "In that case, we might need to speed up this visit. Come, let's get moving. We'll see His Majesty immediately."