The Re-Estize Kingdom
Gazef resisted the urge to sigh as he looked upon the large gathering of nobles before him.
All of them stood side by side in the relatively large meeting chamber, though compared to the one in Nazarick, it was simply pathetic in every way.
His majesty, King Ramposa III, is an emaciated old man. His head was already scattered with pale white hair. His limbs were little more than just twigs. The man still stood tall, however, or in this case, he sat with a straight back.
The nobles in front of his majesty, who could be seen sitting on his throne, were all in a rather energetic mood.
That is to say, half the room was fighting the urge to kill everyone in the other half and vice versa.
A nobleman spoke, his words held great weight thanks to his title of Marquis. His appearance is that of a tall, thin man with slicked-back blonde hair. He looks like a snake due to his pale-white skin and narrow blue eyes. Gazef couldn't help but note that this noble -Marquis Raeven -looked older than his actual age because of his unhealthy pallor.
He wears a doublet made from high-quality fur woven with golden threads. There are intricate patterns and small jewels sewn into his clothes.
He is known as an ardent supporter of the new religion of "Ainzology," and has used it to his advantage to gain more power and influence, becoming the de-facto leader of the new faction.
The former two factions -The Separatists and the Royalists- have both lost many members to the new and rapidly swelling faction of Zealots. They are referred to as "The Heretics" by everyone who is not a part of them, though they refer to themselves as "The Believers."
"Your Majesty, if I may, I must once again ask you to punish the rogue members of the various knightly orders who lashed out at innocent commoners! Such vigilante actions only spell trouble for us." (Raeven)
Another noble, this one with no real connections to either church, spoke up.
Marquis Blumrush, known for his strong loyalty to the kingdom, has proven to be an anchor of stability in these trying times, and his expansive coffers have only been growing larger.
As a man approaching his forties, he has fair skin and curtained blonde hair with a matching pencil mustache.
Due to his immense wealth, he is dressed in the most luxurious and extravagant attire with a long blue coat made out of fur along with white outlines. The coat is held to his waist by a brown belt that has a large red gem in the middle in front of his belly button. The inside of the coat is colored blue as well with golden outlines. His undershirt is an ugly striped yellow combined with light grey. His pants are black and his tall brown boots reach to his knees.
"You majesty, if I may speak. I believe this to be far too rash of a decision, granting nobles the right to worship these 41 'Supreme Beings' alone has already greatly destabilized the nation, and we must take measures to ensure the Empire does not make any suspicious moves." (Marquis Blumrush)
There seemed to be very passionate opinions on the subject as many other nobles began to speak at the same time, their arguing drowning out the sound of Ramposa sighing. His straight back bent down as he rubbed his forehead, which throbbed in pain.
"Are you alright father?" His second son, Zanac Valleon Igna Ryle Vaiself who sat on his left, asked him with genuine concern.
The second prince is a rather chubby young man with blond hair and blue eyes. His body left a lot to desire as his short stature, chubby face, and body, along with a general lack of athleticism made the young adult a poor soldier.
Still, for every point deducted from his body, they were added to his mind, and he would no doubt prove to be a very capable ruler in the future, a position for which he would be destined if only his older brother would get out of the way.
The first prince, Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself, who could be seen sitting on the king's right, is the primary heir and the exact opposite of his brother Zanac. The only features they share are their hair and eyes, yet his build is tall and athletic with a chiseled jaw and powerful muscles capable of wielding a blade with ease.
Despite this, his mind was seemingly made more simple for each of these qualities, it is consumed by the desire for recognition and glory, with no real competency on the diplomatic and management front. Not to mention how easily one could manipulate him or anger him should they desire to.
Ramposa turned to Zanac and nodded.
"I'm alright. Now, I should calm these good folk down." (Ramposa)
Zanac felt a bit awkward calling these vermin good, after all, they fed off of the kingdom like a cancer while contributing to its downfall with their stupidity, but he bit his tongue.
Such opinions should not be voiced in mixed company.
King Ramposa stood up, attracting the attention of the nobles, who profusely apologized to his majesty for such a disgraceful display.
While they discussed things of no real importance to her, Princess Renner felt her mind wander away from this boring hall and towards... Most intriguing places.
If one called a sex dungeon with a young blonde man intriguing that is.
Haah~ How she wished that this stupid nation would just collapse already so she could take care of her sweet Climb all day~
Her mind swelled with dissatisfaction as she remembered how her cute puppy couldn't be allowed inside here due to his commoner heritage, they called him an eyesore, yet the only eyesore she could see here was some grumpy men who couldn't let go of their ego.
She sighed wistfully while imagining her future, oh she would have such fun~
Her older brother Barbo noticed this and spoke at a normal volume, seemingly unaware that they should not speak so loudly.
"Is something the matter Renner?" (Barbo)
Renner spoke more quietly, something which Barbo then mimicked.
"Hmm?" She looked at him as she just noticed him, "Well, it's nothing much, I just wish we could leave this place already." (Renner)
Barbo nodded.
"Yes, we could do much more elsewhere, say, would you be interested in going on a hunt after this?" (Barbo)
"Sadly, I must refuse." (Renner)
"Right, you and Zanac never showed interest in such things, fine." (Barbo)
The king and his subjects continued to speak about some boring things no one cared about, such as increasing the taxes, and national security against the Empire, but then it moved to a subject that Renner truly cared about.
The Enlightened Order.
Renner was most fascinated by this nation, mostly because it could accelerate her plans should they behave as she expects, or they could ruin everything. Still, knowing their allegiance to their angelic master, everything should go as she expects.
The ruler of the nation, referred to as "The Great Crusader" was known for his God-like strength, capable of bringing the capital of the Theocracy to his knees almost single-handedly, he alone was more powerful than Gazef Stronoff, but that was not why the Kingdom feared him and his nation so much.
No, he would be scary to fight, sure, but the Crusader would never need to do anything to battle the nation, all he would need to do is declare war and watch as the Kingdom rips itself apart.
Such a terrifying scenario would plague the mind of any ruler, this is also why her father has been very lenient on this new religion spreading about, though the old man would have never taken the initiative if it wasn't for her brother, Zanac.
What a good ruler he would make, if she didn't have a better alternative now, she would still be working with him to her absolute best.
Oh well. Either way, the kingdom was helpless against external and internal threats alike, this caused the nobles to become even more disloyal as they all prepared for what they viewed as the inevitable collapse of the nation they "serve."
Diplomatic relations were still fresh... And very awkward. The fledgling nation has no real experience in this department, and they seem mostly focused on pushing back the elves and internal matters, though they have made their stance on suppressing the faithful very clear.
As the successors of the most powerful human nation, even if they suffered losses during the civil war, they were still not a country they could fight, so much so that even the Empire dared not suppress Ainzology.
Speaking of which, the Empire had fallen strangely silent as if some distant storm they were unaware of was brewing.
Oh well, nothing Renner could do about that, not that she would even if she could.
The meeting concluded after this with no meaningful results or conclusion, at this point, the king could do nothing to stabilize, because if he did, he would have to pick sides, and the other side would no doubt go into open revolt in response.
"My~ My~ How problematic~"
She walked outside where her good puppy could be seen standing guard, he turned to her with an excited glint in his eyes and stood at attention.
"Princess Renner!" He saluted like a good and proper soldier, and Renner suppressed the urge to smile how she normally would, instead, she gave him a cute, innocent smile, the kind which she knew would make him blush, and it did just that.
"Let's go to my room Climb, I'm tired after today." She gave a tired sigh.
She sighed intentionally, she loved the worried and caring look Climb gave in response, she turned away from him and started walking and he quickly followed behind.
"Would you like to talk about the meeting? (Climb)
'Awww, look at how he wants to cheer me up!' (Renner)
She gave another wistful sigh.
"You don't need to talk about it unless you want to, my princess." (Climb)
She shook her head gently.
"Its okay Climb, I'm more than happy to tell you anything." (Renner)
Ignoring his cute face to the best of her ability, she continued.
"It was just a big waste of time as always, nothing was decided upon, as is normal with politics. Now, I understand why Barbo wants to do nothing but hunt and keep his mind away from these things." (Renner-sad)
"Would you like me to go get you something to eat or drink? Should I request a maid to deliver some tea to you?" (Climb-tentative)
Renner smiled gently.
"Sure, but before that, tell me, what do you think about Ainzology?" (Renner-curious)
Climb paused at the sudden question and hesitated about how to answer.
"...I don't know much about it, so I can't say." (Climb)
"I see... Well, go fetch me some biscuits and tea, deliver them to my room." (Renner)
Climb saluted and ran off as Renner smiled, though it was no longer the kind and innocent one, but one of a witch.
She entered her room shortly after, dismissing any guards or maids who tried to accompany her when they noticed Climb's absence.
She sat down on her fancy couch in her more than-fancy room.
The room had a large double window that allowed her to look out over the capital, the beautiful and comfortable carpet warmed her feet while a fireplace in the corner would burn brightly during the winter, though it remained quiet and still for now.
Her bed and such were in another room connected to this one by a large fancy wooden door.
Renner glanced around and sighed.
"No one else is here, come out." (Renner)
Her shadow then extended and from it rose a strange being.
It held no solid form, instead made out of a strange black smog that flew up out of it and disappeared, its eyes, or what could be called such, were points of ominous red, though they then shifted to a calming blue, and then to an energetic yellow, and so on.
It flew above her and then lowered itself to the ground in front of her. It did not kneel or the such, it simply "stood" there.
"Lord Demiurge and Miss Albedo requested that I deliver you a message." (Smog Demon)
The creature then reached into the smog and pulled out a letter.
As it pulled it out, some thick sludge stuck to it like glue, after it was pulled out, this substance snapped back into the creature's body with a wet "Pop!" sound.
Renner took the letter with no hesitation or disgust, she had seen worse.
She opened it and read the contents.
"I'm sure I do not need to tell you this, but make sure you burn this letter after you read its contents.
Your information has proven of critical importance to us, and we have therefore decided to grant you a reward, you shall be turned into a demon along with him in two months, however, in return, you must accelerate the plan.
Ensure the collapse happens within those two months."
No names or locations or hints were given in case of interception, though some things could still be pieced together, nonetheless, she focused on the task at hand.
Her lips curved into a huge sickening grin as she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
An eternity with her puppy~ How blissful~!
She suppressed the urge to laugh in glee and looked at the demon.
"Could you please set the fireplace on fire? I need to burn this letter." (Renner)
The demon nodded and pointed a "finger toward the empty fireplace as it suddenly roared to life with black flame, Renner then threw the letter inside and it burned to ash within seconds, the flame then disappeared and so did the demon as it hid back inside her shadow.
Renner couldn't help but think.
This creature was sent to protect her from threats, but obviously, everyone was aware of its true purpose: To watch her.
Albedo didn't even truly bother to hide this, cause she knows too well there is no point in doing so.
Suddenly, Climb and a maid returned with some biscuits and lovely tea, Renner gently thanked them both and continued the day as normal.
As if she was not about to end an entire nation with her bare hands- or rather her sheer intellect.
-x-x-x-
So it begins...
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