No Red Dragons Allowed IV

He had created the early design of a handheld cannon, with some alchemical mixtures that weren't quite yet on par with gun powder. The weapon looked like a long stick with a flared metal tube at the end and a small opening for the wick to be inserted. It was no rifle, but it showed there were some that were technically inclined.

"Your majesty, he was found to be creating weapons underneath his home." The dev cupped her chin and leaned on her elbow.

"What were your intentions with these?" she asked him.

"Confound it! They were meant for blasting rubble I say! These could be revolutionary in helping miners! Yet everyone thinks I'm trying to kill someone! I'm an inventor, not a murderer!" he snapped out, not even caring he was in front of the ruler of the empire he lived in.

"Was there evidence that he was preparing for something?"

"No evidence to harm your majesty, however, there did seem to be maps posted of the mines near Azaltos Mountains."

"Have you been contracted with the miner's guild?" she questioned.

"Not… not yet… but this could be my chance if I'm just set free!" he exclaimed, shaking his hands with his fingers splayed out, the handcuffs clinking. The empress sighed and rubbed her forehead, her tiara shifting ever so slightly.

"You are currently working on potentially harmful equipment that if not controlled properly, could cause more deaths that are not needed in those tunnels, hell, you could have blown up your home or the neighborhood. These need to be regulated very carefully, with extensive training provided. Can you provide that training and cover those costs, the insurance policies for the wounded miners?"

The old man looked away. "I… I think I have some prospective sponsors… if I could just get the chance to show them my work I…" he trailed off.

"I see, I see. Well, you don't have the funds to take care of any of this, and it seems if your work fell into the wrong hands it could be disastrous." Selene thought it over for a few seconds as he felt like she was going to throw the book at him. "Temporary funding provided by the empire; however, research will be controlled with all safety precautions in place and evaluated constantly by the government with reports every week. Once the project is complete, you are to make sure every available training is provided with limited testing of the equipment you are developing before any full production comes into effect, have I made myself clear?"

He looked up at her with wide eyes. "You mean… the empire will be my sponsor?" he asked with a small grin growing on his face.

"Within reason and provided you can produce an effective design that can be patented and manufactured without issue and within safety guidelines." The old man was almost dancing as the security automaton stopped him and took the cuffs off his hands with the empress waving them both away.

"It's amazing that he can create an explosive substance that doesn't require mana…" Melsia commented in almost a whisper to both her husband and the empress.

Not amazing at all. What will be amazing is if he can make sure his designs don't get stolen… I'd rather not hear later on people getting shot by crude pistols… I guess it might eventually happen if I'm going to get these people into the renaissance era soon…

The next item on the to do list was dealing with the adventurers who came across her borders. Ten humans were marched in, with Yelena and Erina standing next to each other, all without handcuffs. "Well. I guess maybe turned into yes. Erina Crowling, you entered through my borders illegally and then proceeded with an unsanctioned archaeological dig site without notifying us."

"Oh? Should I know of these laws? I'm sorry, I don't exactly know the requirements of Artinia's neighbors." She didn't seem to be acting arrogant, just very aloof and curious.

"It's technically a big deal, you were digging in my backyard and thinking anything you found was yours. That doesn't happen around here. You also got yourself into quite a bit of danger without needing to. Had I not spoken to your sister just minutes before, you would probably have become that dragon's next meal." The adventurers that had come with Yelena gasped and started whispering.

"She took out a dragon?!" they asked each other. Small conversations popped up involving dragons and staring at the empress looming above them in her chair.

"SILENCE!" the whole throne room echoed in thunder. "No crew, little supplies, what did you expect to accomplish there?" Selene asked.

"Um, your majesty is it? I was expecting to figure out why the metallic dragons had abandoned the eyrie so long ago, and maybe understand some of the magic they used there. It could help everyone gain new found knowledge of the reasons dragons exist, that not all of them are against humanity."

"You really think a gold dragon is going to care if we're humans if its hungry?" one of the adventurers asked, a bard it seemed. He blinked in surprise at the naivety of the green-haired woman.

"It's been well known that metallic dragons are usually peaceful to sapient creatures, at least ones that aren't trying to attack it. Some supposedly have been purported to take human shape and live amongst us mortals. Is it not alright to try and understand our flying neighbors in the skies?" Erina asked.

"Gryphons fly too, and yet bar tamed ones, we're still below them in the food chain. I can't imagine we're considered-"

"Enough." Selene put her hand up for them to stop arguing, though Erina didn't look like she understood they were in an argument to begin with. "How long were you in those ruins?"

"Uh, I believe one week… but I wasn't exactly keeping track of time outside very well… maybe less? Or could it be more?"

"Sister, didn't you go outside to see if it was nighttime? That's a lot of torches you would burn through unless you bought light scrolls!" Yelena chastised her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking that far." Erina seemed to bonk herself on the head and stuck her tongue out, giggling a little.

"I swear, this is why I always said to keep in touch and come back early or you'd start forgetting things!" The teenager was snapping at her with a frown on her face, her hands tipped up at an angle as if she was pushing against a desk. "Hmph!"

"Sorry to worry you Yelena, I didn't mean to."

"Ahem." Both of them turned back to the empress still sitting in her throne. "Beyond rubble and cobwebs, was there anything of value found in the little time you were there?"

"I doubt there was any treasure still left there that the dragons didn't take with them long ago, so I'm afraid your kingdom-"

"Empire." Selene seemed to take offense constantly at what she had built being called anything but.

"-Empire won't really get anything worth much inside."

Oh, you have no idea do you… although I'm pretty sure the Orb of Experiences was just placed there by the fallen adventurer party and goblins because the dais looked nice to hold it.

"I wasn't necessarily referring to material gains. Do you have a journal log with everything you've found out in there? Languages? Architectural design? Fashion sense even?"

"Oh! I do, at least, I had one. I think I dropped it back there before you dragged me out. Sorry." The dev sighed and facepalmed.

"So, you went in alone, how much work did you expect to do in there with a limited budget? No sponsors, no logistics… were you not going to come back to your family?"

"Yeah sis! Did you just forget us?!" Yelena snapped.

"I was going to come back. Um, why did you leave the academy? Weren't you in the middle of exams?" Erina answered with her own question, diverting the subject.

"I'd like to know how she can be an adventurer and be going to school at the same time" Selene interjected. Yelena went beet red as she tried to figure out a way to answer. Her friends nearby, part of the adventuring team, had the same uniform robes as well, though two of them had different colors, probably due to their year.

"It was a dare alright?! I… I did it on a dare and we did a small quest, that was all."

"Oh, mother wouldn't like knowing one of her daughters became an adventurer."

"You aren't going to tell her either! It was one time! I made some friends and well… one time! So, don't go blabbing! Or I'll tell her about that time you found that wannabe necromancer professor who-" the teenager yelled at her with her finger pointed up at her sister's nose.

"Alright, alright" the draconologist said as she put her hands up in surrender. "To answer the previous question, I did find something, at least some information about how they can perform large rituals with their magic." The dev leaned forward and stared at the woman with a furrowed brow.

"Their magic? It isn't the tier magic system?" she asked inquisitively.

"Oh, no, it isn't. It's called wild magic your majesty." Selene leaned back and looked around the room, almost as if she was trying to find a response to that.

How many forms of magic are there here? I've only been creating immunities to tier magic, this… this might be something I need to figure out and control. If I can't, then it's a threat.

"I'm… still trying to understand what the eyrie contains, it may take some time before I can decipher everything, though the rubble may cause some problems… I guess I really should have brought a digging crew with me huh?" Erina chuckled out, finding it funny that she didn't think about that.

"You should have. Well, what has happened has happened. Now… as to why you are all here beyond explaining about this entire… debacle…" the empress stated. The adventurers and girls from the academy grimaced and looked down at the ground. "Erina Crowling, for attempting an unsanctioned dig in The Clockwork Empire, illegally crossing our borders, you should be imprisoned… however… given the circumstances, I… will allow you to continue under strict conditions, one if which all findings are to be reported back to me."

I need to know what this is and how to keep it from working against what I've built. The easiest way is to give her a job.

Erina smiled and nodded at her. "So, I can continue then? That's wonderful, though my camp has been destroyed… oh… but I don't have funding after all to replace all of that…"

"I'll see to that" Selene grumbled out as she looked at the others, including Yelena and her classmates. "As for all of you… there are two choices. You can work with her at the dig site, or you can stay in the prison."

"Hard labor or sitting in a dungeon cell… choice choices…" one female adventurer said, a warrior it seemed.

"That dungeon cell was pretty nice, all things considered" a ranger replied with a headband around his forehead.

"It's better than death, ok?" Yelena snapped at both of them.

"That… could be a third option if you prefer it" Selene responded with a slight mischievous grin. That straightened all of them up as a visible shiver went up all their spines.

"No no! We'll help! Thank you for the offer!" the teenager yelped out as she seemed to pat at the air with her hand, grinning.

"Now then… heavy lifting is obviously beyond this team, so I'll see about getting a separate crew brought in for that to clear useless rubble that was verified by Ms. Erina here. As much as I shouldn't ask this, does anyone have any questions?"

"Um… when would we have done enough work to be released?" a male bard said, looking between his teammates. The dev sighed.

"There are certain events that need to take place very soon. Once they happen, and they will, I'll… allow you to return to your homes. Do not cross the borders of my empire without going through legal channels, immigration and customs again, usually found directly outside one of the first towns and villages close by, along my borders. This is to stop any criminal activity from bleeding over from somewhere else. If you do this again, we will consider you a threat."

"Scary…" the female warrior whispered to another adventurer. Her short light green hair had a large lock of her bangs hanging over her left eye, shifting a little as she tilted her head to speak to a friend. The group was led outside and to a transport waiting to send them to either the prison or the ruins.

"Melsia, I have a question. How many different types of magic are there around? Or for that matter, different types of abilities beyond what a normal human can do?" Selene asked as the throne room once again became boring.

"It depends on what you feel are abilities. That I know of?" the mother of Morlan and Ezra responded.

"Yes."

"Well, tier magic you already know about, then there are martial arts, which are usually performed by those who are proficient in melee, um… talents, Runecraft and finally Wild Magic."

"Oooook… what are Martial Arts?" the dev asked, cocking her eyebrow.

If this is about pressure points and fighting styles, then this is going to get boring quickly.

"Morlan might be able to answer that question better than we can. Involving Runecraft… dwarves would be able to tell you what it does, I'm not exactly an expert." Selene seemed to give a slow nod, as if realizing she didn't have much to go on. "I'm sorry to tell you that."

"It's… alright… what are talents?"

"Talents are innate abilities that some are born with, though may not always make use of. Ezra, for example, has an innate talent with holy magic."

"Ah, so… a talent amplifies other facets of life? What if it's a talent to wield a sword with greater proficiency and they are instead a wizard?" Melsia gestured to her with a smirk.

"There you have it; they are not always the most useful."

"Ah… ok… I think I understand now… so these talents are kind of random, they don't necessarily connect to what a person aspires to be, it's just a natural ability…"

"Correct." She went on to explain what Wild Magic was, though her experience with it was extremely limited. Supposedly, it used souls to fuel it, which didn't sound like it was very efficient. The advantage, though, was it was incredibly powerful, capable causing incredible destruction or creation depending on how many sacrifices were offered up, though the stronger the spell, the more unstable it was and capable of backfiring.

Apparently, only dragon lords or their descendants could cast that magic, with a very rare few if any beyond that could somehow harness the power outside of that heritage.

Sounds impressive… yet wasteful. Now how the hell do I lock it down…

All of these types of magic and abilities needed to be researched immediately, with control groups paid for to volunteer in the experiments. Wild Magic would probably be difficult to get anymore knowledge on without getting a friendly dragon to assist, but Runecraft, Talents and Martial Arts might be achievable and even capable of being reproduced. Bronze Team was coming back with quite a few "borrowed" items and equipment for her to examine.

A world with Tier Magic, Wild Magic, Runecraft, Talents, Martial Arts, Arcanic's Wizardry Magic for me, Advanced Technology that I'm bringing, Steampunk, now psionics and gods with their faith energy? Oh boy…

Selene's mind was reeling from the thought there were so many different things she was going to have to work through. Coming across Erina was rescuing her more than Yelena's sister from becoming a human McNugget. She ran her fingers through her hair, moving the tiara a bit as she tried to wrap her head around all of this, blinking profusely.

"Ok, ok… what about faith energy?" she finally asked. Melsia looked at Donovan who shrugged.

"We… don't know what you're referring to, your majesty."

"God powers." The woman's mouth fell agape as she tried to figure out what she meant.

"Do you mean… how do god's do what they do? Well… I… I don't believe we've had the pleasure of seeing one… do… anything… nor have we ever seen a god down here… well, I… I mean you seem to be fairly close to that title, not that I'm placing it upon you, your majesty."

The only way I'm getting an answer is talking to one apparently. These people pray to mostly idols of gold that don't have a real god, of course they wouldn't know that Elesia or Xaxara really exist… the only one who seemed to know about Xaxara was Antoine…

"Alright, I understand. Thank you, for that… information… Melsia. I appreciate it." Morlan's parents nodded just as he and Elsei opened the far doors to the throne room, with the three of them getting up from their seats. "Ah, just the man I needed to speak to."

"What do you require, your imperial highness?" he asked as he carried a large bag hanging over his shoulder. They had just come back from shopping and staying in a high-priced inn owned by Moira, practically the whole afternoon yesterday and this morning.

"I'd like to ask you some questions, maybe get a demonstration of it as well. Martial Arts. You know any?" Morlan nodded thoughtfully as he looked at his partner.

"I have some that have taken quite a long time to hone and refine. I can show you once I've had some time to prepare."

"By all means, go rest, we can have a little show after lunch. Then you can educate me." The empress motioned for him to head to his guestroom and put down his bought items just as another automaton brought in a woman at the door. "Um, I thought we finished court already?" she asked in a confused tone.

"We have not your majesty, you were going to speak to this young woman, Delfie Alensif involving her request for starting her printing press." Delfie peeked around the automaton, her brown hair wrapped in a loose braid and hanging over her shoulder, freckles on her face and big glasses she pushed up her nose. A big grin popped up on her mouth; the auburn-haired woman could almost visualize braces on her teeth. Selene pushed on the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut, realizing she had entirely ignored the last thing written on the bottom of the to do list.

"Ah, right, sorry, that was my screw up. I have a million things on my mind, didn't mean to make it awkward. Um, you're starting a printing press, correct? Wooden blocks with letters inscribed on them, ink roll? I believe there was also word that you wanted to start articles about the goings on about Gold Pine, investigative journalism?" the dev said, trying to make sure she got the reason why Delfie was there correct.

"Yes! That's right! I uh, wanted to make a sort of paper that could be given out to the people with all the news and what was happening around them" the perky woman said, hopping slightly on her feet and clutching a journal in both arms close to her chest.

"So, a newspaper?"

"That sounds even better!"

"Well it's a decent goal and I don't have a problem with it. Just make sure all the articles aren't false, make sure you have good sources and evidence to back up whatever is written. I'll see to it that there is some funding to get it up and running." Delfie jumped in the air and shot her fist up in joy. This was the best day she had ever had.

"I promise you won't regret this your majesty! Um… uh, maybe in the future, I could maybe ask you some questions?" she squeaked out, wincing at any response that was going to come out of the empress's mouth.

"You mean an interview? Sure, why not." The girl bowed multiple times thanking her, speaking a mile a minute as Selene just stood there staring at her. "Easy, slow down and take a breath. I'll wait for your first issue to be released, make it a good one with lots of articles on different subjects."

"I will! Thank you again!" the brand-new reporter was led out of the throne room as the dev sighed. She was going to need a press representative very soon. She wasn't looking forward to multiple reporters in a room as she had to stand behind a podium for a press release.

Lunch was served with the five eating while they talked about the previous night. It was also brought up as odd that the empress was not eating at a separate table given that she was royalty. "Well, technically this is my dining room, my palace, my castle. I'll eat wherever I feel like it, even in bed." That put an end to that question.

That was when Hrist and Brynhildr finally came back, the wolves running in and sitting down next to their alpha, with Luna having a blue bow put in her fur. Hrist seemed to be averting her gaze away from Selene, which confused her. "Hrist, what's the problem? You seem off today."

"Oh, she did something this morning which shouldn't have happened" Bryn replied for her as the raven-haired woman sat down and tried to be ignored. The blonde seemed to have a catty grin on her face as her eyebrows waggled.

"Uh huh, what was it that she did?"

"There was a student that wished to show off a sword technique and his skill. He was being full of himself, which prompted my dear sister here to step up and act as the sparring partner when he warned everyone that he could take on the greatest warriors with this one strike."

"I never attacked him; I don't know why anyone thinks that!" Hrist snapped. The empress glanced at her then back at her sister, a slight smirk growing on her face as well. The battle maiden was embarrassed and practically fuming.

"She blocked the strike a bit too quickly and he put all of his strength into it, breaking his own arm. To everyone else, it looked as if she shield bashed him."

"Weak little…" Hrist muttered out under her breath as a plate was provided and light insults flew from her mouth.

"What did you expect Hrist? He just wanted to show off, you could have just stood there, and he would have knocked himself out. His footwork was poor, that sword strike was the only thing he really had going for him and he would have bounced off you" Bryn chuckled out as she ate a piece of bread with some butter on it.

"He was knocked out?" Selene asked, the grin growing a little larger as she eyed her General sitting sulking at the table.

"No, but he very nearly did. He dropped the sword when his arm broke, it bounced a little as he fell to the ground and the pommel whacked him in the face coming back up."

"That was not my fault and you know it, no one is that exaggerated."

"Well he was, crying like a baby in front of everyone. He has no pain tolerance" Brynhildr giggled out at her sister.

"Was the academy nurse able to heal him?" The dev asked as she drank a little water.

"She healed him up, though nothing is going to fix his fear of how fast she shielded herself. It looked like you were going to move in for the kill with how fast you brought it up."

"Wooden sword?"

"Heavily blunted swords and padded armor, they had just moved up from wooden so they could understand the weight."

"Ah. C'mon Hrist, ease up. Don't worry, you just scarred a student for life, it's not that big a deal." The dev chuckled and winked at her, which only caused the Valkyrja to double down and pout. Morlan kept his eyes down at his food as he didn't want to antagonize the woman any further. Lunch continued without anymore jabs towards a certain battle maiden and remained uneventful up until Elsei spoke up.

"Your majesty, what will be done with the three red dragon remains?" Selene finished a bite of her food and washed it down. Hrist spit out her sip of water onto the table and stared at the empress, then at Elsei.

"Three? What's this?" Bryn asked as Hrist just blinked.

"We'll be performing some research on the biology and makeup of their body, maybe have the bones of one stripped and prepared for… I don't know, a museum or something."

"Where did three red dragons come from?" Hrist asked as she looked around the table.

"Uh, well, two were caught flying into our airspace yesterday… that was handled…" Selene started to explain as everyone continued to eat. "And… one I sort of took out when I found a certain draconologist about to become its dinner last night, at least I think that's the term to call her now that it's sort of verified what we found was a dragon eyrie..."

"The study of dragons? She was one?" Melsia added in softly.

"You did what?!"

"Good job! Less of those lizards is always a good thing" Bryn chuckled out as she carved up a few bites of her freshly caught and cooked fish from the new trawlers. Hrist just blinked at her.

"Yeah, he was a little lacking beyond being able to light up a fireplace."

"Did his breath stink?"

"He never got a chance to use whatever breath attack he had; I impaled him on a spike." Bryn's sister just kept staring at her friend sitting there and chatting about defeating not just one, but three dragons. Selene just looked up at her and thought for a second. "Oh, it was just one I handled. The other two were taken out by my air forces in the morning. I'm not going to claim that tally. I also wasn't expecting it either."

"We saw the remains being moved by transports" Elsei replied.

"You should have-" Hrist tried to say but was cut off.

"I should have called you to help? You were in the academy; I could handle it myself Hrist. It was no problem. Didn't even break a nail." The empress splayed her fingers in front of her and wiggled them, showing the manicure. Hrist just looked at her with worry. "Alright, fine, it was just one last hurrah before I get sequestered behind fortress walls, sorry."

"If there is one thing you cannot say, sister, it's that our empress is a fragile flower" Bryn commented. Though the dragon did register as a level 90, it might as well have been a level 1 in the dev's eyes.

"The fact I have seen her handle more than I have is telling" Morlan added in. There was silence in the dining room as Hrist thought about what next to say.

"At least you can say now that you have slain a dragon with your sword. I just… wanted to… be there… that's all…" she finally said.

"You just wanted in on the action" Bryn laughed out.

"Technically, no sword was used… can I consider that spike as a sword? I'm not sure. Whatever. I might have one of the heads mounted somewhere, maybe. You can get the next chromatic, if one of them is stupid enough to fly nearby again." Brynhildr laughed at that even more. The thought of seeing a dragon head with its tongue out hanging on the wall just put her in a fit of giggles.

"You really needed to get some frustration out about something, I can tell."

"Well it has been a little stressful for the week, I'll admit. I need to get an imperial cabinet or administration hired to help out… or built… plus, I…" the empress replied begrudgingly, however, she trailed off at the end. She was checking the month and realized she was at the end of it. The dev was now worried she really would have to sequester herself away for a little due to a certain time of the month making her quite… disagreeable.

A coms request was opened from a recon team near Silvinholm. "Ma'am, we have news involving potential military action and the current events involving Silvinholm. Unrest has escalated and is currently at a critical bursting point."

"Well hell, I take it the mercenaries don't like it when their jobs are taken, and the civilians are treated like shit. Are people fighting back?"

"None have taken up arms just yet against the army, the Artinian forces have received new orders."

"To leave or?"

"Unknown just yet ma'am. We're maneuvering into position to take a look at the papers." While the conversation in the room had changed to what Elsei and Morlan had bought on their trip to Gold Pine and Glass Dale, she got visual through the optics of SF Bravo Team moving in and sneaking into the commander's temporary office while the recon team held back.

"Bravo 2, copy the documents then slip back." There was movement of the camera view in her Hud towards the desk where a quick flash was seen, then it headed towards the door.

"Be advised, Echo tier 2 heading for potential intercept" recon warned as they tracked the stairwell and vibrations, footsteps and sounds coming up it. Tier 2 meant someone in command of the operation, probably the commander of the Artinian army stationed there now heading to his office. Bravo 2 was just out of the door and closing it when the commander walked up, barely missing the cloaked automaton by inches as it backed up and pressed against the wall. Once Bravo Team were out of the area, the dev checked on the picture of the documents. They were kill orders by the king. He was demanding the commander to slaughter all those who would act against the laws set by Alain, now controlling the council of nobles in the city. The orders were insane, as expected from the sociopath.

Son of a…

Another coms request from Jorge popped up. "This is Jorge, we're heading back with some souvenirs for you ma'am."

"How many?"

"At least one hundred different toys and trinkets for you ma'am" Ethan commented.

"Should make for interesting R&D later on, is it possible to incorporate any of this?" Turnie chimed in.

"Unknown until we get a chance to take some of it apart, it will at least be enlightening and tell us just how the dwarves think and act with runecraft equipment given they now have tier magic. We can build a dossier on how to handle them in the future" Orlo replied.

"Jorge, things might have gotten a little complicated, at least more complicated than I was hoping for, in Silvinholm." Bronze Team tapped into the feed and saw what she was looking at, with all the intel being provided.

"Check the date on the documents, these came in yesterday" Ethan commented cautiously.

"Then shouldn't we have received a status update from the recon team on what was going on? I'd think the pointy stick wielders who think they're in charge of the city would have started dancing on people's graves by now for looking at them funny" Deacon chimed in. Selene tasked an ornithopter along with the recon team to listen in through the windows with a sound amplifier listening device. They caught the tail end of the commander talking to one of his lieutenants.

"-This isn't going to work. We can't just go through with any of it."

"We're going to disobey orders sir?"

"Do you want to be known as the Butcher of Silvinholm?"

"The problem isn't going to go away that easily though sir, he'll just send one of the Generals that stand by him to replace you and I."

"Which is why I am still debating this. Do we have any other options?"

"Martial Law isn't working well, maybe we could ease back on the patrols a little, give people a chance to actually live in their city?"

"There are no mercenary peacekeepers though! We're stretched thin as it is working the streets… damn it…"

"There has to be a way to not go through with this sir, we'll come up with something. They won't find out until the next envoy is required to head back with the report." That was the end of the conversation as the lieutenant left the office and the commander simply sat down at his desk, pulled something out of a drawer, and promptly started drinking from it, no glass. It seemed that the Artinian army stationed to guard Silvinholm were still keeping to the ideals of honor and respect, just as they did with Morlan.

The empress, unbeknownst to anyone sitting near her at that moment, tasked a brigade to stay under camouflage near the city in the event they committed to following those orders, with specialized weapons to attempt to pacify both sides without killing anyone if at all possible. The military forces inside weren't exactly the bad guys, they were being ordered to attack civilians. She also sent a request via a janitorial automaton at the academy to have lunch with Antoine tomorrow, with the notice that she was going to break her promise. She was willing to admit she wasn't very good at the whole waiting game and she already got one noble family out of there, with intel provided by the Rikters to try not to harm some other houses. With that information, there was no real reason to not go in full force.

The next few days were going to be busy, just like every day. During that time, there were security teams getting the villages south of the ruins of Paldos City under control with very little crime, rebuilding homes, and in general getting the border of the empire extended.

"Your majesty…" Jeeves spoke up at the door of the dining room. "We have… some unexpected guests at the gates…" Everyone looked at each other.

"From Gold Pine?" Selene asked.

"From… Eil'Ta Forest."

"To… see me?" The empress furrowed her brow in confusion. What were high elves way out here for? How did they get here even?

"No, your majesty, to see… Ms. Elsei." Everyone stared at the elf sitting quietly and drinking from her glass of water. She didn't say a thing.

"Shouldn't they have… been stopped by your soldiers, your majesty?" Donovan asked.

"Not if they weren't attempting to cause problems. They aren't part of Artinia, so… I didn't put a restriction order on them exactly so they would be allowed to cross my borders… I just never expected them to do that." The entire room simply stared at the blonde woman sitting next to Morlan as she just stayed silent. The dev checked on travel itineraries from any visitors that headed inland from that direction that her security logged. The elven group had traveled down to Eld Horn, then to Glass Dale, finally to Gold Pine. It was just a quick trip to the castle after that. They didn't cause any trouble the whole way here.

"Would you know what's going on, Elsei?"

The blonde elf looked at everyone in the room, finally opening her mouth to speak.