17. Chapter 16: The first rain drops

CHAPTER 16: THE FIRST RAIN DROPS

Quietly sipping on a glass of whiskey, the man in a suit turned a page from the report he just received. Some other men would have used their phones or computers to look at such documents, but the man sat in a comfortable chair was old-fashioned.

His reasoning was pretty simple. What good was a hacker if a secret document wasn't on any numeric interface? The only way to see it would then be to break into his work place. And his work place was far from undefended. In fact, he worked in probably one of the most secure places in the world.

The handwriting on the paper was slower to read than clear numeric fonts, but in order to ensure maximum security, it was necessary. Once the report was read in its entirety, he put it back on the elaborate wooden desk in front of him and crossed his fingers, thinking about his future course of action.

The room he was in was very quiet. First of all, it was completely soundproofed. The wooden floor was mostly covered by a large carpet and the left and right walls had libraries filled with books he would probably never read and the far end had a large stylised map of the Earth. At his right was a large window giving a view of a city, and on his left the door to his office.

After twenty minutes of pondering, he made his decision. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialled up the number only he knew. The phone rang two times before it was picked up by the other person.

"Hello, it's me, it's a pleasure to hear you…"

The phone, designed for maximum security as well, let nothing be heard to anyone except the caller.

"Yes, I'm calling about the Gate in Tokyo, I think it's safe to assume we both want things to change concerning the handling of what or who goes through…"

As the person on the other side of the call agreed, the man couldn't help but smirk lightly.

"Well, I think I've got a plan to change that. However, we must make sure that it absolutely never comes to light. Do you agree?"

The other person obviously agreed, and the man in a suit turned the pages of the handwritten report until he found back the part he wanted to share.

"I can provide an initial push for the change to happen, but you will have to give it momentum which I won't be able to help much with, unfortunately."

He waited for a bit as a question was asked.

"Of course, it is a plan of mutual benefit to both of us. I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't the case. After all, we both know how things work in our line of… Well, work. And yes, I will give you some time to think about it before giving me your answer, but you will have to be fast. The Japanese government was already contacted, and they said they will launch the JSDF forward in a week. In order to set up everything correctly, I will need an answer by 6PM. If you haven't contacted me by that time, I will consider it a refusal from your part."

After having confirmed the other man's answer, the man in a suit carefully laid out his plan. Much questions and clarifications were asked, even some changes that he was ashamed his own services didn't think of.

Of course, he didn't admit it. He never would.

An hour later, the plan was completely set up and the other person felt it was quite right too.

"Well then, I'm glad to count you as one of my allies. I will be waiting for your answer, and then I'll begin the first part of the plan shortly. Until then, friend, I wish you luck."

After hearing a similar goodbye, the man in a suit put back the phone on its stand. He felt quite good. His ally, even if not very truthful (then again, who could be trusted completely in his line of work?), would help him achieve one of his goals while push back his opponents' goals.

He felt so good he pushed a button calling the services of his workplace.

"Bring me another bottle."

Without waiting for an answer, he set himself comfortably in the leather chair, waiting for the drink. He might find himself a little tipsy later with what he already drank, but he felt the need to celebrate.

After a butler brought the bottle and left, the man in a suit raised from his chair, filled his glass of whiskey to half, added an ice cube and faced the window giving him an unobstructed view of the city.

Raising his glass, he thought about his words for a moment before speaking.

"For victory!"

He then tasted his whiskey. It was quite a simple wish, but he didn't feel like adding anything else.

After a short pause of five minutes, he put back the glass on the desk and set himself to work. There was still quite a lot to do to prepare his plan.

Two days after the last meeting of monarchs.

Duran dropped his sword and groaned out of pain. The young King of Esperia, Dagobert, immediately stopped his counterattack and approached Duran worriedly.

"Are you alright, king Duran?"

The Lion of Elbe groaned again, before carefully massaging his left shoulder.

"Please, call me Duran. We're past honorifics at this point. My shoulder is still bruised because of Volgrim, two days ago. My physicians gave me potions and healed me, but it should still take a few days before everything is back in order…"

Dagobert was relieved that his newfound mentor was fine. The truth was that King Dagobert had only taken the throne of Esperia at the age of fourteen, an age he was barely considered a man by his peers. He was now nineteen, but he was still considered a kid by most of his court.The previous king, his father, had died prematurely during an unfortunate hunting accident, leaving the young Dagobert a court full of snake-headed lords and scheming ladies. From the moment he had put on the crown for the first time, he managed to repel four assassination attempts and three conspiracies aimed at forcing him to give it away. And from all of these, only two nobles had been found guilty. He had hunches about the other perpetrators, but no solid ground to accuse them from.

For that reason, he had taken upon duelling in order to improve his chances of surviving, but also so that for just some moments, he could vent out his stress and worries. He had grown mistrustful of the others, even of his closest aides.

Thankfully, he could still trust his two younger sisters, but even had to get them away from the capital in a hidden mansion to protect them. His mother was long passed.

When Duran first approached him with the proposal to reduce the volume of food eaten by his soldiers, he feared a tactic of weakening his army in order to attack him later. But when Duran approached a second time with a duel proposal, he accepted immediately. He had heard of the Lion of Elbe's legendary tactical and sword skill, and out of respect for those he accepted his demands when he lost the duel.

But as they trained an hour or two each day, his mask of distrust slowly cracked when he understood that Duran only wanted for him to improve both as a duellist, and as a king. And while he was far from calling him a father figure, he trusted the Lion more than his own court.

"Maybe we should take some time to rest then, Duran?" Said Dagobert with a smile.

Duran picked the blunted sword from the ground and handed it to a soldier to take away.

"We should indeed, Dagobert. Let's get some refreshments."

He picked up the piece of cloth handed to him by a soldier, wiped the sweat of his face then made his way to his tent, followed by the young king and a personal guard composed of both Elbian and Esperian soldiers.

Once inside, Duran took a bottle of Elbian mead he always kept in a small cabinet and poured a cup for both, then hit his cup against Dagobert's.

"To Esperia!" Said Duran.

"To Elbe!" Said Dagobert.

Cups were raised, and as Duran was about to taste the drink Dagobert's shout stopped him in his track.

"DON'T DRINK IT!"

Alarmed by the urgency in the young King's voice, Duran put the cup away from his lips. One of Duran's guards stepped inside the tent, halberd at the ready.

"My Lord! Do you-"

Duran silenced the guard by raising a hand then looked at Dagobert.

"What's wrong?"

The young King was carefully smelling his cup, and after a while did the same with the bottle.

"The mead isn't right… Smell for yourself."

Doing as told, Duran carefully brought the cup to his nose. At first, he smelled nothing. Just the usual smell of mead. But as he focused, he noticed a different, very light foul smell. If Dagobert hadn't warned him, he would never have noticed it.

"Guard!" Said Duran. "Who came in my tent while I was away?"

"Just the usual servant, my lord! If I remember correctly, it's that Voldaren slave…"

"Bring her immediately! Make sure to handcuff her!"

"My lord!"

The guard saluted, then left swiftly with three other guards in tow. While they waited, Duran and Dagobert emptied their cups outside then the bottle as well.

"Who taught you how to recognize poisons?"

Duran was aware of Dagobert's rise to the throne story, and the young King smiled weakly.

"Mostly myself. I used books to learn and recognize most common poisons, and a few alchemist from far-off countries whom I made sure no one had paid. I didn't trust anyone at the court. Judging by the smell, I believe what was poured in that bottle was Blue Whisper. It's not lethal, but it can knock you out for days if it's not treated immediately."

The Lion brought a hand to his chin, thoughtful.

"Not lethal, huh…"

A commotion outside meant that the guards came back. One entered and saluted the two royals.

"I'm sorry my Lord, we found her in the slave's quarters but she's dead…"

Duran raised an eyebrow.

"Bring her here."

The guard whistled, and the three other guards came in, hauling a demi-human body. Voldarens were a race wolf-like demi-humans with exceptional hearing and smell. Duran found them useful as guards against assassinations, but this one in particular slave was a female one, trained for personal service.

As a king's slave, she wore better clothes than most slaves, even better than a lot of the human peasantry. Her brown fur contrasted with the white of her eyes as well as the light blue saliva frothing around her mouth. Dagobert took a closer look, covering his nose with a piece of cloth.

"No doubt about it, this is Blue Whisper…" noted Dagobert. "She's not dead, just extremely weak and unconscious. She's probably going to wake up within a week, but we won't get any answers from her until then."

Duran sighed. One more problem to add to his long list of worries.

"Guards! Bring her to the physician's tent, and tell them to do everything they can to treat her. I want answers from her. Tell them about the poison."

The guards saluted, before grabbing the body by the limbs and hauling her away. The two royals then spent some minutes thinking in silence, before Duran spoke up.

"What happened is pretty clear. Someone paid or forced her to pour that… Blue Whisper into that bottle, knowing we, or I, would drink from it. Then, once the deed was done, she got poisoned as well in order to prevent her from telling anything about the person she met."

Dagobert knew quite a lot, unfortunately for him, about assassins and their methods so he offered his piece of mind as well.

"She wasn't killed, just put in a state where she can't tell any clue about the perpetrator. They want you to waste time by focusing on her, while the person she met runs away. I doubt she would be able to tell us anything noteworthy anyway."

Now a little bit afraid to taste anything that was in his tent, Duran got one of his guards to grab a pitcher of water from the camp kitchen and sat heavily on a chair, while Dagobert sat on the other side of the desk.

"I don't think I was the specific target." The younger king started. "I would rather tend to believe it was a scare tactic."

Duran sent him a questioning look.

"If someone wanted our death, they'd use a stronger poison, one that would kill, not injure."

The Lion scratched his chin, thoughtful.

"A scare tactic…" He began. "But for what purpose… Who would want to threaten us here? The other side's people? Or our side?..."

Dagobert's expression turned confused.

"From our side? I'm well placed to know about backstabbing allies, but I don't believe someone would want to chase us away, particularly in our situation…"

Then, Duran's expression lit up.

"Of course! The Marshall vote!"

Since the last royal meeting, it had been decided that by the end of the week the Marshall would be chosen with a vote. It only made sense that some of the more ruthless monarchs would want to scare away the competition, as opposed to bribes and treaties that Duran had already been offered.

"Only thing is, we can't strike back…" He muttered.

Dagobert's face turned into one of sympathy.

"I wish I could help you, Duran. I truly do. But…"

"Don't worry. We don't know who the true enemy is, there's no need to make new ones. Let's just be careful from now on."

Dagobert nodded with uncertainty on his face.

This time, it was in the Toumaren's clan leader's camp that the meeting of Monarchs took place. And strangely, as Duran took place in a chair, he couldn't help but notice how quiet the atmosphere was.

Usually, the various kings would chatter or argue between themselves, but today apart from a few hushes and whisperings everyone looked suspiciously at one another.

As the young king Dagobert sat by Duran, he whispered into his ear.

"Looks like you weren't the only victim of a scare tactic, Duran…"

The Lion of Elbe simply nodded, waiting for the meeting to begin. Once everyone was here, the clan leader of Toumaren, Grandmaster Tullier of the Toumaren knights, raised from his throne. He was a man dressed in a polished plate armour, wearing a tabard proudly displaying his striped green and yellow colours. His head was bald save for a flourishing mustache which he obviously took pride in. Behind him, a squire held a cavalry lance with his country's flag attached on top.

"Friends, it is with glee that I welcome you here! Now, before we begin, I believe I don't have to present the Red Shogun, Kamiro, who came in yesterday…"

The Red Shogun was famous in Falmart, from east to west, for he had defeated with an army of five thousand men an orc horde of more than twenty thousand. The tales told of a single survivor stepping on a pile of corpses at the end of the battle, wielding an armor cracked all over and a bloodied blade snapped in half in his hands. His armor wasn't made of steel, but rather an exotic suit of leather and cloth plates with a mask displaying a red snarling demon's face and a wide helmet with stylized golden antlers on top. The colors were… almost blinding. His clothes were bright red and orange, and the front of his black armour had a large golden sign, probably his family colors. The bards told he never took off his mask because he hid unsightly scars underneath.

The man raised from his chair, lightly bowed then raised his voice.

"I am Shogun Kamiro, slayer of orcs, chosen of Flare and Lord of the Dragon Lands. Yoroshiku… "

Despite his far-off origins, the man spoke a perfect Saderan, a feat which couldn't be told of for most of the monarchs. After this short presentation, the Grandmaster turned to the three empty seats of the assembly, each with a soldier of a different country behind it.

"What happened to your Kings? Why aren't they here?"

The three foreign soldiers looked at one another, not sure about who should answer first. After an uncomfortable silence, the closest one to the Grandmaster knelt.

"Grandmaster Tullier, I'm afraid Count Kagrimm has been the victim of a vile assassination attempt. We found him unconscious after eating his meal, and he is currently being taken care of by the camp physicians and healers. I'm his second in command, Yalka Ro Haalu."

Gasps of shock sounded around the table. The second soldier knelt as well.

"Grandmaster Tullier, the same happened to my liege, King Balambra."

Then, the third soldier confirmed the same happened to his lord. The assembly was completely silent. Then, a voice echoed in the almost religious silence.

"Grandmaster, and allies of the allied armies, I have to admit it was one of my servants who succumbed to the poison that was meant for me. And judging from your expressions, similar things happened to all of us…"

Following The Prince of the Sea's declaration, each monarch victim of such an attempt explained what happened to them. In total, it was about ten poisoning attempts with three having succeeded that had fell upon the allied armies. It was more than half of the leaders.

"I think the perpetrator isn't one of us…" Said the young king Dagobert. "We can't afford the risk to lose so much leaders with the numbers we have, so it must be someone from the outside, but who…"

Dagobert was suddenly cut by the noise of a horse galloping outside.

"I have an urgent message for the Grandmaster!"

Following that injunction, the guards let in the horse rider. He was a Toumaren knight, completely breathless. Outside, the noise of a horse breathing loudly as well showed how fast the rider had forced his horse.

"Grand… Grandmaster Tullier! Th… The enemy! There's an… Army… Coming out of… Gate on… Holy Alnus!"

Everyone's ears perked up at that comment.

Hello there, author here

Things are going forward! Finally, the Allied Armies will meet the JSDF. But will it be a peaceful meeting? Or one spoken through steel and blood? The answer will come next week!

Kirov of the USSR: Lightning won't indeed do much physically against vehicles. But all the electronic systems?... One thunderstrike, and goodbye thermal vision, radios, in-board screens and such.

draegon75: well now you're just playing with words. Unless it becomes an absolute necessity for the survival of the JSDF, no such weapons will be used.

Major Simi: Thank you!

The Lieutenant: Huuuh, thank you, I guess? I'll take into consideration your ideas for the future.

miguelphenom: 1-Destroying the Gate structure would indeed make sense, but then I wouldn't be writing this, wouldn't I?

2-Molt knows Japan has an ally named USA. And he also knows they're one of the strongest. But remember that Molt believes himself (and probably is) one of the most skilled politicians on Falmart. Turning allies against eachother would be considered easy for him (of course, he doesn't know that he probably can't given how differently politics work on Earth).

3- JSDF meeting with the allied armies? I mean, I won't tell anything, but so far absolutely nothing has waranted the JSDF to go to war against the Allied Armies. Remember that the battle of Ginza never took place in my story. So far, they're meeting a new civilization they know very little about.

And again, thanks for the reviews! Reviews for the review god!

I've asked Deadi1025 to use some elements from his crossover between Warhammer 40 000 and Gate "Only War: the Gate Crusade" and he accepted, I strongly recommand you go read it. Even for those who aren't really into the Warhammer universe, the writing is really good and I'm looking forward for the next chapters!

See you next week!