Vulcan's Dilemma Pt. IV

"!?" Azu'll looked up from her groveling, her face startled to the news of the apparent long-known death of the female Dizalk Truskil.

"Azu'll." Flaur rose gently off of her chair, she was standing just ahead of Azu'll now. She had a small body, maybe like up to my chest, but she gave off an immense authoritative presence. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, it felt like she 'was' the epicenter of the room.

"Now, why- pray tell, have you admitted to harboring a supposedly active 'male' war criminal- even though, this Dizalk Truskil is in fact a 'woman' and has been long dead since my late-father's previous rule?"

"Honestly, what I'm more surprised by is your quick change of attitude to my simple question from before- your initial impression made me believe that you knew nothing of this kind of illicit sort."

"Why, I was just going to simply leave if you pleaded otherwise, as I would have no arguable reason to 'not' believe you."

Cold sweat appeared on Azu'll's forehead; she began to stutter.

"A-Ah forgive me, I reckon the cave air's been mixin' up my memories!"

"I m-meant that uh, I uh...!"

Flaur crossed her arms, she tilting her head to one side- her massive horns preventing her loose hair from obscuring her face as she did so.

"Mm? Denying it now already? Why I thought we were enjoying ourselves in this little game Azu-Azu?"

"It's all just fun and games- fun and games to be illegally trading Labyrinthian Ore with the Humans that is~!" Flaur cutely exclaimed as she clapped her hands together and smiled sweetly.

Azu'll looked at a loss for words.

"W-With what proof!?" She stumbled back from her groveling and clambered herself back up from the floor.

Mm, I think I get the gist of the whole thing.

I've been wrapped up in a fricking sting operation!

Wait- could the eavesdropping eyeball thing have been...?

"I don't know why everyone thinks I'm unaware of the issue with the kingdom's Stolgs."

"I'm the QUEEN! Why I'm the first one who DOES know." She started to grumble and pout, completely briefly ignoring the distraught Azu'll.

"*Sigh* Carmi, ward the door." Flaur returned to the issue at hand after her quick pity party.

Carmilla wordlessly snapped her fingers, and behind Levii and me, the door that we used to get into the barracks now had a ring of magic circles hovering over it.

"Tch!" Azu'll snarled as she saw the spell be cast over the door.

"Sorry, I have to take 'some' precautions you know."

"Now, to explain myself-"

"You have been trading with the Labyrinth's ore with the Humans because of the spiraling value of our royal currency."

"Your reason? To support your clan, as per what a chief is required to do so."

"Dwindling traffic between clans and a mass exodus of contracted workers from the mines has caused you to be desperate- so, instead of continuing to use the Stolg, you have been secretly using the Kluer, the Human-Elven currency."

"The Kluer currency is the officially recognized currency between the Humans and the Elves, and so- it has a flexible value that the Stolg cannot replicate."

"Am I correct so far?"

Azu'll stood silent as she listened to Flaur's explanation, she said nothing- it was up to debate if Flaur's argument was legitimate. But I think what she was saying was correct from what I could get out of the conversation so far- damn, I really wish I had some popcorn for this right now.

"Now, I've had my eye on this suspicious activity from the Djinn clan for a while now, since over half a year now I believe."

"It's quite commendable how hard you made it for my spies to collect any kind of tell on your illegal trading, but as comes with success, so does increased exposure."

"We've picked up reports of Humans, high-ranking Paladins at that, coming through Ahriman's Table, the Steppe that connects the Elven Wood to the east and Hreidmarr's Spine to the west, where we are now at the Labyrinth."

"My spies report that they would enter through one of the old trade-paths that enter the Labyrinth that the kingdom has unfortunately yet to restation with guards."

Azu'll squirmed uncomfortably where she stood.

"A-And? They could just be raiders!"

"I wish, that would be far easier to deal with." Flaur retorted.

"But why now? What's changed to cause ya to come like thi-...!"

Flaur gave a small grin, her spiky teeth lined her mouth devilishly.

"Something happened to your last trade-off to cause you to become careless."

"Currently, I cannot officially confirm what it was-"

For a brief moment, it looked like Flaur gave me a very quick glance; scary...

"But- it's what allowed me to come here to catch you in the act as you are now."

Flaur extended an open palm silently to Carmilla.

Carmilla reached for something in her breast pocket, and from it she revealed a single coin- it had the stamping of a Stolg; she placed it gingerly onto Flaur's palm.

Flaur held the coin up between two slender fingers, the Stolg had a muddled shine under the light of the chandelier over the table.

"A wandering Human paladin, one of that whore's personal elite, had been found delirious and half-dead in the forested wilderness that surrounds Hreidmarr's Spine as of a few moons ago." She played with the coin in-between her fingers, it made Azu'll look noticeably nervous.

"He had killed himself before we could extract any valuable information from him when he had been captured by my forces, but on his person was something quite interesting."

Flaur flipped the coin up into the air.

"A bag-full of 'Stolg' coins."

The coin fell heavily onto the hard wood of the table, from it a small cloud of silvery dust scraped off from it.

"Or should I say, Kluers disguised as Stolgs." Flaur held up the coin now, the stamping of the Stolg print was now gone revealing a familiar, three-headed lion symbol.

"..." Azu'll crumpled to her knees, she said nothing but kept her eyes steadily affixed to the revealed Kluer being held by Flaur in her hand.

"Please... please, your Majesty."

Flaur said nothing as Azu'll genuinely pleaded this time.

"Please... forgive me!" Azu'll suddenly began to cast something from her hands, it caught Flaur and Carmilla by surprise.

"W-What! Djinn's can't cast magic!" Carmilla rushed over to Flaur's side. I grabbed Levii and shielded her from Azu'll, not knowing what would happen next.

"A gift from the Humans, ACTIVATE OCULOBOS! AHRIMAN FORGIVE ME!!"

A magic circle appeared out of Azu'll's hands, but it looked erratic, almost incomplete if I could call it that compared to how the Carmilla's warding circles were.

But, as soon as Azu'll had activated her magic circles, it turned rapidly from its orange color to a fizzling gray- then, nothing.

"O-Oculobos!?" She tried to cast it again, but the same thing happened- over and over.

I took this as an opportunity to run and grab her, tackling Azu'll to the floor with ease. I have mixed feelings manhandling a lady who looks as old as my mom, but I can't risk seeing what else could happen.

"W-What!? Let go!" She struggled under the pin I had her under on the floor, but I couldn't feel any of her elbows and jabs into me as Carmilla and Flaur soon relaxed- Levii brought out her spear from the chest in the room and pointed it at Azu'll.

"OCULOBOS!!" She cried once more, but still no dice, whatever she was calling it wasn't responding.

Hmmm what if I do that thing my older sister used to do to me all the time...?

I put a finger in between her collarbone and shoulder blade, I think there's a pressure point somewhere around here....

There!

I pressed down at a certain point between Azu'll's thick shoulders and applied pressure- she soundlessly fell unconscious.

Wow it actually worked; she's knocked out. I wasn't actually expecting that to work, but hey- go me!

I rose from the now deeply asleep Azu'll lying on the floor and looked up, Flaur was standing next to me looking at what I had curiously.

// New skill [Pressure Point] acquired. //

Oh, neat.

"What did you just do?" Flaur asked me, she was standing pretty close- her heavy breath tickled my ears.

"A-Agh, I uh, I just knocked her out unconscious- she's not dead." Is she one of 'those' people? I like my personal space thank you very much! I mean it's not bad having a girl do it, but still- it caught me off guard.

"Hm Hm, I see~" Her eyes sparkled at my handiwork, Carmilla walked over and grabbed Flaur by the collar of her uniform.

"Your Majesty, I believe you shouldn't be standing so close to them now, should you?"

Carmilla had Flaur held up like a mother cat with their kitten, the scruff being her collar.

"Nyehhh, let go let go! I get it!" Flaur whined helplessly as she was held up, she couldn't get her boots to touch the floor.

She was finally let go, being forced to keep a healthy distance between me with Azu'll by Carmilla.

"*Sigh* What a mess, that was the last thing I was expecting her to do." Flaur fixed her misaligned collar as Carmilla stood next to her, she eyeing me suspiciously.

"But thankfully, whatever it was didn't work- I believe she was...!?"

"O-Oculobos!?" Flaur face drained of all of its color with her outburst.

"The Whore's Pet!? IS IT HERE SOMEWHERE!?!" Flaur looked around the room frantically, she formed a V-shape from her hand and held it over one of her eyes as she scanned the corners of the room doing so.

"It's not here? But wait... what is that?" Flaur looked at the corner where I had destroyed the eavesdropping eyeball.

"I can see some residual magic, but only faint traces- whatever it was, it's been just destroyed before shorthand." Carmilla also looked at where Flaur was looking, she did the same V-Shape with her hands that Flaur was doing.

I was expecting my [Absorption] skill to kick in again with them using that technique to see the "residual magic" that they were talking about, but it didn't come. Maybe I didn't need it as I had already seen what was up there just before?

"Oh, you guys mean the gross eyeball thing?" I spoke up.

Carmilla and Flaur looked at me like if they had just seen a ghost.

Levii was now standing next to me with her spear in hand, but it was no longer being pointed at Azu'll- she wasn't in the know about it, so she didn't react strongly to whatever was going on.

"Eyeball thing, Kai?" Levii asked.

"Yeah, eyeball thing, I saw it when we came inside- it was pretty nasty looking, I thought it was a kind of listening device thing, so I got rid of it."

"It looked slimy and black, it made me feel pretty sick just looking at it eugh." I faked a gag at Levii as she giggled softly, Carmilla and Flaur continued to stare at me dumbfounded.

"G-G-Got rid of it...." Carmilla's cool-beauty mask slipped as she stuttered out her disbelief- she dropped one hand onto the table to use as support to keep her wobbling legs still.

But for Flaur...

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" She let out a boisterous laugh that made Levii and me jump.

"YOUR PRECIOUS PET IS DEAD TITANIA! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

In the most Demon Queen looking way possible, Flaur let out a defiant victory pose with her hands on her hips as she laughed whole-heartedly, her chest defied physics as I know it.

"Oh, oh my~ ah, that was terrific." Flaur winded-down, satisfied with her aimless taunting.

"I can't believe you just defeated the whore's pet. That damned thing should be indestructible!" Flaur pointed her gloved finger at me.

" It's been the thorn in my side for years! It's why I haven't been able to move freely in the kingdom!" Flaur smiled a toothy smile at me, but Carmilla didn't looked pleased as to what Flaur was divulging to me was likely a well-kept state secret

"Ah, thank Ahriman that you were here- I would've been a goner, WAHAHA- bluh!"

Flaur bit her tongue as Carmilla 'lightly' struck her head with her clipboard.

"Wuh wuz tha fo!?" Flaur rubbed her head pathetically as Carmilla began to speak.

"Never mind if you really had destroyed Oculobos, as we can confirm that at another time- but I would like to personally thank you for apprehending Azu'll from further causing harm." Carmilla had regained her cool, but this time her polite face didn't look forced.

"For that, I believe we owe you an explanation as to what has occurred-"

Carmilla looks at Azu'll's unconscious body and let out a small sad sigh.

"I had my reservations, but to fully confirm that Azu'll was behind the illegal ore trade and the importing of Kluers... it's just a pity."

"But back to you, now, for the reason as to why I'll be explaining to you anything about this in the first place is because-"

"We know it wath you whew- *Ahem* it was you who destroyed the party of paladins enabling the illegal trade in the Steppe." Flaur spoke up, interrupting the annoyed looking Carmilla.

She fixed the crown on her head and began to recount.

"As I had said earlier, we had found the half-dead paladin by Hreidmarr's Spine."

"But before the paladin had killed himself in our confinement was his constant crazed babblings of 'Ahriman' killing his comrades."

"A "Steppe Imps, Ahriman Descending, Dying Paladins" blah blah kind of deal." Flaur gesticulated dramatically.

"So, I sent a team to investigate the village of the Steppe Imps- and what they found was quite disturbing."

Levii subtly shifted herself away from the conversation, her face conflicted with mixed emotions. I couldn't blame her, having this asshole talk about her village as if she knew anything about it and its situation. That paired with her outrageous previous talk about Levii's father; it resurfaced some anger inside of me.

"The village itself was abandoned and there were recently made graves lining the outside of the village. But what was the biggest oddity was the scar made into the Steppe that spanned multiple miles." Flaur's stared sharply at me, her star-shaped irises bored deep into my face.

"With what the paladin had claimed, everything lined up with his babblings. But before we could divulge who exactly had destroyed his party, he had killed himself in secret during a guard's swap."

"However, we found that none of the loose graves in the village had the body of the Steppe Imp Princess'" Carmilla butted in on the conversation, making Flaur pout.

"Therefore, I concluded that the Steppe Imp Princess was traveling to the capital for aid- and whoever was traveling with her was likely responsible for the deaths of the paladins."

"B-But, how does that explain you knowing we would be coming today to the Bejeweled Labyrinth?" Levii spoke behind me with a frail voice, she was trying her best regardless of the situation.

I thought back on our journey to the mountains, or what they call Hreidmarr's Spine, and not for single moment did it feel like we were being followed or anything. There's nothing stretching for miles and miles out there on the Steppe, so there are zero hiding places for anyone to tail us.

Could it be they're just bluf-

"We didn't." Flaur bluntly stated.

Carmilla closed her eyes and said nothing, I'm taking that as an agreement to what Flaur had just said.

"Your arrival was completely coincidental with it happening at the same time as Carmi and I coming to confront Azu-Azu." Flaur had her arms resting on the back of her head.

"It shames me to admit it so, but her Majesty is correct- we were not aware you would be here." Carmilla added in.

"I had my best team try and find you, but they couldn't find you on any of the established routes that lead to the Bejeweled Labyrinth."

Ah! I get it now!

They couldn't find us because we were using a trade route that Levii herself only knew about by memory.

"It was quite a surprise to see you appear in the Djinn's crowd along with that 'man', to say the least." I could see Carmilla still struggles to call me anything other than a 'thing'.

But to my surprise, she gave a very long, elegant bow directed to the both of us.

"Forgive me for using my magic on you Steppe Imp Princess Levii, and 'man' whose name escapes me." Is she really forgetful or does she just refuse to call me by my name!?

Levii gave me a very confused expression as she didn't know what she was talking about, but I whispered to her how she had been briefly magically charmed by Carmilla in the Labyrinth without her knowing about it.

"I had to do so to confirm your identity- as even though I could 'sense' it was you, your appearance has drastically changed since the last time I've seen you." Carmilla raised her head from her bow and returned to the side of Flaur-

Hey, no direct apology to me!? YOU TRIED TO DO THE SAME THING TO ME YOU BI-

"And for you- Sir... Kai I believe, yes I believe that's your 'name'."

"I 'would' properly apologize to you- but in truth, when I had tried to charm you..." Carmilla's face turned a deep note of sour, her nose wrinkled to an extreme degree.

"It felt like my mind was physically thrown into a bottomless pit of the deepest, darkest sludge that I had ever seen." She rubbed her arms vigorously, shuddering at the memory of it.

"I felt... violated." She spat out those words like if I had done that to her- you were the one who tried to mind control me in the first-place jerk! Not my fault you didn't like what you found!!

"But, nonetheless, I do 'apologize' for attempting it- even if I begrudgingly do so."

Apology accep- NOT. There is nothing tsun or dere about you, you shitty hag!

But before I could react to the pathetic attempt of an apology that Carmilla gave, this time it was Flaur herself who took a step ahead- ignoring Carmilla's gripes from doing so.

"No, no- I have to do this, as it's the right thing to do." Flaur mumbled to herself as she walked forward, her eyes focused on Levii who was hiding behind my shoulder.

Hiding being figurative, as well, Levii is a bit taller than me.

"Steppe Imp Princess- No, Levii." Flaur called Levii out, but she didn't budge.

"I have made a great sin in my attempts to manipulate the situation in my favor."

"I had sullied the name of your late-father, Vileii, savior, champion, and victim of my right to rule."

Flaur face was serious as she recited her surprising, yet somber apology- I felt Levii rustle from behind me.

"I had done so in order to further deceive Azu'll, to convince her I'm an incompetent ruler."

"But in doing so, I have gravely offended you and the proud Steppe Imp legacy; the Goetia Line's greatest ally."

"Step forth and ask me of anything, and I will comply as the due apology- as by my name, Flaur Goetia, Ruler of Modos." Flaur stood silently with her head lowered to Levii, the gravity of the room was at a razor's edge. I couldn't breathe, it felt surreal to see a Queen bow their head like this- I think I have to give her credit for that.

Levii stopped shuffling around behind me and stepped away from my shoulder- this time she took a step forward.

She stopped just before the bowing Flaur, she raised a hand as if she was ready to strike. Carmilla looked like she was about to take action- but soon stopped as Levii limply dropped her arm.

"The price for insulting the Chief of the Steppe Imps is death in my custom." She grimly stated, Flaur remained unmoving as she kept her head bowed.

"But to kill you would be a waste to my late-father's sacrifice to the kingdom of Modos."

"So, instead- I would ask that you would return my father's body to my village to be traditionally interred by the Steppe Imp's customs."

Levii finished her demand and returned to my side quietly, this time with a greatly returned confidence in her step.

"So it will be, by the Queen's Decree." Flaur stated, raising her head from the bow.

Damn- now there's a whole new layer of awkwardness in the room, how the heck do we continue from this?

"*Ahem* Uh, I got a question." I forced myself to speak up, as I was still confused over something- plus I couldn't handle being in this kind of atmosphere any longer than I needed to, moving along!

Flaur looked at me, her then somber demeanor being replaced once again by her otherwise playful smirk.

"What was the entire point of you getting Azu'll to admit to harboring the war criminal? Also, why fake the war criminal in the first place too if you we're only really looking for her to admit to the illegal ore trade?"

Flaur gave a crooked, scheming grin as she began to explain the hare-brained plot she had been mulling over this entire time.

"Well, you see-"

Flaur's eyes gleamed connivingly.

"'A Demon's Skin Shines Black at Night.'" She proudly stated her idiom that is completely lost on me.

Levii however, mumbled for a moment- but her eyes shone with a characteristic "Ah-Hah!" realization.

"I see!" She stated proudly, she knew what the hell the saying meant.

Flaur looked at me expectantly, but I couldn't hazard an idea as to what the heck they're agreeing over.

Carmilla began to speak instead, this time with an actual explanation.

"'A Demon's Skin Shines Black at Night' is an old saying that originates from the debunked understanding that under the moonlight, our skin shines black.

"Long before we had an academic understanding of how Ahriman and Nimia had constructed the world, we hazarded many guesses as to how things were from our limited, primitive understanding."

"As when Night would fall and Ahriman would rise, all Demons of varying skin-tones would notice that their skin would darken during the night- believing that only at night their skin color would change."

"This understanding spawned the saying of 'A Demon's Skin Shines Black at Night'. But, as we know now, our skin does not shine black at night, it is simply the moonlight and the obscuring night that darkens our skin to the naked eye."

I was still pretty confused as to how this idiom relates to what Flaur and Carmilla had done to Azu'll- but I kept quiet as Carmilla continued her explanation.

"The saying itself isn't meant to be taken literally. Rather, what it really means is that we should not take what is understood as the status quo as absolute fact."

"We used this to our advantage to construct a brief understanding to Azu'll, who hasn't personally met her Majesty herself, to believe that she is what the public deems her to be as fact."

"An idiot! WAHAHA!" Flaur proudly stated.

Uh, I don't think that's something you should be proud of...

"With that in mind- I believe you can piece together what we've done to a head, Sir Kai." Carmilla finished her explanation, a small content smile formed on her lips.

Hmmm, now that she told me what the idiom meant-

Ohhhh-

That's why!

"Is that why you we're acting like a such a whiny brat this entire time! I have to applaud your performance your Majesty, you're a genius! I'm extremely impressed!"

"Ehh? I never changed how I would usually act this entire time- and WHO'RE YOU CALLING A WHINY BRAT!?!" Flaur yelled at me, her voice at an all-new high whiny pitch.

She charged at me; her fists flailing in circles trying to land a hit on me.

But I used the tip of my index finger to hold her (massive) forehead away from me as she desperately tried to land a hit on me- she couldn't move an inch.

"NNNNGH, unhand me! You called me a whiny brat!"

I looked at Carmilla for help, but instead she gave me a silent 'harm her and you're dead' look so I quickly averted my gaze. Levii was no help either as she was busy helping up the unconscious Azu'll onto one of the chairs. It was just up to me to deal with the busty idiot by myself now.

"Then other than using Levii's father like that, what else did you do?" I asked, Flaur was already out of breath from trying to land a hit on me.

"I--*Huff* *Huff* Allowing Carmilla to 'dismiss' the guards, *Huff* *Huff*"

"And while *Huff* I was with her alone walking to the-the *Huff* Barracks, I told her a bunch of outdated info *Huff* that made me seem irresponsible *Huff*."

She finally stopped trying to hit me as she at last dropped to the floor, now completely out of breath.

"Alright fine, that makes sense- but it still doesn't answer my question, why the war criminal charge?"

Flaur was sprawled onto the floor covered in sweat, she spoke up.

"Azu'll is a traitor to the kingdom, but it doesn't me she isn't loyal to her own people." Flaur spoke as she stared off into the ceiling, deep in thought.

"If you were in her position- having your most recent trade meeting suddenly vanish and then the Queen herself coming to visit, what would you think?"

"I would think I was already done for at that point." I stated, Flaur nodded in agreement.

"But, to have the Queen randomly bring up some war criminal charge that you have zero relation to- you would see that as a lifeline. She must've taken me for some idiot (you are an idiot) mistaking her for someone else who was doing it and didn't question it one bit."

"Her life was forfeit, but that didn't mean her clan should follow."

"And so- she took the bait and pretended to harbor this supposed war criminal Dizalk Truskil to cut off any further investigations involving the illegal crystal ore trade."

"If she wasn't so desperate for an easy way out, she would've easily seen through the deception- and have drawn on the accusation as long as possible to buy time to let the trail of evidence go cold."

"But- I think with your sudden arrival, she probably panicked with having unknown variables like you appear making her take the bait."

"But that's a just a theory- I'm not a genius, I can't puzzle out all of the angles if I wanted to!" Flaur proclaimed as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Other than that, having her backpedal into a corner was easy enough with me charging her with being guilty of her two true crimes."

But as I thought about it, there's still a loose end out of this.

"Then why didn't Carmilla simply charm Azu'll like she did with Levii?"

Flaur went quiet and averted her eyes from me as I struck up the question- she's hiding something she can't talk about.

However, Carmilla spoke instead.

"It's fine your Highness- I'll tell them."

"My skills are only effective on people who have never met me before, the less they know about it- the more effective it is."

"You, the exception of course, Sir Kai." Carmilla shot me spiteful look.

Thinking back on Carmilla and Azu'lls first interaction, it seemed like they already had some kind of history.

"I worked closely with Azu'll during my time as a freelance agent before her Majesty came to power, I suppose you could call us ex-colleagues." she stated as such, it made sense to me.

"And if you're wondering why it worked on Levii, it's because we've never met in person before- I only know about her through official documentation and private observations from the past."

Levii eyed Carmilla wearily, but Carmilla only gave back a polite smile in return.

"It's my job to know all about the varying clan's that Modos rules over, even if they're never aware that I was there." As soon as Carmilla finished her explanation, she returned back to her clipboard, busy with whatever was written on there.

Flaur was leaning on me now- oi, when the hell did you get here!?

"You'd make a good wall, Kai." Flaur stretched outwardly, but just as she was about to rest her back on me, I stepped out of the way- watching her fall backwards and landing on her butt.

"Owww!" She cried out as she rubbed her backside gingerly, but she soon recovered as she got back up.

"Welp, I think it's time now that we leave with Azu'll in tow- Carmi, could you call the guards?"

"As you wish your Majesty." Carmilla snapped her fingers and the warding on the door disappeared, then from it, a handful of knights dressed in deep crimson came pouring in- five in total. How long have they been outside waiting!?

They aligned themselves before Flaur and kneeled deeply to her standing before them.

"Your orders, your Highness?" They all spoke in unison; I couldn't tell who was male or female from the lot of them having their helmets completely hiding their faces.

"Arrest Azu'll Lapiz on grounds of high-treason to the kingdom of Modos, and ready my carriage outside- chop chop!"

"At your command, your Highness!"

Two of them grabbed the unconscious Azu'll sitting on the chair propped up by Levii and took her outside, the other three left before them and from outside I could hear the sound of a carriage being drawn- but instead of horses neighing, I heard some weird raspy hisses instead.

"And for you two." Flaur spoke to Levii and I, her near-permanent whimsical smirk made her true intentions hard to read.

"You're being arrested on the grounds of now knowing top kingdom secrets! WAHAHAHAHA!"

///