24th Move | Manifest Destiny

I woke up to the shaking of my shoulder by Shizue. Normally, I instructed Shizue to never do such a thing, as I usually wake up on my own after I've slept enough. What's more, I already rarely sleep with this new body so actually sleeping was something like a treat.

The only thing that permits Shizue to wake me up earlier was if there is an urgent situation that requires my attention.

As such it's only fitting that I immediately opened my eyes to the sight of three servants in my bedroom. One to wake me, one to carry the tray holding the morning cup of special tea, and the last one who carried the proper formal clothing for the day.

I took the tea the second Shizue offered and took a sip.

I had to fight back against the grimace that my face reactively wanted to make when it tasted the bitter thing. This tea wasn't really tea, rather it is a chemical mixture designed to shock my systems into a state that is alert.

The ultimate pick-me-up, basically. If caffeine won't work on me, I'll go with the senses that can be affected.

I then handed the empty cup back to Shizue before doing an exaggerated swiping motion. In response, a holographic display opened up in front of me showing a dashboard of my current domain in space.

"What's the situation?" I asked while a majority of my focus was on reading the systems log.

"Youm, the leader of Falmuth's envoy, wishes to negotiate a transference of contract directly under your leadership. Guild Master Fuze is representing the nation of Blumund in the diplomatic talks." the third one said as the rest stayed quiet, "and most importantly, Demon Lord Carrion is here on a diplomatic meeting to discuss the issue of how his subordinate had accidentally caused the Rain of Castamere."

When the words finally registered in my mind, my face went through several different emotions, ranging from confusion to one that just screams 'what?!' to mere acceptance. I massaged the bridge of my nose while thinking of what to say.

The Rain of Castamere is what the people on the Internet started to call the Charybdis incident. It was named so because the place where those rods from gods first struck Charybdis was called 'Castamere', and the 'Rain' here is referring to that barrage since it was like a rain of orichalcum from above.

The gears inside my mind started turning. Despite not saying it, I knew that Rimuru wanted me to be there for these talks. He doesn't trust himself to not get screwed over by other nation's representatives.

Guess my talk of 'Realpolitik' must've gotten into him. He isn't as trusting as when he first reincarnated.

Although Carrion... That was rather quick. I guess he must've somehow seen the power of an antimatter explosion and decided that we're finally a threat.

"Shizue, I know I said to place everything in chronological order— but could you please in the future report the most important thing first? And then go with chronological order?" I looked over at the trio as they bowed.

"Very well then, Lady Scientia."

I returned to my thoughts. So, Carrion. Let's see, from what I tell based on information received from books about the Demon Lord, he ruled over the country of Eurazania south of the Republic, right between the domain of Demon Lord Frey and Milim. He ascended to Demon Lord status after the last Great Tenma War.

I honestly don't believe in the Great Tenma War. A cyclical disaster that comes every 500 years? That sounds like something solely reserved for Lovercraft's works considering the premise is perfect for the creation of a lost super advanced past civilization.

So I see this as more of an attempt for Carrion to bolster his perceived power by tying his founding with that of a legendary cyclical disaster.

Being a Kratorcracy: Social Darwinism, discriminatory, authoritarian, militaristic state, Eurazania is pretty much the opposite of the Jura Tempest Republic.

Economically, they are an agrarian society. They don't use money, but instead a barter system to trade goods and services. Their tropical climate and some of the most fertile soil found in the world produces high-quality crops.

It was said that 99% of Eurazania's population lives in abject poverty while the 1% of the strongest reap the reward and that the ruler is extremely disconnected from their people.

Based on satellite imagery, most of Eurazania's population lives spread out like nations in tropical Africa instead of congregating inside major population centers. More specifically, the population seems to live in small villages that collectively run large plantations tended to by both the citizens and slaves.

Since there's no money, the Eurazanian government, like any dictator with poor farmers, takes the wealth directly from their citizens in the form of a crop quota as a type of 'tax'. The dictator then trade these seized crops at a much higher price with those Carrion deemed 'strong' at an unthinkable high tax rate.

Politically speaking, Eurazania is a broken place. The 1% exploit the 99% without a single care because the 99% really can't do anything about it. Usually, in such a system of exploitation, the ideals of Communism would thrive like mold to a fruit. However, such isn't the case because Eurazania is a prime example of what is wrong with this world.

The people aren't inherently equal.

All men/monsters aren't equal.

I'm going to have to make the people equal if I want democracy and equality to last.

Perhaps it's finally time to release genetic engineering? Sarion already has something like that but for homunculus. And, ugh, the disgusting Ulgrasia has its spirit magic users.

Although, I was about to make the comparison to the racial hierarchy of my old world, however, that's not really true. Eurazania is really inclusive: so long as you're strong, they don't care if you're a human, demihuman, monster, or whatever. So instead of a racial hierarchy and Racialism, it's better to call it a true Kratorcracy.

"..."

I decided to stop this line of thought.

Finally getting up from the bed, I waved off the clothing offered by the third Shizue maid chassis, "I think it's best if I choose something a bit more... futuristic for the coming talks."

To display how Tempest represents the future, I should wear the part.

Walking into the walk-in closet, I tapped on a specific section of the wall three times.

The ceiling opened up, and a black sludge came down, drooping onto my head before steadily crawling down my body as if it was alive and intelligent. Within less than ten seconds, the sludge covered my body and solidified into a bodysuit.

A holographic panel appeared in front of me. On it were several designs of styles and clothing that the nanosuit can turn into.

My right index fingers made continuous swiping motions before stopping on a suit that looked like it came straight out of a Tron movie. Neon lights ran up and down the sleek near-pitch black suit, creating a contrast that was unlike anything this world probably has ever seen. It almost didn't look like a human had designed it, which I guess made sense since this was made by an AI.

Very quickly, I felt the clothing heat up by two degrees celsius as the nanites shifted. Neon lights surfaced from the featureless black exterior like a submarine coming up underwater, and flaps and other seemingly unknowable components jutted out of the black nanosuit.

"You look great, my Lady," Shizue said as I spun around to look at myself from every angle, the clothes feeling not one bit suffocating at all despite how they covered my neck.

"Thank you Shizue. I'm starting to understand why so many of my female coworkers love to shop for clothing so much now."

If this had been when I just reincarnated, I definitely wouldn't be doing what I am right in this instance. The eerie, freakish perfection puts me off too much, but just like an addict requiring more and more drugs to get that high, I got used to this perfection.

I frowned as I stared into my reflection. A feeling of repulsiveness grew like a tumor within my mind.

Not too much though.

Seeing how I've stopped, one of Shizue's bodies moved to tie my hair. In this new body of mine, my hair doesn't seem to grow at all unless I cut it, what with it always maintaining a length that reaches the base of my neck.

Shizue worked my hair into a singular bun on the back with 2 bangs flowing down the sides of my face.

"It is done, Lady Scientia."

_____________________________________________

[Silenced Emotion: 60%]

Walking down the halls of Congress, Shizue in a formal maid dress followed closely behind me.

There wasn't anyone else in the modern-looking well-lit hallway. The walls were made out of a smooth light grey material and the floor was covered by a dark patterned carpet. The ultra-realistic plants that were situated beside the wall to give the place a bit of greenery were placed inside a featureless cube with an open top.

The hallway I'm walking down was on the left side of the pyramid. It led to an elevator that then goes straight up to one of the towers that sat at each corner of the pyramid, representing the cardinal directions.

I found Rimuru in his humanoid form sitting on a bench next to the elevator. Anxiety was on his face as he fidgeted around in a formal three-piece suit.

He was talking with his secretary Citrinitas before hearing my steps and getting up and waving at me.

"Scientia, you're finally here!"

In contrast to his excited greeting, mine was much more tranquil and simple.

"President Rimuru."

Realizing how he was still on the job, the slime chuckled awkwardly for a bit before clearing his throat.

Rimuru then continued in a much more reserved tone, "so anything I need to know last minute about this Carrion guy?"

I pressed the button for the elevator and quickly thought about the ruler of Eurazania.

"Demon Lord Carrion is a ruler who is extremely disconnected from his people, so he may act in infuriating and disrespectful ways. However, I don't think he'll do that considering he's seen our power."

As I finished, the door to the elevator opened up and the four of us walked in. Rimuru looked like he wants to say something yet he can't find the words.

There is a non-zero chance the real reason why Carrion sent Phobio was to test our powers. Placing a disposable thermometer in the water so to speak.

I don't know Carrion's personality enough to know if that's true but it's a possibility.

In less than a minute, we had reached the topmost floor of the tower, a place that overlooked the entirety of the Capital. Carrion and the rest of the beastketeers are already here.

Preemptively, I prepared my well-practiced disarming business smile.

The elevator door slide opened to a large meeting room centered around a single long rectangular wooden table. On one side of the table sat a tall person with short spiky blonde hair and a large build: Carrion. Beside Carrion sat a female with a coldhearted stare and snake-like eyes topped off with a head of black and gold hair and a...

With [Acting] in full force, my surprise was very easily hidden. I couldn't with my smile.

Besides Carrion was a cat person. A literal cat— [Biology] corrected me by saying they're a tiger demihuman.

Fascinating. I find demihuman as a whole fascinating. Somehow, the genes from two entirely different taxonomic Orders or ever Classes were able to create a creature that wasn't riddled with health complications.

Rimuru and I moved to sit on the empty side of the table, directly facing Carrion and his cohorts. Behind us were the Jura Tempest Republic's flags hung from thin iron poles while behind Carrion were the flags of Eurazania, also hung from thin iron poles.

Shizue and Citrinitas stood behind us at the wall.

"Ah, so you are finally here," Carrion spoke first, "the murderers of Charybdis."

"Demon Lord Carrion," Rimuru spoke first, "Charybdis was a threat to our existence. Their direct pathways would've passed over our Capital and based on its capacity, leveled it to the ground."

"Couldn't you have at least fought with it hand to hand? Instead of seeing it die from far away? The best part about fighting is testing your limits and seeing the respect your opponent has for you right before they die. You can't see that if you don't do it personally."

I was tempted to point out how he had looked at Charybdis' defeat from far away, but diplomats don't insult foreign dignitaries and much less their leaders.

So instead I intervened before Rimuru.

"Demon Lord Carrion, we are here to talk about the repercussions involved with your subordinate seeking the strength of Charybdis to attack Tempest." My evidence was circumstantial since my spy satellites spotted Phobio in the general area of Charybdis, however, the implication of it was enough. "Such an act by your second-in-command would've been seen as an act of war—"

Carrion cut me off while looking at me, "oh, yes. I gotta thank you for putting the fool out of his misery. I would've killed him myself for getting tricked like that."

Rimuru suddenly adopted a more sympathetic stance, "tricked?"

"Oh yes," Carrion repeated, "when Phobio's underlings came to tell me of how a few words spoken by some clowns of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance ensnared Phobio and seduced him with the promises of power, I knew that either he wants to usurp me or he's really that stupid. Nobody gives out promises of power for free."

The snake-like woman beside Carrion then spoke up in a quiet, submissive tone, "Lord Carrion, I'm sure there's more to the story—"

"Bah, enough of me. Let's get on with this."

"Well, sorry we had to kill him but, are you sure you're fine with that?" Rimuru said, his voice suggesting he was regretful.

God damn it Rimuru. We're supposed to present a united front!

"We could maybe—"

"Enough, I will not have your sympathy for a pathetic subordinate of mine. Let's get on with this."

Thankfully, Carrion shut Rimuru up before the slime could continue.

Rimuru's eyes narrowed.

Oh no.

"Well, I just thought that perhaps if we had talked with Charybdis maybe a peaceful sol—"

I placed a hand on Rimuru's shoulder, silencing his passive-aggressive tone and taking control.

He's not really fit for politics or leadership, but having the first President of the Republic step down wouldn't bode well for successors.

Rimuru stared back at me with a confused expression, as if verbally asking me why did I stop him. My hard stare must've stopped him from verbally uttering those confused thoughts.

"Perhaps—" I started and slowly turned to Carrion. My smile was everpresent, as I returned my hand from Rimuru's shoulder to above my chest, "—we should start again? My name is Scientia Tempest, Director of Research and Development and the Commander of the Military of the Jura Tempest Republic."

My long-winded introduction was there to give Rimuru time to recover and prepare for his own. The humanoid slime's lips thinned, and he looked extremely displeased before continuing.

"I am the President of the Jura Tempest Republic, Rimuru Tempest."

Carrion looked unimpressed before deciding to go along with it, "ah, I'm the Beast Master Carrion, the ruler of Beast Kingdom Eurazania." The beastman then gestured around him, "these two are my other Beastketeers, Albis," Carrion pointed to the snake-like woman, "and Suphia," then the tiger demihuman.

I then raised a hand, "perhaps you'd prefer some refreshments as we start?"

A Doorway opened up and from it walked out a Shizue maid chassis. Within the chassis' hands was a tray that held a jug of orange juice and several empty glasses.

Carrion looked between the Shizue behind me and the Shizue who was holding the refreshments as if confused at how there were two of the same person.

"Aren't you the Conqueror of Flames?" Carrion spoke with a hint of confoundment.

Shizue bowed, "yes, that's who I used to be before I came to the employment of Lady Scientia."

"How're there two of you?"

This time I interjected, "I loved my servant so much I made multiples of them."

Carrion's posture changed. Before, he probably felt as if he had control of the situation even during a meeting with the group that killed Charybdis. Now after seeing I've somehow split Shizue in two, he became more cautious.

Perhaps he isn't as disconnected as I thought.

"And you're also the group who slayed the Orc Lord?"

This time, I let Rimuru continue with the meeting. I'm his safety net, there to guide them, not to hold his hands.

"Yes, we are. I recognized the fact that we may seem threatening with all the destruction and all that from the..." Rimuru seemed to want to find a better word than just 'massacre' or 'slaughter'.

"'Counter-attacks' that we did against the Orc Lord and Charybdis, but I can promise you that we are a nation friendly to all. For evidence, you just need to look outside! There are humans here and there who set up shop despite being right next to goblins and at least four new merchants come visit our city to set up shop here every day! We also have begun a free trade agreement and a defensive pact with Dwargon—"

Carrion then raised a hand to stop Rimuru from talking, ah so there it is, "You can keep the politicking with my subordinates, I'm just here to sign what you really want."

"That being?" Rimuru seemed skeptical.

"A non-agression pact of course! You're a nation of merchants and merchants love nothing more than peace. Bah, such weakness!" Oh, there it is, the preaching ideology, "only the strong shall win in the end, and the weak will serve the strong if they want to live."

[Silenced Emotion: 50%]

Rimuru seemed to be disturbed at the sheer difference between our modernity and his barbarity, of course, this is no time to talk about just how self-destructive Social Darwinism and Racialism are. So just as Rimuru is rebooting himself, I decided to speak up, [Acting] barely holding me back from verbally shredding the idea to pieces.

"Yes, but we were also hoping to have a free trade agreement and the opening of an embassy within our two nations."

Carrion seemed to judge us for a few moments before scoffing, "Sure, everyone wants our crops. We can trade that's for sure. Anything else? If not you can set out the details with my Beastketeers."

It seems Carrion was put off by the double Shizue act. Eurazania's foreign policy can be boiled down to them interacting with only those they view as 'strong' and since Carrion probably knows of Shizue due to her being seen as a champion by the humans, the beastman probably is disturbed by how I seemingly duplicated her hard-earned power.

My smile widened, "yes, that will be all."

_____________________________________________

In the end, it took until midday before a proper deal was hashed out with the Beastketeers. We managed to get a non-aggression pact for the next five years, a free trade agreement that allows corporations to buy up farms and lands and supply a market of about 3 million upper-class citizens that can actually buy stuff.

Though to be honest, the real issue is to get Eurazania to switch from a barter to a monetary system. And after that, how to tap into the 300 million lower class and slave population.

The wealth disparity between the 1% upper class and the rest is insane. A basic calculation of Eurazania's Gini Coefficient is 0.998.

To give a perspective of how ridiculous this number is, the Gini Coefficient is used to measure wealth inequality within a nation. A 1 represents absolute inequality while 0 is Communist utopia. Right before I died, South Africa was the most unequal in my old world with 0.63.

However, even that pales in comparison to the estimates made by the KDI School of Public Policy and Management that puts North Korea's Gini Coefficient at up to 0.86 back in 2003.

Dystopias have better income distributions than Eurazania.

Ignoring the moral obligation of helping those people, those 300 million uneducated citizens are a huge untapped market and one that I intend to exploit to the max. The main issue facing Tempest right now is our lack of manpower, so in less than a year or a bit more, I want to start a program that allows mass immigration of these lower-class citizens into Tempest, 'poaching' their people if you will.

Effectively, I'm going to pull a China.

If Eurazania isn't going to fully use its massive population, I will then.

Now, right before Rimuru continued with his daily work of being President I had a quick chat with him since I get the sense he was angry. Afterward, I continued with the duty of negotiating with Fuze and Blumund and this Youm fellow.

Fuze had wanted to personally confirm and evaluate the truth of my previous speech by checking out the entirety of Metropolis. Now that he has, the man wanted to open a diplomatic dialogue with the Republic and negotiate a potential trade agreement, maybe even invite some of our companies into the kingdom.

It was said that in Blumund, the most powerful force is the Freedom Association and the Royal Army comes in a far second. If Shizue in her war chassis goes into Blumund, the Royal Army becomes the third.

Geopolitically speaking, Blumund itself can be considered a Regional Power at best. I personally think Blumund falls into the Small Power on the geopolitical scene due to the Kingdom's spies and secret intelligence. In fact, the only thing keeping Blumund's neighbors from completely crushing the nation was Blumund's covert actions.

While this is pure speculation, it's far more likely Blumund is destabilizing and festering feuds among its neighboring states to ensure they're too busy on each other rather than Blumund itself.

In a way, they're a lot like Saudi Arabia in that regard.

Fuze here probably made a decision after seeing how we annihilated the Orc Lord and Charybdis that subterfuge against us is too undesirable. So now they're playing the soft game in ingratiating with us with the end goal of a mutual defense agreement.

I had to suppress a grin during the negotiation. The Art of War often spoke of how important information is during times of war, and denying your enemy information is how you win.

If we show we can provide Blumund with the protection they needed, I can use their spies as if they were my own. I can finally figure out things that my satellites alone can't figure out.

Beyond the espionage, I can also use Blumund as a charity case to show the world just how benevolent we can be to our allies. Our 'East Germany' if you will.

Being generous creates dependency. Creating dependency fosters loyalty. While there is in reality no true loyalty between nations only mutual interests within the confines of international politics, I can damn well make sure it is in Blumund's best interest to align with Tempest as much as possible.

Mutual interest: it's like trust but better since you know when and if the other party will betray you.

Perfect.

Thus, Fuze, with the blessing of the King of Blumund, fully established a diplomatic relationship and recognized the Jura Tempest Republic's claim to the entirety of the Jura Forest.

When I brought up the idea of Blumund becoming a protectorate of the JTR. Fuze asked what it was and I explained it's a state that's under the protection of another state, whereby it enjoys autonomy over internal affairs but in exchange, we require extractions of certain obligations and concessions.

Fuze said that he has no authority on the matter and will instead ask his king about this.

[Psychology] and [Political Science] called it a delaying tactic; he had expected maybe a moderately prosperous nation, not one with an economic output almost equal to that of the entire western side of the continent despite having only close to two hundred thousand people.

The power of technology provided by [Inspired Inventor] and Capitalism. With my Blueprint Auction House selling off blueprints to the richest and providing some to others to preserve competition, every day our economy grows by a noticeable percentage.

A true miracle if there ever was one.

We ended the first and last round of negotiation in less than an hour, Fuze was extremely accommodating to whatever terms I wanted and only politely refused the protectorate status. We were able to become full allies, free trade, non-aggression, and defense pacts all signed in one day.

Now onto Youm and his band of merry men.

Simply put, it seems my speech had a greater-than-expected effect on the man. Youm wants to work for me, or at least for the government for next to no money so long as it means they'll also be freed from the shackles of Falmuth.

Basically, Youm wants asylum, or as it is known in this world 'national protection'.

Hearing about asylums, I can't help but call back to my first life, about how a boss of mine when I was just starting to climb the corporate ladder. The man was an asylum seeker from Rwanda who, despite all odds and statistics, managed to give his wife and kids a good upper-class life.

Falmuth was an interesting case. They're a Great Power that's one of the major contributors to the Council of the West, a NATO-like international organization with elements of the United Nations. Within the Council, if a member state were to be invaded they can request help and rescue from other states.

Falmuth, just like so many Western nations, has a humanity-first policy and thus, have terrible relationships with all monster nations, which I can't really fault considering the history between humanity and the monster races. Asking for Falmuth to get along with Eurazania or Fulbrosia would be like asking Israel to get along with Nazi Germany; there's THAT much bad blood between them.

However, given that Tempest is a new nation, we're warier of how Falmuth's state religion is that of the Western Holy Church.

I was tempted to reject Youm's asylum application before reminiscing how my parents have always taught me that all humans have value, being an executive taught me that not all human lives are equal, but none are zero.

In the end, I accepted his wish for asylum and turned him into our human ambassador to any human-centric kingdoms, and made his entourage into his own personal security detail that'll be responsible for his safety.

Youm became our mascot, the face of Tempest to the West.

Obviously, he'll need to go through the proper schooling, vocational training, and classes about upper-class etiquette but with the establishment of the Omniversity, he can get an AI to teach him materials I created for the Political Science course.

Lastly, is the topic of Eren inviting me out to dinner with her team. I had half a mind of ignoring it but Shizue convinced me it would be in my best interest to go, to see it as a little celebration for the death of Charybdis since all I did was just sleep.

I reluctantly accepted before telling her that I will tinker before tomorrow's start, I still have five charges left for the day after all.

_____________________________________________

[Silenced Emotion: 10%]

I found Eren reserved a diner by the name of Bob's Pizzeria.

The diner was shaped exactly like one of those 1950s American town restaurants serving burgers out in the midwest. However, other than the bright colors, there aren't any neon lights.

I vaguely remember posting the recipe of how to make Pizza online when the Internet was just starting up and not every goblin was able to afford a phone.

Entering the rather small restaurant near the edge of the Pearl arcology, I saw that the counter was worked on by goblins while orcs worked the kitchen, there was a human janitor that was cleaning the floor. Overall, it was a rather plain restaurant.

A small crowd started gathering outside the diner doors after I entered. The only thing preventing them from entering was one of Shizue's maid chassis.

There was the ring of a bell as the door fully closed behind me. The goblin working by the counter had the shock of his life with how loud he shrieked.

Quickly, the goblin ran out of the counter and bowed to me like I'm some kind of king.

"Wel—welcome to our humble abode, Lady Scientia. Would you like to try out our finest pizza? Our customers have always said our pizzas are our best dish!" The goblin rapidly said like bullets from a machine gun.

Even a blind person can tell he's nervous about why one of the founders of the nation is suddenly inside his small-time restaurant.

Looking around, I didn't see Eren and her teammates anywhere, all of the tables are empty.

"I am looking for an individual by the name of Eren. She has 2 other companions with them."

The goblin blinked once, twice, before rebooting and was about to scream in surprise before the human stopped the outburst with a single chop of the head, "the adventurers inside, asked for the most private one we have, said we charge extra but she coughed up the cash easily enough."

The human thumbed into a door casually as if talking to another person.

"Thank you," I said before heading inside, the guy made a noise of surprise when he saw that the gathered people outside were glaring at him.

Opening the door, I was greeted with a happy Eren smiling at me, the rest of her party all waved their hands.

I took a quick glance around the room. [Architecture] fund the place lackluster and I can't help but agree. By itself, the room is rather closed off, with a large circular table that can fit six people like those you'd find in family diners like Pizza Hut. The main flaw of the room was that it'll be the lack of ventilation.

"Hey, Scientia! Glad you finally came!" she said as I came and sat down. Shizue remained outside to guard the now-closed door.

On the table were electronic tablets that people can order from. Their size was a bit larger than my phone, so nothing too fancy.

"How's life?" Eren asked as she scooched over closer to me.

Ordering a cup of tea from the tablet, I turned to Eren, the darkroom is only lit by the orange lamp hanging off of the ceiling, "well, I've been really busy. We forged an alliance with Dwargon, built a hyperloop that is near completion, turned the Kingdom of Blumund into an ally state, slain the Orc Lord—"

[Psychology] reminded me that I've spoken too much, so I leaned back and quickly turned the conversation back to her, "I'm really just rambling, how have you been?"

Kaval and the other guy were reading the menu and trying to decide what to eat, while I and Eren just chat about normal stuff.

I honestly missed this, the casual talk. I usually spend too long just tinkering to really interact with anyone besides maybe Shizue and Arcueid, but the former I can't really act casual around and the latter is a child at best.

"Well, we have gotten a few more contracts," she then leaned in, "I heard rumors that there are talks among the higher echelon of Falmuth of going to war, with who I didn't get but—"

"They are afraid of us."

"Well, yeah you did cause the Rain of Castamere, and the rulers of human nations are extremely nervous..." she trailed off while looking intently. "But enough of that! I heard you didn't celebrate much after the death of Charybdis, so tonight we will dine like kings!"

The hidden elf declared like how someone would declare the finishing of the journey of a lifetime.

I find it adorable honestly. Eren tries so hard to try and keep me as a friend, I'm guessing it's particularly because she trusted me with her secret.

A pang of small guilt rippled inside me, I still haven't told her that I'm a Perfect Homunculus.

Perhaps when I'm sure there won't be any repercussions in the future, then I'll tell her.

"And don't worry about costs, we did a lot of quests during our time in Blumund so we are LOADED!" Kaval said as he selected two servings of chicken wings and a soda.

I stilled upon hearing that. Then a small chuckle escaped my lips before becoming full-blown laughter.

They're funny. "You know that if needed, I can probably advertise for this restaurant and the owner will let us eat for free? I'm one of the founders of the Jura Tempest Republic, if I say that 'Bob's Pizzeria has some good pizzas' people will flock here to taste it."

As I say, I'm reminded of that one time Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, did a Pizza Hut commercial and it bombed. I don't think it'll be like that but then again, a noticeable community of people online think I'm the scariest person in all of Tempest.

I wonder why.

Gido put down his menu tablet to look at me unbelievably, before waving me off, "this is your big night of celebration! you just eat and eat and we'll cover the cost, no need for you to do anything!"

"But—" my interjection was shut down when Eren wrapped her arm around me like how a best friend would act, "no, you are going to relax for the rest of tonight, and you can't stop us from getting you to relax."

I sighed at her insistence, relenting to her whims. Honestly, all that's missing from the celebration is Milim and Arcueid.

"Oh? you're celebrating without me?"

Oh no.

A chill went down my back, I tried to activate [Silenced Emotion] but my gut strongly suggested not instead.

I turned around and saw the door open. Leaning on the doorframe was Arcueid with a particularly scary look, further compounded by her obviously forced smile. She looked like a twelve-year-old kid who'd discovered their closest companion was hanging around with their enemies.

"So who're you?" Eren asked innocently, unaware of the danger she was in.

The now-defunct Dimensional Bore flashes into my mind.

"Arcueid—"

"Why my name is Arcueid Brunestud, please, call me Arcueid."

The True Ancestor focused on Eren and let out a haunting smile. It was one that looked human, yet there's just that something about it that alerts to you the fact that they aren't, sort of like mine actually.

I could see both Kaval and Gido instantly knew something was wrong, but Eren seemingly wasn't fazed at all. It was as if she didn't care that Arcueid was an individual that could slay her with a single swipe.

The weird feeling in my gut persists nonetheless. Usually, my gut feeling only happens when something bad was about to happen yet nothing had at all.

Strange.

Then Arcueid placed a hand on her chest and puffed it out, making Eren twitch in annoyance and jealousy, "why I'm hurt that Scientia hasn't introduced me! After all, she was the one who kidnapped me to this world."

Oh, there it is.

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AN: now that interpretation of Eurazania may be controversial, but the fact that the show's joking around with the truth that 'weaker' races aren't allowed to trade in Eurazania shows they have a policy of racism, or would it be called speciesism?

Tensura is dark if you read between the lines.