Chapter 291

"The Elf King? Why?" Ainz asked the question and cursed himself immediately. 'So much for appearing all knowing.' He at least confined his self derision to rolling his eyes mentally instead of physically.

"Allfather," Raymond said and a deep purple rage came over his face, "the Elf King is obsessed with one thing and only one thing."

"Rape." Neia hissed with loathing. "It's all he does. You could burn his kingdom down around him, and he wouldn't even stop thrusting into his latest victim."

Raymond shot the Queen of Frost a surprised look that briefly overrode his anger.

"I grew up in the Holy Kingdom, Cardinal, we're as devout as the rest of you, he was an example of why demihumans needed to be put down. We heard about him at least a few times in various sermons and in training." Neia answered with an angry lashing of her tail.

"You're not wrong." Raymond said evenly after a nod from the Holy Queen confirmed the truth of the dragonid monarch's claim. "But not wholly right either. He wants strong children. That's why he does it, he's obsessed with creating strong children with which to rule the world. So far, most of them were failures."

"Most?" Albedo asked pointedly.

Raymond kept himself relaxed while cursing his loose tongue, "Yes, a few champions in the past appeared among his children. Nothing compared to the more powerful human champions, but still, he tries." Raymond said without missing a beat. "My guess is that he heard about this tournament in Arwintar, learned about the Draconic Queen, and used the opportunity to murder her guards and snatch her up. She is a descendant of a dragon lord after all. It's possible he might be hoping she'll succeed where other women ah… failed." He finished with an awkward silence that spread over the room like spilled milk over a table.

"Then she'll be in the Elf Kingdom?" Enri asked, a light shiver in her voice as she contemplated the fate of her sister monarch.

"Whatever is left of her." Albedo guessed, only for Cardinal Raymond to shake his head.

"It might not be all bad for her, the Elf King is lazy, sloppy, and frankly an utter moron. He thinks of nothing but his wants from one moment to the next, he never plans ahead further than his next rut." Raymond pointed out, "The Draconic Queen isn't her grandfather but she has the power to shift her being to the body of a small child. If Queen Draudillon is an exceptionally quick thinker, she might be able to disguise herself. Female or not if she is too young to bear children, the Elf King will just treat her as a servant until she's old enough in his eyes."

"Then we must investigate the Elf Kingdom and find out where she is as quickly as possible and demand her immediate return if she is there." Ainz made the statement with such offhanded casualness that he didn't notice for several seconds that he was being stared at by the entirety of the throne room's occupants, save for Albedo, who beamed at him with pride that glowed like holy light on her face.

"Do I have something on my face?" Ainz asked and touched his cheek.

"Ah, no, but… you say that as if it's no trouble, it took our best agents weeks to simply scout the outskirts. The Elf Kingdom isn't as densely populated as any human Kingdom, but it is a vast wilderness with several small cities, many towns and villages, and the great city of Crescent lake. How do you plan on your agents slipping in, and what will you do if she is there and he refuses to hand Queen Draudillon over?" Raymond felt his heart racing in his breast as the bright eyes of the Allfather seemed to look into his very soul.

"My magic is supreme. I have means of scrying beyond the tenth tier, and agents that… if the elves had things to match, would have never allowed your best operatives to get a toe beyond the border. As you say, it will take time, but it can be done and it will be done." Ainz answered, he thought back to the endless hours staying up late at night, watching Queen Draudillon struggle over the bottle of alcohol, focus on her work for just a little bit longer… the way her face masked all her pain before she went to be turned down again in a plea for help… her brave face when she ventured to see the soldiers on the front lines…

'She set the example I've tried to follow. I owe her a debt I can't repay or inform her of. If she is alive, I will put her back on that throne.' Ainz vowed, but said aloud, "And as to what I will do? I am not going to ask him to return her. I am going to inform him that she will be returned, and if he refuses, I will destroy him." Ainz said with a preternatural icy calm, and Raymond was forced to ask…

"Why would you go so far, you're talking about declaring war over a monarch to whom you owe nothing?" Raymond asked while his mind whirled. 'Is he a god? A saint? Is that why the places he touches with his rule are beyond the impossible in their peacefulness?'

Ainz closed his eyes and took a deep breath, shaking his head while he rubbed the skin just above his eyebrows. "I am the Allfather. Father to All. Not to one, not to a few, not to one or two. I am father to All. The Queen of the Draconic Kingdom is a worthy monarch, and she will make a worthy vassal, all who submit to my rule, as she was negotiating to do, are entitled to be protected as if they were my son Aurelion himself."

'Good save, Ainz.' He told himself when he was sure he got his facial muscles under control again.

'He's a god… that was like listening to some divine pronouncement… I should have seen it when he went out of his way to avoid bloodshed against the Baharuth Empire… or when he enticed them with the idea of a tournament to avoid war and save lives… I'm in the presence of humanity's divine protector… and yet…' Raymond cast his eyes toward the nonhuman wife of the Allfather, she wore on her face the serenity of a joyful and proud expectant mother, while near to her stood a dragonid, a former defender of humanity who still had humans which she defended…

As he stood there, taking it all in, the monarchs in front of him seemingly forgot his presence as they began to offer to render aid in support of the Allfather's wishes…

"I have fliers who can glide well over the Elf Kingdom's lands, higher than their bows can shoot, I can lend them to the effort if you like." Queen of Frost, Neia Baraja offered. Raymond's head began to hurt and he put a palm to his forehead.

"Husband, we have some elven scouts still living in our lands who are loyal, they could easily slip over the border…" Holy Queen Calca suggested.

"Goblins aren't human, so they should be able to enter comfortably. I can lend my assassins and spies to the effort." Wolf Queen Enri made the offer as her body shivered a little from a lack of the same control that more experienced monarchs had over their physical responses.

'It can't be.' Raymond tried to deny what he was hearing, but that did nothing to stop them from speaking, nor himself from hearing what he tried to deny.

"I can… I can grant you temporary letters of visitation, to let you pass through our borders for official business. Let it not be said that the Slane Theocracy did nothing when a sister state was in danger." Raymond offered, and that briefly stilled the reality warping conversation that was plaguing his mind before his very ears.

"Thank you for your contribution, Cardinal. Have copies brought to us immediately and send word to your people to permit our agents crossing without an inconvenience." The Wolf King said, and then added with a raised finger, "In triplicate, with your personal seal."

"Paranoid?" Raymond asked with a sardonic tone.

"Cautious." Nfirea replied succinctly.

"It'll be done…" Raymond said as the meeting finally drew to a close.