Saga of Slime and Devil (Remake)

Vol 2 | Chapter 6 | Diplomacy

An elven woman with blonde hair kept up in a ponytail leaned back in her chair, gazing down at the small pile of papers she had been handed. The woman wore a professional black suit and despite looking to be of young age she radiated a sense of authority and power. While the girl appeared to be undeniably elvish on the surface, to delve any deeper would reveal their true demonic nature. She was quite literally a demon in the skin of a little girl.

Across from the desk she sat at was a human woman that appeared to be roughly the same age, with long blonde hair and blue eyes hidden behind a pair of square glasses. The girl also wore a professional outfit, but with a bit more feminine charm that the other girl seemed to be intentionally avoiding.

The girl behind the desk had taken the alias of 'Tanya Degurechaff', a name taken from her prior life in a world at war, but one that was since outdated in her current life. The girl across from her was named Mia who also took on the last name Degurechaff to pose as the former's relative.

Mia had handed Tanya the set of papers detailing various details about one target in particular; the Kingdom of Falmuth. The Kingdom had been on Tanya's radar for quite some time, and while it was too dangerous a move to set up their base of operations within such a powerful nation, it was certainly a consideration.

If Tanya had to describe Falmuth in one word, it would've been 'greedy', a fact she could use to her advantage, although at times it seemed she wasn't the only one. There was a silent game of chess beginning between her and some unknown faction. The game hadn't heated up yet, nor did the other player know the game had started, but given enough time Tanya believed there could be some serious competition in the western nations.

Given Falmuth's proximity to Tanya's main ambitions in the Jura Forest, keeping an eye on the Kingdom was a top priority. Had it not been for the meddling hands of this secondary power Tanya would've already begun a plot to seize control over Falmuth.

Tanya's focus today wasn't on that power, however. She knew too little and it was far too soon to take any action. In the end, she would much prefer a direct confrontation rather than a drawn-out game of chess anyways. Once she found out what the threat was, it would cease to be a threat within days.

Instead, Tanya's focus lingered on the actions of Falmuth itself. She had made pacts with a significant number of Falmuth's nobles, ranging from the small and insignificant to the large and powerful. All in all, Tanya believed that soon she could reliably control roughly a third of Falmuth. It wasn't enough for her yet, but it was a good start.

As Tanya looked over the papers she was given, Mia began to explain, "As you can see, the Kingdom of Falmuth has called upon all of its nobility to mobilize their mages to the capital. Not only that, they're going to great lengths to do so, even giving significant political compensation. It's possible that they are preparing for war."

Tanya didn't seem fully satisfied with that answer, "With only mages? I doubt it. Soldiers and knights take far longer to mobilize than mages. If they were preparing for war, they would mobilize them first. The only thing I can think of that would require so many mages is an otherworlder summoning."

"Based on the knowledge we have, summonings can only happen so often, at least the kind that Falmuth does. Surely it would be far too soon for another one, especially considering the last one was only a few months ago." Mia walked to a nearby bookshelf, pulled out a binder, and flipped through the pages.

"Wasn't the last summoning too soon as well? Speaking of which, have you figured anything out on that Otherworlder in particular?" Tanya looked up from the papers and placed them on the table.

Mia looked up from the binder and shook her head, "Falmuth is keeping knowledge on most of their Otherworlders under strict lock and key, I'm afraid."

Tanya sighed, visibly annoyed, "I suppose there's not much we can do about that without risking too many valuable assets. It's best if we wait for them to reveal something on their own. For now, I doubt it's a worry. Either way, I'd much prefer it if the neighbor of Tempest doesn't build up so much power. Any way we can interfere without risking our network in Falmuth?"