The Cardinal of Sin

Intermission: Consequence of War

Dragon Kingdom, Throne Room

Draudillon Oriculus looked at the emissary. The man was well dressed and came with all the papers proclaiming him to be from the Sorcerous Kingdom. She supposed that made sense. The Baharuth Empire, which like the Slane Theocracy sent the Dragon Kingdom aid in their battle against the Beastman Country, was now a vassal state of the Sorcerous Kingdom. They would want to know the true state of affairs.

Though with the announcement just made by the emissary, that state of affairs was grim. Her eyes went wide and she swallowed hard. She almost lost control of her form. Vittorino, one of her advisors spoke for her. All she thought was that this couldn't be happening.

"What is the meaning of this?" Vittorino asked.

"The meaning is quite clear, Honoured Advisor," the emissary said. He seemed slightly smug but she couldn't say anything about that. He was sharply dressed in a red pinstripe suit and had a pair of round glasses on his nose. His face was very angular and he had several silver rings and bands on his left ear. His hands were gloved. The attire made it very clear he was not from the Empire. She didn't know what the traditional garb of the Sorcerous Kingdom was but it was not the same as the Baharuth Empire. The emissary was perfectly polite but Draudillon thought he knew more than he was willing to say.

There was nothing but genuine regret on the emissary's face.

Draudillon swallowed hard, her mind was already trying to determine the consequences. It meant she was going to have to speak to Cerabrate and hire him and the rest of Crystal Tear. And if the Adventurer knew that the Baharuth Empire was not sending aide, his price would be astronomical, regardless of his foul desire for the prepubescent form she used when speaking to that disgusting Lolicon.

But it also meant hundreds, maybe thousands more would die this winter. Unless the Slane Theocracy could be persuaded to be generous with their forces. That would wipe out what little remained in the treasury.

"Might one ask why?" Vittorino inquired.

The emissary nodded. "As you may be aware, the Baharuth Empire has recently become a vassal state of the Sorcerous Kingdom."

She nodded briefly at that. The news had been almost as surprising as today's announcement. She had no idea how it had happened, and hadn't thought that Emperor Jircniv would bow to anyone. Draudillon needed more information, but for the most part, all intelligence gathering activities in the Dragon Kingdom focused on trying to find any advantage over the Beastmen. What they had discovered recently was that there appeared to be fewer Beastmen than normal but no one knew why.

There were rumours that the Beastmen had assaulted the Holy Kingdom and had been killed but she couldn't rely on that.

"His Majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown requires the use of the Legions," the emissary said.

"All of them?" Draudillon asked. Usually Emperor Jircniv would only send one Legion. The fighting force was enough to drive away the Beastmen. They were that skilled. She had never heard the name of the ruler of the Sorcerous Kingdom but surmised it had to be this Ainz Ooal Gown. It was odd that he named himself a King with dominion over an Emperor.

"For the insult offered to the Sorcerous Kingdom by the Slane Theocracy, war has been declared. All the Legions will be engaged."

Draudillon felt her eyes widen. Vittorino coughed to cover his surprise. The Empire was fighting the Theocracy? How? Why? Those two were not on the best of terms but the Theocracy at least engaged in extensive diplomacy when it came to Human Nations. They did not fight them. What had happened for the Empire to now be fighting the Theocracy?