Master Of None

”Now that we have had our fun, I would like to ask your party a question. What do you all think about demons now that you have met them?” The king was much more serious, even queen Marian now held her poker face. Walker motioned for his party to speak first.

”My king, I believe that their kingdom has harsh values that cause a large amount of pain, however I do believe they are not all as bad as the stories have made them to be. We have already met one that has been through a pretty rough upbringing that is very pure at heart,” Gil used his best demeanor to deliver his thoughts. The sweat on his brow was a thin sheen but his stance was firm, he believed this to his core.

Remey was the next to speak, ”I agree with my party member, demons seem to like to play tricks and want to avoid a good punch but that does not mean they are weak. I think they are a force to be reckoned with.” Remey was still pretty rough around the edges but her worlds still had an impact. 

Walker was grateful that Su was speaking next. ”My king, My queen, I have never had a younger sibling, only an older brother who left home never to return due to their own greed. I long thought myself a single child but recently met a little demon that deserves a true older sister. I had an idea that I could potentially stand as the example of the need in life. I hope that for other mistreated demons that that possibility is also there.” Walker had never pried in to the story behind Su’s older brother put of respect but now he was much more curious. Even more so he felt that she was going through a change in how she saw herself.

Before the king could say another word Onyx translated for Midnight, ”Sister says that she likes her new friend and wishes to make more when she is strong enough to go on another adventure. 

” Onyx took a short pause, ”I believe in the little demon girl who finds me cute.” Walker had not expected the two to speak up as well but was proud of their blunt thoughts that left nothing up for debate.

”And you leader of the omnipotent party?” The king looked at him waiting for his reply.

”There may be those who just wish to cause trouble. There may be a very brutal hierarchy where power is the only thing that matters. And there way be things I have yet to understand when it comes to demons. But what I do know is that just like humans some are cruel and others are kind. I would prefer to give those that can be kind the chance to do so.” 

Some nobles seemed to nod in agreement while others shook their heads in disagreement. Walker had unwittingly just taken up his stance on the potential war with the demons. ”You have a wise heart and that definitely has gained you respect today. I will look upon the documents you have delivered to me with your words in my mind. Thank you for your service to the country, I king August Bernard Diamond welcome you home.” The king wanted to make his stance clear that these adventurers were serving under him, this cemented his standing and their standing to the nobles present. The queen nodded at this showing her own approval. 

After this an attendant came to their side and ushered them from the courts. This was also the way for the king to send them on their way. The party wanted to get a little revenge for the surprise of them being emissaries but instead had found themselves to be played like a fiddle. They are too inexperienced in the ways of royalty and have not at all resisted the guidance of the king or queen. 

”Hahah I see you are all struggling with those within the court. Give it about ten years and you may be able to see how things connect.” Ibis seemed to be in fairly good spirits having see how things went, this young party seemed to be following in his footsteps when it came to navigating royalty. He had once been lost in the sea of hidden meanings and back door conversations that he had almost ended up engaged to a noble’s daughter he had never met. Coincidentally he had in turn met that daughter and fallen in love years later. Ibis saw much of his younger self in these adventurers. 

Lost in thought, guild master Ibis led the way back towards the guild, however before they could leave the courtyard an attendant rushed out. Having stopped the party and Ibis in their tracks the attendant quickly escorted them to a side hallway. The party and Ibis who seemed calm as all else climbed step after step upwards in to a tower. The path they had taken seemed to swirl in their minds so much so that without the help of the attendant they did not believe they would ever leave this tower again. Ibis had reached a door in front of him and the attendant had rushed off. 

Ibis opened the door and stepped in to a large room with a table and desk full of papers. Maps seemed to spill over the sides of the large table along with many colored flags each depicting different nations. This was by far the most detailed map that Walker had ever seen. His mental archive skill was working overtime memorizing every single detail. With this Walker felt he would never need a generic map again. The desk seemed to have many important documents all marked with their kingdom’s seal. Walker wanted to ask where they had been brought but Ibis raised a hand to tell them to wait.

Their wait was rewarded when the door they had entered through opened again just ten or so minutes later. The king strode through the door looking much more worn out than he had before. This seemed to be the true face of the king instead of the tough poker face he always wore when in the court. ”I am glad my attendant was able to grab you before you got too far ahead. Ibis you could not have possibly been trying to leave so you would not have to ascend these stairs.”

”Of course not King August, I would never dare.” Ibis became more casual with the king here making them all feel they were somewhere special where the regulations of the court may not be held too strongly. 

”I see you are all very curious, This is my private study, as you can tell only those with my permission can even get here let alone leave. I wished to speak to you in private. I am very impressed with what my spies have told me of your activities while away.” Seeing the looks on their faces he knew he needed to elaborate. ”It is very normal to have spies in other nations even when friendly with them, it is mostly to gather gossip and other information. I know of a few from the demi-human kingdom here in our very own country, one is even a member of my court. It is a fairly common occurrence.” seeing that they were still confused and curious the king took a seat at the desk and gestured to the table with all the maps. ”That is the entire continent that we know of. There are many different races, some of which you have already met. I as king see you as the title holders of this kingdom. To me that means you will all rise in power whether you like it or not. If even a single one of you had said in the court that you wanted to go against the demons then the chances of it actually happening would double. We as a kingdom are close enough to the demons to know things are on unsteady ground. They are constantly at odds with demi-humans and the elves hate that their entire race exists. Our kingdom has played moderator up until recently. I say this because they have cut off communication and any information gatherers had been forced out of the territory. This had put all three kingdoms in a state of unease, this stretches farther however. Those in the dwarven land and even the mountains of some ancient dragon kind have reported rumors of demons trying to involve themselves in affairs.” The king looked strained. ”I would like to ask your party to travel to these kingdoms and represent us to try and keep the balance of peace. My reasoning is the title you all hold. I do not believe a hero is just the hero of humans but of life itself.” The king had some wise words and adequately shocked the party. Ibis had taken a seat and was smiling smugly, he had known this was coming all along.