Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 880: Charting The Next Steps

The women’s woes weren’t something a simple talk could address. Even so, after a few hours of comforting by the father of the children they’d lost, the girls had cried themselves to sleep; however, until the very end, they either blamed themselves or hurled insults at the goddess of calamity with no in betweens.

A few hours had passed since they’d fallen asleep, and the rest of the kingdom had grown quiet as well. Thus, taking his party to the castle, Raven decided to chart the next steps for their battle alongside Helga, Markus, and the rest of the envoys and the rulers from the other kingdoms. Taking a seat where the nobles used to sit, the group set their gaze on Milo, the king, and an extremely enraged one at that very moment.

Not only has he lost the heir to his throne, but people were already whispering rumors about him and the queen since only the mother of Raven’s children had had miscarriages, which surprisingly included Viola. And although not angry at the hero himself, he was far from happy about the whole situation–especially since the goddess had killed the child for whom he had sacrificed the intimacy of his soul-bound beloved.

”We have a population of twenty-five thousand in Athenia alone,” leaning on his side with his hand resting on the back of his hand, Milo stared back at the crowd with a colder, much more detached look in his eyes than ever before. ”Twelve thousand of them will be trained in Elenaris, inside the cave that Raven mentioned. Rest will deal with the kingdom’s upkeep, economy, and food production as well as population management.”

Shifting a little in his throne, he turned his head towards Raven.

”I’ve already heard that you’re taking the trained soldiers with you, but spare Markus and his underlings as well as a handful of folks from the holy order. We will need them to protect the city in case something happens.” Being given an approving nod from the hero, Milo took a deep breath and set his gaze on the Mistress and Erika. ”Mistress and Asmodia must provide their own soldiers to defend the city; our deal is off. I would not have you chart unknown lands with my army and leave us bare for any monster to tear apart.”

Giving a courtly bow, both the Mistress and Erika affirmed the king’s decision. Looking over at Melenai, Mono, and the court of Inktuas, Milo nodded ever so lightly and concurred.

”Our trade deals will be bolstered. Athenia will provide your land with food, water, and other nourishment. In return, I want to see the gesture extended to our general with your support. We may have the resources for war right here in our lush land, but transport and manpower we will need from your kingdoms, as our population can’t be stretched any more.”

”Leave the servants to me,” raising a hand, Mono got off her chair and looked around. ”My automatons can work all day, but supervision will be necessary, and I can’t leave my kingdom as much as any of you of the ruling class can.”

Stepping forward beside her, Grace gave the assembly a gentle bow and turned to the king to be granted permission to speak. Receiving an approving gesture, she cleared her throat and addressed the council.

”Master Mono is rash.” Mono’s eyes narrowed as soon as she heard her servant speaking ill, but as her gaze turned to Grace, what she said next made her somewhat retreat. ”Her actions have proven again and again that she is an eccentric person who shouldn’t be anywhere close to a war theatre. I would advise the council to have her provide support and only support from the backlines, not to mention if she dies, the kingdom of Elenaris has no heir and cannot have one biologically, as my master has no interest in...intimacy.”

With a heavy sigh, Grace took a step back and retreated to the back of Mono’s seat. Everyone, with the exception of the people from Inktaus, knew exactly why Grace said what she said, and they couldn’t help but agree.

”Before we move any further,” cutting through the silence, Eren rose from his seat as well. Adjusting his perfect tie and dusting his clean suit, the newly appointed judge on the inktaus council smiled at the king. ”I suggest Inktaus be made our first line of defense against enemy forces, given the fact that any–at least any mortal–army can’t pass through the invisibility barrier around our city.”

”That would make sense, yes.” Stroking his chin, Milo lowered his gaze and considered the matter for a few seconds before looking at his general once again. ”The flying vessels, perhaps it’s best to transfer the majority of them to Inkatus while a handful remain scattered around the rest of the kingdom under our protection in case something does go wrong and we need to evacuate the citizens or bring soldiers stationed in other cities.”

Lifting his hand on the side halfway, Raven motions in agreement. Staying silent, however, he did not want to disturb the tenseness visibly on Milo’s face. After all, his anger could quickly shift to the hero were he to say something. And although what happened wasn’t Raven’s fault, who could blame a grieving father for acting out without thinking much at all?

”To further boost our defenses,” speaking up after staying quiet for a long time, Erika raised her hand to bring attention to herself. ”I can have the holy order inscribe protective runes that shall summon the visage of our soldiers to fight against the enemy. We can also do protective seals as we did in Eclanor to cure blindness or the same as Aesteradia to prevent any curses like that of the god of rot, Batimos.”

”I can also erect a thorny bramble that will only allow our citizens to get in and out of our cities but won’t let any monsters in.” Mel chimed in with her hand glowing a light green hue on the side and surrounded in a dainty vortex of leaves. ”We might lose some sunlight inside the cities, but it shouldn’t be a problem for kingdoms like Elenaris, Aestonia, Eclanor, or even Inktaus.”

With two of the mentioned cities being in a desert and the other two either cast in shadow or perpetual dark clouds, a thorny bramble–if anything would’ve provided some relief and boost in the people’s morale against the harsh whims of nature.

”I wouldn’t mind brambles over my city,” Melenai concurred, her hand raised to bring herself to attention.

”No, can’t do, we have a flying train line that carries cargo. Those thorns will cause problems.” Mono, on the other hand, wasn’t as big a fan of the idea.

The officials of Inktaus shot down the idea as well, since having visible brambles around an invisible city would ruin the illusion that they were going on. As for the rest, they were in agreement.

”Anything else we need to discuss before we conclude this meeting?” Milo asked, his eyes scanning everyone’s expression.

When nobody seemed all that keen on sharing ideas anymore, he looked at Raven one last time and declared.

”You’re taking most of the town with you for this war,” taking a brief pause, he added. ”I trust you, Raven, but do not disappoint me now. You know what she did, and you know what you have to do to that accursed woman without me having to tell you.”

Slamming his squeezed fist on his armrest, Milo got up from his throne, and thus the meeting concluded. Now, finally, after one problem after the other, it was time to set the record straight and march the people of the allied kingdoms against an all-out war against all gods who opposed them and the mother of the demon lord!