Jircniv sat on his throne wearing a faint, almost lazy smile, despite the incoming possible threat to his reign arriving soon. In mere moments, he would come in contact with a being against whom precautions would be all but useless. A player claiming to be the God of Knowledge would arrive on behalf of the Nazarick Empire for a prolonged visit to establish a relationship between the two nations, presumably including trade and security.
He slightly slouched to the right, Fluder beside him, the old magician shaking with excitement. A new player's arrival was a once-a-lifetime deal, if not multiple lifetimes considering how rare they were. For the visitor to be a scholar with an expressed interest in seeing the magic academy and exchanging knowledge with the empire's foremost magicians was a greater miracle than the previous group of players always having an opponent to counter their excess.
Most of his guards, including the Four Imperial Knights, weren't quite as enthusiastic. To them, any potential trouble meant certain death, as none held any illusions that they could stand up to a living god, who held power considered near unfathomable to mere mortals. To their credit, none made any unnecessary movements and maintained their positions, but Jircniv could read their nervousness well enough. The entire throne room was charged with nervous anticipation to the brim.
He already had a few critical pieces of information to work with. The lich acting as the voice of Ainz Ooal Gown had revealed that the God of Knowledge and his wife were the parents of Empress Albedo, the youngest among the Gods and the acting prime minister of the monster empire, which meant all positions of power in the Nazarick Empire were held by one player family. This centralization of power meant he only needed one official's favor to ensure Baharuth's relative safety, and familial connections would handle the rest. That safety would be paramount, given the latest news from their southern allies. Perhaps he could even use the familial ties to gain leverage, but one never knew what to do exactly when handling players.
Jircniv's diplomats notified him of two other gods who were planning to visit the Dragon Kingdom and potentially offering aid to the failing nation. This fact was just as concerning as the possibility that Nazarick could vassalize the Dragon Kingdom, gaining another hold over the realm. He held no illusions that the new Gods would be content with just one forest as their domain, but the best approach was to publicly support them in spreading their influence while creating countermeasures in the background, preparing to backstab if the situation called.
The minutes ticked by painfully slowly. Jircniv half listened to Fluder ramble about what sort of beneficial magical knowledge Nazarick could provide and how it may be 'the necessary push the new generation needed to reach heights yet unseen in spellcasting,' leaving the old man to his thoughts. '
Suddenly, Fluder stopped his speculations and whispered, "They are arriving."
"Be ready to give a greeting," Jircniv replied and straightened out. He put his hands on the armrests and stared straight at the throne room door. First impressions could only be made once, and he was not about to appear as a sniveling fool or an arrogant simpleton to the world's newest superpower.
Then, a doorway of swirling darkness appeared in the middle of the throne room. Jircniv took a sharp breath and glanced at Fluder, who was staring like a child seeing a knight in royal armor for the first time.
"What is that?" He whispered to the old wizard as bipedal, scaly, dragon-like creatures stepped through, arranging themselves across him. They were over two meters tall, clad in polished plate sets, and carrying large halberds, armed to the teeth. Six in total, they stood by the swirling darkness, seemingly awaiting orders.
"Transportation magic. Fascinating," Fluder mumbled in response. "They used it last time, too, but I was too far away to inspect it."
'I can see that it is transportation magic!' Jircniv swore in his head. The first meeting with a god was already off to a poor start, and he feared things would only go downhill from here.
Next came horned men and women clad in maid and manservant outfits, slightly more numerous in number. They had leathery wings and tails, indicating their demonic origin. 'Beautiful women and handsome men. A clear sign that honey traps will be of no use.' He concluded, crossing another tactic off his mental checklist.
"Presenting Lord Tabula Ooal Gown and Lady Mariposa, mother and father of Empress Albedo Ooal Gown, and Lords of the Nazarick Empire." One of the demons announced before two figures stepped through the gate.
A monster. That was the only way to explain what he was seeing. The six-armed creature clad in purple robes was beyond grotesque. It had a bald, bulbous head and tentacles on its face, wriggling in every way. Its eyes were white and lifeless, yet stared in his very soul. This creature had a presence like he had never felt before. Jircniv knew he was staring at a life form whose power and soul eclipsed his own, who cared little for his appearance.
And grasping its middle left arm was a demoness who possessed beauty incarnate, trumping even the greatest of beauties of the empire. Her long black dress showed just enough to entice but not so much as to appear vulgar. A necklace worth a small kingdom was around her long, delicate neck, and a massive pair of earrings sat in her sharp ears, tinkling with every movement. Her yellow, catlike eyes glanced around curiously, and her pleasant smile held no superiority. She was as beautiful as her husband was monstrous, as if intentionally showing both extremes the Gods were willing to embrace.
The last to come through was a young man, perhaps sixteen or seventeen. He wore simple black pants and a plain white shirt. Several books slowly rotated around him. The boy, unlike everyone else in the procession, seemed nervous, exploitable.
"Thank you for hosting us. I am looking forward to exchanging knowledge with Bahartuh spellcasters. I hope you don't mind; I brought my apostle with me to introduce the boy so he can teleport in and out without unnecessary formalities while I am visiting." The monstrous god spoke in a deep, guttural voice, stepping forward.
"I don't mind, but let's agree to a predestined location for your apostle's teleportation. My castle staff is unused to transportation magic." Jircniv replied and stood up, approaching the god with Fluder following him.
"Boy, sixth tier; servants, five to seven. I cannot read the god and his wife," Fluder whispered.
The imperial guards tensed up but made no move. With Fluder by his side, Jircniv was as safe as possible, given the circumstances. The guards knew that they were just for show.
"Of course. The boy will only teleport to and from the space allocated for me and my wife. I see your court magician tried to read me." Seeing the young emperor approaching, Tabula extended his hand for a shake. Ainz had instructed him to treat the mortal ruler as equal for now, although they could've just smashed his empire to bits and claimed the rest.
Jircniv accepted the god's handshake, feeling the cold, slightly slimy hand grip him strongly enough to cause minimal pain but not crush his hand. Not the worst of hands he'd shaken, but definitely among the top three.
"It's not every day we have a chance to meet a player. I hope my servant's actions were not intrusive," Jircniv replied.
"Not at all, but I'm afraid he won't be able to read my power level properly. Might I ask if it is a spell or a talent? I have heard of a young woman hailing from Baharuth with a similar talent," Tabula inquired, his curiosity spiking. Barely minutes into the visit, he had already met someone interesting.
"It's a talent, Lord. You must be talking about a former student of mine, Miss Furt. She had the same talent. Is there a particular reason why I am unable to read you?" Fluder asked without even thinking about his response.
"There is. But we should move to a less formal environment before discussing magical matters further," Tabula responded. It seemed he wouldn't answer, at least not yet.
With the servants sent to prepare the castle wing for the god's visit, Jircniv invited the god of knowledge to discuss magic over a light lunch, prepared by the empire's finest chefs.
The reception room was a more suitable place to have a conversation than the throne room, and everyone, save for his four imperial guards and a pair of demons who acted as Tabula's and Mariposa's guards, settled around a large coffee table. Considering the likely sensitive nature of the conversation, Jircniv ordered all servant staff to vacate after preparing the room, leaving behind only the guards of both sides.
Jircniv spared no expense, and the best his empire could offer was on the table, pulled from his deepest basements. From a near-century-old wine to extremely rare meats and finely aged cheeses.
Jircniv motioned for Nimble, the youngest of his guards, to pour wine while he listened to Tabula and Fluder speak. The main topic was tier magic and how it had developed over the centuries; it had grown from the system that previous players had introduced and now included many spells the god had never heard of before.
"Interesting; many utility spells have been created over the centuries. That would make sense, given the difference in users. On a similar topic, is there a reason why you have not reversed your age? As a tier six caster, you should have been able to do so with relative ease?" Tabula inquired.
"I have only found ways to slow my aging, not reverse it. Much of the previous players' knowledge has been lost to time, even by our magic libraries. Even a spell I developed in tandem with an old friend one hundred seventy years ago couldn't. If such a spell exists, I beg you to teach me it." Fluder leaned forward in his seat, eyes eager to learn.
"We'll see. But as a sign of goodwill…" The God waved his hand over Fluder, and Jircniv's mouth fell open at the transformation that followed, shocking everyone in the room. Fluder's wrinkled face gradually smoothened. His form quickly thickened, a layer of taunt muscle returning to his long-frail body. But the most striking change was Fluder's hair, regaining its ashen blonde tone he had lost since long ago. The only part unchanged was the magician's long, grey beard. Within the minute, the old man had turned from someone who could be Jircniv's great-grandfather to a man about his late father's age, just slightly past their prime.
"It's…thank you! Please take me as your apprentice." Fluder shamelessly pleaded, forgetting he was talking with a foreign dignitary from a barely known nation.
'He took away my greatest weapon… just like that.' Jircniv did his best to maintain a neutral expression, but the god's wife caught on, giving him a knowing smile. It all made sense now. 'They were never here for an exchange. They were here for a takeover.'
"Please forgive my husband. He tends to forget etiquette and might have been overstepping boundaries. I assure you, His Imperial Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown seeks only peaceful cooperation with your nation," Mariposa whispered to him as if she had read his mind before taking another sip of wine.
"Scholars have unique ways of speech. I see it better to guide their drive in beneficial patterns than try to restrain them. I will take this as the first step toward our two nations finding common ground." Jircniv somehow managed to calm himself and flashed the woman a charming smile as he drank from his glass.
'So she is the politician. I must be wary of her more.' Jircniv shifted his priorities. Dealing with Tabula was now best left to Fluder. Unfortunately, it would be best to work under the pretense that he had already lost his court magician and now needed a replacement.
"I'm afraid Nfirea is already my apprentice, but I don't mind taking students." Tabula turned Fluder down.
Jircniv could see the old man visibly deflate. It likely wasn't easy to accept that the young boy brought by the players, surely a commoner with minimal previous experience in magic, had become the prime apprentice and the apostle of the god of knowledge itself. Fluder was the Imperial Court Wizard of the Baharuth Empire with over two centuries of magical experience, yet he was relegated to the role of a lowly student, below even that of a standard commoner.
'I may have a chance to salvage the situation,' Jircniv reasoned. 'If Fluder felt snubbed for even one second, I have a chance. I can use that feeling to maintain the old mage's loyalty to Baharuth. If I fail, he will abandon Baharuth for the Nazaririck Empire in his pursuit of knowledge. It will be my most significant scheme yet, second only to whatever it will take to remain independent of the players' new empire.'
Editing by Nich L and aidan_lo.
Proofreading by Stac, fvvck, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, mfkz_rocker, and aidan_lo.
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