I would probably stop short of putting in a full casino, though. I wasn’t that interested in money. I mainly just wanted currency to circulate responsibly. Speaking of which, I gifted everyone at the conference a magic wallet. It was made specifically to hold currency, and came with various enhancements that kept it from being lost or stolen. It could also hold infinite coins, so it was ideal for the busy sovereign on the go. I didn’t really need one myself, but I was tempted to make myself a cute one anyway... But I decided to just make them all the same in the end, to avoid squabbling.
After everyone dispersed to wander around and enjoy the recreational facilities, Shildris found me. She hadn’t been in the meeting, but her father had. And he had definitely been more bored than anyone. I saw him startle awake on more than a few occasions, but everyone had politely pretended not to notice his little naps.
Anyway, Shildris had something important on her mind. “I heard you brought out a magic table during the meeting. I wanna see it!”
Apparently, during the meeting, Shildris had treated herself to a screening of the video replay (complete with added-in musical score) of the battle with the Lord of the Lake. There was always a long line to watch it, so it must have caught her attention. Even though she’d been there for the actual battle, she still cheered with the rest of the audience when Redimir appeared, and when I finally landed the killing blow. At this point, I was fairly certain that every single one of my minions had seen it at least twice, and yet there was almost always a line to watch it again. Thankfully, when they noticed Shildris and realized she would be watching it for the first time, they offered her a spot in the front of the line. They did the same thing for other guests, so most of them got to see it too.
Anyway, I led Shildris to the conference room, and we started playing with the video table. I set up various card games, as well as mahjong and other popular board games. For games where each player had a hand of cards or tiles that was private information, there was a small screen angled toward that player with the information they needed. Since there were only two of us, we sat directly across from each other, and I showed her some of the easier games, like concentration, checkers, and reversi.
“Hey, couldn’t people make these sorts of games for themselves?” Shildris asked.
“Actually, they all started off as physical games, with real boards and pieces, but I prefer the video versions, because they reduce or eliminate the ability to cheat.”
Since the table was so large, it was set up to move the virtual game board close to the active player on the screen when it was their turn. This visual effect was quite nice. I also had some jigsaw puzzles loaded up. Most of them had adorable pictures to put together, so after I trounced Shildris at a few board games she’d never played before, we worked together to complete one of those. The jigsaw puzzle was set up so that it was better to sit next to each other while working on it, which was better for bonding. After we finished it, Shildris gave me a big hug. She was giddy with excitement, but I didn’t hate it.
“Are you sure you can’t turn me into a man so I can marry you?” she sighed wistfully.
“Hu-Wha-ht?” I nearly bit my tongue. “I’m flattered, really I am, but I’m not planning on marrying anyone. Vows like that are serious business for my people. We never swear to each other eternally. Promises about romance are always deliberately kept vague, so that no one ends up stuck in a relationship they hate. I know it’s romantic to think about loving someone forever, but when you can actually live forever, a promise like that can become a cage. Besides, do you really want to become a man, or did you just want to express your affection?”
I wanted to respect her feelings, but in order to do that, I needed to figure out exactly what they were.
“I think on some level I’ve always wished I could have been born a boy, but if you asked me if I really wanted to be one, I think I’d be torn,” she admitted.
“Well, I for one love you just as you are. If you were a man, I doubt you’d be this cute.”
This statement earned me another huge hug, which I wasn’t at all unhappy with.
The next morning, the conference resumed. Each of the leaders enjoyed lavish accommodations, complete with rooms for their guards, servants, and anyone else they had brought along in their entourage. After they all woke up, I was showered with compliments and questions about the beds, sheets, and other amenities available in the rooms. Most of the questions were about how they could obtain such things for themselves.
For portable items I could make myself, I could just ask them to have their guards kill some monsters in the dungeon as compensation. I wasn’t trying to take their defenses away, I just wanted some dungeon points for my trouble. There were orders for pillows, blankets, and even soaps and shampoo, but one person in particular was interested in something else.
“Could Shildris and I perhaps use the glowing table in the main conference room?”
Of course Shildris had told her father about it. King Stanrus had a longing look in his eyes, which instantly reminded me of his pathetic display of begging when he’d asked for a Sprigarou familiar. Not wanting to see anything like that ever again, I quickly agreed.
“Breakfast will be served shortly, but after mealtime, I’d be happy to let you use the table,” I told him. “After all, I created it to help deepen connections between people.”
Bistro and the other chefs did an amazing job with breakfast, and all of the leaders attended. We all sat around a great big table and ate together like family. Some had better table manners than others, but overall, it was a lovely meal. Then, as everyone was finishing up, and polite conversations were starting up all around the table, King Stanrus brought up the table again in front of everyone.
“Would it be all right to use the conference room table now?” he asked.
Seriously, stop with the puppy dog eyes. You’re killing me here.
“I suppose we could excuse ourselves. Please continue at your leisure, everyone,” I said, hoping they would just go on enjoying the meal.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make a clean getaway. Sensing that something was amiss, the other leaders asked to accompany us to the conference room to see what the fuss was about. When we arrived, the leaders neatly divided into two camps: the ones who thought the table was interesting at first, but quickly lost interest and went somewhere else...and the ones who got really into it. There was no in-between.
Those that left were mostly the older leaders, who were enamored with the luxurious bathing facilities I’d made available. Those who remained were mostly younger, and they were very excited about the potential of the game table. I’d actually upgraded the entire room earlier, thanks to the points I’d earned by crafting simple items like soap, shampoo, pillows, and even a few mattresses. (When I say I earned the points, I mean that the soldiers guarding the leaders had earned them for me, after negotiations. In other words, I’d bribed—I mean, artfully persuaded the leaders to have their soldiers challenge my dungeon.) So I’d fixed up the room after breakfast. When we arrived, the table was now able to comfortably seat twenty people, though there weren’t many games that many could play at once. The functionality of the table was improved as well, so multiple games could be played simultaneously.
Shildris set to work trouncing her father at all the games I’d taught her to play last night, and I played poker with the remaining leaders. I wasn’t a big fan of gambling, so we didn’t wager with real stakes, just virtual chips. King Doma had a great poker face, and he was really good at bluffing. The others were good, too, but they just weren’t on his level. Unfortunately, I was ridiculously lucky, and it’s difficult to bluff someone when they have the best possible hand. In the end, King Doma ended up conceding just before lunch. I probably could have beaten him in a few more hands, but you never knew how luck would turn. I overheard some of the leaders whispering about how I must have cheated somehow, though, so I decided it would be better to play strategy based games after lunch.