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IVAR must have seen his iced coffee as nothing more than fuel for his brain, because he downed it so quickly that there was no way he could savor it.
“Huh, so he came to see you…?” he said with a grim expression once Lushera told him about her encounter with Julian.
On the surface, Julian was entirely friendly. But there was something disconcerting about the whole thing. Even Ivar, who only heard about it through Lushera, felt there was something off.
“He said he wishes for peace, or something to that effect. I don’t know what he really wants, though,” said Lushera.
“Well. Even if there was a temporary peace, Martgarz would absolutely come after Setrayu if they saw the chance. Politics is knowin’ that, knowin’ peace is temporary, and still saying it’s gonna last forever.”
True. Even if it was a temporary peace filled with lies, it was politics that made that possible and tried to keep it alive.
But even so. Was it really okay to label that emptiness with a word as vague as “politics”?
It just…was something Lushera felt through actually meeting the man, just a vague impression she had a hard time putting into words. She didn’t feel comfortable about it. Not one bit.
“I went to see an old friend today,” said Ivar. “They didn’t seem to be up to much, to be honest. If Julian’s feeling like attacking Mount Kugus soon, he’s got to figure out how ready Setrayu would be for it, but I didn’t get the impression that’s really going on. Maybe Julian’s just not taking this whole war thing seriously.” Despite what he said, his expression was grim. He didn’t seem sure if he could simply take in that information at face value.
“What kind of person is he, Julian Angus?” Lushera asked.
“Not sure ’bout his skill in politics, but rumor has it he’s pretty sharp. Honestly, I don’t like him one bit. Whispers say he’s the kind who doesn’t think ’bout anyone else when he’s putting a plan into action. Maybe he really is smart, but that makes him think everyone around him’s an idiot.”
Lushera thought back to her conversation with Julian and didn’t find anything to refute Ivar’s evaluation.
“I don’t know much more than that,” he continued. “He hasn’t been on the main stage for long, after all. Normally, a lord’s eldest son would be out and about getting political experience long before this.”
Lushera shook her head slightly. “No, that’s still plenty. Thank you.”
It would be nice if, just as Julian said, he accomplished a peaceful resolution with Setrayu, which would mean Lushera wouldn’t have to interact again with the somewhat disturbing man.
“By the way, the girl that was attacked—” started Ivar.
“Lady Monica, right? I heard.”
“You heard? Huh… I know it was a big deal, but I never expected to get that information without looking for it. Who, why, why now? I’m working on getting that information for now.”
“Any clues on where the golem came from?” she asked.
“Nothing yet. They’ve analyzed it, but…” Ivar let out an annoyed, pained sigh and bit into his ice cream cone. “The Guild had the golem’s remains for a bit, but then the court swooped in and took it. They probably want to keep the situation under their control. Then they could decide to make it public or not, depending on who it was that did it. I mean, since the Guild doesn’t interfere with politics, they couldn’t really say no to the court when they said they needed it to investigate an assassination attempt. But, no offense to the court, but the Guild’d be able to find the truth faster.”
“Hm… Yeah…”
“Obviously the Guild kept records of what they got, so they’re still looking into it from there. I’ll let you know the moment I hear something.”
“Thank you. If you need to, you can use my name,” Lushera told him.
“Sure, ’preciate it. My name isn’t as effective as the name of one of the members of the top adventuring party in the kingdom, since my adventuring license is just for show basically.”
In reality, Lushera and Ivar were both involved with the incident, meaning they had a right to receive information on it from the Guild. And if that didn’t work, Ivar would get the information from somewhere. Lushera was just giving him some extra fodder in case he needed it.
The rest was just waiting for information. Not even draconic power worked on specialized analysis that required expert knowledge. Their only option was to leave it with the appropriate authorities.
“Anyway, before all that, you’ve got your meeting with the King,” said Ivar.
“Yeah. To be honest… I’m really nervous.”
“I’ve got some interesting information on that too.”
“I’m definitely buying that.” Lushera passed him a gold coin, which he casually slipped into his pocket.
“The court found a Draconic interpreter. He can’t speak it though, only understand it.”
“Really? So, he’ll act as a scribe and record it? Well, we probably don’t know that. He could possibly do one-way interpreting for anyone sitting in on the meeting.”
“Exactly. This means you’re in effect meeting with more than just the King now.”
Lushera could think of several ways the other side could use that.
While the King was the person of highest authority in the country, he likely listened to the opinions of his lords when making any important decisions. If the format involved the King only gathering the lords’ opinions in advance, then meeting one-on-one with Kaphal to hammer things out, they could still come to a decision even if he couldn’t meet all the lords’ demands. He would just have to smooth their ruffled feathers after the fact. But if they were able to have their say during the meeting, Kaphal and Lushera would have to deal with as many demands as there were people, and that made things more difficult.
Tomorrow, the King, wearing the ring, would speak with Kaphal and decide the fate of Mount Kugus. Even if Kaphal was the one leading this, Lushera was ready to step in if she needed to. She only had a superficial understanding of Draconic, but as long as she could pick up the words, she could assist Kaphal.
“Do you know what kind of person the king of Setrayu is?” asked Lushera. This information would affect the battle.
Adventurers survived jobs by investigating what monsters might make an appearance, determining what they’re likely to do, and coming up with a countermeasure. It was the same when it came to negotiating with people.
“He’s got a reputation for being kind and gentle, but that’s a trap, he’ll catch you up. Don’t let your guard down, even if he comes off as the kindly neighbor you might see anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
She steeled her resolve. Nervousness comes hand in hand with the drive to carry out your mission. She definitely had more experience with negotiations than Kaphal did, and she knew she’d have to protect Kaphal if it came down to it.
Ivar looked at her with a not-entirely pleasant expression and sighed. “You seriously look different from when your mom was fussing over you just now.”
“She was not fussing over me! She just went and did it…”
“By the way, what does Mom think?” he asked.
Kaphal had actually never let go of Lushera, so this entire conversation took place with her still in Kaphal’s lap. “Lushera cool and cute!” said Kaphal.
“Uh-huh…” said Ivar.
“Ugh…” groaned Lushera.
Kaphal seemed unable to hold back her happiness at how hard Lushera was working for her. She nuzzled against Lushera from behind, and Lushera just let her.