"And there I was," Dean Ulluw shouted, slightly intoxicated by the strong alien booze he had drunk non-stop, "Happy and content in my cave, away from all these problems, when the top dogs came knocking at my door."
Dean Ulluw emptied the cup in his hands, only to reach for the fuming cauldron placed at his side to refill it. He immediately drank again, taking a long sip, uncaring of the dark spots that ended on his long white beard.
"Do you have any idea how much I had to learn in such a short time?" Dean Ulluw cursed. "I felt I had to catch up with a century’s worth of briefings just to understand who you were."
"I admit I’ve been busy," Khan laughed, also enjoying a drink while keeping his sleeping daughter safe in his other arm.
The party had been going for a while by now, but the situation around Khan hadn’t changed. The representatives from the various species were still occupying that random spot in the desert, separated from the rest of the crowd by vast stretches of sand and dunes.
"I’ve known many busy people, Prince Khan," Dean Ulluw mented, unable to refrain from glancing at the diverse, powerful guests around him. "You have them all beaten."
"[Ah]!" Lord Mighty cried, stretching his huge hand toward Khan, only for some confusion to make him hesitate. "Was that a pliment?"
"Even these great drinks can’t make your idiocy more bearable," Lord Blind Sword sighed. "My pliments to your species’ alchemists, Liiza. This booze can match the Empire’s best canteens."
"Chief Doku is a unique talent even among the Niqols," Liiza absent-mindedly stated, most of her attention focused on a different task. "I’m afraid my species isn’t worthy of such high praise."
Something big began to brew, making Lord Enforcer close his eyes. Even Lord Envoy focused, unleashing his mana to salvage whatever the imminent event was bound to destroy.
"[Ah]!" The Emperor cried, sending soundwaves left and right. "Humility is inappropriate for Lord Blue Shaman’s wife. The Empire wishes to purchase the Niqols’ booze in bulk!"
The evolved warriors could take care of themselves, while the two Royal Guards dealt with anything that could stretch past the stretch of empty sand.
However, the Emperor wouldn’t be so fearsome if his existence were so easy to contain. Soundwaves and tremors still reached the rest of the party, only for machines placed in specific locations to activate, creating expendable mana barriers that made those catastrophic leftovers bearable.
Those loud outbursts had bee the norm by then. The Thilku Emperor avoided exploding like that out of habit, but the party was pleasing him, so the representatives had grown used to those deadly occurrences.
The event never became ordinary, but the representatives kept doing whatever they were doing during them now. For example, Liiza didn’t stop playing with Khan’s hair, bing it into braids like she had almost done since the beginning of the meeting.
Another example was Dean Ulluw, who continued to drink, unaffected by the shockwaves. The same went for Mazatl, who couldn’t help but take the Emperor’s statement as a challenge.
"Onia would also like to stash Niqols’ booze," Mazatl announced.
"e on, now," Khan laughed. "Let’s all continue to play nice. There will be time to establish new trade agreements."
"But yes," Dean Ulluw exclaimed as if nothing important had happened. "It did surprise me that such an important person had relied on my humble martial art. Did you master it pletely?"
"I was too fond of it not to master it," Khan declared. "I lost count of how many times it has saved my life. I was actually sad to switch to a different one."
"Nonsense," Dean reassured. "I also improved on that basic version long ago, but I’m glad you think so highly of my creation."
"My husband excelled on Nitis also thanks to your martial art," Liiza revealed, finishing one last braid before inspecting her work. "He saved many lives with it, including mine."
"I won’t claim any merit," Dean stated. "Martial arts are just a weapon. The user makes all the difference."
"Blue, are you talking about the martial art you used to beat up Lord Idiot Muscles?" Lord Blind Sword asked.
"You are just jealous you didn’t get to fight Blue," Lord Mighty grinned.
"Lord Idiot Muscles is correct," Lord Enforcer confirmed, reopening his emotionless eyes.
"I used a different one against him," Khan explained, "But traces of what I mastered from the Lightning-Demon style have remained. That martial art is how I learned to fly after all."
"We did have a similar development in that regard," Dean Ulluw pointed out. "Though my element has played a part in my case."
"About that," Khan mentioned, his glowing gaze focusing on the elderly evolved warrior. "You don’t look half-bad. Can I count on you during the critical fights to e?"
"I’m just average, Prince Khan," Dean dismissed the pliment before adding something that contradicted his previous words. "Average among the good ones. The Global Army has stronger evolved assets at its disposal, and more of those are found among your fellow nobles."
"Whom I think it’s time to address," Khan sighed, peeking past his shoulder. "Are you done?"
"For now," Liiza said, laying her chin on Khan’s shoulder, wearing a smile that didn’t promise anything good. "Is that Princess among the guests?"
"They did tell me you were popular!" Dean Ulluw exclaimed, seemingly unable to read the dangerous mood, only for something far louder to follow.
"[Ah]!" The Emperor cried, unleashing the usual chaos. "Do not worry, Liiza. Lord Blue Shaman even rejected me. Your marriage isn’t at risk."
Lord Envoy had to tap Lord Mighy’s shoulder to teleport him away, but his loud laugh reached his previous spot anyway. Meanwhile, the other representatives couldn’t help but stare in perplexity at Khan and the Emperor, leaving Liiza herself too confused to make any sense of what she had just heard.
"Should I be worried about Ilman and George now?" Liiza wondered.
Khan was at a loss for words. He couldn’t even sigh in helplessness. He knew it was too soon for that during what was bound to be a very long night.
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