studiobondurri The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 12, Chapter 7
The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 12, Chapter 7
The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 12, Chapter 7
Chapter 7
“Mhh...so young. Hopefully, they do not spoil themselves.”
“Spoil themselves, Your Majesty?”
“Umu,” Queen Oriculus nodded. “The way they run off on their own like that is indicative of their upbringing. From the day they are born, Nobles are cared for by their mother or at least a wet nurse. As soon as they can walk, they are surrounded by a battery of tutors, attendants, security personnel and so on. Some are not even allowed to sleep alone until they find employ in another household or are married off. A Noble scion is not their own individual; neither are they allowed much freedom. The moment freedom presents itself, they tend to run off like Wagner and Gagnier just did...ah, what are We going on about? As a Butler, you should already be well aware of this.”
Sebas very certainly wasn’t, despite being a Butler. Over his time amongst the citizens of the world that Nazarick and its denizens had found themselves in, he had learned that many concepts assumed to be shared between them were, in reality, quite dissimilar. Of those concepts, ‘Butler’ and ‘Maid’ were two that he had taken the time to carefully study, both out of professional and personal interest.
From what he had learned, a Butler was originally a household servant who was something like a cupbearer. It was a position that, over time, had evolved into one of stewardship over a household and its affairs as the chief of staff. In all but the rarest of exceptions, a Butler was an aristocrat – usually a spare with the appropriate rank and professional qualifications for the position.
Those qualifications included a mountain of things that Sebas had no idea about, as well as many things that he was not proficient at, so he did his best to keep conversations with outsiders from flowing in problematic directions while he did his best to familiarise himself with those subjects for the future. Familiarisation, however, was easier said than done. Everything aside from the basics appeared to be beyond his capability to grasp. Additionally, he discovered that Albedo was actually doing what the locals considered a Butler’s job as Nazarick’s Guardian Overseer.
So, not only was it difficult to learn a Butler’s trade, but he also felt guilty over the idea that he was learning tasks that the Supreme Beings had assigned to someone else. It felt like theft and blasphemy combined.
Yet, it seemed essential in the duties assigned to him. He was Sebas Tian, the Royal Butler. Not knowing what was required for that esteemed position would bring shame to himself and the name of Ainz Ooal Gown. Though it pained him to admit it, the fact that nearly all of Queen Oriculus’ senior palace staff had been killed, eaten, or both spared him an incalculable amount of awkwardness.
The sound of approaching footsteps drew his attention to the barge’s ramp. After several moments, Minister Soruel appeared, her pale white shawl fluttering in the wind.
“Captain Inserra’s men have secured the subjects Your Majesty requested. They are being conveyed to Castle Corrin. I’ve instructed some of the temple staff that we brought with us to conduct an examination.”
“In that case,” Queen Oriculus replied, “let’s be on our way. Thank you, Soruel.”
Sebas accompanied the Queen and her ministers down the ramp, eyeing the crowded wharf. They entered the carriages that had been brought along from Oriculon, and Sebas found himself sitting beside the Queen across from Prime Minister Yorsten, Minister Soruel and Marshal Zorlu. Countess Corelyn was on the other side of the Queen.
“If I may ask, Your Majesty,” Sebas said, “who are the ‘subjects’ Minister Soruel mentioned?”
“We requested a set of subjects afflicted by Laira-related conditions to varying degrees,” Queen Oriculus replied. “The people near Rivergarden were only exposed to it for days at most, so there was little to be done but wait out the short-term effects. According to Captain Zahradnik’s reports, the condition of the people is especially severe in the area around Corrin-on-the-Lake. We must see what can be done to treat them.”
“I see. Is that why Your Majesty insisted on coming here so quickly?”
“Amongst several other matters, yes. We hope you will indulge Our selfishness.”
“We are at your service, Your Majesty.”
The Queen’s request came with greater risks, but not to the point that the Royal Army considered the move unacceptable. More concerning to Sebas was the subtle shift that he sensed in the Queen’s demeanour over the past week. Now, a storm seemed to swirl behind her dark gaze and he didn’t know what to make of it.
Their carriage slowly negotiated its way through the crowds of busy workers, and a rare break filled the cabin with sunlight. In front of him, Marshal Zorlu stifled a yawn with his hand. Queen Oriculus’ gaze went between the Marshal and the Minister on his left.
“You appear pleased at Zorlu’s development, Soruel.”
“Y-your Majesty!” Minister Soruel released Marshal Zorlu’s elbow.
A mischievous smile crossed the Queen’s lips. The young woman visibly relented.
“I’m sure that the Marshal is more pleased with his own development than I am,” Minister Soruel said. “He couldn’t come close to besting me in combat before. Now, he might be stronger than I am.”
Sebas glanced at the ornately-hilted blade at the Minister’s knee. Despite her appearance – or perhaps it was the cause of her appearance – Salacia Soruel was a respectably strong Bard by local standards. Apparently, she was instrumental in the defence of the palace before the Sorcerous Kingdom’s arrival, bolstering the spirits of the palace staff with her skills and even slaying a handful of Beastmen.
“Zorlu limps around enough to cause one to wonder whether he is pleased about it or not,” the Queen said.
“Zorlu will be fine,” Minister Soruel said. “It is the gods’ will that humanity strives to improve itself.”
“Zorlu is sitting right here,” the Marshal muttered.
“Speaking of the gods’ will,” Queen Oriculus said, “have you thought further on what was discussed the other day?”
Minister Soruel looked down at the hands folded over her knees with a solemn expression.
“I’m not sure what to think, Your Majesty,” she said. “The Draconic Kingdom has relied on the Theocracy’s goodwill for generations.”
“That goodwill came with a number of crippling stipulations,” the Queen noted. “The implications of which should not be lost on you.”
“...I know, Your Majesty. Still, must it be this way? Those stipulations also came with a number of undeniable benefits. One could say that we would not be the same country without them.”
He had no idea what they were referring to. Though he attended the Queen while the sundry tasks of the court were being taken care of, there were still many things that went on behind closed doors.
“I wonder about that,” Marshal Zorlu said. “It was a satisfactory arrangement in the past, but that arrangement has remained unchanged since before Her Majesty ascended the throne. For generations, our country structured itself around its dependence on the Theocracy. We had an agreement. They broke it, not us. It is a painful lesson. What was a matter of survival to us was merely a matter of convenience to them.”
The Marshal gestured to the cabin window with a hand.
“This is what their inconvenience means for us. It was something we had to suffer before, but not anymore. There is no point to our arrangement if they do not have the strength to uphold it.”
Queen Oriculus cleared her throat.
“To be fair, they do, but certain international conventions prohibit them from deploying that strength. What they have available in lieu of those conventions is likely insufficient to deal with our current problem, which is why they didn’t come this time around.”
“That is effectively the same thing,” Marshal Zorlu said. “Unless Your Majesty means to imply that they will deploy that strength against us if we become ‘inconvenient’ in a different sense.”
“That is the crux of the matter, I suppose,” the Prime Minister said.
“Pardon the interruption,” Sebas raised a hand, “but I appear to be missing the background to this conversation. The Sorcerous Kingdom is unaware of the fine points of the Draconic Kingdom’s arrangement with the Slane Theocracy and what problems our intervention may cause.”
The Queen leaned back in her seat, placing a hand on Sebas’ knee.
“Forgive Us, Sebas,” she said. “We are simply addressing some outstanding deliberations. We weren’t aware that Countess Corelyn didn’t brief you on this prickly aspect of Our diplomacy.”
“I wasn’t sure it was the case, Your Majesty,” Countess Corelyn said. “Dealing with parties in a superior position tends toward that party directly demanding or at least implying that their interests should be protected by anyone that they are dealing with. Unlike the countries in the north that you are already familiar with, Lord Sebas, the Slane Theocracy is just that – a theocracy. Their policies will always be in line with the mandates of their faith, and the Faith of the Six in the Slane Theocracy has taken a highly aggressive turn in the last century or so.”
“Umu,” Queen Oriculus nodded. “A dependency on the Theocracy means that We must also respect that policy. Otherwise, they simply withhold their assistance. That limits the Draconic Kingdom’s meaningful diplomacy to Human countries. Roble has its own problems and Re-Estize would bankrupt itself if it ever tried sending some sort of army here. The Empire sees no profit in sending aid and the current Emperor seems to despise female rulers. Rumour has it that he believes that women have no place in politics or leadership at all. That leaves the isolationist Wyvern Rider Tribes, the Human powers in the Koshey belt over two thousand kilometres to the south, and the Slane Theocracy. We suppose we could have goaded that Decem in Evasha into displaying his ‘Elven superiority’, but the Theocracy has been on bad terms with him for a while now.”
“Doesn’t the Draconic Kingdom have hundreds of treaties with nearby aquatic Demihuman polities?” Countess Corelyn asked, “I would have thought the Theocracy would take issue with that.”
“Aquatic Demihumans are much lower on the threat scale for the Theocracy,” the Queen answered. “They don’t compete for the same territory so the Theocracy sees more benefit in us being able to fish in peace and breed more Humans for them. As you may know, any terrestrial Demihuman tribe is kept in a primitive state by the Theocracy’s regional enforcers.”
It seemed that Yggdrasil wasn’t the only existence where Humans caused no end of trouble. Now that he thought about it, their Master was certain of Player presence or at least influence in the Slane Theocracy, so it may have been Humans from Yggdrasil affecting Human attitudes in the region.
“I suppose that our intervention will cause unwanted friction between the Theocracy and the Draconic Kingdom, then.”
“It will, but you are here and they are not. How they will react to the Sorcerous Kingdom’s influence when they learn of it is unknown, but that is a problem to be discussed after the current crisis is resolved.”
Their procession followed the road up into Castle Corrin, where hasty preparations had been made for the Queen’s arrival. Sebas scanned the battlements and rooftops as they made their way to a long building to the side of the main keep. A young man in priestly garb lowered his head as they entered the door.
“Will Your Majesty be seeing the patients now?”
“Yes. How are they?”
The Priest turned to lead them down a side hall.
“Outwardly,” he said, “there are few direct signs of being under the poison’s effects. Secondary effects, however, are plentiful. The euphoria brought about by the poison is such that one can neglect their health, forgoing food, sleep and personal hygiene. Needless to say, work and family activities are also neglected. I will spare Your Majesty the exact details, but it did need to be stated.”
“How long do the effects last?” Minister Soruel asked, “Apparently, this plant is different from the one that we’ve received information about.”
“We don’t know yet,” the Priest shook his head. “All we know is that the people dosed with the narcotic in the Rivergarden area were still poisoned by the time we left for Corrin-on-the-Lake. Since it may last a week or more, trying to keep people from poisoning themselves again would be best done by keeping areas with tainted water sources off-limits.”
“What about magical sources? The ones for this city, for instance?”
“We’ve tested those and they’re safe, Your Excellency. The volume of water conjured by those items is nowhere near enough for the rural population, however.”
Minister Soruel sighed.
“We’re not lacking in space,” she said, “but moving so many people is going to be a nightmare, especially in their state.”
“Did the advisory issued by the Royal Court not state that not every settlement was affected?”Rread latest chapters at
That was at least until Queen Oriculus made a certain request.
“Captain Zahradnik. We would attend the reconquest of Eastwatch.”
Sebas froze. Every hand moving at their plates stopped.
“That is a considerable risk to take, Your Majesty,” Baroness Zahradnik replied. “I highly doubt this is the case, but this is hardly the time for the rashness of youth to surface. A Queen has duties to fulfil. None of those duties requires her to take the field. There may have been a premise if it was the Draconic Kingdom’s Royal Army fighting the battle, but Your Majesty will have no effect on the Undead.”
“A Queen’s duties, huh,” Queen Oriculus murmured. “I take it that you and the members of Countess Corelyn’s delegation understand the Draconic Kingdom’s script?”
Around the table, the heads of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s delegation nodded. The Queen stood, picking up a brush beside her. She dipped it in the provided inkwell and her hand moved in the sharp strokes of the Draconic Kingdom's script as she wrote on a fresh piece of paper. She held up the result.
“What does this say?” She asked.
“Draconic Kingdom,” Countess Corelyn said.
“Are you sure about that?”
Countess Corelyn exchanged looks with the other Nobles from the Sorcerous Kingdom. Queen Oriculus smirked and used her hand to cover a portion of her writing.
“What does this say?”
“Country.”
The Queen’s hand moved.
“And this?”
“Dragon.”
Her hand moved again.
“King,” Countess Corelyn said.
“So is it ‘Draconic Kingdom’ or ‘Dragon King Country’?”
“Is there a difference, Your Majesty? A country ruled by a King is a Kingdom.”
“‘Draconic Kingdom’ is simply mortal wilfulness. The desire to define and shape things according to one’s perception, regardless of the truth. This behaviour also means that individuals and even countries are not defined according to their true qualities, but by what others perceive them as.
“It is not ‘Draconic Kingdom’ – It is ‘Dragon Lord Country’. Mine, to be precise. In many languages around the world, the ‘Lord’ in ‘Dragon Lord’ is synonymous with ‘King’. ‘Dragon Lord’ and ‘Dragon King’ are the same thing in Draconic. Because many cultural groups have principalities, kingdoms, empires and the like, collective perception becomes warped according to those societal constructs. Warped to the point where even the way that the world translates speech adopts the new label. That is why my domain ends up being called the ‘Draconic Kingdom’.”
“I believe that I understand what Your Majesty is saying,” Countess Corelyn said, “but this country is a Kingdom and you are a Queen, yes?”
“No,” Queen Oriculus’ said. “I am Queen in the sense that a female ruler may be called a Queen. What I truly am, however, has always been one thing: a Dragon Lord. The Draconic Kingdom is not a Kingdom at all: it is the land of a Dragon King. In other words, it is the domain of a Dragon Lord.”
“In that case, what is the name of this ‘Dragon King County’?”
“Zahradnik, I believe you know a Dragon.”
“I do, your Majesty.”
“Did she name her domain?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“I bet you ended up naming it for her, anyway.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. More for convenience and legal matters than anything else.”
Queen Oriculus set down the piece of paper with a smirk.
“And there you have it,” she said. “Dragons feel no need to name their domains: they just are. It is others that come up with names for them. This name that the region has come up with for my domain would be very confusing elsewhere in the world, by the way. There are a lot of ‘Draconic Kingdoms’ out there.”
“But Your Majesty’s system of government shares many similarities to ours,” Countess Wagner pointed out. “Enough to believe that it is the same form of government or close enough.”
“Do you believe that this form of government simply popped out of the nothingness that the Demon Gods left behind?” Queen Oriculus arched an eyebrow. “It is older than you probably think.”
“So what’s used in the north is just a...a...copy of something else?”
“Your system is pieced together out of the remnants of a much older system. That system is merely an imitation of an ancient system. One designed for powerful immortals. It is not meant for mortals, which is why you see the problems that you do in mortal domains...which brings me to my own problems.”
The Queen emptied her goblet of wine and took a deep breath before continuing.
“As a Dragon Lord, I have certain duties. I have tried explaining what those duties are to others before, but that has only resulted in confusion, scorn, or both. There is one thing that I believe most would understand in part, however. As Dragon Lord, I must defend my domain from what is detrimental to the souls under my care...and Dragons defend their domains personally.”
“Is that why you’ve become so aggressive recently?” Baroness Zahradnik asked.
“That’s right,” Queen Oriculus answered.
“Wait a minute,” Countess Wagner said. “Your people have been preyed on by the Beastmen for the gods know how long. Yet, when they bring out the Laira, it’s suddenly a problem?”
“Dragon Lords understand that the world does not exist at the convenience of any single race. Not every soul is equal in the eyes of the World, but every soul should be allowed to write their own story. Things like Laira interfere with that.”
“And things like getting eaten don’t?”
“Death is a part of life, Countess.”
“...but they’re your people,” Baroness Gagnier said.
“From a Dragon’s perspective,” the Queen said, “the Beastmen drawing sustenance from the denizens of my domain are also my people.”
“I’m pretty sure they don’t see it that way,” Countess Wagner muttered.
“Probably not,” Queen Oriculus smirked. “Dragons being attacked and killed by beings living in their domains is not rare. It happens quite often when Giants are involved.”
“Do your subjects know about this...stance?” Countess Corelyn asked.
The Prime Minister, Minister, and Marshal nodded.
“I know it seems strange to you,” Prime Minister Yorsten said, “but ours is a country that is meant to be a part of this world. It is not like the other Human countries in the region that seek to dominate everything that they can and impose Human order. We are more akin to Argland than Slane, Re-Estize or Baharuth.”
“So Your Majesty wishes to be at Eastwatch because you are acting to defend your domain?” Lady Zahradnik asked.
“For too long now,” Queen Oriculus looked down at the table, “I have been hesitant to act as a Dragon Lord should. But, now, I must. What I am asking for is your help to do what needs to be done.”
Silence settled over the table. After several moments, Baroness Zahradnik’s eyes went past Queen Oriculus to Sebas. For the first time since his misadventure in Re-Estize, he found that he had been presented with an important choice.
Helping those in need is a matter of course.
...was what he wanted to say, but blindly using that justification had gotten him into trouble before. More importantly, it had inconvenienced his Master.
Draudillon Oriculus was a good person. As a sovereign, she genuinely cared for her subjects and her people loved her in return. If asked for a report on the Draconic Kingdom, that’s what he would have said. But that sort of thing mattered little to individuals such as Demiurge and Albedo. In fact, it might have encouraged Demiurge to abduct the Queen and transform her into an experimental subject while turning the Draconic Kingdom into another Roble.
Over time, however, he started to see things that would hold practical value for the Sorcerous Kingdom – things that Baroness Gagnier insisted had been there from the beginning. Now their discussion had turned up several more definitive points.
As Prime Minister Yorsten had stated, there was a problem with the Human countries in the vicinity of E-Rantel. They all possessed a certain character: a sort of belligerent ambition. Sebas did not doubt that Demiurge could exploit that character to achieve the reprehensible ‘processes’ that he used to facilitate his means – his machinations toward them were likely already in effect – but it didn’t change the fact that it was fundamentally incompatible with Ainz Ooal Gown’s vision for the Sorcerous Kingdom. The ends justifying the means was a fallacy when those means would mar the ends achieved.
The Draconic Kingdom, however, was the first country that was highly compatible with the Sorcerous Kingdom and its ideological goals. Furthermore, it was a crucial example of how a country could be won over through goodwill and diplomacy to become a valuable member of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s hegemony. They had to maintain everything that made it what it was.
“It would be irresponsible to say that the Queen’s safety is absolutely guaranteed,” he said, “but I will do what little that I can to help.”
“In that case,” Baroness Zahradnik said, “the Royal Army will accommodate Your Majesty’s request.”
Queen Oriculus turned a thankful smile up at him. Sebas steeled himself to see his decision through. For the sake of all that was good, the Sorcerous Kingdom’s mission in the Draconic Kingdom had to succeed.