Chapter 44: Internal Politics.

Utarou, Henrek, May and Adam all sat around a large table Pinklia had found for them, with a clear divide having emerged on how to handle the Lolcons situation.

“The bastards tried to kill my boys! We burn ‘em to the ground!” May exclaimed angrily slamming her fist onto the table.

“And risk killing Julia? Sparking war with Oldser as well?! Are you insane?” Henrek reiterated firmly.

“You should know hostage negotiations are part of the noble lifestyle, you and your family are to be considered a minor noble of this new kingdom, right?” Adam asked with a soft smile, glancing towards Utarou who was thinking hard.

“An’ I’m Queen ‘n these little wusses ain’t gettin’ squat if they ain’t willin to show them bastards what we’re made of!” May growled as she glared intensely at Adam.

“Of course of course!” Adam laughed jovially, clapping his hands.

“ALRIGHT LOOK!” Utarou suddenly shouted, getting everyone's attention.

Utarou was in a precarious position.

He only had a few resources to work with, and they were spread thin.

With Adam having all but solved the Goblin issue by himself, Dryholm finally had the time and resources to rebuild. But the city was far from being able to match even the minor province of Lolcons, even with the ace that was Julia.

More accurately, aces of Pinklia and Bluelia, as they were unable to merge together. Utarou hadn’t the opportunity to properly study Pinklia yet, but given the only information he knew was that she’d woken up alone in what she’d described as an Alchemists Laboratory in Burtcons.

This was very concerning to Utarou, but he couldn’t exactly afford to send anyone out to investigate considering they were almost certainly going to be sent a declaration of war from Lolcons within the month.

Henrek and May were the two main leaders of Dryholm and they were split on what to do.

Henrek was a family man, everything he did was for his family, he was also the undisputed leader of the meager military force Dryholm had built over the last 6 years, the garrison listens to him.

May was an angry mother, wife and Queen, she was also the center of the community thanks to being the one person who could seemingly turn anything into not only an edible meal but delicious one, the people of Dryholm listen to her.

Barney was also a highly respected member of Dryholm’s meager military force, but he didn’t command the same respect Henrek still did, yet the people adored bright Barney much more than they did the dreary Henrek.

Utarou was not particularly respected by the people or the military, however he had earned the trust of the Julia’s, Hope and Barney, and the begrudging respect of May. Henrek would follow Utarou’s words, but it was clear this was born from regret as opposed to devotion. Penelope was clearly more fascinated by Utarou as opposed to any belief in his plans, though she’d become his only confidant when it comes to the deal he’d made with the Pope.

Utarou also had to consider the Church much more now, with Adam hovering over his shoulder for the foreseeable future he was unable to act freely, with whatever agenda he and Ghaeltifts almost certainly going to be pushed at his own detriment.

There were many pieces moving all at once now, and Utarou knew it was only going to grow in complexity unless he could effectively delegate tasks to people he could trust.

“Yeah?” May asked with an annoyed glare, Utarou had been trying to think of something to say for the past minute and failing.

His mind was only interested in Monster Girls, this politicking was not for him.

“Penelope! What’s your plan!” Utarou declared, tossing the issue to her with the grace of a drunken toddler.

Penelope smirked as she stepped forward to the table.

“Thank you so much for asking.” Penelope gleamed as she spread out a large map of the region.

Penelope had spent the journey back from Avoitica learning everything she could about the social dynamics of this group from Utarou, Hans and Rufus, formulating a plan that could appeal to all of them was what she’d spent all of last night doing.

“Aye Penny, whatcha doin’ dragged into all of this?” May asked, worried what her young friend was doing here.

“Trust me she dragged herself…” Utarou sighed.

“Ahem, looky here.” Penelope began, pointing to the new borders of Monsteria, Burtcons and Lolcons.

“Burtcons and Lolcons used to have a nice clean border with Dracons at these rivers, but now with it gone they’re both going to try and claim this patch of land, especially thanks to us clearing out all of the wyverns for them.” Penelope explained as Utarou began to lose focus, eyes wandering towards Pinklia and Bluelia sitting awkwardly next to each other.

“So we provoke a border skirmish? That just leads to them rallying forces right outside of Dryholm.” Henrek countered seriously.

“Exactly what we want. Adam has been a sweetheart and helped me translate some of the spells I copied from Avoitica. I’m quite interested in making an earthquake~” Penelope cooed as she circled the region.

“How ‘n the hell are ya gonna do that?! Ain’t no way you’s gonna be storin’ enough mana to do that!” May retorted.

“Correct, but Pinky over there totally can.” Penelope declared, pointing at the anxious looking Pinklia.

“H-huh?” Pinklia stammered as everyone turned to her.

“May, you said she could only eat mana right?” Penelope clarified.

“Yea, poor girl was a tiny lil’ thing when she came back!” May exclaimed dramatically.

Pinklia had now grown to match Bluelia’s height, though she styled her slime hair differently with larger bangs that often covered her eyes as opposed to Bluelia’s ponytail tomboy look.

“She’s storing the mana as slime! It’s like she’s living mana gelatin, which I can absolutely use to cast spells with.” Penelope beamed.

“What about the frozen Julia? I’m not abandoning her, even with a minor border skirmish Balubrain’s castle will be armed to the teeth to protect her… Or kill her.” Henrek scowled.

“Uh, hey I’m still here.” Bluelia chimed in.

“And you’re also over there!” Henrek retorted.

“Relax, relax, I wasn’t intending to let this just be a minor border skirmish.” Penelope smirked as she pointed east of Lolcons, to the edge of Aurora, the land of the dwarves.

Adam scowled immediately.

“Bringing the Dwarves in is a terrible idea that I can’t condone.” Adam said seriously, flicking a look at Penelope and Utarou that sent shivers down both of their spines but was unseen by the rest of the table.

“O-of course, I uh, simply think we can trade with them…” Penelope back tracked. Adam leaned back and let out a sigh.

“Fine, so long as not a single one of the heretics takes a step closer to the church.” Adam declared. Penelope let out a sigh of relief and paused for a moment as she rethought her plan.

“What good is trading with the dwarves going to do us? If we got their mercenaries involved then maybe-” Henrek began before being cut off by Penelope slamming her hands onto the table.

“T-that’s right! Their special equipment!” Penelope pivoted.

“Special equipment?” Utarou asked, clueless to what the dwarves in this world had done.

“Yeah! The handheld thunder they use to mine underground!” Penelope snapped. All the parents at the table laughed in response.

“Ya know those are just fairy tales we tell the kids, right?” Barney asked.

“S-so!? Maybe they’re kinda true!” Penelope said defensively, she didn’t actually believe the stories of dwarves mining underground causing lightning to strike, but she needed to bluster her way through her initial plan being so harshly shot down by Adam.

“Portable thunder…” Utarou muttered before it suddenly clicked.

“Wait a minute… That’s dynamite.” Utarou declared, punching the palm of his hand.

Of course the dwarves would be more technologically advanced, they were dwarves.

The group looked at Utarou, a mixture of confusion, dread and excitement painting their faces.

“Penelope, you're a genius. How long will it take for us to get to the Dwarves and get this gunpowder?” Utarou asked seriously.

“U-uh, well it’s about a 3 week journey if we went straight through Lolcons.” Penelope said, unsure what Utarou was planning.

“Hold on, we don’t have any money! And I’m not exactly interested in being sold as a dwarven slave.” Bluelia chimed in, causing Hope to shudder.

“Relax, I’ve got a plan.” Utarou declared, finally seeing a path to victory.

The greatest walls in his world took over a thousand years to fall, and it happened thanks to one invention.

The canon.

The original canons were large, unwieldy and slow; it took hundreds of years for weapons of such destruction to be put on land vehicles, let alone flying ones.

Utarou’s world didn’t have tamable dragons however.

“We’re taking Rhinoplasty, Dryholm is safe from any monster attack thanks to Adam and we need to hurry. Pinklia, Hope, you two are coming with me and Penelope as well.” Utarou declared.

“H-huh?! Why me?!” Hope exclaimed, shocked.

“I need someone with your vision to help fly.” Utarou smirked.

“Then I’m coming as well.” Henrek growled.

“Nope, I need you and Barney to set up the border skirmish while we’re gone.” Utarou retorted. Henrek tensed, but relaxed when Hope put her hands on his shoulder.

“Someone has to look after Lilly right?” Hope offered nervously.

“Yeah, yeah… Sorry Utarou, I’ll trust you…” Henrek sighed, rubbing his temples.

“And me, don’t worry I’ll look after her!” Pinklia squeaked awkwardly.

“Yeah right shorty, you’ve only been battling goblins.” Bluelia scoffed.

“H-hey!” Pinklia whined.

“Alright alright settle down.” Henrek grumbled as he stood up.

“I’ll go ‘n call the blacksmith to make ya somethin for Rhiney.” Barney said, standing up with Junior.

“Can I go with Rhiney?” Junior asked as he and May left the tower.

“No way kid, was already touch and go on our last outing!” Barney laughed, causing Junior to pout.

“Interesting direction, I look forward to seeing how it plays out.” Adam laughed as he stood up, and in the blink of an eye disappeared.

“So uh, what’s the plan now?” Penelope asked, having been thrown entirely out of her groove.

“We’re making a medieval bomber plane.” Utarou declared confidently.

“I don’t know what half of those words mean, but it sounds exciting!” Penelope grinned.