While Axel and the girls were busy with the design...
"Those foreigners keep on doing weird things in our land! We should chase them away, now!"
"Can’t you see what that man did? He erected a wall several dozen kiloters long instantly!"
"A-Are we going to die...? We should go under them quick, or they might conquer us instead!"
Within the local’s last bastion, the Swyre City—or at least what’s left of it—various figures were stuck in an endless debate.
Their discussion topic was simple—Whether to fight, to join hands with, or to go under Axel’s group!
Of course, after seeing their illogical actions and display of power for a few hours straight from a great distance, the idea of fighting them was the one with the least supporters.
A group that could kill hundreds of thousands of Black Beasts instantly could also kill them just as easily, after all!
"This is our land! We should be the ones protecting it!"
"But we can’t protect it, can’t we?! If not for them, we’d be dead by now!"
"Fuck! I don’t care about you anymore! I’ll definitely be asking that man to take under his wing!"
They were just regular humans, after all. Ones that were stuck in this dead planet after the demon invasion neared its completion. They had limited resources that, even if they tried to be as thrifty as possible, could last their entire population a week at most.
With how the earth basically died already, agriculture was already out of the option too. Even the deep wells were nearly dried up. They were literally at the end of their ropes.
"Silence..."
Sitting at the furthest spot in the room, behind an expensive-looking curtain, a woman’s voice echoed.
"Chief Tomba’s opinion of fighting for our land using our own strength is true." She whispered.
"However, ideals alone couldn’t feed us. We need to learn when to accept help from others... even if that ans bowing our heads."
"Queen..."
Although the tone of her voice was flat, everyone could tell the emotions swirling in her heart. She was, after all, known as a compassionate queen among the locals. One that was hailed as the second coming of the Saintess of Harvest.
She was compassionate and wise. One whose decisions basically went unquestioned. However, even she was feeling the pressure of the over 150,000 people under her now.
If they just do the sa as they usually do, then that ans their days were up.
With resolute golden eyes, the woman stood up, and declared.
"Tomorrow, I shall visit this man, and ask him directly." She said with dignity. "Anyone against my decision, raise your hand or remain silent forever."
"..."
Of course, nobody dared to go against the Queen’s decision.
Not openly, at least.
...
Axel had completed the design with the girls, and was now starting to designate the girls to do which parts where. It was a critical part of building, as working together would hurt their efficiency and slow them down greatly.
"Master, there’s a weird vehicle coming towards us."
"Huh?"
With Fenrir’s warning, Axel turned around to see.
Since the sun was just about to rise, the "vehicle" remained shrouded in shadows. It wasn’t easy to identify what it was at all.
It was only when it got close enough that Axel realized what it was.
"So this place is an advanced civilization...?"
The "vehicle" they were seeing was not a car, not a carriage, but rather... a golem. It was a real golem, about twenty ters tall, with a few figures riding on top of its head.
If not for the presence of those people, Fenrir wouldn’t have categorized it as a "weird vehicle" but rather, an "enemy" for sure!
"They got the higher ground, huh..." Beatrix whispered with a thin smile—one that Axel was quite sure wasn’t a real smile.
"No problem."
He quickly waved his hand, dismissing Beatrix’s worries.
Just as the giant golem got close enough, Axel flew to the sky, floating about 10 ters higher than the golem’s head. With his elevation, it was those riding on top of the golem that had to look up just to look at him floating mid-air!
"Greetings, locals of this world. I am Axel Walker, a king from a faraway land." He greeted with a wide smile. "I co in peace."
"! I’m peace!" Ria raised her hand.
"I guess that makes Peace too, then." Nina added.
"That makes it three." Even Eve nodded.
"C-Count in too..." Cherry whispered while blushing.
All of the girls seed to be chiming in randomly from below, confusing the delegates on top of the giant golem.
"Ahem!"
Axel cleared his throat, hiding his embarrassnt while returning their focus on him. "Anyway, since you ca here with a giant monster in tow... I guess you’re here to chase us away?"
"Oh! No! It’s a misunderstanding, Venerable King, Axel Walker..."
As if to represent them, the one standing at the front, a woman wrapped in so much cloth Axel couldn’t see her face, spoke up. With the quality of her clothes, it was easy to tell she was of a high standing, at least.
"This automaton is a treasure of our royal family, and is used for when we are having important discussions with other delegations. We had no intentions of intimidating you, I assure you."
"Oh, is that so? No worries then." Axel fired back. "But talking here is a bit inappropriate. How about we head down there for a cup of tea?"
Picking up on his hint, despite not knowing what a "tea" was, the woman nodded her head, her eyes narrowing down as if she had just smiled.
"That sounds wonderful."
After that, the delegates went down from the golem’s head.
Axel, too, landed on the ground, leading the delegates over to the table the girls were setting up once more.
All they did was to clean up the board gas and replace the cold tea with a fresh one, along with new tea snacks and cakes to match. Maria and Cherry did their best, preparing the tea as quickly as possible without sacrificing the flavor and style.
"Please have a seat." Axel asked as he sat on the opposite end.
Following his offer, the woman sat down confidently. "Then, please excuse ."
Axel placed a hand under his chin, staring at the woman who was dressed like she was scared of the sun.
Her face was hidden by a veil, revealing only her eyes, and a red dot in the middle of her eyebrows. Her body was covered by so many layers of fabric that it was hard to even tell the original shape of her body. One thing Axel was sure of was that... the attire looked extrely uncomfortable.
"Oh, so this is tea..."
After seeing the cup served to her, the woman gasped in awe.
"It slls fresh and fruity." She whispered, before taking a sip. "And the taste is godly. This is a wonderful drink, King Axel."
"Thank you, Miss...?"
"Ah!"
Hearing Axel hesitate on what to address her, the woman realized her mistake.
"Please pardon . I am Queen Sharika Zareen, the final standing ruler of our Zareen Kingdom."
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