"Eeeek!"
Because of my deep thoughts I was so startled that I spilled the tea all over myself and the floor, narrowly avoiding pouring it all over my table and the papers there.
"Damn it..." I bemoaned, looking at my wet clothes and the puddle of tea on the floor. In it I saw a familiar bird head staring at . "Mister Dalmanrach, why are you always in my tea? Can’t you appear sowhere else? With slightly more warning, if possible."
To say that I didn’t expect to see the God of Dodos again was an understatent. I’d forget about his existence entirely if he didn’t beco an official part of the new human pantheon (and if we didn’t use dodos for their immunizing blood).
"I thought seeing gods in smoke, reflections and other similar places were what humans are most used to. I can appear in other ways, of course, but my ti here is limited—let’s not waste it on such trivialities today, Nectus. I have sothing to show you."
The image in the puddle rippled and changed to a mix of greens, red and blues. To see it fully in the slowly spreading tea I had to crawl halfway under my table.
Then I sucked in a breath. The image was a massive map—a map of the entire continent we were in, frad by the ocean! It looked like an image from a satellite. With effort I could make out rivers, mountains, fields and large cities.
With even more effort I found Naregan Kingdom on the map. The Bee Empire was completely unnoticeable, but I could point at its approximate position. And the Naregan Kingdom was tiny by comparison to the rest of the continent!
I deflated a little. In the next mont the map disappeared and Dalmanrach’s face returned.
"The map was a small boon I was allowed to give you. I know you will rember it perfectly, Nectus," Dalmanrach said. "You must also know that the continent you are on is mostly unpopulated. On the other side of the mountains is wilderness with only so human tribes, which are currently being demolished by illnesses, parasites and wild beasts."
"I see... Well, thank you—damn!" I accidentally put my hand into the tea and hurriedly wiped it over my soggy pants. "Why have you co, Mister Dalmanrach? We grew new dodos, but there aren’t enough of them for our plan, I’m sure."
Dalmanrach shook his head.
"I’m but a ssenger today. The God of Humanity wants you to save the other main human civilizations of your continent. While other humans keep surviving sohow, your neighbors are on the brink of a total collapse. Worse, he suspects that several other gods might want to stab him in the back here by directing household animals to attack humans and their food base."
I huffed.
Of course the God of Humanity was giving orders while giving just about nothing whatsoever as paynt! The map was useful, but it was not detailed enough to change things drastically.
I planned to conquer nearby countries myself, of course, but for now the main parts of Bloodimina and Gresch’s armies were tied down in the Eastern Expanse Reach. The Vardish people there were very predisposed against anyone with green chitin (so, Naregan people), and had a very different religion from the teachings I spread in Naregan Kingdom as propaganda.
And all the wild beasts were an absolute nace.
As a result, although the resistance of the EER was well and truly broken, garrisons of soldiers were necessary in all major cities to keep order while Farini placed a governor on this new province and integrated it in Naregan Kingdom.
Naregan people weren’t very happy about it, either. Most of them would only like to see Vardish people as slaves, kill whoever lived originally in Eastern Expanse Reach and settle the land themselves.
It was a lot of dull background pain for , Farini and everybody else involved in the process. Naturally, conquering the other countries was pushed down the list of priorities as a result.
The longer we waited, the easier it would be to conquer them in the end.
"Save them? This will an conquering them first. With the state they are in, there won’t be much left of these small kingdoms afterward," I grumbled.
"The God of Humanity knows this. He wants these humans to live, as many of them as possible, and he gave the ans to help with this. Before I ca to you, I’ve sent divine visions to rulers of these countries. They are already desperate, but now they also think that becoming protectorates of the Naregan Kingdom is their only hope."
I nodded, relaxing a little. This was going to save a lot of ti!
But... it was still going to be an imnse logistical task. To help all these nations who were suffering from a dozen plagues and famines at once—it was going to cripple Naregan Kingdom’s economics!
Bee Empire won’t be able to help much, either. We will cleanse and guard the fields of these people, just like we did in Naregan Kingdom, but how long will it take for a crusade this large? The territories in question were at least two tis the size of Naregan Kingdom!
"The Goddess of Bees approves of your domination over humans, as long as you *are* dominant, so she helped arrange this eting. Besides this, she didn’t want to tell you anything," Dalmanrach continued. "And this is it. Sadly, I don’t have anything to say about our own plans yet. I need more influence among gods, which ans you must rear more dodos."
I nodded, but before I could reply, I heard the door to my office opening. Soone stepped inside, and I felt a familiar scent.
"Nectus? Where are you?"
I jolted, bumping my head on the table again. When I glanced at the puddle of tea, Dalmanrach wasn’t in it anymore.
’Amby! What was she doing here, she was supposed to be—ah, did Workharder call her?’
"Necty..." Ambrosia’s footsteps grew closer. "Necty, what are you doing under the table?"
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