Orbis Online
233. The Dragon Palace Meeting

After being pressured from the aura of the dragon Ibane, the meeting of Reus' entourage with the nobles of Bailendra Kingdom went quite smoothly. The help of the three during the battle against the Menschrein Kingdom had been received by the nobles without a single refusal.

   "As an apology to our previous stance we will give some soldiers for you to lead during the battle. You can train them before the war starts."

Julius' remarks were welcomed by some nobles who saw this as an opportunity to increase the military power of Bailendra Kingdom even if only a few, but not a few also reject it considering Reus and Ikshan are humans who cannot be trusted completely.

They understand that Ibane is a Draconian who is a fellow dragon-blooded creature but seeing the previous events, he can certainly side with Reus and Ikshan if something happens.

   "Your Majesty, I'm sorry if my words sound brazen but rather than soldiers, if we can prefer the freedom of action on the battlefield as long as it does not harm Bailendra Kingdom."

Ikshan and Ibane nodded slowly in agreement to Reus' words. It is true that they are currently under the military command of Bailendra Kingdom but at the same time they are arguably only a temporary fighting force.

When they enter a certain military group, they must show their strength and abilities that should not be spread in such a way. It was not impossible for any noble Bailendra Kingdom to leak their information to a party.

Julius is seen stroking his chin to cover his shock seeing Reus being able to figure out one of his goals gives these few soldiers that he would actually also use as spies.

Perhaps Julius had no ill intentions as Reus and his comrades thought but as a king he had to be vigilant for the good of his country even if it had to be suspicious of the alliance state or its trusted people, especially from strong people to look out for like Reus and Ibane.

Julius was seen thinking and discussing for a moment with the three dragon councils before answering Reus.

   "May but you still have to be accompanied by some of the people we specify."

Julius' words invite the reaction of Ibane who looks unhappy. This made Julius immediately explain the reason behind his statement.

   "Please don't misunderstand me. We do not intend to doubt your power but as rulers of our country we cannot allow you to move so freely."

This time it was Reus' turn to rub his chin. He felt that Julius' words had a point as well and he did not mind if it only increased by one or two people. He then talked about this for a moment with Ikshan and Ibane.

The two also did not bother about it as long as their movements were not too restricted during the battle later because it would only make their strength limited.

   "We agree with those terms, Your Majesty."

   "really? Thank you for your cooperation."

Julius let out a heavy sigh feeling a little relieved. If he allowed the Reus group to move freely without being watched like that then his name as the ruler of Bailendra Kingdom could be tarnished.

   "By the way you want what kind of rewards after all this is done? You guys certainly won't cooperate if there's no satisfactory reward, right? I want to make sure of this before this meeting is over."

This time it was Oscar the representative of the Draciel clan who held the Wing position on the Three Dragon Council who asked. This immediately came to the attention of all the nobles present there.

Reus smiled wryly not expecting the issue of rewards to be directly discussed at this time.

   "For my reward if possible are dragon eggs or clues as to the whereabouts of dragons that I can contract."

Seeing Reus was worried that Ibane mentioned her reward first made some nobles frown. They did not expect Ibane to ask for such a thing blatantly after seeing their reaction to Reus' statement that made the atmosphere of the room heavy before.

   "Mr Ibane, even if we are called the Dragon Country does not mean we keep dragon eggs or the like. Regarding the clues to the existence of dragons we do not have either. Even if we find the clue we might not ask you for help in this war."

Julius smiled faintly as he explained that which made Ibane sigh heavily.

   "Alright, if there are no two of these things then the standard rewards according to my contribution on the battlefield are also fine."

Ibane's relaxed attitude in response to Julius' words invites indignation from the nobility. Even though they had felt the power of Dragon Aura Ibane still it did not allow him to behave so towards the king of a kingdom, especially a kingdom as big and strong as Bailendra Kingdom.

Julius himself did not mind the attitude of Ibane so much that he did not take the dizzy Draconian behavior.

   "What about Mr. Ikshan? Is there a specific request?"

   "Hmm, I don't think I need anything special. Maybe I will give my reward to Reus considering that his request is arguably quite heavy and difficult to fulfill by Bailendra Kingdom. If it can't be met with one reward then take it from me."

Reus cleared his throat for a moment to melt the nervousness before raising his voice.

   "I want as much information about the Seven Seals of Dragons as possible."

Almost everyone in the room did not understand Reus' intentions but not for Julius and the three dragon councils. Their foreheads shriveled violently upon hearing Reus' request.

   "I'm sorry but I have to ask first, where did Mr Reus know that?"

Julius squinted at Reus who was supposed to be an ordinary human but could find out the Seven Seals of Dragons whose incident was the secret of the royal family of Bailendra Kingdom.

Reus smiled faintly at the reaction of Julius and the three dragon councils. He could guess these four people must have known a thing or two regarding the Arshwind seal, perhaps even the state of Arshwind that was now sealed in the depths of a certain Chaos Lair Dungeon somewhere.

   "Your Majesty seems to know what I mean but I can't explain it. One thing I can say is that I have no ill intentions towards Bailendra Kingdom regarding these seals."

Reus and Julius looked at each other not wanting to give up. Julius looked at Reus wanting to read the young man's goal of the seven dragon seals in question, while Reus only put on a confident smile not letting the king win easily.

After a few moments of conversation Julius finally sighed feeling unable to read Reus' goal, while Reus smiled with satisfaction at Julius' reaction that seemed to be giving in.

   "Alright, if the contribution of lord Reus and lord Ikshan in the war is sufficient then I can consider it positively."

   "Alright, I hope Your Majesty doesn't disappoint me later."

After the two shook hands reaching the consensus ended today's meeting. Reus's entourage was escorted out by several guards, as well as nobles who seemed so curious about the Seven Seals of the Dragon that Reus mentioned but asked to return by Julius.

Only Julius, Oscar, Ariel and Salvinius remain in the meeting room. They both sat in silence until Ariel raised her voice.

   "Your Majesty, should I finish that human named Reus? Looks like that human named Ikshan also needs to be silenced."

   "Stop that. You've seen Lord Reus' Dragon Aura, haven't you? Moreover, Dragon Aura lord Ibane was much stronger. Don't take unnecessary risks."

   "But, if they found out about the seven seals it was most likely that they had some connection with the organization mentioned by the ancient prophecy of the dragon elder."

Hearing Ariel's words, neither Julius nor the other two Dragonewt were speechless. If only Reus' party had the situation that Ariel thought it would be until Bailendra Kingdom was destroyed even though Julius would not give up this information.

Julius sighed for a moment to loosen every muscle and brain cell that had been used by so many things in this one day.

   "Let's observe them first. If they are really related to the Chaos Order then we must be willing to sacrifice a few percent if not all of our military power to finish them off."

Oscar reacts to Julius' response which he feels exaggerated.

   "Your Majesty, I think sacrificing all of our military might just to overcome three people is too much. I think as strong as they are at most can only overcome 10% of our military strength."

Salvinius nodded with Ariel agreeing with Oscar's opinion. Even though Reus and Ikshan were mentioned by Aulcrat to be able to charge the Lavore Kingdom with just a few people, even though plus Ibane should be impossible against a country as big as Bailendra Kingdom.

Lavore Kingdom was a small country which by comparison might not reach 30% of the power of Bailendra Kingdom. Julius' words did sound so excessive that he had to exert all military force.

   "I know that. It's just that I have a bad feeling if we antagonize the Draconians."

The view of the three dragon councils changed when Julius alluded to the existence of Ibane. The young man did not look strong at all but was able to release such a powerful Dragon Aura that the entire aura of the Dragonewt noble dragon in the room was put together was probably nothing.

   "That cold and scary feeling is like something told by the First King of Bailendra Kingdom, my great-grandfather."

Julius took a deep breath trying to recall the sensation of Dragon Aura that Ibane exerted earlier.

   "That's the real Dragon Aura. Dragon Aura is the original of the dragon nation."