Devourer

Chapter 122: New Deal

I sat lazily on my cushion as I upended an entire barrel of wine into my mouth. In my peripheral vision I saw this Balder guy standing nervously before Cecilia. He was leading a group of refugees from the north. Him and his band of ragged refugees were nothing special. Just extra manpower that could be used to grow this nation.

However, he did come bearing some valuable information from the north. Sarana’s information on the northern war was sparse and unconfirmed at best. So this information was invaluable, furthermore he just gave me a really important piece of trivia. Apparently, the Archangel Uriel seems to have taken pity on these bunch of useless shits.

This was of course ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!

I mean think about it, the Archangel of Mercy Uriel has personally assisted this group of starving desperate people. The same Archangel has also chastised the Divonian Empire for trying to scalp them. The chastisement was so severe that the Emperor himself gave them an entire ship. So you could say that the Archangel of Mercy was at least a little invested in the welfare of these poor poor souls…

Which means if let’s say an ancient beast takes them in and offers them prosperous lives. With said prosperous life only being enabled by the ancient beast and his hive it would perhaps make the Archangel think twice about burning everything to ash.

I was planning to appeal to the angel’s mercy and pragmatism but now I even potentially have personal investment. I mean if an Archangel personally helped a group of people everyone else would need to think twice about harming them. So this was like a pot of fresh hearts just falling from the sky and landing in my metaphorical lap.

I do so love free things…

“I am sorry to hear of your struggles, Jarl Frostfang. I have only heard rumors of your people and some basic reports in texts but all of them speak of a strong and proud people.” Cecilia said cordially. Cecilia knew of the implication of his appearance and Uriel’s involvement. So she now had to dance a delicate line of being kind while also not appearing weak or giving special treatment.

“Thank you for your praise Empress, but we are just grateful for this opportunity. I just want a place for my people in the world.” Balder replied respectfully.

Lucky for us he seems to know his place. The sight of me upending another entire barrel of wine into my mouth probably added to the caution. This wasn’t something you saw everyday and this strange sight would no doubt cause some unease. This was exactly what I wanted him to feel, I wanted to come across as strange but strangely reasonable with no ill will towards humanoids.

Plus it was an excuse for me to drink barrels of wine, I quite enjoyed the sweeter varieties that the women liked. Cecilia knew this of course and she raised a knowing eyebrow when I suggested it. But she just let out a chuckle and put out the order. Technically I could drink it whenever I liked but in the past, I was treating it like water and I single-handedly caused a shortage of fruit wine causing the price to double. So I decided to abstain for a while, in fact my usual treats were now on rotation. I ate cows, then drank some wine, then ate giant cream cakes, wagons of strawberries, wagons of peaches and then went back to cows. Gotta give the suppliers time to recover and some of this stuff was seasonal so I had to grab them while they were available.

“Friend, I assume they have only spoken the truth?” Cecilia asked as she turned to me and I nodded in response.

“They not only speak the truth but they are very eager. They said they would be willing to do the worst jobs, digging ditches, quarrying, mining, and cleaning the sewers. Stuff like that.” I replied and I saw Balder give me a look of apprehension.

“Relax, we aren’t going to make you all dig ditches, we aren’t idiots.” I said with a laugh and Balder’s face turned to one of confusion.

“Or savages for that matter. I hear some of your women tried to offer themselves to my soldiers in the hopes of leniency. I assume they were all turned down? Reports are sometimes embellished but I assume you would know the truth on the matter since they are your people.” Cecilia said.

“I have heard of intentions to do so. Many fear that the soldiers will demand payment for things, it is unfortunate but our wives and daughters have had to sell themselves before arriving here in your Empire to secure food and other supplies. Service can be used in lieu of gold in transactions. But none have taken place as far as I am aware, some of my people’s women still wear the scars of such experiences on their hearts.” Balder said with a long sigh.

“I am sorry to hear that… Mother Justina.” Cecilia said as she turned to the revered Mother who was standing by her side. Mother Justina has been promoted as a church liaison within the royal court since the end of the war.

“Yes my Empress?” Justina asked.

“See to it that these women get the support they need to overcome these scars. Many of the Volerian Priestesses no doubt have experiences dealing with such matters.” Cecilia said and Justina nodded in response.

“We do Empress, it shall be done. I will send word to have a detachment of Priestesses sent immediately. Jarl Frostfang, you mentioned that some of the women were wives and daughters, yes?” Justina asked and Balder nodded.

“Then Empress may I suggest that I also send some Priests to care for the husbands and the parents?” Justina asked and Cecilia nodded.

“Lastly, Jarl Frostfang, this is perhaps the most unsavoury question. Were there any unwanted pregnancies?” Justina asked and Balder nodded again sadly.

“Yes… Some have already given birth, it has been a… long journey. Fortunately we had no deaths during childbirth.” Balder said and Cecilia nodded sympathetically.

“I must tell you terminations of pregnancy are illegal in my Empire, as is the abandonment of children.” Cecilia said her tone stern.

“Of course Empress, that practice is held in the north as well. The child does not choose the circumstances of their birth. We cannot fault them for existing. If the mother cannot bear to raise the child then someone adopts the child. We do not tell the child the truth if possible. We feel it isn’t right to put this burden on them.” Balder said as he shook his head, his brow was furrowed and his expression pained as he no doubt considered this horrid situation in his mind.

“Children are innocent, we cannot lay the sins of their forebears at the child’s feet.” Balder said with another long sigh.

“Children no matter what must be given the full support we have. They are the future and parents must always have their best interests at heart. It is never their fault for what they are.” Balder said earnestly and sincerely.

I sensed something odd from Cecilia at those words. Cecilia seemingly paused at those words and then I sensed… pheromones? It was faint but unmistakably there. Huh, was it what he said about how it isn’t the child’s fault for what they are? I mean Cecilia was imprisoned and isolated because she was born as some supposed doom bringer so I suppose this cut a little close to home for her.

This was a surprise to me. I thought Cecilia was a lesbian but it turns out she was bisexual. It’s just that no man has caught her eye yet. That Balder fellow was attracted to her as well but that was pretty standard. Married men and young boys were attracted to her so that wasn’t saying much. But I could tell Cecilia seemed a little interested after that little quip from the young Balder. From what I could tell he was only a few years older than her so the mating age range was about right too.

Perhaps it might be the physical component too. Physically I can also see why she might be interested. The Northmen were different from the Elysian and Volerian men. Like Balder for instance was quite tall standing at over 1.8 metres tall, with a head of blonde hair, green eyes, short beard and muscled arms. He looked quite strong even if he was malnourished. The Elysian and Volerian men were quite a bit shorter and had quite a lot less muscle mass. The only ones here who could compare to the Northmen were the Wardens. The Wardens were actually even better specimens but they were basically selectively breeding their stock for generations. However, most Wardens were far too dutiful and serious for Cecilia’s liking. I could tell she liked those who had a good head on their shoulders and a sharp tongue to accompany their sharp mind. Well I have observed that women do like men who are stronger than them and few were stronger than Cecilia in any areas. So I suppose a slightly witty but very strong man would be pretty good.

Cecilia was by no means overly interested in him, he just piqued a slight interest. Which was certainly interesting all things considered…

Ah here I was having my little side project of trying to solve her heir problem. Looks like it may be wasted effort.

“That is good to hear. But onto other matters may I ask what is the composition of those who have travelled here? How many soldiers and what are the professions of the others? I assume you do not have many soldiers left judging by the reports your fleet is badly damaged.” Cecilia said as she quickly recovered after a short pause.

“We lost many brave men as well as a ship. Most of what remains are craftsmen and scholars. I know this may be considered impudent but as for military matters…” Balder said but he paused as if unsure how to proceed. “You hope your people will not be used as fodder in our wars.” I said dryly, the apprehension was clear in his vitals and this was the most likely reason for it. He just slogged his way here from the other side of the world, lost who knows how many men. The last thing he would want is to lose more.

“Fear not, I have no intention of using your soldiers for wars. Your numbers are too little, you would be better served as naval forces guarding the coast line. My friend here can handle the land wars, it would be inefficient to grant you that task.

In fact I am more interested if you have any artisans, enchanters, blacksmiths, shipwrights, beastiarians and arcane academics.” Cecilia asked and Balder visibly lit up at those words.

“Yes most of the civilians come from those backgrounds, we wanted to preserve as much of our culture and knowledge as possible so we gave highly educated and trained individuals priority.” Balder said as visible relief washed over him.

“Excellent, the rest can find normal work, apply for the military or start their own businesses as they see fit. But I want the specialists working for the state, we have robust institutions to use them. Fear not they will be well compensated. The Averlonian Empire greatly values talented individuals. In addition I would like for your naval officers to serve in our Navy. Their expertise and combat experience would prove a valuable addition.” Cecilia said and Balder nodded quickly.

“Of course, thank you Empress this is more than what I could have hoped for.” Balder said as he lowered his head in thanks.

“As for your people I think it would not be wise to scatter them across the empire. I believe we have some vacant titles to land. So for now I would like to centralise them in a port city and grant you an office. Depending on your performance I may grant you a title in my Empire.” Cecilia said and Balder’s eyes widened.

No doubt this guy couldn’t believe his ears. This wasn’t because Cecilia was vaguely interested in him. It was because of the aforementioned archangel thing and also simply the fact that Sarana purged a lot of the Volerian nobility. We were actually having trouble finding suitable replacements, loyalty was one problem and competency an even larger issue. So any possible candidates would be considered and Cecilia didn’t care where they came from. A heavily indebted lord from another continent would do fine since the loyalty issue was resolved. Only thing left was the competency, but then again he did get this beat up fleet of ships from one end of the world to the other so that’s something.

Plus if Cecilia did eventually want to sleep with him or something a noble title will make things easier politically. Still this whole thing was very surprising, I really didn’t expect her to be attracted to men. Elysian and Volerian men must suck if that’s the case… or maybe she’s just weird…

Probably just weird…

I mean I’m her best friend…

The giant man eating, fledgling old god…

Yeah she’s definitely just weird…

“I hope you can find some comfort in my Empire Jarl Frostfang. The loss of one's home is a tragedy I am not familiar with so I cannot pretend to understand. But what I can empathise with is the loss of loved ones and the desire to give those that remain a place to be safe and happy.” Cecilia said and I could tell she was lying.

The lie was not the empathy for his plight, it was that she didn’t know what it was like to lose a home. She did lose it when she was imprisoned, she felt abandoned by everything and everyone. So in isolation she made a vow that if the world wanted to take everything from her, she would take it all back. If anyone tried to stop her they would be trampled beneath her.

Very much like myself really, as I listened to the two continue to discuss the future. I couldn’t help but smile slightly. I once had nothing, and now I want everything. I am a Firstborn and we are nothing if not greedy.

This Balder boy was but another useful pawn, a little prop we can show the angels. If we treat him nicely he will sing our praises like the little songbird he is. I am sure Cecilia will use him in the same way she uses Lily.

I’ve seen the contents of her mind, she is no demure maiden, she would do very well with a body like mine. She might even be a better Firstborn than me if positions were reversed. Or perhaps her hunger for all things would cause her to make too many enemies.

Maybe this really was fate, a human-like monster paired with a monstrous human. What fun…

If I needed any more confirmation that Cecilia was exactly what I thought she was it came soon after when we were back in our room.

“Didn’t know you liked men.” I said with a grin and I heard Cecilia chuckle slightly.

“Neither did I, what he said struck a chord with me. I guess you could say half of me was feeling some affinity for him. Misery does love company.” Cecilia replied.

“And the other half?” I asked and I saw Cecilia subtly lick her lips.

“He is quite the specimen isn’t he? I want to wrap him around my finger and ensnare him…” Cecilia said as her smile widened.

“Sounds like fun.” I replied with a smirk.

Fun indeed…

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