Chapter 1045 — The High Mountains of Aurgel

In the west of the Loren Continent, Mount Mingcen rose towering over the land.

This immense mountain stood in the heartland of the Aurgel Tribal Nation like a colossal beast lifting its head to glare at the heavens, its peak — the mountain's "fangs" — piercing straight into the clouds. Three of its spurs extended respectively into the territories of the orcs, the humans, and the grey elves, while the vast, towering massif itself was the age-old homeland of the spiritfolk and the fairies—to every soul who lived upon this land, the mountain carried a meaning all its own, and it was for this reason that when the city-states of the Aurgel Tribal Nation resolved to become a union, they chose, as if by unspoken accord, to raise their mutually acknowledged capital at the mountain's foot: Helmhold.

Within the Aurgel Tribal Nation, the five major races ordinarily managed their internal affairs independently, and the cities where several races dwelt together ran themselves like independent city-states; but whenever a matter touched the whole Tribal Nation, the "Five Kings" would gather in Helmhold to deliberate together upon the future of this land.

At the center of Helmhold, within the city's tallest domed hall, the leaders of the humans, the grey elves, the spiritfolk, the fairies, and the orcs were gathered around a round table, discussing several matters of importance. Wenna Whitewort, leader of the grey elves, was among them, yet at this moment her mind had somewhat wandered. Her gaze passed over the exceptionally tall orc chieftain, Lady Camilla, seated across from her, passed over the open terrace at the far end of the hall, and came to rest upon Mount Mingcen in the city's backdrop—that peak stood high beside Helmhold, its surface bathed now in pale gold evening light, the whole mountain facing the setting sun and glowing with splendor.

Wenna sat thus upon her specially made high stool, lost in a daze for a long while, until Wycliffe, seated beside her, spoke up and called her back from her far-off wandering: "Wenna, Wenna—stop woolgathering."

The grey elf chieftain started awake. First she glanced instinctively at the human leader beside her who had just roused her—the middle-aged man with short silver hair always wore a smile on his face, and this moment was no exception—then she looked toward the other seats around the round table.

The tall, feline-featured Lady Camilla sat across from her, her brows knitted in some displeasure; beside Camilla sat Sthul, leader of the spiritfolk, a male "person" of pale blue skin whose face always wore a contemplative expression, his present mood difficult for outsiders to read; across from Sthul was Stella, leader of the fairies, the diminutive lady seated in her beloved high-backed chair, which stood upon a stack of books, which stood upon a small stool, which stood upon the table—this great pile of things made her the highest-placed person present, though it did nothing whatever to add to her dignity.

"Ah—" Wenna finally came fully back to herself, blinked, and said, "Is it my turn to speak? Where were we?"

"Wenna, drifting off during an important meeting is hardly a good habit," Camilla sighed, her voice carrying a pleasantly husky timbre; as a childhood playmate and an orc of forthright temperament, she had never minded criticizing Wenna Whitewort's failings on formal and private occasions, "What we are discussing concerns the future of the entire Tribal Nation."

"Of course, of course, I know—I simply feel this matter needn't take so long to discuss," Wenna nodded repeatedly. "Regarding that 'invitation' from Emperor Cecil—we have no reason to refuse. Politically and economically alike, the benefits of joining this new alliance outweigh the risks..."

"On that point we actually reached consensus a moment ago—while you were off admiring the scenery," Wycliffe said, smiling. "What we are discussing now is something else. In light of that conception the Emperor mentioned in his letter, Stella has just put forward a most constructive proposal..."

Wenna's eyes went wide at once. She looked instinctively toward Stella, and saw the palm-sized lady standing upon the stack of books that served as her "throne," hands on her hips, wearing an exceedingly smug expression—which at once gave Wenna a faint presentiment of trouble: "Stella's proposal? And you are seriously discussing it?"

"Wenna, there is prejudice in your words," Sthul spoke up, his tone carrying a certain mystique, low and slow. "You ought first to hear the content of this 'proposal.'"

"Very well, I'm listening," Wenna said, looking at Sthul. "What exactly is it?"

"The Aurgel Tribal Nation possesses an order wholly different from other realms; every nation on the continent knows we are governed by Five Kings together," Sthul said in his deep voice. "Stella therefore suggests that we send five representatives, one from each of the five 'royal houses,' to that silver outpost, and tell Emperor Cecil that such is the loose political structure of the Aurgel Tribal Nation—if it succeeds, we shall have five votes in the future."

Though she had already guessed what this "constructive proposal" might be, what Sthul said still exceeded Wenna's imaginings. She could not help casting Stella a glance of admiration, then looked at the others with a strange expression: "...So what is your opinion?"

"We have already voted; we await only your view," Wycliffe said. "Personally I find the proposal quite attractive, but my reason will not permit me to act on mere liking, so I voted against it."

"I oppose it as well," Sthul shook his head. "It is mischief, and it would even injure the Tribal Nation's dignity and prestige."

Camilla waved a hand: "I didn't think that much about it. I simply found it too foolish, so I opposed it."

"Then that settles it," Wenna spread her hands. "I oppose it too—for the sum of all three of your reasons."

Then she looked toward Stella: "There. Everyone but you is opposed. We can move on to the next topic."

Stella promptly slumped back into her chair, and seemed to mutter a few words in passing; but the others had long since grown used to this, and they trusted that the ever-optimistic fairy leader would recover her spirits before the next topic began.

"Let us discuss, lastly, the matter of that 'Arcane Nexus,'" Wycliffe said, glancing at the meeting agenda in his hand, his gaze falling upon Sthul, Camilla, and Stella. "First, I am glad that last month we finally reached consensus and approved the plan to erect the Arcane Nexus upon Mount Mingcen; and now we have succeeded in setting up a temporary verification apparatus—but as of last week, this apparatus has been... somewhat problematic."

"More than somewhat," Stella had indeed recovered already; she stood and spoke in a rapid, crisp voice. "The arcane obelisks used for testing worked perfectly well at the mountain's foot, but the moment they are carried to the summit, the interference flares up at once—magical transmission is no trouble, but the signal is full of noise. Our scholars have studied it for days now, and their present conclusion is that the interference comes from without, and has nothing to do with the obelisks' structure or any fault in them..."

"Some superstitious mountain folk believe the souls slumbering within Mount Mingcen are clamoring inside the obelisks' crystals, because the obelisks have disturbed their rest," Sthul said gravely. "So now, apart from solving the problem by technical means, we must also spare effort to soothe the mountain folk's unease."

"Actually, I had a wonderful idea earlier," Stella waved her arms about. "We simply go along with it and say the arcane obelisks can commune with the ancestral spirits—that once this thing is built it can be used to chat with the ancestors—and maybe the mountain folk would support it instead... And yet you all still opposed it, every one."