We gather the wives, the High Officers, and Klein in our dining hall.

"Status report," I order as we sit at the table.

Osaria puts down the letter from Gnomeria and begins the explanation, "Gnomeria had predicted that the monster army would be ready to attack by today since they'd reach a critical size, so this attack isn't a surprise. The problem arises from the fact that the gnomes underestimated the enemy's strength." Then she looks to Sandoro, who can better explain the next part.

Poosh and the maids serve us Tonique tea to help us wake up, then Sandoro explains as we sip, "The standard units of the monster army are magical, underworld creatures that have a strong affinity for fire and a physiology that is extremely similar to a fire elemental."

Aisco's eyes suddenly focus on Sandoro, as if he has finally started paying attention to the conversation, then he frowns and blurts out, "Wait, this means that my [Fire Magic] is useless?"

Sandoro nods stiffly. "Yes, but underworld creatures aren't the only monsters that the gnomes are fighting."

"Bugs…" Lina mumbles disgustedly, and the only person who doesn't react negatively is Aisco.

The old elf gives her a sympathetic look. "Indeed, we'll likely be fighting bugs, but they aren't the reason why Gnomeria underestimated the monsters' strength. To deal with underworld creatures, the gnomes have created large reservoirs of cold water that they use to flood the tunnels under Gnomeria, but this time, the creatures survived the flooding. They've somehow become stone and fire hybrids, a new 'lava' type, so when the cold water hit them, the lava simply hardened, and they continued their advance underwater, though they were greatly slowed."

I eat a chocolate brownie to get a sugar rush to help me wake up, totally not using this as an excuse to stuff myself with chocolate, then I hum in thought and ponder, "So they've accepted our proposal unconditionally?"

"They have. It wasn't unreasonable, so they shouldn't have any problems fulfilling it," Osaria happily answers as she smiles with her droopy eyes. She seems quite proud of her negotiation skills because even though the gnomes didn't haggle much, they also didn't outright dismiss her.

"Considering how they were so hesitant to negotiate, I think they must be rather desperate now if they just instantly accepted it," I casually remark.

Sandoro's posture stiffens, and his rather wrinkly face becomes stern as he answers, "They were caught unaware, so if the battle doesn't go overwhelmingly in their favor, there'll be consequences."

They'll be blamed for the deaths and called incompetent.

"I see…" I whisper grimly.

Krysta finishes frying up a rather English-looking breakfast. There's no time to cook it in the kitchen, so she's doing it right here in our dining hall. Also, we'll need the energy, so there's only high-calorie food here.

"How are we going to engage these bugs?" Almaria asks, trying her best to not look disgusted at the prospect, but that's kind of hard for an elf.

"I recommend that we take one of the main tunnels for ourselves," Sandoro categorically replies. "The gnomes use them to funnel the enemies into killing corridors and to discourage the digging monsters from trying to bypass their defenses, so there's always a need for ground troops to face waves of monsters."

"Can we isolate ourselves? I don't want random gnomes seeing how we fight," I declare.

Sandoro caresses his puffy beard in thought. "Hm… if we bring enough soldiers, it should be safe to leave us with an entire tunnel."

I rest my head on my claws as I curiously ask, "How about Dust of Appearance? How much do we have?"

"An entire stockpile of it. How do you plan to use it?"

"Just enough to cover our rear from someone invisible sneaking in."

He gently shakes his head. "Not an issue."

Then I remember something that had intrigued me. "What about those pulses of Spirit-attuned mana that the Chimeras use to find hidden monsters on their ships? I'd like to use them to prevent the monsters from spying on us."

He pulls a long list out of his [Item Box], then skims through it until he finds the correct entry. "We have a few of those gems in stock, so we can bring them with us. One should last us for a whole battle, as long as it doesn't take more than a day, which I find unlikely."

I smile in satisfaction. "Great. Let's finish eating, then we'll go there without delay."

I'm just a little excited about going to Gnomeria.

For now, only the girls, Sandoro, and I will go, and we'll call for the rest of our men after we've discussed how many are necessary.

The brown bark and grass carpet of our [Eternal Gate] Network hall changes into the austere tiles and bricks of Mac Gantus, then they give way to the smooth stone and mushroom wood painted with vibrant and childish colors as we arrive in Gnomeria.

The guards at the end of the hall are cute, chubby little men even shorter than a halfling. They're wearing mages' robes, but they have oversized weapons in front of them with no mage's staves in sight. Their spears and tower shields have flared bases to keep them upright without having to wield them, and their shortswords are slung over their backs like someone would with a longsword.

So fucking adorable.

I think I now have a better understanding of why tall women like cute, short men so much in this world, and the height-advantaged wives internally agree.

Waiting for us in front of the reception counter is a pair of wealthy gnomes. The one on the left is older, with white hair and beard, and he's wearing a tight set of gray velvet robes with a conical hat, while the one on the right is younger, a baby-faced, blue-haired man who's wearing a lavish purple silk robe, is floating a centimeter above the ground, and has a conical purple hat with a white pompom at the tip.

"Esteemed Ryder family, I'm Prince Looklwind Krunigrihir, and I welcome you to Gnomeria," the younger man politely greets. His voice is a bit scratchy and nasally, making him sound just a bit funny.

Soul Info Name Looklwind Krunigrihir Race Gnome Level 67 HP 50 MP 4,410 Magic Power 910 Strength 5 Endurance 7

How interesting. They have half the HP of a normal human.

"Well met. We're here to answer your call for aid," I reply in kind.

He nods gently, making his pompom bounce adorably. "We're grateful for it, but time is of the essence. Would you follow me to our grand hall so that we may organize our city's defense?"

I simply nod. "Lead the way."

He glances at the older gnome beside him, who begins chanting [Gate], then he turns back to us. "I apologize for my ignorance, but would you rather be referred to as royalty? We're not certain of your family's position in the High Forest."

Yunia answers categorically, "We haven't been recognized by the authorities of the High Forest as royals yet, but we did receive such a title from the spirit of the last elven king himself, so you may refer to us as you wish."

His serious, thoughtful face has the opposite of its intended effect on me. "We shall recognize you as fellow royals, then."

Yunia nods respectfully. "We appreciate your show of respect."

He hums and nods back, making his pompom bounce again, then the gnome mage finishes casting [Gate], and we all cross through it.

We're teleported to a wide, blue and gold hall with a rather low ceiling. It's populated with a dozen abstract, spinny, glowing kinetic art pieces that seem magically hypnotic. At the center of the hall, there's a large, round table with a floating, 3D recreation of Gnomeria carved in stone, and a dozen gnomes are crowded around it, discussing the movements of small pieces that look like cartoonish depictions of monsters.

There are a few pixies among them, cute and surprisingly curvy little women with faintly glowing butterfly wings. Unlike dwarves and halflings, they look fully grown, and they're surprisingly attractive considering their comically short height.

I also find it rather curious that everyone's hair and beards are either vibrant and colorful or fully gray and faded. I do wonder why they don't paint their hair because they certainly have the dyes to do it considering the carnival of colors they're wearing.

Then the Prince's servant announces our arrival, "Grand nobles, The Royal Ryder family has arrived from the High Forest to aid us in our time of need!"

"Ah, the young dragon king," the oldest and most lavishly-dressed gnome gently remarks. He has a very scratchy, old-man voice and a long white beard that disappears into a pocket of his purple and gold silk robe. "I'm King Lookwir Krunigrihir, and this is my wife, Queen Vlwind." Then he motions to the cute, old woman floating a bit above him. Her clothes are covered in protruding bits, making her look like a violet and gold hydrangea with wings.

Soul Info Name Lookwir Krunigrihir Race Gnome Level 268 HP 50 MP 51,230 Magic Power 25,615 Strength 4 Endurance 5 Soul Info Name Vlwind Krunigrihir Race Pixie Level 271 HP 50 MP 45,110 Magic Power 23,800 Strength 5 Endurance 6

Ignoring his ridiculous stats (and the fact that I don't feel anything from the "high-level aura" they're supposed to have), I blink blankly for a couple of seconds as I repeat his obnoxiously hard to pronounce name in my head, then I carefully reply, "King Lookwir, I'm Wolf Ryder, and these are my wives…"

After our introductions are complete, the rest of the table has their turn, and we learn the borderline unpronounceable names of all of the gnomic and pixie high nobility. The Prince who received us is actually the second prince, so we had quite the illustrious reception.

"How many men did you bring with you?" the gnome Grand General inquires. He's a rather gruff-looking gnome, which is impressive considering their cuteness.

"We wish to know the location we'll be fighting in before we commit to bringing so many men from so far away," Sandoro calmly replies.

"Hm… wise," the King hums, then smiles warmly. "You're the first to arrive, so we have time to discuss things in detail."

Sandoro explains our needs and conditions to the General, who nods and begins searching the 3D map for something suitable as they quietly talk with each other.

The Queen floats closer to me, and since she's hovering at a level a bit higher than my head, I learn that pixies use pantaloons under their dresses. "I see that your combat abilities are as mysterious as the circumstances around your rise to power," she kindly remarks.

"I find it even more mysterious that they want to trade for coffee of all things!" The King exclaims amusedly.

"Well, that mystery will be answered soon enough once you learn what I'll do with it," I reply with a wide smile.

And Alissa proudly adds, "Our husband is a gourmet, and we'll be delighted to welcome you into our home once his newest invention is ready."

The two royals chuckle like a pair of amused grandparents.

"We'll trust your claim," the King softly affirms.

Then the General interjects, "Your Majesties, I believe we can assign the Tunnel To The Bobblybaubbles to them."

"The what?" Hana grunts in confusion.

"Bobblybaubbles," Prince Looklwind flatly replies and points to one of the kinetic art pieces that looks like a bunch of floating and spinning metal balls. "It used to lead to the Dangerous Spinny Balls Research Facility, but it's been abandoned ever since it… blew up." Then he shrugs.

I remember that I'd once seen a lot of weird gadgets with obscure functions at the markets of Rabana, and at the time, I didn't really believe that they were imported gnomic products, but now, I'm a bit more inclined to believe that they might've actually been legitimate.

"Sounds like gnomes dabble in the same unreliable magics that created [Alchemicism]," Roxanne remarks through [Bind], sounding rather disappointed.

We sense a spell being cast at the same spot that we teleported to, then we go silent and wait as a new [Gate] opens.

Suddenly, a shiny tin can with arms and legs appears on top of the black circle, and it immediately struts towards us with such heavy steps that they're like a rhino's.

"Grand nobles, Grimto Korig has arrived from Mountainhome to represent the imperial army!" A gnome servant announces, but the royals and nobles don't seem thrilled with his presence.

"'Korig'? He's a descendant of the God of War!" Lina exclaims excitedly, then immediately controls her fangirling and calms down again.

"Salutations!" The rather rotund dwarf exclaims. He walks like a warrior, so I won't dare guess about his muscle-to-fat ratio.

"Sir Grimto, welcome to Gnomeria," the first Prince returns a stiff greeting.

The dwarf lifts his visor, revealing a chubby face almost fully covered with fiery red hair. "Have you decided to ask for our help yet?!" He shouts, sounding rather annoyed.

"We'll decide after our friends and allies have arrived," the General sternly replies.

Grimto slams his visor down and shifts his path towards one of the kinetic art pieces. "Then give me a chair since I'll be waiting here," he demands, then a gnome servant hurries after the fast-walking dwarf.

I lean to the side and whisper to Looklwind, "Why do you decline help from the empire?"

He gives me an odd look, and even Yunia sighs internally due to my small display of ignorance.

The cute Prince glances at Grimto, who's now simply waiting in his seat like a statue, then he answers stiffly, "As a new Lord, I assume you haven't needed their help yet, but soon, you'll realize that the empire barters with only one type of coin, power." -His gaze goes glum, pulling on my heartstrings- "For rulers like us, giving away our power means that we'll be losing our autonomy; we'll be giving away our responsibilities to an outsider, allowing them to alter the course of our nation and putting the fate of our race at the whims of a stranger.

"It wouldn't be so bad if the empire didn't have such a durable and lasting structure that we've never been able to take back the rights we've given away." Then he shakes his head in disappointment.

But his last words give me an idea, "If the empire's takeover is inevitable, then why not get the upper hand in the negotiations by integrating with it first? They won't be able to take your autonomy if there's none to take, and you won't be left at the whims of an outsider if you join them."

"That's…" Looklwind narrows his eyes at me annoyedly, but he struggles to come up with a retort. "That's simply risky."

I shrug. "Better to risk defeat than to lose with certainty."

He snorts annoyedly and looks away, "Hmph."

"Your Highnesses," Sandoro calls for our attention.

He details the tunnel we'll be deployed in and the enemy presence we're expected to face. The devices that activate the traps can be operated remotely, so we'll leave a summoner mage from our court with the trap operators and use the mage's scouting bird to relay the situation on the front line to the operators.

Our shield walls should be enough to hold back the horde, but we're expected to steadily give ground so that the traps may be used. Otherwise, we'll just be tiring out our men since the traps can kill the monsters much, much faster than they can.

The walls are coated in slimy substances, but a few types of monsters can still climb on it, though the tunnel is quite wide, so a few Celestial Horns should be enough to deal with them.

The tunnel has a width of around 15 meters, so we'll need about one hundred men to fill it shoulder to shoulder. We aren't expecting this to be a fight to the death since all of us and our High Officers will be present for support. That means that this will be a good opportunity to quickly level up some of our men, so Sandoro will bring about five hundred Lordsguard of mixed levels.

As we talk, more noble guests arrive. Dwarves from a few places, weremonkeys and wereapes from Sommerland, weredogs and werecats from the Mainland, humans and dragonkin from everywhere, a single wereowl nobleman from Hermit's Roost, and even an Elder from the Misty Low Forest. Everyone present is a noble, but only the imperials interest us.

The Elder comes to greet us while grinning like an old grandma, "Alissa, I'll send word to your mother that you look as beautiful as the day you left, if not more."

I hold Alissa's hand and give it a gentle squeeze as I warmly reply, "I agree. For me, she certainly grows even more stunning with each passing day."

"My, aren't you two enviable," the Elder gushes, and Alissa actually blushes, not used to having people comment on our relationship.

The two exchange a few pleasantries, but then the last guests arrive, and the table goes silent.

Thalanthros. Tit-less, slender Martians with tentacle-y appendages on their heads that resemble hair. The totally-not-zoras.

The King seems very happy to see them. "Ah, Reef Lord Graf, I assume your presence means that you accept our proposal?" He asks excitedly and uses [Telekinesis] to float towards Graf, exactly like how I float.

"We. Do," Graf dryly replies, his voice has a bit of an odd timbre to it, but I can't yet identify why that is.

The King grins and offers a handshake, which Graf takes with only two fingers. "Excellent. This means that we're secure in our defense of Gnomeria, so we can begin assigning the defensive positions in full." Then he glances at Grimto, who simply remains still on his seat with his arms crossed and his visor down. Lina bets he's taking a nap.

We all turn to the floating sculpture at the center of the table, and the General begins explaining the situation.

Gnomeria was built inside the caldera of a dormant volcano, and it uses the mountain around it as a natural wall, so the rulers decided to guide the city-state to grow downwards and widen into a sort of conical shape.

The problem with digging deep is that you're also creating more room for monsters to spawn in, and it's much easier to secretly grow an army underground than above it, so there's kind of a lot of monsters down there. The only advantage that the gnomes have over them is that the monster army easily grows larger than it can sustainably feed, so it can never really grow too big.

Then everyone announces the number of men they're bringing.

We don't recognize any of the imperial nobles present, and none of them seem to be suspiciously interested in us, so we have no exchanges with them. None of them are Lords, but they, and a few of the nobles from other regions, each contribute a few hundred soldiers from the imperial army towards the defense. The Titles they hold award them with a number of soldiers from the army, which they use to act like mercenaries, selling their services wherever they're needed.

There's no time to chat, so once everyone has their assignments, we leave the meeting hall.