The next day, as the spirit beasts and Edward neared Everdawn’s vicinity, the spirit beasts split off and headed in the direction of the Mulberry Forest. Edward and his company continued onward.

As the sun reached the zenith, Edward and the troops were back in the vicinity of the castle. Leaving the standing down of forces to the officers, Edward headed straight for the castle’s study. Edward could hear voices in a council as he neared the study room and wondered how much of it was set off by his urgent message last night.

As he entered the study, Edward was greeted warmly by Aureus’s entire council and congratulated on a job well done in the subjugation and recruitment of spirit beast tribes.

Edward demurred and saying it was well within his responsibilities to perform as such. Without preamble, Aureus launched into a discussion on the handling of the spirit beast tribes. The various merits and demerits were debated. On the military side, Tarin and Johan were glad that they would have spirit beast vassals to bolster their standing forces. On the other hand, Brandon was worried about integration between a large group of spirit beasts being so close to Everdawn and the predominant human race in the vicinity.

Aureus waited for everyone to weigh in before proceeding to lay out his evaluation. Aureus agreed with both sides on the issues raised, however Aureus judged the merits of having said spirit beasts to far outweigh the demerits now. Especially since Aureus already has the idea of recruiting the spirit beast tribes of the Arctine Ranges.

“Recruiting a group of spirit beast tribes now can only be beneficial for us moving ahead when we parley with the spirit beast tribes of the Arctine Ranges,” said Aureus as he looked around the room.

The council fell silent as Aureus stated his intentions. Soon, the council nodded in agreement.

Aureus looked towards Edward , “Now Edward, what could you tell us about the spirit beast tribes that have followed you back…”

—

Aureus and Edward kicked up small dust storms as their steeds made their way to the Mulberry Forest. The guards trailed a distance behind as Aureus and Edward discussed his hunting expedition in detail. Aureus was particularly interested in the reports of demon beast build ups and what has the scout teams found out in the vicinity of the Rolger Forests.

“Indeed highness, if demon beasts could gather in such numbers in an area that is considered close to Everdawn, we are looking at troubled times.” said Edward as he cast a glance at the looming forest.

“While the build-up in still within our forecasts, I am becoming more concerned if the trend of demon beast build up continues,” Aureus said as his brows scrunched.

Edward contended that with the defenses of Everdawn and the standing forces they have available, they have the means to repel most beast tides. Aureus nodded at Edward’s words but forwent any comments. Thinking of the times he had to hold a defensive position over superior numbers, Edward decided to keep his silence as Aureus and him made their way to the forest.

To Edward’s surprise, Reine and the spirit beast leaders were waiting at the forest edge for Aureus’s party and they bowed towards Aureus as he came into sight.

“Greetings, 7th Prince of the Astrea Empire,” said Reine as Aureus rode up. “The former spirit beast tribes of Logen Mountains greets you.”

Aureus remained atop his mount as he returned the greetings. He followed up by asking whether the spirit beast tribes have found Mulberry forest to their likings with a smile.

“There is enough space for us to expand, highness. Mulberry forest is a suitable place for spirit beast tribes to stay,” Reine replied in a diplomatic manner.

Edward wondered to himself how deep Reine’s loyalty went to her previous lord if she was willing to break character in such a manner for the remaining spirit beast tribes. Then again, Edward mused that it may not be considered a breaking of character if Reine had always adopted this persona when dealing with high stakes matters for the tribes.

Reine invited the rest of the leaders to form a circle with Prince Aureus and they began negotiations in earnest regarding their residency in the forests. Aureus was clear in his demand that should war encroach upon the Empire’s territory, the spirit beasts are obliged to land a hand in her defence. Aureus listed his terms for resources as well as residency status but he did not budge an inch over his original demand.

Edward mused that had Aureus brought along a dedicated negotiator, he might have gotten better results in terms of negotiating the spirit beast tribes. However, he appeared to want to do the first round of negotiations in person and listed fair terms.

“Some would even label it generous.” Edward thought with a wry smile as he thought back to the resources Aureus listed.

As expected, Reine was the fastest on the uptake. Instead of negotiating terms over Aureus’s demand that they aid in Everdawn province’s defence , she merely clarified the scope of such defense and went on to argue for greater amount of resources for the spirit beast tribes.

A gleam flashed across Aureus’s eyes as he assessed Reine and he began dropping hints about how certain resources would be particularly beneficial to the spirit beast tribes and how if they much harder it would be to procure it via normal means. This caused an obvious mood swing with the other spirit beast tribe leaders as they looked over at Reine and started to nod.

Soon, the negotiations concluded and Aureus said he would send a treaty ratifying the conditions and sealed with a drop of his blood infused with aether energy. Reine and co replied that they would sign the treaty.

As the conversation meandered after the main event was over, Aureus asked if Reine or the tribe leaders were interested in serving in a retainer position after the tribes have gotten settled down.

The tribe leaders’ eyebrows arched as Aureus seemingly dropped a random blast at them. Reine volunteered herself to act as an ambassador of the spirit beast tribes and was willing to serve as Aureus’s retainer.

Aureus passed Reine a retainer sigil and told her to make her way to Everdawn’s castle study when the tribes have settled down. Tipping his head in acknowledgment of the other tribe leaders, Aureus mounted and rode out of the clearing.

Edward waved to the leaders before making his way out of the clearing too.

—

Later in the evening, Edward made his way to a workshop that has been dedicated for him to improve cores after his dinner. As he whistled a nursery tune to himself, he marveled at the patience of Aureus. He wondered idly about the rumor that the Crown Prince Leo was at least Aureus’s equal if not better. Edward laughed to himself as he tried to imagine just what sort of body could give an accurate judgment of such matters.

As Edward looked through the accumulated cores and started mapping out how he could increase the level of the cores, he mused that he was lucky to have met Aureus after transmigration and the compatibility as working partners seemed to be a good sync.

Red and Green light intermingled in the work area as Edward transmuted the various cores.

—

A week flew by as Reine made her way unaccompanied towards Everdawn’s castle as the sun was in mid climb to the top.

She flashed her retainer’s sigil at the various checkpoints which resulted in arched brows and straighter postures from the guards.

As Reine knocked and entered the study, Aureus stood up and greeted her with a wide smile.

“Welcome, spirit spider tribe leader Reine. I hope the austereness of my work area does not offend you.”

Reine bowed in return, “Among the spirit beasts, might makes right. Trappings of wealth count very little amongst our kind.”

Aureus and Reine chatted on various matters inclusive of the conclusion of the treaty signing as well as expectations between the spirit beast tribes and Everdawn. As the discussions winded down, Aureus mentioned that there was a more interesting position available than being his retainer while still being able to be an ambassador for the spirit beast tribes.

One of Reine’s eyebrow raised but she kept her peace and waited for Aureus to qualify.

“How would you feel about contracting with a promising mage of ours?”