Aria was chewing on Gemini’s arm when Pai-Relix entered the cottage, armed with developments about the peace talks between the Wildlands and the Five Lands.

“Took them two days to decide on what to do, eh?” Gemini said to no one in particular. Earlier this morning, the Demigod that had negotiated with Pur-Sandai had entered the Wildlands, which was the cue for Pur-Sandai himself to show himself.

Gemini had been watching the entire exchange, ready to intervene at any moment, but to his relief, nothing had happened. In the same vein, however, there really wasn’t any need for Pai-Relix to actually give an in-person report about the peace talks that happen three days from now.

Judging from how Pai-Relix had made a beeline for Aria immediately after entering his home, Gemini could tell that she wasn’t here to report to him…but rather, to play with Aria.

“Lila!” Gemini raised his voice. “Pai-Relix’s here!”

“Oh! Coming!” Light, rapid footfalls followed those words, and Lila burst out of a room, a book in hand.

Lila liked to read, but doing so was hard when one hand was occupied by a curious baby. Similarly, Gemini saw the need to learn about his divinity, since he wanted to make fun items with it, but experimenting with such powers with a toddler at his side was a no-go…although he did like Aria’s reaction whenever something impossible happened in front of her.

“Buh…Paba!” Aria pointed at Pai-Relix and Lila. “Mama!”

Gemini tried to decipher her intentions, but his attempt was halted when Aria clambered into his chest and pointed at the two. Clearly, she wanted Gemini to carry her over to the two of them, although he didn’t understand why she wanted that.

Maybe Pai-Relix had a soothing influence on Aria or something, a hypothesis that immediately strengthened as he walked over.

“Lord. Is something the matter?” Pai-Relix asked.

“I’m just wondering why Aria likes you so much,” the Demon Sovereign replied. “Is it something about your aura? Or are you giving off some presence that babies like very much?”

“I wish I knew too, but it’s nice that babies like to sleep in my arms,” Pai-Relix replied. “Still, now that this talent of mine has been made known to the others, I foresee days of rocking babies to sleep.”

“Nice days, in other words.” Gemini passed the clamouring Aria over to Pai-Relix. “She really, really likes you. If only she took to me this well…right, where’s Quinn?”

Gemini was too lazy to check, but since Quinn had taken up the role of Pai-Relix’s assistant, asking her would yield the same results with far less effort. More importantly, he had a feeling that the Champion Support Entity bore quite the similarity to Pai-Relix, since Aria also took one heck of a shine to him.

“He should be arriving soon,” Pai-Relix replied. “Why?”

“No, nothing in particular,” Gemini replied. “Just for research and observation purposes.”

“Researching what, exactly?”

“Nothing all that important,” Gemini replied, before glancing at Aria, who was now yawning twice. It was not his fault that his chest wasn’t nice to sleep on, even if he made use of pillows. “Come on, take a seat. Standing all day can be rather tiring.”

After pouring out some drinks, the Demon Sovereign settled back on a chair. “It’s a bit pointless, but do give me a report of what happened and the arrangements made, please.”

“Yes, Lord.” Pai-Relix rubbed Aria’s head lightly. “An armistice has been declared for now. At the same time, we’ve began to move the captives towards the borders, to ensure that everyone gets there when the talks commence. Special care has been taken to ensure that no one is injured or ill-treated.”

Gemini nodded. “What did the Demigod say with regards to the peace talks? Any initial terms?”

“None,” Pai-Relix replied. “Thankfully. It seems that the Five Lands’ War Council have reached a breaking point in this war, and our very gentle response probably isn’t helping. From what I can tell, this peace conference will be less of mudslinging and more of making sure that we aren’t going to bother them.”

“While they conduct their own internal war?” Gemini asked.

“Who knows?” The Demigod shrugged. “We’ll have to scope them out on the day of the peace conference themselves.”

“The location is…right outside the Wildlands, right?” Gemini asked.

“To be more precisely, on the landbridge itself,” Pai-Relix replied. “We’ll let the captives leave before we start, and then we’ll begin formal negotiations there.”

“I’m only worried about the terms that they might bring up,” Gemini mused out loud. “Did the Demigod really give no indication about what the War Council might want?”

“I’m afraid not, Lord.”

Gemini clicked his teeth. “How troublesome. We’ll have to deal with that on the talks themselves, then. Do we have any bottom line?”

Pai-Relix fell silent. Gemini, as the newcomer here, had no intention in setting the terms of the conference himself. He had long made his intention known to the other Demigods; they themselves would decide what the appropriate price for peace was, if any. In fact, he was wondering if he should even attend in his capacity as the Demon Sovereign — it was possible that the Five Lands only agreed because they didn’t know about him yet.

“We will come up with an appropriate and reasonable bottom line by tomorrow, Lord,” Pai-Relix replied.

“See to it,” Gemini replied indifferently. “I’m also thinking of entrusting the entire negotiation process to you, Pai-Relix. You’re one of the oldest Demigods; I believe you can make this work.”

“Lord?”

“I will probably attend in disguise,” Gemini replied. “If I show up there as the Demon Sovereign, I’m quite sure that the Locomotives floating around would try their luck. Who knows? They might just kill me.”

Pai-Relix nodded. “In that case…”

“Don’t send too many. You’re to introduce yourself as the interim leader of the delegation, as appointed by uh…the Wildlands Council.”

“The Wildlands Council?”

“Yeah. Uh, it’s something I just came up with. The name used to refer to the collective formed by the Demigods and me,” Gemini replied. “From now on.”

“I did think we need a name…”

“Well, at least we got that settled.” Gemini got up. “Now, where’s Quinn? I really need his help for this one.”

“This one?” Pai-Relix asked. “What’s going on?”

“I need to research this black dome before we get screwed over by it,” Gemini replied. “Want to tag along?”