While the war between the beastmen and the elves certainly didn't go unnoticed, Ceadric, however, already got too much on their hands to even think about doing anything. The latest devastation has hit them hard. The entire nation's economy was crippled. Their precious capital Cedra laid ravaged, now only a shadow of a once prosperous kingdom remained. Their crops were suppressed, leaving thousands homeless starving in the ruined streets. All these may seemed hopeless and many more would have died if not for the help of the Trading Company of Dor.

The Trading Company of Dor was an association specialized in trading goods across the entire continent of Mara, dealing anything from daily supplies to rare artefacts, everything as long as there was money involved. It was created by a syndicate of dwarves who has now taken the leadership of the remaining of their rogue people after the eruption of the volcanoes in their homeland, forcing the dwarves to abandon their country a few years ago. At first, Dor might seem like your usual group of merchants you saw in the markets but their influence and most importantly, their pockets, could not be underestimated. To give you an idea of their wealth, their entire amount of richness would be three times the total treasuries of both Ceadric and Zagon combined. Furthermore, they controlled most of the market, regulating the trading route according to their will, giving them an incredible influence not just in term of business but also in politics across the globe.

People said a dwarf was the greediest of all races, would rather sell his own family instead of losing his gold. A common stereotype which was not always true as it depended on each person. However, if you ever met a member of Dor, if you ever learnt one thing about them, it was that they would be willing to do more than just sell their family for their gold. Yet, somehow, these same people, who valued money more than their own lives, were now giving out rations and supplies, taking care of the helpless people of Ceadric with their own pocket money. Did they somehow have a change of heart, unable to witness the suffering of the common folk? Hell no! Everything was deliberated and calculated from their part. What would be even more tempting than money, which they already had a lot? Well, the answer was simple: even more money, served with a taste of power.

Currently, inside the half broken palace under reconstruction of Cedra, a meeting was taking place concerning the recent events. And guessed who were also present aside from the nobles, the King and the Headmaster of Helios Academy?

"And that concludes my report. To summarize, Empress Morrigan has made a statement, informing the integration of Malatas and Caelum into Zagon. I am sure everyone understands how dire our situation is at the moment." Said a noble.

"This is practically a declaration of war from that woman! Your Majesty, we have to do something about this." Another noble shouted, hitting the table.

"Gentlemen, I understand your anger but so far, Zagon has not taken any action toward Ceadric. If we let this provocation get to us..." Ganon, the headmaster of Helios, said.

"Master Ganon, people say you are wise but how can you not see this as we do? This is clearly her saying 'I am going for you next'. We are the only one left in this continent, aside from the beastmen who have declared their alliance with her. How much more evidences do you need?"

"And what do you suggest we do? Going to war against Zagon? That's exactly what she wants us to do. Have you thought of the people out there, starving to death while you sit there, thinking about war? Considering our current state, we cannot afford to have a full scale conflict with anyone!" Ganon argued.

"Then what? Staying idle, waiting for her to bring her army to our door? Or do you think you can convince her to sit down, have a nice chat? 'Say, how about you not attacking us? Meanwhile why not go somewhere to conquer? OH that's right! WE ARE THE FUCKING LAST ONE'. She has already declared war against all countries after Caelum. At the time, we thought it was a joke but now things have changed. The celestials are gone. The elves and the Church have joined, or rather, submitted to her. We are next!!!"

"SILENCE" a majestic voice echoed in the room. The king has spoken. "This is not the time to argue among ourselves. Master Ganon has disregarded the neutrality of Helios so he could assist us in this crisis. I will not tolerate any insult to him." Charles sighed. "What he said is correct. By ourselves, we have no chance of defeating her."

"Then how about finding an alliance?" a short figure spoke from the other side of the table, making everyone turning at their heads to the three figures who have remained silent since the beginning. A group of peculiar dwarves they were. From the left, a short stature with big belly and a long black beard was the merchant named Blackbeard. In the middle, a thin dwarf with a golden beard up to their knees, looking a bit frail and very old with his wizened face, named Goldbeard. Finally, in the right, a dwarf that looked exactly like the first one on the left, as if they were twins, fat stature but with a white beard. Needless to say, his name was rather obvious. Together, they were the three representatives and also heads of the Trading Company of Dor.

But their very presence in this room begged a question. Why would a group of merchant be able to attend such an important meeting? Why were they invited in the first place? This conclave was set up to decide the future of Ceadric, one of the major powers of the entire world. Surely, some random merchant could never have a say in such national matter. Yet, they did indeed have a say and actually more than just raising their opinion, it would not be an exaggeration that they were the voice itself of this conclave

"What are you suggesting, Goldbeard? An alliance? With who?" asked Charles.

"Well, the only one left of course: Oros." Said Goldbeard.

"The dragons? But they have never allied with anyone in the past before. The only exception was when there is a demon lord, which is not the case here." Ganon spoke.

"How can we know for sure that there hasn't a demon lord yet?" The old dwarf proclaimed. "It could be that they were hiding behind the scene all these times, manipulating everything. Just look around you! These disasters could not be a natural phenomenon. Not when rains of fire and ocean freezing happened at the same time. Someone was clearly behind it. And who do you think it was? The demons."

"Do you have any proof of what you just said?" the king inquired.

"Do I need to? Everyone here knows of the threat of the demons. For all we know, Morrigan could be in cahoots with them, or even be their thrall. Else, how can you explain her perfect timing and how the recent catastrophes only strengthen her empire further? Malatas' fall was also suspicious, considering the circumstances of how the royal family all died together, leaving only one member alive, only to be a complete manic tyrant. If it's not the demons, then who could it be?" Goldbeard bickered.

"For the sake of argument, let's assume that what you said is correct. Still, that doesn't give us any solution for the problem we are facing. How are we supposed to ally with the dragons?" the king questioned.

"Please do not underestimate the network of our company, your Highness! I can establish a contact between you and Oros, even going as far as assisting you creating an alliance with them. The dwarves are willing to stand with you in this dire moment. All you have to do is to say the words."

"Does that mean the Company of Dor will help us in this war? What about your neutrality?" Charles said with a doubtful tone.

"The war against the demons concerns each and every one of us. Ceadric is our last stance against their foul invasion. Not just help, we will be financing the whole campaign and supply you with everything you need. I will have you know that Dor doesn't just have money. We have our very own military force, which is not lesser than any country. The dwarves may have been forgotten after the cataclysm that befell on us but I will remind the world that we are still here, kicking and alive."

"That's...awfully kind of you." Uttered Ganon.

"But of course! So what do you say, your Majesty?"

"...Would you let us a few days to think this through? This is a big decision and I am afraid I cannot give you an answer right away." Said Charles.

"What's there to think, your Majesty? If..." but before he could continue further, the headmaster of Helios has intervened.

"Master Goldbeard, the king has spoken. We will contact you as soon as a decision is taken. For now, the meeting is adjourned."

"...Fine! But please give us your answer by tomorrow! Considering the current state, I don't think your country has that much time left for you to play around, king Charles!"

"...."

Even in front of that insolent attitude toward their king, the nobles and even Charles himself could not retort back a word. They simply could not. Right now, the reason their kingdom was still standing was thanks to the stockpiles supplied to them by the Trading Company of Dor. If for some reasons, they decided to no longer help Ceadric, cutting off the provision of supplies, that would mean the end of Ceadric, perhaps not immediately but one thing was sure: a lot of people would die as a result. That was why Charles has been very patient during their entire exchange, to the point you could see the crack on the glass he was holding in his hand, testament of his anger. But being to control one's emotions was also a precious quality a king must have. In this aspect alone, it could be said that Charles was a great king.

Still, it left the question about Goldbeard's proposal. If an alliance was struck, that would mean they were prepared to go to war, not just with Zagon but also Ragna. For the last ten years, the demons have remained rather quiet, giving Ceadric quite a peaceful time. Even the attacks on the frontier villages were proven to be a conspiracy of the archduke to give an excuse in order to launch an attack on Ragna. But that time has now ended. The smoke of war has reached to every part of this continent and no one was safe, or so the young king of Ceadric thought. Something was weird about Goldbeard. Charles knew of the reputation of the merchants of Dor. They were the kind of people who would not bat an eye even in front of a starving child. And now you were saying those people suddenly showed up at his door, wanted to get rid of the demons for the world, going as far as paying for everything themselves? Something was clearly amiss here. Yet he could not just ignore them either.

With all the nobles and Dor leaving the room, only the old sage Ganon was still in his seat together with the king.

"An unpleasant bunch, the lot of them! Your Highness, you must not..."

"Please, master Ganon! Just call me Charles! We are by ourselves now. And to be honest, I am not sure I am even qualified to be king anymore. Letting these people trampling on us, dictating our actions....what kind of king am I...." Charles uttered in a tired voice.

"Charles, if I ever know a true king, it's you. You can't doubt yourself because of these people. What you did, not many could do the same." The old headmaster tried to embolden Charles' will.

"But I don't know what to do anymore, master. We can't afford to go to war. But at the same time, we can't stay idle either. Those merchants don't care about us. I don't know what their aim is but clearly they don't give a damn about the lives of our people. Yet, if we don't do as they say, they will retract their promises and we will be left to fend for ourselves."

"Hum..." the sage scratched his head "We won't stay idle. I will try to dig up some old connections with the Guild of Adventurers. If they agree to help, it would be a tremendous force to have, especially with their S-ranks. Also, we can recruit some of the top students from Helios, promising them status and such after the war."

"What about the students from the other parts of the continent? Surely they will not help us fight against their own people." Inquired the youth.

"After Empress Morrigan's declaration, most of them, well at least the most talented ones of their people, have already gone back to their respective country. Right now, the majority of leftovers students in Helios are rightful citizens of Ceadric so you won't have to worry about that."

"Students of Helios...what time are we in to use the youths of our nation to defend ourselves..." sighed Charles. "Speaking of Helios, it reminds me of Alastor. If someone like him is on our side in moment like these...."

"Yeah...he quickly disappeared after your coronation, just like that. I tried to look around but I guess someone at his level won't be detected so easily. Speaking of him, I am thinking of recommending a talented youngster who has recently reached the Deus rank in Helios. Furthermore, from what I heard, he was also one of the few people Alastor was close with during his time staying at the academy. Apparently, he even trained this youngster, helping him getting to the level he is now." Ganon said.

"Really? That would be a great addition to our military. Why didn't you bring him here sooner?" asked Charles.

"Well, there is a bit of a problem concerning his reputation...I was afraid bringing him here would cause some problems..."

"What kind of problem?"

"I have spoken to this student personally and he is a wonderful, gentle lad. However, he is what you call a 'demon sympathizer'."

"Demon sympathizer?" muttered Charles.

"He believes that we can coexist with the demons if both sides cast aside their differences. He even has a demon servant, to whom he refused to refer as a servant but someone as part of his family. Needless to say, it has caused several scandals among the students as he kept spreading these kinds of idea around."

"...I see. To be frank, master Ganon, the demons are the least of my concern right now. Based on what you told me, there is a high possibility that the recent catastrophes are actually caused by the Gods. For what reason, we know naught. But right now, I will take whatever help I can get. Can you bring this student to me as soon as possible?" asked the king.

"If that is what you judge best then this old man will comply. I have vowed to follow you till the very end, after all. I will go right now to get him."

"Just out of curiosity, is he a noble or of humble birth? Not that it matters right now. Still, I would prefer to not have someone from one of the main noble families by my side to watch my every move."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that. As I told you, because of his unpopular ideas, his family, despite being a noble, doesn't have any power or any connection to any of the main noble families. I have carefully investigated his background and nothing out of the ordinary came up so you can be reassured about that."

"That's perfect! Thank you, master! What is his name?"

"Edward. Edward Osborne!"

* * *

It has been a few days since Alastor has returned, together with thousands of elven refugees from the war. As expected, at first, there have been waves of protests against the admission of these new citizens, coming from both the people of Zagon and the elves themselves.

For the Zagonians, accepting so many people at once was a ridiculous idea and to be honest, it was. Why would you help the people of another race, of another country while your own countrymen were suffering? A reasonable concern but was soon shut off when Morrigan reassured her people that there was enough of supplies for everyone. And she kept that promise. Huge amount of foods were distributed to the elves without affecting the quantity given to the Zagonians as the kingdom began to recover. It was a difficult start but eventually, when they saw that there was practically no difference for their lives compared to before, aside from the common sighting of elves in their cities, no one pursued their complains. This was actually thanks to the history of Zagon which was basically an empire formed by slaves from many different origins, meaning they were more or less used to live with people with different culture, practices from them. This allowed a rather easy admission and a smooth integration of the elves into the society of the Zagon. Even until today, many more elven folks continued to converge to the Empire, being welcomed with open arms and given lands for their new lives.

As for the refugees themselves, the idea of a new home has encountered a few problems, not from the common people as they were grateful to have a place to live, but from the elven officials, especially the high nobles who lost their privileges and status during this integration movement. Among the two remaining factions, Solana and Luna, it was actually the top nobles of the Luna faction who raised the loudest protest. It was understandable as the moon faction has increased their power a lot during Aldol's reign thanks to Astrea, only to lose everything when Malatas became part of Zagon.

When someone who has been oppressed for years suddenly received so many power and influence, there could be two possible outcomes, depending on the kind of the person they were. If the guy was smart, he would know that everything needed balance and would seek to prevent the situation he was in, being oppressed by others, to ever happen again. However, if he was a half-witted idiot, the same situation would repeat itself. Only this time, that person would be the one doing the oppressing. As for the top noble of the Luna faction, he certainly fell under the latter category: a big fat man with no lack of awful reputations, Lord Owen.

So far, everything was being kept under control by Cynthia since she was the leader of the Luna faction. However, it didn't mean that Cynthia controlled everything. In fact, for years, Owen has been attacking the Moon Priestess for letting Eris and the chancellor taking control of the palace, spreading doubts of her leadership. All because unlike the rest, she didn't submit to him. But of course, being a chosen priestess herself, Owen simply could not just replace her. He still needed someone to blame when the time came. And that time was now.