Ataraxia Abyss
Chapter 56: The Concern

Wandermere fought fiercely for 15 days, it was all because Roland had come to the aid of the attack on Wandermere after he had retreated from Braedon. They managed to cross the bridge owned by Wandermere and finally they managed to occupy it. This made the new King of Victoria who ascended the throne Malek Darek upset. But he kept his emotions even as he was meeting with the commanders who were the nobles in their capital, Avalon.

"Wandermere is an important point for us, we must attack it before they manage to recuperate!" The statement of one of the commanders was disputed by the other commander. "No! With Braedon's fall now in the hands of the Barbarians, we should focus on attacking there!" The commotion continued and made their King doubtful. But the commotion came to a halt just after the door of the room opened very loudly and attracted everyone's attention. A young man entered the room with a girl known to King Victoria and the commanders there. The young man was Regal, he walked over to no one and went before all of them.

"Good morning gentlemen. How are you guys doing?" King Victoria Malek stood up and asked back. "King of Warriors and the Dragon Princess... What are you doing in Victoria?" Hearing the question, Regal answered. "Victoria? After your country was almost destroyed you still call this land Victoria? You're very confident you can defend this place King Malek..."

Hearing Regal's words, one commander stood up and replied. "So your mouth is a lowly man!" But King Malek stopped him and told him to sit down again, and asked Regal. "What do you want?" Regal smiled and answered. "You seem to be having a hard time with Wandermere and Braedon. Braedon is now in the hands of the tribes, we won it fairly. But it seems you Victorians don't like it when monkeys like the Barbarians are now sitting on your gold plates while eating bananas. That's why I'm here to offer you a deal..."

Malek started to listen and ask. "What's the deal?" Regal answered. "Victoria is a great country. But the main reason why the Holy Kingdom dared to attack was not because of your military might. The Holy Kingdom was afraid of the Barbarian existence guarding this island from invaders. One of them is my client, the powerful Eceni tribe.

Yet I see this as not such a very good advantage to me. You hide in the middle of the continent, farm and raise comfortably while the Barbarians do not have access to proper trade and education, which makes the Barbarians upset I see. So we tribes met and we ended up with a decision... They wanted to exchange Braedon for rights, they wanted to be part of Victoria, not as slaves but as allies."

Hearing that the commanders finally stormed and opposed.

"Recruiting the Barbarians as allies? No kidding!!"

"If they were not made slaves, there would be a coup!"

When everyone was noisy, only Malek kept thinking calmly in the room, he told everyone to shut up and eventually Malek asked Regal. "Why do you think we're going to accept the tribes?" Regal smiled and replied.

But now different, they now know why they can lose. They're retarded, they can't rival an invasion much longer alone. Initially the Barbarians agreed to create a new state with the existing tribes. But I managed to convince them that creating a new country on this island would only add more war later on... So I persuaded them to follow your ideology, and in the end they agreed, because they realized this was the best thing. And now I'm persuading you... Your military and economy will be greatly weakened even after you win the war, you cannot snatch the food crib that the Holy Kingdom took,and neither will you be able to bring back the lives of the soldiers who sacrificed for your country.

That's why I'm offering you this partnership. After this war both sides will make a massive recovery, the war will happen again on this island. The tribes agreed to be part of Victoria in order to recover, and so they... And you have lost the 2 great cities of Braedon and Wandermere, that's what you're desperate for now..."

Hearing the agreement, Malek asked Regal. "What about the rebellion that will happen? What if the tribesmen become enemies after they recover and attack us?" Regal answered. "That's the hardest part, Your Majesty... Of all the concubines you have, do you have a consort?" Malek was confused by the question. But he still replied while shaking his head. "Nothing..."

———

After the debate, Regal finally returned to Braedon, where all the tribes on the island were gathered. He walked into the meeting room and finally brought news for everyone. "His agreement was approved by King Malek, the tribes would be affiliated with Victoria." Hearing that statement, everyone finally rejoiced and celebrated.

They can finally join Victoria, making their lives better. When Regal came and heard that the tribes were paying tribute so as not to be disturbed by the Holy Kingdom, Regal had already thought of this plan. They must unite otherwise their tribe will perish, either now or shortly after the war is over. But of all the people, Regal saw only Boudica and her first daughter who did not celebrate. Regal knew the reason but he did not want to interfere in family matters.

Kallen approached Regal and asked. "It must be difficult to marry people for the benefit of many. Don't you?" Regal answered. "Well... Just imagine the feelings of a mother who had to see her child marry an unknown person forcibly. It must be painful for them, but the boy asked for it..." Hearing Regal's words, Kallen remembered about his mother... "Mommy must have been sad after I expressed my love for you. He doesn't know who you are, and he's also forced to obey me because of our traditions." Seeing the sad Kallen making Regal unwell, he picked up a bottle of wine and offered it to Kallen. "You're thinking too much, your mother must be happy if you're happy too, tonight we have a party, you have a drink!" Seeing Regal trying to cheer him up makes Kallen happy.

They also had fun with the tribes. Everyone was carefree and laughing, this party was very important for the next fight. With this the morale of their troops rose, it was good because in a few more days they all had to prepare for a decisive war...

...***...