Spending My Retirement In A Game

Eisen sat in his chair, waiting for all the envoys to arrive. Since he was going to be the one 'leading' this meeting, he basically acted as the dividing line between the two sides, similarly to how it was geographically.

Asgard was practically right inbetween the giants' country and the central continent, so whether it was for trade or for war, Asgard would end up in the middle of whatever relationship the two sides would have. It was one of the main reasons why the central continent wasn't able to complain about Eisen acting as the mediator.

It didn't take all too long until everyone had gathered. Beside the envoys and their direct aides, there were only a few other individuals here. The five originals, Kiron and the other half-dragon knights, and the two individuals standing right by the old man's side. Satel and Ambriel.

For a number of reasons, the pair hadn't been there during yesterday's banquet. The main reason was really just because Ambriel was feeling too nervous to join that kind of thing, so Satel stayed behind with them so that the two could prepare for today properly. That being the case, Eisen was actually quite happy that they weren't there.

Leaving their presence as a surprise of sort made their impact only greater. At the same time, not having them be present during regular intermingling made it easier to present them as something 'greater than', and something related to the divine, which is exactly why Eisen brought them.

The two glanced at each other. Satel wore a calm smile on their face, while Ambriel was trying everything they could to show as little emotion as absolutely as possible.

Once everyone had properly gotten to their seats and seemed ready to go, Eisen got started, "Good morning, everyone. I hope you're all well. First and foremost, I want to thank you all for being here.

The pursuit of peace is something that I am sure we all strive for at the end of the day, and this is the first step to make that happen," he explained, smiling softly as he spoke in a powerful voice, "That being the case, I don't want to keep the attention on myself for too long right now, and would instead like to hand things over to the representatives of each side."

The old man quickly turned toward the central continent. Since the giants' country was a single country with its king right here, acting as one of the representatives, it was clear that their demands would be well-united. However, the problem was with the central continent. Being made up of a lot of different countries, each with their own agendas, laws, and intentions made things a lot harder.

Of course, in this potential war, they were still a single united front, but it was more that they were acting cooperatively instead of through a single, focused lense.

"I assume that you have decided on a specific representative for today that will present your combined demands? If so, please let us know your side's current demands," Eisen asked as he looked at the central continent's envoys, and the one who stood up, to the old man's surprise, was Aaron. He didn't expect Aaron of all people to be chosen, considering that he was by far the youngest envoy here.

Then again, he was also the only royal here, not to mention the crown prince of one of the most influential countries of the central continent. So maybe it did make sense to some degree.

"Yes. Our list of demands is as follows," Aaron started, reading from the list in front of him. Most of the demands seemed reasonable enough, but there were a few that were quite... cocky. Practically, they were pushing the degree of the things they were asking for way too far, and some of the actual requests were insulting even just to Eisen as he heard them.

Most notably, there was one request that, in simple terms, was the 'import' of giants into the central continent to be used as soldiers or workers. Practically... they were asking for slaves, something that would be unimaginable if they were talking to people, not monsters. And the giants clearly didn't take lightly to that either.

"Ya think we're going to-" the Grandour slammed his hand onto the table, jumping up, but Eisen quickly glanced over at him. With just a flash of gold flames from the old man's eyes, the fire clan's chieftain froze up.
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"Sit down. These discussions are for later," Eisen said in a clear voice, and the grandour nervously sat back down. But even so, Eisen slowly turned toward Aaron. He was clearly uncomfortable reading that part, but being the central continent's representative meant that he had to do this.

Of course, not everyone in the central continent wanted to receive some giants for forced labor, but the ones that did, being led by the Holy Empire, were certainly incredibly loud and demanding about it. However, there seemed to be something else that the Holy Empire was planning.

Just after Aaron had finished reading out their baseline demands and offers, just before Eisen was about to hand things over to the Irngrad of the giants' country, one of the archpriests stood up. But to Eisen's surprsie it was Van Horgh instead of the one that had spoken to Eisen first yesterday.

It seemed as though, now that they had properly arrived and had gotten that 'apology' out of the way, Van Horgh was taking over as the lead envoy again. Clearly, they never felt sorry in the first place.

"Actually, we do have one additional offer, specifically from our empire beloved by the gods; we would love to send some missionaries to your country to introduce you to the holy doctrines of those above," Van Horgh said with a broad smile on his face. Clearly, the other envoys, from both sides, were vastly confused about what he was doing.

But since it was still the central continent's turn, Eisen didn't interrupt him. Rather, he wanted to hear what Van Horgh had to say. Not letting him finish could just upset the holy empire, "Of course, we do know that this might be something incredibly foreign to you, but even you are loved and touched by the divine, and are deserving of understanding said love."

Aaron quickly spoke up, nervously looking at the giants, "I-I apologize, that was not something we had discussed prior to-"

"We felt like there was no need to add to the list of combined offers and demands since this is a personal favor that our empire is willing to do. As those guided by the gods, we must extend a helping hand to those lesser than us, don't we?" Van Horgh pointed out with a soft smile on his face. Eisen looked at him with a face of disgust, as he could tell something that was very clear.

What this man was saying was the truth. Honest. At least from Van Horgh's point of view, nothing that was just said had any deceit mixed into it. He truly felt that the giants were lesser, and he wasn't aware of a very simple fact.

"Van Horgh, sit down and be quiet," Eisen said in a commanding tone, and though he didn't want to, the Archpriest dropped back down onto his seat and wasn't able to stand back up, as though his body was under control by some external force, "First of all, if you ever refer to the giants as something 'lesser than' again, I will take that as a personal insult, so please stop speaking of those matters.

But most importantly, you are aware that the giants believe in the gods as well, right?"

Confused, Van Horgh looked around at the other priests beside him, and even most of the other envoys in general seemed confused and taken aback. Eisen turned toward the chieftain of the Wood Giant clan, nodding toward her.

She stood up and explained, reaching into her robes to pull out a pendant depicting a small golden tree adorned with fruits made of gemstones, "I myself am a cleric of the deities of nature. The ways our faith presents and intermingles with our culture may be different from how it is done in the central continent, but we know all about the gods, and feel a deep connection with their divinity.

Rather, I myself have the blood of one of those gods, albeit blood from many generations ago."