"Wait…. Wait… Slow down…." The king held his head and stared at me. "Have you become addicted to annexing kingdoms!?"
"No. But it is the easiest way to get all the technology that they have, is it not? They allowed weapons of mass destruction to be used in a war against our kingdom which is basically an act of war against us right? So what is wrong with annexing them?" I asked. I am not sure how this works, but if they allowed their weapons to be used in another kingdom's war, then it should be considered as such.
"...." The king went silent as if contemplating what I said. Only after a few minutes did he finally speak. "It can be considered as such. But are you sure this is the kingdom in question?"
"Nope!" I replied honestly. "I mean, how am I supposed to know what is what? For all we know, they got rid of anything that dealt with the sale of these kinds of weapons. And I have not traveled the kingdom to find out if there is anything that mildly resembles the weapons I captured. That is why I will just take both kingdoms under the kingdom's flag. Set up barriers around them, and then have your people deal with the aftermath. We only need teleports to our kingdom, no? I think with so many kingdoms under one rule, we do not need much from other kingdoms, so closed borders are fine for the time being. Of course, we can stay open to allies and those who wish to formally form alliances and trade routes. But those can all be easily dealt with with a kind of pass in and out of the kingdom."
"This does make sense but by doing this. I am not against the idea, but you need to do it in the least violent way. After all, while we can do things forcefully thanks to you, we still do not want to turn the populace against us. And I am only willing to do this because of the lingering threat of Pholin and his brother." The king did make a good point. We did not want a revolt.
"Alright, I will try to do this delicately then. I will fly to the capital city as an envoy to start and try to speak with their king. Is there any chance you can give me a letter? Or have something I can use to identify myself as an envoy?" While I could just fly over the place and cast thousands of grand falls to cast a shadow over the kingdom to threaten them, it would be best if I could do things more delicately, as the king said. I mean, it would be much easier to just have the king suddenly abdicate the throne to me, right? Dragon speak will come in handy for this.
"This I can do. Teleport here when you can, and I will give you what you need." The king replied, causing me to smile. I took Thurul and hurried back to the ship.
As soon as I was on board, I teleported directly to the throne room, where a court session was taking place. None of the nobles seemed to be bothered by my presence, and some even greeted me with a nod of their head.
"You were quicker than I thought." The king said with pursed lips. Well, I am one to be prompt when it comes to dealing with issues at hand. The king waved his hand and had someone bring him over a few items, which he used to create a special kind of royal seal used by envoys who travel to other kingdoms.
"Thank you. I will head off now." I said as I turned around to teleport back but was stopped when the king called out to me. "Faith, make sure you do things in a manner that will not cause an issue for our kingdom. As I said, I do not wish to have the people revolt against us as we work to secure the kingdom and set up a government there."
"Don't worry. I will not do things forcefully. If anything, it might be handed over on a silver platter." I gave a smile as I turned around and began to teleport away. Just before I left, I could hear the king say: "Why do your words make me worry!?"
When I returned to the airship, I went right to work putting a barrier up around the entire mining and refinery operation. As soon as I did, Thurul gave me a strange look. "I thought you were not going to take things by force?"
"Hmmm? I have to make sure they can not move anything out of the kingdom first, right? You never know. Once I take over, they might try to do something they shouldn't. This is just a precaution to make sure I do not lose this energy source which is why I want this kingdom in the first place." I replied. I did not see anything wrong with my actions. I even made it so nothing can teleport in or out as well.
"I do not think that is the point! You were supposed to be an envoy. If they get word that the refinery is suddenly blocked off before you even show up, they will know it is you or think of it as too much of a coincidence." Thurul tried to argue, but I just pursed my lips. I was already going to force everyone to do a blood seal contract with my dragon speak as soon as I made the king abdicate his throne to me. So it's not like anything bad will happen. At least I hope anyway….
"Sir Thurul, I think you misunderstand my Master. While she is smart, some of the time, she doesn't think things through the other parts of the time, but either way, she will always get the job done." To be honest, I am not sure if I should be happy Grace is trying to stick up for me or cry due to her making fun of me.
