Second World



Jack, Jeanny, John, Isabelle, and Vanessa went into the palace. At the entrance, a dwarven soldier had been waiting for them. This soldier ushered them to the throne room. On their way, they saw a dwarven noble walking past them while massaging his butt. He was giving Jack a strange look. Jack didn't understand, so he just ignored the dwarf.

Inside the throne room, Thelgrun was seen discussing with several people. Considering the struggle their country had just experienced, they had a lot to talk about.

  When Thelgrun saw Jack enter the room, he told everyone to move aside. He went down from his throne and walked to Jack.

"My friend!" He called heartily.

"Mister President," Jack greeted back.

"Don't you mister president me! Come, give me a hug!" Thelgrun exclaimed.

There was no wooden stand like the last time, so Jack awkwardly lowered himself to hug Thelgrun.

After what Jack thought to be uncomfortably long, Thelgrun finally let go of the hug. He clasped Jack's shoulder and said, "Now, this is what it means to be a good friend! To come during our hour of need. For that, you earn my country's gratitude and friendship. From now on, Themisphere will be known as Palgrost's ally for as long as you sit on Themisphere's throne."

"Do you mean it?" Jack asked expectantly.

"Hah! After what we went through, I am an a*shole if I don't. As a matter of fact, the first order of business I did when I entered this throne room was sending an alliance request to your kingdom. When you return to your palace, you can accept that request. We will formally be allies then."

"That's great! I thought at first you would need to discuss this alliance with your senate," Jack said. He understood Palgrost's government was the closest to the democracy of their past world.

"Oh, one of them tried to advise me not to be so hasty. I fired that dwarf on the spot," Thelgrun said.

"Oh…"

"Another one told me it is not wise to let you and your friends into the throne room, considering you are outworlders. I kicked his butt and chased him away."

"Ah…," Jack remembered the dwarven noble who was massaging his butt.

"Well, I guess I need to be firm from time to time. Otherwise, people will think me soft," Thelgrun said as he gave the other dwarves in the room a hard stare. They all lowered their heads from the stare.

Thelgrun's face then turned sad. "I guess this is why my brother rebelled… Because I am not resolute enough."

After the battle ended, the soldiers spread out to clean the rubble, help the wounded, and search for survivors. Boron's body was found. Despite his brother's atrocity, Thelgrun didn't wish for his brother's demise. He planned to apprehend Boron and see if they could reconcile. It was no longer possible now.

"I'm sorry, Mister President. I don't think you are the problem. It's your brother who was too ambitious," Jack consoled. It was the pre-planned scenario, after all. If there was anyone to blame, it was Wilted's story design team.

"Sigh… Such a mess. My country will take a long time to recover from this," Thelgrun lamented. "The enemy even used a disaster item inside the capital. They not only wanted to steal my throne but also didn't hesitate to cause all this destruction inside a settlement. Such evil."

Jack froze upon hearing it. He turned to John and Jeanny who were also looking at him. Jeanny's face seemed to be in a struggle with whether they should tell the truth. John had been sending messages to them repeatedly telling them to shut their mouths.

Jack decided that even if he didn't want to lie, he also didn't have to say anything about the subject. Hence, he changed the subject, "Mister President. Now that we are allies, we should talk about our next step in how to deal with Liguritudum."

One of Thelgrun's advisors interfered, "King Storm Wind. We lost a great deal of our army. I think it is not the time to…"

He stopped after noticing Thelgrun's stare which looked as if it could burn a hole in his body.

Thelgrun then said to Jack, "Well, as much as I want to honor our alliance and pay those Liguritudum scums back for what they did to my country, my army has indeed taken a serious hit. I only have around one million troops left, but don't worry. When you go on your offensive campaign, I will follow. I will not be able to bring many troops, though. Probably only five or six hundred thousand. I still need to leave some troops behind to ensure stability in this country. With how the situation is, I'm sure you understand."

"I understand," Jack said. He was glad already if Thelgrun could send a support army. This country had indeed lost a lot.

"But I've to make sure that no one comes in from the back door when we go for those Liguritudum scums," Thelgrun turned to Vanessa. "Can I trust Sangrod to not use this chance to its advantage?"

"I can't promise you anything, Mister President," Vanessa replied. "I'm just an attack dog. I go where my emperor points. That being said, our empire is now a formal ally of Themisphere and my emperor has promised the Themisphere king to follow him on his offensive campaign. So, I think it is safe to say that we won't use this chance to do anything to your country."

"Hm… Your new emperor, it's Horatio Maxius, ain't it? I've met him on several occasions," Thelgrun said. "I like him more than I like your previous emperor, but I can't truly tell what is going on in his head."

"In that case, let us set up a meeting," John suggested. "A meeting between our three countries. We need to agree on our advancing strategies if we are to mount an effective assault."

"Four countries," Isabelle interjected. "I've received a transmission from Thaergood. Verremor had just sent us a formal alliance request."

"That's great news!" Jack exclaimed.

"Now, the force of this world has divided into a clear two camps," John said. "Since it is so, do you know what time is it?"

"Uh… It's time for breakfast?" Jack asked. It was morning by now.

John rolled his eyes. "We can finally retaliate now. It's time for a final showdown with our enemies."

"You are right," Jack agreed. "In this case, I will invite the leaders of the three countries to Themisphere one week from now!"