"Has the expedition bore fruit, my king?" Lady Carnal asked as soon as I returned.
"Probably, I did everything as you've told me to - give them a nice scare, show my power, but promise to not touch them as long as they stop the war." I answered. "I never thought that stopping a war was this easy, the idiots in power in my world should learn a thing or two from you."
"Your words flatter me, your highness, but any strategy is ultimately meaningless if not backed by substantial power."
"By the way, now that the war has stopped, I'm supposed to get a month long vacation back in my world, right?" I asked. "When is the goddess sending me home? Should I start packing?"
"The goddess is very pleased with your work." Was the answer I was given. "She's pouring what's left of her power into creating an artifact capable of connecting these two worlds as we speak. It will take no more than a week for her to finish. I suggest you take that time to get Yama on your side and persuade him to become your proxy while you're gone."
"Can't I just threaten him into submission?"
"A relationship based on fear isn't a healthy relationship…" Carnal answered.
"But it does work, right?"
"Yes, theoretically, but the position of a king's proxy is an important one. For all that time that you will not be here, king, he will have free reign to do as he pleases."
I sighed. "Fine, we'll do it your way. So, do I take him out for drinks or something?" I asked.
"A good start would be releasing him from the underground dungeon where he's locked up to this day."
"Right… Not gonna lie, I kinda forgot about that." I said. "Fine, I'll go down there myself. When he sees my immense magnanimity when I personally go down to that rat hole to take him out, he'll probably fall to his knees and swear his loyalty to me on the spot…"
"I can't even tell if you're joking, my king."
"Why would I be joking? I thought that helping a person out of a bind is something that garners loyalty."
"Not when you're the one that put the person in that very bind in the first place…"
"So, what then? What do you suggest in your infinite wisdom?" I asked. "You've said it yourself, the kid is someone that you molded from the beginning, you must surely know how I'm supposed to manipulate him into obedience."
Carnal softly smiled. "Yama is a righteous young man, he cares not for how you treated him, but, unlike Belial, Yama will not serve you just because of your power. You must show Yama your goal in life, something grand and ideal and enough resolve to see your goal to the very end. If your goal resonates with him, if Yama acknowledges your goal as something worth fighting and dying for, he'll follow you."
"I get the feeling that my goal of just lazing around with Elizabeth, doing nothing and shoving all of my responsibilities on others isn't something that the guy will resonate with, right?"
"Most likely. At least, if you word it like that. But how about this - 'my goal is to achieve an everlasting peace where everyone would finally be able to live in peace with the ones they love and care for. A world where I could rely on others to take pride in helping the Icathan kingdom prosper, a peaceful world where everyone prospered, where, due to lack of conflict, everyone could laze around and still flourish.' What do you think of formulating your goal like this, my king? It's technically the truth, I just made it sound a bit better."
"Will you really insist on making Yama the proxy instead of taking the position yourself? I believe that you'd be great at it." I said.
"Your words flatter me, my king, but, as I've said, shadows are where I belong. But do not threat, I will support Yama when you're gone just as I've supported him in the past and as I've supported you for the beginning of your reign." Carnal gave a deep bow. "Now then, the time is now, you must go down to the dungeon and proclaim your newly found goal to Yama. Do this and receive an invaluable asset to your rule - an asset that will protect your kingdom when you're not around. I wish you the best of luck, my king."
_________________________________________________________________________
30 minutes later…
"How was it, my king? Has your endeavor bore you a trusty aid?" Carnal asked.
"Not exactly… Mid way through, I kinda, sorta forgot the text and began winging in on the spot. Long story short, I promised him world peace through world domination and enslavement of the other races. A world where slaves would do all the work and I could do nothing. Oh and there was something about a massive harem in there as well. I dunno, I panicked and just started blurting out anything that came to head."
"What was his reaction?"
"A bunch of profanities and death treats…"
"Yes, that's to be expected. The boy doesn't like war."
"So what now? I can always ask Pain to tamper with Yama's memories a bit, but, seeing as you're the kid's mother, I doubt that it would fly with you…"
Carnal sighed. "I'll go down to him and try smoothing things out between the two of you, if that doesn't help, we'll ask lady Pain for assistance."
"Are you really okay with tampering with your own kid's head? That's a bit harsh even for you…"
"That's the last resort. While I love Yama to pieces, he is instrumental to the peace and stability of not just this kingdom, but the world itself."
"So, what do I do now?" I asked.
"You've just returned from a long trip, I believe that young mis is waiting for you. Go to her, rest a bit while I deal with the issue at hand, after that, until you leave this world, I'll teach you the inner workings of a kingdom and the basics of how to be a satisfactory king." Carnal bowed and left.
If you overlook her occasional lustful outbursts, Lady Carnal is a perfect aid. I wonder why the elven oracle is such a nuisance then?
Lucky for me, Carnal managed to persuade Yama to work for me on his own free will, the rest of my stay in the Icathian kingdom was like that of a king - paperwork. Mountains and mountains of paperwork. I had to familiarize myself with everything pertaining to the Icathian kingdom from taxes to military, agriculture, climate and so on.
Lucky for me, Lady Carnal was always there to help, unlucky for me - she was the one that was forcing me to do this work in the first place. My newly formed relationship with Elizabeth was pushed to the back, my sleep schedule of sleeping for twelve hours a day was also cut to barely eight. I was suffering, it felt like I was back at school, but the school was on steroids and I was actually forced to do stuff in it and not just sleep on the desk. It was hell.
My only salvation was Liz, who brought me tea laced with cyanide whenever I felt tired and the thought that I had less than a week of this before going home. But then I'd remember that I'd have to financially ruin a major family in the world of finance without any real capital or technical know-how.
And so, my hell continued until one day lady Carnal entered the study with a box. "The artifact is finally complete, your ticket home is before you. Please enjoy this respite, however short it might be and remember that this world still desperately needs your power. You are the hope of not only us - demons, but the world itself. Please remember tha…"
"Okay, okay, I get it, you can stop now. I know just how good you are at talking by now." I opened the box to see a silver ring with a red, translucent gem embedded in it.
"This is the 'dimensional gate' artifact - it allows you to open a gate between this world and that of your own." Carnal said. "You can take as many people and things through the gate, while it's open, as you please, but you - as the one opening and maintaining the gate - will have to bear the burden of those that come with you and I don't mean their weight."
"Simplify it for me please." I said.
"In essence, the more people you take with you - the worse the backlash that you receive will be. Your body is tough, your regeneration is fast, but, if you're not careful, the portal will rip you to pieces."
I sighed. "Can I take Liz and the rest with me? I promised them to show my world."
"That shouldn't be a problem. But do try to never transport more than nine people including yourself simultaneously."
"Understood."
I rounded up my companions, packed my dimensional ring with things that we might or might not need and turned to Liz. "Are you ready? To see the world I came from? To see my home?"
"Yes, I never thought that the day would actually come." Elizabeth answered with a smile.
"One more thing." Lady Carnal said. "The ring…" She pointed at the 'dimensional gate' artifact. "Never take it off. Every journey will drain its energy completely. It is designed to refill by absorbing mana from the wearer. While empty - the gem will be white, when full - it will turn crimson. That will be your reminder to open the gate."
I nodded and opened the gate. We were immediately transported to a field with a single road cutting it. It was night. Where the hell are we? I looked around, then it hit me - we were on a field trip out of town when the whole bus was teleported - meaning that we are in the middle of nowhere. Fuck.
"I expected your world to be vastly different from the one we know, but it's surprisingly similar." Elizabeth said.
"It's different, believe me, it's just that we're nowhere near civilization at the moment." I said.
"No need to worry, we can simply fly to the nearest city." Pain proclaimed.
"If we want to cause mass hysteria, then yeah, but I'm far too tired to deal with the consequences." I said.
"Then what do we do?" Lilia asked.
"Simple…" I answered. "We walk."
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