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Chapter 112: Arrival of Alderim
Chapter 112: Arrival of Alderim
Chapter 112: Arrival of Alderim
"Diplomacy is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip." - Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister and
8 days before the party,
Crown Prince Benton and his party arrived on Terranovis ahead of the schedule. As an ally of the new government and personal friend of the ruling leader of the giant figure within giants, Prince Benton's status dramatically changed.
From a childish and immature leader to a composed leader, Prince Benton's calculation to support the band of mercenaries changed everything afterward. At the political level, many of the nobles position themselves in a neutral switch to supporting the royal family after news of William's victory arrives at Alderim. This resulted in Prince Benton taking major control of the political influence as well as gaining a positive position on his step close to the crown.
The Alderim itself managed to take one deep breath when news of the Legellan have fallen. Due to years of war and conflict, the destruction of the enemy nation gave peace of mind to everyone including veterans and widows of the old war. Of course, this only lasted a few days as regular folks moved on to their normal life but the knowledge that a hostile nation is no more removed the weight from everyone's shoulders.
On the level of nobles within Alderim, there is still a division within. Half of the nobles who supported Prince Benton and the royal family gained a large amount of influence while those who didn't lost the opportunity and power. Not to mention the suspicion of William and his newly founded nation wasn't something the nobles were happy about as it became the greatest threat to them.
It makes sense as William possesses the most powerful military force in the world and is capable of destroying it if he wanted. The news of the victory was somewhat exaggerated but that is how news traveled, from person to person. From the massive army of giant knights to a walking cathedral and flying chariots, the story is unbelievable to many but those who witness the Terranovis swear it on their god's name.
(Note: William didn't summon the ships from the inventory since he still needs to figure out how to return to 40k. Also, there are a lot of mouths to feed if he summoned them.)
Lastly, the news of Rana Bassilo Beckett's resurrection shook the religious side. Aside from the family's horror and relief which prevented the head of the Beckett family from assembling the military at William's fortress, the religion of the New World became more complex.
The night Rana came back as a Living Saint, the world's boundary of divinity changed as a native of the New World became a servant of the foreign deity who wasn't supposed to be here at all. Through Rana, Star Child gains more strong position within the New World and didn't have to worry about losing reserve power, unlike the four Chaos gods who failed. The native deities made exceptions to Rana's conversion but made clear to Star Child that there will be no more converting of natives.
The party that came with Prince Benton was large number as Prince Benton brought 150 knights from the Order of Black Flames and 300 soldiers. Leading the knights and soldiers are newly promoted Knight Commander Sir Robert Dolven, elder son of Sir Dolven who previously fallen in the battle against Chaos Warband near Greenhill.
Next to Crown Prince is the guild representative Mia and a group of officials from different guilds. Mia came to act and represent the adventurer's guild and negotiate the establishment of the new branch within Terranovis. The final word will be determined by William and since Mia knows William, the masters of major guilds decided to send her as head representative. With them, they brought supplies and materials wagons to ease up the negotiation.
Many of the nobles came with Crown Prince including Rana's family and nobles who support the Crown Prince. Many came to Terranovis to confirm the rumor for themselves and the moment they entered the capital, they saw how wrong they are.
The welcoming ceremony of Prince Benton was assembled with a large number of Mordian Iron Guard lining up with their weapons up and discipline that could intimidate the individuals who bear harmful thoughts towards the new nation.
After Iron Guards stood Death Korps of Krieg and their signature gas masks. Since they had no need to use the artillery, Lord Creed decided to use Krieg's intimidating nature to its full effect by placing them at the end of the Astra Militarum formation. Because of capital security, the full number wasn't assembled but it was enough for who difference in power of the military forces.
Standing behind the entire formation of the Astra Militarum are groups of Imperial knights and Titans. To the left stood the Knights of the Freeblades while the right side has Warlord Titans positioning themselves to block the very sunlight. Finally, the Imperator Class Titan, the avatar of the Machine God stood in front of the entrance to the Fortress Monastery. At first many including Prince Benton thought the Imperator Class Titan was some kind of majestic statue but when the upper body lowered itself to look at the party, everyone freaked out and some even cried due to sheer fear of death in real life.
Entering through the main entrance, the Legion of Blacksouls assembled in the line of formation with bolters in front of them. The Space Marines are fully equipped with power armor but what got everyone's attention was their helmet. Glowing with blue from their visor, the Blacksouls Space Marines raise their bolters and gave salutes with their weapon the moment the first captain of the first company gave the command.
After passing the formation of the Space Marines, the edge of the stairs was held by the captains of each company with their flag bearers standing behind them to represent each company.
On top of the stairs stood William and Rana, the two most powerful people in the Terranovis. Rana is wearing her Living Sain armor while William is equipped with his terminator armor. Standing behind the edge of the power couple is Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed who oversaw the whole thing and listen to every report through his vox earpiece. The overall appearance showed the power and might of the Terranovis that which no one in this world has ever seen before.
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"Welcome to Terranovis, Crown Prince." William greets Prince Benton with his right hand out to give a handshake.
"Thank you, Lord William and it is good to see everyone once again." Taking William's hand, Prince Benton shook and accept the hospitality of his friend. The entire city cheers as citizens of the new nation welcome the delegation of the neighboring country with flower petals thrown in the air.
Seeing the handshake from the two leaders and timing it right, Lord Creed signal the pilots of the Thunderhawks to fly over the capital. With the sound of a whoosh, the nobles saw flying metal creatures flying over the fortress and leaving the white trail.
Every noble and delegate couldn't close their mouths after witnessing the capability that William possessed as well as the grand welcoming. Still, there is one person who reserved herself as she was more focused on what she could gain from this event, including the new alliance between Alderim and Terranovis.
Lady Gabriella Van Shaw, the daughter of Countess Shaw and Great Analyst of the Northern Fox covered her mouth with her fan as she smiled as she follow the rest of the nobles and entered the fortress.
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For most of the day, William and Prince Benton met with each other to negotiate how two nations will respect each other and assist if others require help. On the surface, this was the natural and proper procedure to sign the treaty between nations but secretly, William requested Prince Benton to take over the Terrnovis once he and his men leave the New World.
At this point, William has just enough ships to leave the New World. The problem is how to leave the New World and jump into the 40k universe as William doesn't know the way or path. Not to mention remembering the Star Child's order on slaying the Mother of All Evil Dragons isn't accomplished yet.
William could guess this final request from the Emperor's fragment is the final piece of the puzzle on how to leave this place and be able to travel through space. Still, The matter of leaving his people who are native to this world concerned William. For this reason, William decided to sign the secret declaration to pass post-Terranovis to Prince Benton to ensure the people have the leadership they need to continue.
Prince Benton accepts William's request with an additional condition which is watching over Lord Commissar Cain's child. This will ensure the safety of Cain's child but also make sure no one will take the advantage of the child once he or she is ready to receive the gift from Cain.
Meanwhile, Rana's family reunites with their now Living Saint once again and took their time to ask questions. The news of the religious miracle is rather uncommon overall as divinity is somewhat active in the world of magic and sword but actually having a family member becoming one is rather rare.
Rana did her best to answer the questions and demonstrate her new position to her father and family. That, of course, eases the tension but the problem once rise when Rana's mother saw bits and small clues that Rana showed without realizing.
After time passes, Rana's mother, Lady Beckett asks her daughter to sit with her privately to have a mother-and-daughter moment. Following her mother's request, Rana's family members left the room including the Sisters of Battle who were acting as maids in secret. Even though Rana rejected the idea of having the Sisters next to her, the new Sister Superior forced Rana to have maids just in case as typical Sisters are above paranoid ( And yes, maids did have weapons on them just in case).
"Rana, my dear. I can see you changed the last time I saw you but you can't hide from your mother's eyes." Said Lady Beckett as she place her teacup down and look at her daughter.
"What do you mean, mother?" Rana genuinely said to her mother as she didn't know what she meant.
"Don't you know? A clear sign of sensitivity to smell when you predict what kind of meal your maids brought. Your craving for certain types of desserts and the sudden change of temperature you felt when you shivered in the middle of a conversation. Those are early signs of pregnancy, my daughter."
"WHAT!" Hearing the shocking news, Rana paused for a few seconds before shouting with surprise.
"I'm guessing your change of physical body might have delayed the few signs but a woman's body doesn't lie no matter how changed it is. So, does Lord William know of this news?" Lady Beckett smiled but Rana is still processing the news as she didn't consider the possibility at all.
Seeing the reaction, Lady Beckett placed her hand on Rana's and begin to comfort the Living Saint. The news reminds secret until the night of the party and this event results in a path that William didn't expect to take.