Tim's POV
The capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom was larger than E-Rantel, the way that capitals were always larger than provincial cities, not necessarily better organized or more pleasant to inhabit, but more of everything, the accumulated weight of being the centre of a kingdom's political and commercial life visible in the scale of the buildings and the density of the population.
The iron gates were impressive. The line of people waiting to enter was long in the way of any major city's entry queue, the traffic of commerce and travel and migration that a capital attracted being more than the gates could process without delay. My cart did not join the line. The royal insignia on the cart's exterior was the relevant credential, and the gates opened for my cart as we easily entered.
The city people received the cart without particular interest, which made sense as my cart looked like any other noble's cart, I watched the capital's streets through the window as I watch the environments, the infrastructure, the population density distribution, the market activity, the maintenance quality of the roads in different districts, the comparison to E-Rantel's current state.
---
an hour later...
The castle was the endpoint after an hour of city navigation, the walls and architecture of the royal residence expressing the kingdom's Power through the specific choices of scale and ornamentation.
'what a waste of tax money'
The white-armored knights were arranged along a red carpet from the castle door to my cart's door with the ceremony of people who had been told that a significant arrival was expected and had prepared accordingly.
I stepped out and looked at the red carpet.
I looked at the knights.
I looked back at the Castle.
"sooooo, is anyone going to show me around ?"
Someone had decided that this level of reception was appropriate for my arrival, which meant either the king had specific reasons for wanting me to feel valued before the meeting began, or the noble court's protocol as an old butler was running to me.
Either way, I walked the carpet with the neutrality of someone who found the performance neither flattering or helpful in any way.
I was soon led to my room.
The room they put me in was comfortable with good furniture, good light, a table with nice big Cake.
The cake was genuinely good.
[Poison Failed as RESIST is too high to have any effect]
A few maids arrived about twenty minutes after I had started eating my cake, I noticed the maids were wearing sexy maids cloths.
I was twenty-five years old and I will be seduced by a noble's half-ass plot, I am not touching romance in any way in this very dark world.
An hour of cleaning that accomplished approximately nothing other than the room's actual cleanliness. The maids departed with the expression of defeat in their eyes.
Then the sexy butlers arrived a minute later.
I looked at them.
They looked at me.
"GET OUT, NOW", I Roared in Rage.
---
A few Hours later, as I was taken to the throne room.
The throne room was designed to make the person at the far end appear significant larger, the architectural communication of power through spatial relationship. The nobles flanked both sides in the arrangement of a court assembled for a formal reception, the Nobility Faction and the Royalty Faction disposed to left and right of the same room for the same purpose.
I walked up to Ramposa III.
He was as I had expected from the lore, an old, thin in the way of age rather than illness, with the particular dignity of someone who had been wearing the weight of a crown for long enough that dignity had become less a performance and more a structural feature of how he existed. His eyes when they met mine had the quality of genuine intelligence operating through his age.
"hi, the name's Tim".
The silence that followed for a loooong few minutes.
A maid appeared at my shoulder to explain the protocol.
I nodded to indicate I had heard her.
"Sorry but no, I refuse to bow to you, as I only bow to people I truely respect, and seeing the state of your kingdom, I will not bow to you"
First Prince Barbro stood up.
The first prince had the build of someone who had prioritised the physical expression of noble authority.
"How DARE a mere Peasent talk down to True Royalty, form today forward, I strip you of all you wealth, Armor and Sword, as today forth you will be a Slave to-"
Then I let out the bloodlust.
A portion of it. Enough to communicate the gap between what Barbro's privilege assumed and what he is actually dealing with.
The whole room felt it.
Gazef Stronoff moved to the king's position as he drawed his sword at me.
"Clam yourself Tim, I know better than anyone, that you care little about Barbro's words, as you bloodlust mostly aimed at the nobles".
I pulled it back.
As I let room breathed.
As King Ramposa stood up and started talking.
"Barbro, would you please leave this room, as your childish nature has ruined the mood of this meeting"
"But Fath-
Ramposa gave his first son look of a disappointed father.
Barbro got the death glare in my direction, which I received as I sticked out my tongue, as he left the throne room.
I turned to King Ramposa as I ask.
"sooo, what do you want Ramposa"
Gazef facepalmed at my bluntness.
"I simply want you Tim to join the Annual Wars, form this day forward".
The formal military engagement between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire at the Katze Plains had been running for years both sides showing up, both sides performing the engagement, neither side achieving decisive outcome, both sides returning to their respective positions having spent resources and lives in the yearly service.
"and in exchange Tim, I will reward you by giving the title of Noble".
"OH HELL NO, I won't take the title of Noble, even if you payed me"
Then I pointed at the assembled nobles.
"most of these Assholes work for the Eight Fingers, you know that right?"
The nobles started threwing insults at me.
Both factions simultaneously, the one thing they apparently agreed on that this person from a nameless orphanage standing in the throne room telling them they were complicit in criminal enterprise was an offense that transcended faction.
I ignored they're insults, as the king slowly quieted them, it took ten Whole minutes.
Ramposa turn to me and asked what I wanted.
"Ban any and all slavery in Re-Estize Kingdom"
The shock covered the Throne room.
The king said that fully banning slavery was near impossible, the practical complications of dismantling a system that was embedded in the economy and the power structures of the kingdom were real complications.
"I know, but all you need to do, is just Ban Slavery, you don't have to do anything after that"
I gave the King an unnarutal wide grin.
"I WILL HANDEL THE REST".
I extended my hand.
"do we have a deal".
Ramposa III looked at my hand for a moment with the expression of a man calculating the implications of what he was agreeing to and arriving at the conclusion that the implications were acceptable, as he took my hand.
We shook Hands.
---
Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix's POV [Emperor of the Baharuth Empire]
I read the report from The Assassin Group Ijaniya twice.
The Ijaniya organization was the finest assassination network available in this part of the world, not the only one, not the only one I used, but the finest in terms of capability and the most reliable in terms of execution. I had employed them for difficult targets before. I had never received a report that read the way this one read.
(Form this day forward we would Never take any missions involving Tim, and No amount of Coins will change that.
If you try to give us any missions near Tim, you will be Blacklist form our services)
The organization's assessment, delivered in the flat professional language that Ijaniya used for all communications, was that the target represented a category of risk that no professional compensation could justify.
I was the Bloody Emperor, and they tried to kill me many times before, but one mission with Tim, and they run with their tails between their legs.
I had sent the finest assassins available to deal with a problem and received back a letter informing me that the finest assassins available had decided that angering me was the safer bet than dealing with Tim.
'what type of Monster is this Tim guy'.
I sat at my desk and thought about what this meant for the Annual Wars.
The Re-Estize Kingdom will soon have Tim. Whatever the terms of that arrangement were and the intelligence I had about the meeting in the capital was incomplete, the reports still coming in, the practical outcome was that the Kingdom had access to a person who the finest assassination organization in the region had declined to engage with at any price.
'if all the rumor about Tim is true, than that means...'
'too bad he isn't a woman, he just naive enoght to be usefull, and too kind to backstab...truely what a waste'
The Annual Wars, in their current form, were a resource consumption exercise that produced no decisive outcome. They were useful to me for weaking the Re-Estize Kingdom.
But now was not useful enough to justify whatever the cost would be of conducting them with Tim on the opposing side.
The calculation was not complicated.
I got out blank paper. Wrote the letter. The Baharuth Empire was requesting peace talks with the Re-Estize Kingdom to discuss the end of the Annual Wars.
I sealed the letter and handed it to my personal messenger with the instruction to travel quickly.
Then I sat back and thought about Tim and what he was doing in the Re-Estize Kingdom and what the political landscape was going to look like in six months.
---
Tim [level 97]
[5 years Left till Ainz arrives to the New World]