Most members of Minas Mar were assembled in the magical ballroom of the wizard tower. This was no official event, so most people wore leisure clothing. There would be an official ball later on, but that would be just for show. This one was the important party.
"Let's make this short so we can start drinking. I'm glad most of the teams managed to make it back, more or less successfully," the blacksmith started his toast. The only ones that didn't come back were Mike and his team.
Although they could have made it back easily, getting back to the point in the Unclaimed Mountains afterward would have taken ages. Apart from them, everyone had temporarily or permanently returned for the party, except Marco, who stayed at the Cloud Continent.
"We welcome back Jane and her party, who have managed to succeed in the diplomatic mission to the Perrerian Continent. We also welcome back Paolo, who has managed to come back to us after being thrown into the Pathworks..." he paused for a moment. "And I think those are enough reasons to celebrate today. Let's party!" the bard said shortly and officially started the welcome party and quickly joined Fin and Mina on the side.
"You were thinking of announcing our engagement, right?" Mina asked with a teasing smile.
"No...." Seth whispered back in denial.
"No need denying it, you almost did," Fin said with a chuckle.
"Okay, but I remembered in time," he defended himself. After all, the three had agreed to announce their triple engagement once Mike returned from his mission. Mina wanted her brother to be present when they re-announced such a huge step in her life. The atmosphere almost made him forget the promise.
She simply nodded with a sweet smile before they threw themselves into the evening of drink and dance, forgetting all responsibilities for one night.
...
The party went as parties go. Booze was flowing in rivers, music, dance, and good food did the rest to catapult everyone into a comatose state by the end of the day, and a catatonic stupor of regret or content in the morning after(depending on how much alcohol they had).
Still, after some potion support, Seth was on his feet and ready to meet Monique. However, they didn't meet at his workshop. This wasn't about her armor, but a proper mission debrief with her, Jane, and Jonah.
Although there had been regular reports, they went over everything the expedition had found out and accomplished on this mission. Among the information they skimmed over were the geographical makeup of the foreign continent, the general political climate, and their factions.
The whole continent on the other side was governed by the Perrican Empire, which held most of the land directly, while also acknowledging several vassal nations. Apart from the national power, there were two more notable factions, the Church of Dawn and the Magic College.
Church of Dawn was its official name, but it was also called the Church of Light and similar stereotypical names. What god exactly they served was still unknown. The clerics like to act as an opposition to secular power, but Monique and the rest found out that they actually had a tacit relationship with the Imperial Family.
It was a similar story for the college, which took an independent stance on the continent, despite being officially under the control of the imperial family. It resembled a ministry with far-reaching rights and specific duties. Their main focus was on developing ways to fight the dungeons and demons.
The demons were a power Jane and the others were unable to find out much about. Although they were apparently a huge threat, talks focused more on the dangers of the dungeons than the demons, despite Monique literally being attacked by one.
As for their accomplishments: After Jane's meeting with the emperor and various follow-up meetings with the prime ministers and his staff, she had come to a trade agreement that would be able to ease Minas Mar's food shortage while the granaries of Delta and Ypselon were being repaired.
They had also made an arrangement to send people to the Magic College to learn about their Titans, as they called their mechs and power suits. Although they were more interested in the magic crafting stations that allowed the foreign continent's non-magicians to engineer the massive armors.
Joannia Taggert had already set off with a group of technicians from Epsilon and Ypselon, to visit the college.
"And what happened to your prisoner when you departed?" Seth asked her after they went over all the basic information. Since the natives didn't talk much about the demons, this would have been the only reliable source. It would have been a shame if the prisoner had been handed over to the church after all, after the trouble they went through.
"Oh, we brought it. I thought maybe one of us has a better chance of interrogating it," the chosen of Athena answered nonchalantly.
"They let you bring it back, just like that?" Mary asked, also surprised by the sudden revelation.
"Not necessarily just like that..." Jonah said vaguely.
"Someone may or may not have kidnapped the prisoner from their cell and left a different present for them," Monique said with a smirk.
"Wait, wait! This is the first time I heard about this. You guys kidnapped the demon, brought it with us, without telling anyone?" Jane asked, upset. "This will cause a diplomatic scandal! What do you think they will do with the diplomats we left behind, with Joannia and the technicians?" the merchant asked, incensed.
"Don't worry, we aren't stupid," Monique said with a shrug, unperturbed by the possible consequences. It was pretty clear that she had no interest in giving the foreign nobles and clergy the satisfaction of having outlasted their patience.
"We made it look like the demons rescued their friends. Some hypnotism, illusion, some blood magic, it really wasn't that hard. The mask helped a lot. The person currently taking the place of the demon in the cell was the guard standing in front. If they find him, he will tell them about a demonic figure that struck him down," Jonah explained confidently. Talking this much made it seem like he no longer minded the voice change the mask caused.
"Well, good thing we are already awaiting a specialist in extracting information. What was their name again, Ybsericht? When they come to look into the legends, we can also have them take a look at the demon," the blacksmith said, not caring about the diplomatic worries.
"...Fine, at least then we can deny any involvement, since nobody but those two knew..." Jane said. She still had some gripes, but realized that there was no point bringing them up now.
"Where did you put the demon?" Leana asked for the prisoner's location.
"We handed him to some Oathguards when we returned; he should be at the holding cells of the embassy," Jonah answered readily. Although the secret extraction of their captive seemed a little rash, they didn't go as far as bringing an unknown, volatile element down into Minas Mar.
They talked for a while longer to flesh out the details, and when Seth was about to go for a private talk with Monique about her armor, there was one last topic Leana just had to bring up.
"Jonah, since Monique will be receiving a different armor from the Sky Dragon Set, would you mind if Seth made that set for Cade instead?" the princess asked, friendly.
Although Jonah could be counted as a magic swordsman, the Sky Dragon Set actually didn't interest him. The reason was simple: he mostly relied on physical attacks and the
The power of the
"No, no really, why do you ask?" the vampiric swordsman asked, a little puzzled.
"On that note, did you already speak with Cade about your plans?" the demonic bard asked with a hidden edge in his words.
"I-I was going to do so right after this..." Leana said defensively.
"And you, Seth, did you meet Cade yet?" Mary asked him, but the blacksmith had a clean conscience.
"I'm busy, I will talk with her when Leana is done," Seth said with a shrug. Although Cade was supposed to be here, he had not seen her at the party, and going to Gamma to look for her seemed like a waste of time when Leana had not done so first.
"Anyway, Monique and I have stuff to talk about. Leana should deal with her business first," the blacksmith said and hurriedly left the room, leaving a conflicted Leana and a confused Jonah behind. They still had not explained what that question was about.