Chapter 188: Chapter 188
After that, Belissar and Chief Rohsuak discussed further details. Peace and trade was great and all as an overall goal…but it turned out there was a lot more to be considered for a discussion than Belissar thought.
First of all, there was no guarantee that King Ratuatapi would agree to that sort of relationship. If he refused to trade, would Belissar try to convince him or let him be? If he made demands of his own, would Belissar consider them? If he claimed the Underway beyond the rot cap field, what would Belissar say? What if he claimed land above ground that Belissar’s Tower had purified? What if King Ratuatapi demanded access to Belissar’s Tower? What if he wanted to become a sworn defender as well? What if he claimed authority over Belissar’s Tower?
And if none of that occurred and King Ratuatapi agreed to trade…then there was whole new set of questions. What was Belissar willing to trade? What would he never trade even if asked? What prices would he accept? How often did he want to trade? What would he do if King Ratuatapi attempted to cheat them?
And then, finally, the question arose of what Belissar would do if the talks broke down and came to blows. If this King Ratuatapi became hostile, how would Belissar respond?
Belissar could listen in and even speak with the karnuq when they went to talks, but Chief Rohsuak pointed out that most of this should be determined ahead of time. It would leave them at a disadvantage in the talks if they had to stop and discuss everything that occurred…and they may not have the chance. In the case of trade, it would be wise to bring some samples of what they could offer, which therefore needed to be prepared ahead of time. And in this case of talks breaking down and turning violent…well, the karnuq wouldn’t have the chance to calmly ask Belissar what he wanted them to do.
And, of course, while Chief Rohsuak was willing to offer advice, it was ultimately Belissar that had to answer all of those questions.
They managed to answer enough of them to proceed with the negotiations tomorrow, but Belissar found himself utterly exhausted. That had been a lot of decisions to make for someone who spent most of his life being told what to do. And even the Tower rarely presented more than a few options at a time.
Speaking of which…he had over four-thousand DP at the moment. It had slipped his mind, but he was ready to purchase a new monster or room or room feature at any point. Which he would do…later. He had just finished the long meeting with Chief Rohsuak, after all.
Belissar instead set to work prepping some more mead jars. He had plenty of mana honey, the limiting factor was the number of jars that came with the Apiary farmhouse. He thought about trying to make some barrels…but he wasn’t particularly an expert on that. Funnily enough, barrels were one of the few things the village had been willing to give him in both numbers and good quality…probably so that he’d have mead for them to take later on. He could probably work something out with wax and propolis, which he’d try later on. For now, he just wanted something to do that was simple and straightforward.
What would he do if it came to that? If his bees had to start killing people…or if people started killing his bees? He knew that if he ever encountered the Tower Lords he would have to face that scenario…but in recent times he had grown less worried about them, since Chief Rohsuak seemed to indicate they were far, far away. But now, the possibility had suddenly become very real. More real because Chief Rohsuak had asked him what he would want to do should it happen.
Making decisions that could end the life of people and bees both. Belissar was once again reminded of how woefully unqualified he was for the job. For the first time in a long time, he even wished he was a Tower Lord, or that one of them were here. They might have been terrible people, but at least they were prepared to deal with such matters.
He finished his mead work all too quickly, and so turned to his tower sight, just letting it wander through his Tower. He watched as gardener bees flew among the flowers, guiding and directing the other workers to the various flowers. He watched the bumblebees spin about and cover themselves in pollen before flying to the next flower. He watched the First of the Fifth conferring with her daughters as her workers crawled and flew in neat lines. He watched as soldier bees lifted wooden planks onto the roof of a stone house as the karnuq finished the walls. He watched Juosiutik talking quickly to a worker bee while she stirred a pot. He watched the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter dancing with a drone of all things as the joint hive spread across the trees of the Orchard. He watched the Second First of the First greet the first squad of bumblebee soldiers as they flew to the battle meadow, the entire soldier bee army pausing for a moment to gaze upon their newest, giant sisters. He watched lancers dive, soldiers fly, and sprayers spray all while communers flared their mana and a queen danced commands. He watched Beero lead the wounded soldiers in yet another lightning dance. He watched the burning bees happily flying amongst the ash and flames of the lava field.
He took a deep breath and frowned. No, no he did not wish a Tower Lord was here. He had a feeling that no Tower Lord would have built a Tower . And perhaps they would have made something better…but it would not have been the Bee Tower he had grown to love. This was his Tower, his bees, and his people.