After reinforcing the spells in Dez's tent, I cast a barrier over the demons' camp to protect them from any outside attacks for a short while. Then, I teleport us all back to the conference room at the elven palace, but I demand that Dez discard any weapons.
Upon arriving, I am surprised to see Elira, Dargo, and Ilina still using the conference for their personal discussions. They are equally surprised to see me, but especially to see Dez.
"Mizuki, what is the meaning of this!? Did you teleport a demon into the same room as our queen without telling anyone!?" (Dargo)
Elira is also seemingly nervous, as well as Ilina, but they're just looking at me expectantly.
"Relax, Dargo, the situation required it, and I made sure he came unarmed. This is Dez, and from what I can tell, he's kind of the de facto ruler of the demons." (Mizuki)
The elven royals look shocked, but before any of them can speak further, I turn to Dez and continue.
"Dez, this is the King and Queen of the Elven Kingdom. Let me make myself clear…you're here as my guest, and if you take even the slightest hostile action towards anyone here, I will kill you before you can achieve it. As their leader, I'll also have to assume that your actions reflect the will of the demons' armed forces and…act accordingly. Is that clear?" (Mizuki)
Ilina gives me a shocked expression mixed with concern, and I think I know why. I sigh internally.
[It's okay, Ilina, I'm bluffing. I'm not going to slaughter his people over one individual's actions, so please quit looking at me like I'm a monster. He doesn't know that, though, and I want him to behave himself.] (Mizuki)
Ilina's face relaxes, and I receive an apologetic smile. Dez begins to break out in a cold sweat and nods vigorously, then kneels towards Elira and Dargo.
"King and Queen of the elves, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to speak with you today, and I give my word that I will not cause trouble during my visit. I only wish to clear up this misunderstanding with your kingdom and beg for your assistance." (Dez)
Elira's and Dargo's faces contort in shock, then glance between Dez and me in confusion.
"Mizuki, even if all that is true, this behavior is still completely unacceptable. There are proper protocols that must be adhered to for discussions between country leaders." (Elira)
Under normal circumstances, I'd be a bit more deferential to their feelings and customs. In this situation though…
"Sorry, Elira, but to be frank I don't care about your long-winded customs that serve no meaningful purpose at a time like this. I brought him here because I consider it urgent that you talk to one another. If you decline this opportunity, I will respect your wishes and simply return Dez to the demons. However, I will consider that justification to stop consulting you on how I deal with the situation, since your refusal would be a clear indication that you either don't trust my assessment or don't care if it's urgent." (Mizuki)
Elira and Dargo go pale, and their mouths drop open in shock at my blunt dismissal of their concerns. Ilina is looking at me with annoyance, like I could have handled it better, but I also see resignation in her expression.
"Mother, Father, I know that was more than a little rude of Mizuki, but I think you should just listen to him. I've only ever seen him act like this the night he found out about the elven slaves and came to visit me. I tried to dissuade him from doing anything reckless to aid them, but he'd already made up his mind. I can only assume that this is another situation where he feels so strongly about the right course of action and the stakes that your protests would be completely wasted. Am I right, Mizuki?" (Ilina)
I smile at her affectionately and nod my agreement and my thanks. Elira seems to have recovered enough to respond.
"Very well, ruler of the demons. Since Mizuki seems intent on this discussion taking place here and now, we'll condone it for that reason alone. Our understanding is that you plan to invade our country and wage war with the backing of Veyron. We've seen dragon-kin among your military encampment, large-scale ship building operations on your eastern coast, and three of our elven soldiers sent to contact you never returned. How else do you explain all this?" (Elira)
Dez concisely recounts for everyone else in the room what he told me about their current situation and how they arrived at it. Dargo's face is a mix of sympathy and skepticism, and Elira is just skeptical.
"Mizuki…do you have reason to believe that what he says is true?" (Elira)
Elira eyes me intently.
"I'd say that's certainly more likely than them intending to wage war. First, while the so-called demon army was largely armed troops, there were also civilians among them, including many children protected in the center of the camp. Second, I saw no dragon-kin in the camp during my visit. Third, I was able to confirm the presence of a strong force located near the demons that were, in fact, not other demons. Finally, when I told him that Nina was an Elder Dragon, the hate in his eyes was palpable, as you'd expect if his story were true." (Mizuki)
Dargo nods his agreement following this new information, and Elira looks troubled. I figure this is a good time to interject.
"Dez, can you think of any reason for Veyron's sudden change in behavior? You've been coexisting peacefully for millennia, right? Did resources become scarcer in his original territory? Did some demons do something to earn his ire? Did he say anything about why he wants total control of the continent?" (Mizuki)
Dez shakes his head sadly.
"No…he did not. However, I'm confident that it's not because of any of the reasons you suggested. The only information we have was from one of the survivors of the first attacks. Veyron only commented that 'this continent will be better than the ice continent', but we don't know what purpose he has in mind for either." (Dez)
The ice continent…isn't Cerilia there? Further thoughts are interrupted by Nina.
"Fufufu…Veyron is truly foolish. His ego has been shattered by Cerilia it seems." (Nina)
Is she saying that Veyron is committing genocide…over his ego?
"Nina…are you telling me that glorified lizard is exterminating an entire race over something petty related to Cerilia? Like what, exactly?" (Mizuki)
"Perhaps he is just insecure about Cerilia having an entire continent to herself. Maybe he also thinks that claiming the continent will entice her to see him as enough of an equal to challenge to a fight, or to mate with. Cerilia is desired as a mate by Veyron and Halzar, but she has shown no interest in them. All I can say for sure is that letting his fragile pride drive such a petty action would be very in character for him." (Nina)
Dez is looking at Nina in disbelief. I don't blame him…his people might have been the subject of near genocide because some horny lizard has the emotional development of a middle schooler. I sigh deeply…this is going to be a pain.
"Nina, what would likely happen, in terms of the dragon-kin, if Veyron were to die?" (Mizuki)