Spending My Retirement In A Game

Eisen stepped out onto the ship's main deck. He took a deep breath, smelling the fresh ocean air, as the sound of the bustling port grew louder and louder. Since the last time that Eisen had been here, the port had grown incredibly. Since Prototype was the capital of an archipelago country like Asgard, it made sense of course.

Not only were there a lot of materials and items coming in and out of prototype, but a large amount of people and monsters were traveling to and from the island. In the roughly two months that Eisen had been gone, it seemed like prototype's population more than doubled and became much, much more diverse.

Slowly, the ship came to a halt in the area of the docks specifically reserved for Eisen's ship, the 'royal vessel'.

As the ship approached the port, Eisen was able to see two figures standing at the port, a faint blue mist still clinging to them. One of them being the dutiful Town Core Guardian Serio, while the other was the strict and imposing Country Core Guardian, or practically Eisen's secretary, Girland.

Once the ship came to a halt and the bridge connecting to the port itself was set up, allowing those still within the dungeon to finally head out back onto the land of their hometown, Eisen also stepped down and was immediately faced with a deep bow from both Girland and Serio.

"We welcome you back, your Majesty," they said in unison, but Eisen just let out a deep sigh. He still wasn't perfectly comfortable with things like this, but he knew that he couldn't stop that from happening when these two were involved.

"I'm glad to see you two again. How were you while I was gone?" Eisen smiled, as Girland quickly started tapping the notebook in her hand, "Quite busy, to say the least. There are a lot of matters for you to look after as well, your majesty."

"...I barely even arrived, let me take a break first, alright?" the old man asked with a wry expression, and Girland slowly nodded, "There is time for a short break, yes. But at the latest tomorrow morning, you need to take care of some matters."

Eisen slowly nodded, accepting his defeat, "Fine, fine. For now, could one of you two take care of the soldiers? It looks like the island has changed quite a bit since we've been gone, and I don't want them to be too overwhelmed."

Serio quickly agreed, "Yes, I will make sure they are accomodated properly. We already prepared all the payments for this special expedition, and due to the special circumstances they experienced, we added some extra rewards as per your wish, as was conveyed to us via Lady Xenia."

"Right, thank you. In the meantime, Girland. How are the preparations for the meeting between the Giants' country and the central continent going?" the old man asked, and Girland gave a quick nod as she replied, "Yes, it's going very well and according to schedule. The site for the meeting is currently under construction in the suggest location, your Majesty."

"And what does the sentiment from the central continent seem like?"

"...For the most part, they seem to wish to avoid war, though whether that is their true intention behind coming to this meeting is unclear. However, a large expectation from the central continent seems to be that this is an attempt from the Giants to give up before the war has even begun."

Eisen rubbed the bridge of his nose with a loud sigh, "So basically, they're going to just be asking for a ton of things from the giants, huh..? I'm guessing the Holy Empire is at the forefront of that?"

"Yes, indeed. The Holy Empire in particular seems to be expecting the giants to wholly submit. While we do not have exact details, word from Lord Komer and his information network is that the Holy Empire expects a large amount of land, money, materials, or people in exchange for ceasing the war efforts," Girland explains. Eisen groaned quietly. He really didn't like them.

They were just like the Cloud Giants, if not worse. At the very least, the Cloud Giants simply stayed away from other species and didn't mingle with them, while the Holy Empire was actively trying to exploit those they considered lesser. But before Eisen got too annoyed, Girland continued, "However, there are countries such as Litgern who have the complete opposite sentiment.

They seem to have a more clear view of the situation, hoping for a peaceful end to this situation and a great future of cooperation. Paritcularly Prince Aaron has been an open supporter of a peace treaty, vocally pushing the leaders of other countries to do the same instead of expecting a profit. He seems to be putting subtle pressure onto other countries with Litgern's commercial prowess as well."

Eisen smiled lightly. That's why he liked that kid. He was honest and upstanding and knew how to use his head well.

"That's great to hear. I hope he'll be joining the treaty meeting as well. Even if he's only been here rather recently," Eisen pointed out, remembering the fact that the countries of the central continent had already sent envoys out here not long before Eisen left to the giant country.

Girland quickly shook her head, "We have not gotten word that Prince Aaron will be joining the meeting. It will be high ministers and dukes from each country. Prince Aaron may still join, but it is unconfirmed as of now. However, and this may be a displeasure to your Majesty, Archbishop Van Horgh is joining once more, but this time joined by other Archbishops of similar ranks."

Taking a few moments to really let that fact sink in, Eisen just sighed, "Really? He didn't have enough of me the last time he was here? Rather, what's the Holy Empire's pope thinking, sending him again?"

"I assume it to be a sort of attempt at remedying the mistakes that were made by him last time. If someone else came and did so for him, it would just seem like an empty apology, would it not?" Girland suggested, "The only ones above the Archbishop whose apology would come with enough power would be the Pope himself, but he has not as much as left the Empire's capital in the past decade."

Eisen tapped his foot on the dock's cobbled stone, "I see. Well, whatever the case, we'll be able to deal with it at the actual meeting."

Girland's ears perked up, and she quickly looked up at Eisen, "Speaking of, it seems as though Lady Xenia has managed to finish her analysis your personal 'Meeting Room' just in time for your arrival."

The old man raised his brow, "Really? She did say she was close, but..." the old man let out. After Samuel's attack at the Giants' capital, Xenia had really gone all-in on the research behind the method at which the originals' hidden meeting room blocked out Samuel's perception.

It seemed like she had some sort of epiphany recently, but Eisen didn't expect her to be able to understand it all that quickly.

"I see. I'll head over to see her once I'm done with everything I need to do here then," the old man explained, "We have a new quest from the Giants' Country."

"Have you picked up another child, your Majesty?" Girland asked, glancing toward the dungeons' entrance, but Eisen just sighed and shook his head, "No, I haven't. It's an old friend of mine. I'm not sure if you know about him, but it's Khan, a Giant Swordsman."

"...Khan... the name certainly sounds familiar," Girland replied, trying to see if she could remember anything, but soon dismissing the thought, "I see. I will prepare an accomodation for him, then."

Eisen started rubbing his fingers through his beard, "About that, actually... He's affected by the giants' curse, and can't properly leave his giant size behind for too long, and not without extensive help from me. So we'd need to create a house for him to stay as a Giant."

Girland thought about it for a moment, but then just slowly nodded, "I see. There is a yet unused plot of land near the royal castle. Shall I order for a construction there? How much space will he require?"

"I don't think he needs too much. I spoke to him a bit, and he prefers spending his time outside anyway. I'll design the building later, for now just have the plot cleaned out so I can take a look later. Ah, but please have a large amount of cotton and silk prepared for me as well."

Girland quickly nodded her head, jotting the requests down in her notebook, "Anything else?"

Eisen thought about it for a few moments, and then sighed lightly, realizing that now that he was back here, he did have to finally deal with this, "I'm going to visit Ambriel soon."