Lord Of Puppets

(Dungeon loses control over the monsters they make... However, since his dungeon makes golems, a "tools", he can still control them.) – thought the bit nervous princess who was still keeping her pocket face straight, not showing any emotions at all.

(Many people thought that the dungeon causes stapeses to bring destruction... But that effect may not had been controlled at all?)

(I’ve heard some stories too about the dungeon not being fully aggressive and what not... If his story is true, then does that mean that there are truly dungeons that rejected their nature?)

"..."

{"Is there anything else you want to ask me about?"}

"..."

"Yes."

"About the peace."

"You said that you like it."

"Why?"

"..."

{"I simple do."}

{"Honestly speaking, I just want to have two things."}

{"Freedom."}

{"And fill me curiosity."}

{"Golems, craft, experiment and what not, those things are interesting to me and they make me somewhat happy."}

{"But I also want to learn about the outside world."}

{"The stories of old."}

{"I’m just curious about everything."}

"..."

{"And honestly speaking, I’m curios about one thing a most."}

{"What exactly is dungeon? Why were we born? Why these false instincts are telling us to destroy and expand?"}

{"I’m keep expanding my dungeon to not only survive, but also to possible find the clue to this question."}

(Hm... I don’t think he is lying.) – thought Endera.

(But there is question regarding Ariava.)

(Is she doing this because the golem wanted a peace?)

(Or maybe she wants to use that dungeon.)

(...Either way, how to use him?)

"..."

"Do you know about the incident involving the attack that was aimed at you about half a year ago?"

{"Yes. I was informed it was doing of the Warmur kingdom and their special operation force called Brutes."}

"Correct."

"However, it is unknown if there will be other nations pulling any strings."

"Our nation, the empire, was made too quickly without necessary preparations, causing the entire nation to be born extremely unstable."

"After the years of peace bough to us thanks to Ariava Brywa, we had somewhat stabilized and grown our empire."

"But, it had only been few years, and nation as big as empire is still vulnerable to attacks."

"Even with Ariava’s help, it is unknown if the war may occur."

"So, the empire needs to prepare for the possible war."

"However, the problem remains with the recruitment."

"We somewhat still cannot do large scale recruitment of people, since it would only alarm people way too soon and cause all sorts of problems."

"We can only do large scale recruitment if the war is truly about to occur."

"Not only that, but people are not easy to replace. Especially the numbers."

"1 000 people die, but you cannot just wait for new 1 000 people to be ready for action, since they need to be born and they need to grow up enough to be even have ability to be enlisted to military."

"Years."

"We are speaking about years of soldiers of not being able to refill our ranks."

"And so, I want to ask something."

"Is it possible to increase the number of the golems the empire receives from the dungeon?"

"..."

{"How much are we speaking about and what exactly kind of deal you want to make?"}

"It is just as I’ve said."

"Is it possible to give us about 50% of the produced golems to the empire?"

"..."

(50%?) – thought Thauma.

(It is a lot.)

(If I were to give that large number of the golems, the growth of my personal army will be definitely hindered.)

(...However-)

{"I’m willing to consider this offer."}

{"However, what about payment?"}

"First thing first."

"After the deal has been concluded, the dungeon won’t have to worry about sending the empire the soldiers for the set amount of time."

"Simple put, you will give us the advance payment beforehand."

"However, we will be paying you a bit for the duration where the rushed payment is done and while you are still recovering it."

{"So you are saying, that depending on how many golems I give you, I will be pardoned for the set amount of tributes, while also getting paid as I give you the extra golems before hand and while also being pardoned?"}

"That is correct."

"..."

(That deal... It does sound extremely good for me?) – thought Thauma.

(Still, we are speaking here about 50% of the golems produced.)

(Honestly, I’m still scared.)

(I’ve recovered already after the attack... But I don’t know if I could beat somebody like Brutes once again.)

(The only reason why I had won was because I caught them off guard and tricked.)

(The poison that I’ve made that caused the things to turn around wasn’t extremely deadly poison and it could be easily countered.)

(If the next attack like that were to come and the enemy had both counters for the explosive weapons and the poison... Then I may end up defeated.)

"..."

(But then again.)

(The moment I signed that contract with empire, my fate became tied to them.)

(If they are destroyed, then my death would fallow soon after.)

"..."

{"Fine."}

"!"

"You agree to this deal?" – asked the princess who was somewhat shocked with the dungeon master reply.

{"Yes."}

{"However, these kind of changes in arrangement needs to be done by the representee of the faction."}

{"The emperor and the leader of the vampire faction."}

{"They need to discuss this with me, per the contract rules."}

{"As for the details? We can talk about them when making the deal official."}

"..."

"And you truly mean that?"

{"Yes."}

"..."

"Thank you."

{"Do you have any other questions?"}

"No. I don’t. This was the main purpose of my visit in the first place."

{"Then may I ask my question?"}

"...Sure. This should be obvious, considering how many questions of my own I’ve had asked."

"..."

{"As the princess of the empire, tell me this miss Endera."}

{"Do you desire peace? Or conquest?"}

"..."

"Hm... Peace or conquest?"

"..."

"..."

"Honestly speaking, I think peace."

"But, sometimes the peace is not possible without conquest."

"I saw it myself, many times over and over again."

"Different factions, bittering between each other, even straight up aiming to kill each other in order to obtain their goal."

"Sometimes, it is kill or be killed."

"Both sides may desire a peace."

"But both of them have their own idea of peace."

"If there is really a fool who wants to raise their blade against the empire and dare to show no mercy, then in kind I will response by showing them none of mine."

"..."

{"Thank you for your honest response."}

{"This is all that I wanted to ask."}

"I see. Then this meeting pretty much concluded." – said the princess as she stood up.

"Thank you for accepting me and that sudden request of the meeting."

{"No problem."}

{"Goodbye and take care."}

Moments later, the princess Endera alongside the messenger golem headed back to the surface, where the golem led the woman through the outpost gate where her horse was waiting for her.

She mounted her horse and drove off.

"..."

(Why did he accepted that deal?) – thought Endera while riding her horse.

(If I were him, I would just straight up said no.)

(Especially after that deal regarding the Brutes’ attack.)

(I saw the damage report made by my men.)

(Good number of golems were destroyed, even boss type monsters.)

(And yet, he is willing to take that deal?)

(Does he have something to defend himself with in case of emergency?)

(...Or maybe he is trying to make sure that the empire survives?)

(If the empire falls, there is good chance that the kingdom which would try to take over his territory may end up deciding to "get rid off him" instead of using him... Is he scared of that possibility and that is why he is willing to make that offer?)

(If that is correct, then his fear is giving us a weapon right into our hands.)

(... Still, I’m worried about something.)

(Everybody is only paying attention to the Warmur and Miorio kingdoms.)

(But the other kingdoms are also making moves behind the public eyes.)

(Pion and Karana kingdoms in the west are trying to do something)

(But could they do something to us in the first place?)

(...I don’t know... But I’m more worried about nation further west that is right behind them.)

(The Ku’juo kingdom.)

(This nation is problematic because of how many powerful mages they produce, thanks to the fact that their nation has 5 extremely well made and long existing magic towers.)

(If THAT nation were to get involved, then things could end up problematic.)

(Not only that, they are much closer to these two empires... They would hear all about any mess that would be happening.)

(...If we were really left with no choice but to conquer different nations around us in order to obtain the peace, then these two empires may not really end up liking us very much and may see us as an bigger threat.)

(The last thing we really need to is these two giants to get involved.)

(Just one of these empires would be enough to straight up destroy us completely.)

"..."

(We really need to put end to this chaos as soon as possible.)

(And any war that would truly end up occurring?)

(We would need to destroy our foes as soon as possible.)

(We will have to show no mercy to one who dares to point their blade against empire.)