[X] "Well, they did bow to me earlier. Which was odd, since I was killing quite a lot of them at the time."
- [X] Otherwise just ignore Vivio.
- [X] Suggest evacuating the planet and using it for training purposes.
You stare at Vivio for a moment before shrugging. "Well, a lot of them did bow to me earlier. A little odd, since I was a bit engaged with killing quite a lot of them at the time -" Vivio slams her fist on the table and grins fiercely.
"See! See, she admits it! She -"
"Vivio." Unlike Verossa, Carim doesn't use Vivio's title, but whether the Sankt-Kaiser recoils so suddenly because of that or because of Carim's tone you aren't sure. You do notice that Verossa and Hayate, for some reason, sit up just a little straighter and look just a shade paler than normal. Are they afraid of Carim? "Vivio, such actions are not proper for a person of your rank. If you wish to accuse Flandre Scarlet of being involved with the Night-Demons, you and I can draft a letter requesting an investigation into her activities and send it to the Bureau. Later." Vivio stares at her for a moment, then beams happily and hops forward to hug Carim tightly. Verossa puts one hand to his face, and Fate and Hayate both frown worriedly.
"Yes! Yes, thank you, Carim!" Vivio smiles victoriously at you and bounces into her seat, wiggling happily.
"Vivio, please calm down." The Sankt-Kaiser pouts for a moment before taking a deep breath and sitting properly. "Thank you. Now, back to the purpose of this meeting. Hroth is a semi-independent world - not administered by the Bureau, and not directly controlled by the Church - but it is under the Church's protection. Moreover, Vivio's presence and actions have led the leaders of the world to the conclusion that not only is she the Sankt-Kaiser of the Church, but also a 'true' Sankt-Kaiser of Belka. They have decided to fully integrate with the Church, opening their libraries and actually helping our researchers. And now this world is a holy place - not only is it a place where we know the Sankt-Kaisers of Ancient Belka fought personally, it is also a place where the current Sankt-Kaiser has fought to protect people. We do not wish to abandon it, nor will we abandon its people. However, we are well aware that the Church alone does not have the resources to protect the people on this planet, not unless we can stop these 'Night-Demons.' And so we wish to ask the Administrative Bureau for assistance in finding some way to prevent their incursions, if not destroy them completely." She looks at Hayate as she speaks, and Hayate winces and falters as the Knight continues her speech. Silence reigns for a long moment after Carim stops talking, and then Hayate looks up unhappily.
"The Bureau Directors have been discussing the issue for several days, and so far no conclusion has been reached. One prominent belief, although still a minority, is that these 'night demons' are an intelligent, indigenous non-human species from this planet, somehow able to hide themselves from Bureau detection efforts. That school of thought is arguing that the planet be ceded to them and they be allowed to access to improved infrastructure and the like." Carim pales, and Vivio glares almost as fiercely at Hayate as she had been at you. "Like I said, that faction is a minority, and most of their support comes from people trying to … 'fix' the Bureau's image, rather than real believers. Once information about what the night-demons have done becomes more widespread, it should lose support and collapse. The currently leading faction, however, is … not much better, from your point of view." She hesitates, clearly uncomfortable. Fate clears her throat gently.
"They believe that the night-demons should be classified as a kind of Lost Logia. They want the planet evacuated and cordoned off, apart from expeditions to try studying the planet and the night-demons more thoroughly. Or, possibly, a permanent ban on the planet, to prevent the night-demons from spreading to other planets, if that is possible." Carim closes her eyes and breathes slowly.
"What about using it for a training ground?" Everyone looks at you - Vivio going back to her glare - and you shrug. "Evacuate it, because if the night-demons can't be stopped from coming out wherever there's a place for their portals, anyone who isn't a well-trained fighter is just going to die." Militarizing the planet might work, but it's unlikely that the Bureau would ever seriously consider using Gadget Drones on the scale they would be needed to protect the currently-existing cities and towns, let alone any more. "What you can do, however, is train existing fighters here, using the night-demons to blood them so they're more experienced. And once you have enough trained soldiers, maybe then you could do something about actually retaking the planet for the Church. It would still take a long time, but it's something you could actually plan for, and it would still be useful in the meantime." Hayate and Fate exchange looks.
"You didn't notice it?" You give Carim a questioning look. "When the night-demons appear in large groups, particularly the blue sub-species, the air becomes … charged. Hostile." You wave dismissively.
"Oh, the evil air. It felt kind of comfortable, actually. What about it?" Verossa lets his head sink forward into both hands and Vivio snickers maliciously. Carim sighs.
"It … distorts wide-scale magic. It doesn't disrupt it, not like an AMF, but wide-area attacks and long-range spells are less effective - unless, apparently, making them more effective would be the worse result. Spells have gone awry, missing targets they should have hit, or have become more penetrative or larger in area, harming individuals the spell was meant to assist. Unless the mage or knight is absolutely focused on performing the spell correctly, some abnormality occurs." You frown, wondering if you missed something in the reports or if that information hadn't been known then, but Fate nods.
"That is part of the reason for the attempt to get them qualified as Lost Logia. There isn't anything our sensors could detect that would cause such divergences. Devices noted the effects, but couldn't identify the cause, so there's no way to correct for them. That means that rescue attempts would be … difficult. Unless we pulled out troops the moment it looked like something could go wrong, we would risk a magical mishap of some kind." You nod.
"And if you pull them out that early, why bother using such a dangerous place to train. Yeah, yeah …." You scowl at the table. Another long moment passes until Carim coughs gently. You look up at her.
"I did say that we do not wish to abandon the planet, and that we wanted to find some way to stop the attacks, if possible. Destruction of the night-demons is not a necessity." She takes a deep breath. "… Flandre Scarlet. As the Sankt-Kaiser pointed out, as the atrocities committed bear out, and as you yourself have said - there seems to be a connection between you and the night-demons. Is there any way you can think of that we could establish some kind of contact with them, and would you be willing to come with us, to show them that our intention is communication, and not necessarily violence?" You stare at her. She knows - she has to know - where you first met them. Verossa, too, probably does. So the phrasing of the question … you narrow your eyes and glance at the sullen Sankt-Kaiser, the only one in the room not watching you. Does she know, and is Carim phrasing her question to allow you the chance to avoid the little brat?
What do you do?
[ ] Tell her about the forest.
- [ ] Volunteer to go along as spokesperson.
- [ ] But you won't go with them.
[ ] Sorry, but you can't think of anything.
[ ] Other?
