The council obviously didn’t expect Kaldalis to be there. They all gave him sidelong looks as he entered. But none of them made any comment as Garyung brought him in. Kaldalis wasn’t sure if it was everyone resigning themselves to the new expedition leader’s quirks or sullen silence.

The room was a near-copy of the original meeting chamber, with one large table surrounded by chairs. There was only one major change; the chamber was now on the second floor rather than the ground level.

Garyung nudged Kaldalis towards a vacant chair on the left side of the large table, near the door. When Kaldalis moved in that direction, Garyung stepped around to the head of the table. “Let’s begin,” he said in a formal tone.

Ikzoz was the first to speak. “Before we get to the most immediate matter at hand, we do have a few outstanding issues worth discussing.” He paused for a moment to cast his gaze over the table before he resumed talking. “Foremost among them, still outstanding is the matter of our former expedition leader.”

Kaldalis tried not to flinch at the mention of Onirioago, but knew he’d failed when Ikzoz gave him a sympathetic look.

“Our options have become much more complicated in the wake of recent events,” Ikzoz said. “Sending her back to Baimer is no longer viable, as that would not represent an international extradition. Similarly, executing her - even with a fair trial - represents killing a foreign citizen.”

Gavinkim grumbled at that, and Kaldalis was grateful for it. Being reminded that the head of the town’s security would rather kill her than let her walk free was oddly reassuring. It gave him the slimmest ray of hope that she’d never be able to make good on her threats against him.

“Unfortunately,” Garyung said, “it seems like any… permanent solution has been taken off the table.” He steepled his fingers in a way that told Kaldalis that he was getting through these meetings by pretending to be an anime antagonist. All he needed was a pair of glasses and some unnatural shadow. “We will have to bide our time with her for now.”

“Of course,” Ikzoz said, nodding. His expression did not match his calm demeanor.

Kaldalis remembered the earlier discussion he had with Garyung, about how Ikzoz’s priority was to simply hold her for an indefinite period. He found himself wondering if he could trust the man when it came to dealing with her in the long term.

But there was no time to dwell on Onirioago.

Ikzoz led the meeting through a handful of additional issues that they dealt with - or tabled - with startling efficiency. Kaldalis was suddenly surprised that Garyung had any issue as expedition leader at all. The council seemed to have everything well in hand, allowing him to sit at the head of the table making minimal input.

But eventually they got to a matter that confirmed what Kaldalis had overheard at the memorial the previous night. There hadn’t been any sign or sighting of the Infernal Horde, not even by a scouting party that Gavinkim had sent out to the Syncoresi lair after the last meeting. The issue was tabled due to a lack of options, once Ikzoz pointed out that all they could do was acknowledge the issue and keep abreast of any developments going forward.

It seemed worrying. Kaldalis knew there had been runners. He’d seen them flee. They couldn’t just vanish because the game said they were defeated, right?

The only time Garyung had to make any choices was when Ikzoz gave Sardol the floor to discuss upgrade priorities for the town. Despite his best attempts, the Bhogad was visibly stressed by the questions, but Sardol boiled all the options down to a few obvious forerunners.

Cotanaku could invest in a multitude of areas, including developing as a cultural center or as a mercantile hub. Sardol immediately dismissed both options due to the town’s remote location and the political ramifications of taking such stances until matters were resolved with the Kingdom of Zara.

He instead put forth three possible routes for Garyung to push the town towards. They reminded him of 4X game options.

First was defense. Strengthening the town’s security with improvements to the walls, barracks, and armory. It would be an important step towards making Cotanaku a bastion.

Kaldalis didn’t like that option. It sounded like they’d be preparing for war, and the representatives from Zara would know it.

Second was to fund explorers. They could stockpile resources in order to found another camp farther inland to extend the reach of adventurers exploring the jungles. With other outposts, they would be able to better claim the land. It was a good option to expand and grow, without overtly declaring war.

Another outpost meant more quests, too, and some of them could be higher level. It might make it easier to uncover more dungeons, too.

The third option was to focus on self-sufficiency. It demanded focusing on establishing sustainable farmland and improving the existing facilities for normal day-to-day activities.

To Kaldalis, this felt like the “do nothing, get nothing” option. They wouldn’t really be expanding or growing, nor would they be bolstering their defenses or preparing for war.

It would be safe.

And safe was boring.

Garyung looked intensely uncomfortable by the question, and couldn’t help himself from looking to Kaldalis for direction. Instead of laughing, Kaldalis gave a slight nod at the idea of stockpiling resources for another encampment, and Garyung caught it and went with that option.

Kaldalis figured that stockpiling resources would enable them to redistribute the materials if they changed their mind. And if they followed through on it, pushing for more exploration was going to be the biggest help to the most adventurers, especially Balrim and Myrin.

After that came the topic Garyung had warned Kaldalis about: matters of foreign affairs. Garyung was ready for this after their conversation before the meeting, though, and cut the discussion short with brutal efficiency.

“It’s not the time to discuss it,” Garyung said, leaning down so that his steepled fingers could hide his expression. “We need to build facilities to accommodate incoming diplomats, envoys, and ambassadors, but making larger decisions regarding our relationships with them is inappropriate until we’ve reached a satisfying resolution with Zara.”

Kaldalis was impressed by that. Not only had Garyung diffused the discussion, but true to their discussion, he’d committed to keeping his options open in a way that wouldn’t show his hand or upset the Zaran diplomats.

“I agree,” Ikzoz said, gesturing to Sardol. “Please add such facilities to our construction queue sooner rather than later. The Svjetlo ambassador needs a place to stay. I’m happy to host her, but she has proven slightly…”

“Yeah,” Fiolomena cut in with a little cackle. “The less said about her, the better.”

Kaldalis wasn’t sure what any of that meant, having not met the ambassador. But the council seemed eager to move on at all costs, which only alarmed him more.

“Which brings us to our final point,” Ikzoz said, gesturing to the door.

When no one immediately responded, Kaldalis decided to take the initiative. He hopped up and moved to open the door.

Outside the room were the Zaran diplomats, now without their obvious retinue of guards. They stood up wordlessly and filed into the room while Kaldalis held the door.

Ikzoz gave Kaldalis a grateful smile for the move, and he was glad he’d jumped to help.

When the diplomats sat down, there were no seats remaining for Kaldalis. He assumed the expectation was for him to leave, but instead he moved around to the head of the table, standing behind Garyung. If the man was pretending to be Gendo Ikari, Kaldalis was happy to be an accessory for that, positioning himself on the man’s flank and standing at parade rest.

Now that he had the time to stand aside and let the meeting go forward, Kaldalis had a chance to actually see the group of them. There were five total, and Kaldalis could almost guess at their roles.

There was the human man in the flashy red jacket who had been the captain of the ship that had brought them all in. But he seemed to be at the edge of the group, obviously being treated with the same dismissive hand that Filomena had experienced with the rest of the expedition’s council.

Another was one woman in armor, obviously Gavinkim’s counterpart as the captain of their security team. She was a Suyon, but despite her size she projected a presence that spoke of a constant itch for battle.

The remaining three of the group were dressed very similarly.

The first one his eyes set on made his heart skip a beat. She looked nearly like Onirioago’s twin as a Vathon with aggressively curled horns, red skin, and an outfit that drew attention to her feminine assets. But instead of armor with a cleavage window, she was dressed in a pastel blue suit with dark blue accents and just one too many buttons undone on her undershirt. Despite her resemblance to the former expedition leader, she had a kind - but professional - smile as she looked over the council.

Next to her was another Vathon, and this one’s more understated dress style had Kaldalis unsure of their gender, given the race’s lack of sexual dimorphism. They had an hourglass figure and smooth adrogynous features. This Vathon wore the same blue-on-blue suit as the woman, but had it buttoned up to the collar. Their skin was the color of a merlot wine, and their expression was severe and pinched in a way that gave the impression that they were very unhappy to be here, but doing their best to hide it.

Then again, it was possibly just the way their face looked all the time.

The man who sat at the far end of the table, opposite Garyung, was obviously the leader of the group. He was a Talsar with swept-back horns that almost looked like an impression of an 80’s businessman’s slicked-back hair. His scales were a similar shade of red as Balrim’s, but scattered across the exposed parts of his hide, one scale in every five was banana yellow in stark contrast to the lightish red of the rest. He wore a suit that had additional embellishments that the others lacked, including decorative piping along the shoulders and chest.

“So,” the Talsar at the head of the group began, “how will we be moving forward?”

“We will be assigning an envoy to your camp,” Ikzoz said in a firm voice. “They will be your conduit for communication to this council, and be responsible for managing and organizing the efforts of the adventurers. They will also take personal responsibility for their behavior and conduct in your camp.”

The Talsar nodded as if he expected the answer. “Good, good. And who will this envoy be?”

Ikzoz didn’t answer, and instead turned to Garyung. From behind him, Kaldalis couldn’t see his expression, but could only picture him with an anguished grimace behind his steepled fingers. He hadn’t had time to come up with an alternative, and now he was stuck with the job of buying himself some time as diplomatically as possible.

Of course, Kaldalis would never learn his lesson when it came to expectations.

“There’s only one choice,” Garyung said. “To send anything less than our best would be an insult, and nothing is more important to us than making things right with the Kingdom of Zara.” He gestured to the side. “Kaldalis will be our envoy.”

Kaldalis couldn’t stop himself from staring at the back of Garyung’s head in disbelief.

Betrayal.

He quickly got his reaction under control, and hoped the damage wasn’t already done. An outburst at this moment wouldn’t just undermine Garyung’s leadership, but would put the entire town at risk depending on how the Zaran’s interpreted his objection.

“Kaldalis is indeed one of the best we have to offer,” Ikzoz confirmed. “He is well-equipped to handle the position, and I can think of no other as highly-regarded among his peers. I hope this won’t be a problem.”

The diplomats looked Kaldalis over, and he could see a mixture of dismay and displeasure on the faces of the armored Suyon woman and the clean-cut Vathon. The Talsar leader and the Vathon woman seemed impassive to him, but the Human captain got a visible grin ear-to-ear.

Kaldalis remembered meeting the man when he arrived on the pier and giving him directions, which apparently was more than enough to make a winning impression.

“I’m honored to accept the position,” Kaldalis said with a bow, trying to grin and bear it without grinding his teeth.

The larger struggle, though, was not coming up with immature and childish ways he would seek his revenge on Garyung. This sort of thing could not go unpunished.