"Earl Deek Deekson of Aberis!" A voice boomed out through the massive ballroom.

Servants came to take our coats, although most of us weren't wearing any. It was expected that we wore coats. Although most of the servants kept their heads down, another group that arrived at the door near the same time as us seemed to look down snobbishly at our group as they allowed the servants to take off their coats. It wasn't even of weather that needed coats, or was it? As I grew stronger and experienced the extreme environments of dungeons, my tolerance for cold and heat seemed to increase. It might have been a bit chilly, and I just no longer could feel it.

None of my girls were wearing coats either though, so I put it up to this whole thing just being a silly costume. Well, it turned out the three esmere had coats to offer. The servants addressing them gave the impression of parents undressing their kids before putting them to bed.

"What is it?" Pait glared at me.

"Ah! Nothing!"

"Remember to make as many contacts as possible at this meeting. Your servant should also mingle." The smooth-voiced esmere dignitary who came along with the two spoke up.

"I know how to be a diplomat!" Pait snapped.

I raised an eyebrow at him, and Pait's face smoothed slightly and he gave a little shake as if to say it wasn't a good time to speak. I could already guess what he wanted to say though. That other dignitary with such a smooth voice had such a calm and cool demeanor. Next to this guy, Pait was probably feeling some inadequacies. He felt a bit like a babysitter being sent along unexpectedly on such a mission.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"S-servant? You mean me?" Dav asked in surprise, her cheeks turning red.

"Mm, as a servant, most of the nobles will ignore your presence, which will allow you much more freedom than either Pait or I will have. Servants always gossip, and you will be privy to that gossip if you can ingratiate yourself to any of them. In a way, you will be able to learn more information about our connections than we can. Your job is extremely important." He explained while Pait shot him a scathing look.

"Really? I had no idea!" Dav declared.

His words made a lot of sense. His words had been intended for the esmere, but wasn't I in the same boat? The more information I had, the better off I would be for negotiations. This was the power of diplomacy. I had inadvertently made a spy out of Cici, but she wasn't here. I needed to gain more direct information, and it seemed like servants were the best option.

I was far too new at all of this and far too naïve. I didn't think about any of this beforehand. It made me miss jumping into dungeons. At least that was simple and direct. In the past, Elaya, Astria, or even Eliana would go behind my back and handle such affairs, so I hadn't needed to learn them. It looked like I had a different kind of leveling I'd need to do tonight.

I shot the girls a look and confirmed the need to gather information through the Slave Communication. They each responded with a silent nod. After First's speech, they were taking this night much more seriously, and so they instantly moved into reconnaissance mode.

With that mentality, the group of us stepped out onto a new kind of battlefield.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.