Haru meditated on his throne, concentrating on his current situation. He then glances at his wife, who also seemed to be deep in thought. But before he could continue this quiet and peaceful session, a messenger bursts through the room, panting.
"Milord! You were right all along! Refugees have entered the city asking for aid!"
"Then help them settle down and—"
"That's not all milord! These refugees aren't human! They call themselves the Beastpeople, and they ask to speak to you."
Haru gulped, it was barely a day since his conquest of Thore and already a beastly race was coming right down his doorstep. He had never talked to non-humans before, so this will be very delicate for him.
"Very well. Tell them to come inside."
"Milord are you—"
"I said, tell them to come inside." Haru replied firmly.
The messenger bowed and exited the room. Haru then turns to one of his guards, saying,
"Tell the messenger to call all the available nobles from their quarters."
"Yes milord." the guard said while bowing.
As the other guard left, Haru turned to other guard.
"Tell another messenger to call Celestine over and have the maidservants dress her. She will act as my advisor for this meeting."
The other guard bowed and left, leaving Haru to slump in his seat, before turning to his wife.
"My love, do you wish to join us for the meeting?"
"I am rather curious about these 'Beastpeople', I will join you for the diplomatic meeting later."
Haru sat at the long table, with his wife by his side once again. Gathered there were all the available nobles that Haru could gather, together with a few members of the clergy. Haru was a powerful lord, and had many lesser nobles under his command. There were members of Scottish, French, English and even the Holy Roman nobility, coupled with the chieftains of the Sudanese mercenaries. One noticeable trait about most of these subordinates was that they were younger than the Duke, which made sense as they looked up to Haru as a leader figure due to their youth. Celestine stood by Haru's side, with Haru instructing her.
"Since we are new to this world, you will act as counselor for our decisions. If they question your status as goddess, you deny any connection to the divine, understand?"
"Y-Yes milord." Celestine replied while bowing her head. While it was humiliating for her to be a mere advisor, it was better than what the Black Dogs had offered.
"Ever since the Duchy had been established, I have been meaning to gather you all here today, my loyal and trustworthy companions, to form the Duchy's Council of Nobles."
There were a few mutters among the nobles, but most of them were sounds of approval and satisfaction.
"Now if any of you have problems with this, do raise your objections."
None raised their hands, either they were too obedient to argue or Haru was too feared to oppose. Haru then added.
"Now listen, I am giving ALL of you the benefit of my trust. On your tables is a copy of the oath drafted by the Church, the Orders and I to guarantee your loyalty to the Duchy. Our dear companion Celestine will be reading the scroll." Haru said while handing Celestine a scroll.
The nobles and chieftains took the scroll from their table.
"Now put your right hand on your chest and repeat after me." Celestine said.
"We, the nobles of Whirlingpool, swear to dedicate our lives in service to God and His Will.
We swear that we will not turn away from our mission to cleanse the land from the evil that plagues it.
And should we choose to betray the Duchy, we will not only be punished in this world, but also in the Inferno that awaits the treacherous.
In God's name, we swear our fealty to Duke Haru of Whirlingpool, the Church and the nation of Whirlingpool to serve its noble cause and uphold all that God demands to be upheld.
And should the Duchy practice any wrongdoing, heresy, or injustice, we swear to cleanse the system and return it to the righteous path towards Heaven."
Celestine put down the scroll. The oath was quite demanding by her standards. Haru demanded the willpower and discipline from his men to stick with him and oppose the Black Dogs, when it would have been so much easier to defect.
"Now men, do you have any problems with this oath?" Haru asked.
"Aye! Isn't this the part where we sing praises to the Duke?" one Scottish noble joked, prompting the others to laugh.
"We French can sing, you just talk out of yer arse!"
"I wager their arse-singing is still better!" one Holy Roman commented.
Celestine was a bit confused at all the banter between the nobles. Haru notices the confusion on her face.
"These young nobles have been under me for a long time, so they're practically brothers-in-arms. Quite an amusing spectacle between nationalities to be honest."
Haru then turns back to the young nobles, who were exchanging light insults and banter, while the elder ones just shook their heads in disappointment.
"Now, now gentlemen. We still have to address the elephant in the room." Haru said with a smile while calming the nobles.
The young nobles calmed down. While their youth did cause them to be a bit immature, they knew when it was time to get to business. The more senior nobles who sat close to Haru then voiced out.
"Sire, what of our lands and resources?" one noble asked. "How shall we deal with refugees and the granting of fiefs?"
"We are stuck with one city for now, but do not fret. Once the knightly Orders have finished reclaiming the surrounding land, we'll have more space for everyone, including possible refugees."
"Speaking of refugees, we must prepare for the arrival of these 'Beastpeople'!"
"Who knows what sort of abominations lie under those cloaks?"
"Nya, here we are!" A squeaky female voiced.
The whole council froze at the weird sounding voice. They slowly turned their heads to the door, where a group of women stood. But something was very wrong with them. Though their human figure and face were still very human, they had varying ears on the top of their heads. Some had cat ears, others had wolf ears, fox ears, bear ears and etcetera. They also possessed tails of different sorts, belonging to different mammalian animals. The larger catwoman bonked the smaller catgirl.
"Behave yourself! This is a very important diplomatic meeting!" the older catwoman chided before glancing at the Duke. "You are the ruler of this domain?"
Haru nodded blankly, struggling to even find the words. The woman then knelt before him and said.
"We are the Beastpeople, and we seek refuge from the Black Dogs. We beg of your Lordship to grant us protection from the Black Dogs."
"Er, but how do we know that we can trust you?" Haru asked while recomposing himself. "You could be Black Dog spies for all we know."
"Nya, how dare you accuse us of being Black Dogs!?" the smaller catgirl snarled, before being hit in the head by the larger catwoman. "Owie!"
"I said behave yourself!" The catwoman chastised again, glaring at her younger companion. "Sorry about my sister. She's still a kit by age."
The council still had little to say since most of the members were still recovering from the mere shock of the situation. One of the elder nobles recomposes himself and says.
"How about you introduce yourselves before we get to diplomacy?" the noble suggested.
"Very well then. My name is Blake Pan Thera, though I would prefer to be called Blake, and this is my younger sister, Kuro Pan Thera."
"But you can just call me Kuro! Nya." Thal added in.
Haru was sure that one of his council members was actually on the verge of vomiting from disgust, he was getting a bit queasy himself. But he had to endure if he wanted to fully comprehend what these Beastpeople are and what they are capable of.
"So why does your sister make that 'nya' sound?"
"That is because when catgirls are still immature, they make that noise."
"And is there anything else about your race that we should know?"
"Well, to answer your question, you must know how the Beastpeople came to fruition."
"There is a legend behind your race?"
"You see, long time ago, before the war, before the kingdoms even rose, there was a great divide between elves and humans. Back when both humans and elves treated each other with animosity."
The rest of the council took notes on this, a bit of history would help them rule over the people.
"During that time, there was a human tribe who kept many elven slaves. They treated them all like animals. They would tie them to posts and keep them in cages. They would beat them if they were too noisy and would sacrifice them for the sick pleasure of the men."
Haru felt that this story was a bit familiar; he leans forward in interest to continue hearing the story.
"But one day, an Elven witch came upon them and saw the injustices they committed to her kin, so she cursed them with a spell, chanting 'You have made my kin suffer for long enough. You will receive retribution for the injustices you have committed on the elves. Since you have treated the elven daughters like animals, then it is only fair that your daughters suffer the same fate."
Haru grimaced, these people were the result of vengeful sorcery. A result of another feud between two races.
"So that human tribe carried the curse of bearing daughters who had furry ears and tails. Over many generations, we've interbred with many humans, thus propagating the Beastpeople population. But the elven view of us never changed. Even when the Dark Elves and High Elves split apart, they still treated us with disrespect and disgust."
The council waited for more but realized that they were finally finished. Haru still had other questions.
"So do these animal traits affect your senses? Like do you have the hearing of a feline, for example?"
"Yes." Blake said while gesturing to her other companions. "All of us have very good hearing."
"How good?"
"I can hear your heartbeats and I can tell that you all are very agitated by our presence."
The council was once again stumped by this. If these beasts could read their heartbeats, then they must have heard everything they've been speaking prior. The council stayed silent, leaving Haru to question them.
"Okay… Anything else?"
"As you can see, we Beastpeople come in a variety of beast forms. But we categorize them by ear and tail type. We typically come in fox, rabbit, cat, wolf, and bear."
"And what differentiates one from the other, besides looks and type?"
"Cat girls and rabbit girls are the most nimble. Fox girls are slightly less nimble but they are slightly stronger. Wolf girls are a balanced sort, being decently nimble and strong. Bear girls are very strong but cumbersome."
"Okay then, do you have anything to add, Celestine?"
Haru turns to Celestine expectedly.
"She speaks the truth sire. I know of these Beastpeople and everything the leader says is true."
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I have little to offer in helping these Beastpeople. Because my mother was one of the elves enslaved by their ancestors. I may have great compassion for my people but it's different with them."
"Go figure! You never even offered help to us for a single moment!" Blake snarled while pointing an accusing finger at Celestine. "The only reason we came now is because we hoped that our new hosts would be more hospitable. Order of Chivalry my ass!"
"ENOUGH!"
The women froze at the sound of Haru's enraged voice. The whole council glanced at Haru, who was breathing heavily.
"Celestine, you may take your leave."
"But—"
"LEAVE!"
Celestine gulps and bows before Haru before rushing out the door. Haru then stands up, his height making Blake feel smaller.
"We will allow your people to stay in Whirlingpool and when reclamation efforts are finished we will give your people land to live in."
"Thank you—"
"BUT! Your people owe us a debt! In exchange for protection and hospitality, if the Duchy should need your assistance, you will answer our call! Be it for labor or for battle, you will make your contribution to this nation."
Blake pondered on this as she whispered to her companions. There was heavy discussion among the girls about the terms and conditions. Blake then turns to Haru.
"What sort of labor?"
"Your cat girls, fox girls and rabbit girls will make excellent scouts. The wolf girls will make good hunters. The bear girls will make excellent laborers and we'll definitely need them for some heavy lifting."
"Is that all you need us for?"
"Well, if you have any other ideas on how you can help us, then please do say it. Your animal-like sense could be of great use to us and I aim to see it used to its full potential."
"I have a suggestion sire," one noble said while raising his hand. "We should have these people help us in hastening the construction of housing sites for our current refugees. If we can properly finish construction before reclamation efforts, we can concentrate on development of the city defenses and infrastructure."
"Good thinking." Haru said before turning back to Blake. "Your people have one day to rest. Starting tomorrow, your people will be put to work in exchange for shelter."
Haru then turned to two Scottish noblemen.
"You two will gather your men and help them settle down. If any of them try to cause trouble then don't hesitate on being rough." Haru then turned his head back to Blake. "I'll leave you in the care of two noblemen. If anyone causes you trouble or if you have any worries, do take it up with them."
The two men instinctively stood up and walked to the door, opening it for the ladies, saying,
"This way miladies."
As soon as the women left, Haru relaxed. He breathed a huge sigh at the successful talks. That meeting was tedious and it really drained him. He leaned back on his seat and rested his head for a bit. But he noticed that his wife had not said anything during the whole meeting.
"Rias, are you okay?"
"That catgirl…"
"I understand that these experience is a bit shocking, but we must be lenient. Even for strange races like these."
"No, I have no problems. It's just that the younger catgirl was so adorable."
Haru just shook his head at the comment as he stood up.
"Sire, where are you going?"
"To rest, of course!" Haru said while turning back to the council. "Aren't we done?"
"Er, no. We still have many concerns to address sir."
Haru groaned as he returned to his seat and slumped back in his seat. This was going to be a long day, and he couldn't help but think about how the Knightly Orders were doing at the moment.