Summoning Thunder A Warhammer 40k X Summoning Japan

Chapter 2: The Delegation

Principality of Kua Toine, foreign affairs bureau

The foreign affairs bureau interacted with many countries. It was currently in the middle of preparing a delegation to visit Imperium, an emerging nation, prior to establishing diplomatic ties.

"Yago! Sounds like you're on the delegation to that new 'Imperium' country! You lucky dog, I wanted to go too!" shouted a coworker.

International delegations were fairly common. There were many countries in this world, and rulers and country names changed often, especially in more moderate countries. Larger countries also sometimes broke up into smaller ones.

There were dangers on the road and while visiting other countries, so it was also not uncommon for there to be injuries or deaths while on a mission. The destination oftentimes had lower standards of living. (Kua Toine's cuisine was, rare for a so-called "barbarian" nation, considered to be on the same level as the Third Civilization's.) They also frequently had problems with sanitation, disease handling, and/or security. This made delegation work generally undesirable.

However, this mission was to a country that was attracting a lot of attention. The preparation materials given to the delegates contained completely outlandish stories: Marl Patima's and the 6th dragon squadron's accounts regarding the iron dragon that could outperform a wyvern in both speed and altitude; the navy's report regarding a 230-meter metal ship with no sails.

"These can't all be true..." Yago kept thinking over and over.

Wyverns were priceless weapons, and dragon knights were the cream of the crop, admired by all soldiers as champions of the sky. The same way an average soldier couldn't compete with a mounted knight, an average knight couldn't compete with a dragon knight; an entire cavalry regiment wouldn't stand a chance against a wyvern. They could reach speeds of 230 km/h, fly out of bow range, generate fireballs that completely overpowered human-made weapons, and their scales could repel both arrows and knives. The only tamed beast stronger than a wyvern was the "wyvern lord" that was being bred in low numbers in the major civilizations.

Indeed, the only things humans could not tame were specific types of dragons, such as ancient dragons or holy dragons. These were basically considered natural disasters, so the thought of humans taming them were dreams within dreams. It would be impossible for even the Second Civilization's Mu to create something the size of a wyvern yet superior to it in every way.

However, unbelievable as it was, Imperium's flying machine was in fact seen in action in the skies above the commercial city Myhak by numerous witnesses, so Yago had become quite interested in them.

(This delegation is a chance for me to make it big...)

"Let's start the meeting."

His thought process was interrupted by the sudden declaration. The five delegates, four of whom were various officials from the foreign affairs bureau as well as General Hanki from Military Affairs, sat together in a small conference room. The chief delegate provided a detailed explanation.

"Our primary objective this time is to evaluate whether Imperium is a threat to our country. As you know, our aerial defensive measures are completely ineffective against Imperium's iron dragon. We lack any means to defend against that weapon.

Currently, Imperium indicates that it wants to establish diplomatic ties with our country, but, in truth, we know nothing about their aims at all. Whether or not they're a hegemony, or whether they're like Rowlia and discriminate against demihumans, we need to determine the real reason they want to align themselves with us."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"We don't know what kind of nation Imperium is, but we do know for a fact that their military technology is very advanced. I believe you all already know this, but we need to be resolute in negotiations while at the same time trying not to provoke them. Keep this in mind when considering both your words and your actions.