Second World

The celebration lasted the whole day. Servants walked around the prepared seats offering food and refreshments.

At the center of the hall, different performances were shown for entertainment. There were dances by a group of female dwarves. A show about a beastmaster and his pet playing with fire using various tools. A stand-up comedy from a jester. Singing, both solo and in a group. A wrestling match between two dwarves, and so on.

Thelgrun laughed most of the time. Even when it was not during the comedy show. Jack imitated him whenever he laughed, even when Jack didn't understand what he was laughing at.

"I'm glad that you are enjoying this, King Storm Wind," Thelgrun said.

"I do. Thank you for having arranged this. I enjoyed them very much," Jack said. He was not. He was hoping that this would be over soon so he could go back to doing what he enjoyed best, grinding monsters and searching for treasures.

"Well since you are enjoying this so much, I will ask these performers to perform again tomorrow and every day during the week you are here," Thelgrun said.

"What? No! No need to trouble them. I'm sure they needed rest and also have plenty of other things to do," Jack hurriedly said.

"Nonsense! Performing for me is the highest honor for them. They will be pleased I ask this of them," Thelgrun uttered.

"There is no need to, truly," Jack said. He then quickly added, "I know that mister president also has a lot of matters to attend to. Although I understand Mister President had allocated your precious time for me this one week, I don't want to occupy too much of Mister President's time. How about we hang out in the morning and mister president can take care of your country's duties for the rest of the day?"

"Do you not enjoy my company?" Thelgrun asked with a stern face.

The room dropped to silence upon the question. The performers were changing so the room was not too loud. Thelgrun's natural voice was loud so everyone could hear his voice. The atmosphere of the room turned tense and everyone had their eyes on Jack.

Jack became awkward due to the atmosphere. He was having trouble finding the words to say. "This… I don't… That's not what I mean, Mister President. I…"

"Bwahahaha…!!" Thelgrun burst into a sudden laughter. "You people see his face? I got you again, king Storm Wind. You are so much fun. I truly like you, King Storm Wind. Hahaha!"

Thelgrun slapped Jack's shoulder while continuing to laugh. Jack joined his laughter despite awkwardly.

"That's fine, King Storm Wind. I know everyone needs alone time. We can hang out in the morning and you can do what you want to do for the rest of the day. If you want to join me, that's fine. If you want to go explore our fine capital, that's good also. Just make sure to stay within the capital and let my security detail accompany you. I don't want to get into a situation with your kingdom if something happens to you here. We are, after all, improving our relationship, not making it worse."

"Thank you, Mister President. That's very thoughtful of you. Don't worry, I will stay within the capital and abide by the rules here."

"That's for the best," Thelgrun said and signaled for the performance to continue.

The festival continued till late at night. Jack was amazed by how the native dwarves could continue eating and drinking all the time. Thelgrun was the most extreme. Jack never saw his hand empty without either a piece of mutton or a glass of wine. Now that Jack paid attention, Thelgrun's belly was indeed larger than the average dwarves.

Bowler and the others were also enjoying themselves. The trio even went around the room chatting up the various dwarf nobles and officials in the room. Jack didn't stop them. It was also good for them to socialize, persuading these native dwarves to be more receptive to the humans and Themisphere. Only Diane stayed in his seat like a proper lady.

After the festival, Jack was given the best guest room within the palace. His entourage was given nearby rooms.

The next morning, Thelgrun took them touring the beautiful gardens outside the palace which Jack glimpsed yesterday. Various tables with food and refreshments were again arranged around the garden. Thelgrun was again indulging in his eating and drinking frenzy while touring.

After the tour, they sat on prepared seats at one of the gardens and watched horse races, bull races, and even dwarf races on the field ahead. Jack wondered if this entertainment was only because of his visit or if this was Thelgrun's normal day-to-day activities.

Thelgrun himself was quite easygoing. Jack was worried at first when he departed for Palgrost that the president would be a stiff political figure. It turned out this was not the case. He comfortably chatted with Thelgrun as if the president was a common friend. Both of them even forgot to address each other with their honorary titles on many occasions.

"Well, what are you planning to do during the day anyway?" Thelgrun asked.

"I was thinking about going to do the challenges at the Order and Magi and the League of Champions," Jack said.

"Right… You are an outworlder," Thelgrun remarked.

"Or do you have a good monster hunting spot here?" Jack asked.

"Didn't I tell you to stay within the capital? I have heard that King Storm Wind is a capable combatant, but letting you hunt monsters still means I subject you to danger," Thelgrun said.

"Mister President, what about the labyrinth?" Broban, who was standing beside Thelgrun, said.

"Hm… Yeah, King Storm Wind will probably enjoy the labyrinth," Thelgrun agreed.

"What Labyrinth?" Jack asked.

"The Daedalus Labyrinth," Thelgrun answered.

"Daedalus Labyrinth?!" Peniel exclaimed.

"Daedalus…?" Jack knew Daedalus was a character from Greek mythology in the real world. In Greek mythology, Daedalus built a labyrinth for King Minos to hold the minotaur. Perhaps the game designers used the name as a reference when they designed whatever labyrinth these dwarves were discussing.

"From your reaction, you know about this labyrinth, miss?" Thelgrun asked Peniel.

"Yes. It is a Wonder Building," Peniel answered. "One that can only be built after a country built an absurd number of mines and research a particular tech in the civil path. Now that I considered it, I guess Palgrost is the most likely country to fulfill this requirement. Although Thereath has lots of mines, it is only one city. While almost every settlement in Palgrost has mines because they are all built underground."

"Is this labyrinth good?" Jack asked.

"It is not special before the outworlders' arrival. But after your kind arrived, it became exceptional," Peniel answered.