"Your Majesty Cassius, what do you mean by..."
Confusion filled Shalin's eyes, and disbelief showed plain across his bronze face.
The fire dwarf noble had hesitated for a long time before resolving to refuse. He had fully braced himself to face the red dragon emperor's wrath, never imagining that things would take such a turn.
Cassius offered a slight nod.
"That is correct. Allies.
"Allies in a relationship of equal cooperation and mutual benefit.
"Rest assured, Lord Shalin. The empire will never be as faithless as the efreet. I am even willing to sign a pact with you."
"Could you... be a bit more specific?" Shalin asked tentatively, astonishment lingering on his features.
Allies on equal footing.
Mutual cooperation and shared benefit.
He could hardly believe that these terms had been offered by a proud dragon—and an emperor at that.
Cassius replied in an even tone, "The empire will dispatch troops to help you resist efreet invasions.
"At the same time, we will sell you advanced weaponry and a wide variety of imperial goods, exempting all tariffs.
"However, as a baseline condition for our cooperation, you must allow imperial troops to garrison the Brass Fortress and provide a modest military subsidy.
"You must also allow imperial merchants to summon and hire fire dwarves to forge items. Rest assured, they will pay a fair sum in gold dinars.
"Finally, we require a Cinder Empire concession within the Brass Fortress, along with the establishment of an imperial embassy specifically responsible for handling affairs between the empire and the Brass Fortress."
With a light flick of Cassius's hand, flames coalesced in midair, forming a magical contract. Its clauses were written in stark clarity, virtually identical to what he had just outlined.
"This..."
"Your Majesty Cassius, are these truly the only conditions?" Shalin asked in wonder, still finding it hard to believe.
The reason was simple.
To his eyes, this was an entirely equal treaty! In fact, the fire dwarves stood to gain even more!
Opening trade to commodities, paying for military protection, permitting imperial employment, and establishing a concession and embassy...
While novel, these terms seemed perfectly ordinary.
There was no forced labor for the fire dwarves, and more importantly, no infringement on the fire dwarf nobility's authority. His rule would remain entirely unhindered.
Could it be that this seemingly ferocious dragon emperor was genuinely a peace-loving monarch?
At least as far as he could see now, the treaty was completely free of traps and offered only benefits to the fire dwarves.
With that in mind, Shalin lowered his head and spoke with gratitude and a hint of guilt: "Forgive me, Your Majesty.
"I misunderstood you just now, actually thinking you intended to enslave us! Thank you for your magnanimity.
"I must say... you are truly the most tolerant and benevolent monarch I have ever met."
Shalin raised his scepter, gesturing for the surrounding fire dwarves to gather behind him, before speaking in a solemn voice: "Your Majesty Cassius, if that is the case, the fire dwarves of the Brass Fortress are willing to become the empire's loyal allies.
"We will swing our bronze hammers and use the unique craft of the fire dwarves to forge the finest goods for you and your subjects."
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The fire dwarves behind him struck their shields in unison with their bronze hammers, producing crisp, ringing chimes.
Cheer after cheer erupted from their ranks. The flames atop their heads burned with roaring vigor, making the air in the grand hall grow hotter still.
Following this exchange, the feast resumed, continuing all the way until dawn the next morning. The elated fire dwarves drank heavily, carousing until the world spun, trading boasts and drinking games with the imperial soldiers.
And so, the cooperation between the Cinder Empire and the fire dwarves officially began.
***
Elemental Plane of Fire, the Burning Wilds.
Cassius lay in his massive, true draconic form atop a ridge of dark brown basalt, gazing out toward the orange-red sky.
The fire elemental energy within him gathered continuously, and the dragon crystal on his chest pulsed with a faint glow.
Serkan, the half-red dragon, approached his side and dropped to one knee.
"Your Majesty, I have arrived."
Cassius gave a slight nod and praised him, "You did well. There was not a trace of pretense in your performance."
This had been his design all along.
Playing good cop and bad cop, steering the fire dwarves into accepting their treaty.
Yet Serkan hesitated for a moment before he could no longer hold back: "However... Your Majesty, I still do not understand. The terms you offered those fire dwarves were far too generous.
"With a population of merely a few thousand, holed up in a tiny fortress, on what grounds do they deserve to be equal allies with the empire?"
Cassius only smiled and asked, "Have you read the official treatise *On Colonialism* published by the empire?"
Serkan felt his face grow slightly warm, but he answered honestly, "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I... have not yet had the time to read it."
Cassius continued, "If the Brass Fortress were our equal, this would indeed be an equitable treaty—shared military access, mutual tariff exemptions..."
He paused, baring his teeth in a grin as he exhaled a puff of sulfurous smoke.
"Yet when the disparity in strength between two signatories is vast, a so-called equal treaty is nothing more than a farce.
"By granting the empire garrison rights, they surrender control of their territory; by granting the empire trade rights, they surrender control over their economic lifeline; by granting the empire the right to employ fire dwarves, their people will become servants of imperial capital...
"And those fire dwarf nobles will inevitably become loyal puppets of the empire.
"This practice is what the imperial scholars refer to as 'neocolonialism.' It is vastly more sophisticated than outright enslavement, and the Brass Fortress will serve as the empire's first foothold in the Elemental Plane of Fire."
"This..."
Serkan bowed his head in contemplation, savoring the emperor's words.
On the surface, both parties enjoyed reciprocal rights, but in reality, the underdeveloped state of the fire dwarves meant they could never realize those rights on equal footing with the empire. Through the treaty, the entire Brass Fortress would be laid open to imperial influence.
Cassius stretched his limbs, slowly rising from the basalt ridge and unfurling his broad wings.
"Go, Serkan. If you wish to become the empire's governor-general in the Elemental Plane of Fire, you would do well to study more of these matters."
Hearing Cassius's words, Serkan felt an immediate surge of inspiration. He hastily prostrated himself, lowering his head to the stone.
"Yes! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Colonial governor-general—another rather unfamiliar term.
Because the Cinder Empire maintained a system of centralized vertical administration across the Great Anzetta Waste, local officials wielded little autonomy.
Yet at this moment, Serkan had found a new ambition: to govern the Elemental Plane of Fire on behalf of His Majesty Cassius!
The red dragon nodded slightly, then beat his wings with immense force, whipping up a gale of ash and embers across the Burning Wilds as his colossal draconic frame took to the skies.
Subduing a few thousand fire dwarves was merely a trifling errand along the way; the transplanar dominion of the efreet was what truly warranted his attention.
Chapter 451