"The iron was certainly there, but it was lacking, wasn't it?" King Angus looked at the report.
"Well, the soil mining is picking up. But with this, we can decrease more than 30% of our iron imports," Prime Minister Darius said. Despite the lower-than-expected yield, he remained optimistic. It was just a matter of time before iron production sped up. They could release the commercial treaty anytime.
"Don't decrease them just yet. War is upon us. We only have four symbiote lineages in the entirety of Litmus, except Hiro, and Hiro is not a combat symbiote. How is Mutual?"
"Well, a symbiote for a symbiote, they say… Um… Will they be satisfied with Hiro?" Darius muttered. While he was happy to have Hiro who brought prosperity, he knew Hiro was not a real symbiote, and thus, Mutual might not see him favorably.
"Malus?"
"As long as none of their symbiotes have an appraisal-type ability… it should be safe. Moreover, we have also lent a blocking bracelet to Luna. She must wear it at all times."
King Angus sighed. Mutual was also a country. They wouldn't lend one of their symbiote willingly, so they imposed a rather cold-hearted logic. They sent one of their symbiotes to us, and we sent one to them. We traded one of our lesser combat-oriented symbiotes, and they sent us one of their combat-focused symbiotes.
"As long as the symbiote they lent us is alive, we can ask for Luna back, right?"
Logically, even if they didn't get back Luna, it wouldn't matter. Hiro could be duplicated as many times as he wish. Nevertheless, Luna was his daughter. There is no way King Angus would want her to stay in Mutual forever.
"We have instructed her not to display Hiro's full talent. Just kill some random monsters and convert them to iron ores. Unlike us, Mutual has many mines. They are not as worried about iron ores as we are. But Hiro must show some value," Darius replied.
"But they have Jonathan… He is an assassin specialist. We don't know when he will strike," King Angus groaned. Symbiote users are powerful, but they are not immortal. Assassination techniques such as poison and ambushes were the best way to kill them.
"Well, that is certainly worrisome… We managed to catch Jonathan off guard, and he still managed to escape… Hm… Wait a moment, Your Majesty. How about we let Hiro's lineage go with other symbiotes if Latvin decides to wage war against us?"
"What do you mean? Hiro is not a combat specialist."
"Hiro managed to find Jonathan. I was wondering if that was a fluke… If Jonathan was as good as the report said, there is no way Hiro and the others would have survived. I believe Hiro was merely underleveled. That's why they couldn't go toe to toe with Jonathan."
"You like Hiro quite a lot, huh? It seems he got a fan without me knowing."
"Yes! A symbiote for the masses! Moreover, instead of weapons of mass destruction and killing, he focused on enriching the nation! Hiro has earned my utmost respect!" Darius nodded. Looking at the king, he coughed. "Of course, other symbiotes that help with national defense against monsters and other countries are important. This is merely my personal taste."
"I see. Will there really be a war?" Part of King Angus didn't want to believe it. But their movements stated otherwise.
"We should equip every soldier with top weapons made from steel. Even ordinary town guards." King Angus said. Even with Hiro's ability, it would be expensive to do such a thing. However, it was no longer imposible.
"As you wish, milord." Prime Minister Darius nodded, and then they moved away.
Meanwhile, Luna stared at the sky as she left her homeland for Mutual. A man in a white priest robe greeted her in a small village at the border.
"Greetings, Princess Luna, bearer of Symbiote Hiro. We welcome you. Please pardon our modest hospitality." Rows of villagers bowed reverently toward Luna. They kneeled with their heads kissed the ground as they chanted, "Welcome, Revered Symbiote. Chosen ones from heaven."
Hiro reeled in surprise at how reverently those villagers showed respect to a princess of a foreign country.
"Here is the best mansion in this small village. Please, enjoy your stay." The priest welcomed. He didn't kneel, but Hiro noticed that his head always bowed lower than Luna's.
"I am merely a princess of a foreign nation. You do not need to revere me so." Luna bowed.
"Just to make sure, Miss Luna is a symbiote bearer, right?"
"That is correct." Luna nodded. She then looked around. "Were there any symbiote u… symbiote bearers around?"
"Ah… my apologies, but there are no exalted symbiotes in this remote region. But Lord Ducasse might be in a fort, seven hundred leagues away."
"Never mind then. Hiro, please show yourself," Luna said. Hiro complied and slithered out from her. The priest then bowed reverently to Hiro.
"Milord, we welcome you." The priest knelt, without caring that his shiny white cloth was smeared with mud. "We shall follow your orders."
"Eh?" Luna was taken aback when even the priest kneeled like other villagers.
"The symbiote gave us protection. Through them, we humans can unleash our potential, and thus, they must be honored. That is our decree," the priest said as he guided Luna to the house. Hiro came back inside Luna, not caring about these lunatics. Sure, he wanted to be praised and respected, but he didn't want to be worshiped.
"I see." Luna reeled back and glared at Hiro, who was one step ahead of her when retreating.
"May I ask why the Almighty Symbiote didn't bless us with his words?"
"Hiro couldn't speak," Luna said. The believer turned tense at once.
"Did you not allow him to speak?"
"Hm? No. Hiro couldn't speak ever since I got him. Even the original… I mean… his parents that came from Latvin couldn't speak either. It's probably because of their drugs."
"Latvin? Could you please tell us how Hiro was treated in Latvin?" The priest welcomed Luna to the village chief's house. Hiro couldn't help but see its former owner at the corner of his vision, standing on the fence, homeless until Luna departed tomorrow.
"Ahem… So, Hiro came with three people to Marissa Village about a year ago. They escaped because Latvin's nobility wanted to steal Hiro from them."
"How horrible! I couldn't believe we had a treaty with such vile barbarians! They didn't know how symbiotes have protected us, have given us peace and prosperity!" Luna winced. Litmus acknowledges symbiotes as a separate entity, respecting them as normal human beings. But Mutual was on another level when it came to worshiping and respecting symbiotes.
"So, we accepted them in Marissa Village as asylum seekers. When I visited, I got Hiro." Luna continued, ignoring their comments.
"Hm? What do you mean you got Hiro?"
"Ah. I mean, Hiro chose me. It is illegal to force a symbiote on someone else without their consent."
"Good answer. Litmus might fall a little behind in showing their faith to symbiotes, but they are still better than Latvin or other countries that treat symbiotes like tools!"
"Symbiotes are… Never mind." Luna was about to say that symbiotes are citizens of Litmus, but seeing how Mutual seemed to worship symbiotes, she might get a reprimand instead. So, she kept her mouth shut. She was here on a diplomatic mission, not sightseeing.
"Ahem. We might have differences in our faith, but we both believe that symbiotes and humans should strive together for both our and their future." Luna declared. She wasn't used to using this sophistry, it was all thanks to Minister Darius who pounded the knowledge through the letter.
"Agreed," the priest nodded.
The following morning, the group ditched Luna's carriage in favor of the more luxurious carriage Mutual brought to the village. Luna's carriage was by no means poor, but compared to a 10-meter-long carriage pulled by twenty white horses, her carriage was certainly lacking in impact.
"I thought our economic strength was almost equal…" Luna said.
"For symbiotes, messengers from the gods that nourish us, nothing is too extravagant. We live to serve symbiote bearers so they can do their duty." The priest bowed.
Luna and Hiro then understood. The wealth was focused on symbiote users first before the citizens. As they traversed the land, it became more apparent that symbiote users were worshiped.
"Hm… I don't like it. There are barely any stone houses for citizens while symbiote mansions are made from marble. This house was empty before, right? They must be so poor they couldn't afford a window on their house." Luna frowned. The priest was about to intercept but Hiro nodded, caressed her head, showing affirmation. The priest then smoothed his language.
"Most bearers live in the capital, but if they happen to visit this place, we are obliged to cater to them to the best of our ability."
"A regular inn would do…" Luna almost rolled her eyes.
"Well, does esteemed Hiro say the same?" The priest asked. Hiro slithered out from Luna, nodding his tentacle and caressing Luna's ear.
"I see. A modest life seems popular for some symbiotes, especially those that lack fame or combat power. I heard Hiro specializes as a production-type symbiote? Rest assured, we don't discriminate against symbiote bearers. We, too, have a symbiote that specializes in enchanting, after all," the priest said. "This carriage was one of her crafts."
"I see. Well, Hiro didn't enchant or make magic weapons… but he can turn sand and dirt into ores," Luna entertained the priest. Hiro then transformed his tentacle into a spear and poked her head with it.
"Ouch! Alright, alright. You can make something," Luna said. She knew what Hiro could do, but she chose to hide it.
"I see. So, Hiro can make spears?"
"Well, this is the best he can do. Since we are more desperate for natural resources, we chose to let him convert natural resources instead." Luna gave the stick to the priest.
"I see. I hope Hiro will enjoy his stay in Mutual."
"Mmm… did you know that Latvin was gathering their forces? We suspect they might start a war. Will you help us?"
"I see. We will send one of our symbiote bearers to Litmus, but we can't possibly start a war. You must understand that symbiotes are messengers of God. They are not infinite. It is our duty to nurture and care for them, like wheat in the field."
"Well… are you saying that you will let Latvin win, then?"
"I shall write a letter to the capital. I am a mere priest; I have no power to dictate God's will."
"Well, good then." Luna gripped her bracelet nervously.
Meanwhile, Elysia slept in a warehouse while Hiro slithered out from her to chew all the red soil. Marissa had ordered her to convert all the soil gathered here into iron ores. Using all the available manpower, they managed to scrounge up about two tons of such soil from the dungeon per day. A request to dispatch either Cecile, Rebecca, or Nana to another region to convert their soil was underway.
Hiro thought hard. He could convert all of this soil now; however, his cell storage was shared among all of his girls—an oversight. To digest the soil, Hiro needed to extend his tentacle and make a mouth from it. A kilo or two was easy. But two tons? He would need to make more mouths.
Since his cell storage was shared among his girls, Hiro would eventually run out of storage soon. So, he purposely slowed down his consumption in Quantora village, producing only 100 kilos of ores a day.
Little did he know that Leafa was about to go back to Quantora village. Hiro was going to get busy. And possibly, a level-up.