The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 184

Chapter 184 – Embassy
A quick message to Malo after Menton left set things in motion on that front. I did not need to be personally involved in those discussions. The diplomats would do diplomat things, and eventually one of them would come to me with a proposal that I would either agree to, reject, or suggest alterations to it. Either way, I was quite comfortable delegating that kind of work.

I didn’t have nay further meetings scheduled this afternoon, so I changed into my miko robes, before taking a pair of the death knights as escorts, leaving the remainder on guard around our rooms, and Malo. I had twelve knights with me on this diplomatic venture. Two each were guards for myself and Malo, another two were guarding our rooms, and the rest were providing security for members of Malo’s staff. Once my new embassy was built, they would help provide security for the site.

Clearing the site and beginning construction was why we were headed out. I ignored the press in the hotel lobby, and none of them were willing to get too close, or too pushy, with my death knights there. People truly did act differently in the presence of guards, even though everyone knew that I was the single most dangerous person in the city right now, and the gulf between me and number two was wider than the ocean.

I did not bother with a cab, or pulling out the carriage. Instead, I summoned steeds for myself and my knights, and we began riding through the streets of New York. Interestingly enough, it was legal to ride a horse through the city, and you didn’t need a license for it. Of course, you still had to obey traffic laws, but that was a minor thing.

The embassy site in Hell’s Kitchen was on 10th Avenue, between West 48th and West 49th Streets. The property was roughly 6775 square meters, and would be perfect for my needs. I just needed to get rid of the ugly building that was standing there, first.

Thankfully, being a master of Death magic had some benefits, in this regard. Death was, after all, the element of Entropy. All things age, over time, and Death magic could speed that along. With a wave of my hand, the building shuddered, and then collapsed into dust before me. Even the foundation was turned to dust.

Earth magic built a new foundation for me, out of solid granite, infused with my power. I did not need to worry about plumbing or power needs, since I intended magic to take care of such things. I intended for my embassy to be as self-sufficient as possible.

Next, I lay down wards, protecting the site from magical and physical attacks, and preventing any who meant ill will towards Risen Athelia or its citizens from entering. It was the same type of ward I had on my Seattle residence, though with a bit more power. For those who were my friends and allies, this would be the safest spot in the city, a fortress despite the looks.

More Earth magic created the building itself, in ceremonial Athelian architecture. Before my ascension as the Heroine of the Elements Undivided, I would never have been able to do such work so quickly and easily. Now, with my grasp of the elements expanded and my powers greatly increased, it was simplicity itself.

The basic formation of the building was a kind of simple that made it complex. From the square base of the foundation, and the three-level underground parking garage, the building rose, turning as it did so. Each level turned forty-five degrees from the one below it, so that, on the seventh floor (eighth, by the American counting), the building had completed a full rotation.

I did not do this simply because I could, or because it was a perfect showcase of my skills with magic. The twisting of the building, combined with the runes set into its very walls, caused mana to flow towards the building, making it the magical center of New York City. Oh, I was relatively certain that someone would probably get very upset when they eventually figured out what I’d done, but I couldn’t be bothered to care, honestly. This bit of petty revenge wasn’t hurting anyone, but it did serve to make my embassy a power spot, for whatever I chose to do here. I didn’t have any concrete plans, of course, but I’d learned a long time ago that you could never have too many weapons in your arsenal.

Along the outside of the embassy, I created sculptures in the stone, a series of images. They started with my class being summoned, and told the tale of the forty years I had spent in the other world, with all my tragedies and triumphs, and then of my return. The final image ended with the undoing of the Prime Seal, and my becoming the Dragon Ascendant, Heroine of the Elements Undivided.

Inside the embassy, I used Earth magic once more to create two sets of stairs, leading from the lowest part of the parking garage to the rooftop. On the ground floor, I created a circular platform of black stone, roughly the size of an elevator, which could be powered by magic, if one knew how, allowing them to cause the platform to rise or fall through perfectly shaped circular openings in the floors, going all the way up to the seventh floor. Gems inset in the floor at each level allowed someone to channel mana to call the elevator to them, while a sophisticated barrier spell kept anyone from accidentally falling down the shaft (or stumbling of the platform in transit), while allowing people on and off when the platform was stationary.

In the parking garage, I used Light magic to create several permanent lights throughout the levels, ensuring that they would be safe and well-lit. I also hooked them into the ambient mana so that they needed no upkeep or maintenance. At that point, I had all but reached the end of the tasks I needed to see to, personally, in the creation of the embassy, so I summoned my architects and builders, and let them get to work on the interior. They had the plans and the expertise for making a functioning building suited for the living, so I let them do what they did best.

According to the plans I had seen before the ground floor and the first two floors after that were going to be offices, primarily, along with records and such, with all the things an embassy would need. Floor three was a storehouse with a massively increased internal space, making this one floor just over thirty-one square kilometers in area, with room for enough supplies to feed a thousand people for a year or more, even without the hydroponic gardens. It also held the mana generators and water conjuration machines, so that the building would always have power and water, unless someone managed to completely cut off the building from all mana for an extended period of time.

Going back to the floor plan, Floors four and five were for the guards, both living and dead, and had barracks, armories, and training rooms, so that their skills did not atrophy. Floor six was the ‘important’ offices, for the ambassador and their chief aids. Floor seven held two massive suites. The first was for the Ambassador, obviously, while the second was for me, when next I visited the city.

None of the rooms were furnished, yet, but that was tomorrow’s problem. There were still two more things I needed to take care of. First, there was the creation of teleport pads. One on the first floor, allowing people to teleport from the Embassy to any of the main cities of the kingdom, or for people to quickly get from official buildings to here. The second was on the sixth floor, and was a strictly VIP thing, with only a few people having items or knowledge of the exact spellwork needed to target the pad.

The final thing I needed to do was to arrange the most visible line of defense for the embassy. For that, I needed to head to the roof. From my storage dimension, I summoned four skeletal dragons. Not so large as the one I brought to DC, of course. These were the skeletons of younger dragons. Not so powerful, perhaps, but more maneuverable and less likely to cause massive panic. Each of them was roughly the size of an elephant, but was stronger than a Warrior who had just achieved mastery over their Way. The four of them, together, would be more than a match for even the newborn heroes, at least for now.

Once I placed the dragons at each corner of the building, letting them look out upon the city, I turned, and noticed that I had caused a bit of a commotion. It had only been five or six hours since I started the construction, but I was not subtle as I made my way here, and hadn’t tried to hide my work, so I wasn’t surprised that there were news crews, paparazzi, and police just outside the property line.

With a flutter of magic, I cast a Slow Fall spell on myself, and stepped off the edge. Gently, I coasted down, like a leaf through the air, until my feet touched solid ground once more. As I made my way to where my Death Knights still stood guard, just off the sidewalk, I smiled at the lone police lieutenant who approached, despite his fear.

“Hello, lieutenant,” I said, loud enough for the news crew nearby to catch on their microphones. “What brings you to the Embassy of Risen Athelia this evening?”

Whatever the lieutenant might have been expecting me to say, it clearly wasn’t that. Still, it only took him a couple seconds to recover from his shock. “You rode a skeleton horse, with knights in armor, through the middle of Manhattan. Then, according to eyewitness accounts, you turned a building to dust in an instant. And now, hours later, there’s…this,” he gestured to the building, voice incredulous. “You’re telling me this is an Embassy? And are those dragons on the roof?”

“Oh, yes. I bought the property over a week ago, all the paperwork filed properly, and all that, and informed the State Department that I was making it the Athelian Embassy to the United States. As an embassy, this property is Athelian soil, and subject to Athelian law. The building formerly on the site was demolished, and the new building has been constructed, all in accordance with the relevant Athelian building codes.

“Also, as an Embassy, and sovereign Athelian soil, Risen Athelia has both a right and a duty to defend this building from hostile forces, just as the United States has armed soldiers and guards at their embassies around the world. But don’t worry, the dragons are just part of the defensive measures, and will be less prominent once the full defense plan is set in place. For now, they will suffice to ensure that anyone attempting to break through the wards or otherwise cause trouble will be detained for questioning. Those for may not be as powerful as some of my more deadly creatures, but all four are skilled at hunting, and are a reliable line of defense for the embassy.”

The lieutenant’s eyes crossed for a moment, as he tried to wrap his brain around the way that I was telling him the only laws that mattered for this site were my own, and that yes, the undead dragons were my equivalent to posting armed guards at a US embassy in, say, France. However, he quickly came to the time-honored conclusion that this was not his problem, and turned to go make reports to his superiors, who would likely kick those reports to someone else.

Unfortunately, his walking away left an opening for the reporters to close in, but since they’d spent so long watching, I decided that I could do some PR work. Holly would be so proud of me. And it wasn’t like the embassy would be ready in the next day or two. Still needed to arrange furniture and decorations for the public spaces, but that didn’t need my personal attention. If I didn’t give the reporters something to talk about, the vultures would be hounding me incessantly.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen of the press. Risen Athelia is pleased to be stepping into the international community as a partner and friend to those who are friendly to us. As you can see, we have just begun building our first embassy on the American continents. It will still be a few days before it is fully ready for official business, of course. However, I am willing to answer a few of your questions.”