Hesitation and Choice
"It's what we both wanted!" Lincoln said with a smile.
"Just tell me what you need, Chief Sovereign." Palhouse drained his tea, refilled his cup with wine, and downed three cups in a row. Then he smiled, too. He was genuinely delighted today.
"There aren't many things, but none of them will be easy, and the sacrifices will be considerable," Lincoln warned him in advance. Palhouse listened carefully.
"First, help the Water Divine Plane achieve ten consecutive wins," Lincoln said directly.
"The Water Divine Plane? Shouldn't it be the Fire Divine Plane?" Palhouse asked in confusion. He didn't understand why the Chief Gods cared so much about the outcome of Plane Wars, but he understood even less why Lincoln wanted the Water Divine Plane to win.
"The Water Divine Plane, yes. Of course, I'd like the Fire Divine Plane to achieve ten consecutive wins, too, but it's too soon for that. Besides, since you're working for Valeria, helping the Water Divine Plane is only natural. I may change my mind partway through, though. If I do, you'll have to secretly prevent the Water Divine Plane from achieving ten consecutive wins," Lincoln explained in detail.
Whether Palhouse was willing to help the Water Divine Plane achieve ten consecutive wins was closely tied to whether Lincoln could become the Water Chief Sovereign.
"If that's the case, then I'll do it. But the war for ten consecutive wins will be extremely brutal, so I can only promise to do my best." Palhouse hesitated a little, not because of the difficulty, but because the Water Divine Plane had only won seven times so far. Even counting the upcoming war, it would have just eight consecutive wins. There were at least two trillion years to go before it could reach ten.
But