Chapter 129: Politics is Chaos Everywhere
The formal name of the State Conference is the “Paradise Four-Nation Resurrection Sect Witch Disaster Periodic Countermeasure Meeting.”
It’s a meeting where the four nations, joined by blood oaths, regularly discuss countermeasures related to issues like the Demon King’s appearance or the Resurrection Sect—especially matters concerning the witch Diana. The host country rotates every year in a clockwise direction, but during the year of the Wu-shin Festival, it’s always held in Markeuteuriseu.
Even I can see that the official name is far too long, so they call it simply the “State Conference.”
That’s where my information from Adrang and Carhalas ends.
“…Ahem.”
“…Hem.”
“…Ohem! Ahem!”
I’m experiencing the atmosphere of that meeting right now.
It’s heavy. Extremely heavy. It’s suffocating.
“Tch.”
Was it always this somber? No, not originally.
The current frozen atmosphere was created by Adrang beside me and the silver-haired man dressed in black and white robes sitting across the pristine white table with an annoyed expression. Those two were the instigators.
“Hmph. I guess bringing Adrang here was a bad idea after all?”
“Didn’t I say it, Your Majesty? That man over there isn’t one to help anyone unless it benefits him.”
“I didn’t expect such an intense reaction. Paek Eun.”
By my side, two young men were quietly conversing.
They both looked about 30 years old. One wore shining golden armor, and the other wore gleaming silver armor.
They both had platinum hair, ruffled and green eyes, and they looked as alike as mirror images.
‘”Silver Feather’s Knight” Gi-eun Park, “Golden Feather’s Knight” Eos Park.’
These two cavaliers participated in this State Conference alongside Adrang as Markeuteuriseu representatives. People call Berkel “Adrang,” and these two are called “Silver” and “Gold,” respectively.
It seems calling them by their epithets is a widespread practice among cavaliers.
“Knight Ber-schults. Do you even know what propriety is?”
And that silver-haired man in the black and white robe—his name was Berkel, wasn’t it?
Mittelrand’s one of the Seven Sages, he spoke again, his words laced with thorns toward Adrang.
Yes, he had reason to be angry since it was Adrang who started the quarrel.
I just remembered Adrang’s sudden barrage of criticisms.
“Are you so unconcerned about witches now? Of course not! You’ve been sitting in the castle of Mittelrand, letting your hair turn gray, eating and excreting like a litter of piglets. You wouldn’t care if people were suffering or dying. Is there a smell of pig sties wafting from somewhere, Sir Berkel?”
That’s exactly what Adrang said to Berkel.
Berkel had merely said, “The movements of witch followers are becoming worrisome. Now is the time to quietly observe the situation.”
Needless to say, the hall became tense. Recollecting that moment still causes vertigo.
‘Having someone to gossip with wasn’t a lie after all… damn it…’
Still, I didn’t expect such a barrage of curses in an official setting. And what’s worse, against a foreign dignitary.
‘But it wasn’t even gossip.’
They were clearly speaking openly in front of everyone. What do you want me to do about it? Shall I add my voice to the chorus?
Master Adrang, even if your nation solidified its alliance due to the witch, don’t you know that wars often break out for absurdly trivial reasons?
“Um, no, Master…! Please, show some dignity… Now, calm down…”
That was said by a woman with fiery red hair sitting next to Berkel. She was one of the Seven Sages, Be-ra. The same Be-ra who performed magical acrobatry with Berkel at the opening ceremony of the Wu-shin Festival.
She was busy trying to console Berkel, clearly agitated. Her efforts to resolve the situation were quite touching.
However, what was surprising was that her attempts actually seemed to work as Berkel’s anger slowly dissipated.
“Hmph. Why should I even bother getting riled up by someone who has no sense of propriety?”
“That’s right. Master, you’re the one who works harder than anyone for world peace, which I know very well!”
Be-ra awkwardly flattered and applauded.
You, too, are caught in the crossfire of the great powers, huh? Unknowingly, I felt an affinity with her.
“I show respect to someone who’s about to die soon? Why would I do that?”
Just now, Adrang spat out that even if death were near, he’d show no respect. Truly audacious, isn’t he? Is this a jump-rope championship or what?
As Berkel’s face, which had started softening thanks to Be-ra’s efforts, stiffened again, naturally.
“What did you just say?”
“I offered to prepare a funeral banquet, not show propriety.”
“This rascal! With such loose lips…!”
“Just make sure to invite me to Mittelrand if you die, Sir Berkel, since we don’t bury pigs ceremoniously in Markeuteuriseu.”
Adrang-nim. If this statement were made in Korea, it would have certainly warranted an article in the “Adrang/Incidents/Controversies” section of N*ver wiki, causing SNS to erupt over your scandal.
“Tsk.”
As I sighed, a dark, unnerving voice suddenly caught everyone’s attention.
“Ah… hehe. I knew it would turn out like this. When the topic of witches comes up, ooooh brother Wolf gets extremely worked up, it seems. The meeting can’t even proceed.”
The woman seated next to Be-ra, dressed in a completely black robe with black hair and piercing eyes, spoke. She looked to be about late 20s to early 30s. Her corpse-like pale complexion, short stature, and heavy dark circles were striking.
As soon as Adrang glared at her, he spat out a line.
“Hold your tongue, Elfride. If you open your mouth, I might snap your head off.”
“Hyaa…! Heehee. Brother Wolf is scary today… So charismatic and cool!”
“I’m telling you to shut up. Again.”
One of the Seven Sages: Elfride, a magician proficient in curses and ancient black magic. And an old acquaintance of Adrang’s. She is the one who undid the spell cursed onto the Seop Baek’s Ring.
Elfride grinned uncomfortably and stared intently at Adrang.
“Brother Wolf… wouldn’t it be better to let this slide for my face’s sake…?”
“Your face makes me angrier. Was that a joke?”
“Aahhh! H-How can you be so cruel to a woman in her prime…!”
Adrang remained icily indifferent.
Elfride’s whole body trembled slightly as she wiped away tears, but soon she wore a look of ecstasy.
“Ah, but that’s why I love it!! My whole body is tingling! Hyaah! So marry me, Brother Wolf!!”
As she made a victory peace sign in a state of ecstasy, breathing heavily.
Adrang wore an expression as if he had swallowed something foul. The surrounding Seven Sages gradually distanced themselves from her.
I whispered softly into Adrang’s ear.
“Does she act like this toward you usually, Adrang-nim?”
“It’s worse normally. She’s restraining herself now, seeing as this is an official conference.”
“Ooooh, I see.”
Before entering the conference, Adrang had remarked, “First off, the Seven Sages? They’re all mad.”
Adrang assessed the current three this way:
—Berkel: A fanatical mage so obsessed with magic research that he would split the world in two over the issue of witches.
—Be-ra: Has an unnaturally deep attachment to her 100-year-older master.
—Elfride: Self-explanatory.
About 30 minutes into the meeting, I’ve confirmed that Adrang’s judgment of people is indeed accurate.
As I nodded deeply, I glanced over to the relatively quiet sides of the table.
“Those two sides have been completely silent since the start.”
I was looking at the areas where the dignitaries of Unterland and the Dragon Empire were seated.
Adrang quickly glanced at their faces, then sighed.
“It was the same yesterday. It’s understandable that they probably aren’t interested. The situations of these two countries are special.”
“Hmm.”
I hummed softly and carefully observed the people present.
On the Unterland side, there was a cold-looking woman with short, pale hair clad in a white gown, and another man with glasses also wearing a white gown and who looked like an academic nerd.
‘The woman is Knightrea. The man, Jack O’sold, right?’
The woman served as the Minister of Technology, managing the overall production of Unterland’s aerial fortress-capital, Leviathan. The man was the actual designer and constructor of Leviathan.
The interesting part? Checking their stat windows revealed they were not heroes—mere local residents, pathetically weak in this world.
—Unterland has developed an independent technology by fusing the technological skills brought by heroes from various worlds with magic engineering, aiming to achieve independent national defense through strong armaments.
Recalling the information Adrang had given me, I nodded slightly.
Their attempt at scientific triumph had succeeded, and its fruits were displayed during the opening ceremony—mechanical flying squadrons and fortified aerial cities.
Thus, it is said that this was the country where heroes’ infiltration into politics was the least prevalent.
“Hmm.”
Both remained silent, just observing, so I couldn’t tell what they were thinking, but they were certainly key individuals.
I engraved their faces and names into a corner of my mind.
‘And over there… sigh. Incredible.’
I looked at the Dragon Empire side.
A laugh escaped me involuntarily, amused by the absurdity of life.
Apparently sensing my gaze, one of them waved at me.
“!”
Their build was already imposing, but waving their trunk-like arm drew slight attention from our surroundings.
Adrang noticed as well.
“You know that emissary from the Dragon Empire, do you?”
Adrang asked, sounding slightly surprised. I nodded hesitantly.
“Let’s just say we know each other. We were somewhat close.”
“Surprising. How did you two become acquainted? There was no real opportunity for that…”
“At…?”
Scratching my cheek, I redirected my gaze to one of the Dragon Empire’s emissaries again. The dragon-like face was filled with warmth as they stared at me.
The dragon had a turtle shell-like carapace around its neck, making it seem a bit unbalanced.
“During the Test of the Veil.”
Three representatives sat there for the Dragon Empire. Two of them were the same dragon-knight women who performed acrobatics in the sky during the opening ceremony.
The other? None other than a Grenade.
