Chapter 655: Conference (1)
Of course, my plans couldn’t be immediately implemented because the timing was bad, but I thought it was worth doing a build-up.
I wanted to send Cho Hyejin as an avatar right away. However, there wasn’t much time left. Hence, we couldn’t implement such a project.
Wouldn’t it be best to go to a place where we could talk for the time being?
“You don’t have to keep rejecting the notion. It won’t be difficult at all to create time for you. I think it would be better to solve it now rather than letting you two keep feeling awkward around each other. I’m sure Hyunsung also feels terribly sorry deep down. I’m certain of that.”
“But the fact that it happened because of me…”
“It’s not Hyejin’s fault. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just that misunderstandings and mistakes accumulated. It naturally exploded. Don’t let it burden you. I understand you’re sorry, but… If you keep doing this, it’ll only make me feel more uncomfortable. I didn’t go through anything hard, and I’m back in good condition. I don’t even have a single scratch on me. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“…”
‘I might have blamed you if I was a little sick, but I’m not. In fact, it was a great success, Hyejin. I even have wings now. Sh*t, I got wings. Wings! You’ll be surprised when you see it…’
“Everything worked out well.”
I smiled a little. I had to show that the situation wasn’t as bad as Hyejin thought.
I didn’t mean it, but I thought the way she looked at me had changed.
Lee Kiyoung’s face made her feel pleased. Of course, Lee Jihye was still looking at me as if she were looking at trash, but in fact…
‘You should be grateful. You definitely should.’
I couldn’t deny that some of it was Cho Hyejin’s fault.
‘Jihye Noona, don’t look at people like that.’
“Would you like to leave after all?”
“Oh, then we’d better get going.”
“I’ve already contacted the conference room. We’ll give you a briefing on the contents of the meeting in the carriage instead since the meeting place is close enough to travel by land.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, there’s nothing to be thankful for. It’s part of my job.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind, Vice Guild Master?”
“Of course, I’m fine. Our situation can’t be solved just by sitting down and exchanging a few words of conversation, anyway, and this is the only free time we might get in a while. Once we can finally announce our official position, we’ll no longer be able to delay it just to hang out leisurely… Perhaps only by the time we get back will the Vatican have something to announce.”
I spouted such words, but the truth was that we weren’t really in a good situation.
‘It was so sudden.’
As I mentioned before, the contents of the meeting were problematic.
Of course, most personnel attending it were deeply involved with me on a personal level, but they didn’t send unconditional favors to the public either.
Rather than not knowing at all, they would follow me instead, but nobody knew when, where, and how their political position would change.
Consider placing the main guilds of Dawan on the 7th District, for example, where the death rate could be higher than other fronts. They had a not-so-bad relationship with fog summoners and archers, but they wouldn’t agree to head straight to that site.
The Continental Protection and Management Committee had been established to provide minimum coercion and had operational control. However, the continent wasn’t a singular unified country. Rather, armed groups had gathered.
The neutral states of Laos, the Holy sector, the Vatican, and the Elves were the only ones that provided unlimited support.
Some of the kingdoms still kept the Holy sector and Lee Kiyoung in check, and the same went for the survivors of the Federation. The Republic, which had been roaring with the country for a long time, wasn’t fully exchanging trust.
Of course, they were one of the most prominent members of the continent.
‘This is bound to be difficult.’
We had to reverse the previous manual completely in that meeting, and I felt a little stressed even though I set up the existing plan myself…
‘It was so urgent that I couldn’t even lobby around…’
There was also a lack of time to strengthen friendships with deep-rooted evil friends. If Lee Jihye hadn’t prepared anything before, wouldn’t she have taken more than double the amount of time?
‘Does she have time to rest?’
She had the quality of thinking about things like that. It’s always been the case, but the briefing in the carriage was satisfactory.
‘Well, she had time to rest. She even had a good time playing chess with Hyejin.’
Cho Hyejin could be seen behind the barrier and seemed to have built a bond with Lee Jihye.
“Some of the nobles on the kingdom have been captured. I’m talking to the Republic, but there’s a lot to take care of after the war. I need you to take care of me as much as I have sacrificed.”
“…”
“Some big guilds are asking for a reward in exchange for turning over the tutorial dungeon. I decided to put that on hold for now. Most of the groups are thinking about the post-war period., but there’s nothing we can do about the damage, so we want to take what we can after it’s over. The problem is that everyone feels the same way… You’ll have to meet them and talk to them. Of course, I’ve already contacted them. We’ve scheduled private meetings with them during the conference and during the break. Do check the details out later.”
“We can’t even take a break. This is way too tightly scheduled. Ten minutes per person is too short of time.”
“You’re good at making people feel good and at talking. It’s your specialty to make a fool out of a person. I’m sure you’ll do well. It’s up to you to decide what kind of mood you’re going to end this meeting with.”
“…”
“Oh! I couldn’t tell you earlier, but I had to change the supply route. I can’t help it because everything I’ve planned has been reduced to nothing. It’s too bad. If I had a little more time, I would’ve tried to build a tunnel or find another transport route…”
“Wasn’t the construction going on?”
“We’ve already pulled them out. They won’t be able to complete it anyway… I think it would be helpful if Jung Hayan worked… It would be easier to move supplies.”
“She can’t move right now.”
“I thought so. What would you do with teleportation magic? It doesn’t help in this way.”
“You’ve checked the towers for security, haven’t you?”
“We’ve finished the trial run, and we found no problems. I’m taking care of it so you can use it right away. You can put that one off your list.”
‘Why are you so competent?’
I thought that it was definitely worth hanging on to the Black Swan.
While working for the Continental Protection and Management Committee, there were still many who followed her in the guild.
Ha Yeon-soo and even Park Yeon-joo, the guild master of the Black Swan, had been sending their love calls.
There was a request to return Lee Jihye after the work was over, but that was hard.
I wanted to keep her beside me. Basically, she was equipped with the ability I needed from someone, and she was constantly trying to improve herself.
She was more obsessed with improving her abilities rather than her appearance. Wasn’t that the driving force behind her being able to eat up a continent filled with villains?
‘It’s a good thing you’re my colleague this time.’
“By the way… I think you should try a little harder.”
“That’s what I think. I expect a backlash, but…”
“We can’t help it. Since we’re not in a situation where you can handle various subevents, as usual, it’s most reasonable to pressure those who can be pressured with power. We’ll just have to deal with the side effects later.”
“I should have done some dictatorship.”
“In fact, I think it’s similar to that, but let’s not forget the lessons of history. We haven’t fallen that far yet.”
“…”
“How much time do we have left? I think your expression is worse than I thought.”
“36 days.”
“What?”
“There are only 36 days left.”
“…”
“…”
That information would’ve immediately distorted anyone’s face. Jihye responded exactly as I expected. She looked like she knew we had little time left but didn’t know it would only be that much.
“Do you think we can do it? In Only 36 days? That’s… That’s too fast.”
‘I admit that too, Noona.’
“We haven’t finished all the troop deployments yet. It’ll take 30 days to get all the troops to their positions on this big piece of land. Since we can’t even use Jung Hayan, there’s no other way to go around it. What else are you going to do with the supply? What about the fatigue of the soldiers? Is there another wizard available for teleportation?”
‘I would’ve already used them if they existed, Noona, but they don’t.’
“You have to make it happen. There’s no other way.”
“…”
“…”
“Oppa.”
“Huh?”
“Do you have the manual? Shouldn’t we also have an escape route?”
“Of course, I made it.”
“…”
“…”
“Wow, really… really…”
“…”
“You’re a lot trashier than I thought. That’s the first thing you made when you heard about this, right?”
“…”
“…”
“I was going to give it to you, Noona. I’m telling you in advance, but there are only a few people who can ride the Noah’s Ark. List down about ten people to pick up. When it’s time to escape, we have to pack up and make a run for it quickly.”
“I’m happy, but ten are too few…”
“I can’t help it because the more people I take, the more complicated it’ll get. If you think it’s going to be ruined, I’m going to drop it right away. Just watch out for the signal.”
“What do you think?”
“Speed is crucial when running from something. You’d better get your bags ready after the meeting.”
“It would be a shame if you’d run away from this. You’ve accomplished a lot here… It must feel like someone else is picking on the fruit you’ve grown.”
“That’s why we’re doing our best. It’s so that others don’t get o take what’s ours. Anyway, prepare to disembark. I think we’ve just arrived.”
“This will be the first button on your shirt.”
“Yes.”
She seemed to agree a hundred times that that first button was important.
When entering an important meeting or PT, one could sometimes see a unique expression. I thought that meeting would be very important to her, too.
It was where we were at a crossroads between eating the fruits we had grown or having them stolen away by others.
As I moved in a hurry, I bowed my head respectfully to the people I came across with.
It was common for adventurers to visit conference rooms filled with powerful people from all over the continent and those with legendary talents. There were even many types of talented people that I hadn’t seen before.
Maybe that was how important they were. I thought I’d talk a lot, so I straightened my clothes before going in.
‘Hyunsung must be in there.’
He must’ve been sitting like a folding screen without saying anything. That’s how Kim Hyunsung behaved when he entered meetings.
Cho Hyejin participated as my escort, but she seemed a little nervous to take another step.
“…”
‘What, this… What’s wrong with the atmosphere?’
I thought there would be a noise like a loud bang, but that wasn’t what was in front of me.
The scene that greeted me was dead and quiet, almost as if every person in the room had been assassinated.
‘I think I’ve seen this somewhere.’
The atmosphere seemed to be similar to when the head of the country in the north was in charge of state affairs.
Without realizing it, we looked in the direction of Kim Hyunsung.
“Chairman Lee Kiyoung has entered.”
‘What, no… I’m not that kind of chairman.’