Question after question flowed from the participants, and Raid smoothly answered each one in turn. The atmosphere in the throne room had clearly shifted; nobody cared any longer for the accusations they had piled onto Raid. Instead, they were racing to raise their hands, throwing out one question after another.
But who could blame them for this desperation? After conquering the continent long ago, Vegalta had returned each state’s sovereignty to their rulers, became the representative nation of the central continent, and forbade needless war between countries. By their rule, human conflict vanished from the land, replaced later by the international race to research and develop magic.
Thanks to this, peace had been upheld in the world for nearly a thousand years—but so did each nation’s advancement slow, limited by the bounds of rules and morals. No war meant no invasions, and no invasions meant no changes to national territory and borders. Small nations remained small nations ever since the beginning of Vegalta’s reign, leaving them little room for improvement in intangible assets such as knowledge and techniques. Technological advancements stabilized annual crop yield, but limited land meant there was no hope for growth. The same could be said for their population—with no more space to work with or plots of land to build more houses on, how could they invite more people to migrate to their country? Legnare and Celios, being separate land masses, could easily expand to the sea, but to the landlocked nations of the central continent, that wasn’t even an option.
In other words, there existed between the nations a gap that could never be filled—and that was why this opportunity Raid had provided was so tempting to these smaller nations. The land of the First World was only unusable at present, but it would be a different story once they cleared the polluted mana. Another world was normally farther than anyone would ever consider expanding their territory, but Raid and his companions had already made a round trip there. With further advancements, interworld teleportation could even become the norm. If only they could move their base of operations to the First World, then they would finally have the chance to attain their dreams of growth and expansion that had been rendered impossible in the Second World. Even if they missed out on attaining a large expanse of land, they could still dispatch their personnel to the First World to attain valuable information that would help them catch up to other larger nations technologically.
Kalkas stroked his beard with a hum. “I see... Lord Freeden was right. I would have regretted not coming here today,” he mused. “The nations accused him because they stood to gain from it, but he presented them with a counteroffer of even greater benefit—so much so that it invalidated his case in their minds. Not to mention he steered this entire debacle toward the accomplishment of his own goal... Quite the cunning man. I can certainly believe that he’s nearly a century old despite his looks.”
“Wow!” Mifuru clapped her hands. “Splendidly done, Lord Raid! Bravo!”
“Imperial Lord, we cannot simply stand by and watch any longer, can we?” Kalkas said with a bitter laugh. “Our nations may be big, but we cannot afford to lag behind here. Lord Freeden must be planning to release the criteria at a later date in the interest of fairness.”
“Because otherwise, we—the larger nations—could simply pick and choose the highest-value aid to provide... But now, everyone is going in equally blind?”
“Precisely. Moreover, the bigger the nation, the more likely they are to supply their higher-quality personnel and resources, just to be on the safe side—which naturally benefits Lord Freeden as well.” Kalkas laughed pleasantly. “Goodness, just how far ahead has that man planned? His cunning is fearsome...yet he uses it all to save a world and its people. Is it not right that we do our part as well?”
Mifuru smiled. “Of course. King Kratio, what say you?”
“Sir Freeden is a citizen of my nation; we shall aid him to the best of our abilities. However, since we have already secured two exceptional personnel—namely, him and his fiancée—then jumping into the fray here would undoubtedly enrage every nation present. Hence, I shall stay my hand for now.”
“Music to my ears. In that case, allow me...” Kalkas quietly stood from his seat and raised his hand. “Lord Freeden, you said that earlier provision of aid will add to our standing. What, then, if we were to promise you our aid here and now?”
“Then that promise, too, will be added to your score,” Raid answered. “This is, of course, on top of the bonus based on how quickly you are able to actually prepare the aid.”
“Very well. In that case, I—Kalkas Lailas—swear upon my name to provide you aid.” Kalkas nodded, his lips stretching into a wide smile. “Namely, four Guardian Dragons...and full authority over our summoners’ brigade.”
Gasps and murmurs filled the room at Kalkas’s declaration. The shocking part here was neither the Guardian Dragons nor the summoners’ brigade—no, what had caught every person here off guard was that Kalkas had promised Raid full authority over them. This meant that Raid was free to issue them direct orders—to command Celios’s mightiest forces as if he were their superior. This was greater proof than any of Kalkas’s trust.
“Your earlier words and your ongoing efforts are proof enough to me that you will see this operation to success. After all, you have already saved my granddaughter once.”
“Thank you, Lord Kalkas. I swear to live up to your trust.”
“Good. As a fellow senior, I look forward to your success in battle.”
Just as Raid was chuckling at Kalkas’s words of encouragement, Mifuru suddenly raised her hand. “Legnare shall provide you with two special-class magicians and our sorcerers’ brigade—also with full authority, of course. As well as, hmm... Oh, anything else you need, Lord Raid! Simply ask and you shall receive—all of Legnare is at your disposal!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“M-My lord?!” Totori sputtered. “You cannot say that! We need to keep some resources for our nation! Our officials will pass out from shock!”
“But, Totori, Lord Raid is our God of Victory. We must offer him our all! Don’t all the youth these days support their idols in this manner?”
“Where did you learn that?!”
“When I sneaked out with Savad!” Mifuru’s tail gleefully swished left and right. “I overheard some youths gushing and squealing over their idols!”
“I feel like I’ve caught a glimpse of our nation’s downfall...!” Totori wailed, cradling her head.
Raid cleared his throat. He had no idea what exactly “supporting one’s idol” entailed, but it sounded like tough work. “I appreciate the sentiment, Imperial Lord, but your word alone will do. As for the details of your aid, please inform me after you consult your vassals.”
Finally, Kratio stood with a small smile. “Now then, it seems like our participants have lost interest in our original agenda...unless anyone here would like to insist that Sir Freeden was planning to subvert the state by gathering funds and resources to aid the First World? In which case, his mastermind scheme has succeeded.” He swept his gaze across the participants in the room. “I would like to discuss this matter in more detail with Sir Freeden. However, before that, we must first settle our original agenda. Naturally, should he be deemed a criminal, then this entire deal would be null and void.”
Kratio smiled and, despite knowing their answer, proceeded to ask, “Raise your hand if you wish to pursue your accusation toward Raid Freeden. Stay silent if you wish to drop the charges and continue discussing this deal.”
Naturally, not a single hand was raised. The people who had raised their voices to criticize Raid mere moments ago could only awkwardly avert their gazes.
Kratio looked around the room and slowly nodded.
“Then I hereby declare that the accusations against Raid Freeden are null and void. Instead, let us begin our investment into the future!”