TL: xLordFifth
ED:
Swoooosh…!
Leeha immediately moved to Fibiel’s capital, Aelstock. Since he had saved the location of the crystal ball near the warp gate, he had to walk a bit further to the royal palace.
‘Chiyou is affiliated with Minis. Regardless, in a situation like this, it’s not a problem to wander around a city in another country. It’s the same as me being able to wander around a city in Minis. But…’
The royal palace is a different story. Leeha regretted underestimating Chiyou without realizing it. As a ranker of Chiyou’s caliber, if she really belonged to a guild that handles information, and if she was operating high-end taverns and gourmet restaurants in the major cities of Minis, it wouldn’t be strange.
‘There must be an enormous amount of contribution to Minis. Not to mention the continental reputation.’
Of course, it wasn’t long since he learned about her various ‘foundations’ in the major cities of Minis, but it was a level he could have predicted! Assuming that someone of her caliber would only act covertly was actually a mistake. In a situation where there’s nothing to hide, at least on the surface, Chiyou could, contrary to Leeha’s expectations, roam around proudly in the light.
“Ha Leeha-nim.”
“What! Who, who are you?”It was then that someone approached Leeha as he walked down the street. Even Leeha, who usually remembered faces well, did not recognize this person.
“Here.”
“What is this- Hey, hey there!” Swoosh. The person handed something to Leeha and immediately turned and disappeared. It was a small piece of paper.
“…What’s this?”
[Kyuuu?]
Leeha, along with Blaugrunn, tilted his head and unfolded the note given by the man.
[If you received this note, you must be in the capital. Chiyou has headed to Fibiel’s royal palace as a special envoy from Minis. Hurry and follow her before it’s too late. This is about diplomatic coordination to prevent territorial disputes in the New Continent.]
“Ah?!”
Was this seen through Madame Ju via Lu? Anyway, Leeha just learned that the man was one of the NPCs belonging to the Holy Grill, an intelligence guild. He also unexpectedly learned the reason for Chiyou’s visit to Fibiel’s royal palace, which even Shin Nara didn’t know yet.
‘Oh! So that’s why- that’s why she came! Just as Ram Hwayeon-ssi said…!’
Fibiel was planning to soon send personnel of royal palace caliber to the New Continent.
How did Ram Hwayeon know this? Even if she had connections at the palace, for a player who was not a member of the expedition to the New Continent to know this, it must have been sufficiently discussed. Naturally, Minis and Kraven would not have just sat idly by. There was nothing strange about them moving first.
[Kyuu, Kyuu]
“Yes, we need to hurry.”
When the grand Fibiel royal palace began to loom before him, Leeha increased his speed. Upon entering the royal palace, he was greeted by Shin Nara.
“Leeha-ssi!”
“Ah, Nara-ssi.”
“Hurry, hurry! She’s still waiting to enter the audience chamber, but we don’t know what will be discussed!”
Shin Nara, unaware of Chiyou’s purpose, urged Leeha. But in fact, Leeha, who had arrived late, already had that information. Shin Nara linked her arms with him and walked briskly. Listening to the clanking of his plate boots, Leeha broached the subject of Chiyou’s purpose. Upon hearing about the reason for Minis sending a special envoy,
Shin Nara looked quite surprised.
“We haven’t even proceeded to that level in our discussions yet. Minis moved so quickly? Territorial issues regarding the New Continent are extremely sensitive.”
“Yes, that’s right. No, that’s why Chiyou moved.
“Eh?”
Chiyou is the leader of Shinobigumi. The person leading the largest intelligence guild among players is Chiyou. Leeha didn’t answer Shin Nara’s question. But his eyes were shining. Shin Nara, looking at Leeha’s face, suddenly turned her head away. Thinking that Leeha looked ‘beautiful’ was something Shin Nara considered crazy. Yet, she couldn’t help but be drawn to him! She hurriedly changed the subject.
“Oh, did you complete the quest at the Papacy? What reward did you receive?”
Hearing her somewhat excited voice, Leeha had a stunned expression.
When Leeha didn’t respond, Shin Nara turned her head back to him. After seeing his expression, she looked even more surprised.
“Leeha-ssi… Don’t tell me…”
“Right… I forgot about the quest…”
“Really crazy- no, sorry. But Leeha-ssi?!”
Leeha reproached himself without Shin Nara needing to call him crazy. Could he really be losing his mind? He had forgotten about the reward from the Papacy! The quest for the New Continent expedition was ultimately given by the Pope of Ezwen.
Meaning, to receive the quest completion reward, he should have returned to Ezwen!
‘I should have seen the alert, and it must have been showing continuously in the quest window to check the reward…’
Shin Nara remembered when she completed it.
It’s not something you can forget even if you want to. Unless he didn’t log into Middle Earth at all, it was incredible for a heavy player like Leeha to forget something like that.
‘It’s not just a simple reward; how could I forget a quest completion reward that will go down in the history of Middle Earth?’
‘Crazy. No wonder something felt missing! How foolish!’
Leeha had his own reasons. In the New Continent, he was busy securing advantages, and back in the Old Continent, he was immersed in Gaza City’s business and Chiyou’s affairs. He had no time to spare for other matters – even though this was a matter too big to be called ‘other.’
“That… I was a bit busy…”
“Oh, really… To be so busy that you forget about a quest reward… In a way, that’s quite impressive.”
It meant his concentration was strong when he was focused on one thing, but at this moment, even Leeha had no excuse. Shin Nara looked at him not with pity or strangeness, but with pure ‘surprise’ in her eyes. Leeha’s non-excuse didn’t change her expression. A true gamer would have taken care of the quest completion reward first, setting aside everything else. To her, Leeha seemed to be more than a gamer, almost like a ‘resident’ of Middle Earth.
‘Well, that aspect is also-‘
“Dame Shin. What brings you here?”
“Oh! Ah, yes, there- that-”
Was it Leeha’s charm that was making Shin Nara’s heart flutter, she wondered, as they reached their destination.
Shin Nara quickly unlinked her arm from Leeha’s and composed herself.
“Thank you for your hard work. Are the envoys from Minis…”
“They just entered. His Majesty the King will meet them personally-”
“Oh no! Can we enter too?”
“Please wait a moment.”
The guard near the reception room exchanged glances between Leeha and Shin Nara and sent a message somewhere. Shin Nara of the Sacred Knights, and Leeha, not only with a high contribution to Fibiel but also as a lord of a city in Fibiel, were almost impossible to be ignored in the royal palace.
“Permission granted. This way.”
Soon after, a royal guard NPC led them. Following the splendid corridors of the Fibiel royal palace that the Minis’ envoys had passed through, Leeha and Shin Nara stopped in front of the king’s audience chamber. The signal was simple. When the door opened a moment later, Leeha had to exert considerable control over his patience.
“My, Leeha-ssi is here too?”
Chiyou was smiling and waving her hand with an amused expression.
‘I mustn’t show it. I can’t reveal even a bit of my heart.’
Leeha lightly ignored Chiyou and greeted the king and the meritorious NPCs of Fibiel next to him. One was the guard captain he had seen before. And another NPC standing beside him caught Leeha’s attention.
“Oh. Dame Shin and Musketeer-”
“I am Ha Leeha, Lotzak-nim.”
Magician Commander Lotzak was also there. Leeha felt like he had encountered a fox and a hyena in the same room. The king of Fibiel looked tired. After greeting Shin Nara and Leeha, he immediately asked Minis’ envoys again. “So… you suggest dividing the sectors in advance and then moving in?”
“That’s right, Your Majesty. As you know, if powerful Fibiel and Minis, which may not match Fibiel but still a strong nation, were to oppose each other again, it wouldn’t just disturb the peace of this continent but also leave us unprepared for the upcoming threats in the New Continent.”
As Minis’ envoy finished speaking, Chiyou whispered something in his ear.
As she stepped back, the Minis’ envoy spoke again.
“Therefore, before a full-scale exploration of the New Continent, it seems appropriate to determine how much land each country will manage based on the information currently available. If we go to the New Continent and conduct a thorough investigation, there’s a possibility of an ‘unfortunate situation’ arising as each strives for better land.”
“…Sigh… I understand what you’re saying.”
The king of Fibiel nodded his head. Leeha and Shin Nara arrived late, but their timing was perfect. They had just finished the unnecessary preamble and were discussing the main point. Leeha, already aware of the general situation, could immediately understand the conversation.
‘Indeed… They want to drive stakes in advance to prevent coveting more land in the New Continent.’
Once on the New Continent, everyone will want better land. Therefore, before sending official envoys, they propose to decide how much land and which areas each country affiliated with the New Continent expedition will govern based on the information brought by the expedition members…
‘If compared, it’s like a ‘random box’ from a national perspective.’
It’s the New Continent, already frequented and filled with information by players, apart from the official expedition members. But in the current situation, none of it can be ‘official record’ or ‘public data.’
Thus, deciding sectors without dispatching an investigation team, as Minis suggests, is likely to be a gamble. There’s a chance of acquiring a fertile area rich in resources, but also the risk of being responsible for an area full of aggressive and hostile Paleo monsters. At first glance, it might seem like an equal opportunity, but Leeha firmly shook his head.
This proposal would have been acceptable if it came from the king of Minis or the Pope. But who is present here now?
‘This idea likely originated from Chiyou.’
It’s also possible that she already had a considerable amount of information about the New Continent’s land. The time frame would have been too short for Chiyou to investigate alone. But who is she? If she utilized Shinobigumi?
Even though poor players can’t afford to use the warp gate to the New Continent, Shinobigumi’s financial power would have made it no problem.
In this era of upheaval, even the smallest piece of information about the New Continent can be worth a fortune.
“We have already discussed this to some extent with Kraven. If powerful Fibiel agrees, we will take responsibility for convincing Shazrashian and reporting to Ezwen.”
Minis’ envoy bowed respectfully. While his words showed immense respect for Fibiel, the facial muscles of the guard captain standing behind Fibiel’s king were trembling.
“How dare you! Is Minis trying to threaten our nation now?! Using terms like ‘powerful nation’ to deceive His Majesty, if that’s your intention, I’ll cut off your heads right now!”
“Please don’t think that way. We have no such intentions.”
“Lies! Your attitude shows that Minis believes it has more power than our nation! Your demeanor and the way you’re dictating terms! Do you think we don’t understand what that means? You-“
“Enough, Guard Captain. We’re in the royal court.”
“…”
Would the guard captain really have drawn his sword if Lotzak had not intervened? Yet, this exaggerated action indicated that the king had likely permitted it, something both Leeha and Shin Nara could discern. Though he was somewhat excitable, speaking out of turn in front of the king was a crime, and the captain would not have been unaware of that.
‘The king is also angry. He doesn’t like it.’
Leeha looked uncomfortably back and forth between the guard captain and Minis’ envoy. Both Chiyou and the envoy were smiling faintly.
‘How far, what plan are you concocting now, Chiyou? Whether we accept or not, is it all in your hands?’
Meeting Chiyou for the first time since the provisional conclusion that she was the head of Shinobigumi, Leeha felt anew how frightening she was. The thought that each of her actions and words, which he had simply found annoying or unlucky, could all be part of a calculated plan sent chills down his spine.
“We understand Minis’ proposal.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. We request a response within a timely manner, preferably within ten days.”
“How dare you again! Imposing a deadline on His Majesty, this insolent attitude needs to be corrected immediately-“
“Enough.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
The guard captain, once again on the verge of an outburst, was directly calmed by the king. The king must have been displeased as well. His tired expression had turned sharp. The first diplomatic situation between nations since the discovery of the New Continent was far from peaceful.
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