#202
The atmosphere in the conference hall, which had been chilly, began to thaw only after the delegation from the Talia Kingdom took their seats in one corner and a bit of time passed.
Rustle, rustle—
“Ahem, so what I mean is…”
“Ah— I see.”
One by one, the crowd started to converse among themselves again.
Everyone knew how acute the hearing of a powerful vampire was, so they didn’t openly chatter about them, but people couldn’t help glancing toward the corner repeatedly.
‘The new ruler of the Talia Kingdom, Heinz Hybrid II. A vampire from the Brokoslac Clan who has attained the status of Pureblood.’
Since participants here were representatives of their respective nations, they were all well-informed.
Naturally, they knew about the vampire group that had swallowed an entire kingdom, and they knew enough about its leader, Heinz.
However, the earlier tension wasn’t just because they knew their opponent.
Vampires were predators who thrived by siphoning the blood of others.
Along with a sense of discomfort in face of such opponents, the ominous aura that naturally emanated from them triggered primal instincts, and their reactions were thus instinctive.
Moreover…
Swish—
“Hmm? Duke Pristine?”
“Excuse me for a moment, Princess.”
Isea quietly moved closer to Riley, who was standing at the center of the crowd.
Riley cast a puzzled glance at her, but Isea ignored it and boldly maintained her position.
Even as she remained wary of the vampires… more precisely, of Heinz II.
She wanted to be ready to respond immediately, no matter what might happen.
‘…Strong. Can I block that overwhelming strength?… With the shrine’s barrier, it might be possible, but if we just stall them, the church will step in afterwards, so let’s prepare for that…’
If they had any plans, they wouldn’t create trouble in the heart of the church, but wizards were always those who prepared for contingencies.
Not long ago, she had been right next to Riley when the Undead King had kidnapped her.
So, it was only natural to exercise extremely heightened caution.
‘…!!!’
At that moment, Heinz, who had been quietly seated, shot a fleeting glance in their direction.
It seemed as if it had no particular meaning, but in that brief moment, Isea’s mind was a turmoil of magical structures assembling and disassembling.
‘…Tch, scaring me.’
After that fleeting gaze passed by.
She took a light breath but had no intention of lowering her guard.
Her hyper-awareness, having surpassed extremes, pierced through her instincts, warning her that even a moment of carelessness with this opponent was not permissible.
And this was a common reaction among the strong in attendance.
“Hee-hee—. Quite impressive!”
Starting with Morgana, the Great Mage with a watchful aide.
“Hm… This is fascinating. Such presence. Truly, as renowned.”
The leader of the Magic Tower Alliance couldn’t restrain their excitement at the appearance of the Pureblood, now only a concept in ancient texts.
“Indeed, this continent is full of formidable beings. Must have been quite the struggle for you, Laforey.”
“Hahaha… I’ve just been conversing with the church. I’m more worried about Lydia, who will have to endure everything from now on.”
The high elves from the Elven Kingdom across the Enamel Continent.
“Ugh! This is really unsettling. Are we sure this is okay?”
Lionel, the beastman representative from the Wild Land.
And among the guards accompanying the national delegations, tension was palpable as they kept careful watch over the vampire group, as if waiting for an explosion.
And so, all eyes were on Heinz…
‘I expected something like this, but this is beyond what I anticipated. I might have shown too much presence…’
He pondered with a calm expression while slowly stroking his chin.
He had deliberately made himself noticeable to assert dominance, but now he wondered if he had overdone it.
He had caught sight of Isea’s familiar face and instinctively looked her way, only to hurriedly avert his gaze at her explosive mental state, which felt overwhelmingly threatening.
“Click, glancing around as if this is some kind of spectacle. How rude to even do that to the High Lord!”
“Well, it’s unprecedented for vampires to participate openly in a ceremony at the holy site. Especially since the High Lord is a Pureblood who is practically a legend.”
“That’s true, but still…”
As the others murmured about their fears and uncertainties, Frigia Brokoslac, who had accompanied Heinz as a sort of decoration to display strength, clicked her tongue.
Mulo, who had followed her as an aide, scolded her.
Even though Heinz II was a Pureblood, it was only natural that some prominent figures would need to accompany him to display strength.
Mulo, responsible for information, had brought her along seeing she could be useful in various situations, while Frigia, a martial artist, was brought in because she was twiddling her thumbs after recently defeating rebellion plotters.
‘I can’t stand watching her dally while I’m working. Besides, Frigia was once an honored noblewoman, so she should be used to external activities.’
The parties involved might have been pleased with the favoritism toward a foundational member from Brokoslac, but overall, mutual satisfaction was a good thing, wouldn’t you say?
Of course, being representatives of their nations, practical personnel accompanied them as well.
“Oh, the church delegates are entering. It seems they are about to begin the meeting. I’ll guide you to the round table, High Lord. Let’s go together.”
The Duke Bright, who had represented the first meeting, bowed respectfully with a more youthful face than before, skin taut.
Having been recognized for his contributions, he had instantly become a Pureblood vampire and was now participating as the executive officer for the second meeting.
“Hmm, shall we go then?”
As Heinz moved, one after another, representatives from various factions, gathered in groups, began to converge towards the center.
As they drew close, wary glances exchanged swiftly, resembling a tense game of tag, and thankfully they managed to take their seats without any major disruption.
After a moment passed.
“Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here today.”
As Liesta, Heinrich, and Cardinal Cordelia settled into empty spots at the round table, the meeting commenced.
“Then, let us begin the Second Continental Summit.”
As the Cardinal’s brief greeting ushered in the official session, it began just like the first.
*
Throughout the proceedings, Heinz simply crossed his arms and waited.
It wasn’t yet time for him to step up.
The meeting’s direction was not much different from the first one.
Essentially, the focus was on how to pool their strength to navigate through these trying times.
The first point was the official establishment of the continental alliance army that had been discussed, backed by cooperation among the church and the Magic Tower, which set up a system for immediate deployment anywhere.
Their first deployed destination was the Rohan Principality, barely holding onto the capital.
They had already faced severe damage from the recent emergence of the White Giant and were at the brink of collapse without additional aid, so it was quite expected.
“…I thank you for your assistance.”
With a pale face, Dennis Lohan bowed deeply, forcing a smile.
Given that reclaiming their territory was now a pipe dream, the aim of the allied forces was simply to help the refugees from Rohan safely flee to the Empire.
That was about all he could do at this point.
The next topic up for discussion was concerning that ‘White Giant.’
“Our republic has also encountered that giant recently. We dispatched troops as quickly as possible to hunt it down, but sadly, we suffered casualties among civilians and many soldiers.”
The middle-aged woman, Kayla McClair, the Vice President of the Zephia Republic, spoke with a stiff tone.
She seemed deeply troubled by the recent calamity, repeatedly rubbing her temples and sighing as if exhausted.
“I’ve heard that the Saint can foresee the Undead King’s attack targets. Is there a way to prognosticate the giant’s appearances as well? If we can determine that beforehand, we could significantly reduce future casualties.”
“…I’m ashamed to say that my current capabilities are somewhat limited in that regard. I’m unable to foresee events beyond the Abyssal Scar. I can only say that the giant invading is beyond my capacity.”
“I see… It can’t be helped then. I apologize for my irrelevant inquiry, Saint. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to foresee, and I shouldn’t have burdened you with my complaints.”
With her words, Kayla lightly bowed her head in apology, and Heinrich mirrored her gesture, lost deep in thought.
‘If only we could at least ascertain its appearance right after it arrives, the Heroes Party could engage directly.’
The Heroes Party’s quick involvement was limited by the events they could foresee.
After an incident occurred and was relayed to the church, and then sent back to Heinrich through the church, calculating the coordinates to which they needed to dispatch people…
‘If lucky, we might not arrive late, but relying solely on luck is less efficient than having each nation do their utmost to prepare.’
That thought was something he himself… or rather, Harley, had to lament.
If he could take down the White Giant himself, he could absorb its core, which was indeed a shame to miss.
“There’s a way.”
But at that moment, a voice interrupted his musings.
“After many trial and error, it has recently become feasible. To be precise, it’s not about foreseeing events in advance. Rather, at the moment it uses the Abyssal Scar as a passage to cross over—”
It was Liesta, the Saint of the Holy Church, who was sitting right next to him.
“At that moment, I can capture it.”
As she finished speaking, a bright glint sparkled in her golden eyes for a brief moment.
Seeing those eyes, an idea suddenly struck his mind.
‘Now that I think about it, Liesta does have such an ability.’
An incredibly vast blessing that tracks magic.
Once, Hans had gone through endless difficulties trying to evade it.
Thanks to that, he had gained almost perfect concealment skills and could confidently utilize them even in Earth.
‘But didn’t it have significant restrictions due to the madness that spread through the world?’
Besides, giants had strong resistance to Holy Power, so it couldn’t have been easy.
It seemed that she hadn’t been just idling about all this time.
“Oh! Surely, it is the Saint!”
“Indeed, if you can do that, we could reduce damage much more than we currently can.”
“So what would be the most effective way to counter the giant…?”
While others shared their excitement over the good news, Heinrich was still wrapped in the thoughts he had just been pondering.
‘Wait a minute. If this is the case, we can know exactly when the giant appears, right?’
They could even pinpoint its exact coordinates in real-time as it emerged.
However, to use that information effectively, one issue had to be resolved first.
As Heinrich came to a conclusion in thought and turned to look at Liesta, she appeared to be on the same wavelength, gazing back at him with a gentle smile.
“Then, Saint? May I ask to accompany you in your actions, too?”
The Saint calmly declared her intention to dive into danger to reduce the sacrifices of the people, showing the church’s unwavering determination.
Yet, unlike everyone else, Heinrich’s first thought upon hearing her was somewhat unrelated.
‘…She must really not want to deal with administrative duties.’
Though that was a fleeting thought, so the real reason was likely not that.
…Maybe it was somewhat included.
