We were done handling the issue with Smartie. I had been hoping Smartie would change dramatically in a short period of time, but that miracle didn’t happen. The only thing that changed dramatically was her appearance, however, that didn’t mean there weren’t any other changes at all.

Little by little, Dialugia was regaining her position within the family and Smartie was also starting to acknowledge her mother’s position. Whenever Dialugia and I were together, Smartie would either jump around or do something unexpected to grab my attention, but whatever she did, they all looked cute to me.

It wasn’t that noticeable, but Smartie was slowly changing. Of course, I didn’t know whether this change was intentional or not, but Dialugia would express her happiness about it every day. Smartie’s simple kindness would emotionally move her, and she often pondered about how Smartie’s behavior had changed compared to before. Naturally, Dialugia would give Smartie more than what the latter gave her, and it was bad from my point of view. It was just my personal opinion, but Smartie had to be apart from her mother.

In the end, Smartie started going to school with Max. Dialugia didn’t seem to like the fact that the dragon Smartie was receiving the same education as humans, but she knew that being around other people would help form her character, so she agreed to it, and it was the right decision. We made this decision because Dr. Kang Hyun-Wook recommended it and the interesting part was that this solution was for Dialugia, not for Smartie. I thought Dialugia needed personal time to herself. It was all because I knew that many mothers would stop taking care of themselves once they had children…

‘Parenting depression?’

Dialugia had achieved a pretty high score on the test Dr. Kang Hyun-Wook used on Earth. She reached the highest scores, so I was worried. Naturally, Dialugia said that there was nothing to worry about and laughed it off, but based on the results, it was anything but funny. According to the expert, it wouldn’t be strange if she suddenly ran rampant. She was a dragon, so she would naturally have a hard time expressing herself, and it was the reason why stress kept on building up inside her. I supported Dialugia with everything I had, like helping her find a hobby she could do while Smartie was at school. Dialugia didn’t know what to do with the free time she had unexpectedly received, but her expression looked increasingly brighter with every passing day.

‘That’s not the case for me…’

My position was completely different from hers.

‘I’m so busy…’

I only spent a short while, but I had to move nonstop. Since I had pushed back the tasks that had already been pushed back once, I naturally had even more work to handle. I finally realized what people meant when they said they didn’t even have the time to take a breath.

Overall, three things happened.

1. Managing my connection with the Vatican.

I had many conversations with Father Basel again, whom I had met after a long time. When I heard that the current Pope of the Holy Empire was going to return to god’s side soon due to his old age, I wanted to scream. Of course, I heard from Father Basel that one of the three cardinals was going to be elected as the new pope and that among them, he was most likely going to get elected. If Father Basel became the Pope, then my status would also go up, and since there was a chance I could get promoted from being an honorary bishop, I was busy trying to make a good impression.

In addition to spending time with Father Basel, I also had a prayer meeting with Sister Jessica, who had become the archbishop, and Helena, a heretic inquisitor. And we reaffirmed our connection. Aside from them, I met with other members of the Vatican, ate with them, did volunteer work, and participated in various activities. Since I no longer had to manage my connection with the bishops, I brought Sun Hee-Young with me when I visited the Vatican.

‘It was great.’

Obviously, Sun Hee-Young became close to the bishops because she was an exemplary priest. Since she had become a lot closer to them than I thought, I thought it would be okay to transfer all of my tasks to her, aside from managing my relationship with Father Basel.

2. Managing my connection with the nobles.

Managing the emperor’s faction was just as important as managing the Vatican. Since I had a direct connection to the Vatican, I didn’t really focus on the social circles, but since Lady Caitlyn and the other noblewomen had helped a lot with Ito Sota’s case, it was really important to take care of them. After my reunion with Father Basel, I was invited to the nobles’ social meeting and met many people there.

I could remember that I was the busiest during these times. The adventure log of the Blue and Black Swan Guild was revealed, so everyone was talking about the museum. I was receiving a lot of attention as a seatholder of the Eight Seats and with the museum on top of it, my fame started shooting through the roof. More noblewomen flocked to me, and I was able to obtain various information. Despite being busy, gossiping with them was pretty fun and they even mentioned the imperial princess. Since I had neither seen nor heard of her, it was a pretty refreshing topic to me.

3. Castle Rock’s Black Market.

After attending the social meeting, I headed to Castle Rock, which was Lady Marilyn’s hometown. Publicly, it was because Lady Marilyn had invited me, but I was actually heading there to check on the black market in Castle Rock. Since Jo Hye-Jin was firmly against activities like slave arenas, I couldn’t start something like that, but this black market still had decent returns and was operating pretty well. All I could do was nod after checking it myself.

‘Not bad.’

I thought it wouldn’t matter if I got involved in some illegal businesses, but since I couldn’t manage them myself, I had no choice but to give up many of them. Fortunately, it wasn’t like I started this black market for money. This black market only existed as a way to keep tabs and list the customers using this place. Nothing more, nothing less.

‘I’m sure it’ll be useful later.’

A black market customer list and ledger could grant me great power. Of course, we had advertised that everything would remain secret, but no secret lasted forever in this world. If I used the documents and ledgers to track their location, I would be able to easily find out the identity of the masked customers. I couldn’t really look around because Lady Marilyn stuck close to me like glue, but from what I could tell, I would give the black market a 3.5 out of 5. I didn’t think it was that bad.

“Whew…”

The tasks I listed earlier were the main tasks, but they weren’t the only things I worked on. There were some internal affairs I had to take care of as well.

Max was sort of having a difficult time and while he was researching the mana hologram device with Jung Ha-Yan, I was getting ready for business with Lee Ji-Hye, and we officially started decorating the museum. I didn’t forget to support the rookies as well. After a debate with Han Sora, I learned how black mages worked and I officially started supporting Yoo Ah-Young so that she can quickly increase her blacksmith skills. I continued researching new potions and I thought about how I should get rid of the serum that Park Deok-Gu didn’t get to use. During all of this, I also had to take care of Jung Ha-Yan’s mental health and spend time with Smartie, so even if I had five clones, it still wouldn’t be enough. It was similar to the time when Kim Hyun-Sung gave me all the work in the guild, but the only difference was that Kim Hyun-Sung was just as busy as me and it was all because…

‘Because he has no time…’

It was because he didn’t want to keep pushing back the official announcement of the Holy Empire’s Eight Seats. He had to make time no matter what and to do that, he had no choice but to get busy.

I was able to relax a bit because I finished the tasks I had mentioned earlier, but everyone looked kind of frustrated. Just like Kim Hyun-Sung and me, the Guild Master of the Red Mercenary Guild was also busy.

“It’s really annoying. The official announcement is fine, but is it really necessary for the eight people to gather together when we’re all in different cities? Can’t the emperor just make an official announcement himself?” Cha Hee-Ra vented.

“Seriously…” I commented.

“He knows that we’re busy and yet, he does something like this. I’m sure the Taiwanese and Japanese players are frustrated as well. Empty formalities had always been a problem here or on Earth. Empty formalities… I’m sure they’ll be even more annoying by telling us that there’s going to be a party afterward… It’s so annoying. Don’t you agree, darling?” she asked.

“I’m sure the emperor wants to show everyone that he’s doing something. I haven’t heard the details, but it seems like he has been losing his power…” I answered.

“Really?” she asked.

“Yeah. It could just be a rumor, but it’s news among the nobles. The Vatican has been getting stronger lately, so it’s understandable that he’s losing power. Well, I’m sure the rumors are true. The fact that there’s a rumor like that in the first place means the nobles have been turning a blind eye to it, and I’m sure the emperor wants to use this chance to show that he’s in good health. Those who had already caught on know that he’s just putting on a show, but the citizens aren’t interested in that kind of stuff. They just accept it because those were the emperor’s words,” I explained.

“I don’t think I’ve heard that before…Black Swan’s Guild Master, have you heard about this, too?” Cha Hee-Ra asked.

“Yes, I have heard the rumors as well.”

When Cha Hee-Ra asked Park Yeon-Joo, who was talking with Kim Hyun-Sung, she nodded and answered. Cha Hee-Ra in front of me looked kind of annoyed, and I had an idea why she was feeling that way, so I slowly turned my head.

“Looks like we were the last ones to find out again. How about you two just work together and forget about the three alliances?” Cha Hee-Ra complained.

“...”

“Honestly, I’m really disappointed about the museum situation. Darling, if you were in my position, you would feel the same way, right?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, Miss Cha Hee-Ra. We have already received a lot of help from the Red Mercenary Guild, and since we heard that you’re already in another dungeon, we thought it would be best not to tell you.”

“I was just venting, so don’t mind me. Even if I couldn’t participate in the capture, I’m still thankful that you were considerate enough to allow me to invest in it. But next time, just tell me straight. I’m not really the type to calculate the loss and profit, and if my allies are in danger, it’s only natural that I send out my troops,” she informed them.

“Got it.”

Park Yeon-Joo nodded and it seemed like she understood what Cha Hee-Ra was saying. If Park Yeon-Joo was thinking that this alliance was formed based on common interests, then Cha Hee-Ra understood this alliance as something more than that. I had always been thinking about it, but I was sure Cha Hee-Ra’s personality was the reason why her guild members were affectionate toward her, rather than her powers.

‘What she’s doing isn’t easy...’

I could never do what Cha Hee-Ra had been doing.

Anyway, waiting around like this was starting to bother me a bit, so I started looking around and saw a large room. Kim Hyun-Sung, Cha Hee-Ra, and Park Yeon-Joo were sitting and their adjutants were standing behind them. Jo Hye-Jin was behind Kim Hyun-Sung, a nameless executive of the Red Mercenary Guild was behind Cha Hee-Ra, and Lee Ji-Hye was standing behind Park Yeon-Joo. The Blue Guild usually didn’t have adjutants following people around, but because of the purpose of this meeting, we had no choice but to pick one from our party and Jo Hye-Jin was the lucky person to get picked. Since she had a close relationship with Kim Hyun-Sung in the latter’s past life, he probably thought this kind of meeting was suitable for her. I brought an adjutant with me as well. And when I looked back, the adjutant looked at me with a bright smile.

“...”

“...”

It was Jung Ha-Yan.

‘I honestly think she’s more than qualified to sit with us…’

While having different thoughts, the door slowly opened. Kasugano Yuno entered first and behind her was someone I had never seen before.

‘The Eight Seats of the Benigoa Holy Empire.’

This was my first time meeting the other three, but it seemed like it wasn't the case for Kim Hyun-Sung.

‘I’m sure he met them in his past life…’

I saw our Hyun-Sung looking at the people who entered one by one.