Just like on Earth, Taiwan and China shared a complicated relationship. The majority of the Chinese people in the Republic still firmly believed that Taiwan was a country affiliated with them and obviously, the Taiwanese didn’t think of them kindly. Since it was also happening here, the shock Dawan had experienced was expected. It was funny that they brought international relations from Earth to here, but since there were still anti-Japanese players in Lindel, it wasn’t that strange at all. The Islamic players from afar were still fighting every day, and the Union of Kingdoms—where the European powers were located—was still bound by the shackles of their past.

The relationship between China and Taiwan was a bit more complicated. Since the tutorial dungeon in Dawan was close to the Republic, their interests were aligned since the Republic wanted to acquire as many tutorial dungeons as possible. In addition, Dawan’s current location used to be the Old Republic’s territory. And the Republic had been provoking Dawan thanks to this. The Chinese in the Republic claimed that the ‘Taiwanese are our people,’ while the Republicans, including their president, strongly insisted: ‘this area was originally our territory.’

‘It’s a mess.’

Even before our arrival on the continent, the Benigoa Holy Empire, the Republic, the Union of Kingdoms, and the mixed races had long been embroiled in fights against each other. And even though they looked normal on the outside, they were rotten inside. As such, the news of war breaking out wasn’t that shocking.

‘It’s up to the players, too…’

The group of leaders on this continent may be a complete mess, but I believe war wasn’t going to break out anytime soon. And it was all because…

‘These bastards aren’t stupid…’

If they really were planning on starting a war, then they wouldn’t have announced the Five Tiger Generals or the Eight Seats because dogs on leashes were often the most aggressive. Of course, the ones shouting that they were the strongest wouldn’t fight head-to-head. If I were the emperor of the Holy Empire or the president of the Republic, then I would surely never do something so stupid like showing my cards to the enemies. As such, an announcement like this was nothing more than an armed demonstration.

‘Unless they’re crazy, nothing will happen.’

However, I was anxious. War breaking out at a time like this…

‘It’s not good.’

I had just settled down and was just starting to spread my wings, so a war breaking out was something I didn’t want to see. I kept on thinking about it while listening to the others as they exchanged opinions. Kim Hyun-Sung listened seriously when the Republic’s constant provocation to Dawan was mentioned.

“It happened in Laios…”

“That’s…”

“A neutral nation. Some South-East Asians, including Laotians, arrived there after they were summoned. Have you heard—no, I’m sure you’ve heard of it since it’s right below the border…”

“I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard of it,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“Dawan’s tutorial dungeon is right next to the Republic, and Laios is located in the south, so many people have been gathering there. It’s the same for the Republicans, too,” Yu Ran explained.

It was against the imperial law to fight in a neutral country.

“Of course, there wasn’t a fight, but even if there were fights, they would be small skirmishes. The best they could do was argue like children while standing in front of a rare-ranked dungeon. However, the childish fights eventually grew bigger. The people that got beaten up would call their senior guild members and once they arrived, the other side would summon their seniors as well. A large-scale fight didn’t break out, but if someone had pulled the bowstring back, then—Boom!” she exclaimed.

“You guys have always been like that,” Cheon Kwan-Wi commented.

“Maybe it’s a woman’s intuition or an archer’s intuition. If Miss Cha Hee-Ra was with me, I’m sure she would have felt something similar. I thought something was going to happen, so I almost regretted going out there without preparations,” she added.

“No one intervened?” Cha Hee-Ra asked.

“Someone did, which is why a fight didn’t break out and an official report was even submitted to the empire. I was told that they were going to submit an official complaint, but I’m not sure if they actually did it…” she mentioned.

Dawan was going through some internal hardships, unlike us who only fought monsters. It seemed like those types of issues happened there every day. In some ways, it may not seem like a big deal, but ignoring trivial signs like this would be foolish. As such, there were a lot of things I had to think about.

‘Should I visit?’

Naturally, I thought it wouldn’t be so bad to visit Dawan and Laios once. I had to know exactly what was going on over there, so I could make preparations.

‘Smartie will throw a big tantrum again…’

Maybe I could take my griffon and make my visits as short as possible. Time passed as they continued talking, and in the end, the conversation ended without any solution.

“I’ll take you to the audience chamber.”

It was time for us to meet the Emperor of the Benigoa Holy Empire. When Cheon Kwan-Wi’s adjutant opened the door after hearing the voices outside, we saw a retainer bowing. Cha Hee-Ra stood up and started talking and naturally, the retainer answered after bowing a bit longer.

“What’s our schedule like?”

“Nothing has been scheduled after the dinner with His Majesty. However, tomorrow morning…” the retainer paused.

“Ah, we just need to look good in front of the Empire’s citizens, right?” she asked.

“Ahem…”

“Lead the way. I wonder if dinner will be short since we waited for quite a long while,” she commented.

‘Of course not...’

The dinner would last at least four to five hours. Eating with an ordinary noble usually lasted two hours at most and since we were eating with the emperor, I was sure it would be doubled. It hadn’t even started yet, but I was already getting tired.

“Ah, I’m sorry, but I’ll guide the adjutants to a different room,” the retainer said.

“What?!”

Jung Ha-Yan unknowingly blurted out. I guess she was shocked when she heard that because she thought we would be together all the time.

“It won’t take long, Ha-Yan. Enjoy your meal with Miss Ji-Hye and Miss Hye-Jin,” I assured her.

“Okay, oppa.”

“Let’s go, Miss Ha-Yan.”

“Ah… okay.”

Because of the situation, she agreed without making a fuss.

‘At least, she’s being reasonable...’

The adjutants would spend time together and even though I was curious about the kind of conversation they were going to have, I didn’t belong there. The waiting retainers led the adjutants to a different room and after Jung Ha-Yan checked my location a few times, she disappeared from my sight. Cha Hee-Ra looked as if she was already tired and as soon as Jung Ha-Yan left my side, Kasugano Yuno moved next to me. I guess she was imagining something nice because I noticed a small smile on her face.

Kim Hyun-Sung, Park Yeon-Joo, and Yu Ran were talking in front of us while Cheon Kwan-Wi was walking with Suzumiya Ibuki behind us. I guess he didn’t want to be near Cha Hee-Ra because he was maintaining a few steps away from us.

When we followed the retainer, the scenery we saw was pretty fancy. Since he was the most powerful person in the Holy Empire, his class was on a different level compared to ordinary nobles. There were all sorts of gilded and gold decorations lining up the place, and the way to the audience chamber was fancy as well.

This was for the emperor of the empire. The nobles who enjoyed empty formalities wouldn’t prepare events like this half-heartedly.

When the door slowly opened, I saw the gramp—Victor Hart—whom I hadn’t seen for quite a while now.

‘Is he the emperor’s bodyguard?’

After greeting him with a nod, I started handing over my equipment. I heard Cha Hee-Ra talking to him, but I didn’t bother to eavesdrop. I was sure he was telling her to either be polite or not to act rashly.

After the guards were done searching our bodies, the guards and retainers started guiding us and with Victor Hart in the lead, we walked on the red carpet again. We probably passed by three doors. And when the door I thought would be the last one opened, I saw the emperor waiting for us in his seat.

‘What’s that…’

I wasn’t expecting anything grand because Cha Hee-Ra had already told me that he was just an old man who didn’t have much and throughout my stay in the empire, I had never thought of the Emperor of the Holy Empire as a competent person. However, what I had seen was below my expectations. He was wearing a large crown, but I guess he didn’t have the strength to wear it because he was shaking and his eyes seemed dull. However, when taking a closer look, his eyes were filled with doubt and spite that I became wary of him. He had a wrinkled face and a small body, and he seemed like he couldn’t be further from being the emperor of this large empire.

‘He’s the emperor?’

If I was told that the woman sitting beside him was the empress, I would believe them and I had an inkling of her identity. When I activated Mind’s Eye, I knew I was right.

‘The Princess of the Holy Empire.’

There was a certain aura around her and her nature was Calculative Innovator. Her unique habit and stats weren’t that bad either. Her eyes seemed like they were looking through me and she had the indescribable grace of a leader.

When I looked away, I saw the old man on the verge of dying.

“Everyone… please… sit…”

He sounded so weak that I didn’t think he would be able to kill even a mosquito.

“We have met you, Your Majesty.”

Everyone showed their respect based on what they had learned beforehand and when the old man saw that, he nodded with a big smile.

“I’m also honored to be able to meet the heroes… that represent the empire. I’m sure… you all know why I called you here. First… have a seat. Ah, before that… I should introduce my daughter, Charlotte,” the Emperor said.

“My name is Charlotte, the second princess. It’s nice to meet you,” Charlotte introduced herself.

“We have met you, Princess.”

“No need to be so formal. I’m already aware that you’re not used to the etiquette of the empire. We didn’t invite you here to make you feel uncomfortable, so please raise your heads,” she ordered.

“Okay...”

“Yes, you’re right. Good job… Charlotte,” the Emperor complimented.

“Excuse me.”

Everyone slowly sat in their seats and even though we started eating and talking, I couldn’t hear any of their voices. The majority of the conversations were useless and they were mostly about heroes this and heroes that.

“Cough… cough…”

Aside from the emperor’s coughing, I couldn’t really hear anything else, and laughing at things that weren’t even that amusing was tiring. I guarantee that the old man was the only person here that I could fight and win with my bare body.

‘He’s no emperor.’

Without a change in the government, the empire had no future. Not only that, but I even started wondering whether that old man was going to start becoming senile or start a war…

I kept having those thoughts, but…

A person like me was really weak against power. I unknowingly started bootlicking him because of his influence.

“As expected from His Majesty, the Emperor. Your eyes are filled with brilliance. Hahaha.”

I noticed the others looking at me as if they were amazed.