The world changed as time passed. To be exact, the empire; no, the land that was now called the Sacred Democratic Country and its surrounding state of affairs were the only things that changed. However, it was undeniable that positive changes were happening internally.

The part that stood out the most was that there were no longer ranks confining the empire. Of course, there had to be unofficial classes. The majority of the nobles still possessed enormous wealth and were called Senators. Charlotte was also in charge of one of the groups within the New People’s Assembly. The news that the caste system was officially abolished was enough to cause joy among the citizens. It meant that special classes like nobles and imperial families no longer existed. Obviously, special classes like priests were necessary, but since we were using the title Sacred Democracy, no one discussed the benefits the Vatican were holding. Rather, there was a widespread perception that priests serving the goddess deserved even greater power than before based on Sacred Democracy.

Everything went according to my plans. Even though the distribution was still ongoing, the goddess’ mirror was provided to each household, and the content displayed on those mirrors was information advantageous to the current government and the foreigners. A lot of information were released, but the information ordinary citizens could access was extremely limited. Anything that would put me at a disadvantage was excluded. The name of the television was Goddess’ Mirror, and the majority of the citizens who understood it as the goddess’ blessing had obviously gotten captivated by the dumb box.

Thanks to that, controlling public opinion through the media became a piece of cake. I thought maybe our society would become similar to the society depicted in George Orwell’s novel that I had read a long time ago, but that was what I wanted from the start. Animals would never leave their cage if they were comfortable inside of it. The doors to the breeding farm the citizens were locked in had been open for quite some time now, but no one chose to leave it.

‘All that matters is their happiness.’

No one cared about the truth. I wasn’t sure whether it was because of the goddess’ blessing, but I could leave the internal issues to our Oscar, who was also known as Aris. Of course, there were some issues, but she was working just like I had intended and most of all, she was enthusiastic and motivated at work. At this point, I had to focus on the external issues more than the internal ones.

‘Those kingdom bastards must be out of their minds.’

Naturally, Senator Chenko’s words remained in my head. The Union of Kingdoms was very sensitive to our every move, and I could understand their reaction. Since their land was close to us, and we even killed our emperor during the revolution, they were worried that a similar revolution might break out in the kingdom they were ruling. The situation could be understood just by looking at Earth’s world history, but I didn’t like the fact that the Union of Kingdoms was trying to isolate us. The number of our democratic knights had decreased by a lot, so I wanted to avoid losing foreign forces.

‘Alliance.’

For the democratic country’s survival survive, we needed allies, and we also needed to improve our relationship with the Republic. Naturally, there was a limit to what could be done with just internal discussion.

Selecting the neutral nation, Laios, as my first diplomatic task was a very reasonable choice, but of course, Dialugia wasn’t satisfied with the news.

“So, you’re really heading outside today?” Dialugia asked.

“You know very well that the situation is unavoidable. I even told you about it a few days ago… I think I have also been visiting the nest more often recently after I finish work…” I pointed out.

“It’s something you’ve never done before, and you only did the bare minimum of what a father is supposed to do. You know that it’s nothing to boast about nor is it enough to use as a bargaining chip,” Dialugia argued.

“It won’t take long, and since I attended the lessons today—”

“It’s a promise you were supposed to keep a few months ago,” she reminded me.

“There was nothing I could do. How can I visit a class when the school was closed in the first place due to extensive remodeling? We ended up being able to visit a large school with a better environment, so it’s unfair to blame me for that. While we’re on the subject, I’m a busy person, and despite that, I have been pouring my heart and soul toward Smartie. Smartie is enjoying herself very much and if you keep complaining, I’ll be disappointed. Could there be another reason you don't want me to leave the nest aside from Smartie?” I asked.

“What do you—”

“Perhaps you’re the one who doesn’t want to send me away…” I replied.

I said it to provoke Dialugia, but I noticed her frown.

She looked like she was asking me, “What kind of bullshit are you spouting?’’

I couldn’t help but be hurt by her reaction.

‘Shit… I’m popular, too, you know.’

Even though the people who loved me were very interesting people, they weren’t treating me like how Dialugia was treating me, at the least. Naturally, I felt angry because Dialugia looked at me as if I was nothing but a bug. Then, I saw Smartie; no, Dialuria and Max running toward us after they were done with their lessons, so I wrapped my arm around Dialugia’s waist. Her body quivered for a moment, but in front of Smartie, we had to act like a happy couple. When I pulled her close to me, Dialugia glanced at me and frowned, but she couldn’t let go of me because she was conscious about Dialuria. After all, the solution Doctor Kang Hyun-Wook had given us was still being administered.

“Dad! Today I…!”

“I watched it all, Dialuria. I could tell how hard you’ve been working,” I told her.

“Hehehe!”

“You’ve been working hard on the things your mother taught you as well, right? How was it for you, Dialugia?” I asked.

Naturally, I looked at Dialugia lovingly. She then acted affectionate for the sake of her daughter, even though she was frowning just a few moments ago.

“I enjoyed it, darling. By the way, you were amazing, Dialuria. The swordsmanship demonstration you did was really…” she paused.

“...”

We probably looked nauseating in Smartie’s eyes, thanks to her Twisted Affection habit. And the way she stared at her mother was scary. Dialugia seemed flustered when I expressed my affection to her as if I was giving her my endless love, and it was to the point that she glanced at me, hinting at me to stop.

‘Screw you, too.’

It was a dirty and timid revenge, but I felt better.

“I watched you too, my son,” I said.

“I-I see…” Max stuttered.

“Are you getting along with Dialuria?” I asked.

“Ah… y-yes, Father,” he replied.

“Yup!” Dialuria answered.

Honestly, they didn’t seem like they were getting along. Max still couldn’t forget the body slam he had suffered from Smartie during their first meeting, so he was still having a hard time getting along with Smartie. And Smartie herself seemed like she still didn’t like her younger brother. I thought issues like this would get resolved over time, but it was taking longer than I thought.

Anyway, the class visit, which was considered a pretty big task for me, finally ended. We ate and enjoyed our time together on our way back to the nest, but it was about time for me to depart for Laios. As expected, Smartie tightly grabbed my pants while crying and even though he wasn’t good at expressing himself, Max looked sad as well.

“I’ll be right back so you have to wait for me and listen to your mother. Take good care of the museum, Max. Something came up, so we’ll have to postpone the museum’s opening…” I informed him.

“I understand,” he said.

“Alright. Smart—I mean, Dialuria. I really won’t take long this time, so don’t worry,” I assured her.

“Okay…”

“Let me give you a hug. Come here,” I offered.

The way she ran toward me was cute, and I almost flinched because it had been a while since she ran at me in her dragon form. Her saliva was all over my face as she screeched, but I wasn’t disgusted by it. Max looked awkward because of the daughter and father’s sad parting, so when I waved to him as well, he approached me.

‘He changed a bit as well…’

He was becoming more and more like a child. Even when our Smartie was in her human form, she would stick to me and screech, but Max seemed like he was always really awkward. However, it could be a side effect of establishing a connection with me so suddenly. I had been giving him the best of everything, as he was the number one contributor in the creation of the magic hologram, but the fact that he was being comfortable around me was a different story. It was only recently that Max started acting this way little by little, so I couldn’t help but think that he was truly changing. When I patted his head once, a small smile appeared on his face, so I assumed he didn’t mind being treated like a child.

‘How cute…’

When I started thinking about the changes and the environment, I started having various thoughts on the way to the Guild House because the surroundings and Max weren’t the only things that changed.

The Blue Guild had also experienced a huge change. First, Lee Chang-Ryeol, Yoo Ah-Young, and Han Sora—these three were rookies when they joined the Blue Guild’s second party, but they had grown so much they were no longer rookies. Lee Chang-Ryeol’s growth was especially strong that he surprised me. His dirty and cheap battle sense stood out to me more than his stats and abilities. As a blacksmith, Yoo Ah-Young was finally skilled enough to handle Dialugia’s scale, and even though she was kind of lacking as a tank, she still managed to grow into a vanguard who could endure attacks based on her outstanding stamina. It was the same for Han Sora. She was still a one-eyed lame; however, in addition to establishing contracts with monsters, she was already on the verge of making a direct contract with a demon. Obviously, her growth as a black mage was a secret between the two of us. Ahn Ki-Mo was still the same, but he was putting all his efforts into raising party two’s level until it was comparable to party one along with Hwang Jung-Yeon, who had officially become Park Deok-Gu’s woman.

‘Of course, it’s impossible…’

The Blue Guild’s main party was the country’s current; no, the continent’s best party. Park Deok-Gu had become renowned for his position as a pure tank, and I found it problematic that he hadn’t really changed. Of course, his skills didn’t remain stagnant. Perhaps he didn’t want to experience the hidden camera prank again, but he was training like a madman, which helped him climb up to a good position. He had also gotten skilled enough to duel with Kim Hyun-Sung’s eternal adjutant, Jo Hye-Jin.

Kim Ye-Ri, who was known to be a genius from the start, had grown tremendously and even though she no longer had the face of a child, a part of her remained unchanging. Sun Hee-Young had also grown to be a high-ranking priest, and she became the successor of my Honorary Bishop title. Her holy power was also strong enough for her position.

Basically, the Blue Guild was growing stronger and stronger in both power and politics that we couldn’t handle it anymore. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that we were walking down a promising future; however, despite all this growth, there were uncertainties that kept on bothering me.

To be exact, I was worried about two people.

One was our lovely regressor, Kim Hyun-Sung, and the other was Jung Ha-Yan, whom I was growing increasingly concerned about more than Kim Hyun-Sung, as she was pretty quiet nowadays.

‘She’s too quiet. Shit… Why is she so quiet these days?’

To make me feel this anxious despite doing nothing could be considered a skill. The atmosphere felt like it was the calm before the storm, and I knew this apprehension wasn’t just my imagination.