Duke Yuma selected the people to bring to the [Racial Conference].
First off, it was already decided that Empress Brigitte and himself would be going.
‘Guess I should just take everyone I always brought along.’
Bell and Cloney were already a given.
Yuma prioritized the experience he would give to these two the most.
Princess Tisha, being of the Mullen royalty, didn’t seem like someone who would shy away from meeting many races.
Yuma directly asked Tisha and Hestia.
As expected, both of them returned positive responses.
Hestia’s softly murmured answer left a lasting impression.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen some of my kin.”
And then, he decided to take along another Sword Master from the White Night tribe instead of Bell.
The party wasn’t just exclusive to Yuma. The 30 elite guards directly loyal to Brigitte were essential whenever she moved as an Empress. All were at expert level, and Mikael, who commanded them, was a Sword Master.
From the advisors supporting Brigitte’s position, this was already enough to feel uneasy, but with Duke Yuma accompanying them, that concern vanished.
And so, the departure team was finalized.
The next day, Yuma called his companions at the rear gate of the imperial palace.
Standing beside him were nine Elves lined up.
“We salute the great summit of the Astes, Your Majesty Empress Brigitte.”
The Elves, including Ishera, who had already greeted her yesterday, bowed to Brigitte. The Elf guard captain, MuLius, and the guards showed their respect towards Yuma.
“We greet Your Excellency Duke Yuma.”
The looks in the Elves’ eyes as they gazed at Yuma were filled with goodwill and curiosity.
And they offered cheerful greetings to the rest of the group as well.
The demeanor of the Elves was unmistakably filled with joy.
Cloney also bowed her head and returned the greeting.
‘Ah, didn’t Hestia unnie say not to trust the Elves’ kindness too easily…?’
Cloney recalled Hestia’s serious face as she spoke about the Elven Mask Theory, a theory rarely taken seriously.
“Yes, nice to see you.”
“Nice to see you.”
Tisha and Hestia also casually accepted the Elves’ greetings.
The gaze of the guard captain MuLius, who had been looking at Tisha and Hestia, turned towards Brigitte.
“Are you really including the Human and Cat-Folk in your party? How surprising.”
Brigitte nodded.
“They are all connected to me.”
The ambiguous gazes from the Elves could be sensed. However, Tisha and Hestia didn’t pay it much mind. They knew all too well that the Elves weren’t as friendly to other races as their appearances suggested.
The vague gazes of the Elves were upon them. However, Tisha and Hestia didn’t pay them much mind. They knew all too well that Elves weren’t exactly the friendliest bunch toward other races, despite their pretty appearances.
Hestia sorted her thoughts in her head.
‘We’re already a peculiar group gathered around Duke Yuma, to begin with.’
It wasn’t easy for races that normally didn’t interact to become close. Elves were particularly famous for their bad tempers.
They figured as long as no problems arose, that was good enough.
“Shall we head out?”
At Ishera’s words, everyone nodded in agreement.
Thus, the party set off toward the Third Sanctuary of Alvheim.
All the Elves were riding pure white horses. Duke Yuma was riding a magnificent black stallion, Hector, a horse he had bonded with since the war against Pineon.
The troupe moved forward without obstruction, cutting through grass and forest.
And so, nine days passed.
They crossed the plains and reached a densely wooded area.
The day was quickly growing dark.
What lay before their eyes was a massive circular terrain.
Within the circular terrain were numerous tents lined up.
The entire group of Duke Yuma’s party gazed intently at the diverse races within the circle.
The cat ears that could only be seen on Hestia were now visible on the Cat-Folk with their variously colored ears.
Clippity clop… clippity clop
The horses that had slowed down entered the circular terrain.
What followed was a being that resembled a wolf but had a body structure reminiscent of a human, with solid abs and legs built for sturdy ground contact— a Lycanthrope.
Grrrr…
The Lycanthrope bared its teeth while watching the entrance of the half-human, half-Elf newcomers.
Duke Yuma, atop his steed, held his head high as he scanned the other races.
Harmony.
Yet, the atmosphere rising above the circular land seemed far from that hopeful word.
Darkness settled entirely.
The gazes of the wolf pack and cat pack shone hues that pierced through the night.
Tension was palpable.
There was no harmony in sight; a chilling aura spread across the round ground.
It wasn’t just the two races whose eyes gleamed brightly.
Elves.
Their eyes weren’t just bright during the day; they could see clearly in the night as well. Elves emitted a thick, green-tinged glow in the darkness.
Snap—!
Ishera, responsible for the meeting’s success, clapped her hands.
“It’s quite late into the night, so the esteemed guests from the Astes Empire who just arrived should rest well, and we’ll commence the racial meeting tomorrow as planned.”
“Guess we should kick off the race meeting tomorrow, right? Just like planned.”
In a corner of the meeting hall, beside a gigantic tree, the dwarves were nervously bobbing their heads, checking the mood.
The burly Lycanthrope, sitting cross-legged in his chair as if in his own living room, opened his mouth.
“Of course. Can’t twist things up before we’ve even started the gathering created for unity.”
A fierce aura radiated from the Lycanthrope.
Not a murderous intent. Just a strong presence.
That was his goal.
Yuma activated the [Search Eye] and gazed at the Lycanthrope.
[Lv.217] Berkan
Race: Lycanthrope
Alignment: Neutral
Rank: Grand Master
Trait: Royal Blood
‘Oh ho.’
Yuma silently admired.
Aside from the King of the God Race, Ades, and the Black Dragon, and beings born as demigods like Leviathan, this was the first time he had encountered someone exceeding level 200.
The muscles of the Lycanthrope wriggled beneath his gray fur.
Predatory eyes.
Berkan’s golden eyes, honed to such sharpness, pierced right through Yuma.
“With gray hair and wall-eyed gaze… should I say it’s an honor to meet you, God of War?”
‘He knows who I am, too.’
Berkan continued.
“Due to the poor health of our king, Berkuos of Baukalak, I, the rightful heir Berkan, will be participating in this meeting. Looking forward to working together.”
Yuma thought.
‘What’s this guy’s deal?’
Berkan’s deep and heavy voice was quite threatening, yet ironically, it contained a very courteous explanation as to why he was participating in this meeting.
“Yeah, looking forward to it.”
Yuma replied, nodding to his companions.
“Make sure to quickly designate a place for our Empire’s party to stay.”
At that, Ishera nodded vigorously.
“Of course, Duke Yuma.”
The group followed Ishera into a well-set-up tent. Inside the massive tent, there were various beds.
In this situation where different races were watching and monitoring each other, nobody would be foolish enough to suddenly act out, yet Yuma entertained that possibility in his mind as he crawled into his sleeping bag.
-Oh wow, it’s been ages since so many races gathered like this. Was it around 800 years ago?
That’s because the reliable sentry known as Balmung was right beside Yuma.
And so, a day passed.
Time passed.
The sun rose.
Step by step.
Yuma stretched lazily and walked out of the tent.
Right next to him, Hestia popped out and stretched alongside him.
“Yuma, doesn’t it feel like something big is about to go kaboom today?”
Why’s this kid talking about bad luck first thing in the morning?
“Nothing’s gonna happen.”
Yuma said that while putting on his black coat and moving forward.
Everyone gathered around the round table after eating the bread and fruits prepared by the elves.
Yuma sat in a chair at the round table.
Every eye at the table suddenly turned to Yuma.
There weren’t too many people sitting at the round table.
Only the representatives of each race had shown up.
The representatives for humans were Yuma and Princess Brigitte.
The elven representatives were Ishera, serving as the diplomat, and High Elf Luine.
[Lv.236] Luine
High Elf Spirit Master.
And then there was Berkan, the prince of the Lycanthrope Kingdom.
The dwarf representative, the great warrior Garakulran.
[Lv.192] Garakulran
Grand Master.
The leader of the largest Twilight tribe among the scattered Cat-Folk clans, Elpher.
[Lv.181] Elpher
Grand Sword Master.
And suddenly, sitting here as the representative of the Mullen Tribe, was Tisha.
Yuma confirmed once again that his max level had been upgraded.
He faced Luine, the one who was staring at him intently, the protagonist of that upgrade.
“You’re quite an intriguing person, Duke.”
Luine smiled sweetly while looking at Yuma.
Her eyes and hair were both green, typical for an elf. Unlike Ishera and the other guards, her long ears clearly marked her as a High Elf.
Berkan tapped the round table.
Tap tap—
“Enough chit-chat. Let’s proceed with the species meeting.”
Ishera nodded with a smile at Berkan’s words.
“First, the elves you sent should have explained everything, but the World Tree has read the heavens. It reported that something will invade the Intermediate World from the skies. And as per our High Elf Luine’s observations…”
Luine, sitting beside Ishera, picked up the conversation.
“It’s likely that the ones piercing through the sky to invade are either dragons or demons.”
Luine surveyed the individuals at the round table.
“The reason I gathered you all is to minimize the damage to the continent, whatever the invasion may be.”
The species meeting began.
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