“What’s the situation in the kingdoms right now?”
“Oh, yes. I got a bit curious.”
I arrived at the Academy and met Yena, who was wandering around.
Yena tilted her head.
“Are you planning on some conquest?”
“No way.”
As Rapina, I found myself intrigued by the affairs of each kingdom.
I needed to learn more about the Abys Kingdom, where the crazy guild of Raiders was located, and the surrounding kingdoms since I was going to be raiding soon.
Of course, there was also a need to know about the kingdoms for reasons aside from that.
“There’s the Great Cataclysm coming up, right?”
Honestly, more than the issues of empire and kingdoms, I should be worried about the Kraken that would be arriving soon.
The storm that would hit would be incomparable to what happened with Sugarado.
“Hmm… okay! I actually have some interesting stories about the kingdoms.”
“In that case, let’s move to…”
“It’s just that I can’t just talk about it.”
“Huh? What can I offer you?”
I was fully prepared to pay for the story, but I didn’t expect Yena to bring it up.
That’s something I usually handle on my own, and since Yena has been learning a lot at the Academy, she doesn’t really make demands.
Yena shook her head dramatically.
“Not that kind of thing. Do you think I’m some money grubber?”
“Wasn’t that the case?”
“No, no! Let’s have a collaboration for once. A kingdom discussion.”
“Collaboration?”
■
It had been quite a while since I had a collaboration with Yena.
In the beginning, I often collaborated with her, but recently I had been teaming up with others or a bunch of people all at once.
The next day, I was invited to Yena’s castle.
I had been there once before, but it wasn’t as small as its reputation suggested.
With this size, it might even be on par with some self-made territories and castles, right?
“It’s gotten bigger compared to before?”
“It has increased in size, but there’s not much substance.”
“Doesn’t that make you almost royal? I doubt you’re directly under a kingdom now.”
“Oh, it’s a bit different. -Yes- The guild doesn’t have many residents.”
Yena’s guild was the one that toppled the former royal family and took over the castle and territory.
Later, they ended up on the blacklists of the kingdoms, drastically reducing their influence, but they were recognized as an independent group at the time.
However, they could never become a king.
“Why is that?”
“Because it wasn’t the official route. We reached a sort of forced agreement, but technically, we’re still under the kingdom.”
Yena smiled awkwardly and led me inside.
“Actually, it did grow a bit after the Siege War, but our earnings have decreased even more… it’s all due to the turmoil in the kingdoms. We’ll talk about that later.”
“Yeah.”
As I followed Yena, we arrived at a place that resembled a setting room.
It wasn’t created using a separate network system like mine, but it was nicely decorated.
In the center of the setting room was a map of the continent, and along the back wall were various tools and tokens that could be painted in different colors for strategic planning.
There were various tools and words.
“Did you prepare this in just a day?”
“Well, not just a day. I made some of this while brainstorming content, so I just tweaked it a bit and set it up.”
After sitting in a spot that shows her well on the screen, Yena took a figure from the back and placed it on the southern continent.
A two-headed figure striking a pose with a green dagger.
It looks just like the emoticon character of Yena.
“Speaking of which, I need to slowly gather the masterpieces too.”
“…Yes?”
“Since the Great Cataclysm is coming soon. It would be nice to have a transcendent weapon.”
The White Guardian is usable, but it’s just a transformation of a spear and hammer. The advantage is that it can fully contain holiness, but it lacks any special abilities.
Having already collected the seven masterpieces excluding the black one, just one more would complete the masterpiece quest.
The remaining one is held by someone well-known.
Yena, having borrowed the Green Hermit, swallowed hard.
“Lady Lily?”
“It would be nice to get it from Black, but that’s his main weapon… It seems like it won’t be easy to obtain.”
“…Yeah, that’s true! It’s a weapon tailored for Black!”
Black’s Black Destroyer was a creation made directly by Drak, the blacksmith of Talikal, commissioned to him.
It’s a weapon made solely for Black and recognized as the most suitable at that time.
Unless it’s an incredibly amazing item, Black would never part with his weapon.
“By the way, where is Black’s kingdom? I know it’s the Black Moon guild.”
“Ostarun… Are you considering a guild war?”
“Come on. What do you take me for?”
I wouldn’t do something like that.
Of course, if it were Rapina, she might steal an item by taking the first attack, but I’m not intentionally planning to cause trouble and take his sword.
Black is the one who invited me to a mock siege and gave me information about Talikal.
If I wanted his sword, I’d have to offer something much greater in return.
“Anyway, this is my character, right?”
“Yes.”
I took my two-headed character figure from the back and placed it on the northern continent.
With blue hair and dressed in a pure white saintess robe, holding a spear.
Curiously touching the figure, Yena asked.
“What’s the title?”
“I just wrote it as a collaboration. What about you, Yena?”
“I wrote a serious debate with Lady Lily.”
“Oh ho.”
A serious debate, huh?
Then I’ll have to match that.
[O]
[?]
[Ugh]
[Lilha]
[!!!!!]
[What’s this sudden collaboration?]
[Yena?]
[Is that Yena land???]
[Lily, Rapina, clarify something]
[Huh]
[Name]
[Lily is really Rapina]
[What, did they both start at the same time?]
[What’s the debate about?]
“Hello…”
“Hi, brothers~ It’s been a while since I’m collaborating with Lady Lily. It’s a royal debate!”
“I’m going to do a collaboration with Lady Lily. It’s a royal kingdom debate!”
“…Did you say you’re going to be serious about this?”
“Oh come on, it has to be fun at the start.”
Yena giggled as she swiftly moved Yena’s figure.
Yena’s figure shifts towards Yena’s kingdom.
[?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[What’s with the sudden collaboration?]
[Lily, turn on the sponsorship!]
[A kingdom debate?]
[Out of nowhere?]
“Yeah. I thought we should do it suddenly. The Great Cataclysm is approaching after all.”
“Exactly! That’s why we’ve prepared this debate today!”
Yena nodded and pulled out a long stick.
I turned my gaze on the map in tandem with the movement of the stick.
The forces divided in the continent can be broadly classified into four groups.
The first is the ‘Empire’ that has swallowed the central continent and other regions.
The Empire is the dominant force of the continent, possessing the strongest power and territory, but has entered a quieter trend due to recent failures.
“Well… everyone knows about the Empire, right?”
[Yep]
[Aren’t they trash?]
[They got wrecked by Lily.]
[Why are we even doing this?]
[The kingdom that got raided by Lily and ended up paying reparations?]
[Still can’t ignore the Empire, though.]
Yena nodded back and forth between the chat and me, like a professor.
“That’s right. The Empire is the strongest nation on the continent. They may have lost to King Lily next to me, but they’re still a strong group. We must never underestimate them.”
“True. I need to visit them soon.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
[?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Are we conquering the Lily Empire?]
[Lily) Going to teach the Empire a lesson.]
“I’m just looking to have a chat, so don’t mind it.”
“…I think we should pay attention.”
The second is the ‘Eden Federation,’ an alliance of kingdoms stretching to the north.
It’s where the Angel Guild, ranked number one in Deoen, is situated.
They were also the key players who helped thwart the Empire’s war during the Siege War.
“The Angel Guild… Well, I have no special connection, but they are the group closest to the ‘Alliance’ among the kingdom formations. Lady Lily knows them well, right?”
“Of course. We fought together in the Siege War.”
The name might not sit well, but they are pretty decent people.
[Angel Guild!]
[天使は賞賛！]
[Lily the Angel ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Michael! Michael! Michael! Michael!]
Yena picked up the Angel figure located in the northern continent.
“As you know, they’re evaluated as the strongest guild in Deoen and the only alliance that can fight against the Empire besides Lady Lily. Of course, if we really clashed, we would lose.”
“If we really clash, I’ll lose.”
“Still, their skills aren’t bad.”
They pushed with numbers, but managed to fend off the Blood Fight Lord, one of the Eight Swords.
I hadn’t officially applied to the Academy, but if the opportunity arises, it wouldn’t be bad to teach separately.
The third group is an alliance of kingdoms located in the West, where several large guilds, including Black, have gathered.
Compared to the Eden Federation, they’re not exactly united, but they live together and maintain their own exchanges in some way.
“It was literally there. Though it’s been a bit chilly lately.”
[Whoa]
[Can I say that?]
[Hahahahahaha]
[What?]
[Yena’s bold statement;; lol]
[Yena, what do you mean by that?]
[Yena: The Western folks are fighting among themselves.]
[Yena: Unity in the West is impossible.]
“Whoa.”
“Why did Lady Lily go ‘whoa’?”
“I feel like I need to say something.”
Isn’t it about time to speak up?
[Hahahahahahahaha]
[Lily, the evil dog]
[Evil Lily haha]
[Lily: I’m Rapina!]
[?]
[Hahahahahahahahahahaha]
“No, wait a minute. I’m not saying anything wrong. It’s like that these days! Everyone! This debate is actually about the king’s incompetence, you know?”
Yena suddenly stood up, almost in a fit.
And then she shoved several figures located in the West into one spot.
The figures struggled to stand in the same place, but soon began to topple over one by one.
“The older guys these days. And Lady Lily’s fans know too, right? Everything these days comes with taxes and travel fees. Lady Lily feels it too, right?”
“Well… I mean, that’s true.”
Even for someone like me, who’s just doing a tiny amount, it’s true that the economy feels off these days.
However, maybe because Elbrite is in a special situation, it hasn’t been significantly affected.
[Well, that’s true.]
[It is indeed.]
[Taxes have seriously increased lately.]
[The kingdom folks have really put themselves out there haha.]
“‘Is the kingdom okay as it is?’ In fact, this is the real topic of today’s debate. Alright. Lady Lily, it’s your turn to speak.”
“Um…”
The economy is skyrocketing.
The whales known as mighty nations are keeping each other in check, while regular residents and users are breaking under the pressure.
If there’s a solution…
“Something bigger than a whale.”
“Pardon?”
“If we open a water park, it should solve everything.”
Wouldn’t the thought of checking one another vanish once a tsunami hits?
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