Chapter 81.2: Neutral Nations Conference (2)

General Cayden.

Who could keep their composure when the enemy who annihilated their whole tribe was right in front of them?

Just not pulling out the sword right away and not attacking was already great.

“Asher.”

When I called her name, Asher closed her eyes once, then opened them, then looked away from the three people walking away.

“…Apologies.”

I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I decided to just stay silent.

Turning my head, I saw the Overlord looking at Asher with a gaze full of interest.

***

After being guided, we moved to the accommodation where we would stay during the conference, and since it was just the right time, the Overlord and I had lunch together.

The reason for not having a meal with the king was because the talks were about to begin, and there was a banquet after that.

While sitting face-to-face with the Overlord at an unnecessarily long table and eating in silence, she asked.

“The escort knight of the Seventh Lord, is her name Asher?”

I stopped the knife I was cutting the meat with and looked at her, feeling perplexed inside.

I thought she didn’t care because she had said little until now, but she suddenly mentioned Asher like this.

“The Chief of Staff said that the Seventh Lord had taken an apprentice knight, so I was interested. If the Seventh Lord hadn’t taken her, she would have been able to join the Black Star Knights.”

“…”

She said it with a smile, but somehow it sounded like she was blaming me a little.

Come to think of it, the first time the Overlord saw Asher was at her castle before we left for Earth Hill.

If it was her, of course she would have known Asher’s level at first glance.

To be honest, I also had a bit of a guilty feeling for taking Asher away, so I just kept silent.

“Is it true that Kajol might issue a war warning to Earth Hill on this conference?”

When I subtly changed the subject to talk about the meeting, the Overlord let out a small smile and nodded.

“Yes. Why did you ask?”

“Are you willing to get involved?”

“No, no. Of course, the emperor will also not.”

The answer to the question came right back.

The war between Earth Hill and Kajor was one of many episodes in the main story.

Even in the game, neither Calderic nor Santea interfered in the war, so I already knew the Overlord’s intentions.

Of course, I also knew why she didn’t want to interfere in the war.

“By the way, Seventh Lord seemed to care about that prince, don’t you? You said hello to him on purpose. I wonder what kind of chance meeting you two had.”

“There’s no need for the Overlord to care about that.”

The Overlord shook her head.

I thought for a moment.

As the Overlord said, talking to Tair on earlier was partly intentional.

Because, first, I was thinking of helping the Earth Hill Kingdom.

I had a debt to Tair, and above all, in the game’s main story, this war ended with Earth Hill’s victory.

It was because of the activities of the player playing the game.

So, in fact, it was not an act of trying to calculate what could be beneficial.

I just want to minimize the potential danger as much as possible by following the game story line as closely as I could.

Well, I had to see how things would go once the talks start.

***

“Brother, can you talk to me? What the hell were you doing outside to get acquainted with a Lord of Calderic! Huh?!”

“It’s not like that…”

Tair moved on, thinking that Seri, who was chattering next to him, was noisy.

King Longford was already seated and waiting when he opened the door to the room.

Next to him stood another man, Lucas, his older brother and the first prince.

“…Welcome.”

“Uh, yes.”

Tair responded awkwardly to Lucas’s awkward greeting.

Longford clicked his tongue and gestured his chin towards one seat.

“Sit down.”

“…No. I’ll just stand there.”

Tair stood at a distance on the other side of Lucas, and Seri quietly stood beside him.

The atmosphere calmed down for a while.

Longford, who was looking at Tair with complicated eyes, finally opened his mouth again.

“Tair, my son. What the hell have you been doing outside?”

“…”

“The Seventh Lord said that you had a chance meeting in the Fifth Lord’s Territory. Can you explain it more clearly?”

“Yes…”

Tair obediently explained what had happened in relation to the Seventh Lord. From the story of the crazy young lady who tried to cut off his own arm until how they parted.

The three of them all tilted their heads as if they didn’t understand.

“Is that really all?”

It was because they couldn’t understand why the Seventh Lord showed interest in Tair just from the story they heard.

Seri, who was deep in thought, opened her mouth with a slightly excited expression.

“Anyway, he’s a Lord of Calderic. I don’t know why, but if he liked my brother…”

“That’s the problem. You can’t be sure of their intentions, so we have to be more careful. They’re dangerous people you can’t handle.”

At Lucas’ words, Tair thought to himself.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t believe that the Seventh Lord had any special ulterior motives. Why would he even have that in the first place?

It’s probably not just because of that map.

Of course, this was an understandable reaction because he couldn’t figure out the reason for the Seventh Lord’s action in the end.

Longford, who was rubbing his forehead with a distraught expression, asked again.

“Tair, what kind of person was the Seventh Lord from your point of view?”