Everyone headed to the meeting room.
Abigayle kept looking around nervously, realizing how big of a deal this was.
Allen's group had been pouring holy water on Graham until the last minute, so they arrived at Rosenheim just as the meeting was starting.
"Over here, please."
An elven servant guided them to their seat. The temple had been left half destroyed by Razel, but now it had been rebuilt to the point where it could house the Five Continents' Alliance meeting, where more than 100 countries attended.
The meeting room's ceiling was half open, making it feel like they were outdoors.
The two dragons also looked into the room from that opening.
"Haku!!"
Kurena exclaimed, seeing Haku peeking into the room.
'Gyau!!'
'...'
The Dragon King Matildora watched that interaction silently. Merus had transported him and some dragonkin, since they were invited quite late, and it was their first time taking part.
Sophie and Formar took over the guiding role for Allen there.
"Master Allen, follow me please."
Like always, there was a circular table prepared for Allen's party.
Sophie and Formar also sat there with them, where they would wait until it was their turn to talk.
In the case of Helmios and Galara's parties only the leaders were taking part in the meeting.
"This is your seat, Abigayle."
"Here, huh."
Only Abigayle was led to one of the main seats in the center of the room.
(So Abigayle has one of the higher positions then. Ah right, Prostia should be taking part too.)
Allen noticed Prostia's Empress Rapsonile, only her upper body visible from the water, and she greeted him with a smile.
(The beastmen are taking part normally too.)
The Demon King's identity as Zeldias had been announced during the last meeting, which enraged the beastmen and they left. So to bring them back, they conducted the next meeting in a country not governed by humans, which the beastmen disliked..
(I'm sure there's more to it though. I doubt they came unprepared.)
All the events surrounding Allen in the last few months had placed him in the sights of the Five Continents' Alliance meeting, granting him a high position.
Allen drank the tea served as the current host of the meeting, queen Lenoateal, stood up and took the stand.
"I believe everyone is here, so let's commence the Five Continents' Alliance meeting. First off, let me express my gratitude to every country present for agreeing to be here."
She announced the start of the meeting.
"Hohohoh, I didn't expect we would all be gathered like this again."
Pupun III, Baukis' emperor, grinned as he said that while looking at Giamut's emperor, Regalfares V, who sat next to him.
"Hmph."
Regalfares V just grunted, while Helmios looked at him with a nervous smile.
Helmios and Galara were also seated at the main seats.
This year the representative of the countries from the Gyariat continent was Arbus, the dark elf king.
While Luck would often get clingy with his mother, he was often nervous around his father, so he hesitated to go greet him like Sophie did with her mother.
Arbus had come with some of the elders and generals, as it was his first time in Fortenia.
Sophie's influence was also at work there. Usually the dark elves never interacted with the Five Continents' Alliance, and they had only joined recently.
The Gyariat continent was composed of many small countries, so they always had the dark elves as their representatives though.
Even though Sophie was still a princess, she had managed to establish an alliance with the dark elves.
'I'd like the Dark Elf Village to represent all of you for the Five Continents' Alliance meeting.'
Sophie asked the Confederation to put King Arbus to represent them.
Such representatives were not always a king or ruler though, since sometimes there would be other matters to attend to, so an elder or minister would be sent instead.
Even now some countries had sent some different figures of authority and not their king.
The Confederation owed Rosenheim a lot, since they had been the first to aid them after the Evil Cult claimed the lives of millions there, and without that help many more would have starved, so they followed her request without trying to argue about it.
Even now Rosenheim was still offering them resources to help them rebuild their countries.
While Allen thought of everything that happened with the dark elves, the attitude in the room changed a bit.
"Hey, you elf! what are you staring at!!"
One of the generals that came with Arbus seemed displeased with how an elf was looking at him. The elf was Gatoruga, called the strongest elf and tasked with protecting the queen.
"Hmph, I'm just watching out seeing that there's dark elves in here!!"
Gatoruga stood up aggressively, and the general did the same.
Seeing that, Formar also stood up and went to stand in front of Sophie.
"Gatoruga, sit down!"
The queen reprimanded him.
"My…my apologies…"
The elders from Fabraze also seemed to disapprove, believing the queen was planning something behind their backs. But Arbus ignored them and agreed to participate.
Considering his son Luck was in Allen's Party, he believed it was best to be part of the alliance for Luck's future too.
(Well, I guess thousands of years of history can't be glossed over so easily.)
The meeting was mostly attended by various rulers, but various dark elf elders and generals had come with him as bodyguards. All of them constantly glared at all the elves nearby, ready to fight if anything started to seem suspicious.
Since the dark elves did that, Gatoruga also entered the meeting to protect the queen.
Allen turned to look at Sophie.
"And you still felt like it was worth bringing them here?"
"Of course, Master Allen. That doesn't change the historical fact that King Arbus visited."
The two races had a long and rocky history, but Sophie was slowly working to fill that chasm.
Once the dark elf general and Gatoruga sat down, the queen spoke again.
"Let's proceed with the meeting then. First, let me introduce the Dragon King from the Dragon God's Village, who just recently joined our alliance."
The meeting moved on. After the queen said that, the Dragon King's snout moved into the room.
'Thank you for inviting me here. I'm the Dragon King Matildora, the dragon in charge of looking over the Dragon God's Village Magra.'
The Dragon King introduced himself, then his snout moved out so he could look into the room.
(Somehow this really reminds me of that scene before the T. Rex chase.)
Seeing the Dragon King's eye peek into the room was terrifying, making some even tremble.
'Gyau!!'
"Hiee?!"
Haku seemed to think that everyone was looking at him instead, so he leaned into the room which terrified the people more, his heavy body almost too much for the rebuilt wall to resist.
"Bad! Don't do that!!"
"Kurena, take care of Haku."
Allen used [Floating Wings] on Kurena so she could deal with Haku outside.
(I guess this also counts as shock therapy. A lucky accident.)
Once Haku's head was gone, tranquility returned to the room. The tension between elves and dark elves was also dispelled.
"This will become relevant later, but the Warden Leader from the divine realm is also here."
"Th-thank you for letting me be here."
The queen also introduced Abigayle.
"Sir Abigayle has the important duty of leading the wardens keeping the divine realm safe, and he's also offered to help fight the Demon King."
The queen also mentioned that Abigayle had an important duty but still offered his help.
"Ohhh!!"
All the representatives sounded impressed. Allen's venture into the divine realm was listed amongst the topics to discuss, but many still did not understand why Allen even went there.
Now that they heard of Abigayle's position they all understood though.
"I mean, we will help, but please don't exaggerate our capabilities like that!!"
Abigayle was distressed, but everyone was too busy discussing how a big shot from the divine realm was there. On top of that, someone had made sure the magic device amplifying his voice was turned off. Elves were known for excelling at reading minds and anticipating such things.
(I just want all the countries to feel more hopeful.)
[Order of important seats]
-Warden Leader Abigayle (came from the divine realm)
-Rosenheim's queen (host of the meeting)
-Baukis' emperor (an elderly ruler)
-Giamut's emperor
-Prostia's empress (newcomer to the alliance)
-Albahar's Beast King
-Dark elf village's king
-Hero Helmios
-Admiral Galara
"As expected of Lord Kiel! He's already creating ties with the divine realm!!"
The cardinal Clinpton from Elmea's Church also seemed excited hearing that.
"Hey, I didn't do anything!!"
The cardinal always tried to praise the Pope Apprentice Kiel.
"We'll discuss the divine realm later. First, the Hero Helmios would like to ask for something in regards to the Demon King's Army's presence in the Central Continent. Please cast votes too."
The queen moved on with the meeting. The main point of them being there was to decide how the alliance would move forward, which included casting votes on various matters.
Since they were discussing matters that could largely affect the lives of many, they had to be careful when voting and deciding things. All seats had two buttons, a red and a green one, used to vote. That way the majority would decide what to accept, and what to reject.
"I'll explain. The mission to eradicate the Demon King's Army's forces from the Central Continent was a success this month, and all their strongholds were destroyed."
"Yes, I wasn't expecting that to be done so quickly."
Galara also spoke up with Helmios. Everyone listened as they spoke of the strongholds.
(I guess that also helped to make them come back after the mess last time.)
Giamut's emperor had lost all credibility, but seeing the strongholds across all the Central Continent get destroyed helped restore some confidence in the alliance.
Everyone looked at Helmios, seeing a chance at victory in him.
"I need your assistance with providing materials, so we can build forts all along the Central Continent and fortify our defenses against any future invasions."
Now the Central Continent could rebuild from the invasion, and many people could return to their homeland. But they never knew when the Demon King's Army would attack again, so Helmios wanted everyone to help build forts.
"I see, as the war evolves, so do our needs. I'm in favor."
Baukis' emperor quickly pressed the green button to vote. He was always quick to decide.
He was also thinking of ways to employ Baukis' magic devices to make a profit.
"Everyone, it's finally time to build the strong forts we've been discussing for a while."
Helmios spoke, trying to hasten the decision of those still unsure. They had been unable to fortify locations since the Demon King's Army had been there, since they disrupted construction.
But now they had time, so they had to use it as best as they could.
"Well, it seems like it's a unanimous yes. We'll discuss the particulars and logistics of everything with a specialist as soon as possible."
"Hmph, that should be obvious."
The queen was impressed by the results, but Giamut's emperor seemed displeased that the plan was not fully thought out yet. Though Rosenheim could do that quickly, and they already knew how valuable forts could be.
(I guess some places still suspect Giamut is involved with the Demon King though.)
Allen could notice many were still unable to trust Giamut.
"Next, Allen will make a proposition. We'll need to vote for that as well, so be ready."
"Hm? Allen's proposition and more votes? Ahh, right, I see it now."
Baukis' emperor was a bit confused at first, hearing that, but then he checked the meeting's schedule and saw that Allen did have something to say there.
That was also why Allen had Sophie help him with gathering everyone for the Five Continents' Alliance meeting.
"Yes."
(Alright, I can't forget to be a good brother for Mash too.)
Allen stood up energetically, ready to talk, while everyone else looked at him wondering what he would say.
