Chapter 77: Order Meeting (2)
The meeting of the Order, which started with self-introductions, continued for several hours.
The food supply plan of the Order.
The plan to clean up the factions within Lithua-Centrius.
The plan to expand the communication network between the Ceterant branch and the main mountain of the Order, etc.
As an outsider, Daniel had a hard time understanding what these plans were about.
He had no choice but to watch their conversation with his mouth shut for all that time.
There was nothing he could say as a mere farmer among them.
It was natural that he would get hungry after watching the meeting for hours.
Daniel tried to eat the bread that was in front of him.
But every time he reached for the bread, Estasia, who was next to him, kept taking the bread he was aiming for.
“······.”
It happened not once, but several times.
Because Estasia, who was next to him, kept taking the bread, Daniel had to watch the meeting on an empty stomach.
Daniel, who watched Estasia’s mischief, couldn’t help but doubt that she was not an angel, but a devil.
Was she trying to give him a silent warning not to eat the bread?
Or was she claiming that all the bread here was hers?
The meeting continued in Daniel’s troubled gaze.
“That’s how it ends up.”
“Is that so?”
“It can’t be helped.”
-“I see.”
Among the difficult topics of the meeting, there were some surprising stories for Daniel to hear.
They said they would use the miracle of weather control to increase food production.
Controlling the weather with a miracle.
Daniel, a simple farmer, couldn’t even imagine such a thing.
If that was possible, the farmers wouldn’t have to worry about droughts.
“By the way, what happened to that story?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“No. I didn’t get any report.”
“Let me explain briefly.”
Nevertheless, the participants talked about that topic as if it was natural.
They wanted to control the weather, clean up the factions in the city, and extend their influence over the entire empire.
The more he saw, the more frightening the Order was.
He couldn’t even understand why he was invited to this meeting with these people.
If he understood their identities and the influence of the Order, he would know how valuable the information he heard was.
Most of that precious information went in one ear and out the other.
The meeting continued in a heated atmosphere, and before long it reached its end.
The topic they brought up at the end of the meeting was about preparing for war with the Holy Land.
“The long-term plan to increase the power of the Order is as we have discussed so far. If we have a little more time, the gap between us and the Holy Land will shrink.”
The Holy Land was a place that even Daniel, a farmer, knew.
The Holy Land, Crossbridge.
A neutral country that exerted its influence over the entire continent with six temples at its center.
They collected huge donations from most countries and mediated most of the conflicts on the continent.
What the Order was talking about was preparing for a full-scale confrontation with Crossbridge.
It was a worrying story for Daniel, who had to care for his children and grandchildren.
‘Could it be… I won’t be branded as a heretic and punished, will I?’
The Inquisitors of the Holy Land executed or converted those who believed in heretics.
And most of them lost their lives in the process of conversion.
It was a situation where Daniel could also be marked as a heretic for attending a meeting that prepared for a total war with the Holy Land.
Gulp.
Daniel swallowed his saliva as he listened to the content of the meeting.
It was a meeting where he doubted his ears as the topics went on.
“Is Centrius region going to be your base?”
“Yes. We plan to expand our influence throughout the Centrius region from Lithua-Centrius.”
“What about the troops that can use miracles?”
Roan, who waited for his question, answered him.
“We are organizing a holy army by gathering those who can use miracles among the believers.”
“Someday we might have to fight the whole Holy Land. If the Holy Land intervenes, the Empire will join them too.”
“I think the Empire won’t have the strength to join if the great one releases more monsters like Cuebaerg, but…”
Roan’s story was about Cuebaerg, who warned Evan about the Empire’s participation.
Cuebaerg was also a familiar name to Daniel’s ears.
Cuebaerg’s activity area was not far from the Everlint region where he lived.
The monster that destroyed a city was notorious even in his area.
They said that the being called ‘the great one’ released such a monster.
If the great one really intervened, it would not be difficult to shake the whole empire.
Evan shook his head at Roan’s mention of Cuebaerg and disagreed with his opinion.
“We shouldn’t rely too much on the great one. We have to prove to him that we are useful.”
“I agree with you to some extent. Then, Arcrosis, what do you think about the movement of the empire…”
The conversation moved to the necromancer who was listening to them.
Clack. Clack.
Arcrosis, who was wearing old clothes, opened his mouth to them.
A cold aura spread out and his voice came clearly to Daniel’s ears.
-“I made a contract with the black mages in the northern part of the empire.”
“Black mages in the north? You mean…”
-“They are called Abyss. They are not bad in terms of potential. When the time comes, countless undead armies will move.”
This time, it was about the black mage organization led by Arcrosis.
Monsters and holy army.
And even angels.
It was enough to be a formidable force.
But now, there was an undead legion led by black mages added to that.
The danger of the Order, which had risen as much as it could in Daniel’s mind, broke through the ceiling and rose another level.
Daniel felt dizzy in front of Roan, who exclaimed with excitement.
“Abyss… The great one’s foresight is beyond my reach!”
“Even if a war breaks out, the undead army will distract the empire’s attention for a while.”
“That’s right. We only need to be careful of the war with the Holy Land.”
If Abyss joined the war, the empire’s attention would have to turn to them.
That was Roan’s conclusion after hearing Arcrosis’s story.
The conversation started to flow in a positive direction according to the plan of joining Abyss and the black mages.
They discussed how to attack the Holy Land while suppressing the empire.
Daniel nodded his head and agreed with them.
Meanwhile, the meeting time passed quickly.
“Well. I think this is enough for today’s meeting!”
As most of the military topics were over, Roan looked around the participants and said.
Maybe it was because Roan’s voice was loud.
Estasia, who had eaten all the bread and fallen asleep, opened her eyes and lifted her head.
The long meeting was finally over.
Daniel, who was uncomfortable, sighed with relief and prepared to get up.
“Is this the end of the meeting?”
Evan also got up from his seat and asked Roan.
Roan nodded his head and answered him.
“Yes. This space will disappear soon.”
“It was quite useful.”
“I think so too.”
Eutenia also agreed with Evan’s words and got up from her seat.
Evan’s gaze went to Eutenia, who was getting up.
His eyes lingered on the ring on her hand.
It was the ring that everyone who attended the meeting had.
Swoosh.
Evan pointed to her ring with a wink as he looked at Eutenia’s ring.
“By the way, Eutenia. You’re wearing a ring on your left ring finger.”
Eutenia lifted her hand with the ring on it at Evan’s question.
The ring was on her fourth finger of her left hand.
Eutenia looked at the ring and smiled happily.
She stroked the ring with her finger and spoke loud enough for Evan to hear.
“Doesn’t it suit me best here?”
“Is that what you think?”
“I have no one but the great one left. Wearing it on the left ring finger, which is connected to the heart, means that I will dedicate my heart to the great one forever.”
Eutenia spoke of her blind devotion to the great one.
As far as Daniel knew, everyone here revered the great one.
But this woman named Eutenia seemed to be more fanatical than them.
Daniel admired her faith and got up from his seat.
Everyone was ready to leave, so he thought he would quietly slip out with them.
“Did it have that meaning on your left ring finger?”
But Roan asked a question after hearing Eutenia’s story, and the atmosphere of leaving the meeting was interrupted.
Eutenia nodded her head with a smile on her face to Roan.
Her gentle voice echoed throughout the meeting room.
“Of course, it does for me.”
“Really? Then I have to wear it on my ring finger right away.”
“What?”
“It means that I will dedicate my heart to the great one!”
Right after that, Roan put the ring he was wearing on his left ring finger.
The smile disappeared from Eutenia’s face, who was talking to Roan.
She was not the only one who reacted to Roan’s oath.
Pluto also got up from his seat and spoke to everyone.
“That, that’s what it was? I have to change it and wear it right away.”
Pluto took off the ring he had on his middle finger and put it on his left ring finger.
The ring on Pluto’s ring finger reflected the light of the halo on Estasia’s head.
Next was Estasia, who was next to him.
Estasia also took off her ring and put it on her left ring finger.
She smiled happily and flapped her wings as she said.
“By doing this… maybe he’ll let me off for a day even if I don’t work.”
Seeing Estasia flapping her wings, Arcrosis, who was across from her, was not still either.
Arcrosis got up from his seat with a sinister aura and pulled out his ring from his finger that had nothing but bones left.
Clatter. Clatter.
The sound of his finger bones scraping against the ring rang out.
-“It had that meaning. I’ll join in too.”
With that, Arcrosis put the ring on his left ring finger bone.
The ring wobbled because there was no flesh on it.
But Arcrosis didn’t seem to care and just moved his eerie hand.
As most of the participants moved their rings, their eyes naturally turned to Daniel.
Roan, who was looking at the ring on Daniel’s finger, asked him.
“Daniel. What about you?”
Daniel’s mind was full of confusion as he faced Roan.
He was careful not to let his true feelings show and shook his head to refuse Roan’s suggestion.
Wearing a ring on the left ring finger was a ritual for lovers.
And Daniel already had a loving wife.
“I have a wife.”
“Is that all your loyalty to the great one?”
“…”
Sigh.
Daniel took off the ring he had on his index finger.
He wondered if this ring was the cause of everything.
He picked it up because it looked expensive and rolled on the floor, but when he came to his senses, he was dragged into an unknown space.
And everyone in this space had rings on their hands.
The only thing in common between them and Daniel was the ring on their hand.
‘I wish I never came here again.’
Daniel smiled as he put the ring on his ring finger and looked around.
The Order, the Holy Land, and the black mages.
They had nothing to do with Daniel.
With Daniel’s wish not to come back here again, the regular meeting of the Order came to an end.
