"Ah-hem! Well, if you're offering, we have no reason to refuse."
"As expected, Damian knows what he's doing. Haha!"
"He really has a long-term vision. He's a natural-born leader."
The mbers of the alliance eagerly took the bait, worried he might change his mind. Although they felt slightly uneasy, they believed the benefits far outweighed the risks.
Despite the praise coming from all directions, Damian remained expressionless.
"If there are no more issues to discuss, let's end the eting here. It's dragged on longer than expected, and I'm getting tired."
"Ah, of course! Let's wrap it up!"
"Everyone, let's stand up!"
Adrian grit his teeth as he glared at the alliance mbers joking around.
In reality, there were nurous problems piled up that could have been discussed. With ten territories rging into one, countless disturbances were occurring in real ti. Yet, no one brought up any of these issues.
'No, they're avoiding it on purpose because resolving the problems would be inconvenient for them. If the territories stabilize, their chances to leave will diminish.'
He sighed. Not long ago, during the wave, there had been people who genuinely wanted to cooperate. Even if they had ulterior motives, at least they pretended to cooperate.
But now, none of the alliance mbers were even trying to hide their ambitions.
'How did things end up like this?'
"We'll submit the budget by tomorrow, so please look it over!"
"We should have a al together soti!"
The hollow greetings of the alliance mbers reached Adrian's ears as he sighed. When even Grayson, who had been watching cautiously, left, only Damian and Adrian remained in the conference room.
After a mont of silence, Damian looked at Adrian and spoke.
"Adrian, you should rest now too. The eting is over."
"No."
Adrian shot him a sharp glare, clearly unable to hold back any longer.
"Before that, we need to talk."
"If it's about a topic, you should've brought it up during the eting. It's late, we'll discuss it tomorrow."
"Not that! What the hell has been going on with you lately?"
"I don't know what you an. What did I do?"
"You've been acting like you've given up! You don't even care about keeping the alliance together anymore!? What are you trying to do by practically inviting them to go independent!?"
Damian stayed silent.
Frustrated by the silence, Adrian slamd his hand on the round table, making a loud bang.
"Fine, let's say you've had enough, and you want to give up. But do you think it's all over if you quit? It won't be! What do you think will happen once they beco independent?"
"And what's that?"
"They'll declare war! They'll fight against us! Blood will be shed, you fool! Just because you quit doesn't an it's over!"
If they beca independent, they would essentially be returning to being hostile forces. The mont the grand unification they'd worked so hard for collapsed, war would break out again.
But even at the ntion of war, Damian seed indifferent.
"Honestly, I'd prefer that. It's easier to deal with outright enemies than to constantly fight these political battles in a state of limbo."
"Brother!?"
Adrian was shocked by Damian's reaction. Damian, who had always valued human life so highly, was now saying sothing like this?
Seeing Adrian's stunned expression, Damian added with a bitter smile,
"I'm not saying I want to see blood. I just think it would be better if we separated. I hate war too."
"What kind of nonsense is that!? If you don't want war, then you should prevent the alliance from falling apart! Don't you know that the mont we break up, war is inevitable!?"
"Well, if we had overwhelming power, they wouldn't dare start a war."
"We don't have that kind of overwhelming power!"
"True, we don't."
"Dammit...!"
Adrian was about to shout again when he hesitated. Sothing didn't sound right. Damian didn't want war, didn't want to see bloodshed, but thought it would be better to separate than to deal with internal conflicts.
But then he ntioned that if they had overwhelming power, they wouldn't need to worry about war? Was he thinking of bringing in an outside force?
'Or... could it be...?'
The worst possibility flashed through Adrian's mind. If his guess was right, everything about Damian's behavior so far made sense. But no matter how much he thought about it, it couldn't be. There was no way Damian, who had built everything from the ground up, would just abandon it all to serve under soone else.
"Bro, I have to ask you sothing, just in case..."
Just as Adrian opened his mouth to confirm his suspicions...
Clunk
"Leader! We have a problem!"
One of the pioneers burst into the conference room, panting heavily. He was one of the elite mbers who had been with them since the beginning. Soone who had been through enough that he rarely got flustered. Seeing his panic now made both of them blink in confusion.
"A problem? What could possibly be so urgent?"
"A... A dragon has co! It's him!"
"What? A dragon?"
"You know! The black dragon from the previous quest!"
"...!"
Damian stood up with a shocked expression. Could it really be that person here, now?
The pioneer frantically nodded, confirming his fears as he shouted,
"The warlock leader who made an alliance with us before is at the castle gate, riding the dragon!"
What the hell! What is that!?It's... It's a dragon! A real dragon!Calm down! It's just a visit!Everyone, go back to your hos!
"Lovely sound."
"Grrrr."
As shock and fear spread from all directions, a smile crept onto Justin's lips.
"This really makes feel like a true Dark Lord of Evil."
It seed Fafnir felt the sa, letting out a satisfied growl. The idea of throwing an entire city into fear was quite amusing.
In contrast, Derek and Ethan, who were sitting behind Justin on Fafnir's back, looked slightly worried.
"Lord, is this really okay?" Derek asked with concern.
"Why? Isn't this the perfect ti to make Fafnir's presence known in a grand way?" Justin responded with a chuckle.
"Still, there's no need to keep flying around so threateningly. We're going to attract too much animosity," Derek pointed out.
Ethan nodded in agreent.
"Yes, and we're only three people right now. If there were more of us, maybe it would be different."
Despite the alliance, the territory technically belonged to a competitor. Even though they were second-class professionals, the three of them flying around like this might be seen as going too far.
"Plus, I've heard their leader has lost control, and there's division among them," Ethan continued.
"If one of their subordinates ignores orders and attacks us independently..."
"That won't happen, so don't worry," Justin replied, casually dismissing their concerns.
When Derek and Ethan looked at him, clearly questioning his confidence, Justin smirked.
"Think about it. Would you, with only a handful of territories, dare challenge a dragon? Or would you rather lay low and hope we pass by?"
"A handful of territories? Isn't this a large alliance with more than ten territories combined?" Derek asked, confused.
"Yes, but according to my informants, they're in the middle of internal conflict. Do you think a group like that could unite and attack us all together?" Justin replied.
Both Derek and Ethan blinked, glancing at each other. Then they responded in unison.
"No way."
"They definitely won't take the initiative."
"Exactly," Justin said with a grin.
Every alliance of pioneers he had encountered had one thing in common: no matter how great the rewards, none of them were willing to step up and take on risky tasks first. If one group weakened too much from sacrifice, they'd lose status and might no longer be seen as an ally. In the worst-case scenario, they could even be devoured by the others. Naturally, there wasn't a single person willing to risk their life for soone else's gain.
"Attacking us would be no different. Fafnir isn't just any dragon; he's a true black dragon the most powerful dragon species. Do you think any pioneer has the strength to kill him in a single blow?"
Even Justin, the highest-level pioneer among them, knew that was impossible. Failing to kill Fafnir in the first attack would only make them the target of a deadly counterattack. Any leader of a territory should be well aware of that.
"And besides, who in their right mind would intentionally provoke a dragon that isn't clearly an enemy, especially when opportunities abound elsewhere?" Justin added.
"Yeah... that's definitely true," Derek admitted.
"Right, no one would want to waste a good chance by provoking unnecessary danger," Ethan agreed.
At Justin's final words, the two of them nodded in agreent. The more one had at stake, the more cautious they beca. In the middle of internal division, no one would be eager to make a new enemy.
"So there's no need to worry. Fly around all you like. This is the perfect opportunity to flaunt Fafnir's power. While the ones we've t before know him, the others have no idea what Fafnir is capable of..."
"Leader! Please co down now!"
A distressed voice echoed from below. Justin glanced down to see a pioneer yelling at him from atop the castle wall. The man's face looked familiar, like soone he'd t during the previous main quest.
The pioneer, apparently thinking Justin hadn't noticed him, shouted again with all his might,
"Leader! Leader!"
"It's Lord!" Justin corrected him.
"What!?"
"Not leader, Lord!"
"Uh, well... whatever! Lord, please co down now!"
"Why? There's still ti before Damian cos out, right? Let's kill ti by flying around!" Justin said, amused.
"Our people are terrified! If you keep flying around, it'll cause even more problems for us!" the pioneer shouted.
Well, it seed they were frightened, but the guy was still managing to speak his mind. If he'd seen Fafnir during the previous main quest, he should know what the dragon's breath could do.
As Justin watched the pioneer curiously, soone ca over and whispered in his ear. After a mont, the pioneer's face lit up in relief.
"He's here! He's arrived!" the pioneer shouted.
"Who?" Justin asked.
"The leader! He's here, so please co down now!"
The pioneer pointed towards the castle, and when Justin turned to look, he saw Damian walking towards them.
"Ti's up, huh?" Justin muttered, clicking his tongue in slight disappointnt as he guided Fafnir back towards the castle gate. As much as he wanted to, it wouldn't be wise to land inside the castle walls without permission.
As soon as Fafnir landed in front of the castle gate, Damian and a group of pioneers ca rushing out. Damian glanced between his now-chaotic territory and Justin before letting out a deep sigh.
"...I had a feeling you might ride a dragon if you ca, but I didn't expect you to make such a grand entrance," Damian said.
"Sorry about that. It feels a lot better than I thought," Justin replied with a grin.
"Spare the excuses. What brings you here?"
Justin blinked at Damian's oddly detached attitude. What was going on? This wasn't the sa man who had once carried the pride of a leader. He had expected Damian to be angry, scolding him for jeopardizing his authority, but instead, he seed strangely calm.
'Did sothing change with him recently?' Justin's eyes drifted towards 진수혁 standing behind Damian, but unfortunately, this wasn't the ti to ask.
Smiling, Justin decided to give the prepared answer he had in mind.
"There's a woman about to give birth, and I was wondering if you had an obstetrician here. If so, we'd like to borrow them for a bit."
"...An obstetrician? Is your lover pregnant or sothing?" Damian asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not mine. One of the civilians. There's even a pioneer among them."
"So, you ca all the way here to find an obstetrician for the civilians?"
Damian looked at Justin with an expression that suggested he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.
"Why are you looking at like that? I care about my people too."
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