#202
The Second Continental Summit (3)
The chilly atmosphere of the grand conference hall only began to thaw little by little after the delegation from the Kingdom of Talia had taken seats in one corner and some time had passed.
Murmur, murmur—
“Ahem, so as I was saying…”
“Ah— I see.”
The crowd began speaking among themselves again, one by one.
Everyone knew full well just how sharp a vampire’s… a powerhouse’s hearing could be, so no one openly talked about them. Even so, people could not focus on their own conversations and kept glancing toward the corner.
‘The new ruler of the Kingdom of Talia, Heinz Hybrid II. A vampire from the Brokoslak Clan who has ascended to the rank of Holy Blood.’
As the participants here all represented their respective nations, they had already been briefed with more than enough information.
Naturally, they knew plenty about the vampire group that had swallowed up an entire kingdom, and just as much about its leader, Heinz.
Of course, the earlier rigid atmosphere was not something that could be helped simply by knowing who the other party was in advance.
After all, vampires were predators who sustained their lives by plundering the blood of others.
On top of the instinctive repulsion they felt toward such beings, the ominous aura naturally flowing from them stimulated their instincts. It was only a natural reaction.
And not only that…
Step—
“Mm? Viscount Pristine?”
“Please excuse me for a moment, Your Highness.”
Isea, who had quietly moved her feet, drew up close behind Princess Riley, who stood at the center of the people.
Riley looked at her in puzzlement, but Isea shamelessly held her ground without paying it any mind.
Still on guard against the vampires… or more precisely, against Heinz II.
So that she could respond immediately no matter what happened.
‘…He’s strong. The first strike… could I block it? With the Great Temple’s barrier as well, maybe it might be possible. Still, if I can just buy time, the Order will step in afterward, so I should prepare in that direction…’
If they had any sense, they would not cause trouble in the very heart of the Order, but magicians were, by nature, people who prepared in advance for every possible contingency.
And had there not been the unfortunate incident not long ago where Riley had been abducted by the Immortal King despite Isea being right beside her?
As such, it was only natural for her to take special care in all matters.
‘…!’
Just then, Heinz, who had been sitting quietly in his seat, let his gaze drift this way.
It passed by almost immediately, as if it held no particular meaning, but in that brief instant, all manner of spells formed structures in Isea’s mind, then dismantled themselves, over and over.
‘…Tch, scaring me like that.’
After that fleeting glance passed.
She lightly regulated her breathing, but had no intention of lowering her guard.
Her intuition, opened after she had surpassed the extreme, was ringing the alarm that even a moment’s carelessness was not permitted against that opponent.
And this was not something limited to her alone. It was a phenomenon shared by the powerhouses present in this place.
“Keh-heh-heh—. Truly impressive.”
Starting with Morna, the great shaman of Kalkos, who had that same surveillance aide attached behind him.
“Hmm… This is interesting. Such a presence. As expected of his reputation.”
Then the leader of the Mage Tower Alliance, his eyes shining as he could not suppress his curiosity at the appearance of a Holy Blood that had until now existed only in documents.
“Truly, there’s not a single easy opponent on this continent. You must have had quite a hard time until now, Lord Rapori.”
“Hahaha… All I have done so far is speak with the Order, have I not? Rather than me, I am more worried about you, Lady Lydia, who will have to suffer from here on.”
The high elves of the Elven Kingdom who had come from the Enamel Continent.
“Snort! This feels awfully unpleasant. Are we really sure this is all right?”
And Lionel, the beastfolk representative of the Wild Land.
Aside from them as well, the powerhouses who had come as escorts for each nation’s delegation all kept their tension taut, watching the group of vampires closely as if they were looking at a bomb.
And Heinz, who was receiving everyone’s attention like that…
‘I did expect this to some extent, but this is more than I thought. I guess I should have hidden my aura a little after all?’
He continued such carefree thoughts while slowly stroking his chin with a solemn expression.
He had deliberately displayed his presence to seize the initiative, but now he wondered if he had overdone it.
He had simply turned his gaze toward Isea without much thought because he had seen a familiar face, only for her intent to activate explosively in an instant, forcing him to hurriedly avert his eyes.
It seemed he really did feel quite threatening to them.
“Tch, they keep sneaking glances over here as if we were some spectacle. How dare they act so rudely toward the High Lord?”
“It is unprecedented for vampires to come out into the light like this and participate in an event at a holy site, so it is understandable. In particular, the High Lord is a Holy Blood, almost like something out of legend, is he not?”
“That may be true, but still…”
When Frisia Brokoslak, who had come along as both a backdrop and attendant to display their authority, clicked her tongue and grumbled, Mullo, who had likewise come as an aide, admonished her.
No matter how much Heinz II was a Holy Blood, in order to show off their power, there was a need for several powerhouses at the level of True Blood to accompany him here.
Mullo had been brought along because, as the one in charge of information, he seemed likely to be useful in various ways. Frisia, a militant type, had been idling around with nothing to do after recently wiping out the rebels conspiring against them, so he had picked her up appropriately.
‘I can’t stand seeing my subordinates lazing around while I’m working. Besides, Frisia once lived while pretending to be a noble young lady, so she should be used to external activities as well.’
The parties involved, however, were actually delighted, thinking he favored those from Brokoslak, the founding contributors of the nation.
Still, if both sides were satisfied, was that not a good thing?
Of course, since this was a delegation representing a nation in name as well as reality, those who would actually handle practical affairs had also accompanied them to this place.
“Ah, the Order’s side is entering. It seems the meeting is about to begin. Then I shall escort you to the central round table, High Lord. Let us go together.”
Duke Bright, who had attended the first meeting as the representative.
With skin so taut he seemed much younger than before, he bowed politely to Heinz and extended one hand toward the center of the grand conference hall.
Having been recognized for his contributions and become a Pureblood vampire in one stroke, he was now attending the second meeting as the person in charge of practical affairs.
“Hmm, then shall we go?”
At the same time Heinz moved.
The representatives of each faction, who had been scattered here and there in their own groups, began gathering toward the center one by one.
As the distance between them narrowed, probing and wary gazes flashed in every direction in an instant.
Fortunately, everyone was able to take their respective seats without any major disturbance.
And after a brief moment passed.
“I offer my thanks to all of you for taking the time to be here at a time when you must be exceptionally busy.”
Right after Riesta, Heinrich, and Cardinal Cordelia entered the conference hall and sat side by side in the empty seats at the table arranged in a circle at the center.
“Then, we shall begin the Second Continental Summit.”
As with the first meeting, the full-fledged conference began with Cardinal Cordelia’s brief words of greeting.
***
Throughout the meeting, Heinz remained still with his arms crossed.
There had not yet been anything in particular for him to step forward for.
The meeting’s proceedings were not greatly different from the first one.
Whatever else was said, the overall theme was simply that they had to gather their strength somehow in this difficult situation and overcome the crisis.
First, the continental allied forces that had been discussed previously were officially established, and through cooperation between the Order, the Mage Tower, and others, a system was set up that would allow troops to be dispatched anywhere immediately.
The first place they decided to dispatch those forces to was the Duchy of Rohan, which was barely holding on with only its capital remaining.
It was only natural, as Rohan had already been in a difficult situation, and after suffering fatal damage from the white giant that had appeared not long ago, it had reached the point where maintaining the current situation would be difficult without additional support.
“…I thank you all for your help.”
At that decision, Grand Prince Dennis Rohan bowed deeply with a pale face, forcing a smile.
Since reclaiming their territory had now become completely out of the question, the allied forces’ objective was simply to help Rohan’s refugees safely flee to the Empire, but…
There was nothing else he could do right now besides this.
The next topic discussed was that very “white giant.”
“That giant appeared in our republic as well this time. We responded as quickly as possible and subjugated it, but in the process, there were many sacrifices among both civilians and soldiers.”
The middle-aged woman who spoke first on that issue, Kayla McClare, vice president of the Zepia Republic, continued in a stiff voice.
She must have been suffering greatly over the disaster that had occurred not long ago, as she kept massaging her temples with roughened hands and let out a weary sigh.
“I heard that the Saint can foresee the Immortal King’s targets in advance. Is there perhaps no way to know in advance where that giant will appear? If we can grasp that beforehand, we will be able to reduce the damage from now on by a great deal.”
“…I am ashamed to say this, but I am still lacking, so the scope of what I can foresee is not wide. All I can say is that the giant invading through the Scar of the Abyss is still beyond my capabilities.”
“I see… It cannot be helped, then. I apologize for saying something unnecessary, Saint. It cannot be easy to foresee something like that either, yet I burdened you with needless complaints.”
With those words, Kayla lowered her head slightly in apology, and Heinrich also bowed his head in return while inwardly falling into thought.
‘If only we could at least grasp the fact immediately after it appears, the hero party could go out personally.’
There were limits to how quickly the hero party could intervene in events he could not “foresee” in advance.
By the time a problem occurred, that fact was relayed to the Order, Heinrich received it from the Order, and then he calculated the destination’s coordinates through Isea and moved there…
‘If we’re lucky, we might be able to get there before it’s too late, but rather than relying on luck like that, it would be much faster for each nation to respond with all their might.’
This was something he… or more precisely, Harley, could not help but find regrettable as well.
If he could personally deal with the white giant, he would be able to consume its core as well, so missing such an opportunity was rather a shame…
“There is a way.”
But at that moment.
A voice cut through his thoughts.
“It is a method that only recently became possible after many trials and errors. To be precise, it is not foreseeing it in advance. It is merely that, at the moment it uses the Scar of the Abyss as a passage to cross over to the surface—”
It was Riesta, the Saintess of the Church of the Main God, seated right beside him.
“I can detect that moment.”
As she finished speaking, a bright gleam briefly passed through her golden eyes.
The moment he saw those eyes, one thought suddenly came to Heinrich’s mind.
‘Come to think of it, Riesta had that ability.’
A blessing that tracked the demonic over an enormously wide area.
There had once been a time when Hans had gone through all sorts of hardship trying to avoid it.
Thanks to that, he now possessed almost perfect concealment abilities and was making quite good use of them even on Earth.
‘But didn’t she say that because of the madness spread throughout the world, there were considerable restrictions on using it?’
On top of that, giants had strong resistance to divine power, so it could not have been easy.
It seemed she had not simply been idling around all this time either.
“Oh! As expected of the Saintess!”
“Certainly, if that is possible, we will be able to reduce the damage far more than now.”
“Then the most effective way to respond to the giants would be…”
And as everyone else rejoiced at the good news, Heinrich continued the thought he had been having earlier.
‘Huh? If that’s the case, then we really can know right before a giant appears, can’t we?’
Moreover, they would be able to grasp the exact coordinates where it appeared in real time.
However, in this case, in order to use that most efficiently, one issue had to be resolved first.
After thinking it through and arriving at a certain conclusion, Heinrich turned his head to look at Riesta beside him.
As if she had been thinking the same thing, she was looking back at him with a gentle smile.
“So, Saint? Would you allow me to act together with you?”
The Saintess calmly declared that she would personally leap into danger to reduce people’s sacrifices.
The fact that even the Saintess would join the death squad led by the Saint was tantamount to showing just how firm the Order’s resolve was.
But unlike the others, the first thought that came to Heinrich’s mind when he heard her words was somewhat out of the blue.
‘…She must really, really hate administrative work.’
Of course, it was merely something that had suddenly occurred to him, so that could not truly be the reason.
…Though it might be included a little.