As the ruler of a country, Glina was also incredibly busy. However, unlike Renée, who was rather atavistic in certain aspects, Glina was quite intelligent since she had experienced the coldness of the world since she was young.
To be more specific, Glina had established an excellent administrative and military team, so that she didn't have to personally deal with every major issue … Of course, this was mainly so that she could make time to do her own research. It was said that Glina had made quite a bit of progress over the past few years. The Northlands bomb expert Glina Caso was now a world-famous bomb expert. From a certain standpoint, the intelligent and practical Glina was more like me, while Renée was more like an ape who only thought with her muscles.
However, perhaps it was due to the fact that stupid children always caused trouble, making people worry about them, which was why they received more love and care. In the past, I indeed cared more about Reyne than Glina. I felt that Glina had another side to her that made me feel at ease, but I always ignored her emotional needs. After being away for so many years, I even ignored my responsibilities as a father. Just thinking about it made my heart ache …
"… Um, Glina, I don't mind if you pretend to be a narrator, and I completely agree with you saying that Cavendish is an ape who only thinks with his muscles. But look over there, the other ape is about to explode …"
Glina, who had been pretending to be a narrator, turned around to see Renée smiling as she unsheathed her sword. It seemed that she intended to properly deal with this older sister of hers that she hadn't seen for so long.
Yes, she was indeed her older sister. Her overly young appearance made me forget that Glina was actually older than Renée by one and a half years!
And then, the seemingly young girl immediately started running without another word, making faces as she ran.
"… Come catch me, gorilla girl. Show off your muscles in front of your adopted father! "
"As you wish!"
Oh my? Sword energy? Even Renée had become a Sword Saint? Using sword energy to kill her own sister? It was indeed somewhat familiar.
I was filled with emotions as I watched the sword energy and explosions rise and fall. These two sisters would fight each other right after the New Year. Just how harmonious and friendly they were. I couldn't help but recall the past. Back in the day, it was rare for the whole family to gather together during the New Year. I would also tease my younger brother like this, but in the end, I would always be pressed to the ground and beaten up … Ahem, ahem, time was limited, so let's talk less about our dark history.
However, Glina wasn't lying. As the Queen of a country, she was indeed very busy, especially as the monarch of a country. At the end of the year, there were all kinds of reports and summaries.
In this regard, the end of the year was the end of the year. Just the calculation of this year's revenue and the allocation of next year's budget was enough to make all the departments fight for at least ten days. Without a good reason, it was impossible to move a warship away from their own country at this time.
My return doesn't count? Of course not. After all, my status in the Mist Alliance was rather special. I didn't have any official position, and I didn't even exist in the official channels. But, nobody would believe that I didn't have any influence in the Mist Alliance and the Mist Kingdom.
And so, I became "that person", the person who everyone in the Mist Alliance knew about, but pretended not to exist on paper. I was an invisible person who wouldn't directly call my name.
But this time, Glina's reason for coming here was to discuss a major event in the Mist Alliance, a major event that would allow her to toss aside countless trivial affairs at the end of the year … This was why I felt that Glina was more like me. We were both skilled at slacking off in the name of being fair and honorable … No, I meant that we would take care of our personal matters while dealing with official matters.
"… Is there a difference?"
"Of course there is. If you're just slacking off, not only does it sound bad, you'll even be punished later. If you slack off in the name of taking care of official matters, you can even apply for an IOU. The feeling of using official matters to purchase an ancient or out-of-print book that you want, the joy of spending someone else's money without feeling any heartache, and the feeling of not having to hesitate to buy it. Harloys, you're rich, so of course you wouldn't understand … Eh, this doesn't sound like Harloys's voice? Kay … Sister Kelly? "
I turned around and really wanted to slap myself. Wasn't the person in front of me the head administrator of the Mist Kingdom's royal palace? Wasn't this Sister Kelly, who was responsible for applying for the royal family's annual allowance and activity expenses?
The wood elf Kelly was dressed quite beautifully today, and her smile was quite sweet. However, I felt a chill run down my spine.
"Oh, it would seem that I should reconsider His Highness Roland's allowance for next year. I think that keeping one-tenth of his allowance should be more than enough."
Kelly left while smiling and talking to herself. As the head administrator of the royal palace, the royal palace was quite busy with the year-end banquet. It was already quite nice for her to even have time to spare. This time, she resolved to teach Roland, who she had spoiled too much, a lesson. No matter what he said, she wouldn't receive a single cent of his allowance for next year.
This time, it was my turn to be in a bad mood. I had been hoping that I would be able to earn some allowance at the end of the year so that I would have an easier time next year. It would seem that I would have to find another place to swindle … earn some money.
Was it normal for me to be poor? Actually, it was quite normal. If I didn't want to work, even a mountain of gold could be used up. Back when I was still Yongye, I had given all my treasures to Anne and the others to use. I hadn't brought much money with me to begin with.
I myself didn't have much of a concept of money. I would gulp down several thousand gold coins worth of red wine in one gulp or two copper coins worth of beer. I didn't have any limits when it came to spending money, and I was too lazy to go on adventuring quests to earn that bit of money. Every time I had money, I would spend it all within a month. I did have quite a few treasures on me, but I was reluctant to sell them. Even if I did sell them, nobody would dare to buy them.
Actually, all independent adventurers without any faction supporting them were like this. As long as they didn't work hard to earn money or rob others, they would definitely be quite poor. Even when I returned to the surface, I was penniless. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so thick-skinned as to ask Kelly for the royalty's annual allowance …
"Adoptive Father, you should find a rich woman and marry yourself off. That way, you won't have to worry about breakfast tomorrow."
"Go away, stop joking around. Am I someone who relies on a woman?"
Although I said that, two figures indeed flashed through my mind at that moment. The mother of a tribe and the Elven Empress … Both of them were the leaders of their tribes. They should be quite rich, right? Then, would I be able to lie down and live the rest of my life like a cripple? I swore that this thought only appeared in my mind for an instant before I unhesitatingly rejected it.
"… You're so lacking in ambition. I don't want to raise a gigolo like you …"
The silly cat always jumped out at critical moments. Her words caused my face to heat up, and I angrily picked her up and threw her out the window!
"It's winter! As a cat, you should go catch mice for me as food reserves … Right, Glina, since you're here, you must have new information regarding that application, right? "
Was it really awkward for me to change the topic? Cough — cough — let's get back to the main topic. Let's talk about national affairs.
On the surface, Glina had come here to discuss national affairs. And the major matter that would make the two leaders of the Mist Alliance meet was naturally the application to join the Mist Alliance.
Over the past few days, the Mist Alliance's spies and diplomats had been insanely busy. Since they weren't doing nothing, they had finally obtained some useful information.
The Soen Dukedom and Feldis Kingdom's application to join the Mist Alliance was sincere. As applicants, Grand Duke Leon and King Vincent, they were both prepared to give up part of their royal authority. And since they had already made this decision, they didn't hide the reason why they wanted to join the Mist Alliance.
"The Stanley Theocracy? The Holy Church again? This is … "
The most convincing information came from the two countries themselves. The reason why the two countries' royal families were willing to jump into a pit of fire was because there was an even greater pit of fire waiting for them.
"The Divine Northern Battlefront Alliance? Damn it, is the Holy Church done yet?"
"… You should first count how many incarnations of the God of Holy Light you've killed already. He's probably never suffered such a huge loss in all these years. "
The silly cat appeared from an unknown corner and had a serious expression as she talked about serious matters, as if the awkwardness (ambiguity) from earlier had never happened.
Now that the information was right in front of us, the Holy Church's clumsy scheme was also right in front of us.
The Divine Northern Battlefront Alliance was proposed by the Stanley Theocracy, a small country in the North. The Stanley Theocracy wanted to use the God of Holy Light's teachings to create an alliance of northern countries similar to the Mist Alliance, so that they could work together against the Mist Alliance.
The participating countries would be the countries to the south of the Mist Alliance. As long as this alliance was truly established, it would be possible to trap the Mist Alliance in the North.
Obviously, the Stanley Theocracy was the core of this Divine Alliance, and its national power wasn't even one-fifth that of the Feldis Kingdom. The Stanley Theocracy was definitely backed by the Holy Church. In fact, the Holy Church had recently sent two high-level Knight squadrons and a Cardinal to the Stanley Theocracy.
But it was obvious that this was a trap. Joining this alliance would mean completely offending the Mist Alliance, and the Holy Church would also be using this alliance as cannon fodder. The recent developments proved that the Cardinal Cardinals, who were experts at internal conflicts and amateurs at external wars, were absolute idiots when it came to war. They were experts at obtaining benefits for themselves, and the Holy Church wouldn't even dare to imagine how the Stanley Theocracy's future would develop if it became a subordinate country of the Cardinal Cardinals.
The Holy Church had already sent official letters to the various countries' royal families. After so many years, the God of Holy Light had never paid so much attention to the small countries in the Northlands. But from a different perspective, this meant that they couldn't just go with the flow. They needed to make a choice.
And so, the Soen Dukedom and Feldis Kingdom decided to join the Holy Church …
"Just what are those idiots thinking right now? Defending against the Mist Alliance? Aren't we supposed to be allies now? "
I was rather astonished and angry, but even more than that, I felt pitiful numbness. It was as if I had already expected such a thing from the bottom of my heart.
"Cough, our ally just used a forbidden spell on our ally … Don't be so astonished. Don't you know what's going on? For some powerful individuals in the Order Faction, is there any difference between the Hades and the Chaos Faction? Compared to an enemy that they've fought against for so many years, wouldn't it be more worth being on guard against a 'junior' who was born from their own flesh and blood and wants to surpass them? "
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