Chapter 1023 – (Side Story)01. After the War (1)
Three months have passed since Eunhyeon did not return.
The spark that caused chaos in the world, including the summoning of the devil, has ended.
With the efforts, lives, and blood of many people burned and shed, the world reached a turning point to usher in a new era.
And it is a natural order for the meeting that laid the foundation for that new era to be held.
“… “What did you say just now?”
The next Continental Congress held following the Continental Congress convened three months ago.
If the fundamental purpose of the previous meeting was to announce the existence of the Void Stone, to signal the beginning of the danger that the terrible war from 20 years ago would begin again, and to gather the continent’s forces in one place to form an allied force.
“Hmm! “I think the Pernias Kingdom’s claims are too much.”
A king who attended the Continental Congress cleared his throat and carefully expressed his opinion.
The purpose of this Continental Congress is to discuss the aftermath of the terrible war and to determine compensation for each country.
“… “Is it too much?”
A representative of the Kingdom of Pernias who attended the meeting to host and proceed with the conference and discuss compensation for the aftermath of this war as a country on the continent.
Queen Yuria Pernias asked the king who expressed her opinion.
I didn’t ask back because I couldn’t hear properly.
I was so shocked and absurd that I just asked back.
The king, who was where Yuria’s gaze was directed, faced her directly and expressed his opinion once again.
“Queen Pernias’ claim is asking too much.”
“…”
“That’s right.”
“As a country that contributed to this war, don’t we also have the right to demand it?”
“It is too unfair for the Kingdom of Pernias to have half of the western territory.”
Starting with the King’s opinion, opinions began to emerge one by one, agreeing with his opinion and expressing her injustice to Queen Yuria.
Most of these countries were adjacent to the western border.
“Under…”
A sigh flowed from Queen Yuria’s mouth, as if she was exasperated.
She clenched her fists and looked one by one at the heads of the countries who had expressed their opinions that it was unfair to her.
They reacted momentarily with shock upon receiving Yuria’s fierce gaze, but soon they looked at each other’s expressions and made eye contact with Queen Yuria once again.
They once again expressed their firm opinion as if there were no differences in their opinions.
“Tsk.”
Yuria frowned without even trying to hide the irritation in her eyes.
If it were true to his personality, he would have felt like punching them in the face, but he couldn’t just raise his hand at a meeting where representatives from all the countries on the continent were attending to discuss the future.
In the first place, using his fists so violently did not fit Yuria’s personality.
In my mind right now, I wanted to hit them on the head one by one, as if I had hit an iron plate on their face, but I don’t have the courage and spirit to make that fantasy a reality.
She originally disliked violence and did not want to bear the burden of responsibility.
Thin and long without any problems.
That is Princess Yuria’s original nature and desire.
That may be the case, but why does she have to ascend to the position of queen of a country and attend a place where such heavy responsibilities and pressures follow?
She said, ‘If only she wasn’t that human, she would be real…’ .’
She remembered the face of her Eunhyeon, who had not returned for several months, and she could not help but grind her teeth, chewing on her own lips instead of his face. This was the reality of her Queen Yuria.
“Queen.”
In such a situation, the person who comforted Queen Yuria was Alex, a royal guard knight who served as her counselor and guard.
I noticed the young queen’s expression as her stress was increasing, and I heard her voice filled with concern.
With that alone, Queen Yuria could barely bear it.
In her mind, she dreamed of her retirement life dozens and hundreds of times, but she held back and tried to erase it.
Princess Yuria asked as she looked at the representatives of each country who told her about her injustice.
“… Why? “I thought we made a fair request.”
“Of course, we also acknowledge that the Kingdom of Pernias made the greatest contribution to the victory of this war.”
The Kingdom of Pernias provided a large amount of aid in various ways compared to other countries.
Various materials, including food and weapons, were provided to the defense line adjacent to the western border, and the cost alone was more than ten times that of other countries.
He even included Riod, the kingdom’s greatest force, in the expedition, and deployed many of the kingdom’s forces, including knights and wizards, to the front lines.
There is no doubt that he made a great contribution to minimizing the damage to the Allied Forces and ending the war.
Nevertheless, they persisted.
“But even so, the amount of compensation the Queen claims is a bit…”
“I don’t think it’s balanced.”
Balance.
It’s a ridiculous word.
Without lifting her frown, Princess Yuria asked back as if asking for a more detailed explanation.
She said, “You said balance. What do you mean?”
“No matter what, isn’t it too much to own half of the western continent’s territory?”
In this war, so to speak, there is no winner or loser.
This is because it was a war between the Allied Forces and the necromancers who wiped out all the countries of the western continent and were infested with undead.
The necromancer Marius hoped for the destruction and chaos of the continent, and attempted to achieve his wish by summoning demons to the continent, and the Allied Forces fought for their own survival.
Of course, even if they won the war between the necromancer and the undead, the only thing they achieved was their own survival.
There was no way that proper compensation could be given in this fight where there were no winners and only losers.
So, in this discussion, the countries that contributed greatly to winning the war can survive and gain at most the territory of the western continent, which was devastated by undead and morale.
However, they are saying that even the compensation is not balanced.
I tripped and fell, thinking that the amount of half the territory of the western continent was ridiculous.
“…”
Queen Yuria frowned and glared cautiously at the representatives of each country who were making ridiculous comments about her, as if they had put an iron plate on her face.
The small people who were originally too busy only observing opinions without being able to express their opinions have suddenly unified their opinions and are keeping the Kingdom of Pernias in check.
Although she was very displeased, Queen Yuria continued her story with as much formality as possible.
“… She offered to pay monetary compensation for the land rights of the territory.”
Queen Yuria did not claim more than half of her western territory as compensation without any conditions.
In exchange for Pernias Kingdom owning half of the western territory, there was also a willingness to pay a certain amount of money for the territory adjacent to the western border.
However, their current attitude is to refuse the amount and express unfairness.
“It’s not enough.”
“We want three times the amount the Queen offered.”
“Our side in particular has suffered too much damage due to this war. At least 5 times…”
After hearing the amount of money that the representatives of each country talked about, Queen Yuria muttered softly.
“… Crazy bastards.”
“… “Queen.”
Of course, the only person who heard Queen Yuria’s scolding was Alex, who was standing right behind her.
Alex also found the request so absurd.
The amount that Queen Yuria pays to the countries adjacent to her western border in exchange for her rights to the territory of the western continent is also not a small amount.
Paying an amount equivalent to the semi-annual budget of a fairly large territory within the kingdom to each country was a decision that required a big decision, even considering the royal family’s finances.
But three or five times that amount.
Alex also agreed that they were crazy people with no conscience.
Of course, I had no intention of expressing my true feelings directly in this meeting room.
There was a reason why they were putting an iron plate on their faces and demanding more money.
The first is their realistic financial situation.
As they say, they will bear the greatest impact from this war.
There was a direct loss of life due to the undead attack, and their land was also contaminated with morale, so they would face a major food shortage for the time being.
Even though the war is over, their future can never be bright.
Of course, they took that into consideration and offered enormous financial assistance, but they went far beyond the scale of their kindness and consideration.
‘The second reason is… Probably because I was easygoing.’
The Kingdom of Pernias currently belongs to a powerful country comparable to the Holy Kingdom of Erenia within the continent.
There is Riod, which is considered the greatest power on the continent, and ironically, the current Duchy of Armitas is a place where so much wealth is concentrated that it easily surpasses the finances in the kingdom’s treasury.
Nevertheless, the reason they can make such unreasonable demands on Yuria, the queen of the Kingdom of Pernias, is because they take Queen Yuria lightly.
There may be various factors, such as because she has only been queen for a short time, because she is inexperienced, and because she is a woman.
‘What should I do?’
Queen Yuria was worried in her heart.
It is not difficult for us to respond strongly to their extremely rude demands.
The problem comes after that.
At best, the war was over, but there was no way to create new seeds of conflict here.
As they thought, Queen Yuria did not yet have the judgment or experience to show her skillful response in a situation like this.
Lack of experience, difference in mindset and ideas.
It was too heavy a burden for her, who had only been in her position for a few years.
“That’s crazy.”
However, the expression of dissatisfaction came not from the Kingdom of Pernias nor from the countries adjacent to the western border, but from a completely unexpected place.
The eyes of both those who were at the center of the conversation and those who were on the sidelines and only observed cautiously were focused on one spot.
A young girl wearing a pure white priest’s uniform said, scratching her bright blonde hair roughly.
“Oh, Anies!?”
Al Vern, who was standing behind her, was shocked and called out the girl’s name.
It’s an extremely disrespectful attitude, as if you’re throwing away the dignity and importance of a position.
“Uh, if you do this in a solemn meeting room… !”
“What kind of solemnity is this, a place for brats who ask for more because it’s not enough? Does this place look solemn to you?”
“What?”
“What?”
“What a brat!”
For a moment, the faces of those who had a blank expression distorted as if they had heard an insult they had never heard before in their lives.
They are all royals representing one country.
However, it is natural that the way they describe themselves as children is very humiliating to them.
“Apologise! Archbishop Anies!”
“How could a sacred priest who serves the goddess say such disrespectful words?”
“I will formally protest this to the temple!”
As the representatives of each country blushed and shouted loudly, the inside of the conference hall instantly became noisy as if on fire.
But despite their protests, Anies snorted as if it was ridiculous.
“Then how is what you are doing now any different from the kids who are begging for more food because they don’t have enough food?”
Anies, who had no intention of even considering the risk of new strife or the political positions between many countries, pushed ahead harshly.
“Say it once. Listen.”
