Chapter 623

Raon returned to the annex building before the group dinner ended.

He wanted to enjoy the meal with the Light Wind division until the end, but he couldn’t participate in the executive conference while looking shabby, so he left early to take a shower.

He was putting on a neatly pressed uniform as Wrath jumped like a frog.

You liar! The King of Essence isn’t satisfied yet!

Wrath shook his fist, saddened by the fact that he couldn’t fully enjoy the group dinner.

‘I had no other choice.’

Raon shook his head while pushing Wrath away as he dashed around.

‘I can’t just keep spending my time there when I have to attend the conference. Besides, I already ate enough food that you wanted.’

Raon couldn’t understand why Wrath was rampaging when he’d eaten all of the food in the buffet precisely to prevent that from happening.

It’s not all about food. Since the King of Essence’s subordinates are there, he has to stay there with them until the end!

He shook his hand, saying that he had to stay with his subordinates as their king. It looked like he was sad about the fact that he couldn’t be with them until the end rather than being unable to eat.

‘I thought he was just a food waster. Wait, he still is a food waster.’

Wrath had always been serious about his subordinates, and he must’ve wanted to cherish the group dinner.

‘Next time.’

Since Raon was also saddened by it, he slapped Wrath away while telling him that they should have another group dinner next time.

Raon left his room with Heavenly Drive hanging at his waist. As he was about to leave at the entrance, Sylvia and the maids were waiting in front of the door.

“Why are you here?”

“This is your first time attending the executive meeting. We’ve been waiting to cheer for you.”

Sylvia came closer and straightened the slight wrinkle on his collar.

“How do you know that…?”

“I have a friend in Shadow Agents! I heard it from her!”

Encia smiled cheerfully while bringing her v-shaped fingers to her eyes.

“Ah…”

‘It’s you again.’

Raon had been curious about how Sylvia and the maids had so much information about him. It was Encia’s doing. It was a performance befitting the weirdo who competed with Merlin.

“Are you thoroughly prepared? Even the division leaders who acknowledge you should be a bit different at the round table…”

“What do you mean by them being different?”

“The round table conference is a small battlefield. The executives argue against each other and even start duels in order to obtain missions that give them more achievements, more benefits, or are easier.”

Sylvia sighed, showing that she was well aware of what happened at the executive meetings.

“They’ll likely be mean to you because you’re a newcomer, but you should be able to learn a lot about Zieghart, so you should attend while thinking of it as a lesson.”

“You know so much about it.”

“I was able to attend for studying purposes when I was a part of the direct line.” Sylvia smiled faintly. “Ah, I guess I don’t need to worry about it since Sir Rimmer will be attending with you this time.”

“No.” Raon calmly shook his head. “That man is dead drunk and sleeping.”

Rimmer had declared that he was going to eat all of the food and die, then started to drink all the liquor he could before he fainted. He was likely sleeping soundly in his room.

“Err, hmm…” Sylvia blinked, dazed, then tightened her lips.

“You should be just fine, Sir Raon!” Encia smiled, saying that everything would be okay.

“G-good luck.”

Siyan was still stuttering, but her voice was clearly stronger than before. Raon could guess that the making of his biography was proceeding smoothly.

“......”

Judiel quietly lowered her head, and he could see her trust in him in her gaze.

“I’ll be back.”

Raon waved his hand at everyone and headed to the main building. He walked up to a circular building that was either called the executive meeting room or the round table meeting room and stood in front of the door.

“Greetings, Light Wind Division Leader.”

The two swordsmen waiting in front of the door placed their hands on their swords and nodded at him.

“Please enter.”

The swordsmen raised their heads and opened the door to allow him entrance.

Raon thanked the swordsmen with his eyes and entered the meeting room. He walked through a short corridor and found a huge round table that had more than enough seats for dozens of people under the dim lighting.

The round table was dark, as if it were cloaked in shadow, and it created a strange harmony with the silver walls under the moonlight.

A few executives had already taken seats around the round table, and a middle-aged man standing around the center quickly stood up and waved his hand at him.

“Raon!”

It was Trevin, the Warring Steel Division Leader who had a cool personality, just like his short blond hair implied. He approached him at once and smiled broadly.

“Warring Steel Division Leader.”

“I finally get to see you.”

Trevin grabbed his shoulder, saying that he was glad to see him.

“But we’ve seen each other recently.”

He was talking like it’s been a long time, but they’d encountered each other in the audience chamber after his return, and they'd even trained together between divisions before then.

“I’m talking about meeting you here.” He pointed at the black round table. “I wanted to see you in this round table meeting.”

Trevin lifted his finger with a grin on his face and continued, “Because I’ve been curious what kind of trouble you were going to cause here.”

He grabbed his shoulder and headed to the end of the black round table.

“Come this way, I’ll guide you to the Light Wind Division Leader’s seat.”

Apparently, each executive had a fixed seat at the round table. Raon followed Trevin to the right end of the round table.

However, the Light Wind Division Leader’s seat had an even lower position than a squad leader’s while all the other division leaders had a seat on the inner side.

“Why is the Light Wind Division the only one that has such a remote seat?”

“That’s…”

“Because he never comes.”

A red-haired woman sitting at the inner side of the round table explained instead of Trevin.

It was Serena, the Void Sword Division Leader, with her characteristic blue eyes that looked as deep as a lake under the sunlight.

Just like Trevin, she had always been favorable toward him.

“Void Sword Division Leader.” Raon lowered his head to Serena.

“You don’t need to greet me. We don’t need to greet each other here.” Serena shook his hand, telling him to be at ease.

“By the way, what did you mean that he never came?”

“Just what I said. Your predecessor never showed up, so the Heavenly Blade Division Leader shoved his seat all the way to the edge.”

She clicked her tongue, saying that she’d practically never seen Rimmer in the round table meeting.

“She’s right. I’ve seldom seen Sir Rimmer.”

The Warring Steel Division Leader also shook his head, saying that he’d never seen Rimmer in the meetings.

“…I see.”

Raon bit his lip. Even though outsiders were telling him about his division leader, he immediately believed them.

‘That damned elf…’

Rimmer had left the training ground earlier than usual whenever there was a meeting, saying that he would fetch a great mission for them. Raon realized that he must’ve been at the gambling house instead.

“Then how did we end up with the missions we’ve gotten so far?”

“They just went to you because no one wanted to take them,” Serena chuckled.

“Hmm…” Raon bit his lip weakly.

‘So that’s why all those missions felt pretty bad.’

Considering the fact that their lives were endangered every time they went out on a mission, he must’ve always gotten the ones that no one else wanted.

“Haa…” Raon sighed and took the Light Wind Division Leader’s seat.

He resolved himself to playing more tricks on Rimmer while wiping the dusty nameplate clean.

“So, how do you feel? About becoming a division leader?” Serena winked from her seat.

“To be honest, I’m not feeling anything special. I feel like I’ve been doing the division leader’s job for a long time already,” he replied honestly.

“That’s exactly what I guessed. You are a model student.” Serena smiled, saying that she knew he’d feel that way.

“I considered you the division leader from the first time we met,” Trevin chuckled, nodding.

“Is that so?”

Raon smiled faintly. He was chatting with them from the same position for the first time.

* * *

Glenn was standing with arms crossed on the highest floor of the lord’s manor, which was practically an observatory. He nodded faintly while thinking about Raon, who had just entered the meeting room.

‘He has improved, even by a little.’

He noticed that Raon’s mental world had expanded slightly. He must’ve improved what he already had rather than learning something new, following the advice that Glenn had given him when he delivered the book of interpretations about his martial arts.

Glenn was thinking that Raon had been overlooking his own training for the past three weeks because he was only focused on the Light Wind Division, but that wasn’t the case at all. He hadn’t ignored his own training at all while raising his subordinates at the same time.

‘I can’t help but cherish him.’

Talent, personality, and patience. He wasn’t lacking in any aspect. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was the greatest masterpiece in Zieghart’s history.

“My lord.”

Glenn nodded in satisfaction as Roenn came up next to him.

“Even though it’s his first round table meeting, you don’t need to worry about him. Sir Rimmer will be here soon.”

“…He won’t be able to attend because he is currently unconscious.” Chad, the leader of Shadow Agents, shook his head at Roenn.

“Unconscious?” Glenn furrowed his brow while looking at Chad. “Was he injured during training?”

“That’s not it. The Light Wind division leader held a group dinner to commemorate the end of their training, and he fainted while drinking,” Chad swallowed nervously and explained why Rimmer was unconscious.

Zap!

Lightning sparked from Glenn’s hand as soon as he heard about Rimmer. The powerful energy blazing around him looked like he would have turned Rimmer into ash if he’d been there.

“Hmm…” Roenn licked his lips and raised his finger. “Since the Heavenly Blade Division Leader is missing, I should…”

“No, you don’t need to.” Glenn shook his head at Roenn. “Rimmer is better off being absent.”

He murmured that it wasn’t needed, showing how much he trusted Raon.

“But executives should be different at the round table from the audience chamber…” Chad was also anxious and lowered his eyebrows.

“It’s fine.”

Glenn turned around and calmly shook his head. He curled his lips into a slight smile, as if he were seeing the future.

“Because I released a dog—or, rather, a shark.”

* * *

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the executives sitting around the round table.

‘They are completely different from when I saw them before.’

He’d often seen them in the audience chamber, but they looked completely different at the meeting.

Their presence used to be suppressed by the Transcender Glenn Zieghart, but it was raging like wildfire instead, and they were baring their fangs to devour each other.

‘Is this the true nature of Zieghart’s executives?’

Every single one of them was emanating powerful pressures with spirited eyes, squad leaders and division leaders alike.

Whether they were acquainted with him or not, the mere fact that such warriors were from Zieghart made him proud.

Wham!

Raon was smiling in satisfaction when a pressure that was on a whole different level from the others wavered, and the meeting room’s door swung open.

The one who made his entrance with heavy steps was Balder. The round table meeting was either called the executive meeting or a meeting of division leaders. Palace masters rarely participated, to his knowledge, but Balder was attending unexpectedly.

“Sir Balder?”

“The True Martial Palace Master is attending…”

“Well, this is unexpected.”

The other executives also seemed intrigued, murmurs being heard here and there.

“Hmph,” Balder snorted at Raon, who was sitting at a corner, and went to the innermost spot and took a seat.

The door opened up again but glided smoothly this time, as if it had recently been oiled.

However, the huge and refined pressure spreading around the one who entered didn’t lose to Balder. Denier calmly walked into the room, possessing a flawlessly crafted path of aura as if it were sewn with a thread.

Denier met the eyes of the executives around the round table and looked at Raon at the end. He smiled quietly, as if he were welcoming him, then took the seat on the opposite side from Balder.

[Is it also rare for the Wise Martial Palace Master to attend?]

Raon sent an aura message to Trevin, who was far away from him.

[No.]

Trevin shook his head.

[The Wise Martial Palace master attends the round table every single time unless he is on a mission. He is popular among the executives because he often concedes his missions.]

He smiled, saying that Denier was completely different from Balder.

Raon looked at the two palace masters who were sitting in the deepest part.

Balder’s furrowed brow implied that he didn’t like the situation, and Denier looked as composed as always. As everyone remained silent because of their heavy pressures, Chad, the leader of Shadow Agents, made his entrance.

“I’m the last to arrive.”

Chad lowered his head apologetically. He went to the deepest part of the table, stood between Denier and Balder, and took out his documents.

“It’s time to begin.” Chad spread the first document and nodded casually. “I’ll start by telling you about the situation on the continent. Thanks to the efforts of everyone here, there haven’t been any noticeable issues inside Zieghart’s domain. Instead, we often gained more fame from resolving issues outside.”

His gaze was directed at Raon over the document.

“However, the fact that Zieghart’s domain is peaceful doesn’t mean that the entire continent is the same.”

Chad’s eyes glimmered in a strange light.

“Eden assaulted Seipia, a war broke out between Balkar and the Black Tower, and the South-North Union annihilated House Flumen. The White Blood Religion also took over the Kazan Divine Religion, and the Holy Sword Alliance started their march into the world.”

He was thoroughly aware of their actions, implying that he must’ve investigated the situations of all of the Five Demons.

“Of course, that’s not all. The Five Divine Orders are also carefully making their moves. Even if Lady Aries’s faction isn’t doing anything, the other four must be plotting something. Even a small ember can start a wildfire, so we can’t ignore even the smallest detail.”

Chad recited the situation in the entire continent with a discerning tone, unlike how he trembled in front of Glenn.

He looked like a completely different person. Raon thought that he was right to think that he shouldn’t underestimate him when Chad continued his speech.

“However, the one who is getting the most attention right now isn’t the Six Kings, the Five Demons, or the Five Divine Orders.”

“Is it the Sword and Saber Sovereign?” Serena briefly licked her lips.

“Correct.” Chad nodded while meeting Serena’s eyes.

“The map indicating the location of the Sword and Saber Sovereign, who was the strongest in the continent hundreds of years ago, has supposedly appeared. An assassin named White Snake Rain is currently in possession of the map.”

He even knew the assassin’s name, implying that the Shadow Agents had gathered the information on it.

Raon furrowed his brow upon hearing the name.

‘White Snake Rain…’

A warrior called Shadowless Wanderer seemed to have it when Merlin told him about it, but the owner must’ve changed while he was training.

“Since the Six Kings and the Five Demons are clashing one after the other, and even the location of the Sword and Saber Sovereign was revealed, the continent’s situation isn’t good right now. It’s to the point that it can be called a powder keg ready to blow.”

Chad briefly sighed.

“Whenever you go out on a mission, please remain cautious at all times and make sure to control your subordinates perfectly.”

He lowered the first document after saying that piece of advice and warning.

“Then we will allocate the missions now. Please raise your hand if there’s a mission you want.”

Chad lifted the second document. The missions must’ve been listed on it.

Raon licked his lips while observing the atmosphere around the round table.

‘I’d like to see the Sword and Saber Sovereign's grave if possible.’

Considering the fact that Chad had mentioned the Sword and Saber Sovereign's grave at the start of the meeting, one of the missions should be about investigating the grave. It was appealing because Raon figured there was a lot to gain from it.

“The first mission is to patrol Zieghart’s domain, as I mentioned in the beginning. Since you will have to prepare for a potential attack while patrolling all the way from the northern sea to the edge of North Grave Mountain, it’s an extremely important mission despite how it looks.”

Chad lowered the document while raising his voice.

“Raise your hand if you want the scouting mission.”

A few squad leaders and Trevin raised their hands.

“Hmm, then this mission will go to the Warring Steel Divis—”

“Wait.”

Just as Chad was about to pick Trevin, Balder raised his hand.

“Isn’t it usually the youngest’s job to take care of such a trivial matter?”

He looked at Raon while blabbering that it was a trivial mission, as if he had already forgotten that Chad had emphasized its importance.

“The youngest…?”

Chad tilted his head while looking at Balder.

“Look that way. There’s a child who has taken a seat at the round table for the first time.”

Balder blatantly pointed at Raon. He seemed to be trying to pick a fight, but he was doing it personally instead of ordering a subordinate to do it. He really was a consistent person.

“He just became a division leader, and it’s his first participation at the round table. He should be taking care of unimportant missions for the sake of his seniors, right?”

He furrowed his brow, saying that the children nowadays had no manners.

“Hmm…”

Chad furrowed his brow while touching his document. He seemed to be racking his brain on how to stop Balder.

Raon chuckled while watching that scene.

‘Just like I expected.’

He’d thought that Balder was definitely going to pick a fight with him since he was pretty much an animal who acted according to its mood, and he was right.

“I’m also aware that the junior and senior relationship exists even among the executives.” Raon showed a simple courtesy towards Balder. “However, I believe the relationship exists for them to be considerate of each other, not to shift the unwanted missions.”

Raon offered Balder, who was furrowing his brow, a reasonable argument.

“Since I’m the leader of an armed organization, I believe I should be trying to get a mission that we can carry out to the best of our abilities. Getting an unwanted mission just to please others because I’m a junior would be an act of disrespect toward the round table,” Raon declared and sat down again.

“Y-you arrogant bastard!” Balder stood up while furrowing his brow. “Are you thinking you can do anything just because you have some achievements? Where do you think you are to start an argument?”

“We are at the round table. I think it’s built into a round shape to allow discussions like this.” Raon smiled while touching the round table in front of him.

“Kuh… Yes. You are right.” Unexpectedly, Balder easily acknowledged his mistake. “However, discussions aren’t all we do here. If there’s a difference in opinion, we might come to a conclusion through a clash of power.”

He clenched his fist as if he had been given a perfect opportunity to give Raon a beating.

“I’m going to—”

Just as Balder was about to twist his lips, the meeting room door burst open and Aries entered.

Smack!

Her body disappeared as if it had turned into light and reappeared at the end of the round table to violently kick Balder’s cheek.

Whaam!

Balder slammed into the wall while breaking his chair in the process.

“Huh?”

“Ah…”

“Wh-what happened?”

Everyone’s jaws dropped because of the sudden occurrence.

“You fucking old fart.” Aries furrowed her brow while stepping on Balder’s head as he lay down on the ground. “You should be caring for a new executive, so why are you picking a fight with him? I’m getting goosebumps at how narrow-minded you are!”

“Kuh!” Balder pushed Aries’s foot away and rapidly stood up. “Aries! What are you doing right now?!”

“The way you were acting like an old fart was unbearable!” Aries murmured that she was disgusted with him and took Balder’s seat.

“Ugh…” Balder ground his teeth but simply bit his lip, unable to do anything against her.

“That huge lump is wasted on you, punk.”

“Lump?! What lump are you talking about?”

“Lump of fat, of course!” Aries furrowed her brow while looking at Balder’s bulging muscles.

“Those are muscles, not fat! Even for my sister, such a claim…”

“Really? Then let’s say they’re lumps of muscles.”

“That’s good enough!” Balder was satisfied and nodded his head while standing next to Aries.

Raon blinked while witnessing the scene in front of him.

‘Is he really satisfied with that?’

He was beaten, his seat was stolen, and he was even humiliated, but he was satisfied with being called a lump of muscles? He was easy to understand, but Raon couldn’t understand him at the same time.

“Chad?”

“Yes, yes!” Chad swallowed nervously and nodded at Aries’s call.

“Give it to me.” She took Chad’s document by force and lifted it.

“You’re all lacking in consideration. You should take care of a newcomer,” Aries declared and lifted the documents towards Raon. “My dear nephew, what do you want to do? Your auntie will do you a favor since it’s your first mission.”

“Ah…”

Raon closed his eyes tightly while looking at Aries’s hearty smile.

‘Please, stop…’

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