Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)
Book 8: Chapter 14

On the fourth day of the World Meeting, the regular discussions took place once again. The only difference was Angela’s presence. So far, Korodes had more or less governed the meeting, but with someone from the imperial family present, he seemed to be holding himself back a lot more. It made the others believe that the rumors of him being on bad terms with the Emperor’s children could possibly be true.

That said, he still maintained his fierce attitude. The contents of the meeting mostly revolved around conditions for the cease-fire between the other nations, and although faint progress could be seen, it wasn’t anything to call a true success. They still had some time left, but if things progressed like this, they might actually run out of time. At first, Angela simply watched things unfold and remained passive, but the more time passed, the more she started interjecting in discussions.

“Korodes, leave it at that. You’re asking for too much.”

Korodes was taken aback, seemingly grinding on her words.

“You may say that, but this is all to the benefit of our country…”

“If we leave things to you, we will never make any progress. From here on out, I will be the one making decisions.”

She wouldn’t let Korodes get a word in, declaring in a clear voice.

“Everyone, Galgan will retract all previous conditions. And, as a new condition…”

From there on out, Angela arranged new territorial limitations and reparations to be paid to the Empire, all of them being within what the countries could easily afford. She took a great step toward the other participants, contrary to Korodes’ work.

“As for Zilgus, since we have people remaining still in our imperial capital, we promise unconditional and immediate return if they so wish.”

“Oh my…”

Even Milena couldn’t hide her shock. She had anticipated that there would be some catch attached to it, but unconditional was rather surprising.

“But that will bring nothing but loss to our country, Angela-sama,” Korodes tried to intervene, but Angela had him sit down instantly.

“Silence, Korodes. I will take full responsibility for this decision, and Brother Maizer will support me, too. To all of you, would you be willing to accept our conditions?”

“W-Well, if it’s like this…We would be more than willing…”

Instead of losing Mafmark to the Empire, Taihon would now be forced to pay reparations instead. Sharidan was more than happy to end the discussion with just money. Following him, the other participants agreed.

“I’m relieved to hear that. Then let us proceed with finalizing the contract.”

Thanks to Angela pushing things ahead, all the hard work and back and worth so far felt like a lie. Even Milena was bewildered, but before she could say a word, Korodes jumped in.

“I guess it can’t be helped. Then, prepare the paper…”

Korodes shook his head and began handing out the contracts.

Did they…set this up from the very beginning…?

Having watched this whole thing unfold, Kyle started feeling like something was off. Put simply, Korodes would act like the villain to create ridiculous conditions, then the saving grace, Angela, appears to ease up the conditions and bait them into accepting on the spot. It was a simple idea of candy and cane. What made this much more likely is the fact that Angela’s conditions didn’t really mark the Empire any loss at all. Of course, they were much more reasonable than what Korodes asked for, but without that prior knowledge, it was more like an equal contract.

What a group of actors…

Kyle could only admire that way of doing things. Milena must have seen through this facade herself, because she was clearly bothered by this result, but since she would get the hostages back, she couldn’t exactly disagree this late into the game. This way, they achieved a contract of cease-fire for almost equal conditions, so most of the fighting among humanfolk was brought to an end through this, which meant that Kyle was one step closer to his goal once more.

That same day later in the afternoon, the contract between humanfolk and the dragons was renewed. However, in a way, it was more like a renewal ceremony than a strict contract. After all, they would simply declare their intentions. With many of the kings and queens from the various nations present, Kyle stood in front of the two dragons, reading the document related to the contract.

“We humanfolk swear to respect the dragons, and will not come near their home, the World Tree. In return, the dragons will respect us humanfolk and remain neutral in all affairs, promising to not antagonize in any event,” Kyle said and looked around. “Anybody here objecting to the aforementioned?”

Naturally, nobody dared to object to that.

‘Very well. With this, the contract has been renewed. Humans, I ask that you abide by what you have promised.’

With the dragons’ words as the final seal, applause fell upon them and Kyle. With this, Kyle achieved yet another incredible event that will be talked about for thousands of years to come, and he tried his best to remain calm and smile, but on the inside, he was rather bewildered.

“Look, Alessa-chan, your older brother is working really hard.”

“Kyle is doing some heavy lifting there…”

Kyle’s parents and his little sister were all present to watch from afar. His parents were smiling, and Alessa slapped her hands together like she was happy.

What kind of torture is this…

He was so embarrassed, he’d rather just roll over and die. This whole World Meeting was already mentally exhausting, and yet they only heightened that amount further. Of course, it was even worse because his parents had no such intentions.

“So, well…good work there.”

“Right…”

After finishing the renewal of the contract, Lieze caught on to the fact that most of Kyle’s exhaustion came from his family.

“It seems like they want to stay until the final day and then head back to Rimarze with you…But what do you say?”

“…”

He massaged his eyebrows like he’d begun suffering another severe headache. This World Meeting was supposed to last 7 days, but having them stay until the very end would invite all sorts of problems.

“So I’ve been thinking…What if I go back to them with Rimarze?” Lieze offered, guessing what Kyle must be troubled with.

“Yeah…Could I ask that of you?”

“Of course. It won’t hurt to go back home for once.”

It had already been a year and a half since they set out from Rimarze. Seran and Kyle didn’t have any problems with that, but Lieze pretty much offered to come with them, so it was understandable that she’d like to head back for a short while.

“And…I’d like to be with Alessa-chan a bit longer.”

It seemed like Alessa had completely stolen Lieze’s heart.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll have them prepare a Wyvern for you to…”

“Ah, no worries. Irumera and Ghrud will be heading back the day after tomorrow, so I asked them to drop us off in Rimarze,” she said, making it sound like asking the peak of life on this planet was just average business.

Then again, to Lieze, it was probably as simple as asking a friend for a favor. Be it nobility, demons, or dragons, Lieze could get along with anybody.

“Oh yeah. Take Urza with you, too.”

“Huh? I don’t mind, but…are you fine without her here?”

As of right now, there was not much they could do to help. That said, leaving Kyle behind did make her feel a bit restless.

“Once this whole meeting is over, I’d love to take a break…so Rimarze should be perfect. I’ll be back once I’m all done here.”

Hearing that, Lieze’s expression brightened up.

“Okay, got it! We’ll prepare everything.”

“Yeah, sorr—No, thanks.”

Met with Lieze’s beaming smile, Kyle felt the urge to apologize for dragging her around like this, but he knew that that wasn’t what she wished for. Instead, he thanked her from the bottom of his heart. After that, Kyle decided to take a change of pace and went for a walk. The inside of the fortress resembled a small town, allowing for plenty of space. He arrived at a resting place for servants and guards, an area he hadn’t previously visited. That said, the fortress was already guarded, so they mostly just patrolled the area or followed other activities while meetings weren’t happening. They got excellent food and were allowed to stay at an inn that could rival the best hotel in the land, so there wasn’t really anything to complain about, but opinions always differ, after all. Kyle walked around to check if there was a bar of sorts, when he encountered a familiar face.

“The hell are you doing here, Seran?”

Even after he called out to him, Seran refused to tear his gaze away from a particular spot. Kyle followed his gaze, where he spotted a single individual earnestly following his sword training. She carried a bent sword called a scimitar, fighting an imaginary enemy. However, it wasn’t a human, it was a lizardman with predominant scales.

“Ba…”

Kyle got close to calling out her name, only to forcefully shut his mouth. Granted, Kyle struggled to keep the lizard race apart, but that moveset the lizardman showed was familiar. Kyle was frozen stiff from this surprise encounter with his future comrade-in-arms Basques.

“It’s crazy that they can fight like that.” Seran subconsciously uttered.

Beautiful movement as always. Calm, yet sharp, like the sword itself.

They were probably here as a guard for one of the participants of the meeting, but they could most likely fight on an equal level with Kyle or Seran.

“They’re strong, yeah. So much so that I’d rather not fight them head-on.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Kyle was surprised to hear such praise from the personification of arrogance, but he had to agree. But at the same time, he thought that, maybe now, he could win.

“What is iiit?”

The lizardman Basques asked in the familiar lizard race’s way of talking, as they looked over at the two men.

“I was just thinking…how beautiful it is,” said Kyle, unable to keep his genuine feelings in check.

It was so astonishing that he found himself staring at it, and Seran agreed.

“Can’t say a compliment from a human male makes me all too happyyy,” said Basques with a wary voice.

Surprisingly, Basques was actually a woman. Their sex was rather hard to decipher for the other races, so even Kyle didn’t know until long after they had been fighting together.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I was talking about your skill with the sword!” Kyle desperately tried to talk his way out of this predicament.

“Sure, if you say sooo…By the way, could you be that rumored [Dragon Slayer] by any chaaance?”

It seemed like lizardmen also struggled to tell humans apart, judging from her uncertain question.

“Yes, that’s right,” Kyle affirmed Basques’ question, whose face immediately lit up.

“I see…We lizardmen respect the strooong. I’d love to have a match with youuu.”

Kyle felt happy, knowing that she hadn’tchanged. He thought he’d never meet her again, but now he could appreciate this one-sided reunion with her.

“Nah, I’d rather not fight you. Instead, I’d like us to fight side by side.”

When they fought the demons together, she lost her life in a fierce battle after achieving her revenge. He’d rather not fight his comrade-in-arms if he didn’t have to.

Fighting a comrade-in-arms…One time is more than enough.

Kyle was reminded of the time he had to kill a swordsman he respected with his own hands. Basques was a bit perplexed at that reaction but still burst out laughing.

“Hee hee, what a weird fellow you aaare. That said, that sounds a lot more fun, to be suuure.” Basques showed a cute smile, pulling Kyle along. “Anyway, I shall return to my traininggg,” Basques said and continued swinging her sword in silence.

While Kyle felt happy at this reunion, he also felt a sharp pain in his chest.

“Hey, that lizardman…” Seran asked, seemingly having figured out something, but Kyle returned a vague response.

“Well, something like that. Anyway, I got a favor to ask of you, Seran.”

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