Book 1 Chapter 988

988.

The weather in the western part of the continent, where winter was beginning to approach, was quite chilly.

As the wind blew, Elena sat at a tea table in a corner of Rewalin's garden, sipping tea.

"Why can't I attend the meeting?"

Hark scowled and rubbed his neck.

Seeing Hark, Elena said,

"If Senior Hark attends after saying such disrespectful things, do you think the meeting will proceed well?"

"What! Did I say anything wrong? If they did things properly, would there be immigrants? And enough to cause problems."

Leaving the place you've lived your whole life and settling in a strange land is never an easy task.

No matter how much Arhi was rumored to be a land of opportunity, for ordinary people to abandon all their foundations and go to another country would be nothing short of a gamble with their lives.

Yet, leaving one's familiar land for an unknown one meant that it was that difficult to live in their existing home.

"And I don't want to hear such things from you, of all people. You couldn't attend in the first place, either."

When the meeting resumed, Elena, like Hark, couldn't attend.

"I'm here to monitor Senior Hark."

"What a lame excuse."

Hark frowned slightly.

Leo, who was listening to their conversation, poured tea into Elena's empty teacup and silently gazed at the meeting hall.

"Are you worried?"

Elena smiled faintly and asked.

Hark also glanced at Leo.

It had already been conveyed to him that the attendant was Leo in disguise.

"Are you disappointed that it's more messed up than you thought?"

"Not really. It seemed better than I expected?"

"How low are your expectations for the noble families?"

Hark shook his head.

"So? What are you going to do?"

"Well."

Leo sighed briefly.

"Politics isn't my specialty."

"Is there something even Leo Flobe, the greatest in the world, can't do?"

"I'm not a perfect person, so there's a lot I can't do."

"I think you're good at politics, though?"

Elena giggled.

"Just looking at how you're making Senior Hark work, isn't that pretty good?"

"Making a couch potato work isn't politics."

"What? What did you just call me?"

Hark, with wide eyes, grabbed Leo by the collar and shook him wildly.

"Senior, this is insubordination."

"It's because you provoked me!"

Hark's neck even had veins bulging, apparently feeling quite wronged by being called a "couch potato."

A moment later.

Hark suppressed his anger, took a pill from a medicine box, and popped it into his mouth.

Seeing this, Elena tilted her head.

"Is that a sleeping pill?"

"It's stomach medicine! Stomach medicine!"

Having said that, Hark shot up from his seat.

"Where are you going?"

"Talking to you two feels like it's shortening my lifespan, so I'm going to my room! I'm going to sleep!"

Elena giggled as she watched Hark turn away, shaking his head in disgust.

Then she glanced at Leo.

"You seem to be deep in thought?"

"I'm wondering what to do."

"Hmm?"

"Since there's justification and legitimacy, should I suppress them by force? Or should I persuade them?"

"Suppressing by force is simpler, though there's a good chance problems will arise later."

Elena shrugged.

The gods of the world and the heavens had chosen Leo Flobe as the king to lead the next generation.

As a result, Leo once again bore the aspirations of countless people on his shoulders.

The expectation of bringing complete peace.

The hope of changing the world.

Of course, it was impossible for Leo alone.

Even if Lysinas were to reincarnate, it would be impossible for her alone to fulfill those aspirations.

But it was possible to unite everyone's strength.

One who could make humanity move in one direction.

The King of the World was a title given to the leader who would guide the world into a new era.

"So? What are you going to do, Leo?"

It wasn't just the noble families at the noble family meeting who were dissatisfied with the Arhi Kingdom.

Various factions were checking and pressuring the Arhi Kingdom.

'Suppression won't be difficult.'

The Arhi Kingdom was not just a fledgling kingdom.

It was a powerful force that could move Dragonia and the Shan Empire.

It was, in name and reality, the greatest power that could easily shake the continental landscape.

"I don't know."

"Huh?"

"I'm thinking. What would Lysinas have done?"

Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning, had undoubtedly saved the world as the last Great Hero.

Recognized for that feat, he received the title of Hero of the Beginning from the gods.

But Leo knew well.

'I'm not a leader to guide anyone.'

Rather, he was someone who followed others.

Just as he took Lysinas's outstretched hand and moved in the direction she pointed.

Just as Luna, Arion, and Dweno pushed him to open a new era.

When he reincarnated and resolved to finally save the world this time.

Leo didn't know what to do.

So he thought of his friends.

Leading people with hope, like Lysinas.

Showing people light, like Luna, and giving courage, like Arion.

And advising, like Dweno.

He had merely imitated his friends.

That's why he thought of Lysinas in this matter too.

To completely subjugate Erebus, he needed to be not just a symbolic King of the World, but a king who could concentrate all power.

Lysinas would have surely persuaded them with reason, not force.

But that was an incredibly difficult task.

"…"

Seeing Leo lost in thought, Elena smiled faintly.

"Leo. I never thought I'd say this, but."

"Huh?"

"You are you."

Elena smiled gently.

"You might think you're imitating other Great Heroes, but it's you who is nurturing and leading the heroes of the next generation, including me."

"Thanks for thinking highly of me. But why are you suddenly saying such things?"

"Oh, come on. This old man really is sometimes so clueless."

Elena shook her head.

"It means you have far more popular support than you think."

"What?"

"It means many people recognize your consistently upright character."

***

"Then, let the meeting proceed."

When Cheid, the head of Rewalin, declared this, the head of the Zeltian family began to read a resolution once again condemning Arhi.

Soon, the discussion ended, and Cheid, who was in charge of the meeting, said,

"Is there any family that wishes to speak regarding the opinion of the noble families, led by the Zeltian family?"

At that question, Seld stood up.

'Hmph. As expected, he's stepping forward to defend them.'

Leo was a direct descendant of the Zerdinger family.

As such, they were a family that would clearly defend the Arhi Kingdom at this noble family meeting.

But the head of the Zeltian family was confident this time.

Even if no hero noble family was among those supporting the condemnation of the Arhi Kingdom, a tremendous number of noble families had united their intentions.

Not just noble families.

Noble families from various nations connected to them, as well as royal families, had also contributed their power to this resolution.

No matter how much Zerdinger was one of the two pillars of the Lodren Empire, they couldn't defend Arhi alone.

As the head of the Zeltian family smiled meaningfully.

"I take this opportunity to declare, as the representative of the Thirteen Hero Noble Families."

'What?'

In an instant, Zeltian's face hardened.

The Thirteen Hero Noble Families.

Zerdinger, Rewalin, Zeroen, Ligaard, and others.

This was the number of all existing human Hero Noble Families.

The highest bloodline, excluding the Hero Royal Families who founded nations with hero status.

Being their representative meant that all Hero Noble Families had united their intentions.

As the head of the Zeltian family felt uneasy, Seld opened his mouth.

"Before the noble family meeting, there was a meeting of the heads of the Hero Noble Families."

The majority of the heads of the Hero Noble Families were those who guarded the front lines of Tartaros.

The fact that even they attended the meeting meant it was an important agenda.

"As a result of the meeting, all Hero Noble Families have decided to form an alliance to achieve the world's great task of completely subjugating Erebus and Tartaros."

"The, the Hero Noble Families forming an alliance?!"

"Wait! Then what about the nations to which the Hero Noble Families belong?"

There were Hero Noble Families like Zeroen, Ligaard, and Hergin, who were third forces not affiliated with any nation, and then there were Hero Noble Families like Zerdinger and Rewalin, who belonged to specific nations.

And it was no exaggeration to say that the will of a Hero Noble Family affiliated with a nation was the will of that nation.

As such, the interests among Hero Noble Families were complex, and many families formed antagonistic relationships.

The fact that such families had all united their intentions was literally a momentous event.

Seld calmly stated,

"And we have decided to elevate Leo Flobe, the King of the Beginning, as the leader of the alliance."

"What?!"

"How can that be!"

Exclamations of shock erupted from those who had been condemning the Arhi Kingdom.

It was a decision utterly incomprehensible to their common sense.

No matter how much he was a hero to fight Erebus, how could such immense power be concentrated on the king of a fledgling nation?

"Was there intervention from Dragonia?"

"Even if it is Dragonia, how could the Hero Noble Families bow to pressure from an outside force!"

Fierce reactions erupted among the noble families who had been advocating for sanctions against Arhi.

"Hmph?"

At that moment, a woman who had been closing her eyes throughout the meeting, as if disinterested, opened one eye.

"That statement is quite annoying."

At the words of the woman, whose lips were twisted, the meeting hall instantly fell silent, as if cold water had been poured over it.

Though she was a young woman of beautiful appearance, she was older than anyone else present.

A knight who was active during the era of the Sword Saint Kalian.

A rival of the Sword Saint, bearing the fearsome epithet [Red Executioner].

Naian Edwili.

As she, the head of the Edwili family, swept her gaze over the assembly, those who had been making a commotion averted their eyes.

"There was no external intervention whatsoever. It was merely the Hero Noble Families uniting their intentions."

Impossible.

The head of the Zeltian family screamed inwardly at Seld's continued words.

At that moment, the head of the Tursia family, one of the other three great families of Lumerun who had been observing the situation, spoke.

"The Hero Noble Families united their intentions because they believe this is a turning point in history. As descendants of the Great Heroes and the Heroes of Creation who upheld their will, we judged this to be a golden opportunity to fulfill the world's aspirations. Therefore, it is only natural to uphold the will of Lysinas, the King of Wisdom, who guided the world to salvation."

The reason a hero is called a hero.

And the reason this era is an era of heroes.

People tend to forget easily.

But the hero families did not forget that reason.

The world had not yet achieved complete peace.

The world needed new heroes to follow in the footsteps of the Great Heroes.

Heroes like the Great Heroes.

Countless heroes who lived in that era with the Great Heroes and eventually disappeared into the annals of history.

For 5,000 years, the world had ceaselessly needed them.

In other words, throughout those 5,000 long years, the heroes the world desired were only the five Heroes of Creation.

And that was also the beginning of the Hero Noble Families.

Only those heroes who lamented and were ashamed of failing to become the heroes the world wanted passed on their noble intentions to their descendants.

And only those families who inherited those noble intentions and ceaselessly reflected upon them were called Hero Noble Families and praised.

The reason a Hero Noble Family is a Hero Noble Family.

It meant they were a family prepared to uphold the will of their predecessors and the legacy of the Great Heroes at any time.

All Hero Noble Families who forgot that intention fell.

That was the biggest difference between Hero Noble Families and ordinary noble families.

Seld opened his mouth again.

"We, the Hero Noble Families, declare that we will follow the will of the leader until the world regains complete peace."

A newly structured board.

All families attending the meeting instinctively realized.

That forces not participating in that alliance would be eliminated.

***

"…"

Leo, hearing about the Hero Noble Families from Elena, wore a bewildered expression.

"They're entrusting such immense power to me?"

"The Hero Noble Families also have eyes. They know you would never use that power in vain. So, have some confidence."

"What?"

"Because you are the king chosen by none other than Lysinas, the King of Wisdom. And you're no longer alone."

Elena smiled faintly.

"Don't try to solve everything by yourself."