97人人模人人爽人人喊谢绝

Vol 6: Chapter 7 (2)

「I give up. You are more capable than I expected.」

While muttering as such, he puts his hand on his chin and starts to think about something.

「Well, you see, I was told not to reveal it by His Eminence… but the remark during the meeting was a request made by His Eminence.」

「…Huh?」

「You must have understood by now that the Church used that opportunity to guarantee your identity and eliminate discrimination against black hair and black eyes, right?」

…Well, they wouldn’t have bothered to ask me to return to black hair, otherwise.

「But nobody would want to make unnecessary statements towards the Church, or the situation might get too complicated if some of the representatives held strong prejudice against black hair and lashed out. So His Eminence requested me to control the debate. That’s why I did it.」

「I see……」

「That’s why I have no ill will towards black hair and black eyes. In the first place, people who discriminate against others are not selected as the People’s Representative in our Windle Republic… but, I guess you wouldn’t understand it.」

「No, I do. It means that you don’t have an absolute monarch and you choose a representative by election.」

It is a political form that is rather common on modern Earth.

Holiday blinked in amazement to my response.

「I see now… This is why the Church guaranteed your identity.」

「What do you mean?」I asked.

「Exactly as it sounds. You’re an excellent fighter, and you’re also intelligent. That’s why the Church wants to keep you.」

「N-no… I’m not that big of a deal.」I said.

「Reiji-kun is amazing, after all!」Mimino-san added in from the side, with a proud look.

.

「Once this turmoil has subsided, I definitely would like to invite you to Windle. What do you say?」Holiday said.

「Well… I am a little interested.」

Most of the nations in this world are monarchical, such as a kingdom or an empire.

The Republic of Windle is part of the Keith Gran Federation, and is one of the few Republic nations.

If I say that I was not interested, it would be a lie.

「I am glad to hear that. –Also, do you have some time now? We still have about an hour before the meeting resumes.」

「Yes, I have time.」

「I want to talk about the revocation of the Covenant.」Holiday said.

**

Representative Holiday seems to be aware that he is the Pledger of the “Continental Humans”.

There is no doubt that he is a “human” the same as Non-san and everyone else. It seems that he was awakened as a Pledger after he reached adulthood.

「The Republic of Windle has kept a record of the Covenant. It seems that the People’s Representative has been chosen as the “Continental Human” Pledger many times in the past.」

There are many humans on this continent, thus it is probability-wise strange that many Pledgers appeared in the Republic of Windle in terms of population ratio.

Pledgers don’t seem to be selected by chance. Though, I don’t really understand the criteria behind it.

「The Covenant which I hold is–」

「Revocation of the Covenant, isn’t it?」

「That’s right. Did you hear from His Eminence?」

I nodded in response. The fact that I can use【World Alliance】is still a secret.

Then, as if pondering a little, Holiday took a sip from his tea cup.

We were in the waiting room which was assigned to me.

Although it is called a waiting room, it was quite luxurious. It had the taste of a noble’s reception room. Religious paintings hung on the wall.

Two guards stood behind Holiday, three at the entrance of the room, and five outside the window. Although they were dressed like civil officials and secretaries, they carried concealed weapons on their sleeves, hem, and hair.

I recalled the memory about the revocation of the Covenant.

Revocation of the Covenant (Continental Human/ Dwarf)

・The Revocation of the Covenant is made by declaring it to the mediator.

・If revoked, the two worlds will become one.

The method of revocation is “declare to the mediator”.

Is there anything to be worried about there?

「Reiji-kun, what did you think of the conference earlier?」

「What did I think…?」

「Didn’t you think it was unseemly?」

After the “Child of Disaster” point was over, talks about “unification of the world” proceeded.

However, that’s where the difficulty began. Even if we say that a world crisis is imminent, the representatives are unable to realize and sense the crisis.

They said the “Red Gate” issue is the Lev Magic Empire’s problem. And they were only interested in one problem, “Depletion of Skill Orbs.”

In short, the proposed solution did not address the fundamental problem. They just said to get more skill orbs. There was even a representative who said, “Is the church hiding something?”

The Pope and the Cardinal are currently discussing how to eliminate these headache-inducing representatives and have constructive discussions with the rest.

「Actually, the Republic of Windle is promoting state management without relying on skill orbs.」

「Huh?」

I was shocked. Is that really possible?

If it is a skill-based skill orb, the user will not be able to let it go after having a taste.

A skill orb is a convenient tool, like a personal computer or smartphone.

Once you use it, you will not be able to throw it away.

「We distribute low-star skill orbs only to those who apply formally. But it is a temporary loan and they have to return it after the agreed upon number of years have passed.」

「Why such a system?」I asked.

It sounds quite inconvenient.

「Because you forget effort when you have a skill.」

Holiday said, with a confident look. Those words poked at my heart.

Lark, my sister – I don’t mean to say that she didn’t make an effort, but once she obtained【Shadow King ★★★★★★】, she became over-reliant on it.

The price she had to pay was high. She is struggling to overcome it now.

(It is the same for me.)

Until now, most of my conduct has been based on【World Ruler】.

It is really difficult to let go of it.

「—There are many people who make an effort for the sake of the world, even if they have a skill.」Non-san added a counterargument.

Holiday was not displeased to hear the counter, he was rather delighted.

「As you say. I am sure that you and Reiji-san are such hard-working people, but it’s also true that many aren’t.」

「…………」

Non-san kept silent, as if understanding that there is truth in that statement.

「In truth, our policy is experimental. For example, there are almost no places where ferocious monsters appear in our country, so we do not need strong skills. Also, we share all our borders with nations within the same federation, so we do not face any threats from foreign enemies.」

The Keith Gran Federation distributes skill orbs to the nations which are part of the federation, but the Republic of Windle refused high-star skill orbs, and in return secured financial support from large countries and military cooperation in an emergency.

「Our policy is no doubt reliant on other countries’ use of skill orbs. But on the other hand, our agricultural production is by far the largest in the federation and it is becoming more abundant.」

「That means that after the two worlds are united… Windle will be a model case.」

「Exactly!」

Holiday nodded vigorously, as if I had hit the nail on the head.

「Our country no longer needs skill orbs, so other nations in the federation will definitely ignore my remarks. However if the skill orbs are completely depleted, the world will collapse. So we should revoke the Covenant before it becomes a reality.」

「Representative Holiday, do you really think the world will collapse?」

「I do.」

He affirmed lightly, but clearly.

「The Church, which has been observing this world longer than anyone else, says so. No matter what other experts the representatives bring in, those experts would only be a mouthpiece for the representatives’ wishes. I do not think there is any other way. The Republic of Windle is a small country, after all. Things which I am not capable of, will be achieved by my peers. That is my idea of effort.」

「With so many monarchical countries it may be difficult…」

Kings, Emperors, and those in that sort of position can decide everything on their own subjectivity.

Certainly, they will make their decision after listening to the opinions of vassals and experts, but unlike a republic, where elections are held and representatives can change, the monarch will always be the monarch. As a monarch, you will want your reign to last forever, and you will give more weight to the opinions of experts from your country than from other countries.

「But on the other hand, a monarchy will reform quickly if the king decides to do so, right? In the case of a republic, in order to win the next election, the representative may try to run for immediate profit before the expiration of their term.」

「Reiji-kun, how old are you? Where did you study politics?」

「Ah no… I just happened to be interested in the subject.」

「Hmm. This just makes me want you even more… Before that, I will have to warn the Pope…」

「Uhh…」

「Oh, sorry, sorry. But that is exactly my aim.」

「Your aim…?」

「I’m the Pledger of “Continental Human”, so I am a monarch, in a sense. In other words, the decision of all continental humans is in my hands.」

That would be so. That might be why this person is able to make such a bold decision.

「As I said earlier, there are of course disadvantages to the revocation of the Covenant, such as the disappearance of skill orbs and the appearance of strong monsters, but on the contrary, since our country has a lot of food, we can use it to receive protection from other countries. In other words, I am positively willing to revoke the Covenant.」

「But the other countries–」

「Yes. The other countries will be unwilling. The depletion of skill orbs is more important than the collapse of the world. How strange… they don’t even have to struggle to get re-elected in the next election.」

Holiday laughed sarcastically.

「Therefore, I will advance the unification of the world.」

「What? Why did you come to that conclusion?」

「If we force them into that situation, the monarch will have to take leadership. And if the monarch decides so, his vassals must obey – that’s what you pointed out earlier.」

I was dumbfounded. This person was saying, “Ignore the countries that advocate maintaining the status quo, and let’s advance with reforms.”

And that is correct given the current dire situation. But on the other hand, for the nations which have not prepared for the collapse of the world—that is, the “maintaining the status quo” nations, they will suffer enormous damage.

「I think it is better than the world being gone.」

This person is not joking. He is a revolutionary from the ground up. His escorts were looking at him with somewhat of a fanatical look.

(This is dangerous. But what should I do?)

The most unsettling thing is that Holiday himself is a Pledger.

If he wishes, he can summon the mediator and revoke the Covenant at any time, and unify the worlds.

The sole reason he hasn’t is because he wants to watch how the world would decide to act.

If anything happens, he wouldn’t hesitate to revoke it—even if the world integration will be incomplete due to the revocation of just one Covenant.

「So, what do you think?」

When Holiday asked so—the bell rang to announce the start of the next meeting.

「Oh, how unfortunate. We’ll talk later.」

This person is raring to go. If it becomes difficult to harmonize the other countries, he will not hesitate to revoke the Covenant singularly.

Representative Holiday left the room with his escorts.