Chapter 244. One (4)
The day of the meeting arrived. Chi-Woo left the zone with Ru Amuh. The location was on the top floor of the official residence. While going up the stairs, Chi-Woo began to feel the tension rise up little by little. The future of the holy city, Shalyh, was going to be decided here today—whether they were going to fight back, or give up and withdraw to make future plans.
When they arrived, the large room that his brother usually used as his office was completely transformed. Eight chairs were arranged in a circle, and at the center was a round table often found in a meeting room. Two people had already taken their seats, one of whom was an ivory-haired lady—Noel. Chi-Woo’s eyes slightly widened; it had been a while since he’d last seen her. And Noel also greeted him with a smile.
“Oh? You’ve arrived early?” And the other person was Ismile, who was the central figure and the leader of the Nahla family. “Long time no see~ Ru~ It’s the first time we’re seeing each other since the rescue effort, right? How are you doing? Have you been well?” Ismile greeted them with a cheery smile.
“Yes. What about you, Sir Ismile? Thanks to you, I’ve been doing well,” Ru Amuh answered.
“Haha. Haven’t you been really busy these days with really important work? News about you is really~ spreading all over. At this rate, we might get a thirteenth Celestial Lights!”
“You flatter me, sir. How can an insignificant person like me compare to the twelve lights that light up the whole universe?”
“Kyaah! Look at this kid! My, my! Most of the twelve Celestial Lights got nothing on you, man!” Ismile laughed and patted Ru Amuh on the back. “Ah! Sit down, sit down! You can sit anywhere you want!” Ismile roughly pushed Ru Amuh’s back and turned around. Then he saw Chi-Woo and slightly narrowed his eyes, as if his real target had been Chi-Woo all along.
Ismile’s attitude did a complete one-eighty. The friendly manner he showed Ru Amuh was completely gone as if it had been washed away entirely. Chi-Woo tilted his head to look at Ismile, who was a head taller than him.
“I’ve been entrusted with full authority on this matter by Choi,” Ismile suddenly murmured so that only Chi-Woo could hear him. “Ah, should I say Big Choi to be specific?”
It was a surprise attack, and Chi-Woo’s gaze turned nervous. His brother told him that there were probably a couple heroes who already figured out his identity; it seemed Ismile was one of them.
“There’s only one thing that matters here,” Ismile continued. “I need to make the right choice today. Not only for Liber, but for our future as well.”
As Ismile said, a single decision here would have irreversible consequences. Therefore, he needed to be extremely careful and pay attention to every detail. “And I think Big Choi’s decision is the best choice,” Ismile spoke as if he had already made up his mind.
Chi-Woo stared at him.
“Don’t think too badly of me. It’s the decision of a hero called the legend after all.”
“Then why did you invite me?” Chi-Woo asked.
“To give you a chance,” Ismile immediately replied, and a faint smile tugged at his lips. “Big Choi told me to at least listen to you. So, I’ll hear you out first. Only for now, of course…”
Ismile strongly emphasized ‘for now’; they both knew that he wasn’t going to be easily swayed.
“Listen carefully.” It sounded like he was getting to the main subject at hand. “I have the top authority to decide this matter, but I won’t personally give my opinions during this meeting. I’m just participating as a stand-in for Big Choi.”
In short, Ismile was making it clear that he was going to concentrate on moderating the meeting, rather than actively voicing his thoughts. “I bet basically everyone will agree that we should withdraw, but…you don’t want that, right?”
Chi-Woo nodded without hesitation.
“Then persuade them,” Ismile said clearly. “Excluding me and you, get at least four out of six people here to consent to your plan. Well, since I also invited Ru Amuh, you actually need to get only three people’s support.” Ismile glanced at Ru Amuh, who was looking at them with curiosity about their conversation. With a shrug, he Ismile, “With this, I think I provided a sufficient opportunity for you as Big Choi told me to. Don’t you agree?”
As he said, it was a reasonable condition. Above all, while his brother was absent, Chi-Woo needed to get the consent of the majority of the Celestial Lights to back up his plan.
“…Yes.”
When Chi-Woo agreed with him, Ismile whispered, “Good. I’ll be looking forward to it, Little Choi~” Then he turned around.
Chi-Woo sat next to Ru Amuh and gave a slight bow towards Noel, “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, I’m much better. He took really good care of me.”
“I’m sorry. I should have visited you earlier…” Chi-Woo looked apologetic, but in reality, he couldn’t meet Noel even if he wanted to; Chi-Hyun told him he shouldn’t until she fully recovered.
“No, not at all. Even if you came, you wouldn’t have been able to meet me.” Noel smiled and shook her head as if she had read his mind. Noel had been sleeping in a special solution concocted by Chi-Hyun, and she only came out because an urgent matter arose. Considering that Noel once led the central region on behalf of Chi-Hyun, she was qualified to also participate in this meeting. While the two conversed after not seeing each other for a long time, people began to enter one by one.
“Oh! Eus~! Mari~ too!”
The newcomers were a black-haired young man as handsome as Ru Amuh, who looked like a picture-perfect prince, and a beauty with her pink hair in a bob cut. They were Emmanuel Luciano Eustitia and Yeriel Lilly Dula Mariaju, who ranked 6th and 5th respectively among the Celestial Lights.
“Hello, Ismile~! Your fucking annoying way of addressing us is the same as usual~ And Noel is here as well…Hmm?” Mariaju waved towards them with a bright smile and then suddenly stopped walking.
Chi-Woo, who made eye contact with her, blinked. She had been greeting everyone with a bright smile, but her greetings were strangely cut short by an intelligible murmur. Her cheerful expression didn’t change even in the slightest, so Chi-Woo became perplexed.
Emmanuel from the Eustidia family also saw Chi-Woo and stopped walking. Then he said with his characteristically indifferent expression, “There are people I don’t know here.”
Ismile replied, “I invited them. Do you have any complaints?”
“Why did you invite ordinary people?”
“Eus~ They aren’t ordinary people, but heroes. The same as us.” Ismile responded with a cheeky tone. Emmanuel looked displeased, but after seeing Ru Amuh’s face, his eyes slightly narrowed. “…Well, I guess the opinions of ordinary heroes can also be useful.” He spoke cynically and sat down, but he seemed to respect Nahla’s authority.
“I apologize for him. Judging by his behavior, you might think he grew up motherless and fatherless, but in fact, his parents are alive and well—very shocking, I know.” Yeriel clasped her hands together and apologized with a wink. Then she sat down next to Emmanuel, whose face hardened. Chi-Woo felt confused. Even though her words could be considered savage, her tone was perfectly polite and gentle.
“Yeriel, apologize,” Emmanuel said.
“For what?”
“What you said to me.”
“Ah, sorry~”
Before this confusion fully died away, another person walked in.
“Oh! Our beautiful Afru~ who is as beautiful as everrrrr~!”
“Shut up.” Apoline Yelodi Afrilith arrived with an annoyed expression.
Yeriel welcomed Apoline with a bright smile, “Apoline, hi!”
“Yeah.” Apoline looked left and right to find a seat before faltering when she saw Chi-Woo. She looked surprised for a moment, and after seeing that Ru Amuh and Noel were sitting next to him, she sat one chair apart from Yeriel, who was loudly tapping the seat next to her and shouting, “Here! Sit here!”
“Apoline? You hate me?” Yeriel asked with a hurt expression, and Apoline shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why aren’t you sitting next to me?”
“I don’t hate you, but my head’s probably going to hurt if I sit next to you.”
Yeriel puffed her cheeks at Apoline’s cold answer. “Tsk…but it’s not like you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…I thought you would say some motherless or fatherless horseshit like Emmanuel after seeing those two and talk about how those who aren’t even among the Celestial Lights don’t deserve to be in this meeting.”
“…Sorry, but can you stop making other people’s parents single? And I’m in a foul mood right now.”
“Oh my, why did you think I was implying that they’re single? They could have three or five people on the side.”
Apoline sighed deeply as Yeriel insulted her parents by accusing them of having an affair. Then Apoline looked back at Ismile, who was listening to their conversation with a warm smile, and said, “When is the meeting going to start?”
“Wait. We’re still waiting for one more person.”
“Who?”
“Ah, here she comes.”
They heard footsteps, and then the door opened. A woman wearing a white veil entered the conference hall—she was Alice Ho Lactea. The genius of the Ho Lactea family, a family known for having the blood of a god running through their veins. At her appearance, the meeting room became dead silent. Even Ismile, who cheerfully greeted everyone who came in, stayed silent. He quietly stared as Alice Ho Lactea took the last remaining seat.
Then Ismile said, “Since we’re all here, let’s start the meeting. I’m Ismile of the Nahla family, who’ve been delegated full authority of the meeting by GS 3E Choi Chi-Hyun.”
As soon as he announced the start of the meeting, all the laughter on his face disappeared. The relaxed atmosphere instantly became tense and serious. “I’m sure you all heard the latest news about the Demon Empire and Sernitas’ joint operation against the Cassiubia League. Fortunately, thanks to Choi Chi-Hyun quickly joining the Cassiubia League’s side, the Sernitas and Demon Empire received a fatal blow instead…but.” Ismile summarized the current situation with a few sentences and said, “The war isn’t over yet. They’re most likely fighting a bloody battle every day in the Cassiubia Mountains. Even now, while we’re all leisurely talking like this.”
Chi-Woo’s expression darkened. As Ismile said, his brother may be fighting for his life against monsters beyond his wildest imagination. The future remained unchanged even with his cheat-like brother at the frontlines. However, they were only able to come this far because of his older brother’s efforts; it would have taken considerably longer to recognize, discover, and destroy the colony of demon flowers if not for Chi-Hyun. Nevertheless, even his brother was planning to withdraw.
“And before he left for the Cassiubia mountain range, the legend relayed a message to me,” Ismile said with his eyes shining. “ The Demon Empire is not after the Cassiubia mountain range. I’ll say it bluntly. Their real target is the holy city, Shalyh.”
Everyone reacted in a similar way. “Does that make sense? But I heard that Bael is involved in the invasion of the mountain range?”
Apoline quickly retorted, “It’s true that Bael is involved, but Bael isn’t the only one in the Demon Empire.” As Apoline said, Bael was far from the only strong demon in the Demon Empire despite being their most powerful member. Unlike humanity, which was slowly trying to escape from Chi-Hyun’s shadow, the Demon Empire had a wide range of forces that could rival another faction's main force even without Bael. This was how big the difference between the Demon Empire and humanity’s powers was.
However, Apoline also had her doubts and said in disbelief, “But…we have the godly territory.”
“It’s going to be destroyed,” Ismile said simply.
The response was even more intense. According to Ismile, the godly territory that had been functioning just fine was going to be destroyed; it was difficult for them to easily accept that they were going to lose their precious sanctuary.
Ismile had expected their reaction, so he calmly continued, “In fact, there were already several attempts to destroy it so far. Choi Chi-Hyun has managed to stop them, but he’s away now.”
“What?”
“And Choi Chi-Hyun thinks that there is a very high probability that the Demon Empire will destroy the godly territory while he is away.”
“What is he basing—”
“He said he read this future—and twice at that.”
Then Apoline, as well as the others who were trying to ask questions, shut their mouths all at once. Even though everyone had an expression of disbelief on their faces, no one could easily open their mouths. While people would laugh it off if a random person said that an enemy was going to invade soon, no one could easily dismiss the remark of the president. The prediction wasn’t made by a moderately famous hero—it was from a hero called the legend. Moreover, he had recently succeeded in responding quickly after reading the future, so his words naturally carried even more weight.
“I heard that it’s basically a definite future…” When Ismile said it was a definite future, everyone’s expressions darkened. Ismile checked their reactions and continued with a singsong voice, “Anyway, Choi Chi-Hyun’s opinion is to withdraw from Shalyh and move to the Cassiubia mountain range before the situation becomes irreversible. Then we plan for the future.” After saying this, he glanced at Chi-Woo, and Chi-Woo, who caught Ismile’s eyes, clicked his tongue.
Although Ismile said he’d be focusing on moderating the meeting, he was openly pushing for one narrative. However, Chi-Woo couldn’t complain; as promised, Ismile hadn’t pitched in with his personal thoughts. He only conveyed Chi-Hyun’s thoughts as his stand-in.
“So what do you think?” Ismile moved his eyes away from Chi-Woo and looked back at the attendees. “It’s one of the two—follow the legend’s choice, or reject it.”
Chi-Woo felt his mouth dry. He needed four out of the six to agree with him. Since Ru Amuh already agreed to follow him, he actually only needed three people on his side. He checked the responses of those around him with a hopeful heart. Considering that the Celestial Lights were always eager to catch up to the Choi family and knock them down a peg, Chi-Woo hoped that there would be people who immediately opposed his brother’s proposition. However, it didn’t take long for his hope to be crushed.
“Lord Chi-Hyun isn’t here, and not long ago, a large number of troops were sent out to support the Cassiubia League’s headquarters. Moreover, if the godly territory disappears in the future…as he said, it would be better to withdraw as soon as possible before it’s too late.”
Starting with Noel, whom Chi-Woo thought might be an ally. Then Emmanuel Eustitia said, “Certainly…given the current state of our growth, we can’t endure the Demon Empire’s offensive without the godly territory backing us up…”
Yeriel Mariaju also added, “Well…I now recall that the legend also has a knack with astronomy. It’s hard to believe, but…”
“Ah…just when I thought we were finally starting to settle down…” Apoline muttered to herself in half-agreement.
The corners of Ismile’s mouth went up as he said, “It seems most of us have stated our thoughts. So, everyone agrees with Choi Chi-Hyun’s proposal, right?”
“I fucking hate it, but I guess it can’t be helped,” Yeriel answered with a shrug. “It’s his words after all. Moving all of us from the former Salem capital was the right choice, so I think he has a good reason for this decision as well.”
“Got it.” After confirming their replies, Ismile looked back at where Chi-Woo sat. “But I’m asking just in case… Is there anyone here who disagrees with Choi Chi-Hyun?”
“Teacher, I’ll first—” Ru Amuh was about to get up from his seat, but faltered when Chi-Woo raised his hand.
“Okay, good. Why don’t you get up to speak?” Ismile pointed at Chi-Woo as if he had been waiting all along. “Would you tell us why you disagree with Choi Chi-Hyun?”
Everyone’s gaze fell on him with varying thoughts. There were some who wondered who the hell he was to directly oppose the legend’s opinion, but most of them looked at him with curiosity. Although her face wasn’t visible because of the veil, Alice Ho Lactea also directed her attention towards Chi-Woo.
“We need to protect the holy city, Shalyh.” Chi-Woo cleared his throat and spoke. Then some heroes narrowed their eyes for some reason, but he didn’t pay attention to them and continued, “The enormous value of this city goes without saying. There’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to create a city like this ever again. No matter how difficult it is, we can’t—”
Chi-Woo had to stop when Ismile interrupted him, “I know that.” He continued with a flat voice, “We all feel the same way. Of course Shalyh is too good to easily give it up. We’re not pea-brained idiots who don’t know the value of this city.”
Although Noel shot Ismile a sharp glare, Ismile continued, “What we want is a way to prevent the future the legend proclaimed to be definite. I trust that you won’t tell us a ridiculous plan like let’s happily take turns guarding the city to prevent the godly territory’s destruction.” Then Ismile clasped his hands together and said, “And…one more thing.” He suddenly spoke in a low voice, “You know who we are, but we don’t know who you are.”
“…”
“We at least know who Ru is. Well, I invited you so it’s okay for me, but that’s not the case for the other heroes here. Most of them are meeting you for the first time and don’t know who you are.”
Emmanuel looked at Chi-Woo with his arms folded, his expression stern. Apoline nodded like she thought Ismile had a point. Only Noel gnawed her lip with a nervous expression.
“Regardless of whether or not you’re the Celestial Lights, I’m talking about basic courtesy and respect.” Ismile blocked Noel’s intervention and continued, “Before you begin, shouldn’t you at least reveal your first and last name?”