Chapter 249. Reign (2)
“I honestly don’t even know where we should begin with the Americas.”
“Other than southern Latin America and Alaska, the entire continent is under Pandemonium’s control.”
“There’s a fairly large Contractor organization in Argentina. Why don’t we mobilize them?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to wait until Lee Jukheon makes contact with the United States provisional government in Alaska?”
“We have no idea how long that will take.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to pressure the Black Dragon Society in China and borrow the Nautilus?”
“If we do that, it’ll ultimately become an exchange between China and the United States.”
“From the Golden Ram Order’s perspective, they probably want Korea to establish contact with America through their own strength.”
“It’s dangerous to strengthen Ma Taesu’s power in China any further.”
“He might develop even greater ambitions.”
“By that logic, isn’t increasing Korea’s strength also a problem?”
“Korea is relatively safe. I can’t imagine Seok Taejun becoming a dictator just because he gains more influence.”
“I agree that, for the sake of balance, we shouldn’t strengthen Ma Taesu too much.”
“He’s ambitious and highly skilled at political maneuvering.”
The Constellations seated around the polygonal table argued back and forth, offering various opinions.
I stayed silent and listened.
Then a voice suddenly came from beside me.
“What does the Nameless King think?”
"..."
The room immediately fell silent.
Every Constellation stopped talking and looked only at me.
“Well.”
I organized my thoughts before speaking.
“As several people have already pointed out, the Americas are difficult to approach recklessly.”
“More than anything, they aren’t connected to Eurasia by land, which makes sending reinforcements from other countries difficult.”
As they had just discussed, almost the entire American continent was currently controlled by Pandemonium, with the exception of Alaska in the north and the southernmost parts of Latin America.
The United States, once the world’s greatest superpower, had lost its mainland after being heavily targeted by Pandemonium.
Now it barely maintained its existence with a provisional government in Alaska.
“As we just discussed, Korea is already trying to make contact with Alaska in the north.”
“So let’s wait and see what happens there.”
“Instead, I want us to begin intervening from the south.”
“From the south...?”
The S-rank Constellation ‘Wise Returner,’ Odysseus, stopped writing the meeting minutes and looked at me.
“Yeah.”
“Until now, southern Latin America hasn’t received much attention from Constellations.”
“That’s true. There haven’t been any particularly notable Contractors there either.”
“So I think we should hold a Scenario there.”
“That would draw the attention of the Constellations and inject some energy into the region overall.”
“A Scenario...!”
Odysseus nodded, impressed.
“If we hold a Scenario, it would attract Constellation attention and allow us to discover new Contractors.”
“Let’s design a Scenario with Gusion, the Pandemonium demon currently ruling Buenos Aires, as the boss.”
“If necessary, we can descend some of our Constellations directly.”
“In that case... rather than deploying a huge force, it would probably be better to send only a few Constellations as support.”
At Odysseus’s suggestion, the room became noisy again.
“Good! Then I’ll go down!”
The first to raise his voice was the S-rank Constellation ‘Invincible Hero,’ Achilles.
“If I go, Gusion or whatever his name is won’t last a second!”
“I’ll wipe everything out!”
“Achilles, did you not hear what Odysseus just said?”
The S-rank Constellation ‘Monster-Slaying Hero,’ Perseus, sitting beside him, immediately objected.
“He specifically said we should send Constellations as support.”
“Once you get excited, you stop looking around and try to do everything yourself.”
“We cannot deploy such a conspicuous hero into the Scenario.”
“It would be better if I went instead.”
“Hey, old man. You stand out just as much as I do.”
Achilles and Perseus had originally belonged to Merlin’s Society and had fought Odysseus and the others in the previous battle.
But now...
they had joined the Order of the Spirit Realm and become my allies.
And they weren’t the only former enemies present here.
“Everyone, please calm down.”
The one who spoke in a composed voice was the ‘Pure-White Hero,’ Arjuna.
Originally, Arjuna had been expected to become the ‘Commander,’ the position directly beneath me.
But after the previous battle, he had firmly declined, saying that he had allowed personal emotions to interfere with his duties.
“We haven’t even decided what kind of Scenario we’ll hold yet.”
“Choosing who will descend should come afterward.”
“Tch. Fine.”
“Understood.”
“Then, Nameless King... please continue.”
“Right. Thanks.”
I nodded to Arjuna in thanks, then looked around again.
“It’s been a long time since a Scenario was held in Latin America.”
“We need to create something interesting enough to draw a strong response from the Constellations.”
“So I want everyone here to give me as many ideas as possible.”
“In that case...”
“I believe...”
The Constellations immediately began offering suggestions.
While listening to the endless variety of ideas, I glanced toward the man who had first called on me to speak...
the S-rank Constellation ‘Prophetic Magician,’ Merlin, who now served as the Order of the Spirit Realm’s ‘Special Adviser.’
“Just let everyone exchange opinions freely.”
“Why did you put me on the spot like that?”
“There’s no need to be so conscious of the other Constellations, Nameless King.”
Merlin whispered with a smile.
“You’re the king of this ‘nation.’”
“As an absolute monarch, you could simply make unilateral decisions and no one would complain.”
“If the situation calls for it, I will.”
“But right now, I wanted to hear everyone’s opinions.”
“My mistake.”
“I did something unbecoming of a loyal retainer.”
“My apologies.”
