Ch.127127. Alicia (1)

Anna introduced a young girl.

‘She’s too young.’

She looked even younger than Yu-na, with such a youthful appearance that Bahamut thought she was closer to a child than a girl.

The girl, shorter than Yu-na, was accompanied by someone who appeared to be a maid. Despite her trembling hands and legs, she entered the room with dignified steps, calmly approached Bahamut who was sitting in a chair.

Somehow pretending to be calm and composed, she struggled to sit in the chair facing Bahamut and stared at him.

“Are you… the Dragon God?”

‘She’s young. Really young. If this were just Anna’s personal introduction, I wouldn’t need to take it seriously. But it’s an American introduction, of all things.’

She spoke to Bahamut in the most confident voice she could muster, but everyone in the room could feel her voice trembling.

She looked like a young girl trying her best to imitate an adult, and it was impossible not to find her cute.

‘But she was introduced by Anna, an American agent. There might be something special about her.’

Bahamut thought there must be something special about her since Anna had introduced her.

Besides, in this apocalypse, age wasn’t a factor by which to judge Awakened ones. Even Yu-na, who wasn’t yet an adult, was acting as the leader of a faction, and Seol-hwa, who was even younger, was serving as a naval admiral.

So, from Bahamut’s perspective, dismissing her because of her youth wasn’t an option.

‘The problem is she doesn’t have that distinctive feeling of an Awakened. The probability that she’s not an Awakened is too high.’

Bahamut’s detection abilities were screaming that the girl before him was not an Awakened.

He couldn’t shake the thought that she was just an ordinary person, not an Awakened. If she were an Awakened, she would have to be someone capable of deceiving even Bahamut.

Bahamut secretly glanced at Anna, and after seeing her expression, he smiled slightly and decided to reassure the girl in front of him.

“Yes. People call me the Dragon God Bahamut. Well, I never intended to call myself a Dragon God. Somehow, I became one.”

He declared that he was indeed the Dragon God Bahamut, as she had asked.

Of course, saying that he never intended to become a Dragon God while smiling bitterly was Bahamut’s own form of resistance.

He was actually quite anxious about how he had somehow come to be treated as a Dragon God, and how that was becoming reality.

“What matters to me is whether you are the Dragon God Bahamut or not. Just these two things. If you are the famous Dragon God Bahamut, can you grant my wish?”

“Hmm?”

But for the girl, such things weren’t important.

What mattered was whether the man before her was the famous Dragon God Bahamut, and if he truly was, could he grant her wish as the rumors said?

Bahamut wore a perplexed expression at the sudden mention of a wish.

“A wish? Do you also have a desire you want to fulfill through Lord Bahamut?”

It was Choi Yu-na, the Dragon Priestess, who reacted strongly to the girl’s words.

After all, Yu-na, who had been an ordinary healer, met Bahamut and contracted with him, gaining the opportunity to fulfill the wish she had harbored in her heart.

So, from her perspective, the girl before her was…

‘A new candidate for a junior…! Plus, it’s a golden opportunity to spread the cult’s name overseas!’

Yes, it was a perfect opportunity to make the Balhut Cult known overseas.

While the Balhut Cult was thriving as a government entity, as a religious organization, it wasn’t expanding its influence at all. Yu-na had been wanting to promote the Balhut Cult’s doctrines overseas.

And before she could put that into action, there was someone who voluntarily wanted to become a Dragon Priestess for Bahamut?

‘A true believer!’

Yu-na almost shed tears of emotion, feeling that her efforts were finally being rewarded.

Well, the girl probably came with a completely different purpose than what Yu-na imagined, but since Yu-na was interpreting it that way, let’s go with it.

“Who are you?”

“I am Choi Yu-na, Lord Bahamut’s contractor and Dragon Priestess. Before that, identify yourself. This is the Dragon God’s presence. Mind your manners.”

‘There’s no need to call it a presence though.’

But there were things that had to be done, and there were things that couldn’t be compromised, even for a lovely junior candidate.

Choi Yu-na proudly revealed her identity as the Dragon Priestess, declared this place to be Bahamut’s presence, and told the girl to mind her manners.

“Ugh.”

At this, the girl lowered her head, looking somewhat intimidated, and opened her mouth in a shrinking voice while fidgeting with her fingers.

“…I seem to be too hasty. I apologize to all of you.”

‘She apologized so readily!?’

“I am… *sob*!”

Bahamut didn’t think an apology was necessary, but the girl seemed to think she had been too rude for someone asking a favor. She tried to introduce herself with a tearful voice, but realizing her appearance was a mess, she immediately took a deep breath.

As if trying to calm herself, the girl took a deep breath and then, with a firm expression, held her trembling hands and began her introduction.

“I am… the queen of this country.”

“Queen? Ah, I’ve heard about that. The new queen of this country who ascended to the throne after the apocalypse. Her name was…”

“Alicia. Alicia Elizabeth Diana. Before my ascension, I was known as Her Highness Princess Alicia of Wales.”

The girl in front of Bahamut was the newly crowned Queen of England in this apocalypse.

In other words, she was the monarch of this country.

“Eh? Uh? So, y-you’re the Queen of this country!? You’re so young!?”

Choi Yu-na was shocked to see that the head of state of a country was younger than herself.

In her perception, most would think of an old lady with white hair.

In fact, the previous queen had reigned for 70 years, so most people would think of the Queen of England as an elderly woman.

She had thought that the new queen would be of similar age to herself or already an adult, but she never imagined she would be younger than herself.

‘Well, that’s not really something Yu-na should be saying.’

Of course, that wasn’t something Yu-na should be saying.

After all, Yu-na herself wasn’t an adult yet but was established as the leader of a faction.

However, it was questionable why the highest authority of a country had requested a private meeting with Bahamut.

“This is more of a VIP than I expected. Is it okay for the queen of this country to secretly visit another country’s delegation?”

“Secret meetings are bad behavior. But in this apocalypse, it’s not the time to distinguish between right and wrong, is it?”

‘That’s correct! She’s not wrong!’

Queen Alicia acknowledged that it was a bad thing, but drew the line by saying that in this apocalypse, it wasn’t the time to distinguish between right and wrong.

Despite her youth, she showed some aspects of a politician, and Bahamut realized that even a young girl wasn’t an easy opponent.

Though her immaturity was still evident due to her youth, the child before him was the queen of a country.

She had fulfilled the qualifications of a queen in her own way.

“Haha. That’s true. But…”

However…

“You’re younger than I thought. I had judged you to be similar to Yu-na or an adult based on the term ‘young queen’… Well, being this young, the Lord Protector’s claim to be regent was quite justified.”

Isn’t she too young?

Bahamut said he had thought she was at least similar to Yu-na or an adult, and he now understood why the Lord Protector had declared regency.

Her appearance, seemingly just over 10 years old, lacked the power to captivate the public, no matter how much she tried to exert her authority as queen.

“And she’s not even an Awakened.”

“You knew.”

“I spoke without thinking.”

And she hadn’t even undergone the awakening process to become an Awakened, which was considered essential for survival in this apocalypse.

In other words, the logic that age doesn’t matter to Awakened ones couldn’t be applied to the queen before him.

It could be seen as a political weakness in this apocalypse.

“If the Lord Protector didn’t aim for the throne of this country until I came of age, his justification might have been perfect.”

The queen seemed to know this fact, as she replied with a dark expression that if the Lord Protector hadn’t aimed for the throne of this country, his justification might have been perfect.

In other words, since the Lord Protector aimed for the throne of this country, his proclaimed justification became meaningless.

And if the Lord Protector aimed for the throne, the queen before him had no choice but to perceive the Lord Protector as her greatest enemy.

“It’s an era where we can’t think of a good future. But having ascended to the throne, you can’t just let it go lightly, can you?”

“Yes. I can’t let it go lightly. My life is at stake too…”

Frankly, before the apocalypse, the Lord Protector’s actions would have been close to treason.

Treason was such a serious crime that it was punishable only by life imprisonment or death, and the girl who had inherited the throne couldn’t easily overlook the treason committed by the Lord Protector.

She was in a position where she could literally lose her head to the Lord Protector if she wasn’t careful.

Either the Lord Protector dies, or the royal family of this country dies.

Eventually, a decision will be made, and only one of the two futures will exist.

“I hear that the royal family of this country has history and authority. There’s also support from the citizens. Do you still think the Lord Protector will steal the throne?”

“The Lord Protector has already done things we believed he wouldn’t do. I can no longer trust him.”

‘That’s right! Exactly!’

He had already openly declared a usurpation that many people thought he wouldn’t attempt, so from the queen’s position, trusting the usurper was almost impossible.

Moreover, in this apocalypse that everyone faced equally, to think that the royal family had done wrong and to tell this young queen to take responsibility…

‘Isn’t that too harsh?’

He couldn’t help but feel sympathy.

Bahamut now understood why many citizens had opposed the Lord Protector’s declaration.

If even Bahamut, an outsider, felt sympathy, how shocked must the London citizens have been when they witnessed this scene?

“So, you came to find me to survive?”

“Yes. I heard rumors that you grant wishes for a certain price. I don’t know what that price is, but if it’s still possible…”

Alicia opened her mouth, looking somewhat anxious as she gazed at Bahamut.

“Can you grant my wish?”

Bahamut looked around for a moment.

The one who introduced herself as Alicia seemed too shabby to be called the queen of a country.

Her words were solemn and firm, but her constantly trembling body suggested she was forcing herself to do something unfamiliar.

“This is troublesome.”

It was extremely troublesome.

He was already being swayed by Yu-na and Seol-hwa, and now to make a contract with another contractor…

Especially since the contract would be made far away in London, not in the Korean Peninsula where Bahamut was staying, from Bahamut’s perspective, it would be a contract he never anticipated.

“Ugh.”

“But, a contract is possible.”

“Eh?”

However, Bahamut showed interest in this contract.

While it was troublesome, wasn’t it too precious an opportunity to miss contracting with a queen?