Ch.172171. European Union Conference (1)

The truth was, even if such talk emerged in the United States, there was nothing that Bahamut or Choi Yu-na could do about it from the Korean Peninsula.

Rather, Bahamut…

‘Well, it’s natural for such opinions to come up. Yeah. I can’t always expect favorable views.’

He only felt that such opinions were bound to emerge here and there.

After all, this wasn’t even South Korea, the main area of activity for the Balhut Cult. What could Bahamut possibly do in retaliation for opinions expressed overseas?

In reality, the physical barrier of distance meant Bahamut wouldn’t fly all the way to America for revenge. The opposition was using this fact to gain support from citizens hostile to Bahamut, but it wasn’t necessarily a loss for their side.

This opinion wasn’t selling out the country, and there were legitimate questions about credibility.

‘Still, I can’t help feeling annoyed.’

Being mentioned in another country’s political issues rather than Korean ones naturally put Bahamut in a bad mood.

What particularly irritated him was how freely they mentioned him, knowing he couldn’t openly retaliate.

‘But it’s not like I have absolutely no way to influence American politics.’

However, it wasn’t entirely impossible to exert influence on America.

Well…

“European public opinion?”

Through a contract arranged by the current administration, Bahamut had gained the right to involve himself in European and American politics.

He had officially contracted with the Queen of England, the nominal head of state. By using the Queen’s connections, he could potentially warn those who were using him carelessly… or actually, he couldn’t.

The current administration was well aware of this fact, and the Queen with whom Bahamut had contracted had an extremely weak foundation.

[True. Word has gradually spread among the public that the Queen is a dragon’s contractor, hasn’t it? So while domestic public opinion is important, we should also start looking into European… especially overseas public opinion. Don’t you agree?]

“That’s sound advice, Your Majesty. It’s about time we establish our own foundation.”

Bahamut’s contractor Alicia had ascended to the throne at a young age, so she had extremely few loyal forces or supporters.

She was essentially treated as a figurehead by Parliament and the Lord Protector, merely sitting on the throne. She had barely managed to become an independent player in British politics by contracting with Bahamut through American mediation.

“Indeed, I’m limited by relying solely on domestic supporters.”

Unlike Parliament and the Lord Protector who had seized and monopolized many resources during the early apocalypse, what Alicia had obtained was essentially scraps that established powers considered worthless or troublesome.

Those resources alone weren’t enough to survive in the treacherous British political landscape, so looking into the Queen’s public opinion beyond domestic borders wasn’t a bad choice.

If necessary, Alicia could form political alliances with European powers abroad, similar to the collaboration between the Lord Protector and the Saint of Orleans.

“I understand that. But your suggestion seems rather sudden. I’ve only summoned you, Dragon Lord, once or twice at most.”

[That’s enough to create sufficient intimidation, isn’t it?]

“Yes. Actually, being summoned too frequently would create its own problems.”

However, Bahamut’s suggestion did seem quite abrupt.

Bahamut had only been summoned at truly critical moments, which meant he had only been called twice since the contract was formed.

In this situation, proposing to look into foreign public opinion rather than strengthening their internal foundation seemed rushed. Alicia’s side could reasonably object that this was moving too quickly.

Bahamut insisted it was sufficient and asked Alicia’s maid, who nodded in agreement.

But Bahamut’s true motivation was…

‘I can’t admit I’m doing this because of my reputation issues…! Though it’s true I’m helping Alicia at the same time!’

It was indeed driven by personal self-interest.

Of course, the proposal wouldn’t harm Alicia and would certainly benefit her as well, which is why he suggested it confidently. Bahamut was genuinely planning to solve Alicia’s problems while addressing his own.

The problem was that his self-interest seemed too petty and trivial for a dragon lord, though his intentions weren’t bad.

“True. Having used that tremendous power twice. It’s essentially like deploying nuclear weapons twice, isn’t it?”

Alicia had no choice but to trust those she relied on when they made such claims.

Mary the maid had followed her since childhood and always provided sound advice, so Alicia trusted her. As for Dragon Lord Bahamut…

‘There must be something important that I haven’t considered.’

She believed there must be some important factor she hadn’t thought of.

After all, wouldn’t anyone trust a dragon lord’s intellect over an ordinary human’s?

Bahamut would have been embarrassed to learn this, as it wasn’t quite that significant, but considering the image of wise dragons, it was natural to assume they were wiser than ordinary humans.

He had even established a nation during this apocalypse.

It would be stranger if he didn’t have a reputation for wisdom, wouldn’t it?

“The problem is… my influence is still weak. Will there be public opinion favorable to me?”

However, even if she wanted to survey public opinion, it would be difficult to find views favorable to a queen with such limited power.

“You’ve only recently become a player. Your available resources are still limited. But now that you’re a player, there must be factions supporting the Queen.”

[Have you had no contact with other factions?]

“Well, about that…”

The first reason was that Alicia’s faction was treated as an upstart in the current British political landscape… Though its leader came from the royal family that had ruled England before the apocalypse, the royal family had been virtually annihilated, and Alicia had formed her faction from its remnants.

She still had few rights to exercise as Queen, but this would require more time investment to see results.

“Conversely, they fear being consumed by the rapidly growing Queen. They cooperate, but there are no close connections yet.”

The second reason was that the Queen’s political weight was actually quite substantial.

Alicia was the legitimate daughter of the Crown Prince, a rightful heir to the throne, and a contractor with a dragon lord.

Her recent exploits demonstrated power second only to the Lord Protector, which meant many were intimidated by the Queen’s rapidly increasing political influence and hesitated to approach her.

They feared being consumed by her influence rather than truly collaborating with her.

[Don’t they all hate the Lord Protector?]

“Yes, they do hate him. But they also dislike the idea of the Queen completely dominating the cabinet. After all, Your Majesty appears to have monopolized the most crucial military power in the apocalypse.”

If the Queen were to defeat the Lord Protector and establish a royal dictatorship, wouldn’t Parliament essentially become the Queen’s tool?

Parliament was wary of the emergence of an absolute dictator, and a queen contracted with a dragon lord could certainly become such a dictator.

In reality, if the Lord Protector disappeared, there would be no one who could stop the Queen.

So those wary of the Queen were actually considering an uncomfortable alliance with the Lord Protector.

[I see…]

Despite this grand explanation, at its core, this was simply the common WWE match between royal and religious authority.

“Besides, now that the Lord Protector has lost the possibility of usurping the throne, everyone has relaxed. Well.”

The main reason Parliament was checking Alicia was that the Lord Protector had physically lost the means to usurp the throne.

Their greatest concern had been the Lord Protector physically seizing the throne and throwing the British political scene into chaos, but now that the Queen possessed military power that even the Lord Protector feared, usurping the throne was deemed practically impossible.

What remained was ousting the Queen through political offensives and ascending to the throne, but politics was their specialty, so they actually welcomed this.

“Since they can play their specialty, they’re all focused on political games. It’s not helpful!”

“Who else would engage in politics if not Parliament?”

“Exactly! If Parliament doesn’t do politics, they’re just livestock consuming taxes!”

But Parliament was gathered for politics in the first place—who else would do it if not them?

Alicia expressed her displeasure with Parliament, but could only lament after the maid’s sharp rebuke.

“Ahem! Anyway, isn’t there some easy way for us to get the information we want?”

Following Bahamut’s advice, she was trying to gauge overseas public opinion, but her current power as Queen was indeed limited.

She still had her royal guard, but it would be difficult to entrust them with espionage work.

Such organizations had fallen into the Lord Protector’s hands, so she risked losing valuable subordinates without a trace if she wasn’t careful.

“Well… there is an appropriate meeting, though it might be uncomfortable for Your Majesty.”

“Really?”

[Such a place exists?]

The maid suggested there was a way to obtain information smoothly without such problems.

Both Alicia and Bahamut were surprised.

They had both assumed the lack of an information network would make things difficult, but the maid claimed it would be easy.

“Yes. But it’s an uncomfortable cohabitation from our perspective, so I didn’t report this opportunity.”

However, the maid said she hadn’t reported it because it would be uncomfortable for the Queen.

How uncomfortable must it have been for even this loyal maid to delay reporting it?

“What is it!? As Queen, I’ll endure a little discomfort!”

It was…

“Participating in the European Union meeting.”

“Huh? That doesn’t sound particularly uncomfortable or problematic?”

The European Union meeting.

At first glance, it seemed like an unproblematic meeting, and Alicia expressed confusion at the maid’s warning.

Wasn’t it a wholesome, intellectual, and meaningful venue?

“It’s an organization created under the leadership of the Lord Protector and the Saint of Orleans.”

“…Eh?”

Yes, while the meeting itself seemed fine, its founders were extremely problematic.

It was a meeting established under the leadership of those two.

Which meant…

“So if I participate, I’ll have to meet those two?”

“Yes.”

If she attended the meeting to gather information, she would inevitably meet at least one of them—either the Lord Protector or the Saint.

Alicia’s expression soured rapidly, and she crawled under the bedcovers to secretly shed tears.

“…I suddenly feel completely unmotivated. The world outside my bed really is dangerous.”

[I understand…]

Both were Alicia’s political enemies.

One was someone who threatened her life, and the other was…

“She’s a walking disaster who caused catastrophic accidents until recently!”

A genius who caused unpredictable calamities beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Alicia lamented to the blue sky, terrified of the eccentric actions taken by the Saint of Orleans.

“Well, she actually mobilized troops to recapture Paris.”

“That threw the British political scene into chaos too!”

She had actually implemented in reality the logic she had proposed during the reconstruction meeting.

Mobilizing troops from various countries and deploying them to Paris was truly an act of madness that silenced even the many pirates and looters who had displayed fake madness until now.

Everyone had thought it was just an extreme proposal, but she actually implemented it. Rather than questioning her conscience, one wanted to ask if there was any common sense in her head at all.

“…But conversely, it must be a meeting where important European information gathers, right?”

“Yes. Many confidential matters flow through that meeting.”

Paradoxically, because it was the center of current European affairs, European information would naturally gather there.

Alicia peeked her head out from under the covers with an expression that clearly said she really didn’t want to go, and the maid regretfully confirmed that she was right.

“Where is the meeting headquarters currently located?”

“In Paris, Your Majesty.”

“Good grief. Where did that determination to usurp the throne go? Why establish such an important organization in Paris?”

Hearing it would be held in Paris, Alicia sighed, wondering what had happened to the Lord Protector’s ambition to usurp the throne.

Yes, let’s blame the Lord Protector for all of this.

This happened because the Lord Protector compromised his throne usurpation plans!

“Well… about that, rather than the Lord Protector…”

But the maid just turned her head and broke into a sweat.

In truth, this was less the Lord Protector’s fault and more…

‘Oh. Wasn’t that just typical British karma?’

It was pre-apocalypse Britain’s fault.

It had always been the case that when something strange happened in the world, blaming Britain was generally correct. And today again, Britain was the cause of the world’s oddities.