Ch.175175. Contractor (2)

Alicia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

What on earth was this woman saying?

So she claims she can understand me?

Sure, if she had contracted with the Dragon God, she might understand Alicia, but the one claiming to understand hasn’t actually contracted with the Dragon God?

And how could she be so confident about surpassing the Dragon God?

“What are you talking about?”

“You must have misheard me, Your Majesty.”

The Saint of Orleans proudly opened her mouth with a bright smile, as if introducing her god to the Dragon Priestess.

As if announcing that the Dragon Priestess was no longer special, she spread her arms wide and spoke.

“I too have contracted with someone just as great as yours. This means that Your Majesty—no, the Dragon Priestess—is no longer special in this world.”

Alicia didn’t know if this was true or false.

But she did know one thing.

In this apocalypse, Awakened ones could gain tremendous power by contracting with special beings, and that’s what made the Dragon Priestess who she was.

‘I don’t know. I heard she was about to reach level 20.’

However, Alicia couldn’t sense anything special about the Saint standing before her.

But then again, she wasn’t a detection type to begin with, and there were no visible changes in the Saint’s appearance.

Was she hiding her magical power, or was she lying to test Alicia?

Fortunately, determining that wasn’t Alicia’s responsibility.

[Her magical power seems to have increased dramatically since I first saw her]

“What does that mean?”

[It means she’s not just bluffing. She seems to have some basis for her claims]

Bahamut, who could detect magical power, assessed that the Saint had grown stronger since their first meeting.

When Bahamut met the Saint of Orleans at the International Organization Reconstruction Conference, she hadn’t yet reached level 20. It would be reasonable to assume that she had now reached level 20 and her abilities as an Awakened had improved dramatically.

‘She’s still not as strong as Yuna or Seol-hwa. But with a little more time, she might grow even more.’

However, the Saint before them had power that seemed not just to have leaped but soared to the heavens.

It was enough power to convince anyone that she had something special, and at this point, even Bahamut judged that the Saint must have some basis for her confidence.

“Then should we stop cooperating with the Lord Protector? He’s a troublemaker in our country. Do we really need to fight?”

“Oh my? That would be difficult. The Lord Protector is indeed a good business partner. Politically, I’ve received a lot of help from him. You could say we have loyalty to each other.”

So all Alicia could do was give the Saint a stern warning to cut ties with the Lord Protector, but it clearly didn’t work.

No matter how much power the Saint of Orleans had gained, she needed the Lord Protector as a political partner to exert influence in both the international organization meetings and the European Union.

The Lord Protector, as the Saint’s patron, was providing generous political support, and they were essentially controlling their base regions through mutual assistance.

It was essentially political collusion, and Alicia sarcastically commented on their behavior with a somewhat incredulous expression…

“That’s ridiculous. Do you really have loyalty between you? You’re just using each other because you need each other.”

Yes, they both needed each other and were using each other.

There was no loyalty whatsoever, and the moment either of them no longer needed political or material help, they would surely stab their collusion partner in the back.

That was exactly the kind of relationship they had, and Alicia was blatantly pointing out how unstable their alliance was.

“You’re quite sharp. Where did you get such insight?”

“From being in the terrifying dungeon called London. You learn things whether you want to or not.”

‘Hmm. That’s true.’

Of course, Alicia didn’t want to know these things either.

It was just a skill she had unwillingly acquired from being in the London dungeon, which was becoming a terrifying demonic realm on the verge of total chaos.

Order had disappeared, and there were only beasts who either coveted or protected their power, so Alicia had to defend the throne with only her personal forces, without the help of Parliament.

Bahamut, who was observing the mess in Britain, nodded with a bitter smile at Alicia’s lament.

“Your Majesty is an interesting person. Perhaps if I had met you before the Lord Protector, we might have gotten along well?”

“I doubt it. If I had met you first, the guillotine would have been waiting for you.”

The Saint of Orleans seemed to have developed some interest in Alicia, who was speaking to her so boldly, and approached her gently, suggesting they could be friends.

However, Alicia firmly stated that she would not be fooled by the Saint’s seemingly friendly demeanor and that they would never become friends.

Rather, she said the Saint would send her, the Queen of England, to the guillotine, and the Saint’s response was…

“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. These are the words that represent our France, aren’t they? Those who oppress citizens must die.”

“That’s insane. You’re just being hypocritical. A frog discussing liberty, equality, and fraternity? The Frog Saint certainly has a thick face.”

The Saint implicitly revealed that she did indeed have the intention of sending Alicia to the guillotine, saying it wasn’t wrong.

Although Alicia already knew what kind of woman she was, hearing her say it so blatantly made Alicia think she was even worse than the Lord Protector, and she thought of a retort…

“So you’re the crazy woman who wants to start another Vendée against European countries.”

“It’s just a necessary sacrifice for Europe. If France, as the center of Europe, thrives, other European countries can benefit from the trickle-down effect, can’t they?”

“That’s insane.”

Alicia mentioned the Vendée, one of France’s darkest historical chapters, but the Saint dismissed it as a necessary sacrifice.

As if wanting to claim that France was on France’s side, she made the absurd argument that other European countries could only survive if France thrived.

“Are you seriously advocating neoliberalism now, in the middle of the apocalypse? Don’t you know how many countries have suffered terribly because of that?”

“Didn’t your side suffer because of Brexit?”

“Ugh. You never give an inch.”

Alicia, determined not to back down, and the Saint, bringing up one of England’s dark historical chapters.

Neither showed any sign of backing down, but Alicia fled from the Saint’s location, deliberately making loud footsteps as if escaping from a mad dog.

“Phew. She’s really scary. So scary.”

[It’s fortunate she let it go after you provoked her like that.]

“Yes, that’s fortunate… but about that contractor…”

But the conversation left her with many questions.

Above all, what worried Alicia was…

[It’s definitely not me. I haven’t taken on any more Dragon Priestesses since then.]

The Saint’s claim about having a contractor bothered her.

Especially the fact that it wasn’t Bahamut.

‘I’m scared. I managed to put on a brave face in front of the Lord Protector and the Saint. But I’m still scared!’

Who had contracted with her and was lending her power? They knew nothing about the situation.

Alicia calmed her trembling body and calmly addressed Bahamut.

“If it’s not you, Bahamut, then who could it be?”

[I’m not sure. But…]

It was certainly surprising and shocking.

However, Bahamut, who was at the center of this controversy…

[I don’t think it’s that surprising.]

…wasn’t particularly surprised by the Saint’s claim about having a contractor.

“Huh? Why not?”

[Well, since a being like me exists in reality, I can’t be certain that there aren’t others who can contract with someone.]

Since a being like Bahamut existed in reality, he couldn’t be certain that there weren’t other similar beings.

Given that he himself was a precedent, another being could very well exist in this world.

And…

‘The Dark Lord that the Cult of Immortality speaks of. If that Dark Lord is a being like me, then his enormous influence would make sense.’

Bahamut had already identified the Cult of Immortality and the god they served, the Dark Lord.

At first, he thought it was just another self-proclaimed god, but after hearing the Saint’s words, he began to suspect that it might indeed be a being similar to himself.

“That’s true. But if there were hundreds of beings like you, Bahamut, wouldn’t that be troublesome for the world?”

[Hmm, I can’t deny that.]

Bahamut couldn’t deny Alicia’s point.

If there were hundreds of beings like Bahamut, human civilization would have been destroyed long ago.

Bahamut alone had the power to easily obliterate a city, and even his minor auxiliary abilities were enough to sustain an entire faction without any deficiencies.

“But this isn’t something we can just dismiss. This means the Lord Protector could potentially contract with one too.”

However, being such a powerful entity, contracting wouldn’t be easy.

[True. That contract wouldn’t be easily…]

Bahamut was about to refute Alicia’s statement, but he had to stop himself.

‘Come to think of it, I did contract pretty much as I pleased.’

Thinking about it objectively, Bahamut himself hadn’t been particularly selective about his contractors.

When he contracted with Yuna, he had been at the limit of his patience because no one had visited his temple for so long, so he contracted with the first woman who came along. The second contract, while more formal, ultimately didn’t involve much of Bahamut’s will.

The third contract was with Alicia, which Bahamut was excited about because she was a queen, but even that was arranged through American mediation.

In other words, Bahamut finally realized that he hadn’t set clear criteria for selecting contractors.

‘Hmm. How should I explain this?’

As Bahamut had said, it wasn’t particularly destined, nor did it require special conditions.

It was just a matter of contracting if he wanted to, so Bahamut was sweating as he wondered how to explain this away.

[I can’t say it’s impossible]

“I knew it! This is extremely dangerous!”

In the end, he agreed with Alicia, saying it wasn’t impossible.

Just as Bahamut had selected his Dragon Priestesses as he pleased, the other entity could select its contractors as it wished.

“S-so what should we do?”

[There’s nothing we can do.]

So now Alicia had to deal with the Saint who had become some kind of priestess and whatever entity she had contracted with.

It was a harsh battle for Alicia, whose foundation was still weak, and she waited for Bahamut’s words with an anxious expression.

[You’re in for a long journey]

“What?”

[Even I don’t have a solution. We’ll just have to gather information by traveling around]

“I knew it!”

Contrary to her expectations, there was no immediate solution, so they had no choice but to gather information themselves.

Alicia lamented at this, but the fact that Bahamut would lend her his power was still immensely reassuring.

[But wouldn’t you prefer being active outside rather than staying in that boring palace?]

“That’s… true.”

And it wasn’t a bad thing for Alicia personally.

It would be mentally more comfortable to roam freely in Paris than to be under the surveillance of Parliament and the Cabinet in the palace.

[You’ll need an excuse for Parliament to stay in Paris longer.]

Of course, she would need an excuse for the British political establishment to stay in Paris for an extended period.

“How about I just say I’m studying in Paris to enter the Grande École?”

[That’s a bit…]

Even so, it would be problematic for the Queen of England to say she was studying in Paris to enter France’s top university.