Ch.207207. Broadcast Contract (1)

However, despite the Mage’s Association going into such a frenzy, Bahamut’s response was utterly cold.

“Is that so? Work it out among yourselves. I’ll respect whatever decision you make.”

While claiming to respect the Mage’s Association’s will, he was essentially stating that he wouldn’t intervene in this chaos himself.

Putting it kindly, he was respecting the Mage’s Association’s autonomy. Putting it harshly, this was madness—he was essentially escaping from the situation alone.

Most cabinet members and school factions who heard this news assumed he was staying out of the conflict to maintain his principles.

‘I’m busy too! Really! I genuinely can’t focus on Seorabel right now!’

To be honest, Bahamut simply didn’t have the luxury to get involved in Seorabel’s internal mess.

The reason Bahamut wasn’t intervening in Seorabel, his own base of operations, was quite simple.

“So…”

“Could you mediate a contract for me?”

Simply put, Bahamut was currently tied down by the Phoenix problem in Europe.

Having essentially formed a friendship with Phoenix, this was the best outcome Bahamut could hope for as someone based in East Asia. However, as Phoenix kept relying on him, Bahamut had no choice but to accommodate Phoenix’s problematic tendencies.

In truth, Bahamut’s characteristic timidity with friends—being unable to be firm or harsh—had partly contributed to escalating the situation.

‘If I don’t resolve this massive bomb right in front of me, Europe could go up in flames!’

If Phoenix were to go berserk, it would be extremely difficult to resolve the situation afterward.

Though the figure before him had the appearance of a well-endowed beautiful girl, Bahamut perceived his counterpart as a nuclear bomb that could destroy France… no, a nuclear bomb that could annihilate all of Europe.

Of course, given Phoenix’s cowardly personality, they probably wouldn’t end up in the grim future Bahamut imagined, but that was only if Phoenix acted alone.

Unfortunately, her contractor happened to be the Saint of Orleans, widely known as Europe’s natural disaster.

‘Considering what the Saint has done so far, she’s the type of woman who would burn all of Europe if she couldn’t get what she wanted.’

Bahamut judged that the Saint was the type of person who would readily sacrifice Europe if it meant maintaining her own authority.

Of course, he recognized his view might be somewhat biased, and since the information came through his contractor Alicia, he couldn’t properly judge whether the Saint was truly such a person.

However, considering her actions so far, it was a scenario anyone could predict—that she would use Phoenix for aggressive diplomacy.

Therefore, what Phoenix proposed was, from Bahamut’s perspective, a golden opportunity to restrain the Saint’s movements.

“So. Why are you asking me to mediate a contract first?”

But first, he needed to understand Phoenix’s psychology.

When Bahamut asked Phoenix why she wanted him to mediate a contract:

“Well. The reason I’m being manipulated by the Saint of Orleans is because she’s my only contractor. I thought if I had another contractor who could oppose the Saint, they could restrain her! That’s what they call using one against another!”

“What are you… actually, that makes sense!”

Phoenix’s reasoning was that since all her problems stemmed from the Saint of Orleans, having a contractor who could restrain the Saint would prevent her from being manipulated.

At first, Bahamut thought, “What are you saying? Phoenix, Phoenix…” but as he listened, he realized she had a point.

While Bahamut had three contractors with no conflicts or clashes between them, that was only because their interests didn’t overlap, allowing Bahamut to mediate.

But as everyone knows, the moment you make the same contract with different people—a dual contract—numerous problems and incidents arise.

‘So if we aim for a dual contract, we can restrain Phoenix’s movements.’

Especially if the contractor was someone opposed to or at odds with the Saint of Orleans, the moment Phoenix contracted with this opponent, the two contractors would inevitably clash over control.

At that moment, Phoenix’s importance as the principal would greatly increase, and from the contractors’ perspective, they would have to compete for Phoenix’s favor.

In other words, Phoenix would receive loyalty without lifting a finger—it was the classic “now fight each other to the death!”

“I knew it! So you think so too, Mr. Bahamut.”

“Well, I’m a bit concerned that you’re trying to resolve this through a dual contract rather than addressing it directly yourself. But since the contract itself is your will, Phoenix. So you’re asking me to mediate with someone who has the courage to stand against the Saint.”

This was truly a despicable conspiracy from the Saint’s perspective, one she would absolutely need to prevent, but no one knew that Bahamut and Phoenix were conspiring together.

Only Alicia and her inner circle knew about this, but there was no need to publicize this fact, nor any reason to create more enemies by revealing it.

Just as the conspiracy between Bahamut and Phoenix was about to succeed so simply:

“Yes. But if I’m getting a contractor, I’d like someone who meets my preferences.”

“Someone you prefer? Wait, this sounds familiar…”

The flow was interrupted by Phoenix’s small comment.

She said that unlike her contract with the Saint, she wanted to contract with someone she actually wanted this time.

Bahamut somehow felt like he was experiencing déjà vu.

“First, they should be a good person, and unlike me, someone with strong convictions. Also capable. Good-looking too. Someone who won’t use my power for evil. And someone who respects me, like a prince from a fairy tale!”

“What’s that? That’s scary, I don’t know.”

Phoenix seemed to have consumed a lot of fiction, as she was describing a character straight out of fantasy.

Finding such a person in this apocalypse would be like finding a needle in a desert, but Bahamut had a different reaction.

‘Why? Why am I remembering something from a year ago? Ugh! Stop assaulting my memories! Stop with the embarrassing past!’

The issue was that Phoenix’s requirements largely matched what Bahamut had thought when he first established contracts.

Yes, this foolish dragon had initially required that visitors to his shrine be good people, have clear convictions, and be strong individuals who wouldn’t use his power for evil.

In other words, he had demanded a protagonist from a story, and when no such protagonist came to his shrine, he ended up contracting with Yuna, an ordinary citizen, which turned out to be a huge success.

“That’s… difficult. Yes, difficult.”

“Is it difficult?”

“Yes. If you reduced your conditions a bit, we might be able to find someone, but wouldn’t someone like that have been taken already?”

So Bahamut knew.

Finding such a person would be like catching a star from the sky!

Considering that the only contract Bahamut was personally satisfied enough to voluntarily pursue was with Queen Alicia of England, it showed just how unreasonable Phoenix’s demands were.

To be frank, if such a talented person existed, they would have already been recruited by someone or killed by competitors.

“I knew it! I knew it would be this hard for latecomers! Those dirty, unfair early birds! I wish the world would just collapse!”

“It already collapsed once.”

“I was just saying! Can’t you really find someone like that? Not even among your acquaintances?”

Bahamut could only give a negative answer, and Phoenix entered a negative state, saying she wished the world would collapse.

However, knowing that Bahamut was the only one who could mediate a contract, she clung to his feet, crying and begging him to grant her request.

It was truly pathetic, but considering she had been tormented by some tone-deaf gang leader of a Saint, it was a sight that naturally evoked sympathy.

The problem was:

“Most of my acquaintances are only in Korea or America. And such people have already risen to high positions, making it difficult to persuade them. Above all, Phoenix’s real desire is to find someone who can check the Saint of Orleans, right?”

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Then we’d have to limit it to Awakened in Western Europe, but among the people I know, there is someone with such courage…”

“Really?!”

Yet like a 22nd-century robot cat, Bahamut did have a potential contractor who met Phoenix’s conditions even in this situation.

Yes, there was a potential contract partner.

“If you contract with the British Royal Guard, it could be seen as Phoenix openly exerting influence in England.”

“Is that… troublesome?”

Realistically, the moment a contract was formed with the person he mentioned, Bahamut himself could get heavily involved.

So when Bahamut seriously considered this, Phoenix responded as if it would be too much to ask.

“No. It’s about helping each other in similar situations. Besides, didn’t you say you’re suffering a lot from the Saint?”

“Yes! It’s an urgent matter! Please help me! I’ll bow my head as a sign of submission!”

Since it was Phoenix, Bahamut only said he would do his best.

If he appropriately used his connections, he could find one or two contractors that Phoenix wanted.

There was even America, which was likely wary of the Saint’s actions. If necessary, they could use American intelligence networks to launch a counter-operation against the Saint.

“I’ll look into it on my end for now.”

However, not wanting to be indebted to America right now, Bahamut decided to resolve this through his own channels first.

The person who knew the most about European information was Alicia, the Dragon’s Priestess.

Through her daily followers, Alicia could obtain high-quality information, so surely she would have good information…

“Huh? Someone with such courage? Um… I’m not sure about courage, but I do know someone who defies the Saint.”

“Really?”

She did.

Bahamut hadn’t really expected much, but Alicia knew a potential contractor candidate that Phoenix might want.

As always, if there’s something strange happening in the world, pointing to England is usually the right answer, and in this case of mediating Phoenix’s contract, England was indeed the culprit.

“Yes. But… I’m not sure if this is someone I should introduce. Hmm…”

“As long as they can check the Saint, isn’t that enough from your perspective?”

The problem was that even Alicia was hesitant about making this introduction.

Having met various individuals in the apocalypse and heard about the reality of raiders, Bahamut thought there wouldn’t be a problem as long as the person wasn’t a psychopath or serial killer, so he asked Alicia to tell him.

“Well, you see. They’re the leader of a cult.”

“…What?”

“They’re being criticized as a cult leader. More precisely, they’re considered heretical.”

For some reason, she provided information that struck Bahamut to the bone.

A cult… a cult… a cult.

It wasn’t the first time today that something had struck at Bahamut’s painful past.

Now he believed the Balhut Cult was a genuine religion worshipping the Dragon God, but at the beginning of the apocalypse, the Balhut Cult had started by occupying a cult and absorbing its followers.

At that time, Bahamut had been in a state of “it’s easier if I just give up,” and later he had come to accept that it couldn’t have been any better than that.

“……”

But painful memories remain painful.

Bahamut was left speechless.

“Ahem. Isn’t there anyone else with courage?”

Regaining his composure, he asked her to introduce someone else.

Even Bahamut himself was reluctant to introduce a cult leader to Phoenix.

He was especially unwilling to introduce someone who might follow his own past actions.

“But they’re a good person.”

‘That’s not enough to say. Our Yuna and Seolhwa are good kids too. Yes, that’s the typical starting point of a cult!’

What actually came out of Alicia’s mouth was that they were a good person.

Of course they would be a good person!

Yuna, who had been a cult leader, was also a good person, a kind girl who voluntarily healed injured citizens.

That hadn’t changed even after she became the leader of Seorabel, and she still personally sought out those in need of healing and treated them for free.

“No, really. They actually take in orphans from the apocalypse and preach decent messages. It’s just that compared to established religions, they’re considered heretical, which is why they’re treated as a cult leader.”

“Then I’ll meet them myself.”

When she said that the person had actually built up achievements worthy of being called good, and that the cult leader label came from being heretical, Bahamut finally compromised and said he would meet them directly.