episode_0339

The meal I had with Thalia, Ariando, Baine, and Princess Haehwa went smoothly without any major incidents.

Ariando took the lead in telling the stories that Princess Haehwa wanted to hear, and Baine led the conversation by adding a little explanation to the stories.

“I didn’t know you were Commander Thalia’s child!”

“They look like that? “Honestly, isn’t it at the level of bungeoppang?”

“bread? “What kind of bread?”

“It roughly means that they resemble twins.”

As the meal was almost over, Princess Haehwa was surprised to hear that Baine and Thalia were mother and daughter.

And we were even more surprised that we didn’t know.

‘Is this something that makes it difficult to recognize faces if there is a racial difference?’

Princess Haehwa looked at Thalia and Baine in turn, comparing them, then nodded as if she realized.

“Now that I think about it, that’s it! Looks similar. The hair color is the same, and the feel is very similar. Commander Thalia must be so proud of your daughter!”

“… … .”

“… … .”

There was a moment of silence at Princess Haehwa’s words.

Baine was looking forward to what answer Thalia would give, and Thalia also seemed to be worried about how to answer.

Then he looked at Baine and said.

“I’m proud. “How could you not be proud?”

“Wow~!”

Princess Haehwa clapped her hands.

From the beginning, she thought it was unusual for Talia to wag her tail, but as soon as she met Talia again, Princess Haehwa earnestly asked her to speak to her more easily.

It turns out that Princess Haehwa once asked Princess Mona to speak to her more easily, but was turned down.

‘It’s difficult to get close enough to talk to Princess Haehwa comfortably.’

If others saw Princess Mona treating Princess Haehwa poorly, the nobles could easily think of her as well.

Therefore, he probably wanted to warn others by showing respect to Princess Haehwa.

Don’t think lightly of Princess Haehwa.

Since there were no other circumstances that made it necessary for Talia to maintain respect for Princess Haehwa, she readily accepted her offer.

“cool! Baine is also proud that his mother is a commander, isn’t he?”

“… of course. “To me, my mother has always been a source of pride and a person worthy of respect.”

I knew that after one conflict, misunderstandings between mother and daughter were resolved and their relationship improved a lot.

But in the meantime, there was no way to check how much the relationship between the two had eased.

But today, thanks to the bright performance of Princess Haehwa, we were able to see how close the two people had become.

Princess Haehwa’s interest in Thalia and Baine did not cool down easily.

“Aren’t you afraid of being at the forefront of attacking contaminated areas? “You never know what monsters might appear, and it’s too dangerous.”

“Because I have a colleague by my side. “There is no reason to be afraid when you have colleagues.”

“We fit together well. So even if one person makes a mistake or becomes dangerous, other colleagues protect them. “There are times when I help, and there are times when I receive help.”

“Oh~!”

“How do the North usually fight? “You’re not fighting alone, are you?”

At least in the Empire, it makes no sense to kill monsters alone.

“The North fights similarly, but I don’t think they fight together as allies. This is because each faction they belong to is different. No, actually, even if we are from the same faction, I don’t think they really fit together.”

It is said that the stronger each individual is, the stronger his or her individuality is and the more assertive he or she is.

“The Empire sees us as one force, but we actually have different affiliations. “My father leads everyone as the representative of the North, but not everyone follows him.”

Princess Haehwa’s words left a question mark in all of our heads.

“I don’t quite understand.”

“Umm… So, you can think of our tribe as having multiple kings. The tribesmen follow the king, and the king respects his father. My father consoles and manages the kings so that they do not fight with each other. In fact, my father was also one of the kings. And the kings gathered together and voted to select one representative.”

Princess Haehwa explained it in more detail to us who were confused.

“It’s kind of complicated, right?”

“Is it intentional that you said he was a king and not a nobleman? “That’s because their authority is so strong.”

“yes. that’s right.”

“Then who blocks the front lines?”

“The kings were in charge of their respective territories. And so far, the king has done a good job of preventing it. But when the monster wave exploded, the kings started having a hard time.”

So it seems she stepped forward to seek help from the empire on behalf of her father, who served as its representative.

No matter how much authority he had, the king who had chosen him as his representative could not have been doing nothing.

‘I understand that Princess Haehwa once said that being a princess is not that important in the North.’

I was wondering how different the northern part would be from the empire, but after listening to Princess Haehwa’s story, there were more than one interesting part.

A variety of information that did not appear in the game was also interesting.

“It’s definitely a unique culture.”

In the North, the probability of an awakened person being born is very high compared to the population.

Additionally, all of the awakened people are very strong.

So it seemed like personal tendencies became prominent.

According to Princess Haehwa, isn’t it true that we don’t even share knowledge with each other?

I thought this dinner was quite enjoyable.

I learned quite specifically about the situation in the North that I had not heard about before.

‘Perhaps thanks to the Empire’s offer to show us the front lines first, Princess Haehwa also released information about the North.’

Faith is rewarded with faith.

It became clear that Princess Haehwa felt a closeness to the empire.

“So what was it like to see the front lines that you wanted to see?”

By the time everyone finished their meal and was eating dessert.

Thalia asked Princess Haehwa a question.

“It was nice and nice. “I want to turn the northern front line into a wonderful place like this one.”

“What can’t I do? Protecting the front lines is a natural duty for citizens of the empire. “If you need help, please let me know at any time.”

Princess Haehwa was silent for a moment before responding to Thalia’s words.

“… yes!”

Everyone in the room felt that the answer was subtle, but they did not say it out loud.

※ ※ ※

Just because Princess Haehwa is actively receiving help from the empire and has favorable feelings toward the empire, it does not mean that she has forgotten everything the empire did to ethnic minorities in the past.

“It seems like you are friendly towards Princess Haehwa.”

“I thought he was someone who could be helpful to us.”

“After what you’ve done so far, I support you. But don’t give too much to minorities. “They are beings who cannot be completely absorbed into the empire.”

I admit that part too.

Minorities who have not forgotten their past are those who refused to be absorbed into the empire even in worse situations than they are now.

“I know this is a force that will fight one day. But I won’t think about that now.”

“Even though they are harmful to the empire?”

“Yes, the survival of humanity is more important to me than the empire. “I know that we have no choice but to view the situation positively because the front line has been cleaned up without any problems so far.”

But this peace did not last long.

“There will be bad news soon.”

“Bad news? “What is that?”

Thalia’s voice sank low.

What big things are happening in the near future?

There is the problem of an infectious disease that has not even started yet, and there will also be news of the major failure of the punitive force created by the nobles with a lot of money.

“Hatchery. “Did you read the letter I sent to Damon?”

“okay. I saw. Preparations to subdue the hatchery are also underway.”

“I had Damon confirm the location again and told him to patrol the nearby area.”

“result?”

“not good. When I first discovered it, most of the monsters that were eggs had hatched and came out, and they were quite large. Plus, it was filled with new eggs.”

“If you roughly guess the scale, what does it look like?”

“If we keep leaving it like this, it will become as bad as the Wave.”

“… … .”

“It needs to be resolved before it grows into an adult.”

Monsters grow quickly.

So we had to get things done as quickly as possible.

the problem is.

“It will be difficult to proceed by capturing monsters step by step.”

“If you do it that way, it will eat up half a year.”

“In half a year, they will all become adults. “It will never happen.”

“yes. you’re right. The bigger problem is that there can’t be just one hatchery that I discovered. “Somewhere deeper, monsters must have created several hatcheries.”

The hatchery alone produces as much as a monster wave.

If you don’t destroy it, monsters will continue to be produced.

“Do you know how funny it is to be told to be careful because minorities are dangerous in a situation like this?”

“… … .”

“If the polluted zone disappears, war will break out between humans in the empire. I know that too. But should we even care about that? “I think that’s a choice the next generation will have to make.”

The job of our generation is to protect humanity from polluted areas and reclaim our original land.

I think that the fight between humans should be fought by the next generation.

“If we continue to pay attention to each and every one of these things, eventually the next generation will also have to live on a par with the contaminated areas. “Now I have to think about only one goal and move forward.”

Thalia nodded.

“okay. You are right. “I apologize for saying something careless.”

I was surprised because I didn’t expect to receive an apology.

Isn’t Thalia the kind of person who would go out and act rashly?

“I didn’t mean to ask for an apology. “I don’t know that it’s because of patriotism toward the empire.”

Princess Mona wants to use ethnic minorities for the empire, and Thalia agrees that ethnic minorities will protect the northern front line for the safety of the empire, but is concerned about them growing to the point where they become a threat to the empire.