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Chapter 211 - Rally (2)

“Sir Henry, we’ve begun recruiting city troops from each of the three free cities.”

"Is that so?"

Henry had returned to Vivaldi Town after imprisoning Balak in Klever’s Chest. He then received reports from Ten on the progress of everything he had ordered for each free city.

“How did everyone react?

“Outstanding. I believe this was because most of the refugees were starving because they couldn’t keep up with the inflation.”

“I knew it\'d be like that.”

Normally, money ruled everything, but depending on the situation, other things, like food, clothing, and shelter, were more precious. The current situation was exactly that. No matter how much gold you had, it didn’t keep you warm, nor did it fill your belly.

Henry smiled in satisfaction as he realized that his prediction had been right.

“Well, that’s good news. Then you just continue to buy all the groceries and weapons you can from all the merchants.”

“That’s what I’m currently doing... But the prices have risen so much that the merchants seem to be getting increasingly more anxious and are keeping their supplies to themselves instead of putting them out for sale.”

“Already? We’re already at that point?”

“Well, the prices are ridiculous. They’ve increased by god knows how much.”

If the currency value had been consistent and trustworthy, the merchants would’ve naturally been excited at the rising prices because that meant that their income would increase as well. However, given that the currency value was unstable and had formed a downward trend that deviated from common sense, everybody was in trouble, not just the merchants.

Since currency values were relative, sometimes things that could replace money itself, like wheat or iron, could be more valuable than gold.

That was exactly the current state of things.

As the current prices had multiplied tremendously compared to the previous market prices, the merchants realized that holding onto any more cash would only be a burden.

‘I guess it’s about time then.’

The fact that merchants were no longer offering goods meant that the anxiety across the entire continent was at its peak.

Henry rubbed his chin and got lost in thought.

Although the time had come much sooner than he had expected, he thought that he could slowly mobilize the Allied Forces, since he had collected enough supplies to meet his target amount.

‘I’ll have to contact everyone for our first meeting.’

Henry had succeeded in getting four of the Central Powers to join the Allied Powers. The only country he hadn’t been able to convince was Deucekain. He had also ordered the more experienced wizards under him to install teleportation gates for each ally and had taken measures to ensure that he could control all of them.

“Ten.”

“Yes, Archmage.”

“I’m sure you’ll do a good job without me having to tell you, but I trust you with what I asked you to do earlier. Just don’t buy anything at unreasonable prices.”

"Yes, Archmage.”

“Then good luck.”

Zing!

After giving orders, Henry went back to the Snow Spire through the gate installed in the mansion.

“Welcome, Archmage”

“Lore, I think it’s time. Bring the leaders of all four allies to the top floor.”

“Yes, Archmage, right away!”

Henry made Archmage-level wizards run errands instead of the vice school heads or novice wizards in order to show courtesy to the members of the Allied Powers.

He knew that joining the Allied Powers had been a difficult decision for those countries, and he appreciated that they had joined willingly. Thus, he thought they deserved this level of courtesy.

After several advanced wizards left the Snow Spire, Henry sat down and got lost in thought for a moment before noticing how stiff and nervous Ronan looked. Seeing him stand there like a dog, Henry called him with a grin on his face, “Ronan.”

“Uh, huh?”

Ronan was very startled despite the fact that Henry had merely called his name, which showed how terribly apprehensive he was. However, it was understandable in a way because Ronan had thought of Henry as someone in the same class as him all this time.

However, the reality was that Henry was a more powerful wizard than Lore Gillian and the sole disciple of the late Archmage, Henry Morris. This made Ronan feel uncomfortable without even realizing it.

Seeing how on edge Ronan was, Henry said in a playful tone, “Why are you acting like that? It’s like you’re someone else entirely. Don’t be nervous.”

“Uh, n-no...! Who, who says I’m nervous?”

"Right? I knew you weren’t. There’s no need to be discouraged since I brought you here on the recommendation of Deputy Commander Iselan. You’re talented, Ronan, and you deserve to be here just as much as everyone else.”

"Okay...!”

Henry’s encouragement seemed to brush off some of Ronan’s nervousness, as he appeared to calm down a bit.

Ten and McDowell chuckled as they saw the exchange between the two of them.

“So that’s him?” The one that Kington couldn’t take away?”

"Yeah. I’ve heard that he defeated Hamilton with ease and also relinquished the Foram name right in front of him.”

“He used to be a commoner, right? But he has blonde hair and golden eyes... Why does he seem more noble than the actual nobles?”

“You think there’s something special about nobles? Being handsome makes you a noble. Look at me. I’m the embodiment of nobility, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Nobility, my ass. Just because you’ve done some stuff on your face doesn’t change your past.”

“You think the past is important? No, no, the present is all that matters. Only the ugly pay attention to such insignificant things...”

"Huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

As Ten and McDowell bickered, the leaders of the four nations arrived on the top floor of the Snow Spire.

* * *

Shahatra, Amaris, the Sore Empire, and Zipan. The leaders of each allied nation and their assistants appeared along with the school heads.

“Oh my, so this is the new Magical Spire?”

The first to arrive was Hela, the Iron and Blood Empress of Amaris. She complimented the appearance of the Snow Spire. She wore an unusually alluring outfit.

Henry walked up to her to greet her first, “Welcome, Queen.”

"Henry!"

As soon as Hela saw Henry, she stopped commenting on the Snow Spire and immediately ran over to hug him. As she hugged him tightly, Henry could feel something squishy pressing against his face. All the other men in the room murmured among themselves as they gazed at the two of them.

"Oh, oh...”

“So she’s the...”

Although Hela was called the Iron and Blood Empress of Amaris, she was also the most beautiful woman in her nation. Therefore, unless one of them was a eunuch or wasn’t interested in women, it was natural for all the men in the room to be jealous of Henry.

Henry pushed her away and spoke with a hint of embarrassment, “Haha... Enough with the warm welcome now. There are people watching.”

“What? Why are you so cold? Did something happen since the last time we saw each other?” Along with her question, Hela moved her hand against Henry’s groin and squeezed it, making a worried face.

Everyone else was flushed with embarrassment.

“Wow, she’s a seductive woman.” With that, McDowell whistled.

“No, no, it’s nothing like that, so don’t worry... How about you take your seat for now?” insisted Henry.

“Hoho, you seem like a hard man. Of course, I think men should be hard.”

Hela continued with her dirty talk, and as she was going to her seat, she looked at Vhant, McDowell, Valhald, and Ronan. After quickly inspecting them from up close, she exclaimed, “Wow...! So many nice men here! If I could, I’d like to have children with all of them.”

Hela then winked at them. She wasn’t joking about what she said.

Henry clicked his tongue at her outrageous remarks.

‘She’s really going at it. She’s not giving anyone a second to breathe!’

Henry understood why she was acting like that. She had the beautiful appearance of a young woman in her twenties, but she was actually in her forties. However, only a few people here besides Henry knew that.

Shortly after, Herarion Khan, the head of Shahatra, Hongwol, the new Taejae, and Doyle, who was over ninety years old, arrived with their assistants. Everyone exchanged greetings as they sat at the table.

At last, the five representatives, including Henry, were all seated at the round table.

Hela was the first one to speak, “Wait... I don’t see the Deucekains.”

“The Deucekains won’t be attending for strategic reasons.”

“But they’re part of the Allied Powers, right?”

“We did not have them join just yet for strategic reasons, but when a full-scale war begins, they will fulfill their duties and then join us.”

"Is that so? Well, if Henry says so, I have no other choice but to believe so.”

As Henry gave everyone straightforward explanations, no one asked further questions about the absence of the Chowan tribe.

As Hela remained quiet, Henry proceeded to explain, “As everyone is aware of the current situation, we will skip the empty formalities. For example, we won’t be doing any military parades commemorating the first meeting of the Allied Powers.”

"Fine by me. To be frank, we don’t really enjoy such routine events in Shahatra.”

“Thank you for your understanding. Then, from now on, I will tell you what the Allied Powers will have to do and what we need to know.”

Everyone had a general idea of why Henry had formed the Allied Powers, which allowed him to skip the basics and get straight to the plans he had devised so far, like the transformation of the free cities into independent countries and the strategies they would be using in the future, such as where and how the teleportation gates were going to get connected.

Everyone nodded at his explanations, seemingly impressed. The fact that Henry had planned and executed all of this on his own was nothing short of amazing. That was why no one in the room questioned Henry for being the commander-in-chief of the Allied Powers.

“Well, I think I’ve provided you with all the necessary information... I’ll now talk about what we have to do from this point forward.”

His explanation was quite long, but everyone paid close attention.

After a while, Henry looked around the table and added, “Oh, I accidentally went through the meeting at my own pace. How about we take a short break? Does five minutes sound good for everyone?”

Henry suggested a short break. As everyone got up from their seats, Henry walked over to Herarion and whispered quietly, “Your Highness, may I borrow you for a minute?”

"Of course. As much as you want.”

Herarion gladly gave Henry his time. As soon as Herarion gave him his attention, Henry started muttering something to him.

Once Henry finished talking, Herarion burst into laughter and responded warmly, “Of course! I’ll help as much as I can with that.”

“Thank you, Your Highness, for going out of your way to help me.”

With that, the short break they had was over. Everyone returned to their seats and, before returning to the important matters, Henry added, “Everyone, before we proceed with the meeting, I would like us to take a simple oath to brighten the mood. How about it...? Would everyone be willing to join me?”

“That’s not a big deal. I’ll take an oath with you,” replied Hela casually. As she assented to Henry’s proposal, the rest followed suit.

“Then, everyone, please raise your right hand next to your ear and take the oath with me. As I utter the oath, I ask that everyone repeat the words I say.”

Woosh.

With that, everyone present, including the leaders of each alliance, raised their hands. Then, Henry proceeded with the oath.

“I will not reveal anything I have seen or heard here”

“I will not reveal anything I have seen or heard here”

“To anyone except for the members of the Allied Powers.”

“To anyone except for the members of the Allied Powers.”

“I will never compromise the future and well-being of the Allied Powers.”

“I will never compromise the future and well-being of the Allied Powers.”

“And will fight to the end to defend our beliefs.”

“And will fight to the end to defend our beliefs.”

“I will never betray the Allies.”

“I will never betray the Allies.”

With that, the oath was set in stone. Henry lowered his hand and spoke again with a grin on his face, “I know it may have been a bit childish to do an oath, but I’m grateful for your cooperation. Not too bad, was it, Your Majesty Herarion?”

Hearing that, Herarion burst into laughter and said, “Haha, oh my goodness...!” He laughed for a while before continuing with a smile, “Sir Henry was right. I never would’ve thought that there was a snitch here...”

Snitch.

The moment the word ‘snitch’ left Herarion’s mouth, a palpable tension gripped the room.