00690 3rd meeting. ————————————————– ———————-=
The third meeting dealt with the agenda of distributing the four outer cities connecting Atlanta’s inner city. As the huge reward of the city is at stake, it is safe to say that the interests of various clans are intertwined.
I don’t know when it will end. It may end sooner than expected, or it may end later than expected. Anyway, the problem was narrowed down to one issue through the previous second meeting.
The only thing that is clear is that the situation surrounding Atlanta will be resolved with today’s third meeting. Will Mercenary give up or will Dongbu give up? In the end, this was the problem.
“brother. Arrived.”
It took about 30 minutes to arrive at the meeting location.
Users gathered nearby can be broadly divided into two types. Users directly participating in the conference and users observing from the surroundings. Of course, except for those who help run the meeting, direct participation is limited to the clan lord level.
“Clan Lord. “I wish you good luck.”
“See you later.”
After receiving Shin Jae-ryong’s support, I walked toward the square. Then, as if someone had seen it, somewhere, “The Mercenary Lord has arrived!” A voice was heard shouting. I slowly walked up the stairs amidst the loud noise that soon got worse.
My city square has a slightly unusual structure. It had a round stage in the center and tiered stairs surrounding it. When viewed from a distance, it was reminiscent of a large open-air theater.
Originally, it was normal for this place to be old and dirty, but it wasn’t enough to raise eyebrows because of the effort put into cleaning it during the previous meeting. To put it positively, there is an old-fashioned atmosphere with traces of time remaining.
Eventually, when I stopped at the end of the stairs, the central location of the meeting came into view. The overall commander who led each expedition and his clan lords were gathered on the stage. Seong Hyeon-min, Seon-yul, and Kim Deok-pil participated in the eastern expedition where Cho Seong-ho died. It’s like we haven’t seen each other in a long time.
There were about 100 people gathered on the stage, but the venue was quite quiet. Some of them looked at me with disbelieving expressions, and quite a few were wheezing with their eyes closed. I walked slowly, receiving a mixture of welcome and disappointment.
“You really came.”
Park Da-yeon, who was standing next to Han So-young at the head of the stage, smiled brightly and spoke. From the looks of it, he was selected as the facilitator for today’s meeting. I nodded my head slightly, thinking that he too had achieved great success.
“I heard the rumor yesterday. “Well, before we get into this meeting, first of all, I would like to sincerely congratulate Mercenary Lord on his return.”
Park Da-yeon smiled and spoke while moving her foot and touching someone. She was surprised by the handsome young man sitting next to Han Xiao, and she looked puzzled. However, when Park Da-yeon immediately showed her harsh appearance, she trembled but quickly stood up.
“no. it’s okay. “I will sit here.”
I knew what he meant, but I declined, saying it was okay. That’s because my brother, who was sitting on the left side of the stage, made a seat for me. And for once, I didn’t even have the desire to see a reaction.
“ah… . “Do you want to do that?”
This time, Park Da-yeon laughed softly. One user looked at me as if it was just like that, but another user stared at me with a look of surprise on his face. He seemed quite surprised that I refused to sit next to him.
In fact, you might not know if the seat was left empty in the first place. Even though I heard the rumor, the fact that other users were seated… . well. Even though I don’t have a fixed seat, it doesn’t feel very good when I think about where I always sit.
“Suhyun. Come on. “Are you a little late?”
Although he still looked a little haggard, he welcomed me with a much neater appearance than the day before.
“My brother came earlier than expected.”
“yes? ha ha ha!”
The moment I sat down next to him while answering appropriately, my older brother suddenly laughed out loud as if someone could hear him, then straightened his neck and looked at the head of the table. However, Han So-young still had an expressionless expression. When I first appeared, I only made eye contact once and showed no particular reaction.
Soon, Soyoung Han looked around and nodded lightly.
“Now~. Then, I will declare the third meeting to be held~!”
For a moment, I was surprised because I thought it was Han So-young who said that, but fortunately(?) the person with the cute voice was Park Da-yeon. The fact that Han So-young nodded her head just a moment ago seems to have been some kind of signal.
Park Da-yeon took a deep breath as if she was a little nervous and slowly looked back at me.
“ah. Mercenary Road. Have you heard anything about the second meeting? “If you need it, I can explain it briefly.”
It was nice to speak as if you had forgotten something, but your voice was shaking like that. I laughed to myself, feeling like I knew what was going on. And he calmly shook his head.
“no. it’s okay. “I have heard some of the stories needed to proceed.”
“ah! okay.”
Park Da-yeon’s complexion brightened. She’s probably relieved that she doesn’t have to say something she might find uncomfortable.
Da-yeon Park cleared her throat for a moment and continued speaking.
“great. I don’t know how to say it back, so I’ll ask you straight. “Does the Mercantile Clan want the authority to manage the city in return for its contribution in this attack?”
“If I say that, it’s nagging.”
I answered clearly.
Then, starting from the reply that had just been given, the entire meeting place began to stir.
“then… .”
In the midst of it all, Park Da-yeon subtly trailed off and looked away. It was in the direction where Eastern officials were sitting. I thought carefully.
There are currently four cities remaining. It is safe to say that the southern part of the country already has a city. Then, East, West, North, and Mercantile must compete for the three remaining cities.
Here, Dongbu decided to keep Mercenary in check. In a way, it was an obvious choice. They probably decided that it would be better to deal with one clan rather than dealing with two regions that were allied with each other. And considering that Mercenary participated as a southern member, there are many things to say.
Thinking like that, I moved my chin back and forth. I felt like I needed to speak out properly today.
After a while.
“Let me tell you something first.”
A man stood up and asked to speak. He didn’t even have to look twice, he was from the East as expected.
“First of all, I personally respect Mercenary Lord’s opinion. “The Mercenary Clan has made a remarkable contribution to the invasion of the Steel Mountains, and no one can dispute its merits alone.”
At first, I wondered why he was admitting it, but sure enough. She emphasized that men are simply public figures. I crossed my arms and looked across.
“However, no matter how high the merit, if you think about it in relation to the important issue of the city, I don’t think it is right to unconditionally consider it in order of merit. Becoming the representative clan of a city means having certain capabilities. … So, I dare to ask the Mercenary Lord here and now.”
Eventually, the man stopped looking around, looked directly at me, and opened his mouth.
“Assuming you are in charge of one city. How will the Mercenary Lord develop the city in the Mercantile Clan? “I’d like to hear your long-term vision for that.”
I asked what he was talking about. It’s a long-term vision. ha ha ha.
“There is no such thing. “Not yet.”
I smiled bitterly and shook my head.
“… yes?”
The man looked embarrassed.
“It’s only been three days since I came back. All I’ve done so far is just listen to what’s going on. But what kind of long-term vision is this already?”
“Oh, no… .”
The man continued to stutter, as if he had not expected to hear something like this. She looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
I continued speaking.
“And you made one mistake. The dictionary meaning of vision refers to a foreseen future situation. That doesn’t apply to this situation. What is urgent right now is to make this ruined city into a place where users can live. What kind of long-term vision is this suddenly? “It’s about solving the problem at hand and building it up little by little.”
“B-but that’s necessary…” !”
“ah. Of course it is necessary. Long-term vision. So, if you really want to hear it, come see me later when the situation is resolved. Let’s have a cup of tea together and I’ll listen to you calmly.”
“… … .”
There was light laughter in the room. The man, whose face turned red, kept talking to her and chewed her mouth. okay. She won’t have anything to say. So she should sit down quickly.
“I don’t think so.”
It was then. At the same time as her man quietly sat down in his seat, the woman on his immediate left stood up. She belatedly looked at her head of the table and asked her to speak, then she turned her head back and looked at me.
“First of all, the most urgent problem is to renovate this city. That is definitely true. As you said, you can also establish a long-term vision. But back to square one. Which clan has the capabilities to take charge of the city in the first place? “I can’t help but raise questions about that.”
“Are you saying that our Mercenaries are not qualified?”
“Not qualified? I’ve never said anything that extreme, have I? ah! Of course, I will admit that Mercenary is a very excellent clan in terms of combat. But the city is not a space where battles take place. It is a space where users live their lives. Accordingly, administrative tasks are very important, but I think there may be some shortcomings in that area. “This is it.”
“It’s something that’s lacking. That’s interesting. “I’d like to hear more about that.”
Then the woman smiled brightly and continued speaking as if she had been waiting.
“well. First of all, it could be said that there is little experience, or no experience at all. As far as I know, Mercenaries are mainly operated as mercenaries. Also, the fact that he was a free citizen and not a member of the Northern Continent in the first place. And above all, the biggest concern is the small number of people. In a city where thousands of people may live, it seems a bit… .”
The woman intentionally trailed off and shrugged her shoulders.
“so. To become a representative clan, it must have a large number of members. “Is this what you mean?”
“If you look at it from a normal perspective, that’s true.”
“It’s hard to agree. “Having a large number of members doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good clan.”
“So I said let’s look at it from a general perspective. Excluding special cases, has there ever been a representative clan with a small number of members? In other words, the clan that manages the city, even if it is not particularly outstanding in one area, must be the best clan with no shortcomings in anything. “This is it.”
They’re sniping at Mercenary very openly.
“surely. I agree with the point that the best clan should be the representative clan. “Then let me ask you something too.”
I raised the corners of my mouth sheepishly.
“Among the many clans, is there a clan with a higher rank than our Mercenary Clan?”
At that moment, a light of agitation flashed in the woman’s eyes.
“Well, that’s… .”
“For your information, the grade displayed in user information is the most objective indicator of the level of status of the clan you belong to. It is a system that only increases based on 100% performance. Anyway, unless you’re an idiot, you probably know this. … So, are you there?”
The woman’s neck moved with a grunt.
“Well, I mean… ! This number of people… . You can take on administrative tasks essential for provincial and city management… . that… . In other words, it has a significant impact… .”
Still, the woman seemed to not want to leave here, and continued speaking even while stuttering in gibberish. Then, like a parrot, he kept repeating the same words and I let out a short sigh.
“You keep talking about the number of people… . “I will answer that question by saying that we have plans to expand our staff soon.”
Then, he slowly got up and looked around at the user who was staring blankly at the stage.
“I have one question for those gathered here today.”
The users looked dumbfounded, probably not thinking I was going to ask a question.
“After this meeting, if we recruit new families for our mercenary, will there be any of you who would like to join? “If you are interested in joining, please raise your hand.”
Users were quiet at first. But soon, one by one, two people started raising their hands, and then countless hands were raised in all directions. Even if you just look around, you can easily count the number in the thousands.
After looking around, I turned my attention back to where the woman was standing.
“hmm. “There are a lot.”
“… … .”
The woman must have seen the user raising her hand, but her face was colored with an earthy color and her mouth was tightly shut.
“In a few hours, our Mercenary will become the clan with the most members. “Are you feeling more at ease now?”
The woman no longer opened her mouth. She just stared at the ground, then suddenly bit her lower lip and sat down.
I cupped my face with one hand and moved my chin toward Dongbu, who was completely sunken.
The two players in front had retreated, which meant that the next batter had to come forward.
—————————= Review of the work ——————– ——-=
I have a headache today, so I think I should go to bed early. ;_;
fantasy,
