LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 352
Due to the increasing strength of the Demon King’s army, the situation was worsening by the day.
In the north, where the Demon King’s influence was strongest, several small nations had already been annihilated, causing refugees to flood into North Romania.
Can you imagine how desperate it was for the giants, who had been quietly living up north, to start abandoning their homes and slowly moving south?
Well, they couldn’t come too far because life was tough outside the cold, but there were a few giants heading towards the highlands with a similar climate.
As the Demon King’s influence grew stronger, the issues caused by monsters spread beyond national borders, leading to the realization that this was a problem that all life on the ground needed to address together. Only then did the countries decide to hold a meeting to gather opinions.
The meeting was to be held at the headquarters of the Church of Life— a place that could claim complete neutrality, free from the interests of each nation.
Representatives from various countries began to gather there.
“Who are those tiny people?”
“I’ve heard the stories. They’re the Dwarves, a race that venerates Sagarmatha as their god. By the way, don’t ever mention how small they are.”
“Why not?”
“It touches their pride.”
Anything like small, short, inadequate, or stubby will make the Dwarves erupt into a frenzy with their axes drawn!
“Don’t poke their pride, huh?”
“Exactly! Would you like it if someone said you have plenty of questions but never look for the answers yourself?”
Not that I think that way.
“Um… is it really something to be mad about?”
“Oh, you don’t get that part.”
“But it’s true! Since I do all the teaching, they don’t even need to search for books.”
“Is this all my fault for pampering you too much?”
Well… what’s it to me?
“Anyway, words that imply smallness make the Dwarves angry. Ah, and those long-eared Elves over there don’t easily get mad at words, but if you break branches or tear leaves, they’ll fume.”
“Branches? Leaves?”
“Yep. To Elves, it feels like someone just yanked out their hair.”
At that, the Dragon Priestess tilted her head.
“Don’t hairs naturally fall out? The priests sometimes lose a little and end up with wider foreheads.”
“Don’t say that to the priests.”
“Sometimes they come to me for advice. So, I bless them to help their hair grow.”
Indeed. There were priests who looked at the Dragon Priestess with longing glances, which explained a lot.
Truly reviving completely dead cells is something only an exceptional priest could manage, but regenerating lost arms or legs isn’t a simple task.
It’s understandable that the Dragon Priestess, who can casually do such things, is looked at with envy.
“After that, they were constantly grooming their hair.”
Or maybe they were just thankful for escaping the curse of baldness.
“Those small creatures with round ears are the rat beastmen known as Ratkin. And next to them, the walking lion is the beastman lion. They are representatives from Rattkinia and Vistia, respectively.”
“Are they from different countries even though they’re both beastmen?”
“It’s hard to say they’re the same. Without their commonality as beastmen, they are more distinct races.”
Their living environment, staple food, culture, body shape, everything is different.
Even with such vast differences, there were some who married each other, but let’s just chalk that up to the diversity of races.
“What about that big, hulking lizard over there?”
“That’s a Lizardman. You’ve heard of them, right?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard they have a unique faith known as the Creator Dragon God.”
I could say that too! But for now, the fact that I am the Goddess of Life must remain a secret from the Dragon Priestess.
Well, eventually, I will have to tell her everything.
“Those are…”
“Humans. You’ve seen them often?”
It’s usually humans who come all the way to the headquarters of the Church of Life.
Other races have their own tribal gods, and even if they occasionally come to the Church, they rarely visit the headquarters.
After the representatives from South Romania, North Romania, the surviving small nations, and the magical city of Procyon arrived and took their seats around the large round table set out in the garden, representatives from the countries located to the west of the continent began gathering at the Church of Life’s headquarters.
As for the east of the continent… well, it was practically untouched by the Demon King, so no representatives had arrived. After all, news doesn’t reach you easily without using the Jo-in.
Crossing the mountains that divide the continent, including Sagarmatha, isn’t easy on foot.
“Well, it seems everyone who needs to be here is present.”
“What are we doing all together like this?”
“We’re going to decide on our future actions.”
The existence of the Demon King is enigmatic even to humans.
Whether the countries will unite to repel the monsters or investigate this unknown entity, the Demon King, to remove the root cause of the problem, will be the matter at hand.
By the way, the Dragon Priestess was hiding her identity under a hood, sitting among the priests.
For now, she must be kept a secret from the world.
Those healed by the blessings of the Dragon Priestess? They made a contract to ensure they wouldn’t speak of her. Of course, if they did spill, they would lose the blessing, become hostile towards the Church of Life, and be rendered mute, as their tongues would stiffen.
Anyway, the Dragon Priestess began observing the meeting while hiding amongst the priests.
If she had any questions while watching, she could ask me and go back to observing. It would be a repeat of that.
“I think we need to consider this in the long term. After gathering more information…”
“Long term? That’s typically an Elvish way of thinking, taking their sweet time!”
“Dwarf, we’re in a meeting where the future of all life is at stake. How can you speak poorly of another race in such a setting? Your perspective is shockingly narrow.”
“What?! Short?! Did I finish talking about it?!”
Oh no, a fight broke out.
Hmm… this dialogue feels familiar… it’s like we’re about to pen the epitaph of a grudge during this argument.
The Dwarf is yelling with veins popping in his neck, while the Elf casually ignores the Dwarf’s curses with an attitude as if it were just barking.
The long-standing conflict flared up like flames once again.
Even without weapons, the air around them was crackling with tension, and representatives from various nations looked on, looking rather uncomfortable.
Hmm. Indeed, we need someone to clean up this chaos.
“Alright, settle down. This isn’t the time to fight.”
The High Priest of the Church of Life, seated at the round table, spoke as he observed the two arguing races.
“Uh…”
“Hm. I can’t disrespect the High Priest. Understood.”
Despite the lingering discontent from the Dwarf, the Elf sat quietly, accepting the situation.
“The urgent matter at hand is how to deal with those monsters. We should focus on that!”
“The threat from the north is growing ever stronger. Many countries have already perished, and refugees are flooding into North Romania. Moreover, with the disturbances from the monsters, the public safety in North Romania is deteriorating.”
“Hm. North Romania seems to be wavering just by trying to help others.”
When the representative from North Romania spoke, the representative from South Romania quickly added.
“Do you not know how problematic the refugees are? Are you dazed and munching on grass, living comfortably in the warm south?”
“In contrast to the cold north, the south is a pleasant place to live. On particularly sunny days, we can lounge around and take naps while we don’t work.”
I knew their relationship wasn’t great, but this was without mercy, just scratching at old wounds.
Indeed, they were more focused on bickering than on dealing with the menace of monsters.
“Hmm. Is South Romania really overflowing with food?”
The High Priest of the Church of Life turned to look at the representative of South Romania.
“Yes? Ah, yes. At least there are no starving people.”
“Then it would be good timing. If there’s so much surplus food, why not use it to assist the refugees?”
“Huh? Ah, I, um, uh…”
“Is that a statement aimed to provoke the people of North Romania, who are struggling with the influx of refugees? We’re supposed to be discussing how to handle the world’s threat right now?”
At the High Priest’s words, the representatives from South Romania began to sweat profusely. They hadn’t expected the Church of Life to intervene in the ongoing rivalry between the two Romanias.
But what can they do? This situation is far from ordinary. It’s because a Dragon is the High Priest for the first time in ages.
“That, um…”
“From South Romania, let the surplus food be provided to North Romania to assist the refugees. In exchange, the Church of Life will not charge treatment fees for a certain period.”
Carrots and sticks. With a few well-chosen words, the High Priest managed to align food support for North Romania and the discounting of medical fees.
As expected, a capable Dragon is indeed different.
“Keep in mind, this isn’t the time to focus on national or racial issues. What’s important now is to tackle the Demon King and his army.”
At the High Priest’s majestic declaration, the representatives nodded gravely in agreement.
Finally, they would be able to start a proper discussion.