It was almost noon. In a spacious room, there was a round, polished wooden table. At the table, there were four chairs, one of which was occupied by a young adult man. With eyes closed and hands behind his head, it was difficult to tell whether he was deep in thought or just relaxing. This man was Zett Avalon – the current governor of Dawn. He was waiting for his guests to arrive. It didn’t take long before someone entered and announced:

“The leader of Nox – Sir Miki Yama has arrived.”

A boy sixteen years old at most walked into the chamber. He had short white, almost translucent hair, and ash-colored eyes. It was hard to read his emotions, his face gave nothing away. What grabbed the most attention, however, was the outfit he was wearing. It was loose clothing, mostly white and red, and some kind of belt wrapped around the waist. While it wasn’t a suit, it did have a distinguished feeling to it. Miki glanced at Zett, which in turn opened his eyes and waved his hand.

“Hey, welcome to my humble abode. While I don’t have much to offer, please make yourself at home.”

“…”

“So you think it’s shabby after all? I’ll arrange some girls for you later so bear with it for the meeting, please.”

“Be quiet. I do not care about the environment of our talks, I care about the content of them. If you put your energy into thinking instead of fooling around we wouldn't have so many problems now.”

The boy sat down on Zett’s right side. He then took out a piece of paper and a pen and started scribbling something down on it.

“What, you’re taking notes? How diligent.”

Miki then handed him the note. Zett looked at it and furrowed his brow.

“If you don’t get serious, this meeting will be your last.”

He looked at the author of this message with slight confusion.

“Is this a threat?”

“Think of it as whatever you want. If this congregation proves fruitless, I will do my utmost to remove you from your position.”

“Can’t see you doing it diplomatically, so I assume you will dispose of me by force. But are you capable of doing so?”

Zett stood up and drew nearer to the boy. He opened his arms and looked at him with a mocking smile. What happened next took place in less than a second. Miki, without leaving his seat, swiped his hand in the air and all of a sudden, Zett lost both of his upper limbs. They were, however, attached again by the boy before they could hit the ground. Though his opponent didn’t see the attack, he felt the damage. Miki said without looking toward him and said:

“Next time, it will be your head. So don’t push your luck.”

Yet Zett never stopped smiling. Was it shock? Or was he expecting that attack? Either way, he sat down and started humming some tune. They waited until the messenger stuck his head into the room and exclaimed:

“The leader of Zenith – Sir Ulysses Norton has arrived.”

The person who walked into the chamber was a man around his fifties. He wore a suit so dignified it overshadowed everyone in the room. His short gray hair was perfectly styled, and his smiling face brimmed with confidence. He bowed so elegantly that it was hard to say whether it was genuine or purposely exaggerated. Ulysses addressed Zett and Miki:

“Why, hello gentlemen. I have been looking forward to meeting again. The walking example of nepotism and the esteemed hero of country bumpkins.”

He received no response. The man shrugged and sat to the left of Zett.

“It seems we are still missing one person. It may not be time yet, but it is common courtesy to show up early, is it not?”

Yet again, no one said anything. Ulysses was about to say something but was interrupted by the announcer:

“The leader of Dusk – Lady Serena Opacara has arrived.”

A woman sitting on a peculiar device entered the room. She had lustrous blonde hair, but her eyes were covered with a blindfold. She was wearing a beautiful white dress, yet her body was bound by numerous chains. She looked as if an angel had been dragged down to Earth and forcibly confined by the people. Yet Serena was smiling as if she didn't mind her predicament. She bowed her head, the only part of her body she could apparently move, and positioned herself at the place across Zett. A servant quickly ran in and removed the chair, allowing Serena’s contraption to dock at the table.

"Greetings, everyone: Mr. Yama, Mr. Norton, and Lord Avalon. I am looking forward to the fruits of our cooperation today.”

She suddenly raised her head and moved her head towards Zett, visibly looking worried.

“Lord Avalon, have you suffered serious wounds recently? I can feel a significant amount of healing magic on your body…”

She was undoubtedly the only person in the room that showed respect to the young man. Zett briefly glanced at Miki and said, scratching his head:

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“It’s nothing, just some unfortunate accident. Anyway, now that we’re all here, shall we start?”

Serena looked as if she had something to say, but she held her tongue, not wanting to trouble him any further. Everyone stood up, obviously, save for the woman and Zett reluctantly started his opening speech:

“I, Zett Avalon, as the host, hereby signal the beginning of today's meeting. Long live the Union."

Everyone followed:

“““Long live the Union.“““

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The continent was split between the Empire, the Union, and some minor countries. Of course, the infamous Empire controlled the majority of the territories. It was superior to its neighbors in every aspect. Should the Emperor wish it, his army would annihilate any country he deemed his enemy. The only thing keeping the other nations’ existence was a lack of interest from the man.

The Empire, feared by the people, had no name. It had no need for it, as any country that dared deem itself an empire was mercilessly crushed moments after doing so, leaving only one on the planet. Life in the country wasn’t bad. Food wasn’t a scarce resource, few suffered from illnesses and people were living with dignity. Why did the Empire terrify so many, then? Because in whatever lands they conquered, many people would mysteriously vanish. A country numbering millions would end up with only a couple hundred thousand people after being annexed by the Empire. It was worse than a plague since there was no cure. Everyone in the world was racking their brains as to what happened to the victims. But the biggest enigma was the Empire’s ruler. The Emperor was both the political head and the head of the religion. He was both leader and god within the country. However, he had never shown himself in public, leaving the role to his subordinates. That was going on for centuries already since he had mysteriously found a way to stop aging. There was no end to his rule in sight.

The Union wasn’t always a democratic country. It had been founded relatively early, around fifty years ago by a man called Yggrieg Avalon. He had constructed an impenetrable fortress in the middle of a barren land. This construction named the Castle of Rhoda had been the point of reference in building the four major cities in the country. It acted like the center of a compass. If you walked in any of the four main directions, starting from the castle, after some time you would reach Dawn, Zenith, Dusk, or Nox, depending on the direction you went in. Avalon had never explained the significance of this. Once the cities were completed, the Union of Avalon had been created. As the name suggests, the man had stood at the center of the country. He alone had possessed the authority of a ruler. The Union had made enormous strides in terms of the development of technology under his rule. The conditions of workers had improved, farmers had started bringing in more crops thanks to the new agriculture policies and business had been booming. Even the military had been nothing to scoff at, either. However, Avalon had a terrible habit of antagonizing the Empire and its Emperor. He would always publicly condemn that country, to the terror of his citizens, but fortunately, he would never get a reaction from the Empire. One day, Rhoda had been utterly destroyed by an unknown force. This caused massive panic among the masses. To make things worse, Yggrieg had seemingly vanished from the face of the planet, leaving behind his pregnant wife. The leaders of the main cities were forced to take over for the time being. It would seem that it was the end of the Avalon reign since a successor was yet to be born, but it turns out, Yggrieg had apparently foreseen that turn of events and had the government of Dawn filled with his trusted accomplices. He had made arrangements to have his child take over as ambassador once they reach adulthood. And that brings us to today.

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I hated our meetings. Every person here was either creeping me out or disgusting me. We had Miki, who I could never get a read on, we had this geezer who irritated the hell out of me, and of course, the alarming fan-girl, who idolized me way too much. I clapped my hands and asked:

“So, anyone willing to start?”

The old man just scoffed, but I paid it no mind. The truth was, I didn’t particularly have any ideas that would blow their socks off. I just wanted to get it over with.

"Perhaps I could suggest something," Serena said with a sincere smile.

I gave her the go-ahead.

“Thank you. Recently it has come to my attention that the Kingdom of Elementaria to the east is planning to create an alliance that will indirectly oppose the Empire. I thought that maybe we could send some of our people to the party the queen will be hosting in a few weeks and gather some information.”

The Kingdom of Elementaria was mostly an island country. It unarguably possessed the best navy in the world(since the Empire didn't use one) and was famous for its unique culture. The relationship between our countries was mostly economical. We were importing stuff from them. It was surprising to see them getting involved with the monolith that was the Empire. I swiftly came forward as a volunteer:

“I’ll be more than happy to go.”

Miki instantly interjected:

“Then I will go, too. I have to keep an eye on him.”

Serena smiled and thanked us. The geezer who had been silent for a while decided to speak up:

“If the first thing we discuss is a party then I can’t say we will have a bright future. Let’s talk business. We are short on soldiers and weapons. I'm sure you know that nothing we prepare will faze the Empire but we still need protection against other countries. We are sitting ducks here!"

“What would you propose?” I asked him, curious about his brilliant ideas.

“What’s that I hear? The son of a genius can’t come up with an idea himself? How embarrassing.”

“The said genius excelled in improving the well-being of the people, not satisfying the whims of a warmonger. No one is stupid enough to wage war in these times. We are not in dire need of upgrading our forces,” I responded to his offensive remark. “You are free to do whatever the hell you want. But from what I’m seeing, the only thing you do is talk. To me, you are worthless. Want to prove me wrong? Then start doing something other than sitting on your ass, spewing your insults everywhere, and wasting precious oxygen."

Norton gritted his teeth and slammed the table, a vein popping out on his forehead.

"Damn brat! Do you think you can just mouth off to me?! Do you even realize your position here?! You are in no place to criticize me! You are utter trash, I can remove you from this council anytime I want! Better yet, I shall exercise my right to cut you down right here for defamation!”

He started chanting and the table we’d been sitting at disappeared. A sword manifested from thin air, he grabbed it and pointed it at me. He swung it at the still-sitting me, but his blade was stopped by a mysterious force. Miki stood up.

“Stand down. There won’t be another warning.” He coldly advised him.

Before Ulysses could respond, the doors shot open and a messenger shouted:

“An unknown assailant has attacked a village in the vicinity of Nox!”

Miki grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Where?”

“Um, Caden…”

The boy quickly vanished. Probably teleportation. Since he was no longer here, nothing was keeping me in this meeting. I slowly started walking towards the exit.

“Brat! We’re not done yet!”

The geezer tried lunging at me but was promptly blocked by Serena's body. He barely stopped himself in time.

“Out of my way, girl!”

“Mr. Norton! Please calm down. You don’t have to resort to violence!”

As she was trying to abate his anger, I passed by the shocked messenger and closed the door behind me.