In the corner of a tent that was modified into a tavern, Sungchul and Ahmuge had their secret meeting.
Ahmuge calmly relayed the information she gathered to Sungchul.
The main topic was what the leaders of the Coalitions were doing immediately after the defeat.
Once Sungchul was gone, the World Parliament lost all direction and were meandering. Therefore, it became the utmost priority to find a replacement to act as the defacto leader.
The King of the Ancient Kingdom, Arcanite, had initially been selected as a candidate for the chairman.
But Arcanite refused this opportunity. It was because he was already well aware. That the position of the One King was full of nothing but demerits and responsibilities.
As a result, the one who benefited the most was Kromgard.
His contributions to the coalition was the most prominent after the defeat of the Coalition forces.
Kromgard’s supply ships that regularly arrived through dimensional gates were single handedly feeding the army of hundred thousand soldiers of the coalition forces, and three times as many refugees. Meanwhile, his Soldiers of Salvation were on guard at all hours of the day, preventing any and all ambushes from the Barbarians.
Without his assistance, the Coalition forces would have been defeated and scattered long ago.
Meanwhile, even the Order of Extinction had come to support his becoming of the One King.
Bread and sword, Kromgard who had come to obtain both had all but guaranteed his position.
Of course, the Emperor of the Human Empire was completely left out of all this. The other members of the World Parliament had considered him a traitor, and the priests that were driven out of La Grange were busy praying for his death and demise.
That was the situation unfolding at the World Parliament until now.
“For now, with the exception of one person, all other warlords have made the unspoken agreement to support Kromgard.”
“Even McRaed supports Kromgard?”
Sungchul asked, feeling bitter taste fill his mouth.
Ahmuge nodded.
“She has no choice. The one responsible for feeding almost three hundred thousand of her refugees is Kromgard. Without his assistance, her people will simply starve to death.”
“I see.”
His one and only true friend and ally had already been forced to back Kromgard.
That left only one obstacle to cementing his power.
The Dwarven King Daincraft.
If he were to agree, Kromgard would become the new Chair of the World Parliament and become a successor of Sungchul as the primary candidate for the One King.
The remnant of the Holy Kingdom of Rutheginea that the entire continent had gone to war to try and destroy dozens of years ago, were about to be revived following legitimate procedures.
Sungchul swallowed a bit of his dark lager before he asked Ahmuge a question.
“How did you get all this information?”
Even if Ahmuge was able to go anywhere and everywhere she pleased, this level of information this quickly could only mean that she had help of informants.
Ahmuge drank a bit of beer before relinquishing the answer quite readily.
“I have some friends in the Assassin’s guild.”
“Assassin’s guild? You mean guys like Kaz Almeira?”
Sungchul looked disgusted by this.
“Even the Assassin’s guild isn’t filled with nothing but malicious and evil people. Although there are clans like the Almeira family that won’t hesitate to do anything and everything necessary to get the job done, there are those who only kill when necessary to survive.”
Ahmuge’s secret weapon was her connections in the Assassin’s Guild.
She, unlike all the other Summoned who just graduated from the Summoning Palace, did not head to the Golden City. Instead, she chose to sneak into the palace of the secret order of the Assassins and showed herself before the leader Shamal Rajput to create her own path.
There, she shared with him information that he would be interested in, and had gotten him unspeakable advantage.
Despite being a Summoned, she had been hired for important jobs, and were even granted an imperial position with Shamal’s personal recommendation.
“To be clear, it’s tit for tat. We traded information.”
“You must have given them some new information then.”
Sungchul’s eyes had a strange glint to them.
Ahmuge nodded.
“Yes. A very important information indeed.”
To this, Sungchul had a faint smile as he spoke.
“Is it about me being alive?”
Ahmuge nodded again.
“If not for information of that importance, no matter how close I was to the members of the Assassin’s guild, I wouldn’t have been able to get such a detailed information about the inner workings of the World Parliament so easily.”
Ahmuge said before staring at Sungchul.
“But soon, this news will reach all the kings.”
She was urging him on.
To quickly reveal himself and exert influence over the World Parliament once more.
In other words, she wanted him to stop playing around with disguises. That was Ahmuge’s thoughts.
Because once information gets out about Sungchul’s survival, Kromgard or his supporting faction might hasten their plans, or worse yet, go back into hiding never to be discovered again.
Sungchul understood most of what Ahmuge was saying.
But he had no plans to change his course of action.
‘If I reveal myself now, I forever lose the opportunity to find out who the enemies hiding in our midst are.’
There’s nothing more troublesome than an enemy at your back.
Sungchul wanted to use this opportunity to find out once and for all.
Just what kind of man Kromgard truly was. And what he was up to.
If Kromgard was nothing more than a bait, he wanted to know the true enemy that must be hiding behind him.
“Is there any way to sneak into the World Parliament?”
Sungchul asked with his eyes sparkling.
Deceiver’s Veil and perfect disguise. With these two things, it would be quite trivial to fool the eyes of his enemies.
But Ahmuge shook her head quite decisively.
“After the Floating Archipelago faction came into the picture and took on the security detail and procedures for the World Parliament, the level of security rose dramatically, enough that no one can get in without an invitation.”
“Is that so?”
Sungchul was not a man who gave up easily.
Despite Ahmuge’s insistence otherwise, Sungchul roamed the main castle fortress where the World Parliament were to take place, looking for vulnerabilities.
It turns out that Ahmuge was right.
‘What the fuck.’
The security for the World Parliament was strict beyond any precedent.
Even a small hole large enough for a dog to pass through had a pair of guard along with a Soldier of Salvation escort standing watch.
The detection spells and Observer’s Eyes laid all over the place goes without saying.
In fact, soldiers of the Floating Archipelago were sent to investigate Sungchul who was found loitering around the perimeter by an Observer’s Eye.
“Who are you? Why are you loitering around here?”
A well dressed soldier shouted at Sungchul angrily. Sungchul lowered his head and gave an excuse.
“I’m so hungry. I was looking to see if there was any work for me.”
The soldiers laughed and mocked Sungchul’s disgusting and dirty appearance and his messy speech pattern, but Sungchul knew.
That someone out of sight was checking Sungchul’s stats.
“You’re free to go.”
After receiving their orders, the Soldiers allowed Sungchul to leave.
“Mmm. Like that unnie said, it looks like it will be impossible to sneak in.”
Bertelgia said bluntly after watching everything unfold.
Sungchul was also just about giving up on the idea of infiltrating the meeting place.
But that was when a voice from the gates reignited his dying flames of hope.
“We are seeking a painter to capture a moment of the World Parliament in session.”
Before the guards, a veritable crowd of people seeking work gathered like a cloud before the speaker. The speaker spoke up once again.
“Those who are confident in drawing people are suggested to apply. Those who get chosen as the painters will be granted great rewards, and should the kings and their retinue be pleased with your work, it may earn you a ticket to the Floating Archipelago.”
After the magical phrase mentioning the idyllic Floating Islands of everyone’s dreams were uttered, the crowd went wild.
Hundreds of hands shot up into the air.
“Me! Pick me! I am confident in drawing!”
“I used to be an imperial painter! I am a top class artist!”
Everyone’s desire to live a more comfortable life drove hundreds to raise up their hands.
In response, the recruiter grinned and shouted loudly.
“There will be a test. If you fail to provide a decent work, we shall throw you in pits where Barbarian prisoners are kept.”
That was enough to completely kill all enthusiasm in the crowd. All those self proclaimed genius artists suddenly vanished.
Everyone was afraid.
The fake artists goes without saying, but even the truly skilled artists.
It was because the punishment awaiting them in case of failure to impress was terrifying beyond reason.
In the midst of all the hesitation and fear, one man raised his hands.
Scruffy appearance, disgusting face, not to mention the limp. The identity of this man was Sungchul Kim.
“Wait, what are you doing? You’re terrible at drawing!”
Bertelgia squirmed in his pockets.
“What could a mere Barbarian hope to do against me?”
Sungchul answered confidently.
“You know that’s not the problem!”
To this, Sungchul made a confident smile as he looked down at the pocket where Bertelgia was.
“Bertelgia. Time to earn your meal.”
*
Thirty or so brave artists applied to take the test. They were led to a room that was filling up with dust out of neglect and were informed to draw anything they pleased in there.
As for their tools, they were provided a worn out paper and a piece of charcoal. For eraser, they were provided a piece of bread.
Sungchul quietly observed his competition.
They were largely divided into three types.
The first type were those who were experienced artisans.
They were mostly dressed in fancy flamboyant clothing, who opted to use their own materials and tools rather than the crude charcoals provided for free. Whether it be from their expressions or behavior, they reeked of confidence.
Meanwhile, the second group were those who were colluding with the organizers from the Floating Archipelago.
Sungchul saw a few of the participants speaking secretly with the staff at the back of the hallway, and even saw money be exchanged.
Sungchul saw this and remembered about the Preselected in the Summoning Palace.
‘I suppose a few people will be selected via bribery. I guess that makes sense. Being able to leave this hell and go to the Floating Archipelago would be a welcoming opportunity worth giving up your life savings for.’
And the remaining type of people in this place were rough looking people like Sungchul.
The organizers from the Floating Archipelago intentionally placed them at the back of the test hall. They smelled bad and looked like they had no chance of passing.
Once things settled down, a rather high ranking officer showed up as the judge.
One thing of note was that it was someone Sungchul was familiar with.
‘Is that…’
It was Genghis Aaron of Ancient Kingdom.
He who was once a superior officer of Sungchul has once more been brought to meet Sungchul by the whims of fate.
Of course, there was no way for him to know that Sungchul was present here at the moment.
He did not so much as glance at Sungchul who had a grotesque appearance at the moment.
“You have 1 hour. You’re allowed to draw whatever you want. We’re going to pick a sizable group go pass so draw whatever suitable thing you want.”
Genghis Aaron did make any attempts to hide his irritation.
“Ah, and last thing. Do put in some effort. If you turn in some scribbles then I shall throw you into pits of starving Barbarians.”
Genghis Aaron yawned and stood up.
“I’ll be back in an hour.”
It was just when he stood up to leave that one painter raised his hands suddenly.
“What are the criterions for receiving high marks?”
Judging by his appearance, he looked like someone who drew professionally for living. His appearance and his behavior seemed to show his confidence.
There was an undistilled anger on Genghis Aaron’s face.
The Painter who raised his hand to ask saw this and quickly lowered his gaze in panic.
Genghis Aaron glared at the painter as replied with a murderous tone.
“Think if you have a head. Why we would pick parasites like you.”
He left after leaving those words.
Once he was gone, there was a bit of a ruckus in the exam hall.
“What should we draw?”
“Telling us to draw anything without so much as a topic. What is this?”
The reason why the artists were in panic was simple.
It was because it was difficult to tell what they needed to do to get high points.
Some thought the main point was the display of novel and expressive composition, while other thought the key to success lay in detailed depiction of the crowd in the background.
Yet another complained about how 1 hour was far too little time to complete their assignment.
“Do they think a piece of art can be produced mechanically out of thin air? A true piece of art can only be born of careful creative deliberation and keen insight!”
While the artists were busy venting about their views and opinions, Sungchul slipped off to the back and snuck Bertelgia out of his pocket.
“Bertelgia. It’s time. To earn your meal.”
“Dude, what do you want from me?”
Bertelgia replied irritably but quietly.
Sungchul took out a pencil from his Soul Storage to use instead of the piece of charcoal and replied calmly.
“Draw Vestiare.”
“Vestiare? Why all of a sudden?”
“Trust me and draw Vestiare. That’ll guarantee a pass.”
Sungchul said confidently.
There was a reason behind his confidence.
Sungchul had long spent time with the inner circle of the ruling elites.
And, against his will, he had come to become intimately familiar with their preferences, mindset, and habits.
And from his myriad of experiences, he had long since learned that the most important factor in art was to draw the person much more beautiful and amazing than in real life.
It didn’t matter if they looked like fallen piece of tofu in real life.
At least in portrait, the rulers had to look absolutely amazing.
“Mmm.”
Bertelgia relented and grabbed the pencil before rapidly drawing the portrait of Vestiare like a printer.
The beautiful portrait of Vestiare who was once given the nickname, the Goddess of beauty, was drawn onto a worn out piece of paper.
“I did as you told me for now, but what do we do if there’s someone that knows who she is?”
“There’s almost no one in the world who knows how she looks. Especially among the members of the World Parliament.”
“But you never know, right?”
Bertelgia sounded nervous still, so Sungchul grabbed the pencil from her and erased a mole under one eye from Vestiare’s portrait.
“…Now no one will know.”
Bertelgia trembled and let out a sigh.
“I don’t think…”
It was finally time for the final assessment.
Genghis Aaron only glanced halfheartedly at the delicately drawn pieces of art and quickly made his judgements in quick successions.
“Pass. Fail. Drop this one into the Barbarian pits.”
As expected, a few of the skilled artists as well as a small number of those who engaged in bribery was selected. And a few of those who gambled with their lives on the line paid the greatest price.
“Why! Why can’t you understand my artistry?”
As one man was dragged off to the Barbarian pits, Sungchul’s turn came.
Genghis Aaron didn’t even look at Sungchul’s piece.
He only glanced at Sungchul’s grotesque appearance before immediately pulling the trigger.
“Off to the Barbarian pi…”
It was then that Genghis Aaron glanced down at Sungchul’s piece by the most fleeting of whimsy and his eyes grew wide open.
“Wait! How can such beautiful piece of art exist?!”
The outcome was clear as day.
“Pass!”
Sungchul was hired as an artisan in the employ of the World Parliament.
The total number of selectees were twenty. And these artists were finally told the topic of the art they were to draw.
“You will be made to draw a moment in history where the one King will be born.”
The one King.
His name.
“The Wandering King Kromgard.”
Sungchul’s eyes glistened.