Chapter 72

I nodded at Alice’s words as I opened the letter.

I gave the contents a quick skim.

“What does it say?”

“An invitation to a tea party.”

I handed the letter over to Alice.

To summarize the contents: they wanted me to attend a gathering of the Representatives as a guest of honor.

Apparently, they were “eager to deepen our mutual acquaintance.”

Well, the majority of it was just flattery and social pleasantries.

The crucial details were almost entirely absent, which gave me a creepy vibe.

There was no way this was just a simple get-together.

They had some kind of business with me.

I assumed the specifics would be discussed once I was actually there.

I had expected contact from the other Representatives.

I had killed Dorgu, a fellow Representative, and effectively usurped his position.

There was no way the other three would just sit idly by.

I knew they’d try to reach out eventually.

In fact, it was almost strange that I hadn’t heard anything until now.

Had they been waiting for my situation to stabilize?

Or had they just been observing me for a while?

Either way, this wasn’t something I could ignore.

I had researched the system of Eurea’s Representatives beforehand.

In essence, it was a collection of four small nations, with the Representatives governing their respective territories.

As a rule, they had a non-aggression pact regarding each other’s land, though commercial ties were common.

In recent years, the Representatives hadn’t clashed, maintaining a roughly equal balance of power.

However, an incident had occurred that threatened to shatter that balance.

Namely, Dorgu’s death.

Even for the Representatives, it must have been a monumental event.

The ruler of a territory encompassing a quarter of the country was gone.

Thinking about it again, I really did erase a big shot.

“Do you intend to accept the invitation?”

Alice asked after finishing the letter.

She seemed interested in this matter as well.

I flashed a fearless grin and replied.

“They went through the trouble of inviting me. Might as well let them play the host.”

“That’s a very ‘you’ answer, Jack. Quite bold.”

“I’m always bold. That’s how I’ve lived my life.”

Establishing contact with the other Representatives wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It was like getting to know the neighbors.

It would be far more troublesome to foolishly antagonize them and end up as enemies.

These were people who stood on equal footing with Dorgu’s faction.

There was no doubt about their power.

I only had a general grasp of the three Representatives, but every one of them seemed like a handful.

Truth be told, I wanted to get along with them if possible.

I had ended up fighting Dorgu due to an unfortunate series of misunderstandings, but I should try to build a friendly relationship with the remaining Representatives.

After all, peace is best.

However, if they told me to become their subordinate, I intended to turn them down flat.

I didn’t want a repeat of the Dorgu situation where troubles kept cropping up later on.

“There is the possibility that the gathering itself is a trap.”

“If it is, I’ll just crush them head-on.”

I gave an immediate reply to Alice’s concern.

I had no intention of being hostile, but if they tried anything funny, that was a different story.

Hearing they were a force equal to Dorgu made them sound like a threat, but you could also look at it as them being “only” on Dorgu’s level.

If it took about the same amount of effort and risk as killing that Great Dragon-Man three times over, I could afford to pay that price.

Of course, that was strictly a last resort.

The policy this time was to avoid that outcome as much as possible.

According to the letter, the gathering was in five days.

The location was a city ruled by one of the Representatives; a map had been enclosed along with the invitation.

How very polite of them.

“Let’s get ready for the gathering. Also, let the staff know to shift the rest of my schedule accordingly.”

“Understood.”

With a nod, Alice left the letter on the desk and exited the room.

I tucked the letter into my pocket and looked up at the ceiling.

“Well now, I wonder how this is going to play out…”

My small murmur vanished, unheard by anyone.

The next day, Alice and I departed for the meeting place in the Golem Car.

It was about a two-day drive from the Fortress City.

We decided to head out early to give ourselves plenty of time.

No one else accompanied us.

Some had offered to serve as guards, but I turned them down.

Traveling in a large group makes it harder to move around, and besides, I had no need for guards in the first place.

It wasn’t like I was heading off to war.

Another big factor was that Alice’s knowledge and abilities could solve the vast majority of any potential troubles.

“Lord Jack! Lady Alice!”

“We’ll be looking forward to the souvenirs!”

A line of people had gathered behind us to see us off.

For the time being, I stuck my hand out the window and gave them a casual wave.

Alice mimicked the gesture.

These people were all in our employ.

As the send-off suggested, we enjoyed a fair amount of support.

It was likely because I didn’t unnecessarily bind them and I paid well.

My stance was simple: as long as they didn’t do anything stupid, I wouldn’t interfere.

I seemed to be especially appreciated by the researcher types.

“Hmph. They’re certainly a lively bunch.”

“It’s a good thing.”

“I suppose so.”

I drove on with a wry smile.

As we hit a small dip in the road, the weapons in the back seat rattled.

These were magical weapons manufactured under the organization, along with my own newer models of bombs.

I kept them stocked at all times so I could fight whenever necessary.

This country has notoriously bad public order, so I made sure not to neglect my anti-crime measures.

I had also stashed a large sum of money beneath the weapons.

It was for our immediate living expenses.

I didn’t think we’d need that much, but it was there just in case.

Thanks to my current status, massive amounts of money had started flowing in from various sources.

Most of it came from tributes paid by the various cities and subordinate organizations, but there were also sales from businesses operating under my name.

The more money I spent, the more the economy of my territory flourished, which ultimately resulted in even more profit returning to me.

It was almost like passive income.

Even after pouring funds into our respective research projects, I couldn’t spend it all.

It really was a magnificent position to be in.

At this point, I don’t think anyone would complain if I called myself a millionaire.

Since a mine had been discovered beneath the Black Wall City, I wanted to build a mining facility there in the near future.

There should be an abundance of materials for my bombs there.

I was already looking forward to the development process.

Thinking about my future plans, I pressed down on the Golem Car’s accelerator.

This vehicle had also undergone repeated upgrades in its finer details.

Consequently, the Powered Suit had become even more powerful.

Its practicality had been fully demonstrated during the fight against Dorgu.

It was like a human-sized fighter jet.

Its defensive capabilities were also extremely high, so I was low-key happy that Alice’s safety was guaranteed.

I’ve never been good at the act of ‘guarding’ someone.

Depending on the situation, there could be times where I might fail to protect Alice.

But even then, the Powered Suit would serve as a last-resort shield.

It was a reassuring piece of equipment for both offense and defense.

“I wonder what business the Representatives have with you, Jack,” Alice murmured.

It was the fundamental question of this expedition.

It had been on my mind the whole time, too.

While I had a few guesses, I couldn’t say for sure since I had zero information to go on.

I gripped the steering wheel and replied in a playful tone.

“Maybe they really just want to have a tea party? There’s a chance they’ve baked their prize-winning apple pie and are just waiting for us.”

“That’s just one of your usual jokes, isn’t it? What do you actually think?”

“Well, I’m certain it’ll be the start of some more royal pain-in-the-ass trouble.”

I snorted with a self-deprecating smirk.