An Extra’s POV

"Greetings, esteemed Otherworlders!"

Conrad stood to his feet and moved towards the edge of the barricaded platform, all so he could get as close to the four who stood before him.

He had a bright smile on his face, and as his blonde hair swayed, his neatly trimmed beard seemed to twitch slightly. His eyes reflected joy—no, relief—at the presence of the Otherworlders, especially the one who was the center of attention.

"We welcome you to our summit." He continued, ensuring his tone was both audacious and respectful.

Going as far as bowing his head before them, he concluded his opening greeting. "Thank you for coming."

Vida was also standing in front of her seat, and she followed his cue and bowed the moment he did so. Once the other nobles saw this, they knew they had to follow suit.

'Arrogant fools. They have no idea who they're dealing with…' Conrad sighed, nearly shaking his head as he spotted many among the nobles who displayed reluctance when lowering their heads.

'Still, incompetent ones like them have their uses.'

Sadly, the Alliance still had much use for the contributions of nobles, hence the reason why the entire system hadn't yet been abolished. It was a way to incentivize rich and powerful people to contribute to the Alliance's cause.

That way, even merchants could become nobles if they paid the appropriate price.

'We expended a lot of resources on the rebuilding and compensation efforts, so their influence is needed now more than ever.' Conrad took in a deep breath, letting his thoughts sink in.

Thanks to their growing importance, they even had the gall to refuse coming to the Capital despite the Council inviting them. They gave several excuses, but Conrad knew the primary reason was due to their safety.

'The Capital has been attacked by Dragons twice now. They didn't want to take the risk, so they were going to remain in the South.'

Normally, Conrad would have threatened to strip them of their Noble Status for refusing a direct invitation, acting treasonously against the Alliance, but the current circumstances couldn't allow such a brash action.

'For one, their fears aren't particularly unfounded. The safety of the Capital is indeed questionable. Plus, with their resources being relevant to us now more than ever, it's not really a decision I'm willing to make so hastily.'

The invitation was merely to commemorate the nearly complete reconstruction of the Capital, after all. It was a monumental occasion, after all, considering how quickly they were able to move.

suppose it's not important enough for them to risk their

remaining ten percent had sent messages prior to this summit that they

Capital Recovery Gala would have full

had a sudden change of heart, but this is good.' Conrad thought

first time the Otherworlders would be meeting the nobles, and the same also applied vice versa. There were a lot of things that could happen as a result of this interaction, but it all depended on the reaction

the best of results.' Conrad thought to himself, waiting for a response from

Conrad." Rey suddenly said with an audacious voice. "I thought we were already past

'H-huh? Rey, you…!'

eyes widened the moment he heard the response from the most important

swamped dealing with all of these nobles and

sleep for so long now, and the only reason he looked so fresh was due to Magic. He had to look

they could do, after all they were very useless when it came to actually protecting the Capital—or the entire

the nobles who hide away in the South. While Calamity befell the Capital, we

regarding the United Human Alliance, they had to perform their

meant groveling before their saviors, he would

be angry at Rey for hiding his power,

his as well… attitude aside, he's

was only due to Ater that they were able to make so much progress in barely three

too. Instead of giving up on saving the humans and simply saving their own skin, they

into the Hero, or where he went, but I believe he

members of their group, their resolve was much stronger

are more than deserving of all respect and

it caught him by surprise when Rey suddenly acted so familiar with him despite

Conrad was not oblivious to his intentions. As such, he

services, do I not?"

know that isn't needed between the two of us. It seems you're doing well, though. You too, Vida. You both look great despite the

at each

both understood what Rey was