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.

not important enough for them to risk

remaining ten percent had sent messages

the way things looked, the Capital Recovery Gala would have full attendance of

heart, but this is good.' Conrad thought to himself, slowly raising his

was the 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

for the best of results.' Conrad thought to

suddenly said with an audacious voice. "I thought we

'H-huh? Rey, you…!'

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

and I were too swamped

only reason he looked so fresh was due to Magic.

all they were very useless when it came to actually protecting

in the South. While Calamity befell the Capital, we were tucked away into the secret

their only use was the administrative affairs and decisions regarding the United Human Alliance, they had to perform their

that meant groveling before their saviors, he would

for hiding his power, considering how much help he had rendered to the

as well… attitude aside, he's beyond phenomenal in

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

their own skin, they all decided to double down and work harder for the sake of

no idea what got into the Hero, or where he went, but I believe he is also doing

group,

deserving

him by surprise when Rey suddenly acted so

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

you for your services, do I not?" He

doing well, though. You too, Vida. You both look great despite the amount of stress

and Vida chuckled, staring at each other

both understood what Rey was