Chapter 758 Summit Conclusion
[The Present]
"I'll be going to the Dragon Continent."
As expected, no one took it well.
The instant his words settled in the mind of everyone in the hall, there was an uproar.
The audience—both from the side of the Otherworlders as well as the dignitaries of the United Human Alliance—gasped in shock, and they instantly raised their voice in confusion.
"Are you for real?!"
"That's crazy!"
"Rey… you can't be serious!"
"It's too dangerous!"
"Please don't!"
Before they could say much, though, Rey raised his hand and stopped them in their tracks.
"I can't properly hear you if you speak all at once?" He sighed.
His tone and expression were calm, and despite the myriad of expressions that the people around him had, he maintained a perfectly stoic demeanor.
'I expected this kind of reaction from them. It's big news, after all…'
Plus, he never actually told anyone of his deal with Adrien except Ater, who was the only one maintaining a calm smile through it all.
Everyone else was freaking out.
"Don't worry. I'll be going undercover. I'm not going there to stir up conflict." He explained. "The mission is considerably important, and while it's currently confidential, I can guarantee that it's for the sake of everyone that I go."
He considered telling everyone the details of his plan with Adrien, but after putting proper thoughts into it, he decided not to.
'The less people know about this, the better.'
It wasn't that he didn't trust his comrades, but it was more preferable to keep the circle of people who knew about it small.
Not only to prevent understandable pushback, but also to endure there were no cracks that the enemy could employ.
'Everyone else is going to be busy with one thing or the other. There's a chance that they might encounter enemies that inspect their minds. I can't allow my plans of infiltrating the Dragon Academy to be revealed.'
"How will you pull it off, though?" Lucielle was the first to speak up after everyone fell silent.
Her crimson eyes showed genuine curiosity rather than sheer concern.
"I'll disguise myself as a Dragon. I won't be able to tell you the details, but I've started making practical plans regarding it."
"I see. And you're confident you won't get caught?"
"I am."
"Hmm…" She fell silent after that, though her gaze was still on him.
"Hmm. Must you go alone?"
This time, it was Alicia who spoke up, concern etched on her face. It seemed she had a lot more to say, but she held those words back and merely focused on the question.
"Yes."
"Esme won't be there?" She raised a brow.
"W-what? No!"
"Hmm… so which girl is it this time?"
"There's no girl!"
Everyone in the room was quiet as they watched the back and forth between Alicia and Rey.
The two of them had rather serious expressions for the kind of topic they were breaching.
It was nearly amusing.
"Rey and Alocoa, sitting on a tree, K. I. S. S. I—ow…" Justin was stopped from completing his rather childish commentary on the matter.
He was merely mumbling those words, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
He received a few glares, which forced him to retreat into his shell.
"In any case, I'll be leaving in a few days. I can drop those who are heading to the battlefield off before going to the Northern Continent."
As for the ones heading to the South, they would be sorted out by Ater.
'Even if I can't use [Clairvoyance] directly on Ater, I can use it on others. It's one of the reasons why I chose to involve at least one or two Otherworlders and not let him go on his own.'
As for the people he wanted to head for the mission, it had to be Justin and Belle—since the both of them were going to fully cooperate with Ater.
'He already informed me of his arrangement with Justin, and I used [Clairvoyance] to confirm it as a test run. Then, I know Belle is rather fond of Ater… to the point of obsession, even.'
In essence, they would be able to do anything Ater asked without exception.
'Cooperation is key in these matters, so it's fine to leave things to them.'
As for the battlefield, he could leave that to Clark and Trisha.
They were the most Adept at combat anyway—apart from Belle, of course.
The real problem was Alicia.
'I don't know where to place her. The battlefield could be too intense for her, and I don't feel comfortable leaving her in Ater's care.'
Once again, Rey felt like he was unconsciously putting himself in the space of making decisions for people who were active agents on their own.
He was trying to arbitrarily decide what was right for Alicia, not what would be best for the current situation.
Perhaps he was wrong in doing so.
But—
'Isn't it normal to be like this when it comes to someone you love? Of course, I won't enforce anything. It'll just be a suggestion…'
Whatever Alicia chose would ultimately be what she would end up with.
"I nominate Justin and Belle for the mission in the South. They seem to be the most supportive of the idea, which leaves Clark and Trisha for the frontlines."
"... And Alicia. I'm going to the frontlines too." She spoke up.
'I suspected as much…'
Despite her perspective of the world of H'Trae, Alicia's personality was one that made her want to help the people around her.
Right now, those people were the humans in the Alliance.
"Are you sure? You could stay back and protect the Capital, or the rest of the Alliance in case of another Dragon attack."
"My abilities are best utilized on the battlefield. Besides, I don't think it's safe for me to use my Skill around innocent people." She gave Ater a particular glare as she uttered those last words.
It caused Rey to make a wry smile, nodding in perfect understanding.
"Alright. Got it!"
Logically speaking, Alicia's abilities would indeed be best used in the battlefield, so there was no real complaint he could make if that was what she wanted.
As usual, Brutus and Lucielle would also head to the battlefield with the Otherworlders, which meant everyone's roles were pretty much settled.
Except—
'There's something I'm missing…'