Chapter 132 – Star Fall (15)

“Now, before I start the explanation, there’s something we should go over, right?”

A speech is a rather odd form of communication from one person to another. It’s odd, but it’s still a conversation. It’s a way of creating connections through words and opinions and adding in each individual intention in between those.

Thinking about it simply, all I needed to do was just babble on about what I wanted to say, but if I fail my ultimate objective, which is to persuade the audience, then that’s failure to communicate.

Especially if there’s a mixture of friendly, neutral, and extremely hostile audiences like this, just saying what I want will very likely make people butt into every single word I say and make me refute, then another refute to that refute, and eventually blur the point and make a mess.

Then what did I need to do?

‘What do you mean what? If there are three types of audiences, then I need to respond accordingly to each of them.’

First, the friendly ones. I don’t need to worry much about this side thanks to the Archbishop siding with me so clearly that it looks like we’ve talked it out beforehand. The Light’s Order was going to say I was right even if I said the sun was the moon.

Then the neutral group of Warriors. These people I’ll pull towards the friendly group through the conversation.

They were all unique, but it was that much easier figuring out which parts to target through his speech.

And then there was Gregorio, who was grinding his teeth at the moment, and Paladin Captain Karbrick, staring me down with a pose that embodied no mercy. Since their reaction was already set to negative, he just needed to utilize those reactions.

‘Looking at how simplistic he is, it’s gonna be fun using him.’

Thinking about what would make this boar of a paladin pop up like a weasel, I carefully opened my mouth.

“Now, before I start, there’s something I need to go over first. Can you look here for a moment?”

Collecting the people’s attention and shaking his right hand, which was already done regenerating to the bottom part of the palm, most of the people’s gazes turned toward it.

“Most of the people here are masters in either mana, aura, or holy power, so I won’t explain too much. It’s a method of healing based on natural regeneration. Is there anyone that can explain exactly what this is caused b—”

Rustle!

“I am Axion Root, an inferior mage of the Earth Type Living Growth Academy.”

Even before I finished my sentence, an old man who looked like he was itching to talk raised his hand. I knew that guy would do that. All he’d been doing ever since I came through those doors was looking at my right hand.

“There is also a magic from our academy that raises the natural regeneration of a person to heal wounds. So we have quite a few alchemists and mages who are researching natural regeneration, and your current state is incredibly… similar to the recent studies we have been conducting. This may be rude to ask, but did one of your parents have mutation blood? No, a female mute would have been the Queen’s servant, so if the father captured a female mute and…”

“No, they aren’t.”

…Did this guy really think my dad smashed with a mute? What an imagination!

“Then are you truly a mute that changed sides?”

“Not that, either.”

“Then a transplant of a part of a mute’s body…”

Looking at several other figures in robes around the table who also looked antsy as his conversation with Axion continued, Professor decided it was time and gave them the answer.

“This body is a result of the combination of a peculiar condition I innately had with the experiments that Mage Isaac Mandalius conducted on me. Like you can see, it has somewhat succeeded, and I have managed to keep my consciousness as a human while having the regeneration of, no, a stronger regeneration than a mute.

“A test subject!”

“Isaac, is that not the mage who was killed by the Crimson Mute?”

“I have heard of rumors that he was infected by a mute… but he may have been researching about the mutes in order to escape from that parasite.”

“What a shame. If only Mandalius were alive, the magic alchemy field would have improved much faster…”

“It may have been that the experiment made so much progress that their researchers sent the Crimson Mute to assassinate Mandalius. What an unfortunate turn of events.”

The mages had now completely forgotten the procedures and mannerisms of a meeting and were whispering amongst themselves with a greedy look in their eyes as they scanned my body.

A mage was someone who conducted all sorts of wild experiments in order to reach a new awakening. One of their most popular issues as of recent would have been the study about the biological oddity that the dark mages created, the mute.

’[A dead Level 6 mage’s study subject], [mute test subject], [successful results]. I tossed out some information that any mage would drool over, so they wouldn’t be able to resist getting interested.’

I gave them a slight nudge, remembering the oddly manic obsession of the Dome’s Administration Branch he saw recently, and it looked like they reacted at about the same level, if not more.

Out of the Warriors, the mages will now have changed their impression of me from ‘someone that they just met’ to ‘someone that they want to get a favor from’ by throwing them the bait called ‘successful experiment subject of another mage’. When a person wants to ask a favor of someone, they become quite accepting of the person. With just one severed hand, I made close to half of the mages in the room look at me with greedy eyes.

‘They’re not dumb, so they won’t listen to what I tell them to do or anything, but the important fact is that they’re in a positive relationship with me now. This is just the warmup stage, after all.’

Slowly, little by little, he needed to reel them in like a large catch with tight tension on the line.

For now, I have attracted the attention of the mages with my identity. On the other hand, that would mean I talked about something uninteresting that only the mages would be interested in…

“So. What does that have to do with us? Do you want us to sympathize with your sad lab rat life? I thought this meeting was arranged to talk about battle strategies.”

It was time for the guy to say something.

Looking at the conversation progressing just as he expected, Professor gleefully continued to speak.

“Of course it is related. Because of the traits that I possess, there is a strategic advantage we now have.”

“And this advantage is?”

“Information.”

Whooosh—!

I could feel a new type of gaze train in on me. Different from the slightly passionate ones from when I mentioned the experiments, but more of a sharper, observant type of gaze.

‘Dang, I think I can see lasers come out of their lives.’

The second point. A word that assassin or ranger types, especially Warriors with larger parties, would go crazy over.

It was information.

The topic he was going to use this time was the Chamber Maid’s head that he brought out in advance. When he picked up its vines of hair, the people’s eyes began to shine.

“This meeting is also being held to decide who is placed where on the battlefield. Since the entire fate of humanity depends on this matter, we need to look at this from the perspective of the entire world, not each individual’s benefit, so there will be some who need to be positioned in dangerous spots. But that’s a little unfair, right? As a person, you want to be in the more honorable areas, and you don’t want to be the one to die.”

Drrrgg—

With the sound of a chair being dragged, another Warrior who had been on another side of the table joined in the conversation.

“We understand what you want to say. We aren’t nobles, so we aren’t flattered by all of the sweet talk, so let’s get to the point. You’re talking about the commander, right?’

“Bingo. Your name?”

“Ashtalon. Without surname.”

“Aha! Singing Blade Ashtalon!”

“Hm? I’ve come from quite a far distance, and you know me?”

“Ahahah. How could I dare talk about the commander role without knowing my allies?”

Of course, that was all a lie. I’m not some sort of machine that knows the name, title, and trait of every single Hero Unit in World 3. It’s because I’m looking at all of the information coming up in the chatroom in real time. And it’s not a lie that he has a good source of information since I’m part of the Light’s Order, the most powerful religion in World 3.

The important part was that I needed to show that I know them before they revealed it themselves. The feeling that he was in a superior position regarding information. The underlying pressure. That was critical.

“There is going to be a massive war for the survival of the entire species. Even if we die, we want to make sure that we didn’t die in vain and that it was essential for me to be there. And I believe information is one of the most important factors when deciding positions like such. Does everyone agree?”

Everyone, aside from a select few, nodded. After all, it was an obvious question. Logically speaking, if someone had information about the enemies’ weaknesses along with their attack plans, then it would be easy to make the war a one-sided hunt.

“Then you would agree that from the current random assortment of armed groups, if a group that has incomparably flawless information emerges, then you would all agree to give them the authority to command.”

It was a little less certain, but about half of the audience nodded this time. It looked like the ones with quick wit already knew what I was trying to say.

“So. Are you trying to imply that your side has incomparably superior information than those here, who are called the heroes of their region? How incredibly bold.”

“A warrior is a recognized savior of a nation. With their request, even the royal intelligence organizations would move. Your current claim could turn into a diplomatic issue. I understand what you mean, but I cannot agree with you in this matter.”

“That. Is. Why! I suggest we check!”

Thump!

In response to several comments expressing their discomfort, Professor playfully curled up his lips and put the Chamber Maid’s head on the table.

“I told you in the beginning. This is the head of a very, very, very important being from the enemy forces. To the person that can explain why this thing is important, about which position it takes in the mute forces, and how that applies to our current situation and how we need to respond to them in the most clear and concise manner, I will hand over all of the authority I have over the Light’s Order’s troops.”

“All… of the control?”

“Yes. All… Every last bit of authority I have over the troops. I will hand it over.”

Bang!

As soon as he finished his sentence, he heard the table, which somehow managed not to break even with the Knight Captain’s punch, let out a scream.

“Nonsense! How dare you discuss the abode of Ro Haram’s holy soldiers! It is not even worth a second thought—”

“Do as you please.”

Grind!

“Arch… Bishop? What did you just…?”

“Hahah. I just told him to do as he wished. Professor is the one that Ro Haram has chosen to act as their tool on Earth. He should know what is best. Hahahah!”

Murmur murmur!

When the crowd heard the quiet yet clear voice of the Archbishop through Gregorio’s ruckus, their gazes went from shock to surprise to horror.

It was hard to know what the Archbishop was thinking with his continuous, warm smile. But they knew that his approval meant that what Professor said now had official power.

From the effects of the Archbishop’s announcement, the Warriors were either in shock, were thinking about how the Archbishop went bad, or were busy thinking about the next plan.

And me? I was thinking about how I wanted to dance with the grandpa right now.

‘This old man, is he really a priest? Was he in some social field of a nation for about 50 years before getting called on by Ro Haram?’

He thought the man would play along, but who knew he’d pick such exquisite and skillful timing? Even the Warriors, who were uninterested in the operation, now had their eyes wide open. The Light’s Order was a group with enough influence to call all of the armed forces from around the world to one place. And they’re suddenly saying that they’ll hand over all of the authority to command their troops if they talk well? Of course they’d be interested, especially right before the war.

‘Of course, it’s all a lie, though.’

If there was something that everyone didn’t know, unlike what he said about me being chosen as the tool of Ro Haram, the only commanding authority I had was over me and my team. I told them that I would hand over all of the authority that ‘I’ had in the Light’s Order, and those people were mistaking me for their level and imagining me to be some kind of Warrior that has control over all sorts of hero-level characters. The Archbishop—he already had another guy that knew his stuff, so there wasn’t any reason to turn down an offer that would make him lose a Warrior that’s all talk and four of his lackeys in the worst-case scenario.

But I didn’t plan on losing in the first place.

“Now then, why don’t we start? What is the identity of this head’s owner?”

Stand!

Drrrc!

Drrrk!

The moment the question ended, three of the people who had been quietly observing the situation stood up from their seats and were staring at me intently, as if asking him to let them go first. There’s a familiar face too.

“Priestess Maria from the Church of Fertility?”

“My, are you choosing me first? How kind of you.”

“It’s because you stood up so fast that the chair tipped backwards. You can start.”

In response to my permission, Maria crossed her arms under her chest that was fit as a Priestess of Fertility, with not even her wide green dress able to cover it all, and started to speak without hesitation.

“It is a new type of mute that has recently appeared in the areas that come into contact with the North. There is no exact name so far, but it is being called a ‘maid,’ and is most likely an important figure like you mentioned, as it is surrounded by quite powerful mutes, like it is being guarded. There has not been any special movement observed from the mute, but several cities have fallen from the bodyguards that protect it, and it has been confirmed that the maid has always rooted down in the location best for defending itself. Assuming from the previous facts, our church is presuming it is a mute, an anti-magic specialty mute, with powerful commanding abilities. They don’t have a means to protect themselves against magic attacks, after all.”

“Hah! You know only the partial truth. The sudden mass production of the Mutation Blood. And the maids that just happened to appear at that time. Do you not see the connection? The nutrients that should have gone to your head must have all gone to your chest, but this is their food source! Do you know what a vein is? Within the earth we are stepping foot on right now, there is a massive flow of mana. And the place where that is exposed the most is the Blue Line Mountains. It means that these mutes were dispatched from their base in the North, which has already depleted all of their supplies, in order to find more resources! Then it makes sense why that Warrior was given the mission to kill that thing. Since cutting off the enemy’s supplies is basic in war.”

“Isn’t that just an assumption, though? Information is only comprised of clear facts based on observations—”

“You would think that our oh holy Priestess is working in our field. I shall introduce myself. I am Jimmy, who runs a very humble information guild in Eranthel. It looks like the churches are also working to use some people in this field, but could you say that your information is more credible than ours, a professional informant? Why don’t you just accept the fact that you’re wrong and sit back down?”

“…Would it be my imagination if I just heard you disrespect our church?”

“My, my! You have bright ears, unlike your dull brain! You’ve finally learned something close to the truth—do you want a sticker for that?”

Tzzzzzt—!

He could feel the sparks fly between the two people’s conversations. No, there were actually sparks of light popping out from the collision of the holy power and aura, and it felt like the argument could turn into a physical conflict at any moment.

Starting with those two, every single Warrior who had pride in the information field stepped up to talk.

There were all sorts of speculations mentioned and exchanged between the people, from one that claimed it was a branch off of the Queen to become a new Queen, or like how a dark mage corrupted the area around them, it was created to make a mute-friendly environment where it rooted down, or that it was the new body of the Queen that has reached the end of its lifespan, and onwards. When all of these opinions were mixed together and confronted by one another, the atmosphere in the meeting room started to heat up to the point where it was out of control.

‘Mmm, perfect. A conference should be at least this exciting!’

The Warriors that had been seated and twiddling their thumbs like this was none of their business were now all raising their voices at each other.

He didn’t ask this question to get an answer in the first place. It hasn’t even been a month since the Chamber Maid made its appearance. Since the monster takes a while to root down in the region and start production, there shouldn’t be anyone who knows clearly what it does.

Except for me, who can find information on the Community.

“Maid. A creature based on the Queen’s artificial womb for region conquering and external production. With the official name Chamber Maid, it is the same thing as what we call them. Because the Queen has to give birth to them herself, there are few numbers of them, but it is that much stronger, and once it is protected for the time to travel and settle down, it is able to produce an endless source of low- and middle-ranked mutes. So you can consider it a critical creature in the production and support areas of the mutes.”

Slowly, with leisure. But with a slightly higher-pitched tone so they can hear clearly.

In an environment with a noisy crowd, a slight high tone of voice had an unexpectedly good effect on hearing. Especially if it’s about the ‘maid’ that they were all racking their brains to figure out, it would sound as clear as day.

The loudened voices of the Warriors calmed down, and everyone’s eyes turned toward me.

“There’s a creature on the mute’s side with quite an intelligent mind. It is one of the Queen’s children that you often refer to as the ‘talking mute,’ and they have managed to twist the mute’s unconditional love for the Queen into ‘faith’ and succeeded, which takes a large contribution to that thing gaining the undeserved title as an Evil God. I believe I won’t need to mention… who these newly born creatures learned the relationship between a god and its believers from.”

“Oh my, Tenebrie….. So the Priestess has… in her hands…!”

When information regarding the Priestess came out of my mouth, Karbrick, who had been sitting with his arms crossed like a boulder, started to breathe heavily as he let out a thick aura of bloodlust.

“Woah, woah. Calm down there. She shouldn’t be dead yet.”

“How… do you know that?”

Tap tap.

“I have told you before. Because of a mage’s experiments, this body is now mixed with a mute’s. Due to some circumstances, I can overhear the Queen’s thoughts somehow.”

His assumption that the Priestess of Mercy was alive was close to certainty. The Mute Queen attained a divine status. However, she hasn’t been able to display much divine power to fit her title aside from their obvious increase in resources.

‘A mortal being suddenly became immortal, and it isn’t easy to jump that gap. The Mute Queen is currently being completed as a god. And that Palcatus guy… he was pretty obsessed with learning things. Since the Queen’s divine power is still unstable, they wouldn’t have killed the Priestess of Mercy, who’s basically their textbook on spirituality, just yet.’

Of course, they might have dug through her brain for research, but he didn’t have to tell that part to the angry paladin right now.

While Karbrick was angrily murmuring something to himself with his head down, the rest of the audience had time to comprehend what I just said and was in shock.

“Read the Queen’s thoughts?”

“Uh… although it is limited and cuts off at times.”

“Then, is the information that you just listed out not just assumptions, but the truth?”

“Well I saw it in person, so it should be.”

“Then can you tell us the enemy’s location, strategies, numbers and their types at this moment?”

“It isn’t that convenient. I’m able to receive partial information or knowledge, but not live information like you just asked.”

“T-then… can you come over to my place after the meeting is over? I wish to open up your head…”

“I’ll give you some other parts instead of my head.”

The ones that approached me with questions started to sit back down one by one.

“So this must mean the Light’s Order will take the commanding authority.”

“Mmm… No wonder they made such a big deal about it. They had a card hidden up their sleeve.”

“If it’s not the detailed operations tactics but just the troop locations… we will need to take the Light’s hand here. Although only partially, it is still a direct source of the enemy’s information. What else could possibly top that…?”

Though they were expressing their exasperation, it looked like the Warriors were agreeing with them. Seeing the perfectly intended reaction, Professor smiled widely at the Archbishop. From the wide smile the Archbishop was returning to him, it wouldn’t feel out of place for the old man to say, ‘Let’s go get a drink! My treat!’ if he asked.

It was the detailed skills that were complicated when luring out a certain reaction or emotion, but it was easy when you split it into steps.

Someone needs to take the position of head commander. Right? — Agreed.

Facing a mysterious enemy, I think information is the most important quality of the organization that’s going to take the head commander spot. Right? — Agreed.

From our results, it looks like the Light’s Order has the best information. Then we can take it, right? — Uh… darn it. Agreed.

You start with easy questions to fish out the opponent’s agreements, and based on that agreement, you move on to a more difficult question. By expanding into a complicated topic, bring out the opponent’s participation and logical agreement. They say this is the method that Germany’s Goebbels often used in his speeches during World War II. Everyone just agreed, no? And they already talked about it too passionately with their neighboring table to take it back now.

I didn’t know why the Light’s Order arranged this meeting, but these results should be beyond whatever they were prepared for. Look at the Archbishop’s happy smile. It’s clearly a mission success.

‘Now that I accomplished the church’s objectives, it’s time to take some of my benefits too. Mmm… Why isn’t he reacting? Did I not trigger him enough? No. Don’t tell me that cultist who was trying to chop off my head actually regained his composure…’

“…But on the other hand, like how that Warrior Professor is able to collect information from the Queen, can’t the Queen also take our information using him? If he has such an ability, then it should be even more of a correct decision to avoid this man! No, since he has already participated in the meeting, it should be the wisest decision to get rid of that man before it is any later!”

’…As if! Yes! You took the bait! Gregorio!’

Watching the happy expression on the Archbishop’s face instantly crumple up from Gregorio’s comment, Professor cheered internally. Yes, rebuttal! Yes, rejection!

“That… is definitely a possibility. Like how the Queen does not know I eavesdrop on her, I also cannot sense their sight if they are indeed watching over me.”

“L-look! Archbishop, sir! He said it with his own mouth! There is a possibility that he can provide information to the mutes!”

“Ahem… then, Warrior Professor. What do you wish to do? If what you say is true, then I cannot let you hear the information regarding the detailed troop placements…”

“So, I am thinking of traveling far away to call reinforcements.”

Ignoring the urgent signals that the Archbishop was sending to me, I continued to speak with a tone of regret, as if I were really sad to go.

“After the battle at the Western Frontlines, while we were hurriedly preparing our defenses, the enemy had, for some reason, stopped all attacks and retreated. Do you know why?”

“Mmm… The Ark of Intelligence is speculating that it is to protect the Queen in her current unstable state as she becomes accustomed to her new powers and to use the new surplus of resources that they have suddenly obtained in order to prepare a large army to attack us…”

“That’s right. The Queen is building up her power, and unlike the risky operations using small elite groups like they have until now, she is planning to face humanity with the traditional method. It is still a defensive tactic that prioritizes the Queen’s safety due to the mute’s nature, but thanks to that, we also gained the time to make preparations and build our strength.”

“When you mean time, exactly how much…?”

“One month.”

Professor thought back to the Chamber Maid in Pelas that was growing out her roots. It had covered the entire castle but not settled enough to dig into the earth, meaning that it hasn’t been long since it was born and traveled there. Even for the Mute Queen, hell even the Goddess, it was impossible to mass produce mutes like the Chamber Maid. It would have been impossible to win if that happened in the first place, so excluding that option, it should still take about a month until they were fully prepared to mass produce mutes.

“In exactly under a month, I will bring with me reinforcements from nations that are currently just watching from afar.”

Listening to the words that came out smoothly, like I had prepared them in advance, the Archbishop looked incredibly rueful.

“Ahem… but as the Warrior of the Light’s Order, I believe acting as a mere ambassador will bring down the reputation of our church… I will create a separate force, so why don’t you take command of those troops?”

Darn this old man. He’s being really stubborn. It looks like he really wants to get some use out of me, but he’s a little too high up there for me to turn him down sharply.

“Ahahah. It is fine, Archbishop, sir. This job will only be possible with our current odd party of a werewolf, half-mute, troll, dark mage, and human mage. Ro Haram will also approve of this.”

Professor walked towards the map that was on one side of the meeting room’s wall and pinned down a few locations using the white, shining pins from the Light’s Order.

“For this war, I plan to request reinforcements as the Light’s Order’s ambassador to the elves and trolls beyond the Blue Line.”

“Elves and trolls… Other races?”

“They were excluded due to our lack of interaction with them, but their strength has been proven by the fact they have defended their territories against humanity’s expansion for hundreds of years. If we truly need to collect ‘all’ of humanity’s power, then I think that it’s natural to also request their help.”

“T-they won’t think kindly of our church, though…”

“That’s why it has to be us. A group of ambassadors consisting of different races that were alienated and abandoned, a dark mage, and a mutated human. Is there any better way than this to show that the church has changed from its previous human-centered history?”

The Archbishop quietly stared at Professor’s beaming face, lost in thought for a moment, then in the end shook his head with it placed in his hand.

“We will… take a short break. A moment, Warrior.”

“Heheh, gladly, sir. Before that, I would like to thank all of the other Warriors for patiently listening to this long conversation. It seems we won’t be able to meet for a while now!”

With a cheeky grin, Professor elegantly bowed down like a noble. Game Clear? Of course, that’s nice. But I need to try out all of the possibilities that are open to me, shouldn’t I?

‘World Tree! Wish spell! If I add in something about how humanity depends on it, it might be possible to try!’

[By wish… you mean I can get a new body?]

‘Of course! According to the settings, it’s able to fulfill any wish within the game! Sketch it out when you have the time! I’m going to ask for them to make a body that you think is the most ideal! We’re going to go loot the elf guys now!’

Professor smirked as he expressed his gratitude to Paladin Gregorio, who provided him the tag [Inappropriate for Important Missions] at just the right time and gave him his freedom.