"..."

For a while the room was silent. Some took the time to contemplate the sheer complexity of Naell's magic.

They were baffled especially by his ability to cease a massive area mid-explosion, all in such a small window of time to react.

Yet one begged to differ as he raised an eyebrow and unintentionally scowled at Naell's heroism. This was Natta Law, an Earl of the Easterside Empire.

"Pardon me for interjecting, but is that not all a stretch?" One of his lackeys asked.

"Indeed. Is it not likely the young master is merely blessed with---" Added another.

Yet as they all saw Roetem Star's eyebrows curl through the screen, they then corrected themselves and backpedaled on their words,

"---what I mean to say is… the young master is very much blessed!"

"Yes, I agree! W-with his mana he was able to perform such a feat!"

Hearing both of them, the Earl fought the urge to roll his eyes then and there, yet unknowingly, he had failed to conceal his dissatisfaction from that discussion.

Odino Thorton, the Guildmaster of all Guilds, did not fail to notice Natta’s expression. He sighed upon turning away from the magical screen connecting him to the meeting.

In truth, Odino was one of the few people who knew the reason for Natta's reservations towards Naell.

During the War of the Continent, Natta and his friends believed they possessed sheer strength that was beyond compare. Their arrogance had led them to even go so far as to belittle the other nations who had a hard time defending from Leonard Cross’ advances.

That was why upon witnessing an opportunity to prove themselves, Natta and his posse hastily invaded a camp headed by named martial artists and mages of the invading force. Yet far from their expectations, they utterly lost.

Adding insult to injury, their opponents then showed them mercy by allowing them to fall back, but not without stating they were not even worthy of being killed.

News of their pitiful return then spread throughout the lands, and all the events had broken Natta and his men's pride. Yet not long after, they caught wind of their aggressors’ defeat.

Their blood boiled as they learned their powerful offenders were defeated by one adventurer alone— this was none other than the young talent of the frontlines, who then became a legend and was dubbed the [ Witch of Winter ].

Natta however, the shamed martial artist, could only be further humiliated along with his friends.

From then on, no matter how childish it was, Natta Law held a grudge towards Alicia. He began to believe arrogance existed in the lady’s annoyingly gifted lineage.

Now, as he was presented with another act of glory, this time by Alicia's son, Natta judged Naell's character as nothing but that of the Witch of Winter's pretension.

It was only then when the tense air was interrupted by one objective scholar,

"We do not deny the chance of it being a fluke…but I find that hard to believe when the ability to wield such great mana requires greater skill."

The rest of the assembly began nodding, before bringing their own conflicting opinions on the matter. Yet it appeared one elder in that gathering had enough of their speculations.

"To question Naell is to question me, his grandfather. So tell me, what are all your intentions to be continuing this farce?!" Said Roetem, cutting into the heated discussion.

His gaze then focused on the screen, with every opposition swallowing from fear, before finally, Roetem's eyes landed in Natta's direction.

"Forgive my companions, they mean well. Their inquiry shall end here."

All who sided with him could only nod silently. Hence, the bitterness stopped due to the Celestial Wizard's imposing words.

Yet just when the King of the Autumn Kingdom and Duke of Arigare felt relief, Roetem then added on, clearly unfinished with surprising all of them,

"Now's as good a time as any. How should we reward my grandson Naell, for accomplishing a feat that even Lady Earlteria herself said she would not be able to do?"

"That's quite…"

"Hmmm…?"

Silence took hold of the place once more as several nobles began squirming in their seats. They never thought he would be this opportunistic.

Still, even without looking, the nobles knew Roetem's grin was as mischievous as his pride in that moment.

As the discussion highlighted Naell's feat, most of the Star's envoys had an air of pride

Yet not all from the Star family was feeling that way, especially Lesjon, who had already proceeded to excuse himself from the meeting.

'...He's just like his aunt.' Thought Metero Star, the current head of their family.

Sarah Star knew her father was bound to do what he did 'best', involve a distant relative's great achievement into the vaguely related bloodline of Star.

And although Metero was also not onboard with his father's way of doing things, only he and a handful of people knew that his father was actually just being a doting grandpa.

"..."

With no hint of hesitation nor discomfort from the silence, Roetem then enthusiastically pointed at the scholar,

"Well let's gauge the reward with more detail then. Tell us more, how did my grandson do it?"

The scholarly elder then coughed and said, "We had gone great lengths to unveil the details of the magic that completely stopped the bomb."

"The young master's magic took the appearance of an ice sculpted rose." Said another scholar who adjusted his rising pitch.

"Although it's uncertain, we theorize that the young master used another complex layer that nullified the destruction magic’s properties!"

[ Amazing! ]

[ Truly, the son of the intelligent Fharom and Witch Of Winter! ] It was apparent that all of the scholars were fanboying for Naell.

"He has his mother's talent and his father's intelligence, truly an interesting child."

Said one of the dwarven nobles who had the chance to meet the famous party of the protagonist's parents in the past.

He along with others chuckled and remembered some memories in the past, all from the war of the continent that made the likes of Alicia Beryldot famous.

.

.

.

"Then I believe we have the right to invite him to our abode."

"Yes, that's right, our people whose lives, or their relatives he's saved would surely want to meet him."

"Quite, and with the Magic swordsman and his friend---

At that moment, the meeting then delved into some nobles' requests. They obliged the Kingdom of Autumn to make the protagonist's party and Naell go to their turf.

They were blatantly finding ways for political gain, hence those who knew of their intentions could only sigh.

Such was the case for King Nohad Taglagas, not to mention some of the nobles were from his domain.

"---it is only our honor to have them be our guests."

Yet with the spoken blunder of last words, Kaido Asuna's voice rose.

"When did my daughter have an obligation to meet you?"

Even when his presence was only on a crystal screen, The Emperor of the East managed to intimidate those who were speaking.

"My apologies, that was not our intent---"

"As for Naell Beryldot, would you really make an enemy of the Land of Fairies or have you forgotten, his mother was protected by them?"

[ That… it was not our intention, your Majesty! We apologize!" ]

"Blatant ignorance! None of you make the mistake of forgetting, Fharom Beryldot was also once a student of Wisdell Wigence. It is best not to offend the Wizard of Books."

"..."

With the Emperor’s words, the discussion about the protagonist party and Naell came to an end.

The meeting then turned into a serious matter of accountability. All agreed that the Autumn Kingdom held no-fault as the pieces of Lucile were known for their capability of wreaking havoc.

Still, news spread of their coming, and it would soon be followed by hearsay of the demon king's revival. Eventually, Kingdoms and guilds alike will task their members to investigate their whereabouts.

"The revival of the demon king should be kept secret so as to not bring panic towards the people."

"I agree, but this rumor has already spread and is already beyond our control." Said Loknar, the Vice Guildmaster residing in Taglagas.

Grimace then once again filled the meeting. The news of terrorism were indeed circulating across every corner of Mundo.

As such, not just grievances but fear had risen. If it weren't for the named mages and martial artists who were already employed to reassure the people, panic would have surely been a greater problem.

"It has indeed been tiring going rounds." Said Odino with his fatigued eyes showing from the screen.

Being a prominent figure as the named "Jackhammer", he had been going from Kingdom to Kingdom, hence his exhaustion.

In fact, he was quite thankful for the meeting as it served as a breather for him.

"Other than that, do not forget to remind them of the Guardians."

"I know… I know." Odino replied laxly to his subordinate Loknar. The atmosphere then became livelier, lessening the tension. It appeared the presence of a strong person was reassuring afterall.

After a long afternoon, the meeting finally came to an end. Only King Nohad, Emperor Kaido, Duke Mard and Odino were left.

"To think it's always this hectic… Thank you for your assistance earlier, Kaido." Said King Nohad referring to when the Emperor of the East butted in and silenced the scheming rulers.

Kaido then smiled as he replied, "It was nothing. I was just reminding them of their boundaries. They often forget Marquis Roetem is doting towards his relatives."

'Just like you…' All of them wanted to say out loud, yet they refrained from doing so.

Odino could not help but smile as he remembered the good old days. In truth, after befriending the Fairies, Alicia Beryldot became free from the grip of the Star family.

Not to mention, their connection with the Guardians of the Celestials made both Naell and Andrew hard to mess with.

"...But to think you've made Fharom a Baron and in the process got ahold of the couple as well, that was a genius move Nohad." Teased Kaido, making the King of Autumn sigh.

It truly was a good move considering Fharom's vast connections. Meanwhile Drew and Andrea declined nobility, yet stayed with their friend as retired adventurers. Thus three powerful allies were under King Nohad's jurisdiction.

Yet what came from that greed was pressure from other Kingdoms, and immense caution as to not offend the beings who've sworn protection on the three.

"Well, it was Mard's idea…"

"I only offered that to you my King, as they are my friends as well."

"..."

"HAHAHA and how's my daughter and her friends?"

"... Well, the school told me they are as lively as ever." Replied Mard to the Emperor of the East.