The Lord Is Too Overbearing

'Everyone, have you heard of a controlled Outbreak?' this question resounded in the people's heads as they looked at Basil's chilling smile.

Manfred gulped dryly and then shook his head to dismiss the eeriness he was feeling. Looking at Basil solemnly, representing everyone, he asked Basil what he meant by his words.

"I get the feeling that we are being threatened by the Braxtein Kingdom. Am I wrong thinking that way, Golden Apple of Braxtein?"

Expecting Basil to deny it, Manfred was taken aback by Basil's instantaneous answer, "Yes, Your Highness, you are right. This is Braxtein threatening every one of you here and also every inhabitant in this world of ours."

Bam!

"Insolent!" Manfred exclaims furiously. "Anthony, you should've taught your glorified hound manners. Look at what he has done—spouting nonsense as if he owns the world!"

Much to Manfred's surprise, as he looked at Anthony, the said King didn't even blink his eyes. His look conveyed what he had in mind: 'Basil is saying the truth.'

"Hoh? Interesting, Braxtein's Golden Apple," Gerhard remarked. "I want to hear what you are going to talk about. You are going to tell us, aren't you—the interesting piece of news?"

"Of course, this meeting is not conducted for us to keep everything we know to ourselves. We are here to share and get stronger together, aren't we?" Basil nodded his head with a smile.

'What a terrifying young man. He has everyone in this dancing in his palm; everyone is following his flow,' Alphonse remarked inwardly.

'An information trade, huh? To grow stronger together? Utter twaddle!' Mason scoffed inwardly. 'Very clever, Braxtein's Golden Apple. Having you on his side is really a fortune to Anthony and a nightmare to all of us.'

"I seem to have misunderstood something. I am sorry for calling you a hound earlier, Basil," Manfred said sincerely, surprising all of the Kings and his escorts.

"It is fine, Your Highness. No one thinks of what they say when they are in a deranged state," Basil waved off the apology.

"Very well. Now, tell us about what you said earlier."

Silence filled the room as everyone's eyes are planted on Basil. They wanted to hear about that fearsome method Basil had mentioned and who had used it.

"The reason why we are even willing to tell you this is that we want to win together against the Demon. We figure that it will convince all of you to establish the Alliance Army and show our seriousness about it."

As he had everyone's attention, Basil told the people about the strange things that happened during the First Outbreak that everyone overlooked. First, he talked about the arrival of Jerion and Cabalen's army at Randalvine.

No one questioned how they got there undetected; so, the people in the room, apart from Anthony and Basil himself, widened their eyes in surprise the moment it was brought up. They immediately got where the talk was going.

After talking about the fact that they still couldn't figure out why what had happened could happen, Basil moved on to talk about the emergence of the Demon from the Death Howl Dungeon.

He was delivering twaddle on that part even though he knew the real reason for the phenomenon, but the people took the twaddle seriously. At last, he talked about something that very few people knew.

"Lastly, Your Highness Alphonse, the small village on the north side of your Kingdom also suffered from the mysterious horde of Demons, didn't it?"

Alphonse and the people who accompanied him didn't show anything on the outside, but they were panicking on the inside. 'How did he know? This information—not even our people know about this!' they all thought.

Like the wise King he was, Alphonse calmly said, "Indeed, it suffered from that mysterious horde's attack. Now, Braxtein's Golden Apple, may I ask how you figured it out?"

"Unfortunately, Your Highness, our Kingdom can't be the only one sharing information here. If you want to know it, please do share something that may be of help to us," Basil said with a small smile. "Ah, everyone, you may share something interesting too."

The face of every King in the room twitched. They were both astonished and irritated by how cunning Basil was.

"Anyway, everyone, after rigorously investigating the First Outbreak, we found a clue that pointed to the culprit of, maybe, everything. This group is amongst us and they have incredibly close ties with the Demon."

Basil interlocked his fingers and said solemnly, "This group was the one who accelerated the Outbreak and orchestrated the whole disaster. Because of that, no matter where you are, whenever an Outbreak occurs, there is a chance you will also suffer from it."

The room descended into silence as Basil let the people entertain their wild thoughts. He had told as much as he could but at the same time told the people nothing; they were left curious and also anxious about what could happen in the future.

Anthony watched the scene silently and turned to Basil, who was waiting for the people's response silently. He couldn't help smirking appreciatively and thanking the fact that Basil was on his side (somehow).

Looking at Basil's back, the Princes, who were sitting five metres behind their father and him, couldn't help humming to themselves both in astonishment in envy. They knew everything that happened there was according to the script Basil had written in his head.

'Know your difference,' they recalled what Amara said to them. 'That child looks at the bigger picture and that is why he is flying, unlike you, who are chasing your own tails. Manner him and no matter what happens, you will end up being something great.'

After knowing Basil for two years, the Princes had learnt quite a lot about him. They often pestered him about how to be a "perfect" man like him and they became good friends because of that.

Even though their parents (Anthony and Amara) were closer to Basil than they were to them, the Princes didn't think it mattered. They knew what kind of person Basil was, so they didn't think of anything silly … Except for Aldrich.

'Again… Basil Pacifer, what sin have I done you in my past life? Why do you have to intrude in our lives and stand in my way?' Aldrich thought with clenched fists. 'My siblings have lost their urge to become a King. It should've been my chance, but you…!'

Unlike the others, after suffering from his humiliating defeat in the First Outbreak, Aldrich fell into the endless abyss of envy. He got deeper the more the day passed, causing him to be unable to see the bigger picture that the other Princes saw.

The brightest candidate was nothing but a shell.

Tap. Tap.

"In other words, young man, what you are saying is, if that side wishes, all of us will suffer from the upcoming Outbreak of the 27th Obelisk?" Manfred asked solemnly.

"Roughly, it is," Basil answered calmly.

"Don't get me wrong, I got your concern but I can't help taking it as a threat. It seems to me that you will realize it yourselves if we end up choosing not to establish the Alliance Army." Manfred's eyes turned to Anthony.

"If that had been the case, we wouldn't have been here, Your Highness." Basil gave the people his most genuine-looking fake wry smile. "Why should we even tell you about what we were capable of if we could destroy all of you with that?"

"What will you do if we refuse the idea of establishing the Alliance Army?" Gerhard asked.

Basil turned to Anthony, prompting him to open his mouth. "With Alphoetra Tribe and any other Elven Tribes, we will conquer the Obelisk. When it is proven to be impossible for us to conquer it, we will take care of the Outbreak ourselves."

"You are serious about this, aren't you?" Mason remarked.

"History is a reminder to us—of a failure our ancestors made in the past. If we are not united, the tragedy that befell us in the Age of Chaos will be repeated. We are not as strong as we used to be anymore; so, once we fall, we will never be able to get back up again."

"That is a very strong word coming from an ambitious person like you, Anthony," Manfred commented. "However, I can't bring myself to disagree. The wind is indeed getting unpleasant these days."

"I will ask you this, Lord Anthony," Alphonse spoke up. "Is this group, which is our mutual enemy, owned by people we can't touch? I know you don't want to talk about it, but you should be willing to answer that question, shouldn't you?"

"You may freely conclude who it is; but yes, it is," Anthony answered shortly.

Alphonse smiled and then suggested, "Since everyone seems to have understood that it is OUR problem instead of THAT PARTY's problem, let us do the voting, shall we?"

"Ah let's do it," Manfred agreed. "But first of all, let me ask you which of you wants to nominate your Kingdom to be the kingdom-in-command."

Manfred raised his hand at his own question at the same time Anthony did. They were the only ones raising their hands, which surprised everyone.

'Hoh? They think well, don't they?' the three Kings who didn't raise their hands thought as they looked at each other. 'Responsibility, at this point, is a chore. It is better to be commanded and enjoy the benefit of being protected!'

Chuckling somewhat bitterly, Manfred remarked, "It's always us, isn't it, Anthony?" Smiling softly, he added, "Well, mate. I admit your victory this time."

Even before Anthony could say something, Manfred shouted, "Who wants Grittenhein to be in the lead?"

Mason and Gerhard raised their hands.

"Who wants Braxtein to be in the lead?"

Tinuviel, Alphonse, Gerhard and Mason raised their hands.

'These two bastards… they just don't want to offend me, didn't they? I am sure they didn't have any intention to raise their hands,' Manfred thought in slight irritation. "Well, it is your win, Mate. Hope you will be able to do what you said."

The Braxtein Kingdom had officially become the kingdom-in-command of the Alliance Army that would be established after the Summit Meeting ended. With this, Basil was ready to move on to the next step of his grand scheme.

As the Kings and Chief Tribes talked about when they should conduct mixed military training, Basil monitored the rough calculation of the time the 27th Obelisk needed to have an Outbreak.

[Countdown of the 27th Obelisk's Outbreak: -27 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes and 8 seconds.]

The time had shortened quite significantly; meaning, Basil was going to get busy again in a close time after two years of living "idly."