The Conference of the Four had been going on for five days without incident, and Colonel Aziz was on the verge of going mad from boredom. Unlike Marie, he’d forgotten to bring enough books, so by the fourth day, he’d already finished everything he brought.

There wasn’t a bookshop in the Central Circle, for obvious reasons, which meant that he had to now wait for Marie to finish her current book before he could read it. The marshal wasn’t going to let him read whatever books she hadn’t read yet, out of fear that she would catch up and be in his current position.

Aziz threw himself down onto his chair, annoyed. It wasn’t a comfortable bed at all, and…

Well, I’ve gone soft, haven’t I? This chair, filled with velvety material, isn’t a comfortable bed? He rolled his eyes, and then tried to imagine a forest canopy above him.

But no matter how he tried to cut it, wearing a tuxedo and lying on a mossy rock just didn’t cut it. It was an illusion that just didn’t work, and after a while, Aziz dismissed his thoughts and turned to look at the studious Marie instead. His eyes lingered on her chest, where a book had been propped up, and the colonel couldn’t help but feel a bit miffed.

He had seen this book back in the East, when he was walking around, but he didn’t have enough gold on him to purchase it. Marie, of course, had the gold to buy it, but Aziz had been too prideful to accept her generous offer, saying that once he got his salary, he’d buy every book he could see.

The colonel was now regretting it.

Marie eyed his wistful expression, and then smirked. At her smug expression, Aziz turned away with a little snort, and then turned to the central table, where the delegates from the other nations were already sitting.

For the last two days, the great gods — other than Anren, who had been absent entirely — had sent their familiar spirits in their stead, and today was clearly not going to be any exception. Most of the familiar spirits were already sitting there, their faces the model definition of rapt attention, but Aziz could identify a twitch of boredom here and there.

He couldn’t blame them either.

Today’s topic was about the rights of mortals. For the sake of today’s arguments, mortals referred to all beings who were Knights and below. Lords and beyond were given a new definition — a semi-divinity — ever since the third day’s discussion of cultivation methods and realms.

Queen Hyperion had been instrumental to that. She had pointed out that the creation of an Area — which was a new term that referred to either a Lord’s Fief, a Paragon’s Dominion and a Demigod’s Divine Territory in general — were things that didn’t actually make sense in a cultivator’s journey. No one had questioned it for ages, but now that the strongest Demigod had brought it up…

…she didn’t seem to be all that off.

An uproar broke out, but since Aziz was a freaking Squire, he couldn’t really understand the jargon that went around next. He only knew one thing: somehow, the vows involved in becoming a Knight and beyond had also given rise to the oddity that was an Area, and somehow, an abyss was involved.

“So…what rights should mortals have?” Marie asked, looking up from her book. “Because if you told me that they shouldn’t have any pay at all, I’m going to become the youngest Lord in history.”

Aziz blanched, having realised why Marie had put away her book.

The outcome of the discussion today would put to rest this one thing: would might make right?

It was already an informal rule to begin with, but Knights and beyond were generally decent people. No, what today’s true agenda was truly going to decide was how they would treat the Southern Continent, and the people inside. The Republic of Francois and World’s End were going to be the main theatre for the fighting — after the Phantom Blade’s words, Aziz was well aware that losing the South would mean that defeat was around the corner.

The general consensus was that the Five Lands would send their forces over to the South, where the economy would immediately be strained from the sheer number of bodies suddenly appearing. In such a circumstance, a new hierarchy was needed, in order to make sure that the civilians didn’t hamper the war effort.

And for that hierarchy to appear, a pecking order needed to be decided.

Such was the topic of today.

Aziz found it somewhat sad. For all the hoo-ha about equality, the Republic had to make its mortal-rank citizens second-class citizens, lower than perhaps even the soldiers from the other nations. It would be a caste system of sorts, but rather than race, it would discriminate against personal power and occupation.

Even if they got through this war, would Orb ever be the same again?

He had lived through the Second Extermination, and Aziz had seen his fair share of discrimination against humans in Ark City. Even now, in the Republic, vast undercurrents of anti-human sentiment flowed, only suppressed by the current State Council. The vegetation might stay the same, but soil soaked in blood and fertilised with ash and bone would change.

This was the nature of things.

Marie’s words, though seemingly said in fun, concealed a great deal of sentiments. War had never ended for the past few years. The Second Extermination was swiftly followed by two great wars; the invasion against the Southern Assembly and the earth-shattering war between the Mortal Light Dynasty and the Holy Temple. The great gods’ invasion had followed after that. It was only with the threat of the demons that the animosities had been swept under the rug…but who knew what was going to happen if they actually overcame the demons?

A class uprising?

Aziz shook his head. He found himself absurdly tired now, with this horrible future laid out in front of him. Rene’s parting words continued to linger in his head; the possibility that there was one more power in the dark was even worse.

Damn this topic. Now I’m all listless…

The colonel sighed, and sank into his seat once more.

Before he could get comfortable, however, the door to the chamber had slammed open. An incredible might fell down on everyone present as Pinnacle Kolya strode into the room, and before anyone could even ask what was going on, the ruler of the North pointed at the Eastern delegation.

The two Paragons at that area blanched as a storm of overwhelming energy broke their defences, hurling backwards and slamming into a wall. The air around them glinted ominously a moment later, threatening to crush them into pulp a moment later.

“My citizens,” Pinnacle Kolya spat. “You dare harm them?!”