"SEE THE TRUTH! SEE THE TRUUUUUTH!"

"WE OPPOSE THE PEACE TREEEAAATY! WE OPPOSE IT!"

‘How the hell did things get this out of hand, damn it.’

I stared blankly out the window. The hypnosis guy, who had been carefully observing my empty expression, quietly slipped away from the room, but the sight before me was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even spare the attention to care about him.

“I-If... if you need anything... just call for me, and I’ll come running immediately,” Priest Benet said.

“...”

“...”

Of course, this wasn’t the first time I saw a crowd this large. During the last war, I saw swarms of people gathered together before, and during outdoor public prayer ceremonies, I would see an unbelievable number of people packed together.

However, this was the first time I saw a crowd being consumed by madness.

The public prayer ceremony didn’t even count in the first place, as it had been held in such a solemn atmosphere that one could barely hear people's breathing. The chaos unfolding before my eyes honestly looked even worse than a chaotic battlefield.

"Everyone! How can this possibly make any sense?! The wounds from the last war haven’t even healed yet! We can still vividly remember our comrades dying before our eyes, but now, we're suddenly talking about a peace treaty?! This is like killing the soldiers who gave their lives for the Democratic Country all over again!"

"That’s right! Exactly right!

"As someone who loves the Democratic Country more than anyone else, allow me to say one more thing! We don’t hate peace! But as people who love the Democratic Country! As people who love the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival, it is only natural for us to raise our voices against what’s happening, which is why we gathered here today!

"The one who should be extending a hand for peace is not our Saint of Sacrifice and Revival, but the Hero of Shadows!

"Exactly! That’s right!"

"Leaders of the Democratic Country, I ask you this! Why did you place the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival on the board as a pawn in the plans you designed?! Why was the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival made into a sacrifice for your humiliating diplomacy! We tolerated it until now, but this time, we simply cannot endure it any longer!"

"That’s right! Well said!"

‘Damn... they hit the right nerve.’

I felt like the issue was that they pushed the Park-Ki-Ri siblings to the front lines.

‘Their voices are ridiculously persuasive too... damn it.’

Yeah, putting those idiots at the forefront was probably the problem. They had experience stirring people up before, so I figured they’d do well enough, but...

‘It’s only been two days.’

It had only been two days since I gave them the assignment. Just two days, and they managed to gather this many people. Honestly, even if I were to announce a surprise public prayer gathering where I would show up naked, I probably still wouldn’t be able to gather a crowd this massive.

Even if the core of the movement consisted of people under Priest Benet’s hypnosis... 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

‘This is still seriously unbelievable...’

Last night, I heard that Kim Ye-Ri was controlling things on Benigoa Net, Park Deok-Gu was running around in person, and Ahn Ki-Mo was preparing the protest, so I just assumed they were handling things well enough.

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that it would turn into something like this sight before me.

"Next, let us welcome one of our proud young citizens studying abroad in the Republic!"

"Greetings! I’ll skip the formalities and say this directly to the leaders of the Democratic Country! Just how much longer do you intend to politically exploit the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival?!"

"The Saint of Sacrifice and Revival isn’t someone you can freely manipulate! Never forget that the seats you occupy now were built upon the blood and sweat of the people of the Democratic Country!"

"That’s right!"

"We sincerely beg you to stop using the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival for political purposes any longer!”

‘Yeah. That's probably the decisive factor.’

Right. The idea that came out of Park Deok-Gu’s head was perhaps the main reason behind this entire situation. Instead of turning the arrows toward me, they redirected them toward the leaders of the Democratic Country. It was the correct move, and honestly, it was such a good idea that it made me want to clap in admiration.

It was a little embarrassing to say this myself, but the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival basically had overwhelming approval rates throughout the Democratic Country.

Honestly, outside of Benigoa Net, one couldn't find people openly opposing the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival or criticizing him. In reality, those acting like that would get treated like a lunatic by everyone around them, or they would be treated like some irredeemable trash nobody wanted to associate with.

On top of that, since Han Sora and I had succeeded in getting the extremists together and framing them all up, there was no way those bastards would crawl out into the open.

Yet despite that, a myriad of anti-peace treaty protesters gathered here, and it was probably because they genuinely believed that they were protecting the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival.

They were convinced that the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival had been dragged into some sinister Vatican conspiracy orchestrated by the Democratic Country leaders and forced into the humiliating position of begging the Hero of Shadows for peace.

Thanks to that, all kinds of people opposing the peace treaty for their own reasons proudly crawled out into the open, too. Ordinary extremists, racists, and even idiots who personally hated me were all standing there, wearing masks and shouting together.

The Democratic Country Citizens’ Alliance, the Benigoa Order Followers Association, the Democratic Country Flag Brigade, the Honorary Cardinals Prayer Council, and a bunch of other unknown groups were waving mysterious flags and screaming at the top of their lungs.

There were even anti-peace treaty factions on the Republic side as well. It seemed those idiots seemed to be in a pretty similar situation.

Apparently, they believed the Hero of Shadows was being pressured by the Republic Chancellor. No matter how one looked at it, the two groups were combinations that weren't supposed to be able to work together in any way possible, but whether it was to inflate their numbers or to oppose the pro-peace treaty rally together, they were shouting side by side, separated only by a thin, temporary wall.

"Humiliating diplomacy! Step down! Step down!"

"Humiliating diplomacy! Step dooown! Step doooooown!

"Humiliating diplomaaaaacy! Step dooown! Step doooooown!"

"Oscar must resign! Resign!"

‘What the hell is that "Oscar must resign" part? Where did you bastards even come from?’

Little by little, agitators shouting slogans nobody could understand appeared among the crowd, too. Those guys were definitely hired by the parliamentary faction opposing Oscar.

"Free the Honorary Cardinal! Free him!"

‘I’m already free.’

“The Vatican must guarantee that the Saint of Sacrifice and Revival will hold public prayer ceremonies three times a week!"

‘Seriously, every kind of lunatic imaginable showed up for this event.’

To make matters worse, their voices weren’t even unified. Of course, there was still one massive crowd centered around the key figures of the protest, like Park Deok-Gu, Kim Ye-Ri, and Ahn Ki-Mo. They stood atop the large platform with headbands on, but the smaller groups gathered around them were all shouting completely different things.

Honestly, the pro-peace treaty side wasn’t much different either. The overall atmosphere there was relatively peaceful. Everyone was waving their Goddess’s Hand Mirrors around, and the demonstration itself was proceeding in such a calm and orderly manner that I nodded unconsciously at the sight of it.

Unfortunately, like any gathering, there were bound to be radicals on that side, too. Since they had specifically come here today for a counter-protest, the ones standing closest to the anti-peace treaty demonstrators were screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs.

Some of them were even throwing objects. The Republic soldiers were desperately trying to keep things under control somehow, but of course, it wasn’t easy. There were simply too many people, and the atmosphere was unbelievably volatile as well.

Normally, the Republic security forces would storm in and crush the entire thing immediately, but with the attention of the entire continent focused here, there was no way they could do that.

They definitely didn’t want to see headlines about how the Republic had violently stopped a public protest splashed across the front pages of media outlets tomorrow.

‘Damn it... things would’ve been fine if the counter-protestors hadn’t shown up. Seriously, why the hell is there a counter-protest?’

I honestly felt nervous staring at the two sides divided only by a single stretch of road. They looked like warriors worked into a frenzy right before a battle.

The trembling legs of the rookie soldiers who were dragged here to control the protestors caught my eye for no reason. There was also another person looking nervous for seemingly no reason.

The moment I stepped outside the room, he was waiting for me just as I had expected.

“...”

“...”

Naturally, it was Kim Hyun-Sung.

“Mr. Ki-Young... perhaps we should postpone the schedule...”

“There are too many people gathered here, and they are too worked up. I know it probably won’t happen, but I’m worried about your safety. Even setting that aside, some other kind of accident could occur. Like what you mentioned before...” he added.

“No, you don’t need to worry about Luci—I mean, that side of things. Rangers from the Black Swan are hidden among the crowds. As I said before, the enemy can’t really make a move in this situation either. At most, they’ll probably just observe. The Black Swan is waiting and will track them down,” I said, reassuring him.

“But–”

“You don’t need to worry so much. We aren't in a random place; it’s right in front of Commander Jin's estate, and he's the Republic’s Hero of Shadows. His side will be prepared. The peace delegation is here, too.

"And the Shadow Estate itself is protected by powerful barriers. More importantly, you’re here too, Mr. Hyun-Sung. Ha-Yan is here as well... so what exactly is there to worry about?” I added.

‘Honestly, having you two here is what worries me.’

If Lee Chang-Ryeol were beside me instead, I probably would feel safer.

“S-Sora, look over there,” Jung Ha-Yan said, pointing her finger somewhere.

“Ah... huh? Miss Jung Ha-Yan?” Han Sora said.

“See all those people gathered over there?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

“Yes, of course I do,” Han Sora answered.

“Wouldn’t it be hilarious if I were to make a giant hammer and smash it down right in the middle of them?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

“Y-You know that you absolutely can’t do that, right? Miss Jung Ha-Yan...” Han Sora replied.

“Of course I know. What kind of person do you think I am? I-I was just saying that it’d be funny...” Jung Ha-Yan muttered.

At this point, it would be strange not to feel nervous upon hearing something like that. It wasn’t that I was worried about myself getting hurt. I was worried that innocent civilians could end up getting blown apart for no reason.

If I hadn’t spent the last two days traveling around the Republic with Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Ha-Yan and genuinely having a good time with them, I would’ve been shaking with anxiety, too. Fortunately, we had spent the whole trip laughing and enjoying ourselves without any incidents.

‘They shouldn’t be stressed or anything.’

Han Sora and Kim Hyun-Sung seemed a little awkward around each other whenever the four of us ate together, but aside from that, there really weren’t any problems. Honestly, it almost felt like Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Ha-Yan had adjusted their schedules together through private conversations, as they respected each other’s time so carefully that we ended up following completely packed itineraries every day.

What stayed with me the most was how happy Ha-Yan looked after getting to spend even a little more time with me.

“B-but... it’s kind of a shame, Sora...” Jung Ha-Yan remarked.

“Why?” Han Sora asked.

“Once we... finish everything over here... the trip will end,” Jung Ha-Yan answered.

“...”

Since she was technically talking to Han Sora while obviously trying to make sure that I heard her as well, I naturally turned toward her and chimed in, “We can always go out together more once we get back home. The Republic is too far away to bring Se...ra with us, but let’s all go out together as a group of four once we're back home.”

“R-Really?!” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

“Of course,” I said.

“Then... d-does that mean I can plan the schedule?”

“Oh... do you want to?” I asked.

“Y-Yes! S-Sora!” Jung Ha-Yan shouted.

“That’s wonderful, Miss Jung Ha-Yan! This time, Sera gets to come, too!” Han Sora exclaimed.

“...”

“...”

“I’ll look into days when my schedule’s free, too, Mr. Hyun-Sung,” I said.

“Ah! Okay! Then I should prepare on my side as well.”

Kim Hyun-Sung had been staring at Jung Ha-Yan with an openly jealous face, so I ended up granting him a free Lee Ki-Young Pass as well. As a result, his face finally brightened up.

It honestly felt a little like I was raising two children, which was mildly bewildering. Anyway, I noticed that the irritating bastard inside the estate had been impatiently waiting for us this whole time, so I decided to say, “Looks like it’s about time. Shall we go?”

The moment I cautiously stepped forward, camera flashes erupted from all directions while the roaring shouts of the multitude slammed into my ears. It was like they had all been waiting for us.