Chapter 2098: Meeting

Emperor Rael narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the spread of documents on his table. In the past week, he had entirely refamiliarized himself with all of the happenings in Kandria and in all of East Panama.

He had gotten a thorough understanding of all the domestic and international shifts in the balance of power and capital.

The Kandrian Empire had not come out of the Kandrian Throne War doing too well.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Kandrian Empire had been doing just fine on paper. A substantial influx of capital bolstered net exports to a rate of growth that actually touched double-digit percentage points.

However, the Emperor of Harmony had eruditely arrived at the truth after conducting a meta-analysis on the topic. His investigations revealed that while the Kandrian Empire had indeed gotten richer, that was largely due to an influx of capital from foreign powers who had invested in one of the eight prime royals competing for the throne, including Rui.

These included nations, commercial organizations of all kinds, factions, sects, and other power blocs that had each wished to influence not only who his successor was to be but also what kind of acts they ought to take as the next ruler.

The Kandrian Empire was truly powerful in every facet of evaluation and measure, and many powers had deemed it worthy to try and invest a lot in manipulating its next ruler.

That was why the numbers were misleading.

While a lot of money entered Kandria from foreign power blocs, a lot of capital had also left the empire. Many medium and even decently large businesses had left the nation in fear of the next ruler. After all, whoever the next ruler was, they had the power to set the nation ablaze, literally and figuratively. And considering that most of the prime candidates had been utterly insane, many had written Kandria off and left.

And now that the Throne War had long ended and the money stopped flowing in, this weakness had settled in.

The Kandrian economy was weaker than he had left it in.

It was an unfortunate turn of events.

Until he regained his old power and influence, restored Kandria's economy to its former peak, and restored the balance of power within the nation, there was absolutely no way in hell that he could even consider starting the war.

However, he could start long-term planning.

There were countless conditions that needed to be fulfilled before it was time to begin executing his war plan.

The biggest one was dealing with the overwhelming military imbalance between the Kandrian Empire and, well, all of East Panama. Obviously, in a symmetric all-out war, Kandria stood no chance in a war against a significant chunk of all human civilization. The other three powerful Sage-level powerhouses.

However, Emperor Rael knew better than anybody else that war was not symmetric.

It was won and lost outside of the battles.

There were a myriad of ways to lock an enemy's military and Martial power through means that many would not be able to even fathom, let alone manifest.

Rael could, however.

A germ of a strategy had already formed in his mind, one that painted a picture where Kandria rose above all others unstopped.

It was possible.

A future that Emperor Rael intended to manifest.

CLACK

Emperor Rael's attention shifted as a woman garbed in formal attire stepped in.

She bowed deeply. "Your Majesty, they're here."

"Mmm..." Emperor Rael put aside a file he was looking at. "...Rather unceremonious of them."

"...You know how they are, Your Majesty."

"And what about my son?"

"He has just entered into deep training at the Daracol Base. According to the Intelligence Bureau, he will most likely spend a few years in deep training."

"...I see." A smile cracked at the edge of his mouth. "Now, lead the way."

He exited his Royal Office as his assistant guided him down to the Royal Conference Hall.

The closer he approached, the more he could feel the world bending to the weight of the beings of his guests. It was a sensation he never got used to, no matter how many times he felt it. It was always surreal to experience such enormous power concentrated within individual beings.

CLACK

The gates before him opened as Emperor Rael found himself gazing at the Sage Council of the Martial Union. They sat across a large table with eleven extravagant thrones that they rested upon before a giant ostentatious table.

They gazed at him with deep eyes. "Rael."

Had anyone outside of the Royal Family dared to address the Emperor of Kandria in such an irreverent manner, they would have been imprisoned for violating the law. Yet, they were the Martial Sages of the Martial Union.

A civil war would break out in any attempt to do so.

"My friends." Rael smiled. "It has been a long time. I see that not only have each of you been doing well but that your numbers have increased since our last meeting."

His gaze met Matriarch Nephi's eyes as he sat down on his giant Royal Throne.

"You have my gratitude, mother."

Matriarch Nephi's eyes flared with rage. "Don't you dare call me that."

The anger of a Martial Sage was not something that any human could withstand.

Unfortunately for her, the Emperor of Harmony was anything but that.

"Such hostility." He closed his eyes. "Yet, despite all of that..."

His eyes opened as a powerful gaze pinned her.

"...you still helped heal me."

His son had not been remiss in informing him about the power and importance of his mother-in-law's prophecy and how it had saved them from inevitable death many times during their perilous voyage through the Beast Domain.

Her gaze faltered as a complicated expression appeared on her face.

"Hmph." She snorted lightly. "I didn't do it for you. I did it for my grandson."

A soft smile cracked at the edge of his mouth. "Is that so? Regardless, thank you for helping to heal me, mother."

"I said don't call me that!"