Chapter 319
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 319
Chapter Title: There Is No Next
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On the surface, there was nothing particularly different about Rose's demeanor.
Her upright posture.
Her polite attitude and speech.
She looked exactly the same as always.
The only difference was that the gentle aura that had always surrounded her had vanished.
'W-What's going on?'
That was why Han Jeongguk was flustered.
He couldn't understand why he suddenly felt a chill.
Or why he felt like he'd made some grave mistake.
But he couldn't show weakness during negotiations.
Steeling himself with the pride of a national president, Han Jeongguk deliberately shouted in a strong voice.
"If you refuse to immediately lift the economic sanctions, we'll file a complaint against the Seven Dragon Group at the UN and condemn you!"
"Do as you like."
And he was left dumbfounded.
"...What did you say?"
"Hold an international conference to condemn us or impose regulations. Do whatever you want."
Rose spoke sternly to Han Jeongguk, whose eyes were wide like saucers.
"The UN won't budge just because you file a complaint against us."
"...!"
"In fact, I should be the one asking."
With genuine bafflement.
Infused with honest doubt.
Rose asked softly.
"Do you truly believe, with all your heart, that your country alone can pressure the Seven Dragon Society, which provides over 70% of the UN's operating funds?"
"Don't think money can buy everything!"
Taking Rose's words as mockery, Han Jeongguk flushed red with anger.
He knew full well that the UN operated largely on donations from the Seven Dragon Group.
That was why even major nations hesitated to touch the world's largest conglomerate.
But Han Jeongguk had his counterargument.
"Our nation has long been the world's hegemon! No matter how much you bully other countries with your money, regulating you is entirely within our power!"
Since the founding of the UN...
No, even before that, this nation had played the role of global hegemon.
With centuries of accumulated international influence, they could sway more than half the UN member states.
And if they could move the old major guilds through the UN, they could pressure even the Seven Dragon Group.
Han Jeongguk declared confidently.
And Rose didn't deny the fact itself.
She just added one condition.
"That might have been true until last year."
"...What do you mean by that?"
Why specify "until last year" of all things?
Gazing steadily at the suspicious and uneasy Han Jeongguk for a long moment, Rose finally spoke softly.
"I suspected as much, but hearing you just now confirms it. You really have no idea."
"No idea about what?"
"Why this nation has been treated as the world's hegemon until now."
"What nonsense is this? It's because we've contributed so much to the international community!"
"Contributions..."
Rose quietly chuckled as she mulled over Han Jeongguk's indignant outburst, as if he were making her look foolish.
A smile as beautiful as a lake.
And serene as its ripples.
But precisely because of that, the absence of warmth in her eyes stood out even more.
With that smile on her lips, she spoke.
"What contributions, exactly?"
"Are you mocking me right now?!"
"No, I'm asking sincerely because I'm curious."
Rose shook her head slightly.
Then continued.
"The aid supplies sent to Europe during the Demon God War?"
"The establishment of the International Peace Force during the World War?"
"Or leading the dissolution of the Continental Guardian Corps during the Spirit Uprising?"
She calmly asked if he knew of any other contributions.
Gritting his teeth at the composed Rose, Han Jeongguk spat.
"Don't forget—it was our nation that crushed your Seven Dragon Society's rebellion."
"True, that was indeed a major contribution."
The Seven Dragon Society had originally been a criminal organization.
And a princess was still just the head of that, wasn't she?
Even to Han Jeongguk's barbed words, Rose didn't get angry or deny it.
She simply accepted it calmly and added one more thing.
"If it truly was your nation's achievement."
"...Are you implying our country has been distorting history all this time?"
"What I'm saying is that those 'contributions' were the achievements of one individual, not your nation."
At that moment.
Han Jeongguk's face hardened without him realizing it.
He finally understood why Rose had been asking such strange questions.
"You're saying we could play the world's hegemon because of the merits piled up by that Rimon Asfelder?"
"Do you think otherwise?"
"Don't make me laugh!"
Bam!
Furious at the absurd insult, Han Jeongguk slammed his fist on the armrest.
And shouted sharply.
"Those are the merits our nation and ancestors built! It's not something that propagandist who monopolized the glory can boast about!"
"...Do you, the president of this nation, truly believe the Sword Duke is a hero fabricated by propaganda?"
"That's exactly why I'm saying this—as the president of this nation."
As if she hadn't expected such a response.
Han Jeongguk sneered at Rose's incredulous expression.
Of course, as president, and born before the Iron Age dawned, he knew the broad strokes of Rimon's heroic tales.
Slaying the seven dragons.
Vanquishing demon gods.
The myth of the absolute being who saved the world countless times.
But precisely because of that, Han Jeongguk could assert even more firmly.
That myth was riddled with contradictions—a fabrication—and Rimon's fame was nothing but manufactured renown.
"What makes you think that?"
Now, she seemed genuinely curious.
Asking for the basis of his conviction, Rose received an immediate answer from Han Jeongguk.
"If that propaganda were true, our nation would have long since become the dominant power in East Asia... no, the world."
If Sword Masters were truly superhumans.
And Rimon the strongest absolute among them.
Then the nation possessing him would have conquered the Zhonghua Seventy-Seven Federation long ago, boasting territory rivaling the United States or the Russian Khanate.
But their nation had only been a traditional power.
Never a great power.
Not even in eras when superpowers naturally held colonies.
Thus, the nation's failure to grow massively proved the limits of Sword Masters.
Evidence that Rimon was just a somewhat strong swordsman, not the legendary absolute.
Han Jeongguk declared proudly.
Rose's face hardened.
"...So, the fact that the Sword Duke didn't conquer foreign lands or massacre enemy armies for this nation proves his fame was fabricated?"
"Where in the world is a hero who doesn't get blood on their hands for their country?"
Whether out of patriotism.
Or to fulfill ambitions.
Just like current monarchs expanding territory for their nations.
If the Sword Duke were a true absolute, he would have—and should have—done the same.
Gazing at the sneering Han Jeongguk for a long silence, Rose finally spoke softly.
"...I see. Understood."
As the Blue Dragon Princess, she naturally knew about the World Peace Plan.
She had thought Han Jeongguk's dismissal of the Sword Duke as a fabricated hero stemmed from its influence.
But now she understood.
The monarchs' rise and the World Peace Plan were mere catalysts.
Han Jeongguk...
No, this nation's successive rulers had been seeking reasons to discard the Sword Duke even before the plan was implemented.
"In the end, you saw the Sword Duke merely as a convenient weapon."
A supreme weapon unshaken by lofty words of national duty or loyalty.
To those in power, it would only be a threat.
Finding her own belated realization amusing, Rose unwittingly let a faint smile slip.
Mistaking it for a sneer, Han Jeongguk furrowed his brow.
"Hmph, more like a convenient propaganda tool."
That was why, in the Iron Age, when true absolutes called monarchs emerged, the fake one fell.
To the convinced Han Jeongguk, Rose said softly.
"For the sake of his honor, your nation failed to become a superpower not due to any lack of the Sword Duke's power."
"What do you mean?"
"He didn't fail to conquer other nations—he simply chose not to."
As the princess of the Blue Dragon Clan, who had fiercely clashed with Rimon second only to the Black Dragon Clan.
Rose knew well.
Rimon only stepped forward when defending the nation.
In wars of aggression against others, he was always a bystander—or even an obstacle.
There were even rumors he'd once roundhouse-kicked a king who begged him to join an invasion.
...Perhaps the nation's rulers had turned against Rimon because generation after generation, they'd made similar requests and gotten the same treatment.
But to Rose, Rimon's actions were only natural.
"For he was Humanity's Guardian Deity before he was this nation's savior hero."
Han Jeongguk's view was thoroughly centered on this one nation.
Destroy other countries?
Exploit innocent foreigners?
If it benefited his nation, he'd do it without hesitation—a proper ruler's stance.
The problem was that Rimon prioritized world peace over one nation's glory.
"Had the Sword Duke drawn his sword for your nation, he might have unified the world into a great empire."
"... "
"But your nation would never have earned respect as the world's hegemon."
The sole reason nations had respected this country until now.
Was because it was the nation where Rimon—who saved the world countless times without demanding reward—had built and protected his Sword Tower.
But now that Rimon had severed ties.
No one would respect this nation anymore, and even UN complaints would find no support.
Having advised him, Rose stood.
Before leaving.
As if it had just occurred to her, she turned back to Han Jeongguk and said.
"And from now on, watch your words and actions more carefully."
With a faint smile.
Looking him straight in the eye.
The most merciful and righteous leader of the Seven Dragon Society.
Who never compromised with injustice.
The noblest princess of the Seven Dragon Society, second only to the Gold Dragon Clan in pride—the Blue Dragon Clan's.
Rose spoke softly to the man who, by threatening the Seven Dragon Society, had turned from a 'weakling' she should help into an 'enemy' defying her justice.
"This will be the last time I overlook your rudeness."
"...!"
Only because of past ties to Rimon would she spare them once.
Anyone threatening the Seven Dragon Society?
President or not, she and the Blue Dragon Clan alone could crumble their entire nation.
Facing Rose's calm warning.
Han Jeongguk finally understood.
No matter how gentle she seemed, she was still a princess of the Seven Dragon Society.
The head of the clan that dominated the world's smuggling networks—and still did.
And that he might have just turned the one entity he could beg for aid from into an enemy.
The president of what had once been the world's hegemon could only pale and stiffen upon this late realization.