Chapter 153: Harald, Go Work in the Shadows
At this very moment in Mary Geoise, Harald, who had returned to the Holy Land, looked at the newspaper in his hands, his eyes equally filled with confusion.
As early as a few years ago, rumors were circulating on the sea that Nereus was cracking down on pirates.
However, at that time, Harald had been honestly doing his uncredited dirty work in the Florian Triangle. Faced with these rumors and gossip, he merely treated them as misinformation.
Now that it was blatantly published in the newspaper, even Harald didn't understand.
After working in the shadows for so many years, not even returning to Elbaf once, the results of his labor ended up being grafted onto Nereus, shaping the latter into the image of a "Wise King."
He had worked so hard for so many years, yet the beneficiary was someone else; Harald fundamentally couldn't understand it.
And this was only part of it. Representing the Ryugu Kingdom to participate in the Levely... this kind of thing was Harald's dream. He also wanted to represent Elbaf at this conference.
Even Harald wanted an answer now.
"Saint Garling, please tell me... why are the contents of the newspaper like this?"
"Who knows? That's how it was arranged from above. Even the order for you to temporarily return to Mary Geoise was a sudden decision. You'll naturally understand once you meet the Five Elders."
Faced with Harald's questions, Garling didn't show any impatience, but instead patiently explained the reasons.
Harald got along decently well with the people of God's Knights. Accurately speaking, in the original timeline, due to his strength and various other reasons, the members of God's Knights actually recognized Harald's worth.
Before Imu personally intervened with some bizarre maneuvers, everything was developing amicably.
Under Garling's lead, Harald quickly entered the newly rebuilt Mary Geoise. Ultimately, they had still chosen the original architectural style; everything looked exactly as it used to.
It was said that to artificially age the buildings and maintain that sense of history so they wouldn't look too new, an extra sum of money was even spent.
"Saint Saturn."
Unlike with Nereus, where he spoke to all five of them, facing Harald, the Five Elders only had Saturn come forward to deal with him.
Seeing Saturn appear, Harald dropped to one knee. Even if he harbored some dissatisfaction earlier, he appeared extremely respectful at this moment, lowering his posture completely.
"Harald, you've seen the newspaper, haven't you?"
Unlike Nereus—who kicked down their door and forced them into peace talks due to orders from their direct superior—Saturn much preferred people like Harald. At least the latter respectfully came begging for terms.
Yet, when facing Harald, Saturn's attitude was actually much tougher. There was no friendliness in his tone; he was merely announcing orders with zero emotion.
"I've seen it. I want to know why."
"Harald, the World Government has its own considerations. This is a choice we made after careful deliberation. In past history, the Giant Tribe has always been synonymous with ferocity, a point you are well aware of.
The treatment of the Fish-man and Merfolk races is much worse, and Nereus's demands are actually the same as yours."
"The same as... mine? Saint Saturn, are you sure... you didn't misspeak?"
Harald's tone was hesitant. Pointing at himself, he asked in disbelief.
Although parts of Nereus's pursuits were similar to his own, Harald felt the differences between them should still be quite massive.
"Harald, are you questioning me?"
"No, Saint Saturn, that is not what I meant..."
"The World Government has its own considerations. The number of people harmed by your Giant Tribe is far greater than those harmed by the Fish-man and Merfolk races. Directly vindicating you like this would be unacceptable to many.
As fellow demi-humans, letting the Ryugu Kingdom test the waters and gauge the attitudes of others first, and then considering how to clear the name of your Giant Tribe based on the results—this is the World Government's true plan.
This is our painstaking effort."
In just a few words, Saturn had fabricated a perfectly reasonable excuse for what they had done.
"We have not forgotten our original promise, Harald. Your efforts will not be in vain, you just need to wait a little longer."
"I understand."
Harald chose to believe this reason. Back then, he had come here with the mindset that he would change the status quo even if it meant becoming a slave.
Although he wanted an explanation from the World Government, even if they couldn't provide one, there was nothing he could say; he would only choose to accept his fate.
Now that Saturn was willing to properly explain things to him, Harald actually felt a bit moved and became satisfied with the current situation.
"There is another reason you were called back this time. You are also aware that Nereus will participate in this Levely in his capacity as King."
Speaking up to this point, Saturn's tone suddenly paused, as if somewhat hesitant, but he still laid out the arrangement for Harald.
"Under normal circumstances, the Marines provide escort services for member nations participating in the conference. This is customary practice, and the Ryugu Kingdom will be no exception."
"Does Nereus... need an escort?"
Harald couldn't imagine a situation where enemies encountered would be too much for Nereus to handle, yet those escort guards could defeat them.
"In terms of strength, he doesn't need it. But this is standard procedure; any nation participating in the Levely receives this service.
Since we are letting him participate in the conference, the World Government will not show favoritism or bias in this regard.
But concerning Fish-man Island, it's not convenient for the Marines to go down there."
Sending the Marines to escort Nereus could result in unpredictable accidents.
Who knows if Nereus might find a certain Marine an eyesore and suddenly strike to kill. When that time came, another political crisis would emerge, and the World Government would have to find new excuses to cover it up.
Moreover, although the World Government didn't care about the Marines' face, making the Marines execute this mission was asking a bit too much of them.
The most crucial point was, if Nereus really wanted to do something, let alone stop him, those Marines wouldn't even be able to transmit a message out.
God's Knights might be able to get a message out, but letting them meet with Nereus... they might just lose a few lives.
After much deliberation, only Harald could take on this task.
It presented no issues regarding procedure, and in terms of details, it could act as a slight restraint on Nereus.
"Furthermore, this way, you can legitimately show your face at the Levely and meet the Kings of other member nations. Consider it paving the way for your future."
In the end, Saturn drew another big, empty pie of a promise for Harald.
Harald also knew that Nereus killing all those Marines was definitely a fact. Although the World Government used various excuses to rewrite this truth, they couldn't conceal its existence.
Saturn's reasoning wasn't entirely unreasonable. Although that final rosy promise was somewhat illusory, Harald still chose to swallow it whole and accepted Saturn's mission.
Carrying a Transponder Snail, he boarded a ship and headed towards Fish-man Island below.
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