It only took Olivia two days to contact me again, telling me to meet her below my apartment block.
I got dressed as usual and gave the excuse that I was being called by the MAM before I left the house.
I had to dodge my sister's question about their building being destroyed but I just feigned ignorance and left the house before they could get more suspicious.
Olivia then showed up with her car and I climbed in, taking the passenger seat beside her.
"What's going on now?" I asked.
"We're ready to move forward with the next phase, my Lord."
"And the next phase is…?"
"Establishing you as a Mortal God of Singapore within the South Asian Conglomerate."
"I thought we already did that?"
She shook her head, "It was more of an informal press conference. This one is more official where the leadership of the countries around us will formally recognise you as our Mortal God."
I frowned, "What's the difference?"
"Nothing much really… It's just a way for the politicians to legitimise themselves and show off to the other alliances. You will be meeting with a… Ahem… A 'handler' that they chose who will brief you on this later."
"A… 'Handler'?" I repeated, giving her an odd look. "Is this what I think it is? They want to try to maintain some kind of authority over me or something?"
"In a sense…"
"Where is this 'handler' from? They're not Singaporean, I hope?"
She shook her head, "As my Lord knows, we are part of the South Asian Conglomerate which comprises the countries that used to make up South East Asia with the addition of Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand added in. Instead of consolidating under one government like what some of the others have done, we have agreed to remain as individual nations working together in a group instead. In doing so, they needed a council with representatives to speak for each country and to represent us on the world stage."
I nodded, "I am aware of that, yes. Even facing a crisis like this, we were still allowing such stuff to divide us… So I assume this 'handler' guy is a representative sent by council itself instead and not really our own county's decision?"
"That is correct, my Lord."
"So there would basically just be someone there to watch over me to make sure I don't do something that might jeopardise their position once I am settled into my official status recognised by the rest of the world?"
A small smile appeared on Olivia's lips, "That is also correct, my Lord."
I read between the lines and understood that there's definitely some political manoeuvrings happening behind the scenes and they're basically treating me like a chess piece on the board while they are the players.
I guess I will have to see how they treat me and then deal with it accordingly.
Olivia drove us down to the Orchard Road area before going past it towards the Dhoby Ghaut area.
Eventually, we turned down a side road towards a police checkpoint that was set up in front of a large set of gates that looked like it was the entrance to some kind of nature preserve.
It dawned on me where we were going and I turned to her, "This meeting is being held in The Istana?"
"Yes, my Lord."
Right… No big deal… I'm basically going to the building that houses the offices for the president and prime minister of our country…
I put on my mask as the car pulled up towards the gate, "I'm not going to meet the president or the prime minister, am I?"
"Not today, my Lord. I have made sure that all of them are made aware of your preference to not meet any politicians at this time."
I let out a sigh of relief at that since I want to keep out of politics as much as possible.
I know that the moment that I let myself get involved in that, I would be dragged into it and wanting to get out of it would almost be an impossibility.
Seeing the crowd of police officers that were gathered around the entrance, anyone could tell that there was something important happening here since there wouldn't be this many police officers stationed here on normal days.
We stopped in front of the checkpoint and Olivia rolled down the windows as two officers approached the vehicle, one on both sides.
The one at Olivia's side bent down to peek into the vehicle, "Can I know what you are-- Oh… Ah… Sorry."
He immediately straightened up and waved at the others that were blocking off the gates with exaggerated hand motions.
Almost instantly, I could feel the atmosphere around the people guarding the gates shift as they hurriedly cleared the way for us without another word and allowed us to drive through.
"I'm surprised… I thought to the normal people they would still think I'm dead or missing?" I commented as I watched the ones near the gate salute while we drove past.
"The people involved in this event already know that you are still alive, my Lord."
"Isn't that pretty dangerous? What if they made another attempt on my life again?"
"Do not worry, my Lord. We have made the necessary precautions for this event."
I was going to ask what kind of precautions she prepared but we were already coming up onto the main building where even more security was present and surrounding the premises like there was a crime scene involved.
The first thing I noticed was that the security team was composed mostly of people who were clearly from other Worlds instead of being locals.
I'm guessing this was what she meant by precautions as they limited the number of humans that were stationed here and used other worlders instead.
We stopped right in front of the entrance to the main building and several of the guards immediately surrounded the vehicle.
A short distance away from the entrance were several media teams that were already taking pictures the moment our car appeared in their view.
I guess after this, everyone would definitely know that our country's Mortal God is still alive.
My door was directly in front of the entrance and one of them opened the door for me, allowing me to step out.
Olivia also stepped out and there must have been some arrangement involved because the person nearest to her quickly slid into the driver's seat to take over, allowing her to accompany me into the building.
That was also when several familiar faces appeared from the doorway.
"It is good to see that you are well, young God," Avatasia greeted me with a bow, her oversized mage hat dipping forward.
Behind her were the same people who had fought alongside me during the expedition, namely the shield girl, Jia Lian; The centaur, Leena; The catboy, Kris; And the former assassin, Sergei.
Right… So I'm guessing they are part of my security detail for this event.
I nodded at them, "It is also good to see all of you as well."
Kris looked up at me, his cat ears twitching, "Are you sure you're well, Mortal God? I saw the aftermath of the attack… It looked pretty bad…"
I turned to him, "I am fine. Olivia did her best to protect me."
The red Oni in question stepped up beside me and nodded at the Guardians in greeting, "Remember what we are here for today. The danger targeting our Lord has not passed."
Sergei spoke up, his Russian accent coating his words, "Do not worry, nothing will harm the Mortal God while he is under our watch, miss Olivia."
We then entered the building and more security came over to us to start guiding us through the entrance hall.
As we were walking through the hallways however, a guy who looked like a politician came up to intercept us, stopping us in our tracks.
He looked especially nervous and he kept glancing in my direction before he stopped in front of Olivia.
"Miss Olivia? Ermm… I was told to inform you that… You would need to report to a cabinet meeting later with the other ministers in attendance…"
Olivia didn't seem too surprised by the news but she didn't look happy either, "I am acting as a guard for my Lord right now."
"Ah… Umm… They said… He should attend as well… It's about your position in the MAM…"
She let out an audible sigh before nodding, "Fine."
The guy then scurried away and I turned to raise an eyebrow at her, "What's that about?"
"It's just some things that are being moved ahead of schedule. I'll deal with it, my Lord. If it is not too troublesome… May I request that you also attend this meeting?"
Seeing that this seems pretty important, I guess I should be present for it as well.
So much for not meeting any politicians I guess…
I agreed to her request and we continued walking through the building until we reached where was supposed to be the reception hall that had been set up to hold this event here.
Alright… Guess it's time for me to make my appearance again…