Looking at the noisy crowd in the Arena, Jierunifu once again turned his attention to the pen, ink, and paper already prepared on the viewing stand's table.
The reason for choosing the boisterous Arena as the meeting place and preparing paper was entirely for caution; it would be very difficult to eavesdrop in such a noisy environment!
Moreover, Jierunifu planned to communicate important messages directly on paper. To this extent, there shouldn't be any more mishaps!
Although he knew it was troublesome, given the lack of transparency regarding the Magic Kingdom's intelligence, he could only be this cautious. After all, he didn't know the full extent of the Magic Kingdom's capabilities.
He had already suffered two losses due to underestimating his opponents. The first was naturally Elizabeth, and the second was Elizabeth's father, Magic Caster King Ainz Ooal Gown himself. Both times, it was due to underestimating the opponent that led to the Empire's current passive situation.
"If only I had known the limits of Ainz Ooal Gown and Elizabeth's power earlier, it wouldn't have been so troublesome," Jierunifu said, looking at the paper on the table.
"It is right to be cautious, Your Majesty. Moreover, I believe we should not only be wary of these two, but also investigate their retainers, shouldn't we? Perhaps those people are even stronger than these two?" Bajed offered a very sensible suggestion.
"That... that shouldn't be possible..." Jierunifu replied, but cold sweat had already begun to pour down his forehead uncontrollably.
What Bajed said was right, it was just that Jierunifu was unwilling to admit it. Leaving aside everything else, if Jierunifu himself were to compete in raw strength with the Empire's generals, he would undoubtedly lose completely. If he himself was like this... what if Ainz Ooal Gown was also like this? It was simply unimaginable.
"Listen... listen carefully! Such a thing is absolutely impossible!" Jierunifu said something quite self-deceiving. Ultimately, in the absence of intelligence, there is no absolute.
Just then, there were three knocks on the door.
"Your Majesty, the guests have arrived. There are six of them. I have seen the Chief Priest before, so it should be him," Flewaltz's voice came from outside the door.
"Then please let them in." Jierunifu gave Ningbul a look, signaling him to open the door, though the door didn't even have a lock.
"Hmm? Can you wait a moment? Those few behind... Forgive me, although the number is the same, I always feel that the oppressive aura emanating from one of them is so strong? Could you please tell us which faction you are from?" The voice of Flewaltz's companion came from outside the door.
"This is really troublesome. These individuals are just personnel sent by the Church to act as guards. It's normal for them to have some imposing presence. Besides... we came here because we received His Majesty's summons. If you show hostility towards us, you might anger His Majesty." An unknown voice came from outside the door, likely from the Church's side.
"Then forgive me, could you please wait here for a moment? I will go confirm." Without waiting for the speaker to come in and confirm, Jierunifu himself stepped out to avoid any further complications.
The Senior Priest of Wind and the Firegod-Official were indeed correct. Behind them stood four highly suspicious figures, dressed in very plain Chief Priest robes with hoods pulled low, completely obscuring their faces, making them appear quite strange.
Although he had never had contact with Theocracy personnel before, with the Chief Priest of his own country's Church present, not trusting the other party would prevent them from having a proper discussion.
"They are indeed the guests I am waiting for. Excuse me... can you let them in directly?" Jierunifu said.
After all, even the Emperor himself had come out, so the Silver Thread Bird members no longer hesitated and let them in...
After entering the room and closing the door, the four suspicious figures still did not remove their hoods. Although it was very disrespectful to do so in front of an Emperor, now was not the time to dwell on matters of etiquette. Just as he was wary of them, they were very likely wary of him.
"I apologize, my security personnel have caused you trouble." Jierunifu forced a smile and directed his gaze to the shortest of the four individuals.
He felt that this figure looked somewhat familiar... as if he had seen it somewhere before. Although she was wearing a loose Chief Priest robe, one could still discern the impressive bust of this short Chief Priest. Was she a female Chief Priest?
But for such a petite female Chief Priest to have such an impressive bust... he felt it was very similar to someone. Was it his imagination?
No, no... no matter how resourceful that Female Devil was, she couldn't have infiltrated here in such a short time. It seemed he was indeed too afraid of that Female Devil, becoming overly sensitive at the sight of any female with a similar build, Jierunifu thought.
"Please don't mind it, it's right to be cautious," the Senior Priest of Wind from the Church said. Then, only one of the four individuals took a seat, while the other three stood in a line behind, including the short female Chief Priest.
Jierunifu also took his seat, then picked up the pen and paper on the table and wrote the words "Holy Scripture." The Chief Priest who had sat down merely nodded in response.
It was clear then; the one seated was definitely the Holy Scripture Chief Priest from Theocracy. The three behind him must all be guards. After all, he was a Chief Priest of Theocracy's Six-Colors Holy Scripture unit, so it was normal for him to bring bodyguards who exuded an imposing presence.
"Alright, alright, since everyone is here, let's enjoy the match first!" The Chief Priest from the Church beside him said. In such a noisy environment, eavesdropping would surely be difficult, which was precisely why Jierunifu had chosen this place as the meeting location.
Then, the seated Holy Scripture Chief Priest took out a letter and handed it to Jierunifu.
Jierunifu cautiously took it, carefully shielding the contents of the envelope with his body so that no one could peek from the side or behind.
The general content of the letter was concise: why the Magic Caster King was asked to use that magic, why the Empire assisted the Magic Kingdom in its founding, what the Empire's future stance would be, how much intelligence the Empire had on the Magic Kingdom, and so on.
If it was just a letter, it could have been sent directly. However, Theocracy chose to deliver it in person, and the one who came was the Chief Priest of Theocracy's Holy Scripture unit, indicating that Theocracy attached great importance to this matter.
However, judging by the attitude of the Holy Scripture Chief Priest, who still refused to remove his hood, Theocracy was indeed still wary of the Magic Kingdom, or rather... distrusted the Empire? Jierunifu thought.
Although it was somewhat unpleasant, from the other party's perspective, it was understandable for them to distrust the Empire, which had allied with and assisted the Magic Kingdom in its founding. So, he would begin by explaining the questions in the letter!
Jierunifu picked up the pen, just about to write his answer on the paper, when a particularly loud cheer erupted from outside.
"For this greatest match! Our Emperor Jierunifu is also present to watch! Spectators! Please look up at the VIP box!" The voice of the master of ceremonies from below the stage came.
"Apologies, I need to step away for a moment." Jierunifu could only put down the pen and paper, walk to the front of the viewing stand, and show his face to signal to the citizens.
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