At this moment, in Mariejois, Harald, who had returned to the Holy Land, looked at the newspaper in his hands, his eyes also filled with confusion.
As early as a few years ago, there had already been rumors on the seas that Nereus was cracking down on these pirates.
But at that time, Harald had been obediently working off the books in the Florian Triangle, and he had only treated those rumors as misinformation. [TN: In the previous chapters, I translated it incorrectly. It should be 'working off the books'.]
Now that it had been openly published in the newspaper, even Harald couldn't understand it anymore.
After working off the books for so many years, he hadn't even returned to Elbaf, yet in the end, everything was attributed to Nereus, shaping him into a "wise king."
After all his hard work over the years, someone else was reaping the benefits. Harald simply couldn't comprehend it.
And that was only part of it. Representing the Ryugu Kingdom at the Levely; this had been Harald's dream. He had also wanted to represent Elbaf at that conference.
Even Harald now wanted an answer.
"Saint Garling, may I ask… why is the content in the newspaper like this?"
"Who knows? That's just how it was arranged from above. Even having you return to Mariejois temporarily was a sudden decision. Once you meet the Five Elders, you'll naturally understand."
Faced with Harald's question, Garling did not show any impatience and instead patiently explained the situation.
Harald got along fairly well with the Knights of God. To be precise, in the original timeline, due to his strength and various factors, the members of the Knights of God also acknowledged Harald.
Before Imu personally stepped in with manipulative actions, everything had been developing in a friendly direction.
Under Garling's lead, Harald quickly entered the rebuilt Mariejois. In the end, the original style had been preserved, and everything looked just like before.
It was said that, in order to maintain that historical feel and make it appear less new, they had even spent an extra sum of money.
"Saint Saturn."
Unlike when Nereus spoke with all five of them, when facing Harald, the Five Elders only sent Saturn alone to handle the matter.
Upon seeing Saturn appear, Harald knelt on one knee. Even though he had some dissatisfaction before, he now behaved extremely respectfully, lowering his attitude.
"Harald, you've already seen the newspaper, haven't you?"
Unlike Nereus, who had come knocking on their door and forced them into negotiations due to orders from their superior, Saturn preferred someone like Harald. At least he came respectfully to ask for terms.
Yet when facing Harald, Saturn's attitude was even more forceful, with no friendliness in his tone, merely issuing orders without emotion.
"I've seen it. I want to know why."
"Harald, the World Government has its own considerations. This is a decision we made after careful deliberation. In past history, Giants have always been synonymous with brutality. You know this as well.
The treatment of the Fish-Men and Mermaids waa far 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 turned hesitant. After pointing at himself, he asked in disbelief.
Although some of Nereus's pursuits were similar to his own, Harald felt that the differences between them should still be quite large.
"Harald, are you questioning me?"
"No, Saint Saturn, that's not what I meant…"
"The World Government has its own considerations. The number of people harmed by you Giants far exceeds those harmed by the Fish-Men and Mermaids. If we were to directly absolve you, many people would not accept it."
As a fellow demi-human race, the plan of the World Government is to first let the Ryugu Kingdom test the attitudes of others, and then, based on the results, consider how to clear the name of your Giants.
This is our painstaking effort."
In just a few words, Saturn found a justification for what he had done.
"We have not forgotten our original promise, Harald. Your efforts will not be in vain, it just requires some patience."
"I understand."
Harald chose to believe this explanation. Back then, he had come here with the mindset that even if he had to become a slave, he would still change the status quo.
Although he wanted the World Government to give him an explanation, even if they couldn't, there was nothing he could do about it. He could only accept his fate.
Now that Saturn was willing to explain things to him properly, Harald instead felt somewhat moved and satisfied with the current situation.
"There is another matter for you to handle this time that we called you back. You also know that Nereus will participate in this Levely as a king."
At this point, Saturn's tone paused slightly, as if hesitating, but he still spoke of the arrangement for Harald.
"Under normal circumstances, the Marines provide escort services for affiliated nations attending the conference. This is the usual practice, and the Ryugu Kingdom will be no exception."
"Nereus… needs an escort?"
Harald couldn't imagine a situation where an enemy would be something Nereus couldn't handle, yet those escorts could.
"In terms of strength, he doesn't need it. But this is the standard procedure. Any country participating in the Levely will receive this service.
Since we are allowing him to attend the conference, the World Government will not treat him unfairly in this regard.
However, the Marines can't easily go down to Fishman Island."
If the Marines were sent to escort Nereus, who knew what kind of accident might occur.
If Nereus took a dislike to some Marine and suddenly killed them, it would create another political issue, and the World Government would have to come up with another excuse to cover it up.
Moreover, although the World Government doesn't care much about the Marines' face, assigning them this task would still be forcing things a bit too much.
Most importantly, if Nereus really decided to do something, those Marines wouldn't just fail to stop him, they might not even be able to relay any information.
The Knights of God could at least pass information back, but if they were to meet Nereus… they might lose a few lives in the process.
After thinking it over, Harald was the only one suitable for this task.
Procedurally, there would be no issues, and in practice, it could also somewhat restrain Nereus.
"Besides, this way you can also appear at the Levely in a reasonable manner, meet the kings of other affiliated nations, and consider it as laying the groundwork for your future."
At the end, Saturn painted Harald a tempting picture.
Harald also knew that Nereus killing so many Marines must be true. Although the World Government had used various reasons to rewrite this fact, it could not conceal its existence.
Saturn's reasoning was not entirely unreasonable, and although that final promise seemed somewhat illusory, Harald still chose to accept it and took on the task.
Carrying a Den Den Mushi, he set sail toward the Fishman Island below.
Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 25 chapters on my pa*reon.
Tiers-
1$- 10 chapters of OPUK
3$- 12 chapters
5$- 15 chapters
10$- 25 chapters