I entered the reception hall and I immediately wished that I was anywhere but here.
Everyone in that hall was clearly a politician and all eyes turned to me the moment I entered, making me feel like I was some kind of exotic animal on display.
I was honestly expecting to get swarmed at that point with all of them introducing themselves and trying to butter me up and ask me for favours but surprisingly, that didn't happen.
In fact, it looked more like they were keeping their distance from me instead and just watching me from where they were standing.
There was, however, one particular person who came up to me.
Just like most of the people here, he was definitely giving off the air of being involved in politics and he was wearing a grey suit that looked custom made.
He had a head of brown hair which he styled towards one side and a full faced beard that was neatly trimmed. From his skin tone I would guess that he was probably a European and just from his demeanor, I could already somehow tell that he looked down on the people around him.
Unlike the others in the reception hall who were wary of me, this guy was just strolling straight up to me without any sign of fear.
"You must be the newest Mortal God! Nice to meet you!" He greeted, his hand thrusting out towards me. "Julian Moreau! I will be your representative in the council for international matters!"
I frowned, "I was under the impression that I would be representing myself?"
I was also ignoring the hand that he had extended towards me, not because I wanted to but because Sergei and Kris were standing in front of me, blocking him from getting any closer.
I'm assuming they had been instructed not to let anyone near me today and I won't even be allowed to shake anyone's hands.
He didn't seem particularly concerned that his handshake was refused and just took his hand back while wiping his palm on his chest, his lips still curled up in a smile.
"Oh, that's not correct. We don't expect… Well… Divine beings like you to be interested in mortal politics. That's why you have a representative to speak in your name."
It's a good thing that I was wearing my mask so he couldn't see the look of disbelief I was showing underneath it.
Because the way he said it didn't look like he meant the politics were below me, but more like I was unqualified to take part in it.
"How would I even know that you are the best person to represent me? Your beliefs might run contrary to my own," I pointed out.
"Oh, that won't be a problem. Anything I decide will not affect you after all. What I am there to deal with is for the entirety of the region while making use of your name to back me up. There's no need for you to worry!"
I couldn't help but glance at the other people in the room to gauge their reactions.
Most of them seemed to be gaping at the guy or at least staring at him in shock, probably not expecting the guy to say everything he just said.
Like… This guy basically admitted that he doesn't care about me and that he was using me to boost himself to push his own agendas.
Avatasia was the one who actually spoke up, "Ara? I was under the impression that this place is where the supposed elites would gather? Why is someone like this here? It can't be that this is the best that this conglomerate… The World has to offer, right?"
He turned to smile at her, "My, you certainly keep interesting company with you, mister Mortal God."
I think the collective gasp coming from the people behind him could have sucked a plane out of the sky when they heard how he addressed me.
Avatasia was merely looking at the guy with amusement like she was watching some kind of animal performing a cute trick.
Kris seemed to also want to put his two cents in as he narrowed his eyes at the guy in front of him, "Wow… I think even back in my World… Something like this would warrant an execution…"
The good thing was that Kris whispered that part under his breath and I think I was the only one who heard him.
Julian turned back to me while maintaining his smile, "With that said. I'm only here to make a greeting right now so I'm happy to be working with you, mister Mortal God!"
He didn't even wait for a response before he turned his back on me and walked off.
Everyone seemed to be staring at me, waiting to see what I would do to him and from my experience in leading people, I know that this was a crucial time where I had to establish myself and let others know just what kind of Mortal God I was going to be.
If I were to back down here, they would think I was weak. It wouldn't even matter if the truth was that I wanted to keep the peace or that I really didn't care about his disrespect. Everyone here was a representative and they would see my inaction as a sign that I can be exploited.
And if I show such a sight to everyone, it would also reflect on my country as a whole as well.
That is why…
I turned to Sergei who had been watching me ever since the guy walked away and gave him a curt nod.
In that split second, I figured that the guy with the experience of being an assassin would know the best way to deal with someone like that.
He immediately understood and responded with a nod in return before he reached out his hand towards Julian who was still walking away.
Shadows shot out from his hand and wrapped around the guy in question, pulling him back and causing him to let out a yelp of surprise before he was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor.
He tried to get up but Sergei flipped his hand and the shadows reacted with his movement to flip Julian onto his knees to face me.
The guy let out an indignant yell, "Hey?! What the hell are you doing?!"
Sergei said nothing and pulled out a dagger from underneath his cloak that had a blade as long as his arm before placing it against the guy's neck.
It looked like he was prepared to just slice the guy's neck open right there and then so I quickly raised my hand again, prompting him to stop.
I turned to Olivia, "Is this guy more useful alive or dead?"
Olivia shifted her gaze towards the guy who was being forced on his knees and still looking confused on what was happening.
"I will have to make a case that he is more useful alive to us right now, but he is definitely replaceable. We will go as my Lord wishes."
Right… That means that it would definitely be troublesome for us going forward if he was dead so we should leave him alive for now.
But of course, we can't just let him go without at least doing something to him so I turned back to Sergei.
"Don't kill him, just make sure he is punished for his transgressions."
I was honestly just making things up at that point since I really had no idea how much was too much.
Sergei nodded and pulled his blade away from Julian's neck before forcing the guy up to his feet.
"Are you left handed or right handed?" He asked.
It sounded like a completely innocent question, if you didn't realise the reason why he was asking it to begin with.
Julian seemed to be one of those who were clueless and just answered without a second thought, "Ri… Right handed… Why?"
Sergei then lifted up his blade and sliced off the little finger of Julian's left hand, the former assassin stepping back before the blood from the finger could get onto his cloak.
The hall was filled with the screams of that guy as he clutched his hand and fell back to his knees.
Ouch…
To be fair, that seems reasonable… And I have a feeling Sergei even went easy on him considering where we were right now.
I would think that if it was any other Mortal God standing here right now, this guy would have been dead the moment he opened his mouth to speak, no questions asked.
I watched as Sergei took out a cloth to wipe the blood off his dagger before sheathing it into his cloak and returning back to my side.
Everyone else didn't seem surprised by how this had turned out and a few were even nodding in approval at the sight.
None of us paid the wailing guy any mind as we stepped past him, entering the reception hall proper.
Guys… I've only just stepped inside here for less than five minutes…