"Conrad wants to find out about the Elves? Has his memory returned?"
Erend frowned anxiously in front of all the journalists still waiting for a chance to approach someone.
"Is it possible his memory has returned, and he wants revenge?"
If that were the case, an unwanted situation could unfold. Conrad had a strong reason to resent the Elves because of their connection to an Elf in Eternal Earth who had been mistreated. Aurdis had told him about it, and upon hearing, Erend felt concerned.
"Excuse me, sir." Suddenly, a chubby bespectacled man in shabby clothing approached Erend from the crowd. Erend could even catch a whiff of his unpleasant odor, indicating he might not have bathed for some time.
"Yes?" Erend replied, trying to maintain a normal expression.
"Are you, perhaps... Uh, do the Elves live in there?" the chubby bespectacled man asked.
Erend frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I know there are Elves who came to this world! I saw them myself yesterday. They were fighting at the presidential palace."
"Oh, shit," Erend thought. So it turned out that their worst fears were coming true. There was a civilian who had seen Aurdis, Aerchon, and Saeldir yesterday. Didn't they say that everyone in the vicinity was under Ozynk's influence, so they wouldn't be aware of what was happening?
Then what about this man? Was he unaffected?
"There are no Elves in there, sir. There have never been Elves who came to this world," Erend said firmly. "Now, please step back and do not approach any further. I'm afraid I'll have to detain you if you insist."
The bespectacled man seemed angry. He bit his lip and stared at Erend with sharp eyes. Erend could also see that his hands were clenched tightly as if he were ready to throw a punch at any time, while in fact, he would not have the courage to do so.
"Back up," Erend said again, this time in a more commanding tone.
The man seemed to realize that other soldiers around Erend had noticed the commotion. Not wanting to get into a worse situation, he reluctantly stepped back.
"What's the matter, sergeant?" one of the soldiers asked. "Who is that man?"
"Just a civilian. He wanted to know if the Elves were in there," Erend replied.
"Hahaha! He might be crazy. Look at the way he walks and his clothes. He probably just came out of his room after a few months," the soldier said.
Erend didn't respond to him. Instead, he was busy watching the chubby man walk away. Occasionally, he glanced back with his angry gaze.
"He saw the fight that day. I wonder if there are many more who saw it and realized."
If that were true, then they had another problem to deal with.
~~~
All these activities continued for several months. Delegations from other countries came to the Republic of Ascaria with their own objectives, and they didn't come just once.
As President Julius remained unconscious, the burden fell on the vice president and General Lennard. They didn't know how much longer they would have to bear this responsibility, and it left them stressed and exhausted.
Because of their busy duties in guarding and watching, Erend, Adrien, and Billy had forgotten about a serious problem that was approaching: the imminent danger that would not care about their exhaustion.
Suddenly, on a rainy day in the midst of his guard duty, Erend received a call from Tut.
["Erend, you've forgotten something very important."]
'What do you mean?' Erend asked, his forehead furrowing in confusion. Anything Tut called important was almost certainly a big problem. Worry began to take root in his heart.
["The Great Calamity, Erend. Have you forgotten?"]
At that moment, Erend felt like he had been struck by lightning. Tut was right; he had forgotten about it because of all the recent problems.
Erend stared ahead with wide eyes. His expression clearly showed that he was in shock. Erend quickly composed himself before anyone noticed and asked, "You're right, Tut. What should I do?"
["I see you've made a new friend, another Dragonborn. You can ask for his help."]
'But he's busy guarding the Chaos Realm. He won't have time to come here and help me. How much time do I have until the disaster arrives?'
["It's not much longer. The Great Calamity will come in five months."]
'Shit!' Erend cursed under his breath. There wasn't much time left, but there were still many problems to solve.
Ozynk had not given clear clues about the whereabouts of Laston, who could pose a threat at any time if he decided to attack. Then this country was still unstable, and his family and friends...
Erend sighed to force himself to calm down. He had to start thinking this through carefully and with a clear head, or things would get messy. After all, he was the only one who could endure and deal with The Great Calamity. The only one strong enough.
["That's not entirely true, Erend. You have friends who can help you. You saw how they fought that day, didn't you?"]
'But... Something like The Great Calamity is something too big for them, isn't it?' Erend said.
["Everything that has happened in the past few days was supposed to be too big for them. But they can handle it."]
Erend remained silent for a moment, pondering over that problem in his head. In front of him, journalists were preparing questions they wanted to ask as soon as someone came out of the military headquarters. Some others were doing live broadcasts.
'I'm... not sure, Tut,' Erend said. "They might indeed be able to use Magic now. But based on what I saw in the vision of The Great Calamity back then, it's a disaster they can't directly face."
["Well, I didn't say they had to confront The Great Calamity directly. Your friends can help in other ways like they did when you were in the Chaos Realm. They did a good job, didn't they?"]
Erend thought for a moment. 'You're right. Maybe if it's just another task and doesn't involve facing The Great Calamity itself, they can manage.'
["You still have a few months left. You can use that time to become stronger in the World Dungeon and tell your friends to train their Magic."]
Erend nodded to himself. 'Yeah, hopefully, that's enough.'
~~~
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