Parallel Memory

Chapter 718: Meeting Day II - No progress

The meeting began.

The first hour was spent discussing the treaty itself.

The second hour was spent discussing the conditions of the treaty.

By the third hour, the arguments had already become more intense than they had been on the previous day.

"The treaty should be accepted," Guild Master Branik said.

Several Church representatives turned toward him.

He continued.

"The Devil Kingdom is weakened."

A retired veteran immediately frowned.

"That is exactly when an enemy is most dangerous."

Branik looked toward him.

"An enemy?"

The old man stared back.

"That is what they are."

"The current ruler is a woman who proposed peace."

"She is a devil."

"She is also the successor of the previous king."

The old veteran’s expression darkened.

"That is precisely why I oppose this."

The room became silent.

Branik leaned forward.

"You fought her father."

The old man did not answer.

"You know his strength."

"I do."

"Then you should understand why peace is valuable."

The old veteran’s hand tightened around the armrest of his chair.

"You do not understand."

His voice became quieter.

"You did not stand before him."

Branik remained silent.

The old veteran continued.

"You did not feel your body stop responding to your commands."

"You did not watch your strongest attack disappear."

"You did not see the Devil King standing in front of you while you were unable to move."

The guild master stared at him.

The veteran’s eyes hardened.

"We were five SS Rankers."

His voice echoed across the hall.

"Five."

Nobody spoke.

"We were not soldiers."

"We were not weak."

"We were not inexperienced."

"We were considered the strongest weapons humanity possessed."

He looked toward the treaty.

"And he defeated us."

The room remained silent.

"He could have killed us."

The old veteran’s fingers trembled slightly.

"But he did not."

That was the part that had remained with him.

The battle had ended.

His life had been spared.

And that mercy had become a wound that never healed.

"He looked at us," the veteran continued, "and decided that our lives were not worth taking."

Branik’s expression changed slightly.

The old man looked toward him.

"You call that peace?"

"No."

Branik answered.

"I call that power."

The veteran stared at him.

Branik continued.

"And that is exactly why we should not waste the opportunity to establish peace."

The veteran’s eyes narrowed.

"You trust them?"

"No."

The answer surprised everyone.

Branik leaned back.

"I don’t trust devils."

He looked toward the Church.

"But I don’t trust the Church either."

Several priests immediately objected.

The guild master raised his voice.

"I said what I said."

The room became chaotic.

The Authority representative attempted to calm the discussion.

But Branik was not finished.

"The guilds have spent decades dealing with your interference."

He pointed toward the Church.

"Every time we discover a new dungeon, you want to inspect it."

"Every time we develop a new weapon, you want to regulate it."

"Every time we attempt to expand our influence, you call it dangerous."

A priest stood.

"Because the guilds have repeatedly placed civilians in danger."

"Because the Church interferes in matters it does not understand."

"Because the Church believes every decision must pass through its hands."

The priest’s expression darkened.

"You should be careful."

Branik smiled.

"That is what everyone tells me."

************************************************************

The argument quickly became personal.

The five guild masters began supporting one another.

The retired veterans responded.

The Church representatives attempted to defend the veterans.

The Authority attempted to use the guild masters’ statements to support the treaty.

The War Council attempted to bring the conversation back to military concerns.

It failed.

For nearly an hour, the meeting became an argument about the relationship between the Church and the adventurer guilds.

The treaty was almost forgotten.

Commander Rurik sat with his arms crossed.

He looked toward the ceiling.

The second day had somehow become worse than the first.

Finally, he stood.

"Enough."

His voice was not loud.

It did not need to be.

The room slowly became silent.

Rurik looked around.

"We are here to discuss the peace treaty."

He looked toward the guild masters.

"Not the history of the Church’s interference with the guilds."

Then toward the retired veterans.

"Not the humiliation you suffered more than a century ago."

The five veterans immediately looked toward him.

Rurik did not back down.

"And not the Authority’s desire to use this meeting to increase its influence."

The Authority representative slowly narrowed his eyes.

Rurik continued.

"All of those things may be important."

"But none of them are the treaty."

The room became quiet.

Rurik placed his hands on the table.

"We are wasting time."

For a moment, it seemed as though the statement might bring the room back under control.

Then the oldest of the retired SS Rankers spoke.

"You believe we are wasting time?"

Rurik turned toward him.

"Yes."

The old man stared at him.

"We are trying to prevent another war."

"So am I."

"Then you should listen to us."

"I am listening."

"Then understand this."

The veteran leaned forward.

"The Church is the only reason humanity survived the last age of the devils."

The guild masters immediately reacted.

Branik scoffed.

The old veteran’s gaze snapped toward him.

"You disagree?"

"Yes."

"Then what do you believe?"

Branik leaned forward.

"I believe humanity survived because humans fought."

The old veteran’s expression darkened.

"And where did you think the strength to fight came from?"

"The people."

"The Church supported the people."

"The Church supported itself."

The words struck harder than Branik had intended.

The room became tense.

The old veteran slowly stood.

His mana began to leak.

Not intentionally.

Not as an attack.

But the pressure alone caused several weaker representatives to pale.

The five guild masters immediately became alert.

The Authority officials froze.

The War Council commanders moved instinctively.

Then the senior bishop raised his hand.

"Sit down."

The old veteran looked toward him.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then the old man slowly sat.

The pressure disappeared.

The incident had lasted only a few seconds.

But it had changed the atmosphere completely.

The five S+ Rank guild masters were now fully aware of the difference between their strength and that of an SS Ranker.

And the Church representatives had seen something else.

The old veterans were not simply attending the meeting.

They were emotionally involved.

They had not come to discuss peace.

They had come to prevent what they believed was another mistake.

************************************************************************************

The meeting continued.

But the arguments became even more complicated.

The Authority argued that the current generation should not be controlled by the fears of the past.

The retired veterans argued that the current generation had not experienced the dangers of the past.

The guild masters argued that the Church should not control the future of the Human Domain.

The Church argued that the guilds were thinking only of profit.

The War Council argued that every side was ignoring the military consequences.

And behind all of them stood the treaty.

Waiting.

The five guild masters supported it.

The five retired SS Rankers opposed it.

The Authority used the guild masters to pressure the Church.

The Church used the retired veterans to pressure the Authority.

The War Council attempted to mediate.

But the more powerful individuals entered the discussion, the more difficult the decision became.

At one point, Commander Rurik looked toward the clock.

The day was already moving toward afternoon.

They had spent hours discussing the treaty.

And yet they had not even reached the first major condition.

He slowly exhaled.

The previous day had been difficult.

But the second day was becoming something else entirely.

The first day had been a battle between institutions.

The second day had become a battle between generations.

The present wanted to move forward.

The past refused to forget.

And somewhere between them, the future of the Human Domain remained trapped.

*****************************************************************

By evening, the assembly hall had become exhausted.

The guild masters had argued.

The retired veterans had argued.

The Church had argued.

The Authority had argued.

The War Council had argued.

At one point, even the clerk recording the meeting had asked for a break.

No one had laughed.

Everyone understood why.

The meeting was going nowhere.

The senior bishop eventually looked toward the Authority representative.

"Perhaps we should continue tomorrow."

The Authority representative frowned.

"We have not reached a conclusion."

"That is precisely why."

The representative glanced toward the five guild masters.

Then toward the retired veterans.

The five old men sat silently.

Their faces revealed nothing.

But their presence alone made the situation impossible to ignore.

The Authority representative finally nodded.

"Very well."

Commander Rurik closed his eyes.

Another day.

Another delay.

The meeting had started with the intention of gaining an advantage.

The Authority had invited the guild masters to pressure the Church.

The Church had invited the retired veterans to counter them.

Instead, the presence of both groups had created an even greater conflict.

The guild masters had brought their hatred of Church interference.

The retired veterans had brought their hatred of the devils.

The Authority had brought ambition.

The Church had brought fear.

And the War Council had been left in the middle.

As the representatives began leaving, Branik passed by one of the retired veterans.

The old man looked at him.

"You are arrogant."

Branik stopped.

He looked at the veteran.

"That is what people usually say when they don’t like what I say."

The veteran stared at him.

"You do not understand the devils."

Branik’s expression became serious.

"Perhaps."

The old veteran expected no further answer.

But Branik continued.

"That is why I am willing to listen to someone who does."

The veteran paused.

Branik walked away before he could respond.

For the first time that day, the old man looked slightly surprised.

It was a small moment.

It changed nothing.

The treaty remained undecided.

The Church remained opposed.

The Authority remained determined.

The War Council remained trapped between them.

But perhaps, somewhere beneath all the arguments, something had shifted.

Not enough to create agreement.

Not enough to create peace.

Only enough to create doubt.

And sometimes, doubt was the first crack in a wall.

Outside the assembly hall, the crowd was still waiting.

They had expected an answer.

They received none.

The second day of the assembly ended without a decision.

But this time, the situation was more complicated than before.

The first day had divided the institutions.

The second day had brought the past into the room.

And now the people who had once fought the Devil King were sitting across from the people who believed the future should no longer be ruled by fear of him.

The peace treaty remained on the table.

Still unsigned.

Still undecided.

Still waiting.

And tomorrow, even more people might be invited to decide its fate.