Chapter 692 Being a Hero is a Busy job
'EVAN ERIS: THE GEE ISN'T THE ONLY ONE AFTER THE WAR REMNANT STRUCTURE'
'IRREGULAR HERO FACES OFF AGAINST WOLFEN ELITE SOLDIERS, SUBDUES THEM WITH JUST 1 CASUALTY.'
'GEE-WOLFEN WAR: SIX STATES DOWN IN ONE DAY!'
'NATIONAL LEADERS CRITICISE EMPEROR ISAAC ON MILITARY ACTIONS'
'INTERFERENCE WOULDN'T BE TOLERATED-SAYS EMPEROR ISAAC
'WOLFEN SHOULD FEED HER DEFEATED SOLDIERS-HERO EVAN.'
Eliza put down the bunch of newspapers in her hands after reading their headlines, before turning her gaze towards Evan who was on a call with a representative of a foreign radio station while dressing up.
A glance at the desk not too far from him showed about a dozen more newspapers which Evan had been going through and making calls since daybreak.
After the boy returned to the GEE capital last night, he and Emperor Isaac went off somewhere, not long before she began sensing multiple powerful presences appearing in the castle.
He had a meeting with not just the Emperor, but all the Seven Star Generals and many other top GEE officials.
They discussed things ranging from how they were going to manipulate the media in their favour, down to the next wolfen state they were targeting and a few strategies.
This meeting lasted for hours and Eliza stayed up waiting for Evan while reading a book, only to look up and realise it was morning already.
Due to their Existence Levels, they could go for weeks without food or sleep, but while this didn't diminish their physical stamina, it was pretty taxing mentally, hence why they still slept as regularly as a normal human.
However, Evan could not afford that luxury right now as the boy was exceedingly busy.
This War was bigger than anything he had ever planned before, so he needed to put his maximum effort into it.
It was also his Third 'Big performance' on the International Stage and he was going to have hundreds of millions paying attention to his every move, with a good percentage of them looking for a means to 'attack' him (not physically, of course).
Unlike Cheverton and Lacertilia which only affected specific portions of countries, this war was affecting not just Wolfen, but their allies as well.
Citizens were inevitably going to be displaced by the war, refugees would flood towards other countries bordering Wolfen, security had to be bumped up to prevent Terrok slavers from getting their hands on these refugees, and many more things.
Evan placed a lot of emphasis on the Terrok Slavers issue, remarking that he didn't want any kid who lost their home during the war to suddenly show up in the future as a 'Fake Hero' hell-bent on revenge.
Naturally, besides Eliza and Roselia, none of those who heard that remark understood what he truly meant.
Coming back to this morning, Evan and David's predictions of the reactions from across the world came to pass.
Alpha Continental National Leaders, some of whom were present in the meeting the day before, criticised Isaac publicly and gave long-winded speeches that could be summarised in a single line:
The GEE was 'Bullying' Wolfen and other Major World Powers should step in and Sanction Wolfen.
News of his participation in the Wolfen War had gotten out, starting as mere rumours coming from the citizens of Tomond who escaped before Beluar could lock down the state fully, and finally being confirmed when the news headlines came out.
Radio stations were talking about it, political analysts were cooking up various conspiracy theories, and the fact that the GWE had been targeting one of Wolfen's most influential businesses; 'Highguards Commerce', was only giving these theories more 'weight'.
In reality, Highguards Commerce was one of the Demonic Hand's business fronts which they used to garner funding for their operations and Evan had the GWE crack down on them and force them to shut down last year after dealing with Count Falos.
Taking down one of the biggest businesses in the Southern Alpha Continent, in just a year, was seen as nothing but a show of power from the GWE.
They crumbled a multinational company that was headquartered in another country, in another part of the continent and no one could stop them.
Now, with Evan also sticking his hand into Wolfen's muddy waters, it was only natural these conspiracy theorists were having the times of their lives.
Back to the words of the National Leaders, although some of them clamoured for the Major World Powers to take action, they were met with silence.
Kasteblum, Utrarian Republic, Beast Kingdom, and Tarse whom people had expected to take voice their opinions, didn't say anything, as if they were tacitly agreeing with the GEE's actions.
The GWE was the one to speak first, stating that whatever Evan was doing in Wolfen, it was not in his capacity as a GWE noble, and they had no part in it.
People took this as the Empire throwing Evan under the bus to escape criticism, until a paper came out with a statement from Evan, saying it was his personal decision to intervene in Wolfen.
It was titled: 'WAR REMENANT STRUCTURE IN WOLFEN IS PROPERTY OF THE SEVEN HEROES'.
Evan's Hero status was common knowledge on the Alpha Continent, so this was basically him saying he was getting back what belonged to him as a 'Hero'.
That paper also held the images of his requests to Wolfen and the rejections he received as well.
As for Wolfen, they accused the GEE of wanting to unlawfully possess their territory and even ousted the fact that Emperor Isaac had sent his men to sneak into the War Remnant Structure numerous times over the years.
The Wolfen President, Zakaria Lee, assured his citizens that the nation was working together with their international allies to repel the GEE's army and restore peace to the nation.
Unsurprisingly, the Press Conference was short and no questions were taken, much to the dismay of the journalists who had a thousand and one questions to ask about the drastic losses they had faced the previous day.
Despite there being a few irregularities here and there, everything was roughly going according to Evan's plan, and to make sure things remained that way, he was preparing to go for a Live interview with a Radio station.
The GEE army was not going to be making any further incursions into Wolfen for now, as they had to consolidate their command over the Six conquered states so he was temporarily free from that.
Besides, it wasn't like he had to be present for every battle, just the occasional large-scale one or when he needed to make a point on the international stage.
Any further attacks were not going to be possible with just Beluar's Seventh Army, so in the meeting last night, they had decided to send the Sixth Army to support him as well.
Naturally, the Sixth Star General, Amiyah Wallace, was going to be leading her Army.
Evan ended his call and tossed the communicator onto the pile of newspapers on the desk before moving over to Eliza who was seated on the bed and abruptly pulling her into a hug.
"I need to recharge my 'Lizium' to the max."
"Pfft…what the hell is that?"
The girl chuckled as she reciprocated the hug, but sadly they had to break it up as Evan's watch alarm started ringing.
"Welp, I gotta go.
See you later."
"Mhmm…bye."
Right after the door closed, Eliza remained on the bed, monitoring Evan's presence as it went further and further into the castle before abruptly disappearing.
'He must have teleported…'
Naturally, the GEE's Imperial Palace had some of Kasteblum's Teleport Waypoints and Evan was very happy for this as it made his movements easier.
The moment Eliza concluded that Evan had left Askal, she got up from her bed and quickly took a shower, before putting on some clothes and leaving their assigned room.
She wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a grey shirt, tying her blonde hair up in a bun and tossing a cap atop it.
Evan had once called this her 'Incognito Celebrity' mode when she had worn something similar before and remembering it made her chuckle a bit lightly.
After a few minutes, security checks and some minor delays, she left the Imperial Palace and headed out into the main capital city.
She checked her Guild Card multiple times, ignoring the shocked looks that appeared on the faces of people when they saw the giant 'S' printed on the back while checking her messages.
Eventually, she entered an inconspicuous coffee shop, glancing around for a bit before breaking out into a smile when she set her eyes upon one of the customers near a window seat.
It was a tall woman with braided long brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a long dark blue coat over a white blouse and a simple blue skirt.
When Eliza entered, she lowered the grimoire in her hands and removed her glasses before looking up at the teenager who ran up to her and hugged her.
"Aunty Fey!"
"Hello, Eliza."
The woman was quite calm in contrast with Eliza's chipper mood, but Eliza wasn't surprised as this was how this woman always was.
She was someone who caused Emperor Isaac to summon some of the GEE Sovereigns in service to the Imperial Family just so he could keep tabs on her.
Wielding the power to delete several countries off the map, she was the Former Chief Grand Magus of Kasteblum, 'Azure Witch' Felyela al'Rear.
Emperor Isaac didn't know what Felyela al'Rear was doing in his country, but he had to keep her under close watch as she was still a potential threat, even if the GEE was on amicable terms with Kasteblum.
The woman didn't mind anyway, as she was only present because her friend's granddaughter had requested her.
That friend was Marguerite Kaur, Eliza's grandmother.
As for what Eliza came to her for, it was pretty simple. The girl wanted to make a quick trip back to her home country but she didn't want any of her family members finding out.
Since Felyela had some business in Vathax as well, Eliza decided to tag along with the older woman.
Right after they met up, the two chatted for a bit and even had a light meal. After this, Felyela summoned her magic staff and constructed a five-ringed magic circle underneath their feet, much to the shock of everyone else nearby.
Before the other patrons of the coffee shop could even finish being surprised, Felyela finished her chant and the two ladies disappeared, leaving behind a few coins that plopped down on the table—the payment for their breakfast.
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