A brief silence fell over the hall.
Ludwig Allegro's story had clearly shocked every mber seated at the Reverse Cross eting.
Given the gravity of the eting, the silence could have felt oppressive, but Ludwig Allegro was unfazed.
Instead, he raised the corners of his mouth as if quite satisfied with the current situation, waiting for the shocking atmosphere ford in the silence to spread until everyone shared the sa sentint.
Of course, the silence didn't last long.
After all, with everyone gathered here holding such high positions, their collective ti was too precious to be wasted.
A Cardinal with a stiffened face cautiously opened his mouth.
"...Are you saying that the operation related to the Beastkin was your plan?"
It was a direct question.
Given the conservative nature of The Order, it was common to speak indirectly even in a secret eting, but this matter was so shocking that such roundabout talk was aningless.
Ludwig Allegro willingly nodded in response.
"It's difficult to say it was entirely my doing, but... to so extent."
"..."
"Yes, that's correct."
...Of course.
It was a ridiculous story.
If Ludwig Allegro, the head of the UMC, had truly been interested in sothing like the reconstruction of the Beastkin, he wouldn't have just assigned a single agent to observe under the pretext of 'monitoring' and left it at that.
He would have taken preemptive asures long ago, whether by bringing Valencia into a facility or by so other ans.
Just looking at Valencia, who had been neglected until she t U-jin, proved that Ludwig Allegro's claim that everything had proceeded according to his plan was absurd.
In the first place, he had believed that although Valencia carried the blood of the Beastkin Royal Family, she had lost all her abilities as a monarch.
The plan to re-establish the Beastkin Nation had co entirely from U-jin. Strictly speaking, one couldn't say Ludwig Allegro had done ‘nothing’, but...
If one were to pinpoint his role, all he had done was provide the coordinates of the base camp at U-jin's request and spread rumors that 'the Beastkin Nation would be rebuilt.'
So, the current situation was, in essence, him just taking the credit.
If he insisted that those two actions constituted his grand plan, there wasn't much to say, but it was such a preposterous claim that U-jin would have likely let out a hollow laugh had he been present.
Of course.
Ludwig Allegro wasn't unaware of this fact either.
In fact, Ludwig Allegro was the one who knew best that he had done nothing and that U-jin was the one with the imnse influence on the current events.
After all, when Tan had relayed U-jin's story about the 'Resurrection of the Beastkin Faction,' he had been the one cursing up a storm, wondering what kind of nonsense it was.
However.
'...That's not what's important.'
In Ludwig Allegro's mind, the truth wasn't that important.
The contents of any conversation within the eting room were not ant to leave it, anyway.
As it was a top-secret eting, there were no codified rules or laws for the Reverse Cross eting, but it was an unwritten rule that if the contents were leaked, the responsible party would be removed from their position as head of their respective highest agency.
Though it was long ago, Ludwig Allegro had experience investigating soone who had leaked the eting's contents.
That was why he could insist on it so blindly.
He knew that his story would never leave this eting room.
At least within these walls, if he said it was so, it beca the truth. Whether it was actually true wasn't very important.
'...A perfect lie is as good as the truth.'
Of course, since the heads of the highest agencies each had their own direct subordinates, they could conduct their own investigations, but when it ca to handling information, no one could match the UMC.
For Ludwig Allegro, deceiving their eyes was as easy as pie.
"..."
Then why on earth...
...did Ludwig Allegro shoulder the risk of lying to claim that the Reconstruction of the Beastkin Nation was his own doing?
The reason was simple.
"Please grant your approval. You all know it, don't you?"
Because it was a way to elevate his own standing within The Order.
"That this is a golden opportunity to divert attention from the Saintess's Execution."
The Saintess's Execution was a source of anxiety for everyone present.
The fact that the agendas for the two previous Reverse Cross etings were 'The Saintess's Treatnt' and 'Sentencing Verdict' was enough to show how seriously The Order was taking this matter.
In most cases, the sa individual would not be the subject of the Reverse Cross eting's agenda multiple tis.
The Saintess's case was highly exceptional.
As such, the 'Saintess's Execution' carried significant repercussions.
Even though the mbers of this very Reverse Cross eting were the ones who had decided the Saintess's fate, none of them were pleased with the current state of affairs, pushing ahead with the execution despite considerable opposition.
It was a choice made out of necessity due to the unique circumstances. The very fact that none of the highest agencies had made any separate statents about the Saintess until now proved how cautiously they were approaching the matter.
But what if.
In this uncomfortable situation for everyone, soone took on the role of diverting public attention from the 'Saintess's Execution'?
The credit for it would beco entirely their own.
Since the Saintess's Execution had been on the agenda of the Reverse Cross eting for three consecutive tis, its significance was by no ans small.
That was precisely why Ludwig Allegro spoke of the Reconstruction of the Beastkin Nation as if it were his own plan.
As soon as he heard about U-jin's 'Reconstruction of the Beastkin Nation' plan through Tan, he thought this could solidify his position in the current political landscape.
Yes.
To put it simply, it was to steal U-jin's credit.
"...Then what is your plan?"
"There are a total of three events that can capture the public's attention."
However, Ludwig Allegro didn't think U-jin would have any particular complaints even if he found out about this.
From U-jin's perspective, 'credit at The Order's level' seed to hold little aning anyway.
'...'
He didn't know what 'bigger picture' was invisible even to his own eyes, but in his encounter with U-jin, Ludwig Allegro had sensed sothing profound.
A grand cause that couldn't be fathod even with the experience he'd accumulated from dealing with countless people.
He couldn't guess what that imnse goal, which even he couldn't grasp, was.
But at the very least, it seed U-jin wouldn't care about credit from The Order.
Rather, he thought U-jin might even be grateful if he proactively took the lead in getting the 'guild's approval'.
Compared to the Saintess's Execution, it couldn't be denied that it felt smaller in scale.
However, the revival of the guild system, which had been virtually abolished by Isaac Einstein, was also sothing that could create considerable waves.
The fact that it was on the agenda for the Reverse Cross eting was proof of that.
So, Ludwig Allegro was, in his own way, making a deal.
On the condition that he would sohow obtain the 'guild's approval' that U-jin wanted, he would take all the credit for the resulting 'diversion of attention from the Saintess's Execution'.
...Well, of course, whether it could be called a 'deal' when U-jin was completely unaware of it was a bit of a gray area.
In any case, that was what Ludwig Allegro thought.
"One is the matter of the great Beastkin migration, which is already a hot topic. Its newsworthiness has already been confird by the fact that it made the front page of the papers even before the Saintess's Execution."
"..."
"And the two events that will follow are the 'First Guild Approval in 100 Years' and the 'Resurrection of the Beastkin Faction'."
It wasn't without its side effects.
The first guild approval in 100 years would inevitably raise questions about the fairness of The Order, which had not accepted any guild applications until now, and the revival of the Beastkin Faction was inherently risky as it ant the ergence of a new power.
However, in Ludwig Allegro's opinion, even considering the two combined, the risk didn't seem greater than that posed by the Saintess's Execution.
Of course, in the latter case, if U-jin had a change of heart and led the entire Beastkin Faction to align with the Demon King's Army, an unprecedented crisis with repercussions comparable to the Saintess's Execution could occur.
But if he wasn't prepared for such a contingency, he wouldn't have entrusted Emily to him in the first place.
It was possible not because he thought it would or wouldn't happen, but because he was fully prepared with counterasures.
"The key point we must focus on with these three events is 'connectivity'."
"..."
"If these three events are perceived as separate incidents, the attention they draw could diminish. However, if we fra it as a story that reveals the truth behind the great Beastkin migration currently on the front pages, we can carry over its already confird newsworthiness."
Ludwig Allegro snapped his fingers, and a rough outline of the project he had prepared appeared before the eyes of each Cardinal seated at the table.
"We at the UMC have already locally spread rumors that the Beastkin Nation might be rebuilt. It's not a major topic right now, but it's like we've planted a seed."
"..."
"We will reap these seeds with the guild's approval. And from that point on, The Order will officially join the tide."
"..."
"We will establish a period of intensified crackdown on the slavery that has been secretly practiced. During that ti, our UMC will work behind the scenes to help the Beastkin gather more quickly."
To summarize Ludwig Allegro's plan in one sentence, it was to carry the montum of the already-trending Beastkin topic until after the Saintess's Execution was over.
"The number of Beastkin will grow rapidly, and it won't take long for them to reach a size sufficient to form a guild. We will ti this to be roughly just before the Saintess's Execution."
"..."
"And then, on the day after the Saintess's Execution, we will do sothing to symbolize the Reconstruction of the Beastkin Nation. A coronation or an Enthronent Ceremony. Or perhaps our Order could make an official statent regarding the abolition of slavery to announce the resurrection of the Beastkin Faction. Assuming we can maintain the public's attention without it being diverted, it should be enough to overshadow the impact of the execution..."
Of course, Ludwig Allegro didn't know if this would be accepted or not.
All he could do was run his mouth; like everyone else in this room, his right to vote on the eting's resolution was limited to a single vote.
"...That is all I have to say."
The rest was entirely up to fate.
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