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Itogami Island Airport
Sitting in the waiting lounge, Ryo flipped through a thick stack of documents.
Across from him, Natsuki Minamiya came in from outside while closing her parasol.
"The visit request has already been sent to the Kingdom of Aldegyr. I bet it's total chaos over there right now."
This would be the Fourth Primogenitor's first official state visit since founding his Empire of Dawn. Just hearing the news was enough to make Aldegyr's diplomats ask if the world was ending today.
The founding of the Fourth Primogenitor's Empire had already stunned government officials around the world, all terrified that this suddenly crowned primogenitor intended to build a massive empire.
Back then, China, Japan, Korea, and others nearly shifted into full-scale military buildup.
After all, no one wanted to gamble on whether the Fourth Primogenitor would settle for a tiny island instead of doing what they always wanted and seizing entire continents.
Japan even let the media smear the Fourth Primogenitor on purpose, just to prep public opinion for a potential total war scenario.
Then the Fourth Primogenitor vanished. Sensai Aiba and Natsuki Minamiya took over governance, the Lion King Agency mediated, and two of the Fourth Primogenitor's Familiars were deployed as a deterrent while sending peaceful signals; things finally calmed down.
And now, the Fourth Primogenitor's first official visit would be to Aldegyr, one of Northern Europe's major military powers.
Diplomats couldn't help overthinking it.
Was the Fourth Primogenitor finally planning to expand his Empire?
Did he want an alliance with Aldegyr? Access to military tech?
All the problems were dumped onto the royal family of Aldegyr. They were probably exactly as Natsuki described: frantic, panicked, and dreading their troublesome guest.
Meanwhile, the man who started all this calmly said, "Who cares!"
He just wanted to visit Aldegyr to study the Faux Angel creation techniques and see if the Magic Kingdom of Aldegy really produced Nordic beauties.
Military cooperation? Preparing for war?
If Ryo was preparing for war, it was against the gods of Little Garden. For opponents like that, the only military cooperation worth considering would be with someone like Athena.
Aldegyr's forces were only strong enough to fight the Warlord's Empire to a stalemate, and that was when the Lost Warlord wasn't even present. Cooperation was a joke.
Ryo skimmed a page of The Cleansing analysis and said calmly. "The only thing I care about is when Aldegyr agrees to the visit."
The plane was ready, the request was sent, and even Sensai Aiba had dispatched a ten-person diplomatic team who were all boarding soon.
Ryo's side was completely prepared. If Aldegyr decided to politely decline last minute, he really would show up as a bad guest.
Natsuki understood the undertone and replied casually, "Don't destroy the kingdom ."
"You're an emperor. You represent the Dawn Empire. If people start calling you a savage tyrant, it'll be a headache for me too."
She paused, then complained. "I get the feeling everything turns into a big ordeal when you're involved."
"You must have some kind of 'disaster magnet' trait."
Ryo's mouth twitched. He pretended not to hear.
Seeing that, Natsuki raised an eyebrow but didn't push it. Instead she said. "I'm tied up here, and Asagi is too. I could send Aya with you, but I feel like that'd just add fuel to the fire."
For the past year, Aya Tokoyogi had been behaving herself in the library, researching magecraft. Even so, Natsuki had the constant feeling she was preparing something big.
If Aya teamed up with Ryo, Aldegyr would come out either dead or crippled.
As for Cyrora and Avrora, that was even more impossible. One was the straight-laced real Fourth Primogenitor, the other a chaos gremlin. That was gasoline on gasoline.
Thinking about it, the only one suitable to accompany Ryo was Yuma Tokoyogi, but Yuma was currently studying for her national witch exams. As her pseudo-mother, Natsuki couldn't make her stop studying.
"Ugh…" Natsuki let out a weary sigh. "I'm out of options."
Even with diplomats along, sending Ryo "alone" to Aldegyr felt like it guaranteed trouble.
After thinking, Natsuki said. "The Lion King Agency contacted me. They said you agreed to let them send bodyguards for your protection. Is that true?"
She'd been cooperating with the Lion King Agency recently, but she had a bad feeling about this one.
Sending two bodyguards for Ryo? More like sending wives.
The Lion King Agency had apparently plotted this over a year ago, which immediately put Natsuki on alert.
They even wanted to send two girls aged fourteen or fifteen?
Maintaining a child-likeappearance due to her demon contract, Natsuki felt deeply insulted.
Did the Lion King Agency assume Ryo liked her, therefore he must like lolis?
Were they trying to provoke her? Or just insult her? Making fun of her while trying to "steal her man"?
Natsuki's expression turned dangerously sharp.
Ryo, thinking fast, saw her expression and immediately understood the problem. He smiled meaningfully and said. "I saw some very talented kids during my time at the Lion King Academy."
He deliberately steered the topic toward "recruiting talent."
He obviously couldn't say that he was interested in young girls, just waiting for them to grow up. He still had some dignity to maintain.
Talented kids? Natsuki's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
She knew Ryo was selective about who he recruited. Arcadia lacked high-end combat power, and Ryo had never hidden that from her.
But as far as she remembered, Ryo had only personally invited the Third Primogenitor and Asagi Aiba, plus herself as a half-willing mage.
And in Ryo's words, all three of them had the potential to reach four digits.
Which meant these Lion King Academy girls also had four-digit potential?
Natsuki opened her parasol and looked at Ryo seriously. "You did the right thing."
"Leaving such talent in the Lion King Agency would be a waste. Since that's the case, I'm approving their request right now. When those two girls transfer in Tokyo, they'll board your plane and serve as your bodyguards."
"…"
Feeling guilty, Ryo didn't say anything. He just nodded quietly.
Natsuki didn't think his reaction was odd and assumed he was still absorbed in The Cleansing documents.
She pulled out her phone, messaged Endou, then checked on Aldegyr's response.
Five minutes later, she looked up and said. "Aldegyr agreed to the visit. You can start boarding."
Ryo nodded, stood, and reminded her at the door. "Remember to release the news of my departure."
Since this was all to bait the True Primogenitor of the End, Ryo wanted the setup done properly.
To be honest, he was looking forward to someone trying to hijack his plane.
"Got it."
.
.
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