After pondering for a long time, Richard finally made his decision—he agreed.
Yes, he chose to agree.
Whatever Oscar and the Alliance Emperor's intentions were, this matter brought him undeniable benefits. For that, he was willing to take some risks.
After he informed Oscar of his decision, the whole world's development seemed to suddenly accelerate—a succession of events came one after another, so quickly that there was hardly time to savor them.
Almost as soon as dawn broke, just as Oscar had said, the Soma Alliance delivered a declaration of war to the Sika Kingdom's ambassador, formally announcing the start of a national war.
Next, the Alliance Emperor convened a grand assembly and issued a series of decrees for the war, adjusting the operations of the entire state apparatus. After the decrees were announced, the meeting confirmed the identity of the war's supreme commander, followed immediately by the announcement of a newly established position—Command Consultant, with Richard as its appointee.
Thus, in only a few minutes, Richard went from being an independent Wizard with no political standing whatsoever to a publicly important figure in the Soma Alliance. He was granted an envy-inducing title, position, residence, salary, and a whole series of other arrangements—basically everything that should have been included, no different from the real thing, except... it had happened so quickly that no flaw could be found.
But the biggest problem was that it had happened too quickly.
Generally speaking, when someone was promoted far beyond the ordinary, people said they had ridden a rocket. In the language of this world, that meant being strapped to a heavy crossbow bolt and launched into the sky.
Richard, meanwhile, had practically been strapped to ten heavy crossbow bolts and launched into the sky.
He had gone from having no status worth mentioning