Keosius's Persuasion

"Keosius"

Standing before the tall, heavy iron gates, Olivia gazed at the magnificent palace where she had lived for so long and called out softly.

The guards at the gate recognized Olivia, who had once lived in the palace, so they did not stop her, but they did not open the gate without orders.

"You should be able to hear me."

Olivia muttered to herself.

She had witnessed the awe-inspiring "authority" the Red Dragon wielded within the empire, and knew that he must have known of her arrival.

Sure enough, the familiar voice appeared, echoing outside the palace.

"Let her in."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

With a dull thud, the heavy door slowly opened, allowing Olivia to see the scene inside the palace.

"The Royal Palace."

"It's been a long time since I've been back."

As she gazed at the familiar gardens and palace, a glimmer of light flickered in Olivia's blue-grey eyes.

For nearly a year, she moved to Istaria, disguised herself as a human, and through her own efforts became a councilor of the kingdom.

But this place is a "cage" that imprisons her.

Although she only stayed for a few months, which was just a fleeting moment compared to her nearly 100-year life, the experience was truly unforgettable.

But she didn't feel any remorse; instead, she felt a strange sense of warmth and even nostalgia.

Does she still harbor resentment and hatred? Perhaps.

Even Olivia herself found it hard to explain the complex emotions she felt, let alone the fact that she would have to make a request of the Red Dragon later.

Thinking of this, Olivia couldn't help but hug the documents in her hands tighter, and her steps became a little hurried.

As we walked along the road to the main hall, the palace gates, carved with dragon heads, were opened.

What came into view was Red Dragon coiled on a somewhat narrow throne, with sweeping horns, broad wings, and pale golden vertical pupils. Its enormous body almost filled half of the palace, making it extremely visually striking.

Strong, majestic, noble, and—perfect.

These words entered Olivia's mind almost subconsciously, giving her a dazed feeling as if she were seeing the platinum statue of Bahamut in the clan's Dragon's Nest.

What's even more terrifying is that the opponent's body length has reached forty meters, which is far greater than that of the elders of the Melvord Clan.

"He has become stronger."

Olivia thought to herself.

This also meant that the gap between herself and the other person was widening, and although she didn't know why, she felt inexplicably lost.

After a long while, Olivia finally came to her senses. Her blue-gray vertical pupils flickered with complex emotions.

She opened her mouth and whispered, "Long time no see, Keosius."

"Long time no see, Councilor Olivia. You've been making quite a splash in the Imperial political arena lately."

Grayish-white smoke billowed from Keosius's mouth, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, revealing a half-smile on his Dragon Face.

Olivia looked slightly surprised. "You know what I did?"

Keosius replied, "Of course, as an ordinary member of the Lower House, directly refuting the proposal supported by the Duke Dolo also sparked a conflict between the military and the government."

"Tsk tsk, you're quite capable. Do you know what the people of the Empire call you? The Flower of Axioms."

He actually knew? She thought that as the emperor of the empire, he wouldn't care about such trivial matters, let alone an ordinary proposal, but Keosius had accurately stated the matter.

It should be noted that, according to some rumors within the empire, His Your Majesty Keosius has always been in a deep sleep.

Was he secretly watching me all along?

For some reason, Olivia felt a little excited, and a faint sense of satisfaction appeared on her pretty face, turning her cheeks rosy.

Keosius tilted his head and asked, "So you came to the palace for this?"

"Um."

Olivia nodded slightly, but after a moment's hesitation, she continued, "But it's not just that."

"Oh? Then let's talk about the proposal first."

With a gentle flick of Keosius claws, the documents in Olivia's arms floated up, and flames projected the words onto the surface.

Lines of beautiful small characters floated in mid-air, quite neatly arranged.

"This is."

Olivia's eyes widened instantly, a hint of surprise flashing in her pupils.

She, as a mage, had never seen such meticulous and effortless control over the fire element in her life.

Even the legendary Arcane Hermit Order mage Trafalano did not possess such powerful elemental control.

In a short while, Keosius had finished reading the proposal.

He smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's a good proposal, but it's a bit too idealistic and difficult to actually implement."

"Why?"

Olivia was somewhat unconvinced.

"You must have read those scholars' ' Social Security Theory ', right?"

Keosius had also read this book; it was written by Guggs Golov, a scholar who was quite famous within the Empire, and it incorporated many theories of modern social science brought in by players.

Olivia replied, "Yes, that's a good book, very useful."

Keosius said, "What he said does have some merit, but have you considered that such high welfare can also send a bad signal to people: is it the same whether you work hard or not?"

"Excessive use will have obvious drawbacks: first, it can easily lead to rent-seeking; second, it can distort market signals."

"The Empire is a rapidly developing nation, and for it, the enthusiasm for production is very important. Your unrealistic plan will only dampen people's enthusiasm."

Keosius explained it in great detail.

In his eyes, this Silver Dragon from Mellward seemed more suitable to be a ruler than the hopeless White Dragon.

In Keosius's plan, as the territory expands and the number of races under his command increases, the Embers of the Burned Empire should not become an evil force, but rather an inclusive and diverse empire.

Pure good or evil is insufficient to describe this complex country.

The Silver Dragon is undoubtedly a good symbol of the "lawful good" faction and can greatly help improve the Empire's image.

Who knows, they might even be able to come up with a two-party system, with one party playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, to whitewash this empire, which rose to power through killing and plunder, into a glorious and magnificent "ideal state."

It seems this Silver Dragon is quite easy to deceive; at least she can't see through the true nature of the empire. For example, Guges, the author of " On Social Security Theory," seems to have already seen through it all.

Olivia listened attentively, nodding repeatedly and occasionally using magic to take notes.

For some reason, she felt as if she had returned to that night when she discussed and exchanged ideas with "Anher". The figure of that knowledgeable young Golden Dragon and the huge Red Dragon in front of her, which seemed to have no connection, gradually overlapped in her mind. It was clearly just a false disguise, but it left a deep impression on her.

"Okay, that's about it for these issues."

Keosius yawned, gently shook his enormous wings, and exhaled a puff of Sulfur Scent white smoke. "Hmm, I understand. I'll make the changes when I get back and bring them over for you to see another day."

Olivia nodded, picked up the documents that had fallen to the ground, and said seriously.

Keosius looked down at the silver-haired girl. "Olivia, do you have anything else to say?"

Suddenly, her eyes flickered.

"."

Olivia clutched the documents in her hands and tucked her silver hair behind her ears.

She lowered her head and remained silent for a long time before slowly raising her head to look directly into the Red Dragon's pale golden, oppressive pupils.

"Keosius, I don't think your empire should develop in this way."

Keosius paused for a moment in surprise, then asked with interest, "What do you mean by 'this method'?"

"I have always believed that you are not the kind of evil dragon that would trade other people's lives for money."

Olivia and Keosius looked at each other across the distance. She bit her lip lightly, her tone somewhat heavy.

"But my people in the south told me that the Embers of the Burned Empire was dumping terrible, usable weapons on a massive scale into the crumbling Fadlan Empire."

"The mortals of the kingdoms of Kassand, Thrace, and Seleucia Kingdom slaughtered each other with weapons sold by the Embers of the Burned Empire, causing terrible casualties. It is said that the entire Central Great Plains were stained red with blood, and the Holy City was reduced to ruins."

"I am delighted to see the empire flourishing, but—"

Olivia bit her lip slightly, pausing briefly before speaking.

"I do not want to see this kind of development nourished and nurtured by the blood of the Fadlanites."

"So please stop, Keosius. Make the Empire stop selling those cruel and heinous weapons. That's all I want to say."

Keosius shook his head and chuckled.

This is truly a classic example of "Silver Dragon -style speech".

After Olivia opened her mouth, Keosius could guess what she was going to say next—just like last time when she begged him to stop Conquer the Northern Lands.

Despite her rich experiences, this Silver Dragon was still naive and full of fantasies, just like most of her kind.

She always thought that words could change others, but she didn't realize that she was the one who was changed more deeply.

Keosius did not give a direct answer, but instead extended a claw under Olivia's gaze.

"Whoosh—"

An invisible force field manipulated the sword on the weapon rack to fly from a distance, hovering in front of the Red Dragon, its blade gleaming with a cold light.

Keosius asked with a smile, "You say this knife is evil?"

Olivia frowned slightly and shook her head gently.

She sensed a familiar scent; the Red Dragon seemed about to use sweet words to persuade her again.

"What if I told you that this knife belonged to a brutal bandit who used it to kill more than a hundred innocent civilians?"

Olivia pondered for a moment, then answered somewhat uncertainly, "So... it's evil?"

Keosius wagged his tail and shook his head in denial. "No, the knife itself is not wrong; the one who is wrong is always the one wielding the knife."

"."

Olivia fell silent again.

What the other party said seemed to make a lot of sense.

Keosius continued, "Like this war in the Fadlan Empire —you've got it wrong. It wasn't that we sold weapons that caused the war to break out; it was that the war caused us to sell weapons."

"Even if I don't intervene, the three princes will still fight for the throne of the Emperor of Fadlan, causing countless innocent civilian casualties."

At this point, Red Dragon sighed rather "sincerely".

"I deeply regret this, but since we're going to fight anyway, why don't I take this opportunity to earn some Gold Coin and improve the lives of the empire's citizens?"

"As you have seen, the booming development of the military industry over the years has brought a large number of jobs and considerable income to the Empire. Countless citizens of the Empire have been spared from hunger because of the development of the military industry."

"As the emperor of the Embers of the Burned Empire, I am powerless to quell the war in Fadlan, but I am capable of solving the problem of food and clothing for the Imperial People."

Finally, Keosius concluded calmly and logically. "So—weapons are innocent, the guilty are those who pull the trigger. War is evil, but selling weapons is the best of good!"

After saying this, Keosius remained calm and at ease, quietly looking at the words "[Eloquent Speaker +1]" on the panel.

His face was already red, and no matter how much he lied, it couldn't get any redder.

Moreover, to some extent, he wasn't lying.

Despite his actions of selling arms to both sides and profiting immensely from the war, he managed to portray it as a benevolent act driven by his concern for the Imperial People and a necessity he had to do.

However, if one can see through the phenomena to the essence, one will discover the capital accumulation of the empire's "evil".

Olivia fell silent again, trying to figure out how to find a loophole in the other person's words, but she couldn't come up with a solution for a long time.

After holding it in for a long time, she finally blurted out, her face flushed, "You're being sophistical."

But she didn't seem to have any reason.

This Red Dragon was always like that, easily dealing with her doubts and even persuading her each time.

As for herself, she seemed to be gradually being changed by the other party Keosius spread out his claws and said rather "helplessly": "When the researchers of the Empire first created these weapons, it was only to defend against foreign enemies and protect national security."

"What crime could there be in this?"

"But."

Olivia was speechless for a moment. Looking into Keosius's ambiguous eyes, she thought to herself, "I will convince you."

Keosius slowly rose from his throne and looked down at Olivia.

"War between humans is complex and cannot be simply categorized as good or evil, nor is it something that you Silver Dragon can get involved in."

"I believe your elders have also warned you not to get involved in internal human conflicts."

"Um"

Olivia lowered her eyelids and responded softly.

Keosius's expression suddenly turned serious. "There is indeed something I need your help with."

"What's up?"

Olivia was a little curious.

This Red Dragon has always been omnipotent, daring to refuse even the invitations of gods, yet it needs her help? Keosius said in a heavy tone, "A year from now, the Abyssal Devil will invade the Anzeta Great Wasteland and launch a full-scale attack on the Empire. We hope to get the help of the Melvord Clan."

In fact, the Empire was capable of dealing with the Demon Invasion on its own, but for Keosius, this was a good opportunity to build connections with the good faction and improve the Empire's image.

Olivia, who has become Imperial Parliamentarian, may be able to serve as that bridge of communication.

"Abyss invasion?"

Olivia's expression immediately became extremely serious.

It should be noted that the last invasion of the Abyss occurred four hundred years ago, when the "Undead Lord" Orcus led his legion of undead and demons to the Prime Material Plane, unleashing a catastrophe that swept across the world and caused immense suffering to the Feanso Continent.

The forces of multiple benevolent factions, including the Amanata Church, the Moon God Church, the Fadlan Kingdom, the Silver Dragon Clan, and the Harpers, joined forces and paid the ultimate price of countless lives to end this disaster.

Keosius suddenly paused. "I just don't know about your grandfather?"

Olivia knew that Keosius was referring to Oszedro's defeat and serious injury, which was a disgrace to the entire Mellward.

In the eyes of the vast majority of Silver Dragon, the reputation of this Aberrant Dragon, Keosius, is definitely not good.

"Although my grandfather was a bit stubborn, he would never make a mistake when it came to matters concerning the world order."

Olivia spoke earnestly almost without hesitation.

"If this is true, I will return to the Melvord Clan and have them contact various factions to provide all possible support in the Contend Against the demons."

Keosius nodded slightly. "Alright, then I'll await good news."

For him, the good side is the best in this respect.

When facing truly evil enemies, you can recruit them as free henchmen, without even paying much of a price.

Therefore, pure goodness and pure evil are both extremely unwise.

An empire can only gain the greatest benefits by repeatedly teetering on the blurred line between good and evil, and by constantly scheming against each other.

Keosius knew this well.

——Requesting monthly votes——