Beside him, the Third Prince also looked ready to listen.
"What do you think?"
The Emperor tossed the question back to him.
"Because the Empire wants to cultivate a new power in western Middle Earth?" Annan had his suspicions, but he still wanted to hear the answer from the Emperor. "Or because of Free City's potential?"
He joked, "It can't be because of the Old Ancestor, can it?"
Annan and the Third Prince laughed. The Emperor and the Minister did not. Then the Third Prince stopped laughing too, leaving Annan's smile to stiffen little by little.
"Really?"
The smile that had vanished from Annan's face appeared on the Emperor's. "No. The Old Ancestor likes you. If she spoke up, nothing would stand in the way of your joining the Alliance. But the real reason the Empire chose you is that you're qualified."
Qualified for what?
Annan had assumed the Alliance would act according to each member's strengths: the Empire was the strongest and would bear the pressure on the main battlefield. The Dimon Kingdom's troops were all veterans; they would cover the flanks and support the Empire.
Free City, meanwhile, had plenty of friends and new tricks. It was well suited to be the wild card that caught the enemy by surprise.
That matched the role Olmedo and the others had discussed before his departure.
But the Emperor's answer was this: the position of Mud King had long been vacant, and the various powers were eyeing it hungrily. As one of the High Kings, the Empire had the right to put forward a candidate.
Annan Reeves was qualified.
"Me? The Mud King?" Annan pointed at himself, stunned.
"Why not you?" the Emperor asked.
Annan looked at the Minister of the Military Affairs Department. The man's face was stern, and he