Inside the Meeting Hall, the leaders of all five factions had taken their seats.
Two Crucible Knights stood behind Tarnished, and two more stood behind Morgott. Tanith and Jerren each had one behind them, while Ranni had no one at all.
After Godfrey, the First Elden Lord, had been exiled, the Crucible Knights he commanded had scattered across the land. Now, the number of Crucible Knights serving a faction seemed to have become a measure of its strength.
Tarnished and Morgott each had two, placing them among the strongest. Tanith and Jerren only had one apiece, leaving them a notch below. And Ranni did not have a single Crucible Knight, which meant the Carian Royal Family... Forget it. Let's just look at the crabs and lobsters in distant Lake Liurnia, folks.
Tarnished kindly offered Ranni a suggestion. "How about I lend you a Crucible Knight to make you look more impressive?"
Ranni turned her Living Doll body's vivid blue eyes toward Tarnished, a trace of anger in them. "Just start the meeting!"
"All right, all right. Here we go."
Tarnished rose, adopted a solemn expression, cleared their throat, and began in a grave, earnest tone. "The Lands Between are plagued by endless strife and conflict. The various factions wage ceaseless wars, inflicting profound suffering upon innocent people. Stormveil has consistently upheld a peaceful and open stance, firmly opposed war, and advocated resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, making an indelible contribution to regional stability..."
Everyone listened in bewilderment. Stormveil resolved differences through dialogue? Then why had they attacked the Academy of Raya Lucaria?
Granted, the Academy had struck first, but Stormveil had outright overthrown its regime. And they called that a "contribution to regional stability"?
Stormveil had caused more upheaval than anyone else in recent years. Everything had been peaceful