Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1095: Chapter 1094: Hidden Dangers

Positive matters.

This phrase has a more colloquial translation: benefits that cannot be refused.

Perhaps the earlier part of the conference discussing the crisis, war clouds, and other distressing topics brought too much pressure, or maybe everyone was tired of the intimidating, unpleasant subjects. When Gawain finally decided to put away the stick and offer the carrot, the representatives surprisingly began to applaud simultaneously. Along with the heartfelt clapping, the Elf Affairs Officers started distributing documents to each representative at the venue.

These were documents Gawain had prepared a long time ago—he specifically instructed the elves to wait until now before presenting them.

"First, let’s take a look at the draft of the Charter of the Alliance of Common Civilizations—which might be more conveniently referred to as the CLC Charter," Gawain said, once confirming everyone had the documents and began reading, "This is just a draft to lay down the framework of the alliance’s order, including the basic operational methods, responsibilities, and obligations of member nations, as well as the execution processes involved. Its core articles are temporarily non-modifiable, but we have the chance to discuss specific details or amend its content in response to future circumstances."

Beneath a stone pillar somewhere in the meeting hall, a flag primarily featuring a black hammer gently fluttered as Paladin Glintrock sat in his designated spot. He opened the Charter before him, and the objectives that Gawain Cecil mentioned earlier unfolded immediately before his eyes—member nations shall mutually assist and look out for each others’ interests; open transparency, honest mutual trust; equal political status among all nations, acknowledging each other’s culture, traditions, and reasonable demands...

"This seems like a ’saintly declaration’," murmured Baramo Blacksteel, sitting beside him, "It’s hard to imagine one of the strongest empires on Loren Continent voluntarily saying something like this... As far as I’m aware, even if these arrogant human nations display their fairness and righteousness in external communications, they must maintain a certain imposing attitude—it’s a matter of their ’dignity.’"

"Yes, they like to treat ’fairness’ as a kind of external gift... unlike what’s mentioned in this document. But, looking at it from another angle, if both human empires and the elf’s empire recognize and are willing to abide by it... it’s indeed a good thing," the Paladin ambassador said quietly, "At least they are willing to make such gestures."

"Yes, if the contents of this really can be adhered to," grumbled Baramo, lightly flicking the beautifully printed paper, "What a lovely packaging... Next, the human emperor should bring out something more tangible."

Around the two dwarven ambassadors and throughout the meeting hall, representatives from various countries carefully read the articles mentioned in the charter, exchanging their ideas. Gawain allowed plenty of time for everyone—until more and more representatives set down the draft, he finally spoke to break the silence: "Let’s put the discussion on the charter aside for the moment. Next, I would like everyone to focus on our economic order—I bring with me the Basic World Trade Act, along with the Marine Trade Promotion Act specifically for nations along the continental-route..."

"Oh—mate, more tangible things are coming," Paladin Glintrock couldn’t help but grumble.

As he finished speaking, Gawain’s voice continued: "...Along with these acts, I present you with some real and credible data that will help you understand the significance of joining international trade. From these data, we can see how the total import and export volume between Moss Woods and Cecil has grown twenty-two times in the past two years, and how commerce between Cecil and the Sacred Dragon Kingdom has increased the tax revenue of port cities by four hundred percent..."

Paladin Glintrock’s expression suddenly froze, as immobile as the stones from his homeland. He felt a vigorous jab on his arm, as Baramo’s voice came from beside him, "...Mate, did we discuss this earlier?"

"...I just want to know how much those gray elves made!"

...

The first meeting lasted an entire day, with only limited breaks and meals, as representatives exhausted all their energy listening, thinking, speaking, and summarizing until sunset, when a melodious bell tolled from the depths of Outpost Number 112, and a series of pleasant chimes rang out from Oath Stone Circle, finally marking the temporary end of a day-long intense mental exertion.

After returning to the lodgings in the town, Gawain let out a long sigh, allowing his intensely operating mind to slowly cool down. He glanced at the sky outside the window, filled with the evening glow, and the Giant Eagle Knights who were patrolling the sky and earth, and whispered to himself softly, "The opening went quite well."

"I noticed many people’s state differed greatly between entering and leaving," Amber’s figure emerged nearby, as the half-elf mused, "They all arrived full of zest, but when leaving, each seemed close to twisting their eyebrows into knots..."

"Because this meeting was somewhat different from what they imagined, whether in form or the long-term impact it presented," Gawain said, unsurprised, "Over half the representatives probably only perceived it as a ’convention of alliance,’ akin to the treaties between kingdoms they had attended in the past, where each party lays down terms, offers benefits to one another, and declares solemn vows to become temporary allies... That understanding is not entirely incorrect but inherently too narrow. The Commonwealth Alliance is a more lasting, dignified, and significantly meaningful organization. I demonstrated this during the meeting, which took many by surprise."

Amber waved her hand, "But you can’t blame them—people find it hard to imagine something they’ve never encountered before."

Gawain glanced at the half-elf, smiling not quite seriously, "Hard to believe you’d be so lenient with the ’big shots.’"

"I’m not blind; how the ’big shots’ performed at the meeting today was something I observed. At least they’re not fools, right?" Amber raised her eyebrows, "They all figured out the situation, which isn’t bad performance by any means."

Gawain laughed lightly and didn’t continue the topic but contemplated and slowly asked, "Tomorrow will involve several important votes... Judging by your assessment, how will it turn out?"

"...I think there’s a great chance it’ll be unanimously approved, including the establishment of the alliance and the sea and air joint vigilance circle," Amber thoughtfully reflected, offering her answer, "You’ve shown them enough crises to alarm and force them to band together, displayed the necessity of joining the alliance, and lastly presented benefits they cannot refuse... Except for those overly cautious to make any decisions, there shouldn’t be anyone rejecting these two fundamental proposals."

"Benefits that cannot be refused, huh..." Gawain couldn’t help but murmur softly, feeling a touch of introspection.

During the first half of the meeting, he was essentially creating a sense of crisis in the world, including Melita Ponia’s subsequent speech which also helped achieve this goal. This tactic was not particularly clever, but it was unavoidable at this time—only by facing external pressures together, could the various powers have a chance to unite. Visible, tangible, and persistent disasters are often a crucial element in forming alliances. The behavior of the representatives in the first half of the meeting indeed proved this point.

But just one external pressure is not enough—through past and present experiences, Gawain understood one thing: there will always be illogical occurrences in the world, and when facing a common crisis, some will choose to fight on their own in the chaos, or even turn on each other. Some will maintain suspicion and isolation to protect their own small interests. This seems foolish, yet it is a facet of human nature—if he wanted to establish an alliance that draws together all mortal forces, he must confront these "negative aspects of human nature." Therefore, he not only needed an external pressure to "compress" the various forces together, but he also needed sufficient internal interests to ensure these powers could unite stably.

This includes a "Basic World Trade Act" beneficial to everyone, a "Marine Trade Promotion Act" profoundly significant to countries along the continent’s maritime routes, multiple provisions aimed at protecting the basic interests of weaker member countries, and the Charter of the Alliance of Common Civilizations (abbreviated as the CLC Charter). These were specially prepared by Gawain to attract potential member countries that held doubts about the alliance’s future and were in a wavering state. From the reactions of the representatives in the second half of the meeting... the effect was good.

A representative who could appear in today’s meeting might not fully understand the crisis of doomsday, but their sense of interest must be sharp. Even when faced with a pile of novel and bizarre provisions and plans, the intelligent ones will inevitably smell the scent of long-term benefits from them.

Alliance relations bound by interests are fragile, and Gawain was actually quite aware of this point, but at the current stage... there seemed to be no better solution.

Just then, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Amber’s voice beside him: "It seems we have a guest."

Before Amber spoke, Gawain had actually sensed the presence approaching in the corridor. Shortly after Amber’s words fell, the sound of the Attendant knocking at the door came from the direction of the large door. After a simple report, the door of the lounge opened, and a familiar figure appeared in front of Gawain.

Melita Ponia.

The blue dragon, now the ambassador of the Dragonkin, immediately composed her expression upon entering the room, bowing to Gawain: "I salute you, great..."

Gawain hurriedly interrupted before she could finish: "Stop, there’s no need to be so formal—we’re friends in private, aren’t we?"

"Great Emperor of Cecil—it’s better to finish the words, holding them back feels uncomfortable," Melita ignored Gawain’s interruption and quickly finished the awkward honorifics. Then she looked up at Gawain with a relaxed and natural smile on her face, "I hope this isn’t considered a disturbance at night?"

Gawain instinctively recalled his first meeting with the blue dragon lady, which actually was a nighttime interruption, making him unable to help but laugh. He then stepped aside, making way to the deeper part of the lounge and raising his hand in an inviting gesture: "It’s just early evening now, far from being called nighttime. Come in, I’m quite free at the moment."

Melita nodded in gratitude, then walked straight to the chair by the fireplace without any politeness—while it was already spring, in this elven outpost located in the northern part of the continent and near the edge of wastelands, the nighttime temperatures could still be quite cold. The small fire in the fireplace provided comforting warmth, and the elegantly designed elf-style decorative bricks were a nice touch in the room.

As Melita sat down, Gawain also took a seat in the chair opposite her. Amber brought some tea and snacks from the side and placed them on the small table in front of the fireplace, then carelessly sat beside Gawain, using her amber eyes to gaze up and down at the blue dragon across from her: "Honestly, who would have thought before that you had such a talent for being an ambassador—during your speech, you seemed more seasoned than many professional diplomats."

"Actually, I was nervous to death the whole time, almost forgetting what to say several times," Melita sighed helplessly, "The ’seasoned’ in your eyes is just some experience accumulated from introducing business to clients as a proxy."

"Your performance was already excellent," Gawain said with a smile, "The information you brought has produced the expected effect. The appearance of the Dragon Herd also smoothly controlled the entire situation. Furthermore, with Talronde’s dragons joining the alliance, many of the national representatives will have fewer doubts, and the original wavering members will become more steadfast."

"Talronde is just an empty shell now," Melita said, shaking her head, "but that’s not why I’m here now."

Upon hearing this, Gawain stopped the small talk immediately and became serious, "With how busy you are, coming to me at this time must mean something unusual to discuss, right?"

Melita gently nodded, her expression turning very solemn: "You remember the tower to the northwest of Talronde over the sea, right?"

Hearing the blue dragon lady’s words, Gawain instantly became serious, furrowing his brows slightly: "The ’Inversion Tide’?"

"Yes, it’s the tower that had been tainted by the God of the Inversion Tide," Melita said in a deep voice, "For over a million years, the dragons of Talronde have continuously monitored that dangerous tower. Our God... when he was still here, also watched over it vigilantly. But now, a war has changed everything. Talronde has been nearly destroyed, and the gods are no longer present. The tower still stands over the sea, but it is now in an unregulated state."

Gawain instinctively tensed up: "Are you suggesting... that tower is undergoing changes?"

"As of now, not yet, but this matter needs vigilance," Melita said with a solemn expression, "Just now, a fellow dragon flew from Talronde and delivered a letter from Leader Heragor, in which he expressed his concerns about that tower."

"What is he worried about?"

"He is worried that those wayward compatriots may not only come to harass the Loren Continent," Melita said, "If they truly lose their minds, they may first be drawn to that tower, become tainted by ’knowledge’ there, and then fly towards Loren Continent... At that point, their threat might be much more than just plundering food and resources."