Chapter 181 – Guess How Many Spies There Are in This Room

The kings were discussing other matters when Alice and Luna entered.
The Conference of Kings wasn't a scheduled event, so aside from holding this conference to meet the Hero, the kings also used this opportunity to discuss some international affairs.

Before Alice and Luna arrived, the kings were in the midst of discussing tariffs between their respective countries.
As soon as the conference room's doors opened and Alice walked in, the kings promptly halted their discussions, and everyone in the room turned to look at the two unexpected guests.

Meanwhile, after seeing Alice, four out of the five kings exchanged glances with each other and tacitly agreed to postpone their discussions for later.
This was because, aside from the new Ymir King, the four other kings knew that the protagonist of today's conference had arrived.

As for the poor King Celtic, he had no idea why the other kings had simultaneously stopped speaking.
However, since his peers had stopped talking, he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut as well.

It couldn't be helped.
King Celtic was a newly appointed king.
Even though he had already begun learning how to handle national affairs long before he had succeeded the throne, he was still a greenhorn in the eyes of the other kings.
If he wanted to gain the other kings' respect, he would have to first show his capability in managing his country.

Aside from the kings, the guards and royal family members present also looked toward Alice.
Unlike the kings, though, the others did not recognize Alice as the Hero but the Gryffin Princess instead.

Alice's identity as the Gryffin Princess was one of the current trending topics on the internet.
Her origins were shrouded in a veil of mystery, and the only information available on her was that she used to live in an orphanage in the countryside.
However, as the orphanage was located in a remote location, the information people managed to collect on her was incredibly limited, and many people couldn't help but be curious about her.

“I'm sorry I'm late.
I thought I came here quite early already, but it turns out that I wasn't,” Alice said, scratching her head.
She thought that everyone was looking at her because she had arrived the latest out of everyone, so she felt that it was best if she apologized.

However, many people in the room couldn't help but find it odd when they saw Alice's behavior.
Alice did not behave like a princess at all.
While she might not be too well versed in noble etiquette since she had lived in the countryside for a long time, the Conference of Kings was a serious occasion that involved the kings and royalty of all five human kingdoms.
So, for her to be late and behave in such a carefree manner was incredibly rude.
Wasn't she thinking a little too highly of herself?

Alice was only a princess.
In terms of status, she was only above the guards in this room, while everyone else was either her equal or superior.

“It's fine.
The conference this time was held because of you, anyway,” the Milt Kingdom's King Vincent said, a friendly smile appearing on his wizened face.
His behavior toward Alice was surprisingly good despite her late arrival and carefree behavior.

It wasn't strange for Vincent to behave like this, either.
After all, Alice was the Hero.
She was the strongest shield and spear the human realm had to go against the Demon King and the demon realm's invasion.
He naturally couldn't afford to snub her.

Meanwhile, as soon as Vincent finished speaking, the expressions of many people in the room quickly changed.
Although they weren't aware of Alice's true identity, they knew why the Conference of Kings was being held this time—to meet and talk with the current Hero and verify the Hero's existence.

Thus, by saying that the conference this time was being held because of Alice, King Vincent was essentially saying that Alice was the Hero.

“Well, then.
I presume King Celtic and everyone else who has followed my fellow kings here should still be unaware of Alice's true identity, right?” Hatter chuckled when he saw the astonished expressions of Celtic and the various royal family members.
“As you know, her name is Alice.
Her identity to the public is that of my illegitimate daughter, but her real identity is the Hero who will fight against the Demon King.”

When Hatter finished speaking, the conference room fell silent momentarily.
The Ymir Kingdom's King Celtic had looked at Alice for a long while before his stiffened expression loosened up slightly.
As the only king not to have seen the Hero's photo, he was completely unaware of Alice's true identity.
So, when he previously saw Alice's carefree behavior, he had, in reality, wanted to educate this carefree princess on Hatter's behalf and have her pay more attention to her etiquette.
Fortunately, he had made the correct move to keep his mouth shut.

It was publicly recognized that the Hero was of greater importance than a king.
After all, if a country lost its ruler, it could simply elect a new one.
However, if the human realm lost its Hero, the Demon King could single-handedly flatten the human realm.
At that time, it wouldn't matter even if the human realm's rulers stayed alive.

Meanwhile, Alice had also noticed the change in everyone's expressions.
Although she wasn't an expert at reading facial expressions, she still noticed some clues when she paid close attention.

For example, the change in Prince Etoria's expression was quite significant when he heard about her identity.
Although Alice couldn't tell what this change represented, it still showed that there were fluctuations in his heart.

Ha… How I wish I could read facial expressions like the protagonists in novels… Alice inwardly lamented.

However, while Alice might not have the ability to read facial expressions, her maid, in addition to being a powerful dark magician, was also a powerful mind magician.
With Luna's abilities, she could easily read a young prince's mind without attracting anyone's attention.
Even a mind magician like Hatter wouldn't notice it.

After the silence in the room continued for a while, Alice walked over to the Gryffin Kingdom's side and sat beside Hatter.
Meanwhile, Luna stood beside Alice and placed her gaze on Prince Etoria.
Then, she secretly began casting her mind magic to invade Prince Etoria's mind.

If Etoria was a normal person, Luna could even brainwash him into her puppet without anyone in this room being the wiser.
Unfortunately, anyone who had received compulsory education in this world would have more or less refined their mana.
So, aside from those who had not received a formal education, everyone else in this world couldn't be considered a normal person.
Naturally, this was also the case for Prince Etoria.

“Well, let's set the tariff issue aside for now and get to the main topic of this conference.”

After Alice took her seat, the first to speak up was the Rhine Kingdom's King Haydn.
Although this middle-aged man with a shadowy expression had tried his best to squeeze out a smile, Alice felt that he was better off sticking with his shadowy expression.
He looked much more handsome that way.

“Regarding the matter of Lord Hero… Although Hatter has previously shared photos with us already, we still wish to verify Lord Hero's power with our own eyes,”

—In other words, take out the Hero's Sword and show us that you can wield it.

The Hero's Sword was one of the natural laws of this world.
The idea that only the Hero could wield the Hero's Sword had already been deeply rooted in everyone's minds.
Thus, so long as Alice could wield the Hero's Sword normally, it would resolve most of everyone's suspicions.