Chapter 180

PHA – Chapter 180 – Human Kings

Holl City was a big city. Although Ramit Magic Network’s company headquarters was situated within the capital, it was located quite far from the palace. Going from the palace to the network company’s headquarters would take at least 30 minutes by car.

This was already a significant distance. Even if the demons bombarded the palace with taboo bombs, the bombs wouldn’t cause any harm to the kings. They’d only harm the civilians in the area.

After leaving the March Academy, Luna drove for close to an hour before finally reaching the district Ramit Magic Network’s headquarters was located in—Geek District, Holl City’s high-tech industrial zone.

Alice had heard about this district before. It was the most prosperous area in the Gryffin Kingdom when it came to network technology. Many network giants had their headquarters situated here. Meanwhile, Ramit Magic Network Company was one of these giants, and it operated a large number of online games that scourged the money of many youths.

At least as far as Alice knew, most of the games her classmates played originated from Ramit. The game in which Alice previously got cursed for being a noob was also one of Ramit’s products.

However, ever since Alice had immersed herself in taboos, she had completely stopped playing games.

Following the Conference of Kings’ request, Alice put on a straw hat before exiting the car. The straw hat was meant to cover parts of her face. Combined with her short stature, most people would only see the top of the hat when they looked down at her. So, this would drastically reduce the risk of her appearance getting seen by others.

Alice was currently widely known as the Gryffin Kingdom’s princess. It wasn’t a secret that the human kings would bring along several family members whenever they participated in the Conference of Kings. If the demons found out that Alice had come to Ramit Magic Network’s headquarters, they might be able to deduce that a Conference of Kings was currently being held here.

Although it was unlikely that the demons would partially indiscriminately launch taboo bombs without concrete evidence, it was better to be safe than sorry. Hence, Alice was told to conceal her appearance as much as possible.

Alice and Luna’s arrival did not attract any attention from the company staff. After all, it wasn’t strange for such a big company to have visitors every day.

Moreover, Hatter had only borrowed one of the conference rooms here. He did not request Ramit to cease its headquarters’ operations for a day. Hence, on the surface, nobody would be able to guess that Ramit’s headquarters was being used as a gathering place for the various human kings.

After taking the elevator to the tenth floor and walking out of the elevator, Alice and Luna were immediately greeted by the sight of an empty hallway and a warning sign that said: “Maintenance underway. Entry is strictly prohibited.”

In addition, thanks to their sensitivity to mana, they also noticed traces of mana on the sign. Evidently, some sort of surveillance magic had been cast on the sign. If any unrelated personnel did try to enter the area, they would probably be chased away immediately.

Alice and Luna walked past this sign and entered the hallway. Then, they quickly found the biggest conference room in this company building.

“Yo, Catherine,” Alice greeted, removing her straw hat when she saw that it was Catherine guarding the door. Although the other party had indeed been a little excessive when preparing a false identity for her, Alice had to admit that this false identity had brought her many benefits. Smiling, she continued, “Long time no see.”

“Long time no see, Lord Hero,” Catherine responded to Alice respectfully. “The kings are inside waiting already.”

“Huh? I’m the last to arrive?”

Alice felt a little embarrassed when she heard Catherine’s words. She had Luna drive her here immediately after washing up. Originally, she thought she would have arrived early. She didn’t think she would arrive last.

However, after thinking it over, she felt this was a reasonable situation. Unlike the demons’ Four Heavenly Kings, the human kings were model workers, and it was common for them to stay up late working. So, it was very reasonable for them to hurry their way to this conference early in the morning.

No matter how big the conference room was, the space inside was still limited. After taking a step into the room, Alice was able to see the whole situation inside the room at a glance.

There was a long rectangular conference table situated in the middle of the room. The seat of honor, which was the seat on the shortest side of the table, remained unoccupied. The kings shared equal statuses, so everyone was sitting on the sides of the conference table instead.

Hatter was seated on the Gryffin Kingdom’s side, and standing behind him were two male guards. The guards gave off a powerful presence. Based on Alice’s prediction, the two should only be slightly weaker than Catherine, so they should be more than adequate to deal with most situations.

Seated on the Vulcan Kingdom’s side was a woman. From what Alice gathered on the internet, the woman’s name was Abby Motley, and she was the queen regnant of the Vulcan Kingdom. However, compared to Hatter, Queen Abby had evidently paid less attention to her body’s maintenance. Her body was slightly chubby, and it was obvious that she wasn’t someone who exercised frequently.

Standing behind Abby were similarly two guards. Aside from the two guards, a smiling young man was standing beside Abby. Alice had similarly found information on this young man on the internet. His name was Carl Motley, and he was the eldest prince of the Vulcan Kingdom. He was also the first in the line of succession, and he was quite well-received by the public.

Sitting on the Milt Kingdom’s side was an old man with white hair and a white beard. The old man’s name was Vincent Ted.

However, Vincent was different from the average old man. While he might have some wrinkles on his face, his body was extraordinarily muscular. His muscles were so dense and massive that they stretched out the royal garbs he wore. If not for his white hair and beard and the wrinkles on his face, nobody would be able to tell that he was an old man.

Although Vincent also had two guards standing behind him, Alice couldn’t help but wonder if these guards could survive even a punch from their king with their flimsy bodies.

In addition to the two guards, a middle-aged man and a young girl were also standing beside Vincent. The middle-aged man wore a stern look on his face. His name was Cole Ted, and he was Vincent’s son. As for the girl, she was Vincent’s granddaughter and Cole’s daughter, Sarah Ted. Similar to Carl Motley, Sarah was also rather popular on the internet.

The Rhine Kingdom’s king was a middle-aged man with a shadowy expression. The Rhine King’s name was Haydn Doyle. In addition to his two escorts, one other person stood by Haydn’s side. This person was also the man Alice was looking to investigate—Etoria Doyle.

The Conference of Kings was a crucial meeting. Yet, Haydn had brought his second son instead of bringing his eldest son. In a sense, he was saying that his second son would be the most likely person to inherit the throne after him.

Yet, despite this situation, Etoria still hoped to gain the demons’ help to claim the throne. This situation confused Alice, and she couldn’t help but wonder if something was going on in the Rhine Kingdom’s royal family.

Lastly, the Ymir Kingdom. Because the Ymir Kingdom’s old king had suddenly died of a heart attack some time ago, the current king was a middle-aged man who got appointed only recently, and his name was Celtic Malthus.

Standing behind Celtic were similarly two guards. Meanwhile, standing beside him was a young girl. However, unlike the other royal family members present, Alice did not recall seeing this girl’s information on the internet.

Generally speaking, the human kings and their most likely successors would have their detailed information shared on the internet. Even Alice was no exception after she became Hatter’s “illegitimate daughter.” However, Alice did not see any information on the girl standing beside Celtic even when she looked up information on the various royal families on her way here.

When Alice researched the Ymir Kingdom’s royal family, most of the information she found was related to the old king, followed by Celtic Malthus. As for Celtic’s children and so on, none of that information was available on the internet. The only thing the public knew of was that Celtic had a wife. Nobody knew whether he had a child or not.

Meanwhile, seemingly noticing Alice’s gaze, the black-haired girl standing beside Celtic froze for a moment. Then, she cast a smile at Alice.