Raon examined the Thespian Emperor's expression with a twisted smile on his face.
'So, that wasn't enough.'
Her eyes still had the same confidence and composure as before.
However, the area below her eyes shook slightly, implying that his arrogant remark had agitated her a little.
He looked away from the Thespian Emperor and checked the others.
On top of the division leaders, even Karoon, Denier, and Balder had dropped their jaws, their faces turned pale.
Glenn was the only one who was maintaining his composure. He gave him a small nod of permission.
'Thank you.'
Raon blinked his eyes in an unnoticeable way and looked at his right side.
"Hey, did you just…"
Rimmer's widened green eyes looked like they were about to pop out.
He was already notified in advance that Raon was going to act up, but he was still making that face. He must've been extremely shocked.
'I need to get out of this situation for now.'
Raon frowned while grabbing Rimmer's shoulder.
"Division leader, what are you doing right now?"
"Huh? Hmm? Me?"
Rimmer was blankly staring at him and tilted his head.
"I've asked you to help me because I've been talking recently without thinking. You should've created an aura barrier to stop the sound from leaking. What are you doing with that dumb expression on your face?"
Raon blamed it on Rimmer for not making an aura barrier when it was clearly his fault.
"Huh…?"
Rimmer slowly blinked his eyes like a frog.
"W-was that really my fault?"
Raon did indeed ask for assistance because he was about to act up. However, he'd never thought that it was going to snowball into a huge crisis like that.
Blaming others after running their mouth wasn't something even punks would do.
His chin trembled because of the false accusation, and he looked at the platform. Glenn was glaring at him with the look in his eyes telling him that he wanted to strike him with lightning right away.
'Damn it…'
He couldn't understand why Glenn was scolding him when his amazing grandson was the one who'd caused the issue. However, he didn't have any courage to complain about it, simply lowered his head instead.
"I-I'm sorry."
Rimmer reluctantly apologized, terrified by Glenn's gaze.
"Just do better in the future."
Raon sighed briefly, as if he were the one forgiving him.
"… Yeah, I'll be more careful."
Rimmer nodded while biting his lip.
'I need to quit this job. What the hell is this shit?!'
He clenched his fist to the point of bleeding so that he could suppress his frustration.
"You heard him, right?"
Raon nodded his head towards the Thespian Emperor.
"Our division leader makes lots of mistakes, as you can see. Please forgive him since he even apologized."
"Err…"
The Thespian Emperor's eyebrow was trembling in panic because of the ridiculous situation. Apparently, the heaven's flow she'd read didn't tell her anything about it.
"Continue what you were doing."
Roan shook his hand, telling her to continue—but it was obviously impossible to continue the conversation.
"Don't mind them and just continue."
The light returned to people's eyes upon hearing Glenn's heavy voice.
"Please excuse me."
The Thespian Emperor nodded and placed her right hand on the left side of her chest.
"He wasn't exactly wrong. I could've arrived a lot faster if I'd used a dimensional door. However, I needed some time for self-reflection."
She straightened her back. She continued without being intimidated by Glenn's powerful pressure.
"It was because of my incompetent orders that we couldn't quickly resolve the issue in Zieghart's domain, and my subordinates are suffering. That's why I decided to repent while walkin—"
"Hah, what is this dogshit again?"
Raon snorted and spouted without using his brain.
'Hmm?'
However, his voice couldn't be heard from the outside. Rimmer had created an aura barrier to stop the sound from leaking.
"What's wrong with you today? Are you seriously trying to kill me?"
Rimmer was either panicking or terrified of Glenn, and he seemed to have no intention of removing the aura barrier either way. It looked like there was an error in the signal.
'Well, this is even better.'
Since it was only going to add reality to his acting, it was bound to agitate the Thespian Emperor even further.
Raon released an extremely small amount of aura to create a hole in Rimmer's aura barrier just like what he'd done against Ayad.
"Hah, what is this dogshit again?"
He frowned while repeating what he'd said a moment ago.
"If you made a mistake against Zieghart, you need to run as fast as possible and apologize. Why would you even think about your mistake while walking? Are you apologizing to the ground instead?"
His immature tone pierced into the audience chamber's silent atmosphere as he complained. Everyone's gazes were directed at Raon once again.
"Huh? Could you hear me again?"
Raon blinked his eyes and leered at Rimmer.
"Division leader. Can't you even maintain the aura barrier anymore? Aren't you being too sloppy just because you are about to retire?"
"Ugh…"
Rimmer's chin trembled violently.
'You bastard!'
When he was about to shout at Raon that it was him who made a hole into the aura barrier, a frightening voice could be heard in his head.
[Shut your mouth.]
It was Glenn's voice. His twitching finger looked like he was about to strike him with lightning if he'd said anything else.
'Why are you doing this to me?!'
He didn't want to come to the audience chamber to begin with. He was trying to skip when he heard Raon was joining, but Raon forced him to come and created such a shitty situation for him.
Rimmer bit his lip and stared at Raon's frowning face.
'You are just a rascal at this point!'
Causing issues and blaming them on others was the classic attitude of rascals in noble households.
"Ugh…"
Rimmer cleared his throat and closed his eyes.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm a little sick right now. I'll be more careful in the future."
"Yeah, please be more careful."
"Okay."
His veins were trembling in anger, but he forcibly suppressed it.
"I'll also try to hold back as much as possible."
Raon lightly patted Rimmer's trembling shoulder.
'How did it go?'
He looked away from Rimmer and checked on the Thespian Emperor. Her unshakable expression seemed to suggest that she wasn't going to care no matter what he'd said.
However, Raon noticed the small fissure in her iron mask because he'd been carefully observing it all along.
'It should work if I continue a little longer.'
Those who were good at predicting the future didn't usually show their emotions on their faces.
Whenever their predictions came true, their faces became more and more unshakable.
Because a fissure had appeared, she must not have predicted that situation.
'I need to keep pushing.'
Raon casually shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't mind us and just continue."
The direct lines, including Karoon, were also surprised by his actions. However, unusually enough, they didn't try to stop him. They must've harbored the same dislike towards the Thespian Emperor.
'I even thought about a method to stop them. I guess I won't need it.'
Raon rolled his lips into a smile while looking at the Thespian Emperor's serious eyes.
'This is going so well.'
Ariel, the Thespian Emperor, narrowed her eyes while looking at Raon.
'Raon Zieghart.'
She'd been aware that the young warrior she was looking at was Raon Zieghart since she'd first seen him.
There was only one young swordsman in Zieghart with blond hair and red eyes, and it was only natural for him to be present in the meeting since he was directly involved with the incident.
However, she had never expected nor read from heaven's flow that Raon would run his mouth.
'I heard that he had a calm and immaculate personality.'
Those who'd encountered Raon Zieghart before described him as a precocious child—like the reincarnation of an old man.
She couldn't understand why he was acting like a punk in the back streets when he was supposed to be immaculate, without any openings.
'I can't predict his actions.'
She was in a muddle because she hadn't even considered that it could happen.
She couldn't understand anything about the situation, including why Raon was picking a fight in such a boorish way or why Glenn wasn't stopping him.
'I need to relax even more in this kind of situation.'
The situation was going awry, but she couldn't reveal that fact. It was necessary to stay as calm as possible and resolve the issue.
"Please listen to me for now."
Ariel smiled at Raon even though his hateful face was asking for a slap. He shook his hand, showing that he was ready to listen to her petty excuses.
'Seriously, that guy…'
She was boiling with anger at the insolence of such a young man in a low position. She bit the inside of her cheek and looked at Glenn.
"The White Sword Dragon is right. Coming to Zieghart right away would've been the correct course of action. However, I couldn't make such a decision easily since I'm still the leader of a group. That's why I've decided to put my thoughts together while walking…"
"What more do you even have to think when it's already been a whole month since the incident? Maybe you've been spending your nights in casinos just like a certain someone. Hey, is that you?"
Raon poked Rimmer, whose face was completely pale, with his elbow.
"Hmm…"
The Thespian Emperor's lips were quivering as she turned to look at Raon.
'What the hell is with this crazy bastard?'
He was interrupting her right away even though he'd let her speak a moment ago. He seriously looked like a lunatic who'd lost his mind from a blade stabbing into his brain.
"Ah! I was supposed to remain silent. My bad."
Raon put his hands together and shook them in apology. However, he was still running his mouth in the meantime.
"But I wasn't exactly wrong, was I? What have you been doing for the entire month?"
"Like I said before, it takes me some time to act because I'm the leader of the White Wha—"
"Wow, I think even Zieghart wouldn't take that long to make that kind of decision. I never knew that the White Whale was such a huge group."
"..."
The Thespian Emperor's fingers were trembling behind her sleeve. It was difficult to suppress her anger because every single thing Raon was saying was irritating her like a saw cutting into her nerves.
"Of course, we can't be compared to Zieghart. I'm just rather slow at making decisions."
She slowly nodded and looked at Glenn.
"The White Sword Dragon is more cheerful than the rumors."
She was trying to ask Glenn to stop Raon. However, he didn't do anything, and the Heavenly Blade division leader standing behind him stepped forward instead.
"Please understand it, Thespian Emperor. He's going through his puberty."
"Puberty…?"
Her lips started to tremble.
'Am I having hearing trouble right now?'
Raon was already twenty-one years old, not fifteen. She couldn't understand what kind of twenty-one-year-old would be going through puberty.
"He grew up way too early, and he is having a late puberty now."
Sheryl added that it was late puberty upon realizing her thoughts. She smiled faintly, asking for her understanding.
"Children act even worse if you offend them during puberty. Just pretend he isn't here and continue."
Glenn slowly nodded.
"Ah…"
The Thespian Emperor's lips parted, unable to suppress her shock.
'What kind of drugs are all of you doing?'
She couldn't understand what the hell was that madness. She was asking Glenn to stop him, but he pretty much responded that even he couldn't do anything about it. It was so ridiculous that she could only laugh.
It wasn't just Glenn and Sheryl. The other executives weren't trying to stop him either, all of them wearing satisfied expressions on their faces.
She'd heard that there were internal problems in Zieghart, but they apparently didn't show it in front of an enemy from outside.
'Damn it.'
She was boiling in anger, but she had no choice but to suppress it because she was there to make a request.
'It's okay. The contents of his remarks are still within my predictions.'
She'd already prepared a response for everything Raon had commented so far. It was going to be fine as long she was careful about his interruptions before she spoke.
'I'll take a step back for now.'
Ariel bowed to Glenn.
"I won't make any excuses. I apologize for being so late."
She simply apologized without giving any excuses so there would be nothing for Raon to nitpick.
"I'm just here to save my subordinates. However, I'd like to apologize before then."
"Apologize?"
"I'm the one who ordered my subordinates to hide inside Zieghart's domain. I did that to watch out for the Black Tower, but I couldn't follow the right procedure because it was an emergency and—"
"You decided that so quickly when you just mentioned that you were slow at making decisions."
"Ah…"
"Moreover, that's not even a big problem."
Raon clicked his tongue and rolled his shoulder.
"Hiding inside Zieghart's domain was just a small mistake. Preemptively attacking us was the big mistake."
"Hmm…"
Ariel quietly groaned. She was obviously going to mention that part, but she was extremely irritated because Raon did it first.
"I am, of course, aware of that fact. It was also my mista—"
When she was trying to continue her apology while doing her best to suppress her anger, Raon cut into it like a spike.
"It's even more problematic if you did it while being aware. Even five-year-old children don't do things if they know they're wrong."
"That's why I'm here to apolo—"
"You should've done it faster if you knew."
Snap.
Thick veins ended up appearing on Ariel's forehead.
* * *
Raon smiled while watching Ariel's mask gradually shatter.
'It's working perfectly.'
The best way to deal with smooth talkers who were confident in their predictions like the Thespian Emperor was to straight up cut them off as they spoke, and it was working perfectly.
"R-Raon? Are you really Raon?"
You are just a lunatic.
Wrath and Rimmer were looking at him like he had finally lost it, and the division leaders were getting the wrong impression about him, but Raon didn't care about it.
"Indeed, even children don't cause problems if they know it's wrong."
The Thespian Emperor shook her head while pretending to maintain her composure once again. Raon had to commend her patience for still putting up with it.
"But humans are bound to make mistakes, I hope you understand."
She smiled faintly and slightly lowered her head.
"I'd like to insist that I just wanted to observe the Black Tower's movement because they are located in the White Whale's vicinity. My subordinates attacked in a panic, but they must've had no intention of making enemies with Zieghart."
The Thespian Emperor closed her eyes while looking at Glenn.
"I only ordered the White Wolf Saber to bring the Sickle of the Bloody Cloud back instead of fighting, but he was just too eager to follow my ord—"
"Wow. I would've died if he was just a bit more eager."
Raon shook his head.
"You should've controlled your subordinates instead of self-reflection."
"Yes, that's why I'm here to beg for forgive—"
She immediately responded. She must've gotten used to those interruptions. However, Raon obviously had no intention of letting her continue.
"Then you should've come earlier instead of playing captain with the people."
"Ah…"
The Thespian Emperor's eyes glowed red. It looked like her true nature was being revealed for the first time.
"Aah."
Raon rubbed his shoulder while ignoring her gaze.
"Ah, the place I was stabbed back then is hurting."
Huh?
Wrath's face was telling him, 'But you didn't get hurt back then', but Raon simply ignored him.
"It's also my fault. I'd like to apologize."
The Thespian Emperor bit her lip tightly. Raon could see that her emotions were clearly revealed on her face.
"Why would we even have laws in the world if an apology were enough to solve all problems? Start by telling us what you are going to do for us."
Since it was time to provoke her even further, he continued violently.
"So you were hiding in Zieghart's domain without notifying us about it, attacked me without any questions when I found you, and picked another fight after my battle against the Black Tower was over."
Raon raised three fingers one after the other and bobbed them towards her.
"What are you going to do about this?"
"Haa, I've been saying this all along, but I'm here to talk about it. I…"
"You should've come earlier."
"Argh!"
The Thespian Emperor couldn't suppress her anger anymore and ended up groaning.
Huh…
Wrath stared at Raon's smile while drooling from his mouth.
Is he really supposed to be a human?