"The attack was meant to measure our strength, and since we killed the three SS-rank monsters, The next attack that will come will be a lot harder than the three SS-rank monsters we fought.".
"In short, another attack is going to come.".
Whispers started to appear in the room.
"Another attack? What are we going to do?".
"Why are we still here? We need to prepare our defenses.".
Albert nodded his head.
"I understand your worries, but there is one thing that has changed since the attack on the Diterra kingdom.".
He looked at me and the Asian person.
"The birth of SSS rankers. People whose strength far exceeds that of SS rankers. As you all know, SSS rankers were a legendary rank only achievable in stories or in the past."
A smile widened on his face.
"But!" He exclaimed.
"In the last 50 years, at least 10 people have achieved the rank of a SSS-rank monster slayer, and even more are going to appear!"
He slammed his hands on the podium.
"No more are we going to just get slaughtered by the monsters; instead, we will be ready the next time they attack. So there is no need to fear."
"So be strong and do not fear the-"
"Who said we were scared?" The Asian man interrupted Albert.
A frown appeared on the Asian man's face.
"I have never once in my life been afraid of the monsters, so who are you calling scared?"
I shook my head.
'What is he doing?'.
Why did he interrupt the strategist, who was only trying to raise morale?
'Read the room, idiot'.
"You are right; of course you wouldn't be afraid. As I said before, since the attack today was only meant to measure our strength, it means that they will attack with a stronger force the next time." Albert said.
A drawing appeared on the screen behind him.
It was the drawing of a fluffy creature with horns extruding out of its head.
"But we need to talk about a different matter. This monster was seen above the barrier before it was destroyed. That is why we think it is the one responsible for the destruction of the barrier."
'Well, obviously'.
"What is special about this barrier is that it takes multiple SS rankers to destroy it, but this monster destroyed it singlehandedly."
"We don't know its specific strength, but we can assume that it's at least a SS rank monster. And in the worst-case scenario, it could be a SSS rank, which hasn't appeared yet."
Whispers appeared in the room again.
"But if the monster truly was a SSS rank, then why didn't it attack us after the barrier was destroyed? It could have ended with far more casualties and destruction, yet it still didn't attack after the barrier was destroyed."
His gaze became serious.
"I have one theory. The reason it didn't attack us was because it wouldn't. There could be two reasons for this."
"One, it simply didn't have enough strength to attack us after it destroyed the barrier. This meant that the unknown monster probably wasn't of SSS rank. The second reason why it didn't attack is a little more scary."
"There is a chance that it didn't want to attack the kingdom after the barrier because of another ulterior motive. Maybe the reason to destroy the barrier was to accurately measure our battlepower."
'What is he talking about?'.
"If the barrier was active, the monsters would have a hard time attacking the kingdom. Because we could just sit on the wall and shoot with our mana cannons and just kill the monsters that came close."
"But that wouldn't be an accurate way to measure our strength, hence why the monster destroyed the barrier to get a more accurate assessment of our strength."
Worried whispers appear in the room.
"In the end, it's just a theory, but the empire needs to hear about this. There is also the matter of the casualties."
The screen changed to multiple photographs of familiar people that I recognized.
The SS ranker, whose arms, legs, and eyes were cut off, and the blonde knight, who sacrificed himself. Behind them were countless other people. The photographs showed them smiling in their uniforms.
I looked down on the ground in shame as I saw the faces of people who had died in front of me.
"A lot of people died today, including strong rankers like Arnold. But it wasn't just them; a lot of civilians of the Hozora kingdom also died. Let's take a moment of silence for the people who died."
A deafening silence appeared in the room.
The moment of silence felt like an eternity as I felt the guilt weigh down on me.
A person in golden attire walked behind the podium next to Albert. He patted his shoulder and gazed at us.
"Thank you for the moment of silence. I represent the empire, and therefore we need to talk about the monster corpses. The monster corpses, which contain the mana crystals, will be bought by the empire."
"The money will be used to rebuild the Hozora kingdom and to also compensate the civilians who have suffered losses. But don't worry, you warriors will also be compensated heavily for participating in the kingdom's defense."
He looked at the photographs of the people who died today.
"Our comrades who died today and their families will not be left alone. The empire will take care of them as if it were their own."
"Because remember that the Empire will never betray those who are loyal to them."
He stepped down from the podium.
"That concludes the meeting, but please be ready at any time. Since the monsters could attack again," Albert said as he saluted.
As the meeting concluded, people walked out of the conference room.
And as I was about to leave, the person from the empire approached me and patted my shoulder.
He had long, golden hair and blue eyes. His face looked cunning, and I could see tiny bits of gray hair on his long, golden hair.
"Rylan Ashencroft, I hope the attack today didn't exhaust you."
'He is giving me bad vibes'.
I shook my head.
"How can I dare say that I am exhausted when multiple people died today?"
He made a small smile.
"That is the ideal response, Ashencroft. Keep fighting for the sake of humanity, and always remember what the empire has done for your family."
"I have arranged a room inside the castle for you. The monsters are probably not going to attack again, so take the rest of the day off to rest."
He turned around and left the conference room.
The bad feeling intensified.
'I guess there is more to the empire than I thought'.