"Honorable Prince, I am the Foreign Minister of Crolock Kingdom, you may call me Edison."
While the Slaughter King Association decisively set the tone and opted to eliminate anyone who found the problem, Leon had already followed the guidance of the third prince to the conference hall in Administrative Zone Three.
Upon seeing Leon enter, a neatly dressed middle-aged man with sharp eyes and a competent demeanor facing the oval meeting table, first nodded politely to him, then gestured toward the empty seat opposite him with a welcoming gesture.
"Please have a seat. Next, matters concerning the hijacking of our Sky Clipper in your country, the burning of the Boarding Tower rented to your nation, and the loss of vital cargo will be discussed and resolved between me and you.
Additionally, other members of your diplomatic mission do not have the privilege of attending the discussion. Please follow Prince Andre’s attendants to the lounge at the corner and wait."
Without any pleasantries or courtesy, not even a hint of conversation, everything had been assertively arranged. The Foreign Minister quietly opened the booklet in front of him and, with a stern face, said:
"Honorable Prince, the first topic we must discuss is your country’s security issues.
In critical locations around the Royal Capital, there are organized armed rebels who can easily bypass your country’s sentinel posts and attack facilities belonging to us... Please provide a reasonable explanation to me and Crolock Kingdom as to why such an absurd situation has occurred."
Explain what? Tell you how I borrowed the uniform and credentials from Yisha, then led the rebels to attack the Boarding Tower and burn the Sky Clipper?
Observing the Foreign Minister who eagerly commenced his "offensive" before Leon even sat, Leon’s lip twitched slightly, feeling as though he had met a certain Prince Freckles; his right hand itched slightly instinctively.
Although he had heard prior to his arrival about Crolock Kingdom’s assertive foreign attitudes due to their strong technological prowess and national strength, leading to often aggressive and domineering conduct.
However, having barely spent two hours since disembarking the Sky Clipper, enduring three sequential affronts left Leon somewhat displeased.
Particularly the Foreign Minister with a stern iron face, he had neither uttered harsh words nor made provocative statements, yet his manner conveyed an unmistakable sense of refusal.
Although Leon had never considered face as important, representing the face of the Kingdom of Lutung as an emissary, being so casually dismissed was undeniably challenging.
Seeing no response after a while, the Foreign Minister raised his head, observing Leon neither sitting nor speaking, but merely squinting his eyes while gazing intensely at him, his brow furrowing into a "川" character, he reluctantly urged:
"Later, I have to receive the ambassador of Kingdom of Orleson in this conference room, so please cooperate and don’t waste my time."
Ah... Veronica, you really need to put forth some effort.
Hearing the middle-aged man’s nearly scolding reminder, and seeing the undisguised displeasure on his face, Leon slightly shook his head.
Inter-country relations are far more "wild" than interpersonal relationships and more adhere to the law of the jungle, where only when one’s fist is hard enough can one’s backbone be straight.
Currently, aside from a considerable population, energy industry, and industrial base being decent, other aspects of the Kingdom are quite neglected, resulting in them barely considering the Kingdom as significant, along with Leon himself being regarded dismissively.
"The matter of the Boarding Tower is not my responsibility."
As the serious middle-aged man’s brow furrowed tighter, Leon pulled out a chair and sat down, then calm and collected, responded with the pre-prepared statement:
"Our mission comprises two groups. The group responsible for handling this matter is the other group of the mission. You can speak with the other ambassador when they arrive. I’m here to buy technology."
Entirely unexpected by such a response, the Foreign Minister of Crolock Kingdom instinctively froze, then glanced down at the agenda booklet in his hand, looked up and frowned:
"I did not receive a similar notification, nor is there such an arrangement in the agenda booklet."
Before boarding the Sky Clipper, Leon did not wish to stir up trouble, preventing the Kingdom from facing sanctions from the Crolock Kingdom, so he likely engaged in evasive conversation.
Having experienced an absurd hijacking and listened to the plights of the robber siblings, learning about the situation in several Floating Crystal Mines, he was prepared for intense agitation and did not need to suppress his feelings.
Amidst the Foreign Minister’s bewildered expression, Leon stood up and seized the agenda booklet from his hand, then used the pen on the table to make a couple of marks casually rewrote a few lines in the original format, then tossed the agenda booklet back.
"I added the procurement matter for you. I plan to acquire technology for long-distance communication. If you have any questions, ask quickly; later, I’d like to take a stroll outside. Don’t waste my time!"
Facing the prince who cannot be described as impolite but certainly disregardful, the serious middle-aged man turned ashen with anger and, after stammering twice, slammed the table hard.
"Absurd! Rude! Do you know what you’re doing? This action is blatant provocation! You will..."
"It was you who provoked first."
Having endured silently along the journey, Leon, holding in fury, crossed his arms and sneered while questioning:
"Do you realize that I’ve tolerated you for a long time?
From the moment I disembarked the Sky Clipper, you started causing trouble! Even an identification card takes forever to prepare, and now there’s arrangement after arrangement with you showing me attitude... I know Crolock Kingdom is formidable, but do you truly assume others have no temper?"
Watching as Leon kicked his chair away and stood up, with malicious intent fixed toward him, the Foreign Minister of Crolock Kingdom felt as though Leon genuinely had the intention to fight, and his momentum wavered as he desperately argued:
"This is a meeting between countries! It’s not a street brawl; your conduct is unprofessional!"
"You were the ones unprofessional first!"
Leon slammed his hand on the table and furiously asked:
"Aside from a useless prince with no inheritance rights, the entire reception process was skipped; is this professional? You couldn’t even prepare a few identification cards, wasting my time; this is how you define professionalism?
And you, you are proficient in posturing, yet you have no clue why I’m here nor what you should discuss with me as the Foreign Minister; is this your professional standard?"
Ah... Is it really our fault? Not only were the identification cards unprepared, but we also misunderstood their purpose?
Seeing Leon’s furious demeanor, having been intimidated by him, the Foreign Minister involuntarily shrank his neck, then forced himself to argue:
"What you mentioned were merely reception and agenda arrangement issues, which can be discussed later, but they cannot justify your rude behavior! I am the Foreign Minister of Crolock Kingdom; you must afford me basic respect! At least... refrain from using foul language!"
"I’m not using foul language!"