Twenty-fourth, National Congress Monthly Meeting (Lower House)
"The National Congress Building seems still the same! Don't know when it will be renovated."
Erlinster gazed at the transparent National Assembly building. Unlike what people imagined, the Imperial Parliament of Naciriel was not a magnificent and elegant classical-style building. It was neither magnificent nor elegant, without even a decorative item, looking like a clumsy giant cube or an iron lunchbox turned upside down on the ground.
That's why it ended up like this, because during the construction process, the design plan for the National Assembly Building changed constantly with the wild ideas of the national congressmen, forcing the construction workers to build and demolish repeatedly until the official relocation was about to take place, only then did they barely finish laying the foundation, but the cost had already exceeded six times over budget, and time was really running out. As a result, the engineering team was forced to rush work according to the most time-saving and cost-effective plan, and in the end, this shameful appearance was created.
At the entrance of the National Assembly Building stands a bronze statue of Emperor Taramante Thanshul, the founder of the Second Empire. The emperor is clearly a highly skilled magician, but here he wears armor and holds an axe, dressed as if he were a dwarf warrior. On the axe head is perched a strange creature resembling a giant octopus, according to the inscription, this bronze statue reflects the scene where the Emperor slew Aeolus, King of the Gods.
According to the official statements of the Empire and most countries in the world, the so-called King of Gods, Aeolus, is actually an evil creature from a different crystal wall system (which can be understood as another universe), similar to a soul-sucking monster. It coerces the gods through a means similar to mind control and creates terrifying monsters such as Ferlin Morkai, committing heinous crimes against all living beings in the world. The destruction of the First Empire of Nacrelle is also inseparable from his evil deeds.
Therefore, Emperor Tera Mante Tan Shul, for the safety and happiness of all gods and wise lives in the world, under the guidance of the great and wise magic goddess Mistra (the third magic goddess) and the dark girl Elise, with the assistance of the reformed "Aeolipaw" guardian god Hem, fearlessly ventured into the Aeolian lair, using a sharp axe to chop this enemy into pieces. From now on, we will liberate this world from the colonialists of the alien crystal wall system, and for this, we must sing praises to the forever great, glorious, and correct magic goddess, sing praises to the forever great, glorious, and correct dark girl, sing praises...
As for the actual situation, only heaven knows. Irmgard remembered that when he asked the Great Emperor about this matter, the other party just pursed his lips. It was unclear whether Aeo came from a different crystal wall system, and using an axe to chop a long-dormant dead octopus was not worth mentioning. As long as the Guardian God Hem chose to betray and could send a physically strong unbeliever to Aeo's side (Aeo was immune to all attacks related to gods, so even if ordinary believers were sent to deal with him, it would be useless), getting rid of this sleeping giant who had no small followers for two or three thousand years was actually quite simple. It was more interesting that the Guardian God Hem first became the Betrayal God for this reason and later changed back to the Guardian God after seeing that promoting betrayal had no future, like a policeman who quits his job because of low wages to become a bandit, but then returns to being a policeman again because he finds the income unstable.
Under the illumination of hundreds of bright magic lanterns surrounding the Capitol Building, elegantly dressed and dignified members of parliament descended from their carriages in twos and threes, stepping onto the stairs leading to the meeting hall. A large group of reporters, like flies smelling feces, swarmed around the members, asking sensitive questions and snapping photos with their cameras.
However, those members of parliament seem to have a good trick to deal with journalists. A group of sturdy men with fierce faces stand in front of the journalist, their eyes glaring. The weak journalist's legs would soften, and the member of parliament could take advantage of this to slip away. If they encounter someone who is really persistent, some members of parliament who are skilled in magic usually choose to use a weakened version of petrification to immobilize them for one or two minutes. This way, they don't have to worry about being accused of using excessive violence, and they can get rid of these annoying flies - politicians often appear very weak when facing journalists for the sake of their image.
"Hey, Erlinster, what took you so long?" The great sage had just passed through the heavy guard under Xinbu's lead. As he stepped up to the entrance of the Capitol building, he saw Karl Sasse waving at him in front of the gate, "Come on in quickly! The meeting has already started an hour and a half ago!"
"What?" Erlinster was taken aback, turning to look at the senator who was still strolling into the conference room. "How can there be so many guys late? Won't the meeting be delayed?"
"Everyone's already used to it! It's not like you're the one who was a student of that chief executive or anything." Karlthaus still looked every inch the scholar, clutching a thick book in his hand. "Ganmirel's magic skills are as bad as they can get, but he's top-notch when it comes to talking nonsense - every time he opens a meeting with a two-hour long speech that never repeats a single sentence. Ever since he developed this habit, most of the council members have taken to arriving about an hour and a half late, just so they don't fall asleep in their seats from listening to Ganmirel's rubbish and end up getting photographed by reporters looking like fools."
She adjusted her single-lens glasses and continued with a flourish, "But this time something's gone wrong. Gannemelir just took the stage to welcome you, the great sage, but everyone applauded until their hands hurt, only to find that you hadn't arrived! So I volunteered to come out here and greet you myself."
"I'm drenched in sweat, I was following a delegate from another province to the hotel... didn't expect him to be late on purpose..."
"Since someone has already picked you up, I'll take my leave." Ximbu clearly wasn't interested in their idle chatter and gave a cold, icy bow before walking away without waiting for a response. Ilmuster gazed at the back of his former lover, moving his lips twice, but ultimately didn't say anything, only letting out a long sigh.
"What's the matter, can't forget old feelings? Then hurry up and catch up!" Karlthas joked, "Since you're already late, don't mind this little while, I'll tell Ganmellir for you."
"No need," Ilminster shook his head. "Both of us need more time to calm down. Let's go in and have the meeting first."
With simple and even rough appearance
The interior of the Grand Mansion is decorated with extreme luxury, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, walls adorned with paintings framed in gold, silver and precious stones, and some areas even have indoor fountains and greenhouses. Even the floor underfoot is not made of marble or bluestone, but rather a silver fox fur carpet from the northernmost part of the continent, which is extremely valuable even for a small piece.
Irmynster followed Karsus through a series of lavishly decorated rooms, past several checkpoints, and finally into the Congressional meeting hall in session. Unlike the other rooms and corridors carpeted with silver fox fur, the floor of the meeting hall was covered only with a layer of green bricks. But this could not prove its simplicity. On the contrary, the origin of these green bricks made them more expensive than gold of equal weight.
After the death of Aeolus, the king of all gods, the goddess of magic, Mistra, the dark elf girl, El'goroth, and the guardian god, Hemdall, divided his body to create many divine artifacts. The remaining residue was given to Emperor Tharros Tanshuler, who was initially delighted but soon discovered that it was useless. He mixed the residue with mud and baked some green bricks, planning to pave them in the palace for fun. However, before the palace was completed, the emperor passed away, and the divine green bricks were taken by the members of parliament to pave their hall. When they moved to a new city, they dug up all the bricks and paved them again. Although the bricks are old and uneven, the sense of pride in "trampling gods underfoot" makes the parliamentarians reluctant to abandon them.
Because the meeting had not yet started for two hours, Gamemellir was still wearing a purple robe with gold trim on the podium, talking endlessly. All he said were empty words about honor, loyalty and dedication. The delegates below were either dozing off or exchanging whispers in small groups of three to five people. A considerable number of the delegates were vampires and witches, but most were ordinary humans or dark elves. Scattered among them were a few dwarves and half-humans. The delegate from the forest spirits of Komanso sat isolated at the corner of the conference seat, with an empty circle around him, looking very unwelcome.
As the habitually late delegates finally arrived, Gan Meirong concluded his empty opening speech and declared the start of free discussion time. The originally listless delegates suddenly seemed to have taken a stimulant like marijuana, while the reporters who had been allowed into the venue were even more excited, for the thrilling "multi-ethnic competition" was about to begin, which would be the best news material!
For the quiet-loving Eirinmester, every time he attended Congress, it would always make him feel dizzy and confused. This time was no exception: endless mutual accusations, shouting and scolding, even on-site fistfights - Congress absolutely prohibits the use of any magic, abilities, or weapons to exercise violence, violators will be permanently disqualified as members, but bare-handed fighting is not included. Therefore, anyone who becomes a member must work hard to learn boxing and martial arts, otherwise, they may be knocked down by their political opponents during voting and lose their voting opportunity. In history, there have been six masters of combat who knocked down more than 2,000 opposing party members with one punch, making the super-political joke "unanimous vote" a reality.
Then, when a brainy and fat member of parliament asked for a vote on a controversial bill, he was dragged down from the podium by the opposition party with his pants pulled down, and was beaten until his face was bruised. Supporters of both sides immediately broke out into fierce physical clashes around the podium. Choking each other, slapping ears, throwing punches, kicking feet - all sorts of fighting moves were on display.
Someone accidentally fell to the ground and instantly became a human trampoline for the two groups of people fighting, being trampled by hundreds of stinky feet until they lost consciousness. A vampire congressman was punched in the head while fighting and suddenly revealed his fangs, biting into his opponent's neck. However, before he could suck blood, he was hit with a sudden immobilization spell that left him unable to move. The dark-faced Storm Queen appeared from the corner, dragging the rule-breaker out of the congressional hall by the scruff of his neck. As they passed through the back of the spectator seats in the hallway, she suddenly asked Ilminster a question in a low voice.
"Is the National Assembly of Nai Se Riel usually like this? It's almost no different from monsters having a meeting in their lair."
"No way," the great sage hadn't even had a chance to respond, when Gamemirle, who had suddenly disappeared from the "Multi-ethnic Competition" reappeared in the spectator's seat, snatching the conversation away. "Many people think that powerful countries must be led by wise and morally superior great figures, but in reality it is not so. These individuals who hold the power of the state are often more childish in their thinking, worse in their judgment, and lower in their moral standards compared to ordinary people. What you see before you is just a manifestation of their true nature. The only thing that sets them apart is their passion for pursuing power, as for how they obtain it," he shrugged his shoulders, "only heaven knows. Anyway, most of them like to take the crooked path."
"But the truly major decisions, of course, are not so child's play. They generally need to be negotiated and resolved by the decision-makers behind the scenes." Most staff members are just props, no matter how fiercely they fight on stage, apart from making people laugh, there is little significance, it's just a show for the public and the big bosses behind the scenes, to demonstrate loyalty to the party.
"At least this is far better than the era when the First Empire of Nefaria collapsed." Karlthas, who was sitting beside him, chimed in, "At that time, the empire was on the brink of destruction under the attack of Ferlin's demonic forces, but the remaining great mages were still indulging in useless magical research or killing each other for personal grievances, without any intention of jointly resisting the enemy. If they could reach a consensus like this with just fists and debates," he pointed to the members of parliament who were fighting on the rostrum, "I wouldn't have had to attempt to usurp divine power, and the country wouldn't have been destroyed in an instant."
"It's indeed better to reach a consensus here than to resort to violence. Ganelle smiled, while Shimbul's face turned stern, as the long-standing Serene War also bore her significant responsibility. However, Ganelle apparently didn't intend to pursue historical accountability. "Next, there is an important proposal that requires your support, teacher. Although this plan is somewhat risky, it is currently the best option for resolving our difficulties, and this is also the intention of both Elrast and Kailuo. The specific content is as follows..."
