Picking up Girls With My System

Arthur spent much of his time in his room, resting after a long search for Hiley. Not getting anything, not even a clue, made his mind work at a million, which made him tired, even though he possessed the physique of a dragon.

Well, of course, he didn't just stay in his room. Arthur explored the palace and made use of all the benefits that were offered, such as hot baths and food prepared by the best chefs on the entire continent. He was an honored guest, so everyone was trying their best to please him.

And after relaxing for a whole day, the next morning started with excitement. That day would be marked by the meeting of the continent's greatest powers, where the imminent threat of the demon continent would be discussed.

The meeting would take place in a room with an immense table with 17 chairs. Fifteen of these were for the leaders of the 15 largest schools, one where Arthur would sit, and one for the highest power on the continent, the Archmage.

Honestly, Arthur did not know that something like an archmage existed, and after learning more about the position, Arthur came to an understanding. The Archmage is basically a mage from the lineage of the first family of mages that settled the central continent, like the royal family.

All the other mages respected the family, and did not question the decisions of the Archmages who ran the central continent throughout its history. Of course, if any of them tried to do something absurd, not only the leaders of the schools, but the entire population would object.

Well, the Archmage was very close to reaching rank 3, and he was the strongest mage among all of rank 2. This was one reason that the other mages listened to his opinion, and respected his decisions.

Coming from a lineage considered royal was not enough, since all mages respected someone with power, and this was something the Archmage had plenty of.

Anyway, slowly all the leaders of the schools sat down on their chairs around the table, and at both ends of the table were the Archmage, at the top, and Arthur, at the bottom. That represented that they both had the most power there, and so they did not sit in the side chairs of the table.

"Is everyone present yet?" The Archmage said.

The chairs were slowly filled, with only one left, where Nefion's chair would be, who was busy with other things. Not that it mattered much since Arthur was there representing the two, who were practically family, although the others didn't know that.

"Well then, let's get started," said the Archmage, tapping the table lightly with his fingers, "as you can all see, the noble hero of our continent is here with us today, Arthur!"

"I want to congratulate you for being responsible for getting us out of a war that was costing the lives of many of our citizens, and I hope that after this meeting you can accept some gifts from me."

"Well, let's get to the principal subject of this meeting, the demon continent. Anyone who has any information or ideas on how we should handle this, please raise your hand."

Arthur's first impression of the Archmage was positive. He seemed to be someone who was good with words.

"I need to be a little careful," Arthur thought.

The Archmage being good with words, could very well try to manipulate him, so Arthur had to be smart when talking to him.

One mage raised his hand, and it was the leader of the Phoenix Blood school, one that Arthur wasn't too fond of. The Archmage made a sign with his hand for the man to speak.

"Everyone here knows that we have little information regarding the demon continent. The only thing we know is that they have passed through the spell we placed in the middle of the ocean, showing that their troops are moving, and it is only a matter of time before they attack us. They have tried to take over our continent in the past and failed, and now that we are weaker than ever, they are trying again!"

That was something Arthur had already imagined. There were some scrolls with ancient information about this continent of demons, so humans have had contact with them, but that happened a long time ago. Almost no one remembered..

The planet was slowly decaying, with its powerful spells fading over the years, or being stolen by outside mages. Now a human reaching rank 3 was already something unbelievable, almost impossible. Surely when the Demon Continent invaded the Central Continent, the level of power was totally different.

Who knows, maybe the central continent had mages of rank 4 or even 5, but this was so long ago that it became a story, a fairy tale. Now, with the level that the central continent was at, it might be the perfect chance for the demon continent to attack.

All the mages in the meeting room whispered after hearing what the leader of the Phoenix Blood School said, and stopped only when the Archmage motioned for everyone to be quiet. Another person had raised his hand, and this time it was Arthur!

"Hero of the continent, please speak your mind." The Archmage spoke in a respectful tone.

Many of the mages present there did not know Arthur personally. Some didn't really have a good impression of him because he was someone very young, who appeared out of nowhere, but they couldn't argue with his ruthless power. It didn't matter if they liked him or not, they all respected the power he had, and hoped that he was a decent person.

"Well, I have one other question to raise at this meeting. Don't you think it's a little strange that both the war against the dark mages, and this invasion of the demon continent, are happening almost at the same time? Could it be that somehow some dark mages have contacted the demon continent and formed an alliance? Since we could locate them through spells in the ocean, then someone from here contacting them in some unknown way doesn't sound so unlikely." Arthur said.

This time, the chatter inside the meeting room increased even more. In fact, what Arthur put on the table made sense. Not only that, but it was possible that someone in the meeting room was a traitor!

"Very well said, Arthur. Indeed, we can imagine that the two events are connected. Do you think we could find the person who is contacting them so that we can extract information?" The Archmage asked.

"Honestly, I don't think whoever it is would be dumb enough to be found. I believe our best chance would be to send someone out into the ocean to search for the demon continent, thus bringing back concrete information and not speculation."

"So, would you be volunteering to go on an expedition toward a completely unknown land?" The Archmage said.

"Of course, why not? However, I have some special requests and would like the Archmage to hear them after the meeting."

"Of course. Well, let's decide exactly how that would happen."

So all the leading mages of the major schools talked among themselves, deciding when, how, and what information Arthur should seek when he arrived at the demon continent. One thing they all knew was that the journey would take a long time, and would be extremely difficult and dangerous. Therefore, the Archmage granted whatever requests Arthur had.