This was an absolutely confidential room, airtight on all sides. Only the gas light bulbs recently installed on the walls emitted light. It was said that this kind of bulb came from technology once sealed off by the Central Military Police, and had now been widely implemented within the walls.
There were very few people in the room—only five. Historia wearing a crown; Zackly with his fingers interlaced; Pixis, who was unusually free of the smell of alcohol; Erwin sitting upright and formal; and finally Yago, whose fingers kept tapping against the tabletop.
Zackly glanced around at the others and couldn't help but be the first to break the silence.
"Ahem, everyone. We all know the purpose of holding this meeting today, don't we?"
Pixis subconsciously reached toward the pocket on his chest, then stopped halfway—clearly, drinking in this setting was highly inappropriate.
"Two issues. First, the implementation of the council system. Commander Pixis, President Zackly—what are your opinions?" Erwin looked at the two of them.
Zackly and Pixis exchanged a glance, each understanding that the other represented a different power base.
Although Zackly was now the supreme commander-president of the military, ever since the major nobles of the old royal government were eliminated, the remaining minor nobles and the representatives of emerging forces had all thrown their support behind Zackly. Zackly himself also had ambitions, so in reality, he now represented the emerging noble forces.
Unlike the old nobility, for these emerging nobles, the existence of a king was an obstacle that interfered with their acquisition of power. Thus, when the council system was proposed, Zackly immediately saw how advantageous this system was for them.
The massive military, of course, would not overlook this enormous cake of power either. The highly respected Pixis represented the military behind him this time.
As for Erwin present at the meeting, he understood perfectly well the intentions of both sides. However, whichever of these two factions gained most of the power would inevitably provoke the dissatisfaction of the other.
Power itself is filled with countless contradictions. Only by achieving a delicate balance can those contradictions be resolved.
Thus, three sheets of paper were pushed respectively in front of Pixis, Zackly, and Historia.
Zackly frowned and murmured,
"Members of the lower house are elected by the people? The upper house is composed of nobles? The lower house has the power to nominate the prime minister?" (This is not a constitutional monarchy. You can understand it as a republican system that weakens both the nobility and the monarch.)
Zackly was extremely surprised, because this system was very different from what he had envisioned. The nobles' power was almost reduced to the weakest possible level. Of course, the king's power was also reduced to very little. Meanwhile, this prime minister—elected by the members who were themselves elected by the people—held tremendous authority.
Zackly was both shocked and suddenly enlightened, because this prime minister represented neither the nobility nor any single faction, but was purely elevated by popular support. Not only nominally, but also in terms of actual authority, the prime minister held the highest position. Although there was a five-year term limit, it fit Zackly's ideas extremely well.
In fact, Zackly didn't like nobles at all. His treatment of the old royal nobles made his lack of fondness for them obvious. Representing the emerging nobles this time was merely something he did while pinching his nose. Now it seemed he didn't need to care about those petty nobles at all, so Zackly was very satisfied.
Although Pixis represented the military faction, that didn't mean he was enthusiastic about fighting for power on the military's behalf. On the contrary, Pixis himself didn't like excessive authority. Under the system laid out before them, the military was more like an independent entity.
Most importantly, if high-ranking military officials intended to participate in elections, they would have to relinquish all influence within the army, greatly reducing the possibility of armed interference in politics. The military should instead be placed in the role of protecting the people and defending the nation.
Yago glanced at Historia. This system might be extremely unfair to her, because the king's power was, in effect, almost completely stripped away, leaving only nominal decision-making authority.
However, Historia showed no strong reaction. She even seemed slightly pleased, because the provisions also stipulated that the king would have absolute freedom as long as they did not interfere with the operation of the state. Simply put, the king could do whatever they wanted.
Thus, this rough council system was provisionally settled. More detailed adjustments would be made gradually when time and opportunity allowed.
"The second issue concerns exchanges with the world beyond the island. This one will be explained by Yago."
Yago nodded, then took out a world map he had prepared long ago (seized from the Marleyans). For the first time, the entire world appeared before everyone's eyes.
Pointing to one area, Yago said, "Here is where we live—Paradis Island. And beyond Paradis Island, there are hundreds of countries. Unfortunately, almost all of those hundreds of countries harbor deep prejudice and hatred toward us Eldians."
Pixis and Zackly were seeing a world map for the first time. Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, seeing how vast the world truly was still made them inhale sharply. What they had thought of as immense land amounted to less than one percent of the entire world map.
No one knew what was discussed inside the secret room.
...
Outside the secret room, Levi leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, as if resting. Suddenly, there was some movement in a dark corner.
Slash! A flash of steel— a rat, split cleanly into two, lay twitching on the ground.
Levi frowned, wiping the blood off the blade with clear disgust.
Lifting his head, Levi looked at the countless fully armed soldiers around him and shook his head.
"Just what are they talking about, to need such tight security?"
The Survey Corps had just returned in triumph, and Erwin had immediately left in a hurry with Yago, leading to the scene now before him.
...
Yago said many things, while also keeping many secrets. He spoke of his cooperation with Zeke, but did not mention Zeke's euthanasia plan. He spoke of the existence of the Founder's power, yet revealed no further intelligence about it.
Yago had his own considerations.
"The question is, why would Zeke ask for cooperation? If Marley and the other nations are filled with hostility toward us, why haven't they relied on their advanced technology to launch a forced invasion?"
Yago seemed to have anticipated this long ago. He stomped his foot lightly and spoke two words.
"The Rumbling."