Wait, wait, wait… I did not hear things incorrectly right? Did they just say what I think they said?
I looked at the rest of the Guardians and judging by their looks on their faces, I did not misheard what was said.
Did they just… Fire her?
Why are they even doing this?
Wait… Is this because of the assassination attempt? They're making her take accountability for it?
The minister in the middle continued, "As we might already know, there was an attempt on the Mortal God's life and it's been revealed that we had foreign agents infiltrate into our ranks. There is no doubt this proves that there is a problem with the leadership for this to happen to begin with. Do you have anything to say to that?"
I was expecting Olivia to at least fight or deny it in some way but…
"I do not," She answered with finality.
Eh? She's just going to accept it?
The minister nodded, "Very well. Then with no objections, effective immediately, you are hereby relieved of your position as the acting director. All in favour?"
All the ministers at the table nodded their heads or said aye in approval.
If I wasn't wearing my mask, everyone would be seeing my surprised face so I was glad that the mask hid it for me.
But if she was relieved of her position here… What is going to become of this group?
Before I could even wonder what our next steps would be, the minister in the centre continued, "Now that that problem is dealt with… I propose we disband the MAM and set up a new organisation centred around the Mortal God instead. All in favour?"
Huh?
I didn't even have time to be surprised as the ministers all agreed to the suggestion.
Olivia also didn't even look like she was surprised by this, like she was already expecting something like this to happen from the start.
Was this the plan the entire time? But what's the point?
The minister in the centre then gestured at Olivia, "As punishment for endangering our Mortal God, you will be demoted to being an aid in this new department and you will not be allowed to be transferred to another department as long as the Mortal God still requires your service. Is that understood?"
"Understood."
Oh…
I have to say though… This was something that I didn't expect our ministers to do… Which made me believe that Olivia might actually be the one to give them the idea instead.
I believe that the people who had been targeting my life knew that they failed so they attempted to try and take down Olivia instead.
But since they've already failed at using force to do so once, they figured that they will try to take her down through bureaucracy instead.
By pinning the blame of letting the ministry be infiltrated, they seek to remove her from her position of director and possibly shoehorn in someone who is on their side to try and get to me again.
They most likely tried to put pressure on the cabinet and they weren't able to deflect away their claims since the public most likely will also think that Olivia was unsuitable to remain in her position because of that.
And since the ministers would still want the support of the people in the next election, they would want to appease them instead of shielding Olivia instead.
But of course, doing so would endanger me and play right into our enemies' hands and that was also something that was best avoided.
That's why they came up with this solution.
Under the guise of the entire department being at risk, they would scrap the entirety of MAM and lay off everyone including Olivia.
That would appease the public since this would not only 'punish' Olivia, it also ensures national security by getting rid of all the potential spies at the same time.
They would then set up a completely new department and hire new people again with better screening to ensure we don't get spies while placing me as the head of that department.
With me at the very top, no one would be able to replace me as the head of said department.
Then they would further 'punish' Olivia by placing her under me as a way to let her 'make amends' for her mistake.
In this way, we could say that Olivia was being properly punished but in reality, she would be placed under my complete protection. Which means the only person who would be able to fire her was me and only me.
Then all I had to do was just assign all the paperwork and management to Olivia and we would be back in business once again.
The best part was the fact that even if our enemies knew that this was exactly what we intended, they would have to direct their complaints to me. And if they did, they would basically be outing themselves as the spies and I could just order an execution of them without needing to provide a reason.
Yep, this was a genius plan.
Looking at the Guardians, it seems like Sergei and Kris had realised what the actual plan was after that was announced and nodded in approval.
Jia Lian and Leena still did not look like they understood and were quite confused by this sudden turn of events.
Avatasia was the opposite as she looked completely nonplussed, as though this was something she had expected to happen from the very start.
Considering the fact that she seemed to be able to see the future, that wasn't really that surprising.
The minister seated in the centre nodded at Olivia, "If there are no other questions, you are dismissed. Make sure you do not fail again."
She nodded, "I will strive to do my best for my Lord."
The red Oni then spun on her heels and strolled back to me, the ministers all watching her leave to return to me.
They were probably trying to gauge my reaction to see if I also understood what was actually going on. Maybe this was also a test of theirs to see if they could also somehow try and manipulate me as well.
Naturally, I wasn't dumb enough to think that my own government wouldn't try to at least manipulate me in some way.
Olivia returned and bowed to me, "My Lord. My apologies that you had to witness that… As you have heard, I am no longer the acting director of the MAM and it will also be abolished."
I nodded at her, "No matter. You are mine now so you'll stay under me like it is agreed. For your first assignment, I want you to take over all the administration work and get this department up and running as soon as possible. Can that be done?"
A smile appeared on her face as she realised that I had seen through their plans entirely.
"Of course, my Lord. I will make sure that the department is ready for you as soon as possible. I will get started on this right away."
"Mmm… I will be depending on you then."
I peeked at the ministers and it looks like I've passed their 'test' since a few of them looked relieved while one or two of them looked a little annoyed at that fact.
The others managed to keep their emotions in check so I wasn't sure if there were anymore of them who were secretly working against me as well.
Olivia then gestured towards the door, "In that case, shall we move on to the next step, my Lord?"
I stood up, "Yes. What is next on the list?"
"Naturally, since you have already given your approval… I believe we should officially inaugurate your companions as your Guardians."
I blinked at her in surprise, "Right now?"
She nodded, "I would say no time like the present, my Lord. Especially since we are already at this event to officially inaugurate you as the Mortal God. Having the people here see you accept them as your Guardians would also give them more presence on the leadership around the SAC and the rest of the world."
Hmm… I guess what she wants is that if the politicians here were to see me officially granting these people the title of being my Guardian, they would be less likely to give them trouble since everyone would be able to see that they had my favour.
Fair enough, I don't see a reason why we shouldn't do it.
We ended up going outside to the garden where the Guardians all lined up in a row and they did the same thing where they got down on a knee to kiss the back of my hand, cementing themselves as my Guardian.
I had the tingly feeling where a part of my essence flowed into them so I knew this was official now.
Guess I now have more Guardians.