Chapter 75: Those Who Play In The Dark

The next morning each nation headed to the Conference Hall. While some looked gloomy, the mood around the city continued to be full of energy.

Inside the Conference Hall, Lowell had immediately begun speaking when he saw that everyone was settled.

“I would like to start the conference off by addressing a few issues. In the Colosseum Event, murder was explicitly forbidden, but seeing an attempt was made on both sides, I cannot call for any possible punishment. The next is in regards to the attempt to abduct the Fourth Prince of the Grenitian Kingdom. We haven’t stopped investigating the matter and we’re confident that the culprit will be brought to light soon.” He said before looking at Leonard.

“I also share in your  confidence.” Leonard said cordially.

Lowell’s eyes flashed with hidden intent before he smiled, “I’m glad you have faith in us, Fourth Prince. The next matter is the topic of indexes, we are curious about who the planned recipients are, your Majesty.”

King Windsor showed a dignified expression while speaking, “We plan on exchanging the indexes for something of substantial value. The Dwarves have already promised to send over a variety of resources and blacksmiths, so that leaves five remaining.”

“Quite underhanded of you to come to an agreement without speaking to anyone else.” High Chancellor Orlov said with criticizing tone.

“Would you consider it as underhanded as attempting to kill one of my citizens and a well-known Mercenary?” King Windsor asked in response.

High Chancellor Orlov looked as if he was going to respond, but Lowell interrupted before it could escalate. “Please, let’s not diverge from the original goal. The index is no doubt a necessary tool to combat the City-Eater. If you were able to gather a force made of talented individuals the threat would obviously be minimized. That being said, I’m sure no one has expectations of receiving it for free.”

“We have discovered a large vein of God Steel and are willing to let you receive a small portion of it in exchange for an Index.” Sylun announced which drew the immediate attention of the Dwarves.

“Nonsense!” A Dwarf yelled. “Just gathering enough to make a table knife can be considered extremely lucky. Who would believe that you found an entire vein?”

“We have been expanding our underground cities for the last two hundred years and happened to come across some. I believe you’ll forgive me for not disclosing it sooner, but it concerns the safety of my entire Empire.” Sylun responded calmly.

While the Dwarves began to argue with the Dark Elves, Ira could only look around cluelessly. “Avery, what the hell are they talking about?” he asked.

“God Steel, it’s an incredibly rare and powerful metal. Some people believe it can exert a fraction of Divine Power hence the name..” Avery explained.

“Oooh...I want some.” Ira grew starry-eyed.

“Even if it could do as describe in those legends, you would probably need mana to wield it properly. Still, if you want some just ask the Dark Elves for some and I’ll ask my Aunt Judith, to forge one for you.” Avery said, but Ira had deflated as soon as she said it required mana.

“...I’ll get some for you.” Ira groaned at the unfairness as he slumped into his chair.

“In the end, it doesn’t concern you.” Sylun said to the naysaying Dwarves before she turned to King Windsor. “If you agree to give us an Index then there is no problem with sending personnel to confirm it.”

King Windsor was, of course, more than interested in the procuring God Steel. He briefly listened to his advisors before he reached a decision. “After we send someone to confirm it, we’ll make the transaction.” he said with a friendly smile.

Seeing the number of indexes dwindle, the remaining nations discussed what should they give up in order to obtain one. The Diavol, former enemies of the Grenitians, made the hardest decision.

“We will give you half of the magic formation used to destroy the Wester Valley Fortress, and remove our claim to the border area centered around the Valley. In addition, we will agree to an armistice until the City-Eater is dealt with and a decade following its death.” A Diavol man said.

“Only half of the formation?” An advisor asked, ignoring everything else that was said.

“We don’t know if the full formation is responsible for summoning the City-Eater and wouldn’t want to bring a disaster to innocent people.” The Diavol man responded.

“That’s fine.” King Windsor said. Having one less enemy was great, but if he gained too many benefits everyone would see the Grenitians as a threat.

“We can deliver you a bottle of sap from the World Tree.” The Elven Clan leader said with some reluctance. The room went into another uproar at the Elven leader’s words.

“Avery...you gotta help me.” Ira pleaded with a pitiful expression.

“The World Tree is another legend...I’m not too familiar with it, but from what I heard it supposedly allows whoever consumes to recover from any wound, sickness, or disease and can even extend someone’s lifespan with repeated consumption. There must be some truth to it since the Elves guard the Great Forest with their lives.” Avery responded.

“I accept.” King Windsor didn’t even consult with his advisors, he directly agreed to the Elves proposal. Nothing was more reassuring to a leader than a literal second life in a bottle.

The total number of indexes left was just one. If Ira hadn’t taken one during the expedition then there would be an even distribution between the countries.

The Tel’vian’s remained unperturbed as they assumed they had something everyone wanted.

“We’ll gift you an airship.” Orlov said with a grin.

An advisor on the Grenitian side made split second eye contact with Lowell before he began speaking to the King.

“Your Majesty, we should ask for blueprints to construct one ourselves, rather than risk accepting one that may be tampered with. The Tel’vians actions during the Colosseum make it clear they don’t wish to see us rise to prominence. I would go so far as to say that they are responsible for the attempt to abduct his Highness, The Fourth Prince. They also knew that we were in possession of the indexes from the start.” The advisor whispered to the King.

King Windsor showed some consideration toward the Tel’vians offer until he listened to his advisor. After hearing him he found himself swayed by the convincing words. “We’ll agree to your proposal if we receive the complete blueprint to construct the Airship. Needless to say that the transaction will be complete once we construct our own fully functioning version.” King Windsor said with no room for negotiation.

“You honestly think that we’ll hand over something so important to you?” Orlov asked.

“If you really want to receive an index you would.” King Windsor answered without much care.

Although the Airship was amazing, he received several things that would make the Kingdom gain a solid foundation. The God Steel and Dwarven blacksmiths to forge it. There couldn’t be a better combination in his opinion.

“That’s not possible. At most we’ll deliver you two Airships.” Orlov said before he grinded his teeth.

“We’ll offer you a set of sword techniques that predate the Collapse. Additionally, Cyprian Aurell will give personal instruction to a single individual of your choosing until they reach an intermediate stage.” An Old Parvian man said. He was the head of the House of Swords and had the most influence in Parv. If they were to obtain an index, they would break the balance between the houses.

King Windsor’s expression didn’t change, but on the inside he was incredibly satisfied with the offer because he had his own plans.  

“Your Majesty, if we accept the Parvian’s offer we’ll be able to train an elite force.” An advisor said.

“I agree.” King Windsor said without any hesitation. Although an Airship was good, the Grenitians still had teleportation arrays being developed. Compared to instant mobility, travelling by air seemed dull.

The Tel’vians were visibly upset with King Windsor. Especially High Chancellor Orlov who seethed with irritation as he stared at King Windsor with palpable hate.

“I believe the conference can conclude with that. Tomorrow we’ll meet to construct a plan against the City-Eater. I hope to see you all at the banquet tonight.” Lowell saw tensions rising and decided to end the conference right away.

Orlov looked at him as if he expected something, but Lowell didn’t flinch under his gaze, instead he slightly nodded. Although it was done discreetly, Leonard managed to catch the exchange of glances since he had his eyes on Lowell for the duration of the conference.

“Ira, did you hear anything...odd, during this exchange?” Leonard voiced the question that appeared in his head.

Ira smiled, “Your Dad has some unloyal people on his side.”

Since silencing stones weren’t allowed in the Conference, things would either go unsaid or be transferred by writing it or whispering. Ira heard just about everything that went via whisper but chose to either ignore it or channel it out.

Leonard inwardly decided to pay more attention to Lowell before he shook his head. If he focused too much on one person he could miss what happened in the background. He decided not to move without more information.

…

A few hours after the conference ended, Lowell and High Chancellor Orlov were sat in a private room. Lowell leisurely sipped tea while Orlov stared daggers at him.

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“Ah, could I have some more please.” Lowell called out to a Tel’vian woman on standby with a pot of tea. She did as instructed and filled his cup before retreating to the side.

“When you contacted us and told us the Grens had a supply of indexes, you guaranteed that we would receive one!” Orlov yelled. Normally he had more composure, but after suffering repeated humiliations and shortfalls, he couldn’t help but to let his emotions free.

Lowell was unperturbed and raised his head to meet Orlov’s gaze. “Could you clear the room?” he asked politely.

“The Tel’vians aren’t as weak to bribery and coercion as you might think.” Orlov said stiffly.

“It’s a personal preference of mine that I ask you to accommodate before we move this conversation further.” Lowell said.

“Fine...Everyone out.” Orlov ordered.

“Forgive me, I didn’t have time to retrieve a silencing stone because you called me here so abruptly.” Lowell took another sip.

“I refuse to sell a single Airship to you unless you can secure an Index.” Orlov laid out his bottom line.

“I have a counter offer you’ll be interested in...We’ll finance the construction of a fleet of Airships for your personal use.”

“Under what condition?” Orlov showed caution.

“There is none. Outfit a fleet with Mana Cannons and you can take an Index for yourself. In fact, if you are able to construct them fast enough, you may be able to receive additional benefits from the Grenitians. Although they have quite a lot of resources coming in, I doubt they’ll be able to put them all to use immediately.” Lowell said with a sharp gaze.

Orlov leaned into his chair as his mood cooled considerably, he smiled and then even began to laugh. “What do you gain from this?” He asked.

Lowell placed the teacup down before speaking, “Profit.” He answered simply.

Orlov searched his eyes for some hint of a lie, but couldn’t as expected the Merchant was impossible to read.

“Fine. We’ll began production as soon as the Summit is over, but don’t expect to immediately attack. If that so-called City-Eater turns out to be real we’ll deal with it first before we even think of moving on the Grens.” Orlov declared.

“Of course.” Lowell said with a knowing smile. “If that’s all High Chancellor, I’ll take my leave.” He said before standing up and departing.

Orlov thought over a few things before he gave a satisfactory nod. He found that there was more to gain than to lose if he carried on with his plans.

…

Meanwhile, Leonard sat in the fake brothel with Vivian.

“It’s clear Lowell has some part in their schemes, I just don’t know how involved he is or what the actual scheme is.” Leonard said as he thought hard.

“Shall we assign someone to monitor his activities, Your Highness?” Vivian asked.

“No...he’s too careful. I doubt he goes anywhere without the silencing stone near him.” Leonard said regretfully. Never would he have guessed that developing silencing stone and selling it through the Merchant’s Circle would come back to harm him.

“The only time he is vulnerable is during the banquet and the conference, but there isn’t anything we can do to get him there.” Leonard stated.

The two went into a reflective state as they thought of ways to get to Lowell, but nothing came to pass, that was until someone entered the brothel.

“I thought I said no one was allowed in.” Vivian said angrily as she stood up.

A lady dressed promiscuously came up to the table and bowed “Your Highness...Miss Vivian...There is someone saying they have important information in exchange for a dose of Black Orchid.”

Leonard and Vivian shared a glance before she nodded. A blonde haired woman timidly walked up to their table and bowed shakily. Her hair color and pale skin instantly gave away that fact she was Tel’vian.

“Who are you?” Vivian asked. Before the Summit officially began some minor people were given doses of Black Orchid to expand the information network, but the blonde haired woman in front of her wasn’t one of the targets selected.

“My husband...you poisoned him with something didn’t you?” The blonde woman asked as her body shook.

Vivian showed a brief look of guilt before she nodded. “...Yes. Now, what do you want?”

“I want you to cure him and in exchange I have some important information...Isn’t what you wanted from him?” The woman asked tearfully.

“The only cure is to continue giving him the drug but slowly reducing the dosage each time. It could take anywhere from a six months to a year but it’s possible.” Vivian said.

“He’s...he’s loyal to the Empire. He believes in it and would die before he betrays it, but we have kids...Don’t you understand? If he dies what will we do without him? Every night he’s in pain from the poison you gave to him, but he’s too scared to go to anyone else because they might think he’s already a traitor!” The woman shouted in desperation.

Leonard made a difficult face, but refused to feel sorry for his actions. After someone received the Black Orchid they usually caved and followed the instructions given. It was only every so often that there would be an extremely stubborn fellow who would refuse and die painfully.

“Calm down and relay the information. If it’s good enough not only will we cure your husband, we will also deliver you a hefty sum and a way to flee Tel’vane.” Leonard spoke in an assuring tone.

“The Merchant...I don’t know his name, but he’s important right? My husband told me about him. I’ve heard that the Merchant’s Circle was supposed to be neutral to all parties, but he met with the High Chancellor today.” The woman slowly relayed the information.

Leonard’s eyes lit up before he began to talk, “Do you know what they spoke about?”

“Yes...Promise me that you’ll really do what you said if I tell you.” The woman uttered in a weak but stubborn manner.

“I swear on my name that I will not deceive you.” Leonard declared as he pressed his hand against his heart.

The woman nodded before she finally spoke, “The High Chancellor said that the Merchant told him that the Grenitians had recovered the Indexes. He was angry that the Merchant promised to get one for him, but didn’t.”

Leonard’s mood instantly shot up as he looked at Vivian, “See to it that everything is arranged for this woman and make sure she gets back safe.”

Vivian nodded before looking at her subordinate, “You heard him. Make sure to give the right dosage of Black Orchid and instructions on how to wean her husband off of it.”

“I’ll carry out your orders.” The woman dressed in revealing clothes bowed before departing with the woman.

“Your Highness?” Vivian looked at Leonard as he pondered the next step.

“Vivian, find me an alchemist and some materials for a silencing stone.” Leonard said with firm voice while his eyes showed an unwavering resolve.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Vivian bowed before hurriedly departing.

Leonard was left on his own, constructing some unknown plan. His intense look continued on before he sighed and mumbled to himself, “I’ll have to take a gamble.”

Whatever the Prince was plotting, it was clear that he planned on making the Merchant’s Circle pay some sort of price for what they had done to Irving.

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