Having been cleared to deliver his report, Oka Loro removed a scroll from his robes. His sleeve shifted position slightly, revealing dense, corded muscle underneath.

Oka Loro began speaking, his practiced voice shifting into official tones.

“Would you like the news from Heavycloud County or Sun County, or-”

“Deliver the Hundred Cave Duchy news.”

Oka Loro swept through the scroll in a glance, retaining all of the relevant information, before returning it to a pocket in the inner folds of his robes.

Muro frowned.

The prefectures mentioned were scattered throughout the kingdom in different provinces and they were all strategic locations. Heavycloud produced the bulk of the sect’s Weeping Bonefruits, Sun County had the Sage’s Rain Listening Tower, and the Hundred Cave Duchy had the sect’s Dragonscale Jade mine.

With a gesture from Yoren, the Oka Loro began speaking again. “In Jade City, the designated moment is the Day of the Lunar Festival in two months.”

He looked over at Muro. “At that time, the Lake Mountain delegation will be meeting with the Clayborn Kingdom at Blackstone Fortress. We have confirmation on the movements of several top city officials. Twelve high-value strategic priorities are known to be staying put in the city. Of the strategic priorities whose movements are unknown-”

Oka Loro paused and looked at Yoren.

“Go ahead.”

“The Lord Chancellor Sasha Valeborn is still in Shadowglass City with no immediate plans to return. Her aims are still unknown. She is a daughter of a true Valeborn.

“Tribunal Magistrate Abin Valeborn is joining the delegation late, at an unknown time. He is a son of a true Valeborn.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Tribunal Magistrate Holar Fireborn is closed up in Dragonscale Jade Mine. He is ten generations removed from an Absolute…”

As Oka Loro continued to give news on the movements and whereabouts of several dozen officials, Yoren nodded at each new entry.

Because it was prohibited to mention the sect to outsiders, Yoren used a code with words like ‘Absolute’ to refer to their connection to sect figures. Muro inferred that Yoren had retrieved the names of sect family members from the inner sect and used this code to feed the information to his subordinates so that they could monitor relevant officials without running afoul of sect rules.

Even though he had not looked into the matter, Muro could guess that this practice was common among the secular branches of Totem Families.

However, even though he could understand this easily, he was still confused with the overall point of the report.

Of what importance were these random officials?

A sudden thought entered his head. It was as grand as it was foolhardy.

Were the Cloudborn Family planning on capturing the spirit mine?

The high quality ores were sect property, while the rest were left to the ruling family of the kingdom.

Plausibly, by attacking at an ideal time, they could ransack the inferior ores that were currently in the storehouses before their actions drew attention. It was impossible that the Cloudborn Family would touch the high quality ores, as the sect was unfathomably powerful, and impossible to escape from.

All five kingdoms were under its control.

However, targeting the ruling Ashborn Family was just barely a possibility if he stretched the limits of what he could believe. After all, Totems were forbidden from interfering with kingdom politics.

When Muro considered this, after stealing the kingdom’s ores, there was a chance that the Cloudborn forces would have enough time to run them to a nearby kingdom and obtain protection while the Valeborn officials in the duchy were collecting themselves.

Still, no matter how Muro considered it, such action would obviously be suicidal. It grated against his understanding of kingdom politics.

The true Ashborn family in the sect could still assist the secular family by providing information. The Cloudborn forces might be able to evade detection from Nascent Spirits, but with the truth seeking arts of Totems, such overt actions would immediately be known to the world.

Unless the Cloudborn Family somehow had the confidence to take on the full brunt of the Ashborn influence…

Was that really possible?