"Well it would seem you and little Tirma have a similar problem." Tinen said.

"Oh?" Fayeth replied curiously before looking at Tirma.

"Crown prince Ruco wants me as one of his concubines." Tirma admitted in an angry tone.

"My sympathies." Fayeth replied.

"The same to you." Tirma responded.

Fayeth turned to Tommy before asking, "So I assume then that the payment you want for helping me return to my people is access to our cities without suspicion?"

"That's correct, however I understand that it's impossible for a human such as myself to visit your cities without suspicion, so I will request from your father the king some form of identification I can carry around and show any elves who stop and question me."

"Very astute of you Mr Tommy." Fayeth replied.

"Please just call me Tommy, Mr Tommy sounds strange." Tommy requested.

"As you wish." Fayeth replied, "So since I am going to be staying here for while, I guess I will need some sort of cover story."

"That's pretty simple." Tinen replied before explaining. "Just state that you're a diplomatic envoy here on behalf of your king to meet the ruler of Oakforest City regarding trade between our two races."

"Since the Kingdom of Rosk governs the nearby ocean port it is an acceptable cover story."

"Just make sure to stay out of sight until the city lockdown finishes."

"Won't that make King Rosk, your husband suspicious when he hears an envoy of the Elves is in the city to negotiate with him but has not paid him a visit?" Fayeth asked.

"That won't be a problem." Tinen replied with a smirk.

"I see," Fayeth replied with interest before asking, "Am I to assume that my fake negotiations will take place with you in the future Queen Tinen?"

"Very astute of you Princess Fayeth but no, your negotiations will take place with my daughter. I have no interest in the throne." Tinen replied.

"Excuse me but did I just hear that correctly?" Merno asked in surprise. "Are you planning to usurp the throne from king Glador?"

Jue and Tur were surprised when they heard this before looking at Chelna with wonder.

"That is the eventual plan yes, however it is not quite ready yet so I ask that you keep quiet about it." Tinen replied with a look of warning.

"No need to concern yourself there, me and my daughters have no love for Glador, especially with how he let his sister protect her pet rapist." Merno replied.

"Then what do you plan to do now?" Fayeth asked.

"I need to pay a certain blacksmith a visit in the castle." Tommy replied with an evil smile.

***

"Third, why have you all of a sudden requested a gathering of the nine lives?" A gruff male voice asked.

Third was sitting on a large chair in a dark room that had eight silver magic circles engraved on the floor in a semicircle in front of her. All these magic circles seemed to be connected to a much larger one that encompassed the entire room with her chair at the center.

Seven of these magic circles were currently glowing as shadowy projections of other individuals were projected above them.

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"Wait." Said another male voice from a different projection. "Eighth isn't present, we should wait for him."

"That's one of the reasons I have called this meeting." Third said. "There are three main reasons I have called this meeting with the First one being that Eighth is dead."

There were exclamations of shock before the projection directly in front of Third said. "Explain."

"Of course First." Third replied respectfully. "As was decided after we received the assistance request from Liza Lezdikt who was competing in her challenge against Ninth to replace him as a member of the nine lives."

"A pointless challenge if she had to request assistance." The projection from the magic circle furthest to the left said.

"Quite Ninth, let Third finish." The one called First commanded.

"As I was saying," Third continued. "Myself and Eighth set out to meet with Liza after receiving the assistance request, however since we were not together beforehand we traveled from opposite locations."

"Upon arrival I discovered the headless corpse of Eighth within Oakforest, though unfortunately I was unable to locate the head and suspect his killer may have taken it as a trophy or proof of his kill."

"Did you investigate as to why this happened?" First asked.

"Of course, it turns out that one night while traveling to Oakforest Eighth stayed at an inn and proceeded to try and impress a woman when he was drunk, I'm sure you can guess what he did after that." Third replied.

"You're saying that Eighth bragged about being a member of Black Noir to impress this woman?" The original gruff voice asked.

"Idiot." A female voice said coldly.

"That is indeed what my investigation revealed." Third confirmed.

"Do we have any idea who the culprit was?" First asked.

"Unfortunately not, with the number of enemies Black Noir has made over the years it could be anyone." Third replied as the projections grunted in agreement.

"I guess we will need to hold an open competition for all members to replace Eighth." The projection next to First suddenly said.

"Actually that's the Second thing I need to discuss with you all." Third announced.

"Oh?" Forest replied.

"Liza Lezdikt successfully completed her test to join the nine lives." Third declared.

"What? Impossible." Ninth said in shock.

"No it's actually very possible and the truth," Third replied. "Since she has successfully completed her test while Eighth has died she will officially become the new Ninth of the nine lives while you will replace Eighth as the new Eighth, congratulations."

"Is there any connection between Liza Lezdikt completing her task and Eighth's death?" The gruff voice asked.

"Fifth, are you insinuating that Liza, someone who's forte is not combat, had the capability to defeat the combat oriented Eighth?" Third asked.

Fifth didn't respond except with a grunt.

"Then what was the assistance request that Liza Lezdikt sent regarding?" First asked.

"That is the third thing I wish to discuss with you all." Third replied.

"It seems these things are all connected." The female voice from before stated.

"While that does appear to be the case it is actually all coincidental." Third replied.

"Explain." First said.

"Liza Lezdikt requested assistance because the dagger she was after was stolen by someone else before she could get her hands on it." Third replied.

"Oh!" Several of the voices said with interest.

"Yes this same individual is the one responsible for the murders of not only the criminal leaders in Oakforest City but also King Glador Rosk's sister Elurel Bhamon." Third continued.

"Wait, he killed the king's sister? Why?" "Fifth asked.

"Some personal grudge, you will have to ask him for the details, it's not important." Third replied while waving her hand. "What is important is that with my help and backup Liza was able to make a deal with the man and claim the dagger before delivering it to the client and completing the mission. I am also using my position as one of the nine lives to offer this individual the test to join Black Noir."

"Seriously?" Ninth asked. "Do you even know anything about him?"

"That is not a necessary requirement to take the test of Black Noir, a full background check is only done should he pass the test itself." Third replied.

"Third is correct in this matter and she does have the right to offer the test to someone just as all of us do as members of the nine lives, the fact that she is even informing us of this prior to the test is a show of respect to the rest of us and you should honestly be thanking her for that." Second replied in a harsh tone.

Ninth clicked his tongue but didn't respond otherwise.

"Very well, is Liza Lezdikt with you at the hideout you're currently communicating from Third?" First asked.

"She is." Third replied.

"Very good, summon her so that we can induct her into the nine lives and congratulate her in person." First commanded.

"First you can't be serious." Ninth protested.

"Why are you protesting about this so much Ninth." First said in a cold tone. "She has completed the test, before you might I note so consider yourself lucky. If eighth had not died you would no longer be a member of the nine lives."

"In Fact you should probably prepare for another challenge from little Liza seeing how she beat you so easily, you will be back in ninth position again soon so don't worry." The female voice giggled.

Ninth once again ground his teeth before saying, "Fine."

Third activated a communication crystal in her hand before saying, "You can enter Liza."

After a few moments the door to the dark room opened and Liza Lezdikt stepped in before closing the door and going to stand beside the chair Eighth was sitting in.