{an extremely early Monday morning at a certain meeting place}

“Good morning, Mister Vilmanos. Please, have a seat.” A man, around his mid-forties, dressed in an extravagant dark orange, with some red, suit and wearing white hair on his head, including white mustache and beard, offered.

“Good morning, gentlemen, and Miss Coraxera,” Louneus greeted the people gathered in the room, wearing his usual charming smile on his face before sitting down. “May I ask what kind of urgent matter had arisen that I had to come here so early in the morning?”

“So, Louneus, how are things going regarding Emilia Frizz?” A man spoke to Louneus without even greeting him back. He was looking to be well over his sixties, was wearing a fancy, very expensive looking green suit and had multiple rings sparkling on more than a few of his fingers on both hands. The man had brown, slightly bold on the forehead hair that were combed very neatly in an attempt to make him look younger than he actually was. He also had no beard or mustache, yet seemed to be slightly too overweight for his own good. The way the man was grinning at Louneus made him look rather unpleasant too.

“Mister Zedrif, it’s so good to see you again. You look rather well. Did you lose some weight?” Louneus kept a very polite tone of his voice, but his jab was well too evident.

“How dare you speak to me like that? Show some respect or else!” The man slammed his right hand at his chair’s armrest, grimacing at Louneus angrily which made him look even more unpleasant than before.

“Respect is shown... where respect is due, Mister Zedrif,” a man wearing a black mask over his face and dressed in long, deep blue in color, with golden ornaments decorating it from top to bottom, magician’s robes spoke in a harsh, broken, older man’s voice before Louneus was able to respond to Mister Zedrif’s threat.

The atmosphere in the room was instantly filled with tension, and maybe even a hint of fear, with the room also becoming so quiet, each person could hear their own breathing. The man with the black mask was sitting at the end of the room with his back facing the window, so the light from the outside would make it more difficult to look directly at him without forcing people to squint their eyes or lower their heads. The other people’s chairs were also set in a way that all of them were facing directly at him, making it clear the man with the mask over his face was in charge here. Nobody said a word until the masked person spoke again.

“Weren’t you the one... who allowed yourself to address Mister Vilmanos by his first name just now... Mister Zedrif?” The man with the mask over his face asked, not turning his head even an inch. The eyeholes on his mask were pitch dark, so nobody could tell where or at who the man was looking either.

“Ah, tch...” Mister Zedrif clicked his tongue.

“I do beg your pardon for such un unsightly display of my lack of manners, Mister Zedrif. Must be my lack of sleep that is influencing my mood right now, as insignificant justification as it is. I do hope you will find a way to forgive me,” Louneus offered an overly eloquent apology, also bowing his head.

“Fine... I do... apologize for being too casual with you... Mister Vilmanos,” Mister Zedrif grunted grumpily.

“Thank you, Mister Zedrif,” Louneus said, showing his charming smile again.

“Now back to the topic at hand. We would still like to hear your answer to Mister Zedrif’s question earlier, Mister Vilmanos,” the man wearing orange suit spoke next.

“Yes, of course, Mister Griffrain. The last time I saw Miss Emilia Frizz she was doing very well. I’ve heard she had been slightly ill earlier in the week, but she looked healthy and well at the time,” Louneus told everyone, moving his hand in the air as he spoke before placing it down on his chair’s armrest when he finished speaking.

“And what of... Ahem... Mister Vilmanos, may I ask you how things are moving to get Miss Emilia Frizz rejoin your side?” Mister Zedrif squirmed in his seat before forcing himself to add some politeness to his words.

“I would say Miss Emilia should rejoin the Elite Magicians club before the end of the Magic Power Games,” Louneus answered calmly.

“Hah, he doesn’t even know. Humph,” Mister Zedrif scoffed, not worrying about being polite this time.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean by that, Mister Zedrif,” Louneus said, still looking calm.

“Mister Vilmanos, to your knowledge, Emilia Frizz is no longer a student of Reina’s Magic Academy,” Mister Griffrain, the man wearing the white beard and mustache, informed him.

“Oh my,” Jennifer Coraxera opened her fan to hide her face after hearing it. She was caught unaware as well, it seemed.

“I will have to admit, I was not aware of such news. Could it be that this is just a rumor, Mister Griffrain?” Louneus asked, showing he wasn’t someone to believe something blindly.

“It is true,” Mister Griffrain said with confidence. “Emilia Frizz stopped being a student at the academy from Wednesday last week.”

“But this is impossible. I would’ve known about it for sure. Besides, I have met Miss Emilia yesterday at the Magic Dome, as unexpected surprise as it was. Miss Coraxera here could attest to the validity of my words,” Louneus said, turning towards the only woman in the room.

“Mister Louneus is not lying,” Jennifer said, her eyes smiling.

“Hah, figures. It was his plan all along,” Mister Zedrif puffed up.

“I’m afraid I do not follow again, Mister Zedrif,” Louneus turned to face the man again.

“It seems you’re not as bright as you try to portray that you are, Mister Vilmanos.” The way Mister Zedrif spoke made it clear he wasn’t exactly fond of Louneus. “Do you think it was a mere coincidence that Emilia Frizz showed herself in front of you at the Magic Dome yesterday? Sounds overly convenient, if you ask me.”

“Showed herself?” Louneus said, squinting his eyes.

“Emilia Frizz was taken away by her father from the academy’s grounds late last night. She hasn’t been seen any other time during the week before yesterday,” Mister Griffrain informed.

“Taken away by her father? But wasn’t the head of the Frizz’ household persuaded to assist us in the matter?” Louneus asked, feeling a little confused, yet not showing it.

“Not Maldron Frizz. Emilia’s real father, Rickward Frizz,” Mister Griffrain provided additional details.

“Rickward Frizz?” Louneus said, a mild surprise showing then quickly leaving his face the next second. “But wasn’t he sent away and was to return only after two months from now?”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“He must’ve somehow become aware that we... ahem, that someone was targeting his daughter which forced him to take action,” Mister Griffrain speculated.

“Rickward Frizz must’ve had an arrangement with that wench, Jean Sweetbell, to be able to pull Emilia Frizz out of the academy in secret. Damn that woman, always getting in our way,” Mister Zedrif grunted angrily, smacking the armrest of his chair with his fist again.

“I believe you are giving too much attention to such an insignificant detail,” the man wearing the black mask spoke suddenly.

“Sir?” Mister Griffrain, as well as the others, turned to face him.

“Emilia Frizz... is of no importance to us right now. She was just a small pebble... who maybe could’ve... helped to move our plans forward slightly faster. Emilia Frizz isn’t someone... who cannot be replaced if need be. In fact... her no longer being a student of Reina’s Magic Academy... could work to our advantage,” the masked man spoke, his harsh voice cracking.

“But... she could be a threat to us down the road, sir,” Mister Zedrif argued.

“In her current state... Emilia Frizz is no threat to us at all. However, if it comes down to it... all threats can be eliminated... Mister Zedrif, one way or the other,” the man with the mask said, turning his head towards Mister Zedrif slightly this time.

“Y... yes, s... sir,” Mister Zedrif’s voice trembled, his face becoming pale.

“What we need now... is information. Jean Sweetbell aside... Rickward Frizz must’ve received some help from outside of the academy... which led to him learning something about our plans and... that certain someone helped him keep his actions hidden as well,” the man in blue and golden wizard robes spoke.

“That’s very true. Ghm... I could send my people to investigate, but since we have no leads, and Rickward Frizz would certainly keep a low profile right now, it would take some time to gather information, sir,” Mister Griffrain offered.

“Not necessarily,” the man with the black mask spoke, making everyone turn to face him again. “Sometimes... you tend to overlook the thing you are looking for... simply because it lies in the most evident place in front of your eyes.”

“Most evident place?” Louneus touched his lips with one finger, thinking about something before raising his head up then squinting his eyes angrily. “Narias Talrone...”

“Hmm...” Jennifer procured a sly smile, hearing Louneus pronounce Narias’s name.

“You have someone in mind, Mister Vilmanos?” Mister Griffrain asked, not able to hear the name Louneus mentioned clearly.

“I should’ve known it was all just an act yesterday... and he was constantly getting in my way all the time as well,” Louneus clenched his fist, his left eyebrow twitching. But Louneus quickly caught himself losing his temper, composing himself the next moment. “So sorry about that. Yes, a certain name came to my mind. Narias Talrone.”

“Narias Talrone? I’ve never heard of that name. Who is he?” Mister Griffrain said, rubbing his beard while thinking about it.

“Narias Talrone is just another insignificant student at Reina’s Magic Academy, or so I thought until now. It all makes sense now. Maybe it wasn’t simply luck that he managed to return from the Magic Dungeon safe and sound. He must’ve had some help after all,” Louneus provided some more details, also sounding like he was thinking out loud at the same time.

“Talrone? Ghm... Talrone? Where have I heard that name before?” Mister Zedrif was talking to himself in the meantime.

“Lorenard... Talrone?” The man with the black mask offered a suggestion.

“Hah, yes, that’s him. I knew the name sounded familiar. Lorenard is that annoying pest who works at the Crime Investigation Bureau. He was the one snooping around my hidden warehouses. That dirty rat managed to sniff out and confiscate part of my goods not that long ago which cost me some pretty penny as a result. And it all happened even after all the bribes I had paid to his superiors at the bureau. Bloody weasel!” Mister Zedrif was fuming.

“Hah... Narias Talrone... Hah... Ahahaha!” Louneus Vilmanos started laughing maniacally all of a sudden.

“Huh? What’s with the laugh, you little... Tch... I lost a lot of money because of that prick,” Mister Zedrif complained.

“Lorenard Talrone, who is working at the Crime Investigation Bureau, is Narias Talrone’s father. Hahaha...” Louneus covered his face with one hand, still laughing, only quieter than before.

“Eh? What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” Mister Zedrif grimaced, showing he was disgusted by Louneus creepy laugh.

“Please do forgive me, gentlemen, and Miss Coraxera here of course. I had finally realized what was the reason behind all those, what I thought were, unlucky misfortunes that were befalling me. I can’t remember when I had felt so elated before. Well done, Narias Talrone. Well done,” Louneus spoke, also surprising everyone with a few claps of his hands at the end.

“Mind sharing what you found to be so amusing, Mister Vilmanos?” Mister Zedrif asked in a condescending tone of his voice.

“Simple. Narias Talrone was accompanying Emilia Frizz yesterday when... she showed herself in front of me at the Magic Dome. And he dared to pull such a despicable act in front of me too,” Louneus said, ice covering his hand before crumbling when he clenched it into a fist.

“But what a convincing act it was... and so passionate too,” Jennifer Coraxera couldn’t help but add a comment of her own.

“I see. Narias Talrone is the son of Lorenard Talrone. That makes sense,” Mister Griffrain said, leaning on his chin. “My men informed me that someone was sniffing around and asking suspicious questions recently, but no real damage has been done so far. However, if Lorenard Talrone is working together with Rickward Frizz, we might’ve overlooked something and some information had been leaked already. And from the looks of it, it is quite possible that his son, Narias Talrone, is involved in all of this too. After all, it could have not been a coincidence that you have met Emilia Frizz right before Rickward Frizz took her away.”

“Some Rank Four nobodies are interfering with our plans? This is preposterous! They are just bugs crawling under the dirt,” Mister Zedrif grunted angrily.

“Yet even the oldest and biggest trees fall... when they allow too many bugs infest their roots,” the masked man stated in his harsh voice.

“Hah, we’ll just squash the bugs one by one and be done with it,” Mister Zedrif declared, a gleeful, yet disgusting grin entering his mouth.

“Sir, let me be the one to deal with Narias Talrone. He cost me too much for me to let someone else deal with him,” Louneus requested after standing up from his chair.

“No,” the masked man refused. “What we need right now is information. Besides, you have another task in front of you, Louneus Vilmanos.”

“But sir,” Louneus insisted.

“Enough!” The man in charge raised his voice, his magical robes becoming enveloped by blue aura for a few seconds, forcing Louneus, as well as the rest of the people in the room, become quiet and bow their heads, mostly in fear. “Your task... is to win the Magic Power Games at Reina’s Magic Academy... and secure a spot as a participant at the Interschool Magic Power Games that will be held... at the Imperial Elite Academy. It will give us a long-awaited chance to infiltrate Imperial Elite Academy... so we could get our hands on the last magic item that we need... to finally put our plans in motion and reach our ultimate goal. Failure... is not an option for you anymore, Mister Vilmanos.”

“Yes, I understand, sir,” Louneus acknowledged, his head bowed low.

“But what of Narias Talrone, sir? Shouldn’t we just get rid of him?” Mister Zedrif asked, keeping his head low.

“Getting rid of a mere student is easy. But what we need right now... is information,” the masked man said. “We need to learn what the boy knows... and who else is involved in this with him as well. As of now... anyone Narias Talrone is close with could be a potential threat to us... and to our plans. We need to approach the matter carefully, so we don’t make any mistakes.”

“How about you let me handle Narias Talrone then, sir? I know a few delicate ways on how extract information without raising any suspicion, especially from men,” Jennifer Coraxera offered her services unexpectedly.

“Very well. I will leave the matter to you... Miss Coraxera,” the masked man agreed.

“Thank you, sir,” Jennifer was very pleased to hear his approval.

“What would my task be, sir?” Mister Griffrain asked next.

“Now that Rickward’s Frizz took action... we need to keep a close eye on him. Also, continue investigating Jean Sweetbell. We need to learn who stands behind her,” the man ordered.

“Understood,” Mister Griffen acknowledged.

“And Mister Zedrif,” the man in charge finally spoke to him, making Mister Zedrif shiver. “You are to guarantee our supply lines stay intact... or else you will pay for it personally.”

“Y... yes, sir,” Mister Zedrif said before adding a question. “And... and what about Lorenard Talrone, sir? He... he might interfere.”

“If Lorenard Talrone gets in the way... you are free to deal with him however you see fit,” the masked man told him.

“Yes, sir,” this time, Mister Zedrif had a gleeful grin on his face.

“That is all,” the man with the black mask on his face said, standing up from his chair with the other four people getting off their chairs and bowing low the very next second. “You will be informed of the next meeting... I expect to see results before then.”

“Yes, sir,” all four of them responded at the same time, keeping their heads bowed low.