-Day 16-

Elisande, oh how he just hasn't missed coming here. The guild hero Cynwrig Grey, was forced to come here anyways.

Three guilds had been summoned this time. "Red Crow", "Proudthrone" and his own guild "Caelum" were gathering to talk about the recent incident that had occurred in Lycai Forest. The forest was already bad enough, recently being struck by the plague of those damned fae, but now even more was up.

He couldn't help but continually sigh at the stupidity of this self-proclaimed arch summoner who caused the mess. Cynwrig could be doing much more than performing formalities. If it weren't for the fact that he was paid to accompany his guild master on this trip, he would have left for some kind of request with his team. Who the hell was this Maximillian Fenton guy anyways? How did he get the resources to summon shadow beasts of all things? Spend your day on summoning fairies, was all Cynwrig could think of.

At least Elisande was well sophisticated in the noble's quarters compared to the home city of his guild. The city always had been well renowned for it's well-performing nobles and use of juice-wood for buildings. The city had a very oriental look compared to what he was used to.

Reaching the town hall took some time. Waving at all the spectators constantly was a tiring job, but one he was used to. They were riding pretty extravagant horses after all. So much show-off to set a status. The masses in this noble's quarters were getting thinner as the town hall came into sight. The towering building was one of many town halls in the kingdom, but it had a certain charm. You could say it made use of colors more so than other similar ones.

(Hall Guard) "Representatives of the guild Caelum, I welcome you to the house of governors."

(Randolph) "Thank you. We look forward to your hospitality."

The young guard saluted us eagerly as the master of Caelum, Randolph O'Ryan accepted the greetings. The guard gave back a nervous smile. Fresh blood in the military was always a pleasure to see, especially if they enjoyed the job to this degree.

The two other guilds had already arrived. The carriage of Proudthrone was parked in the courtyard and the members of Red Crow were currently entering the building. Cynwrig, his guild master and their servant had their horses taken to the stables and entered the building themselves.

The butlers and maids of the governor showed them to a waiting room. Present in the waiting room were the members of Red Crow, two to be exact, that he saw just earlier.

(Randolph) "Red Crow, long time no see."

Cynwrig's guild master approached them. The guild hero knew that his guild master had good relations with Red Crow. They provided a strong intelligence network because of their specialty in covert and ambush requests. Because Caelum was more adept at frontline combat, the two guilds rarely had to fight over jobs or requests due to their distinctive specialties.

(Tarterus) "Guild master Randolph! It's been long, old friend. I suspected you were one of the guilds summoned."

The guild master of Red Crow, Tarterus, was an accomplished man. Although somewhere in his sixties by now, he was a leading intelligence securer. And Cynwrig couldn't help but shake the feeling that Tarterus was the cause of this meeting that the governor had issued for the three guilds.

Guilds were typically called for a private conference by the governor once or twice a year, and over half the causes were due to intelligence gathered by Red Crow that they deemed important to discuss on a state level. Cynwrig was only appointed to accompany his master O'Ryan a few times on these conferences, so he rarely got to meet the master from Red Crow.

(Tarterus) "Cynwrig Grey, Wolf of the West?"

(Cynwrig) "In the blood. Want an autograph?"

Randolph couldn't help but roll his eyes at the snarky response.

(Tarterus) "Haha, still a go-to attitude I see. I hope your talent hasn't dwindled, young man?"

(Cynwrig) "Of course not. You know me too well."

Cynwrig also knew that the man was a good sweet talker, able to make others lower their guards when talking to him. Valuable sources don't come from nowhere after all.

...

All the people that were appointed to attend the conference were now sitting in their respective seats around the table. The only remaining man to show his face was the governor himself. Obviously, he would want to be the last one entering. And sure enough, not after long, he entered.

Governor Nebelhut came marching in with some of his personal guards. One woman and one man, both equipped with high tier magic equipment even rivaling Cynwrigs own equipment. The governor has always proclaimed paladins to be the superior combat unit, and as expected he funded these units of protection to the best of his abilities.

(Nebelhut) "Welcome to my house, o' great leaders of prosperous guilds. I expect you know of the city of Elisande and it's bright future all to well."

Everyone nodded, even though Cynwrig for one had no idea what he was nodding for.

(Nebelhut) "As an appointed governor by the king and his court, it is my duty to assure the safety of the populace. A certain someone among us has news I believe is best discussed and dealt with in unison. And no, this time there is no infestation of raven eating the food out of the stalls of our shops."

People chuckled at the terrible quip out of courtesy. This was the boring part. If he wasn't ordered to pay attention, he would already be polishing his sword in boredom, but Cynwrig remained patient while the governor explained the basic debate etiquette and all of that unimportant stuff.

(Nebelhut) "As such, I would like to give word to the one who issued the conference. Red Crow guild master Tarterus, you may speak."

All eyes now went on the old spy-master of Red Crow. Even his own two guild members were waiting for what to come.

(Tarterus) "I thank you for the introduction, governor. I assume you have all heard of the failed shadow beast summoning in the abandoned Dharma mansion that lies to the south of Elisande?"

Tarterus looked around and to his satisfaction, all members nodded again. Cynwrig heard about it personally from one of his fellow guild heroes. Shadow beasts were dangerous creatures, of rank C at their weakest, with many secondary requirements such as strong mitigation of damage being one of them. These beings were never found in the wild, but someone in the past figured out how to summon beasts of pure shadows from another realm or something to inhabit the body of an otherwise uncontrollable monster. He had even heard of cases where beasts like these were forced onto humans. Basically slavery with extra steps.

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He had never fought one because they exclusively served as body guards for very influential nobles these days. The summoning process involved forming a forced contract, which made the beast obedient to whomever applied the contract to their mind. Never once had a summoning failed to apply a contract, but even techniques that have been proven to be faultless can apparently fail, as demonstrated by the idiot who thought it a good idea to summon one.

Nowadays you would need permission of high ranking person within the king and queen's circle to summon a shadow beast. Their nature was unknown, so to summon masses of unknown, terribly strong monsters was in itself a pretty bad idea at best. But where there is power, there is someone willing to take an opportunity. A summoner had attempted summoning a shadow beast for a noble without permission by the king, which backfired horribly. At least the summoner had the guts to confess before a disaster was to manifest from a free-roaming shadow beast on the outskirts of a heavily populated city.

(Tarterus) "Kill requests of A rank were prepared to be issued today to all guilds of the country. However, we believe that new information may suggest that we should retract this kill request temporarily."

(De Katarina) "Wait, what?"

The woman who was objecting to the suggestion was the guild master of the third guild present, Proudthrone. It was located in the center of Elisande and had a high interest in the safety of the city. Guild master De Katarina was very outspoken about eliminating threats when they first emerge and was itching to take it down the moment the report came in about the beast.

(De Katarina) "This wasn't the plan, Tarterus. Retract a kill request for a C rank monster near a city of six-hundred thousand inhabitants? You can't be serious. I thought we agreed to make sure to get rid of this pest."

(Tarterus) "With all due respect, please allow me to finish what I am saying. We have internally discussed the situation and reached this conclusion. Cynwrig Grey, you proposed loading the mansion with necessities to tie the beast to it's place of summoning and to locate it's whereabouts."

Cynwrig nodded. It was basic hunting strategy to make sure your prey can be located. Shortly after he heard about the summoning, he and his party went to investigate by themselves as they were close nearby. A day after he found the mansion and left water, food and clothes in various locations. If any of the bait was missing, at least he would know that it resided in the building.

Even though they had visited the place since and the beast wasn't to be found, the clothes were gone and the water emptied. It hadn't found the food that they stored away, but unless someone was playing a prank on them, it had to be the beast roaming around, returning to the building occasionally to rest. With that, he now knew where to find it once the kill request was issued to reap the rewards. Red Crow's guild master continued.

(Tarterus) "Recently, a farmer and his wife entered Elisande to purchase food and other necessities. They live outside Elisande to the south, very close to the Dharma mansion. Patrols in the area have recently been put on hold in regards to the safety of the units stationed there. Yet, these farmers managed to bring in several fae monsters for dismantling in Elisande. One of these fae monsters was a moa. An adult moa, to be precise. Measured at 6 meters and 21 centimeters."

A fae moa? Cynwrig couldn't help raising a brow. How the hell did a pair of farmers manage to bring in a B rank beast like that for dismantling? Cynwrig wasn't the only one who was wondering where this was leading. All the other people of Caelum and Proudthrone were scratching their heads, and Tarterus enjoyed that completely. Mysterious reveals was a fetish for him.

(Tarterus) "We've identified this farmer as Jack Claude, and when asked where they might have found such a remarkable monster carcass, he claimed that a young pink-skinned demon kid assists in protecting their orchard now that they are vulnerable due to the missing patrols."

(De Katarina) "Do you need to be so elaborate with your reveals? You're telling me that the demon who was chosen as a vessel for the beast managed to take control of the beast and is now casually helping farmers make ends meet? What intention could there possibly be for a demon to help a human, if at all, a farmer?"

Proudthrone's master was upset how Tarterus was spinning things. Not just upset, but very visibly distraught as well, slamming her hand on the table a couple of times while talking.

(Tarterus) "Intentions are a fleeting cause for humans. We have it in our nature to look after each other and build a strong community, do we not?"

(De Katarina) "What's your point?"

(Tarterus) "There are two things that the farmer in question, Jack Claude, openly talked about during his stay in the city. That he has an incredibly strong demon kid employed for protection of his crops, and that this demon has somehow obtained the ability to perceive emotions, as if it were human."

The room went silent for a few seconds. Emotions in a monster? You have to be kidding, right? So much for human history explaining how humans in the past traded magic for true emotions.

(Randolph) "You realize that this is just the word of a commoner. These could just be rumors."

Cynwrig's own master now joined in on the debate. Without a doubt with the same thoughts as Cynwrig himself in mind.

(Tarterus) "Randolph O'Riley, might I remind you that when Red Crow calls for conference between fellow guilds, it does not lie, nor deceive anyone. To insult our information is to insult the guild at large."

(Randolph) "Sigh... Pardon me for doubting you, but you understand that this has never been recorded to occur before, right?"

(Tarterus) "Yes, I must admit, we lack the ability to truly confirm the story. However, these are not rumors. The question is whether this man speaks the truth or not. Which is why we have a proposal on how to handle the case."

He looked around again to make sure everyone was listening.

(Tarterus) "Naturally, Red Crow will keep a close eye on the farmer and the demon they may be harboring, but for the sake of curiosity, please let us observe if the farmer is genuine in his claim."

(De Katarina) "You are willing to put these people into danger?"

De Katarina didn't look impressed with the idea.

(De Katarina) "We have to take it out as soon as possible. That family is in danger, you drunkard."

(Randolph) "Remain civil even if you disagree with this change of plans. I agree with Tarterus. If a monster with emotion truly has been born, we cannot simply kill it off without second thought. This might lead down a wider path that would be cut off if we eliminate it on the spot. Caelum will assist you by entrusting you with Cynwrig."

It wasn't like Cynwrig didn't plan on going after it, so his guild master sending him off was completely fine with him.

(Tarterus) "Thank you Randolph. What do you say, governor? Two of the three guilds wish to observe for now."

(Nebelhut) "That is fine. But due to this being a non-disclosed request, the payment will be reduced significantly."

(Tarterus) "That is fine by us. Red Crow cannot pass up on an opportunity like this, so even without payment we would be honored to be tasked with the request."

(Randolph) "Cynwrig will take all of the share for Caelum."

(De Katarina) "Wha- Governor, you cannot be serious!"

(Nebelhut) "When it comes to matters like these, I listen to the expertise of the guilds that are willing to lend a hand, Miss Katarina. If their judgement is to investigate further, then I will follow their recommendation."

(De Katarina) "Innocent lives are at stake here!"

(Nebelhut) "Is that your only argument?"

(De Katarina) "Wha-"

The master of Proudthrone seemed to be completely at a loss for words from the words the governor gave her. It gave Cynwrig a bit of a smile to see her being speechless all of a sudden. It was a surprisingly quick talk, but still more than satisfactory to him. A unique opportunity to take on a shadow beast didn't come each day after all.

(Nebelhut) "Then we've reached a quick conclusion to this. Keep me updated on what happens, Red Crow."

(Tarterus) "Naturally, governor."

...

Miss Katarina was fuming while waiting on the staff of the town hall to finish her lodging. One of her trusted aides entered the reception, knowing well what mood she was in.

(Rogue) "Miss Katarina, do we cancel the subjugation?"

The result of this one-sided talk wasn't something she was content with. Many stories from the past told how manipulative demons could be. The Dharma mansion itself was a result of demons messing with humans as if they were nothing but pawns.

If stories like these were to repeat, then they would take the blame for it. But the guilds would definitely not respond well if she were to ignore the proceedings they had set for this shadow beast before that crazy Tarterus decided to play it careless, even if she knew she was right.

(De Katarina) "Yes. I do not want to get on bad terms with Red Crow and Caelum. Inform our spymaster in Proudthrone to look into where this Claude family has come from. I don't know why anyone would live in that forest right now, with the fae roaming it still. I have a feeling that something isn't right with them harboring a demon."

(Rogue) "Very well."

Her rogue left De Katarina's room to return to the guild. All of this was fishy. Emotion and magic were opposites. They couldn't co-exist. The entire human race has built itself on this fact, on this pride. Was everything the scholars teached everyone just blatant lies? It couldn't be. Scientists all over had always confirmed this.

That demon must have somehow entranced the farmers or may be in kahoots with them if the story Red Crow told was true. And when push comes to shove, she would be the one to take down such a being.