For the sake of peace,

One wades through strife.

Betrayal comes swift,

In the form of a knife...

Kallad sent Rai and Sin back to the Secret. He, however, had plans of his own.

“Naam. Lilly. You two have to follow the plan. If the conditions are met, then I’m relying on you two... their lives are in your hands. You understand?”

Naam and Lilly looked shaken. They had listened to Kallad’s plan and wondered why he’d even think such a thing was so likely.

“... Are you absolutely certain that the possibility is that high?” Naam asked him.

“Yes. I’m so sure that I’d bet everything I owned on it.”

Lilly stared at her father with wide eyes. She knew that he wouldn’t say such a thing lightly, given how much some of those treasures meant to him.

“Listen... the summit will be upon us in a matter of weeks now, and I cannot risk anything going wrong. Tell me that you understand and will follow my instructions, to the letter.”

Lilly nodded. “We will. I promise...”

“Good... good... Then I’ll leave you to prepare for that inevitability.” Kallad said as he began preparing a portal to leave.

“Where will you go now?” Naam asked.

“Well... considering that my private stashes are now all in your hands, I’ll go cash out all of my public stores. Then... I’ve got a merchant to visit.”

Naam eyed her father curiously. “Eh? What kind of merchant requires all of your public storage?”

Kallad let out a soft sigh.

“A merchant of death.”

----------------------------------------

At the stroke of midnight, Zenith’s moon rose high in the sky. Soon, it would reach the very apex of all creation, towering above all under its reign. To witness such a spectacle, Zenith’s denizens were blessed every night. Under the same moon, those on all sides of the world shared a single commonality between them.

For Kallad, the moon was just an object in the sky. It had no such poetic implication for him. At least, not anymore. Perhaps in another lifetime he would’ve seen it as such.

He flew through the night sky, with the moon’s bright light bouncing off of his feathers.

Kallad had morphed into a raven.

He was on another mission.

Rai and Sin had fallen asleep on top of one another once his spell wore off. Kallad made sure to check that they were fine before he left.

Burning in his heart was the desire to make life peaceful for his kids. This was what drove Kallad forward. After the loss of Milly, his wife, Kallad had driven himself into a corner. But Sin’s embrace brought him out of it.

For her, and the rest of his family, he would change the world.

And that meant Kallad would have to meet with the Chancellor.

Kallad had to convince the Chancellor, the Aspect of Commerce, to vote against the Arbiter in the upcoming Summit. It was almost certain that the Arbiter would buy out the Chancellor’s vote, but Kallad was willing to put all he owned on the table. At least, all that the public knew he owned.

The rest of Kallad’s treasures would remain in their private stores for as long as they could. If what he was worried about was to come true... then Naam and Lilly would need those stores to execute the plan.

For now, Kallad flew to the ports. He’d been there recently, when outrunning the Arbiter’s agents. Now, he’d go there for their intended purpose.

To travel between cities.

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Kallad knew a lot about the clan of Commerce. He knew that their region was named Aurum because that’s where the gold was most concentrated in all of Zenith. He also knew that for each of the cities within the region, they specialised in something that the others didn’t.

The capital was known as the most well-rounded, but it lacked a lot that the other cities capitalised on.

The city that Kallad was planning to travel to now specialised in storage and financial services. It was one of the few named cities in Aurum.

The Banks.

In other words, a den of sharks and tigers. He knew them to prey upon the weak, and take advantage of the vulnerable.

Not that that had anything to do with Kallad.

If the Chancellor had left this city to the wayside, leaving it to operate as it pleased, then Kallad couldn’t care any less. Fortunately for Kallad, the public stores in the Banks oriented themselves towards higher-paying clientele. Meaning that the Aspects, as well as some of the more affluent nobles had stores there.

Kallad needed to withdraw everything he owned from the Banks, and try to weasel his way into owning the Chancellor’s vote for the upcoming Summit.

Thus far, he’d confirmed that Songstress would vote against the Arbiter.

But Kallad was crafty. He wanted to deceive the Arbiter into thinking that he was on his side. Because of this, Kallad implored the Tinkerer to vote against him. Meaning that Kallad would vote for the Arbiter’s proposal to destroy the Life clan, while the Tinkerer would vote against it. None would suspect him, so long as he put his pawns to good use.

As much as the Songstress pretended to care for him, Kallad knew that it was a front. She was using him as much as he was using her.

The vote wouldn’t go through if there were an even number of votes on either side. Kallad was familiar enough with the voting system used by the Aspects to know that for a vote to succeed, it required a majority in favour.

If I’d played the game at that time... then maybe they wouldn’t have turned their backs on Milly!

Salacia chose to vote against my proposal back then... so I couldn’t care what happens to her following the vote.

Now that I’m playing the game, she’ll reap what she sowed.

The Songstress staying in the Secret meant nothing, at least to Kallad.

She needed a place to enjoy time with her envoy. And Kallad needed a pawn.

Such was the way of exchange.

Ah... I’m already here.

Kallad’s wings fluttered as he landed out of sight just a little ways away from the entrance to the ports. He transformed back into himself and dusted off his suit.

Upon reaching the security gates, the guards let him through without a worry.

Being an Aspect has its privileges, I suppose.

Kallad took in the sight of the ports after midnight.

All of the bars were open. Every. Single. One. The Commerce clan made a lot of gold thanks to how they’d set the ports up to work. For each bar, a barkeep had to rent it out for the night. Of course, the barkeeps made far more gold than they spent on renting the bars, but it was a stable income for the Commerce clan. The fact that it was just past midnight on the Sunday morning only meant that the ports were at their busiest.

Musicians played instruments in different areas around the outdoor bars, prompting people to go and dance with one another. The ‘after-hours’ fun that one could find at the ports was far more festive than the darker kind of fun one would find in the nightlife district.

Kallad, once upon a time, would have enjoyed spending nights here. Dancing with women, drinking all the booze he could manage, and having a good time.

Fate, however, was very cruel.

He shook his head.

I’d very much like to get this over with sooner rather than later.

*Slap*

Time to focus. Get to the Banks, get my stuff, and get back in time to barter with the Chancellor.

This was Kallad’s plan.

The ports weren’t just a hub of festive fun. They also housed the trading portals that merchants made use of. These were separate from the portal hall, where civilians travelled between the regions. In a sense, these portals were far more specialised.

Kallad made his way to the officer nearby who was standing on duty. Or, well, one might say that he was snoozing on duty.

“Hey. Are you busy?” Kallad asked.

“Khaa-WUH! Who dares to-” The officer laid his eyes upon the Aspect in front of him. Kallad’s blood-red eyes stared judgingly at the officer. “Sorry sir!” He bowed. “Please excuse my narcolepsy sir! How may I help you?”

Kallad raised a questioning eyebrow at the officer.

“Narcolepsy? You suffer from narcolepsy, yet you’re a guard at the ports?”

“Ahem. Yes sir!”

“Quite the... strange hiring decision.”

“Please sir! I have a family to feed sir!”

“Will you please stop shouting and please stop calling me sir.”

“Yes sir! Oh... sorry.”

Kallad facepalmed.

“Look, I don’t care about you or your family. Let’s make that clear. I just want information. The ports have changed since last I came here. Which of the portals will take me to the Banks?”

The officer almost gave away his deflation upon hearing Kallad’s words.

“Ah... well... the portals that move people within the Aurum region can be found in the centre of the port docks, sir! You’ll find it there, sir!”

Kallad stared deadpan at the dumbass in front of him who couldn’t follow instructions for more than 10 seconds. It was almost impressive.

“Right. Thank you. You can go back to sleep now.”

“Thank you sir!”

The officer promptly pretended to stay awake while in Kallad’s view, and fell asleep standing up once Kallad had left.

I really don’t understand how people like that get hired. If he worked under me... well maybe it’s a good thing he doesn’t work under me. Besides, leaving a trail is exactly what I want here, even if the main witness is an idiot.

Kallad discarded his thoughts of the officer once he’d made it to the centre of the ports. It was like a docks area, past the party area. There was a mass of large arched rooms that led to different areas within each region. At least, areas that allowed for portal travel.

Not a single portal here led to the Underworld. There was no easy way to travel from Aurum to the Isles of Everlasting Day and Night either.

After a few minutes of looking, Kallad found it.

The portal leading to the Banks. It was run down and decrepit, but still seemed to function.

Kallad walked through it.