Chapter 88 — In which they meet (2)
“Everyone look so… um. Shiny.”
“That’s sure a lot of gems.”
Durio and Rembeta looked at the guildmasters entering the mansion with critical eyes.
Though they didn’t say anything directly, their disgusted expressions were speaking volumes about what crimes against the aesthetic those guests were committing.
Vern, who was standing at their side, nodded in agreement.
They were observing the entering guests through the security circles engraved on the entrance.
A few passing mages sent gloomy glances at the circles, as if they didn’t like the fact that they were being so obviously watched.
But no one questioned the excessive security because everyone knew about Crimo’s fondness of his younger siblings.
As they had state holidays on their birthdays it would be strange not to notice.
Vern’s eyes followed the members of seven major guilds who just entered.
He recalled the warning the Red Throne gave to Crimo.
‘Candles… With all those trinkets on them, it wouldn’t be strange if they turned into walking torches.’
He assessed various magical devices, which mages wore like some kind of accessories.
Looking at them, he was terribly glad that he managed to convince Crimo that wearing any ‘fire crystals’ or ‘spinning stars’, or ‘auroras’, would be rather dangerous, and his own birthday suit was a plain robe with only small decorations.
That said, that plain robe was made from the fabric of a cocoon of the fire moth, which was on the verge of extinction and had less than a thousand specimens left.
And the small decorations were red diamonds cut with the hands of the experts from Gemma.
Vern preferred not to think about the weight of the money he was wearing right now.
Instead, his gaze followed the guildmasters to Scarlen who came out to welcome them.
According to the tradition, during the coming of age ceremony the child had to go over the entire ritual alone, without help of any of their family members.
Therefore, since the sunrise, Crimo hid in the mansion and avoided meeting with Vern.
But it also meant that he couldn’t welcome guests, so Scarlen was doing it in his stead.
Usually it should be Vern who welcomed the guests, but because of the safety issues, the suspicion that something may go wrong and the very tense atmosphere between the guilds and the Archmage, it was decided that Scarlen would do that.
Vern didn’t mind it very much, as he hated such affairs.
Besides, it gave him a good excuse to peacefully analyze his opponents.
He already knew the seven guildmasters, but there was someone else who was coming, who was completely unknown to him.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“The Flavun envoy should be entering now, right?”
Cuprit, squished between his two sisters like a plushy, checked the guest list and spoke.
But Vern shook his head.
“No, Lady Mimosa suddenly replaced the attendants, who would accompany her, so the security checks will get a bit longer.”
Then Vern chuckled.
“Grandmaster Scarlen was fuming when he heard about it. I really hope he won’t try to explain to Lady Mimosa that his Lord is already overworked, and he doesn’t have time for her whims.”
“Why would she replace her attendants so suddenly? Did something happen?”
At Cuprit’s innocent question, Durio petted him on the head, as she explained:
“Oh, my dear little brother. Of course not. It’s a political maneuver. She and Lord Orche both want to show off their power, while also not appear too offensive before Lord Archmage. So they would balance it according to the opponent’s forces. To look somewhat equal. But now that Lady Mimosa not only replaced her attendants, she also reduced their number, Lord Orche, who had many more people with him will appear rude and snobbish.”
Cuprit turned pale.
It seemed that the complex world of politics was quite scary.
But he was quickly distracted, when the teleportation circle before the entrance started to shine again.
“Then it should be Purplus’ envoy now, right?”
“Yes…”
Vern answered absentmindedly, as he came closer to the magic screen and started to watch it with double intensity when compared to before.
‘Will you be among them?’
The possibility was slim, but Vern somehow held onto the hope that his siblings may be mixed among the envoys.
The light faded and people appeared.
Some wobbled a bit, perhaps not used to teleportation, some examined their surrounding with sharp eyes, like soldiers entering enemy’s territory.
Vern’s eyes flashed between their faces as he looked for any sense of familiarity among them.
Even if the faces were different, he was sure…
At the side, the three siblings curiously examined the newcomers.
“Their clothes are so colorful… are those all holy symbols?”
“The people with the big sleeves are priests and those with short sleeves are slaves?”
“Not exactly. According to what big brother said, the big sleeves in Purplus have similar practical functions like the big sleeves of mage robes, but depending on the deity some priests may have short-sleeved uniforms. And slaves can also wear big sleeves if they assist in rituals for example.”
“The way you recognize the priest is not by the sleeves, but what and where they have their holy symbols. Each deity has a different set of symbols exclusive for their priests and those symbols will also be in different places then on an ordinary believer.”
“… If all deities have different symbols, how do people memorize them all? Isn’t it easy to mistake a priest for an ordinary person?”
“… I don’t know. Big brother seemed to remember all symbols just fine…”
“Huh!”
The siblings' discussion was cut off by a strange sound that came out of Vern’s mouth.
He didn’t even notice their questioning expressions and stared at someone in the screen.
Following his gaze, they noticed a small woman.
She had short gray hair and very pale irises, which from their perspective made her eyes look almost white.
Though her stature wasn’t impressive, the way she directed the people around her and the sharp gaze that made others freeze in place when she just glanced at them pointed out that she was the leader of the group.
She quickly organized the group which became disorganized because of the teleportation sickness and led them to Scarlen, who observed them quietly from the entrance.
She didn’t even blink, less faltered before the man that was over a head taller than her, and towering over her he looked at her with a cold gaze of someone assessing a livestock to be slaughtered.
The woman put on the business-like smile and said something to Scarlen.
For some reason, her canines flashed dangerously when she did that.
She wasn’t a livestock to be slaughtered.
Scarlen raised an eyebrow and then also put on a business-like smile and led the group inside.
“Um… Well, that’s a quite pretty girl, but Young Master…”
“… We thought you said you’re interested in men? Just not our dear and beautiful brother?”
Durio and Rambeta turned to look at Vern again.
Vern blinked.
“Why does it feel like you’re suddenly trying to sell me your brother?”
“We would never!”
“Right! Our Cups deserves better!”
“What?”
Vern was momentarily stunned by what seemed to be an insult towards him, but he quickly let it go as his head was occupied by something else.
He swept back his hair, as he sighed.
“No, it’s nothing. I just thought that she looked very similar to someone I knew.”
… But that person was dead for over 400 years.
Suddenly, Vern was struck by a very strange thought.
The thought was so strange that all his movements halted.
Then he quickly turned to the three siblings and asked.
“How do I look? Is my make-up fine? Are there any wrinkles on my clothes? What about my hair… Ah.”
Before the siblings could reply, Vern realized that he was just destroying his carefully arranged hair.
His face turned grave.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
He ran out of the room.
Leaving three dumbfounded people behind.
*~*~*