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Chapter 353: It’s over 10,000!!!
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Draco seeped on his tea again and spoke up to the female Council Member beside him, “Madam Jules, it seems the matter regarding the King Candidate and the Magic Knight is still proceeding without failure.”
The old woman scowled at this but she hid it well as she sipped on her tea.
“Neither the Envoy nor anyone in her group has ever attempted to make contact with anyone all this time. It seems they are not aware of who had issued that [Mission]. I will handle this.”
“I will leave it to you.”
With this exchange, it was easy to understand who in the council Draco’s backer was. Given his Grand Knight title and position and even his ‘hero’ acts as a Dragon Killer, it was still not enough to put him as a member of the Council.
But in this exchange, it was easy to understand just who it was that pulled him up to his seat.
“…and that’s how it has ended. Julia is no more. I assure you, the identity of the Magic Knights will remain a secret.” The Council Head concluded.
Right after he spoke, Elder Jules, the old woman, cleared her throat to signal her attempt to get the attention of everyone.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Lady Envoy, but I think I have a rather sort of news to deliver.”
Eleanor looked at her passively, “Please speak.”
“Very well. Lady Envoy, it seems that the head of the Magic Knights… that… Archmage’s husband, seems to still be unaware of this problem’s resolution.”
Eleanor looked puzzled, “What do you mean?”
Draco smiled in his heart inwardly.
Elder Jules replied, “Originally, the issue should have been resolved yesterday but because of the issue with Julia this morning, which by the way had just been resolved a little bit earlier, the Head Knight of the Magic Knight… Order… is still on his way towards the warehouse.”
The reason why Elder Jules was brave enough to speak of this matter is because during the issuing of the World Wide Man Hunt Mission under the authority of the Circle of Magi, they had briefly explained that in order to compensate for this one blunder, especially with the issue of the said King Candidate Offending the same man last night, the matter had been agreed to be buried under the pretense of a compensation.
But with the Man Hunt Mission earlier, the culprit in all of this —Julia— had already been dealt with so should there still be justification for this same man ‘taking away’ the precious resources of the Council of Elders?
As complicated as it may seem, this was a matter of a simple fact: the King Candidate was framed and the only man to harvest fruits in this matter is the man in question, the Head of the Magic Knight ‘Order’.
Thus, with the original sinner dealt with, should there still be a reason as to why they had to pay ‘tribute’ for this blunder?
FlowerLord, on the side, understood this.
They seem to be under the impression that the Magic Knights, being under the Enchantment Temple who was ‘supposed’ to be subordinate to the Circle of Magi, should be “controlling” the man in question.
With all the things she’d seen and understood in the matter between Eleanor and Siva, Siva wasn’t the subordinate between the two.
It was the other way around.
And so, she couldn’t help but laugh at this.
Everyone’s eyes turned to her. Especially of the old woman who felt offended because to her, the sensitivity of the matter carried the dignity and the egoistic pride of the entire Council of Elders.
Elder Jules tacitly held her head high and looked at FlowerLord, a ‘mere’ follower of Eleanor, with a raised brow as she addressed her ‘superior’.
“Lady Eleanor, it seems that your subordinate is somewhat unrestrained in this meeting. Should it be clarified to us what is funny in regards to the issue at hand?”
Eleanor who seemed to pick up a few things, bid a sigh as she turned to FlowerLord, “Efel, what’s so funny? The Elder seemed to be offended.”
The four escorts wanted to be the one to explain but they held their words as Eleanor still made it so that her words were spoken in a whisper.
“Let me explain it.” FlowerLord whispered back and then stood up as she [exchanged] seats with Eleanor.
The Council of Elders was shocked.
Elder Jules felt her soul leap out of her mouth as her jaw dropped as low as it could. She wanted to utter her voice of concern regarding this [change] in seating arrangements, but the words were all stuck on her throat and came out only as air with no clear syllable. She was beyond shocked.
“Let me explain it to you clearly then.” FlowerLord begun, “The Archmage we are talking about here is my dear friend. And if you think that a tiny King Candidate who lusted over her can get away from that with pure bribery... you are dearly mistaken. I, for one, would have killed that bastard on the spot but because the guy with him is a soft hearted big bastard…” FlowerLord pointed at Draco, “…you get to get away with it… INTACT.”
The finger pointed at Draco held no respect what-so-ever and this gesture shocked everyone else in the room with a clap of thunder.
Her last word implied something else.
She spoke of it with unbridled hatred. Her stress on the word implied that she was a violent person.
If she was indeed the one who was with her, the Archmage, at the time, given what they all saw just now when Eleanor actually exchanged seats with her, even if it was in public, the King Candidate in question would have still died there and then.
—by the Gods… what kind of existence have we offended this time?
They all had the same frightening thought.
It was clear that Draco and Jules wanted to use this chance to get away from the promise. But in all likelihood of this plan failing, they never ever imagined that their plan to curry favor while also still turning the tables around Siva, would burn to ashes even before they get to launch it.
Just who is this girl anyways? Why does it feel like she has an even higher position than Lady Eleanor?
No, more importantly, given as it may, she just called an Archmage’s husband a ‘soft-hearted big bastard’… in addition to the Archmage being her dear friend.
This alone implied that the knight and this woman, in some semblance, had the same status.
—higher than Eleanor.
Fear crawled over their hearts. Especially to the two Elders who had plans in the shadows.
FlowerLord did not relent: “But since the bastard have already made you guys pay for the offense, all you have to do is pay it. But no! Right now, you even wanted to use this chance to turn our Lady Eleanor’s graces on your people around to get away from the payment THAT YOUR KING CANDIDATE HAD DONE!”
FlowerLord was really seething in anger.
It may be okay for Siva to just accept bribery as recompense to the offense to Scion, but for her, it was her best friend’s dignity who had been sullied by that King Candidate’s plans.
She will NOT let this slide.
Although it was obvious that these old people are stronger than her, FlowerLord still unleashed her Mana as she summoned ten black globes that surrounded Draco.
She roared, “In respect to your position, Elder Draco, I will give you a chance to explain yourself right this instant. If you fail to convince me to just let this matter slide using the reasoning you have just told us…”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
With a flash of light, FlowerLord held a wand in her hand as a green light manifested on her body with the black globes around Draco turning into red lava, swirling to form red-colored spears.
“…I will assure you, I will attack you without any kind of restraint.”
It was a clear threat.
Draco and Jules felt their scalps turning numb as they realized that they have offended someone they shouldn’t have offended.
Yeah, FlowerLord may be weaker than them but she was part of the Circle of Magi… who knows if what she was showing right now is just the very surface of her abilities.
What more, that green aura, it was clearly a MOD.
To pull out a Rare-MOD right at the beginning is a clear sign that she wasn’t joking.
And is, the question is, will Draco and Jules go on and play their cards, or are they going to yield in the presence of a higher up in the Circle of Magi.
—how stupid…
—we should have guessed it earlier…
—Lady Eleanor isn’t the Envoy.
—it was her!!!
The Council Members all thought the same thing.
Lady Eleanor was the ‘cover’ and FlowerLord was the real Envoy.
But how could they know the truth? All of this is but the result of Eleanor’s consideration of Efel, being the best friend of the lover of Lord Siva…
In truth, Eleanor didn’t care about all of these as she only cared about her own mission. But as she was given instructions by Siva to stick around FlowerLord’s group and accompany them, this situation and even acquiescing her chair to FlowerLord… she considered it all as part of it.
Draco and Jules felt panicked.
An Envoy isn’t stupid. Because she was staying in the background all this time, it wasn’t hard for her to notice the smallest discrepancies.
But they can’t accept this as well since it will only give FlowerLord an even bigger enough reason to kill Draco right now, and Draco wouldn’t even lift his head to look at it, much less defend.
All they could do… was to ask forgiveness.
……sincerely.
The two Elders stood up and knelt in front of her, as they bowed their heads as low as it can be.
“Please forgive us!”
“We didn’t… we didn’t mean anything by it.”
The rest of the Council Members understood the dire situation as they, in behalf of the two, also knelt down to ask for forgiveness.”
“We implore you, Great Envoy, please forgive the two of them…”
“We will pay the tribute... we will pay the tribute…”
“We will pay it double…”
“No… we will pay it triple!!!”
“Please forgive us…”
“Please forgive us…”
The Council of Elders, kneeling on the ground and asking forgiveness from a civilian… if it was any other ‘Envoy’, Eleanor would have snapped and throw her own fit for this disrespect.
But thankfully, this was “Eleanor” and she only bid a sigh as she ignored it all and just tapped Efel on her shoulder and gave her a nod.
Feeling ashamed to have stolen her ‘seat’ Efel also nodded and faced them.
She also knows her place.
Retracting her MOD-effect and the BlackTech, she swiped the air and made a call.
[What is it?]
It was Siva’s voice.
“I will warn you now, there’s nothing in the place you’re going to.”
[What do you mean?]
“Instead of answering, let me show it to you.”
With that, she pressed a button and a Real@D Rendering of Siva appeared in the Council Hall.
“My Lord.” Eleanor bowed and this… is the final blow that took every Council Member’s breaths away. “I apologize but it seems that it is because of me that you will not be getting your items.”
[Eleanor… what do you mean? And why is… oh, Draco… I see… are you in a meeting?]
—what is this?
—she’s calling him “Lord”…?!!
—by the Gods… who did we offend here?
—we’re doomed… we’re doomed!!!
—it’s all because of that blasted King Candidate!
Draco was kneeling. FlowerLord is angry and is in front of Eleanor in the group. There was a silence in the air that told him of their surrender.
[You said that there will be nothing in the place I am going to?]
“That’s right.” FlowerLord fanned the flames and pointed at Draco with a disdainful finger, “This guy thought that you were Lady Eleanor’s underling and thought of using her to stop you and put a leash on you.”
Draco trembled as well as Jules. The faceless knight was in the middle of ‘floating’ but when he heard and understood the words that FlowerLord said; he stopped and turned to face Draco as an idea entered his mind while he wore a bashful smile.
[You mean to say, you did not bring me the items that you promised to give me? It seems that I will have to actually destroy the tiger to warn the forest… don’t you think so, Draco?]
Draco slammed his head to the floor, “Forgive me My Lord… I… I… I have failed you! I will arrange for the items to be delivered to you as soon as I can… today… no, if you let me… then I will give you thrice the items I promised today! Just give me four hours… no three! Just give me three! I promise to deliver the items to you!”
The (evil) smile on Siva’s lips broadened further becoming a sadistic grin.
[Is that so? But you see, I have my wife here and she is really pissed off right now. She wanted to personally punish the man that planned against her but because of my benevolence; the bastard had another day to live. Tell me, Draco, no, tell me, Council of Elders… if you are in my shoes, should I or should I NOT destroy your country?]
The Council Members trembled as they too, all in unison, changed their kneeling position into a kowtowing pose as they all slammed their heads to the floor of their Council Hall.
“Please forgive us, Lord Envoy! It is our mistake for not being able to control our underlings! We will do what it takes to bring you the items that you need within the hour! Please don’t destroy our country!”
When the Council Head spoke up, the rest of the Council followed:
“““Please don’t destroy our country!”””
The council members slammed their heads to the floor and kowtowed in submission. They were all afraid that the Circle of Magi would actually lift their hand and destroy Jeremiah.
—all of this because of one single man!
They all cursed that King Candidate who caused them this big trouble.
[Well, I certainly am magnanimous. Be happy and thankful that my wife is a kind-hearted beautiful goddess. If not, I would have personally pulled all your spines where you are kneeling. Especially you, you bastard old dog… Draco. Time and time again, you have tested the limits of my patience. I am kind but I am not that kind. I haven’t forgotten the promise you made last night. But look at the time now… is this how a Grand Knight’s promise should be kept, huh? Wait for me there… I will skin you alive where you’re kneeling.]
Draco slammed his head to the floor but didn’t pull it up in fear of being humiliated further.
“No, it is not, My Lord. Please! Have mercy on this little weakling.”
Siva was really laughing right now and a single syllable of this laugh escaped his mouth.
—Fufufu... I don’t think I will ever get used to this.
Eleanor cleared her throat and Siva came back to his senses as he “ehemed” and pointed a disdainful finger at Draco.
[2 hours. I give you two hours. Same place. I want 500 Megatons of Cryogenic Elements; 50 Billion NanoCubes; 500 Million each of Stun E-Grenade and Plasma Smoke Screen Grenade; oh and put in 500 Million Fragmentation Grenades as well as Firebombs; 1 Billion each of Red Potion and Blue Potions; 500 Megatons of Tesla Coils; 30 Mega-Crates of Black Ironwood Alloy; 15 Mega-Crates of Glandanium Alloy; at least THREE Battle-AI of the highest level; at least 10 Megatons of each of the Elemental Stones; 100 of your biggest and highest-grade Actuators; 2 more NM-Converters; and finally… a Master Blacksmith.]
Fifteen items…
Within the silence in the room, even FlowerLord was in a loss for words.
This… is more than just extortion. It was a blatant and unbridled, unrestrained, adamant midday, on the front desk and right off their faces robbery.
If there was still someone with the slightest bit of sanity left in the room that could look at the eyes of Eleanor… they would see that the spirit within them had been petrified.
Even this innocent girl who did not care about the mundane was aware of the prices of the items that Siva had exacted from the Council of Elders.
—no, from Draco.
The silent Cassiopeia, Niobe, Kathleen Brew, and even the fiery FlowerLord… Eleanor’s escorts, the Council Elders —everyone— they lost their ability to breathe as Siva listed his demands.
And then, on the last item he spoke of, a Master Blacksmith, they realized that Siva… was really… just making fun of them.
He knew how hard it is to find a real Blacksmith but a Master Blacksmith at that… it was hard.
Too hard indeed.
—just why does he needed someone like that?
Even Eleanor and FlowerLord were puzzled.
In this day and age, it was luckier to find a Zentra in a coin-form in the streets than to find an actual Master Blacksmith of the old classic era before the Terran-Human Alliance.
—at least, that’s what Draco thought.
But nevertheless, in the silence in the room, even a drop of a pin could be heard as it was too silent.
[Remember. Two. Hours.] Siva warned. [Or I will make sure that you all regret ever messing with me.]
And the call ended.
Even FlowerLord couldn’t remain stalwart with her ‘anger’ as she too felt that what Siva demanded from these guys were plainly blatant extortions.
And yet… when she looked at the Council Elders, they all wore that face of slight reluctance but not panic. It would seem that they can provide the items but in a very steep but not impossible price.
Draco, who knew it well, could feel the murder in the eyes of his fellow Elders.
—it was all because you wanted to show off!
Those eyes spoke this single thought.
By his calculations, these resources Siva needed amounted of at least 20% of their entire reservoir of resources for the entire year. It was a really big chunk of their treasury!
And the worst part is, they couldn’t even try to haggle with Siva as they were too shocked and astounded to a suspending degree that they all felt the same answer landing on to them: they had just made enemy of an Envoy.
It wasn’t this girl or Lady Eleanor who was the envoy… it was that Knight.
That Magic Knight!
No wonder why they can’t hear any news of the Magic Knights throughout the decades.
It’s not that Grand Elder Mage Pistareen is keeping their existence a secret; it’s just that their standing was even higher than Grand Elder Mage Pistareen. The Magic Knights… are directly below the Circle of Magi.
This is such shocking news!
Draco was in a deep pit.
—what should I do?
His lips were purplish white and trembling. He raised his head to try to plea for Lady Eleanor or even FlowerLord to convince Siva to reconsider but before he could even speak, the FlowerLord who’s also lost in words, shrug her shoulders.
“Well, you’ve got your answer.” She then pointed a finger at Draco. “You can choose. He can really destroy this country without any help or... you can be good boys and give him what he wants. Either way, the root cause of this problem is you and the King Candidates that you failed to control. You’ve offended not only an Archmage, but The Circle as well and you have nothing to blame in this aside from yourselves for being negligent and greedy.”
With those words, she turned to Eleanor and bid her a nod. She led the way and the lady’s group immediately, with haste, escaped the scene.
The Council Elders couldn’t even speak a word.
BAM!
When the heavy panel doors closed with a heavy sound, the Council Head shouted furiously at Draco and Jules.
Verbal curses also flew towards their direction as the sound of fists and slaps hit who knows’ faces.
Only after a minute did the angry mob finished venting their fury as orders were given and tasks were scattered away.
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Siva is like a crab…
He never lets go of the food on his pincers.
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Next Chapter: Real Humans finally appear.