Author's Note: I tried again, so god help me. Like last time, I want to have more fluidity in my interactions. Also, I want it to be more interactive, so let's see. I hope this is better :D

...

Private Lounge, Wintersleep Hotel, Wolfsteeth

The current atmosphere was awkward, almost otherworldly as if Makol was inside a dream and would soon wake up, saying to himself for the hundredth time that he should stop doing hard drugs.

Entering the most expensive hotel in Wolfsteeth, a maid greeted him and led him to this private lounge. He expected to meet someone of importance and wealth, but he didn't expect this, 'I can't believe it.'

He was staying before Alexander K. Leonandra, which made him unable to comprehend what was happening. However, he wasn't alone, and listening to the heavy breathing of his friends who accompanied him to this meeting, they were at least as surprised as him.

Standing directly behind Makol were two other night-elves, Petra and Jorsh. In addition to their excellent espionage work, they were also exceptional at presenting themselves in the best light. Usually, they knew basic manners and could act accordingly, making others like them as long as Petra acted appropriately. Makol prayed that she wouldn't act like her usual self.

Further behind was William, a wind-djinn and their persuasion expert. He knew how to talk with nobility and convince them to join their cause. However, when he had problems achieving it through his silver tongue, he combined his skills with his energy, making them want to join.

Even though William was incredibly stealthy with his energy and skills, they would immediately die if he used them here. Why did Makol think like this? For some reason, his instinct was going wild, warning him continuously that there was danger and that he should act appropriately, not even thinking about doing something stupid.

However, Makol believed that William also felt it and wouldn't act inappropriately, which would most likely turn them into [Experience].

Yet, Makol was the most worried about Arlgo, the scavenger, who stood further behind. He was his friend with whom he found the blood demon together. While clumsy, he was the most suitable scavenger for this event besides the imprisoned former head of their camp. He could follow commands, and for scavengers, this was quite the barrier to overcome most of the time.

Regardless, they were all uneasy facing this young noble, more than any other nobility. It was not because they didn't like him. No, it was actually the exact opposite. They admired him, his efforts, and his views.

Why was everyone feeling like this about Alexander? In addition to his almost ridiculous philanthropy in trying to help everyone, regardless of background, race, or anything of the sort, he also held and openly promoted unique views.

In all his speeches Makol listened to, he never promoted his kin but rather the Leonandrian people and Moorgrelian as a whole, welcoming all races under his banner equally.

For the camp, which had all those discarded people, it would be a salvation to live in normalcy, and it could only happen if the system of how others viewed them changed. While not realistically, Alexander could be the spark they needed.

Because of that, everyone from the camp loved him to some extent, even going so far as trying to protect him while he held his speeches. They wanted him to become the next heir and were ready to support him from the shadows on their own accord.

As such, seeing him here meant that he was most likely their sponsor, which made Makol euphoric. He was sure that as long as the young noble was on their side, his people could actually escape their dreadful fate.

Regardless of his nervousness, Makol quickly used every mental fortitude skill he could to regain his composure, not wanting to appear weak-willed or easily frightened.

The young noble before him, though, was the epitome of calmness. Like in the public speeches Alexander gave, he oozed tremendous self-confidence. However, for some reason, he didn't feel like a noble. There was something else entirely, like he was above everything, making the night-elf want to follow him immediately.

Yet Alexander wasn't the only one emitting such arrogance and pride. Beside him, what Makol assumed were his retainers, and all of them looked down on Makol's group when they entered the lounge.

However, it was not what he usually felt when someone looked down on him. Usually, it was because of his race, status, or where he came from. Now, he was suppressed by their stares as they radiated overwhelming superiority. They never made him feel little, just that they felt much larger.

To the left, close to Alexander, was a wolf-kin man of the same height and proportions as Arlgo. He was obviously the guard since he constantly glared at them, analyzing their movements so they would not surprise attack. Makol had nothing against it, finding it even reassuring.

To his right, staying, were two very familiar people they had a lot of information about. The first was the spider-kin girl, Ocilia. She was Klepto's sister and also the one who killed some of their people and Fiorello.

While sad, vengeance had no place when looking at the bigger picture. There was no hate for Ocilia, especially since they started everything with the assassination attack. Yet, Alexander's group didn't need to know this.

As Makol peeked at Ocilia, analyzing her, he also tried to remember all the information they had gathered about her. However, there wasn't much else except that she was Alexander's disciple, good at magic, and usually hanging around some weird places in the northern and southern districts.

Regardless, that was enough for him for now. What was more annoying was that if everything worked out, they would need to get rid of Klepto, who was hostile toward his sister. However, to save the camp, they would make those sacrifices. They already made much more before he arrived at their camp and were ready to make many more to avoid going back there should they succeed.

However, he was more worried about the one staying beside Ocilia, waving his hand at him personally and smiling with a cigarette in his mouth, 'This... makes now so much sense.'

Makol's amateurish colleague wasn't killed but captured. She probably blabbed out every single piece of information about them, which Alexander's group then used to give him the letter, knowing one of the locations where they would meet.

Even though frustrating, it was also like a blessing in disguise, with Alexander noticing her and thus giving them the needed attention. Otherwise, this meeting would never have happened. Yet, for some reason, he hated the rabbit boy's smirk. It was irritating.

However, looking at these people, they were probably guarding Alexander, but they weren't the ones who constantly made his instinct ring, telling him to be careful. There was something or someone inside the room, continually and purposefully reminding him and the others of their presence so he wouldn't get some stupid thoughts.

Makol shook those thoughts away, trusting his gut feeling that nobody would attack if they didn't do it first. Instead, he concentrated on those sitting on the couches, who were most likely the primary negotiators facilitating the details of the deal they would make.

The first ones he noticed sat on the left, on another couch than Alexander. They were two fire-djinn girls who looked similar. One wore a somewhat formal summer dress with a copper-colored silk cloth tied to her wrist. In contrast, the other's attire was very formal. She wore an expensive suit and a very distinctive delicate brooch on her chest, which looked like a golden feather, showing off where she worked.

They sat there, mainly glaring at William for obvious reasons, which made Makol slightly nervous. However, they would accept him despite his race since Alexander led this operation. Yet, this didn't mean there wouldn't be provocations and tensions. As such, he hoped that William would manage them somehow without creating bad blood.

Makol personally disregarded those racial tensions wholly. He generally cared little about those and would instead follow Alexander's set of ideas, uniting under a territory, like the camp did, ignoring their racial differences for the survival of everyone.

Regardless of his opinion, Makol quickly understood the function of the fire-djinn girls and why they were part of this. First of all, they were from prestigious families, evidently so. One only needed to look at their attire, as they wore something worth more than the yearly food supply for a hundred people in the camp. Second, they would be the ones who would deliver the aid and probably use the pressure his camp would make by trying to capture small parts of the territory. They would then probably start fights on other fronts and try to grab some territory for themselves.

'Genius.'

While Makol didn't fully understand the camp's deal with the Count, the appearance of those fire-djinns made the loophole so apparent that he almost burst out in laughter.

Moorgrelians were forbidden to trade or have dealings with them; on the other hand, those were fire-djinns, not part of the beast-kin empire. Makol assumed that it was possible to facilitate deals with them since those two were sitting here.

However, only with a middleman like Alexander would they get the chance to facilitate a fair deal. Otherwise, it would be impossible. A big part of their camp consisted of wind-djinns, which fire-djinns hated, and there was only one way to make a deal with them: by leaving the wind-djinns behind or worse.

However, such a thing would never be agreed upon. Everyone in the camp was of mixed race, which meant that everyone was part wind-djinn, scavenger, and night-elf. With every concurrent generation, it became more challenging to tell them apart. All their unique characteristics were slowly mixed, creating something new like the former chief or William, who was ridiculously well adjusted to Kratikal, far from what wind-djinns were initially. Because of such circumstances, such a deal could never work.

Looking around, on the other side of the room, a swan-kin boy and a lizard-kin girl were sitting, looking relaxed and without any care. Makol knew both of them, especially the girl since she became infamous for screaming and cursing at orphanages to take her coins, swearing at them, and always making it a spectacle to watch her. There was even a rumor that she once slammed a bag of gold coins into a child, breaking their nose, while screaming hysterically. Sadly, since the rumored incident, she was not seen anymore.

However, at last, his thoughts were interrupted, with him only now noticing that he needed much more time than usual to analyze everything around him, making it very awkward.

He looked at Alexander before him, who put one leg over the other, opened his arms wide, and smiled amicably, sounding amused by Makol's apparent stupor.

"Are you done being baffled? If yes, pull down the hood, sit down, and relax..." Alexander gestured toward the maids, standing at the entrance to show them to their seats, "...we will have some very long days before us, but now I want everyone to calm down."

With Alexander's order, the maids approached them carefully and respectfully, pointing everyone individually toward their seats. Regardless of this young noble's relatively casual demeanor, Makol's instinct screamed to show the utmost respect he could. He couldn't lose such a chance.

Makol immediately pulled down his hood, showed his face, and bowed, "I greet Mr. Alexander with all my respect."

Makol's friends followed his example, pulling down their hoods and bowing down in their unique ways. Some were sloppy, and others could do it like they were commissioned for a painting for a picture book in etiquette. Regardless of how they did it, it was always slightly awkward, as they needed to figure out what to do precisely, where to look, and how long they needed to do this.

However, Alexander clapped his hands once when they were done with the greeting, surprising everyone and putting them slightly on edge, "Aight! Nobody cares about etiquette here! We are obviously meeting up in secret and not at a ball! We are here..." His smile widened, "...to fuck some shit up!"

He gestured more intensely, "Now sit down, take something to snack and drink, and let's talk because we have a lot to talk about."

Makol was still determining how to conduct himself, not liking the uncertainty, but the first to move toward the bar was his scavenger friend, Arlgo. Everyone looked at him awkwardly from their side, not knowing if it was the right way to act.

Usually, Makol and his people knew how to act, but this was too weird. They were always in the shadows, anonymized, and trying to pursue nobles or other influential individuals with deals while acting as submissive as possible. They even let themselves be abused to show their subordination as long as they succeeded. Only like this could they survive, adjust their personality toward who they needed to pursue, and act accordingly.

Here, though, they were suddenly elevated with a couple of words, making them appear on equal footing. They did not know what to do and how to act. It was weird, with nobody knowing what to do except the dumbest one. He immediately used their freedom to move around freely, which wasn't usually a thing they had or did in such a situation, always waiting for an order from the person they were dealing with.

However, Alexander stopped him, "Hey, big guy, stop!" Arlgo stopped and turned around, looking at Alexander. Makol was immediately surprised and wanted to apologize, but the young noble continued, "...sit down, tell the maids what you want, and they will bring it to you..." He gestured for him to sit down, "...no need to run around and get it yourself."

Arlgo became confused, tilting in place, not knowing what to do, and looking at Makol for help. However, a maid approached him, slightly nervously and chuckling, showing him to his seat, which he accepted without a second thought.

Before arriving here, Makol made it clear to Arlgo that he should follow orders without exception. If his life was at stake and he was about to be attacked, he should run away. Fighting back was only allowed if this was his last option. His group generally came prepared with teleportation scrolls and many potions to help them escape since there could always be some kind of trap.

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Other maids also showed them to their seats, with them following whatever was arranged, probably for security reasons. Since the lounge was not too big, they were always close to each other, so it didn't really matter.

As they sat down, the guards followed, other than the wolf-kin man, who was still staying behind Alexander, and, for some reason, the swan-kin boy switched places, sitting down beside Alexander. Makol was also close to him, sitting right opposite him.

He didn't know why, but when he observed the seating arrangement, it was as if Alexander tried to create tension. He found it somewhat weird, 'Maybe he is still too young?'

image [https://github.com/kiruschka/kiruschka.github.io/blob/main/Chapter_151_to_160/Chapter_152/Private_Lounge_Wintersleep_Hotel.jpg?raw=true]

While highly intelligent and well-spoken, Alexander was still young, and some intricacies of politics, even if he knew the law and other highly complex subjects, were still only learned through experience. Interactions and relationships were such a thing. However, Makol would try his best to mend the young nobles' mistakes, not wanting such a deal to fall through because of some lack of experience.

Makol prepared himself mentally, 'This will be stressful.'

His mental preparation was interrupted when the maids asked, as warmly as possible but also very casually if they wanted something to eat or drink.

"Something to eat and drink? We have a variety of food and drinks here. However, Mr. Alexander forbade serving any strong drinks. Please understand."

Again, nobody said anything, creating an awkward silence. It was the first time someone offered them something to eat and drink while negotiating, which confused even William. The whole arrangement was too formal for them, putting them in a situation they had never been in.

However, after a moment of visibly thinking hard about it, Arlgo was again the first to act confidently, sounding comfortably detached from any etiquette, "Beer and meat."

Arlgo's order made the situation not better, with the poor maid looking questioningly at Alexander, who started to laugh out loud, "Haha! I love this awkwardness..." He leaned back arrogantly and comfortably, "...I will be blunt. This here is a meeting of equals. You..." He gestured at them, "...and us..." gestured at their group, "...are not enemies, subordinates, or anything of the sort. We need you..." He gestured again at their group, "...and you need us..." He gestured at them again, "...so let's drop all the bullshit and be more open, aight'cha? See? Even I can use commoner language, right?"

An awkward silence followed, with his retainers looking to the side. Some were clearly embarrassed for their Master, others chuckled, and one rolled his eyes. The first speak-up was the eye-roller, the swan-kin boy, sounding reserved but still unable to suppress all the irritation in his voice, "Mr. Alexander, they just don't know how to order."

There was some awkward silence, followed by Alexander's chuckle and inappropriate head-scratching, "Well..." he looked at another maid, a spider-kin, much more mature than all the others, "...Melina, tell them what we roughly have and let them decide."

The maid named Melina sighed at Alexander, nodding. Turning around, she reluctantly but confidently approached Arlgo, who was somewhat intimidating. Yet, she waved the previous maid away and pointed her to Petra and Jorsh.

After she was gone, Melina looked at Arlgo and said, quite respectfully but still slightly irritated, "Red or white meat, with spicy or salty sauce, and how strong should the beer be?"

Arlgo didn't notice or didn't care about her irritation, smiling from ear to ear, "Fatty and I like it with onions. Also, strong beer."

Melina nodded stoically, "Got it. Something else you want? Like karja?"

Karja was a typical bar food that was only served in the poor parts of the northern district. It was the cheapest fish and only edible after being fried in a pound of fat and dipped into a highly spicy sauce, trying to cover any taste and smell it typically had. Usually, it was so disgusting if eaten without much preparation that some got various skills out of it after eating for a while and enduring it in such a way. However, it was also seen as healthy, making it very popular with the poor.

Arlgo nodded vigorously, "Yes, you know the bar called Jarmanas Jestures?"

Melina sighed, "Got it. You want it to be disgustingly fatty with a mix of spicy tomato sauce and as many purple herbs as possible, right?"

Arlgo nodded again, much more vigorously than before, "Yes!"

Melina smiled slightly at him, sounding warmer than before, "Got it, big guy."

Everyone else observed the exchange, copied them, and ordered drinks and food. Some maids left for the bar counter, trying to work out how to cook in their evidently improvised kitchen, while others immediately came back with all kinds of drinks.

After taking the first sips, with Markol's people still being a little too careful, Ocilia spoke up, sounding amused, leaning toward him, "Listen, Master is noble and has no idea how you feel. He expects you to treat him like a commoner, which is insane, and relax while doing so..." She chuckled, holding a hand before her mouth, "...so, do him a favor and try to act the part, okay?"

Alexander became confused, looking at her, "Am I this out of touch? No way, right?"

The lizard-kin girl, who sat beside the Ocilia, became giggly after drinking half the glass of wine, chuckling, "Mr. Alexander, you should be out of touch. Eating the same things like commoners, especially those bar fish or the shashliks from the dolphin-kin..." Ocilia suddenly glared at her, "Ari, wanna start it again? The shashliks are amazing!"

Petra followed Ari's example, downing a whole mug of beer in one go and joining the conversation, "You mean the one in the northern district? The one who has a stand beside the pharmacy with the butterfly?"

Ocilia looked at her skeptically, "I think he is a moth, but yeah? Are you also a hater of cultural food?"

Petra raised an eyebrow, "Hater? I love the food! Especially the ones with the herb mix!"

Ocilia suddenly became much more friendly and approachable, "Oh yeah! Do you also know the one further west? The bird guy with the giant scar over the face?"

"Oh yeah! The one who sells fried vegetables?"

A weird conversation emerged about food stalls, but looking at Ari, she wasn't too happy. However, she sometimes glanced at Alexander, sighing and giving in to her fate.

Fortunately, Jorsh also saw this, leaning toward her, "Listen, please tell me you don't like that trash? The last time I ate there, I got my [Poison Resistance] leveled up."

Ari opened her eyes wide, smiling at him as if finding a new comrade in arms, "By the core. Fortunately, I am not the only one who finds the stuff disgusting!"

Jorsh chuckled at her, "Oh yeah, I really don't like the one behind the disgusting woodworking shop. Do you know who I mean? It's in the south, two minutes away from the marketplace?"

Ari nodded vigorously, "You mean the weird girl with these colorful scales who sells those disgusting fried shells? Oh yeah!"

Makol, looking at the scene, became utterly confused, 'How?'

For some reason, they went into an amiable discussion about which food was disgusting or delicious. It was weird, but it worked, which he didn't expect to happen.

However, his happiness only lasted momentarily until the fire-djinn girls started to chat with William, forcing a smile. Their apprehension toward him was too apparent to hide it like that. They even scooched as far away from him as possible.

The one with a golden feather pin on her chest was who asked him first. Her tone was clearly altered with all her skills, trying to come over as warm as possible, but her disdain for William couldn't be covered up by those, "You are a wind-djinn?"

However, William was fortunately as skilled as ever, his tone perfectly approachable and slightly dumbed down, trying to act as if he was trying to follow proper etiquette but failing, "Oh right, you are fire-djinns, right? However, I am a mix and do not know about our history. If you want to ask me about it, I am sorry. I only know that I want those water-djinns bastards dead."

The other fire-djinn girl with the copper-colored cloth around her wrist excitedly chimed in, "Oh, why so?"

William chuckled, holding his hand before his mouth, "Because they destroyed my people and made them suffer and as such..." His demeanor changed, hate oozing into each of his words, "...I want them all dead, especially since we trusted them."

The one with the feather brooch nodded, sounding more interested, "Hm, you were under them and pretty weak if I remember correctly."

William nodded, smiling charmingly at them, "Of course! Some are there to lead, the superior ones, and others must follow. We followed, but who knew that those trash would treat their loyal followers like this? It was a big mistake."

Fire-djinn girls immediately smiled at him, and a discourse started about how terrible the water-djinns were. They bonded over a common enemy, making Makol proud that William did well.

Now was only their place left, with Arlgo already finishing his beer and having a rather casual talk with the wolf-kin man and rabbit-kin boy.

The rabbit-kin boy pulled out an etui, opened it, and pulled out a cigarette, "Wanna ziese?"

Arlgo looked more closely at that, "Is that a cigarette?"

The rabbit-kin boy nodded, "Yeah, it's cha' brand name, and they are pretty good."

Arlgo nodded, taking one, "Thanks."

After igniting his cigarette, the rabbit-kin boy also ignited Arlgo's with a costly magical tool, "No problem."

It was suddenly chummy, almost friendly, with them learning each other's names and interests and trying to get to know each other in general. Makol couldn't understand how such a joyful atmosphere could be created, but it did.

Looking at Alexander, who smiled while talking with the grumpy swan-kin and sometimes asking him something trivial, he became more suspicious, 'It can't be right?'

Alexander looked at him, seeing him staring, and interrupted his thoughts, "I'm sorry that we don't immediately go into the negotiations and planning while your people suffer, but I think there needs to be a little cultural exchange so our dealings proceed more smoothly in the long term."

Makol nodded, agreeing, "I understand and am thankful Mr. Alexander is thinking like that."

The young noble became visibly confused, tilting his head, "What do you mean? If we want to build some kind of long-term agreement, it would be stupid not to get at least to know each other, right?..." He waved his hand in dismissal, "...No need to thank me."

Makol sighed, smiling sadly, and felt the urge to be a little more honest, "It's not every day that a noble tries to help us."

Alexander blew a raspberry, dismissing the compliment, "Please don't misunderstand. While I love helping people and would immediately let you inside our territory if possible, there must be an equal exchange for our current dealings."

Makol squinted at him slightly, "Equal exchange?"

Alexander leaned back, passionately gesturing while trying to explain, "You see, to help others, I need all kinds of resources—people, materials, coins, and so on..." He smiled mischievously at Makol, "...I see that you are using quite a lot of skills, with your face becoming quite red, trying to figure out what I want and what is happening here, but it's quite straightforward, honestly."

The young noble leaned forward, pointing at his teacup, "You see, while I can give you resources, it will cost me, depleting my reserves..." He tapped at the teapot on the side, "...which are not limitless. I need something to fill them up so I don't dry up and can still finance my charity..." He leaned back again, casually throwing one leg over the other, "...therefore, I need you to do your part, helping me so I can..." He pointed at him, "...help you."

Alexander smiled boldly, showing his fangs. He emitted an aura that made everyone feel small around him. He was arrogant and determined. It was odd as if he stared not at a child from a Knightage but at a prince.

"I will give you what you need and more. For this, I just need you to..." He clenched his hand into a fist, holding it in front of him, "...get territory for you, me, and my allies so that we can prosper together and do many crazy things there!..." His voice became louder, "...Let me see you prosper, and while you do so, become my little factory!"

Makol became confused, not entirely understanding what Alexander said, "Factory?"

Alexander suddenly didn't do anything, sitting still momentarily, only to chuckle, scratching his neck sheepishly, "Ah, sorry. I will explain later but don't worry. It's nothing bad."

The swan-kin boy interjected, "You really like to go overboard, Master..." He turned to Makol, "...did you listen to one of his speeches where he almost screamed, making everyone excited, so the whole marketplace screamed with him? It was such a commotion."

Makol nodded, chuckling and accepting the topic change, "Yeah, it was quite something..."

...

An hour later

After an hour of lively chit-chat, Alexander suddenly stood up after looking at his pocket watch and walked to the blackboard, "All right! Did everyone eat? Are you sober enough to follow some basic conversations? Perfect. Let's start our meeting, and what I am about to tell you will change..."

Clank

However, the door suddenly opened when Alexander was halfway to the blackboard, interrupting his passionate speech and causing the whole room to fall into an eerily silence.

Makol and his group did not understand what was happening. Everyone, including the young noble, became nervous, changing the previously cheery atmosphere into a bizarre one.

Everything became weirder as the door almost fully opened, with everyone wanting to do something. It looked like they were about to use some skills. However, they suddenly stopped as if realizing something and immediately stood up. It was visibly hard for them as some were a little drunk.

'What is happening?'

It was absolutely bizarre. Makol didn't feel any maliciousness or killing intent of sorts coming from the door, but the exact opposite. When the door fully opened, a voice full of charisma enlightened the whole place, making everyone much livelier. A wolf-kin boy with blonde hair and incredible beauty came inside.

"Aro told me you were here and... what the...?!"

When the young boy stood at the door, looking at everyone in the room, Makol became even more confused, not knowing what was happening. Everybody stopped their rather sluggish charge toward the door, and since nobody attacked, it was clear that the boy was no enemy.

William suddenly stood up, bowing down, making sense of the whole situation, "I am honored to meet the estimated Mr. Narsiz. My name is William!"

'Oh! I get it!'

Makol and others followed with their greetings, also much more sluggish than before since they all drank and smoked quite a lot. However, Narsiz looked at them momentarily in confusion, suddenly changing into a smile, beaming with charisma, "I am happy to see that my brother made contact with what I assume is the refugee camp in Kratikal."

Before anyone could say anything, Alexander immediately approached him, smiling nervously, far from the same eloquent aura his brother had. It was like day and night, and one could not even tell they were brothers, but only through their golden eyes, which showed a certain indifference.

"Whoa there..." Alexander opened his arms wide, his voice sometimes cracking, "...how are you, buddy? Need something? Gold? Women? Men? Maybe both?! What..."

Narsiz interrupted him, "We need to talk..." His demeanor became momentarily severe, commanding, "...now."

Alexander clicked his tongue, pointing to the side room, "Follow me..." He glared at some empty space as he walked away, almost as if wanting to strangle it.

Clank

Makol looked around, confused, "What's happening?"

Everyone looked like they were about to die. However, Aurum was the only one who was somewhat composed, leaning back, inhaling a whole cigarette in one go, and making the ash fall on his expensive suit. After exhaling a giant cloud of smoke, he snapped the butt into the ashtray, with Makol changing his previous assumption that he wasn't calm at all.

Even though clearly distressed, Aurum started explaining, seeing that Makol's group needed an explanation. He sounded like he chewed on dirt because of the cigarette, "It's like this. What we do is not really... how do you say..." He tapped his cheek, only to ask questioningly, "...legal?"

What should have been Alexander's fancy presentation became a stoic and boring one by Aurum. However, what he said wasn't bland at all. He told them how they wanted to conduct the whole thing in supporting the camp while they would take over the islands. It was what Makol had already guessed, liking it since it also made the most sense.

In the end, Aurum also stated something rather uncomfortable, "...now though, this was all Master's crazy idea and was also planned by him and us, his retainers. None of his siblings knew what we wanted to do."

There was some uncomfortable silence, with Makol having too many chaotic thoughts. He didn't want to lose this chance. No, he couldn't. It was perfect, with them even being able to make this operation happen as long as they provided the minimum resources.

However, he quickly discarded his own emotions and regards, seeing how his friends were doing. While Petra and Jorsh started praying and Arlgo did not understand the situation, William suddenly became more tense. Because of his bizarre Mother-Son relationship, he would do everything to save his Mother. Makol knew that it also included attacking a noble.

Clank

Fortunately, before it could escalate, the door suddenly opened. Alexander walked out happily with a grumpy Narsiz behind, proudly announcing and pointing at his older brother, doing some foolish pose like a jester, "Say hello to the new administrator of Dog-Pudding-Island!"