“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself–I am Lady Sahhi Dest Salamandia, but you can just call Sahhi since you are a friend of Leou. I heard that you aren’t quite from here, so I must tell you that while I share the Salamandia na, which is the na of the noble family who acts as the sword of the royals of Heldinot, I no longer have any contact with them…”
“Let’s just say, I was born too small and frail for their liking, and they tried to kill . At least, my parents, or maybe just one of them, felt bad enough about it that they didn’t want to see it happen. So they just left alone in the forest to be killed by so wild beasts”
“Sorry for the story ti, but I can get quite cranky if questioned about my last na, and I wouldn’t want a friend of Leou to make the mistake due to not knowing… Anyway, I am still alive and well, and I think my story should have given you insight into what I am seeking by being a part of this organisation”
Sahhi adjusted the tricorn hat on her head as she finished talking… Her whole attire was very noble-like, but more akin to what I would imagine a young noble boy to wear, rather than a grown woman like her. I suppose that she didn’t care much and wore whatever actually fitted.
In any case, she didn’t explain it, but she was flanked by two robed figures who were actually taller than , standing at what seed to be about two ters in height. Their sleeves covered up their hands, and hoods cast darkness over their face, leaving little that could be made out about them–That is, except for their dark-orange eyes, which were glowing right through the dark.
Sohow, I felt like they weren’t beastfolk. Their master looked mostly human, but her eyes were clearly reptilian, she had fangs, and had pale white scales visible on top of not having any human ears, or any visible ears at all for that matter.
I guess she either has just a hole like so reptiles, or no external ears at all.
In any case, her two bodyguards felt like they weren’t quite… There. As in, they weren’t thinking, just standing there and waiting for a certain stimulus to actually start moving. Their eyes were moving around a little bit, at least…
Since Sahhi sat back down on her elevated chair, I glanced around the room. Since this was an organisation seemingly based in Heldinot, it made sense that most of the people present were beastfolks, but there were also a handful of humans and demons who arrived a little bit after Leou and –The poor fools seed like their warp had been much longer. They were as pale as sheets. There was even a monsterfolk in the form of a golden-furred minotaur who sohow looked like he was the most nervous person in the room.
…Despite being even taller and bigger than Rarelian. Seriously, this guy needed to lean forward and sidestep to get through the huge double door, and sit into a chair that was definitely made of a material several tis tougher than my steel.
“Aherm, seems like everyone is here… Today’s topic–The Aestherian Republic!”
The one to speak up and announce everything was the one who I assud sort of had the status of leader here, and he was the most out of place of them all, because he was a skeleton undead, yet spoke with a voice I would most closely associate with that of a sowhat young man.
“The Aestherian Republic again? You’ve been on them for what…? Five months now?”
“It is just so easy to ss with them and infiltrate their institutions. You can’t bla . Do you have any idea how much money we got from committing blatant fraud? It’s barely even noticed with their bloated bureaucracy! They’re basically funding us at this point. Our other sources of revenue have been dwarfed”
The skeleton was dusty to the point of being unreal. He made big arm motions when talking, and he seed to just… Emit dust like it just spontaneously ford from his bones. This was probably why there was space in between his seats and those closest to him. Not because he was the leader, but because he would make people sneeze and cough throughout the entire eting otherwise.
I didn’t know it was actually the case, but it seed like the most logical explanation.
“Mmh… But Ergonip, won’t they eventually notice that we’ve been siphoning their money and track everything back to us? The Aestherian Republic might be ruled poorly, but they’ve got a massive power nonetheless”
“What’s the point of having power? They haven’t used it in ages. The standard for their soldiers has been steadily dropping, and what good are soldiers who have never experienced war? They literally have no one alive who has participated in a war, they’ve seen one from afar at most”
The skeleton couldn’t show expressions, but I could swear that it looked like his skull was smiling as he responded to the minotaur.
“Honestly, you could probably wipe out three-quarters of their manpower alone, Godgrod. The only good things they have are their enchanted weaponry, and even then, I wouldn’t be surprised if those aren’t seeing proper maintenance…”
“Enough babbling! What is it that you actually want to talk about?”
Sahhi hit the table with her small palm, but actually made the whole thing shake to the point that I felt the vibrations go through the floor and climb up my tal fra–Didn’t she say that she was thrown away because she was too frail and weak? A casual slam from her seed like it could turn the average man into red mist…
“Could you please stop hitting the table whenever you speak, Sahhi? I swear you’re going to break it one day–But anyway, what I wanted to talk about is very simple… So, you know how Aesther has this awful system where the people vote for their leader?”
“Of course”
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“Stupidest shit I’ve ever heard of”
“How could I forget? Letting a bunch of idiots decide for themselves is basically the sa as giving an explosive to a newborn”
“Ah, yes, you an the thing that’s been provably rigged at least seven tis?”
“Saying that they decide for themselves is a bit misleading… They vote for whoever was pitched to them the best”
“Listen, I have been keeping it under wraps, but the lead candidate is actually one of my bodies–Well, I replaced his skeleton with one of mine, but that’s besides the point… If I can get elected, I can absolutely drain the entire country for all its worth, and turn into a ss with a civil war”
“Oh… I see the point of draining its wealth, but why a civil war?”
The minotaur sohow seed to be the least aggressive of the bunch, despite the fact that I was pretty sure that the scars on his chest were self-inflicted to show the number of certain people he’s killed–Perhaps adversaries he deed worthy?
“I an, I am a necromancer. If a country could get flooded with an unusual amount of death force, it would be to my benefit, so…”
“Oh, good point”
“Excuse , but are there any other plans to use those two events you are planning for other reasons?”
Leou spoke up for the first ti, and Ergonip rubbed his chin, sohow producing dust out of nowhere as he did so.
“I must admit, I mostly focused on the money and the great mass of death. Any ideas, Leou?”
“Well, if the civil war could be sowhat controlled as to when it triggers and everything grows chaotic inside of Aesther… Couldn’t we lure people we want gone there, stranding them in a lawless land where we could more easily assassinate them, as they are left stuck and surrounded by disorder?”
“The Aestherian Republic does have several key figures and powerful individuals who could try to wrench power for themselves, so it wouldn’t be out of the question to bla the deaths of certain people on them, as everything is going down. Additionally, if we could ensure that said people can, in fact, carve out portions of the land for themselves, we could paint them as aggressive wildcards toward other countries, and destabilise the current continental order”
“This would allow us to act more freely and potentially get rid of so of the attention we might have garnered over ti… As you all know, my bodyguard, Maya, is not only a competent assassin but also bears an interest in the Nightmare Plague. If we could line up the split of the Aestherian Republic alongside a new breakout of the Nightmare Plague, we could sow enough chaos to get away with far more than ever before, no?”
Ergonip pushed his lower jaw back up.
“You’re a real genius, and you’re gorgeous, Leou. How is this possible?”
“I don’t an to be insulting, Ergonip, but I think it is mostly that you never plan anything very far ahead on your own…”
“Aah, I know, I know. I am a bit short-sighted… But you just spewed out an entire plan about a continental shift of power and whatever in what? Ten seconds? Have you ever considered checking if your brain wasn’t super-developed or sothing? Is that fur of yours enchanted with intelligence and wisdom boosts?”
“I love what you just told , Leou. Does anyone think Leou’s idea is a bad one?”
“Sounds pretty freaking good to ”
“We need to plan the specifics, but the overall structure is definitely good stuff”
“How could we use this to help in your main objective, though? We are still severely lacking in the resource departnt on that front”
Ergonip tapped his fingers against the table, turning to soone who hadn’t spoken a single word so far. I had honestly no clear idea what exactly this person was supposed to be. I think she is so sort of weird fairy or pixie, but I have never heard of any kind that had an overall humanoid body, but a damned rose instead of a head.
She was just sitting on a little chair placed directly on top of the table, reading from a little book with eyes that I could not spot anywhere.
“Millikilli?”
“Yes?”
Her voice was perfectly normal as well, if only a slight bit echoey for no discernible reason.
“What are we missing?”
“We are missing two high-grade dungeon cores, a drop of ichor, fifty grams of blood-cursed wood, the golden head of a hydra, the heart of a devil-eating troll, the lost liver of the Hero-Eating Ogre, the crown of the Last Molten King, a drop of blood from a devil prince, the left hand of a wish-twisting monkey, and one eye of a star gazer… Oh, a one-thousand-year-old virgin woman”
“Hold on, I thought we had that last one secured?”
“She found love”
“Damnit, I knew we should have locked her up in a cell”
“There are plenty of elven won who never saw a man in their existence. We’ll be fine on that front. I would be more focused on the rest. We’ve been looking for years and never even got a single lead on where to find any of those”
“We used to say the sa thing about what we did find”
“Huh… I definitely know where we could get a drop of ichor, but…”
“Everyone has already made the joke! Do you know where to find a portal that would lead to the Divine Realm? I doubt it! Making a god bleed is easier than finding their freaking front door, I swear”
I leaned forward to whisper sothing to Leou.
“Excuse , but when it cos to a drop of ichor, does it need to be from a powerful deity, or any would do the job?”
The flower-headed fairy seed to think for a second before responding.
“Any works”
“Then… Why don’t we build up a cult and take a drop of blood from whatever we designate as the idol, the second it starts to develop divine qualities?”
“You’re a genius, Leou”
“The credit goes to Maya”
“You’re a genius, Maya”
…I frankly find this secret organisation to be made up of people who are far less serious than I imagined… The skeleton leader is a bit… Goofy. Where did they find an undead like this? Aren’t they supposed to be serious and chant death to everything alive, down to every singular blade of grass?
Well, I suppose it makes them seem less dangerous and more approachable.
“Alright, let’s move on to another topic–Who shall be the next assassination target?”
Maybe they are a little bit dangerous. I almost forgot they actively kill people with how unserious Ergonip was about it just before…
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