Rasmus looked at the branch quarters of the South Neva Union in front of him. It looked like a palace, comparable to the parliant palace of Lineva. Aris tagged along since she had a different reason to co.
"Count Blackheart, Lady Aristoria, please follow ," Uriel's knight greeted them and pointed his hand at the palace.
They were escorted into the palace and went straight to the eting hall where Thalior was waiting for them. The mont they walked into the eting hall, a few unfamiliar faces were sitting at the table.
"Count Blackheart, Lady Aristoria, please have a seat," Thalior pointed at the two empty seats. "And I'll introduce you to the ladies and gentlen," he looked at the six figures at the table.
Rasmus and Aris sat at the table and looked at the familiar faces first, Uriel and Bishop Harold. The other four, whom he had never seen before, were two old n, an old lady, and a middle-aged man who seed to have keen eyes.
"Everyone here is the people that I can trust with my secrets and have seen the most vulnerable mont in my life," Thalior said as he looked at Rasmus with a serious expression. "The one on my left is Archbishop Valentino, the representative of the Holy Nation. Next to him is Marquess Eradyne Earnwind, the head family of the Earnwind family. Beside him is Altair Segeric, the Chancellor of the South Neva Union," he introduced.
Rasmus looked at Eradyne and didn't expect to et Carrion and Garret's father. He bowed his head to the three of them to show so respect and mannerisms. However, he noticed the weakened state of Eradyne, reminding him of himself back on Earth, old, weak, and fragile.
"On my right, you must have known them since you have t with them a few tis. Commander-in-chief of South Neva Union, Uriel Goldmane. Beside her is Bishop Harold, another representative of the Holy Nation. Beside him is Duchess Zaskia Urfenheim, the head of the Urfenheim family," Thalior introduced as he looked at Zaskia.
Rasmus bowed his head at those figures before he stood up and introduced himself to those figures. He also introduced Aris and told them that she didn't have any reason to speak with them nor respect them in any way because of her history and status. Nobody complained and understood the circumstances.
Before Rasmus could sit, soone barged into the eting room. Everyone looked at the woman with eccentric attire and a black top hat with feathers decorated on top that barely fit her head because of her long wavy red hair. She had bright blue eyes and bright skin that made her look like a sore thumb in the crowd, worse than Rasmus.
When Rasmus and the woman's eyes t, they looked at each other with curious looks on their faces. Both felt sothing special about each other, but she imdiately looked away and sat at the table.
"And that lady over there is Agnesia Valier, one of the two strongest sorcerers in Neva," Thalior pointed at the lady with red and wavy hair.
"Rasmus Blackheart," Rasmus bowed his head to Agnesia.
Agnesia stared at Rasmus with her narrowed eyes and slowly moved to his surroundings as if she saw sothing that the others couldn't. She then looked at the other figures at the table.
"Now that everyone is here, let's read the report that Commander Goldmane has brought to us," Thalior slid the copies of the report so everyone could read it.
They saw reports of bandits and demonic possession that took over a few bandits and criminals' bodies. Uriel's accomplishnt in eliminating the threat includes finding the other hideouts where the remaining demon worshipers and bandits operate secretly.
Rasmus looked at Thalior and Altair back and forth, wondering how Altair who was the Chancellor of the South Neva Union let Thalior use Uriel even though she was supposed to be his right-hand woman. He wondered if Thalior's role was beyond what everyone knew.
"What a ss," Altair muttered as he put down the report. "But I'm sure what's written in there is nothing compared to what's happening behind our backs. We are just looking at the tip of it," he said and looked at the report.
"And as we speak, they might have made a few moves while we are here," Zaskia said as she put down the report. "However, that doesn't an we have made no progress. The fact that Commander Goldmane managed to find the hideouts, we are also one step ahead of the ga," she pointed out.
"But what's the point of all this exactly?" Eradyne asked as he put down the report.
Everyone looked at him with a confused look.
"These criminals aren't our priority right now because we can get rid of them without having to find a reason. Our concern is about dealing with the demon worshipers that are trying to gain support from the influential people," Eradyne explained as he looked at everyone at the table. "The more ti we wasted on those criminals, the more ti those demon worshipers gained influence from those influential people."
"We need to set our priorities straight, and this is the most crucial one, not eliminating so bandits and those who are possessed by demons," he added with a frustrated expression.
The eting had just started, but a tension was already building up between them. Rasmus stayed quiet to understand with whom he was dealing with. He wanted to observe first before he decided to join in and stirred the whole eting in his favor.
"We have talked about this, Lord Eradyne. It's not easy to find out without proper information. This is the only option we have to dig deeper into this whole situation," Uriel said with a serious expression and stared at Eradyne.
"And do you find anything other than getting rid of criminals? The fact that you couldn't even get rid the demon that possessed Calseus is enough to answer my question. What you're doing is a waste of ti and effort," Eradyne responded and stared into Uriel's eyes.
"You always have sothing to say to ruin the effort of others, don't you, Lord Eradyne?" Zaskia stared at Eradyne as she shook her head.
"I'm starting to see this whole eting is waste of ti knowing that we can't even find a common ground from this alone," Altair chuckled as he crossed his legs and leaned back.
"(Eradyne might be an extremist and listening how he wants everyone to listen to him might be enough evidence)" Rasmus stared at Eradyne with a sharp gaze. "(That old man is unsatisfied, and seems to be frustrated by everything)"
"(Altair might be the type to see the worse in people, a cynical one perhaps?)" he glanced at Altair. "(Zaskia looks like soone who would see the good in everything, optimistic)" he averted his gaze and looked at Zaskia.
"(But seeing how all of them banter and none of them take everything to heart is a sign that they're close with each other. The mont I offend one of them, the rest will see
as a threat)" he thought and stared at everyone. "(What a tough crowd. The mont I try to manipulate this eting, they all will find out what I'm planning to do)"
"What do you think, Count Blackheart?" Thalior looked at Rasmus with a serious expression.
Rasmus realized the mont they all looked at him, putting on the sa expression. They were testing him, a man who didn't treat Thalior as an ally or an enemy. They wanted to see what kind of sche that he was trying to pull from this.
"I believe that one is as important as the other. As far as we know that the emissary or Kiel doesn't have the manpower to handle threats. As soone as experienced as all of you here, we can agree that manpower is a perfect foundation before making a move. Without manpower, he can't make a move, without influence, he will be powerless," Rasmus answered as he crossed his arms on the table and looked at everyone at the table.
"It's like trying to juggle balls. You can't juggle without throwing and catching the balls at the sa ti," he pointed out. "With that being said, the mont we took the balls, he couldn't juggle anymore," he smiled at them.
"Let Lady Goldmane and the knights deal with criminals while all of you deal with figures that might threaten the peace. If you can't do that, there will be no solutions to this situation and that makes Kiel juggle with power as he pleases," he continued.
Everyone shared a look for a mont before Altair crossed his arms and stared at Rasmus.
"And what about you? Don't tell
you're just going to do nothing and watch everything from the side even though you said that your goal is aligning with ours," Altair asked with his brows raised.
"Is my solution don't count? I believe I just gave a good solution for everyone," Rasmus answered and stared back at Altair. "Of course, I don't mind to deal with the mass and how to stir them to favor all of you in this situation rather making you look like the bad people."
"I promise Lady Goldmane that I'll play nice, to be as righteous as possible and uphold morality," he smiled at them.
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