Fire Throne, Third Level.
Inside a magical room, Crimson Majordomo Gargamel solemnly listened to the reports of his subordinates. The cute and pretty teenage Adept Emelia sat by his side, toying with a delicate nature pendant in her boredom.
The five subordinates were all dressed like mercenaries or adventurers. It was clear that they were outside forces that had served the Crimson Clan. A sinister person wrapped in black robes was also standing in a corner of the room where the light couldn"t reach them. The person remained as silent as a piece of wood.
"…he is the eldest son of the Andorra family and is first in succession…"
"...the a.s.sociation elders summoned him before he left, but we have no idea as to the matter of their discussion…"
"…two clan adepts came along with him. Both of them are only First Grade…"
"…it"s said that he has a lord"s proof of identification with him given by the a.s.sociation…"
"…he is hurrying to Fire Throne now. It"s likely that he will be staying over in Goathorn Village tonight…"
The subordinates voiced, one by one, all of the information concerning the new lord a.s.signed by the a.s.sociation to serve in this area.
As the human settlements started to form, the honeymoon between Fire Throne and the Zhentarim a.s.sociation officially ended. For a very long period henceforth, the Zhentarim a.s.sociation would choose to pressure Fire Throne and force them to join the a.s.sociation as one of its obedient members.
Obviously, this utterly went against the foundations of development decided by Greem!
Of course, public incidents to provoke the Crimson Clan were unlikely to happen. However, if the new lord remained hostile toward Fire Throne upon taking his a.s.signment, then the supply and trade of the Crimson Clan would be significantly affected.
It was probably one of the strategies of the Zhentarim a.s.sociation.
If the a.s.sociation didn"t a.s.sign a suitable ruler in time, then the Crimson Clan would be able to use the advantage of their tower to expand their influence to every individual within the Ailovis area.
From then on, any human or magical creature that wanted to settle in this place would be at the behest of the Crimson Clan. They would not be able to establish a position for themselves here without the agreement of the Crimson Clan.
However, once the ruler appointed by the a.s.sociation arrived in Ailovis, the Crimson Clan would have no choice but to limit their influence to an area of five kilometers around the tower, as per the magical agreement they had signed. That would undoubtedly cause the clan to lose all the resources of the forest in the two hundred kilometer stretch north of the tower.
Through the constant "purification" by the adept"s tower, this part of the Black Forest was no longer a place that terrorized humans. It was a tamed land that was most suited for excavation and development. Letting such a ripe piece of bounty slip past their fingers would be an immense loss to the Crimson Clan.
Moreover, Fire Throne was located deep inside the Black Forest. If the ruler arrived, the territory next to the clan would not belong to them, but to a human n.o.ble that had deeply hostile intentions against them.
That…would undoubtedly put the clan in a difficult situation!
Guarding the Crimson Clan"s only pa.s.sage to the outside world with a human n.o.ble; that was how the a.s.sociation intended to slowly torture and wear down this newly founded adept clan. If the Crimson Clan couldn"t resist the urge to retaliate, then the Zhentarim a.s.sociation,–who were hiding behind the scenes–would step forth and stir trouble by acting as mediators in the conflict.
Of course, regardless of how the a.s.sociation settled the conflict, the conclusion would not be beneficial to the Crimson Clan.
At any rate, there were plenty of human n.o.bles. The Crimson Clan could kill as many as they wanted to. Once they were done killing, the Crimson Clan would have to pay an unimaginably steep price for their actions!
That was why this new lord bore a tragic fate upon his shoulders as an obstacle that the a.s.sociation had sent to hara.s.s the Crimson Clan. He was fated to win benefits for the Zhentarim a.s.sociation that they couldn"t otherwise obtain through ordinary means, but only at the cost of his own life.
As such, the Crimson Clan that had obtained information ahead of time was immediately filled with hostility and loathing for the arrival of this new lord.
However, this poor fellow was only bait that the a.s.sociation had merely cast out. Killing him would give the Zhentarim a.s.sociation the perfect entry point to meddle in the affairs of Ailovis. It would be detrimental for the long-term development of the Crimson Clan to allow the a.s.sociation to extend their hands into this area.
That was why Gargamel, as the majordomo of the Crimson Clan, had to treat this issue very seriously, even if he was only an ordinary n.o.ble.
"Father, if you don"t like that human lord, I can just kill him for you. Why do you need to get upset over this?" Emelia, who was sitting by his side, asked confusedly. The girl looked to be only fifteen or sixteen, but there was no weight or nervousness to her voice when she talked about murder, almost as if it was something as casual as afternoon tea.
"We can"t just kill him!" Gargamel sighed helplessly, "He might not be at all important, but the Andorra family he belongs to is a subordinate force to one of the five great adept clans of Zhentarim– the Braibant Clan. If the Braibant decide to pursue the cause of his death, they will have an excuse to extend their influence into the territory of our Crimson Clan."
"Then let"s just make some trouble for him and make it impossible for him to establish himself here," Emelia said in disdain, "Those human n.o.bles are all lazy and indulgent people. The environment here is terrible. Let"s see how long he can last here."
Gargamel was in full agreement with her daughter"s suggestion.
The adepts knew very well what the human n.o.bles were like. It was mere fantasy to expect them to work and raise a town out of nothing alongside the poor villagers.
After thousands of years of reinforcing these cla.s.ses, the rule of the adepts was not something that civilians with no supernatural powers could rebel against. As the dogs and servants of the adepts, these human n.o.bles became superior beings, enjoying extravagant lives that the ordinary person couldn"t possibly imagine.
This Baron Willems, as the first in line for succession in his family, had been sent to a place like this. One couldn"t help but suspect that he had been tossed out like a p.a.w.n to be a sacrificial piece in the internal conflict of his family.
The presence of the two clan adepts beside him further confirmed this suspicion of Gargamel"s.
With the protection of the adepts, Willems could not die from accidents or at the hands of magical beasts. The only one in the entirety of Ailovis who had the power to kill him while he was under the protection of two adepts was the Crimson Clan.
They couldn"t kill him, but they couldn"t allow him to do as he wanted either, as that would restrict the actual influence of the Crimson Clan. Gargamel frowned before a sinister smile appeared on his face.
"Take these. Remember, you have to find a way to mix these into the new ruler"s food. One pill a day for an entire month," Gargamel took out a vial and tossed it to one of his subordinates who was dressed like a rogue. When he saw his subordinates hesitant expression, Gargamel quickly consoled them, "Don"t worry, that isn"t poison. Even the two adepts can"t find anything once it"s mixed in the food."
Gargamel didn"t explain anything more to his subordinates.
Emelia sniffed with her nose and quickly a.n.a.lyzed the function of this drug based on the smell left in the air.
Heartlost Drug!
It was a type of medicine refined from Psychedelic Gra.s.s. It wouldn"t harm the human body if ingested once or twice. In fact, it would even provide the user with a sense of relaxation. However, excessive consumption would cause dependence and addiction.
Of course, such "minor" side-effects were nothing to adepts. However, they were terrifying for humans, who had weaker control over their Spirits!
If it weren"t for this matter today, Gargamel would never have made a medicine like this for a mortal, especially with his ident.i.ty as a potions master. Only a drug like this could pa.s.s the Poison Sense of the adepts and successfully be sent into the mouth of that Baron Willems.
After quickly and efficiently dealing with the matter of the new lord, the subordinates started reporting on the latest situation of the Black Forest north of Fire Throne.
According to the feedback of traveling mercenaries and adventurers, a group of evileyes had appeared near Mist Mountain. They numbered over two hundred and had taken up an underground cave, frequently emerging to hara.s.s enemies.
Some crystal mines of decent quality had also been found in Crystal Valley. However, a group of harpies had gathered there. There weren"t too many of them–only about a hundred–but they were still more than enough to deal with common adventurer groups.
The wyverns and the wyvern king that had initially been settled near Fire Throne had no choice but to move deeper into the Black Forest after realizing how helpless they were before the adepts. After a few years of searching and exploration, adventurers had found the new den of the wyverns.
……
As the majordomo of the Crimson Clan, all these things, as menial and insignificant as they were, had to be dealt with by Gargamel. There was no helping it. Almost the entirety of the Crimson Clan was composed of combat adepts. All the clan adepts were either hiding in their rooms and their labs or they were running around searching for the knowledge and resources they needed.
In all seriousness, there weren"t very many adepts in this world who could so diligently dedicate themselves to worldly tasks as Gargamel could.
It was because they understood the importance and irreplaceable nature of Gargamel"s position that even clan adepts of higher grade were respectful toward him.
Greem also knew very well the significance of Gargamel"s existence. That was why he had specifically sent a squad of thirty magical machines to protect him. Gargamel was surrounded by magical machines whenever he went out to manage problems. It was an astounding and impressive sight.
Gargamel knew his worth as well, and thus, became even more diligent and hardworking in his business for the clan!