Lara who had left the Regalcrags knew that with her ability, she wouldn"t be able to convince the other fallen n.o.ble families. Lara didn"t want to do it, but in the end she decided to ask Kithra for a.s.sistance.Lara explained a part of Ren"s plan to the former leader of the Northern District Kithra. Hearing what Ren was planning to do excited the beautiful lady. She already knew that Ren was someone with a big ambition, but she didn"t realize how big that ambition was. She could make some guesses as to why Ren would want the fallen n.o.bles on his side. There was a huge possibility that Ren wanted to start a coup. Still even if Ren didn"t start a coup no matter what he planned involving the fallen n.o.bles, it was obvious that it was something big.
Kithra was excited to see what Ren had in store for the future. She was now truly grateful that Ren had given her the chance to join him. Now alongside Lara the two girls headed to the next family that they would negotiate with.
...
Most of the fallen n.o.ble families quickly agree to join under Ren"s flag, because of money. As long as they were paid they didn"t care who their leader was. After a few years of being fallen n.o.bility they already understood the harshness of the world without money. So the moment Ren"s side offered a suitable amount of money they were willing to let go of their pride and follow a commoner.
Other fallen n.o.ble families, agreed to join because of Kithra"s beauty. The family heads of these fallen n.o.ble families have fallen in love with Kithra"s beauty. Some of them were even more direct, and asked that Kithra would sleep with them once, in exchange for their services. Of course Kithra who wasn"t really an innocent little lady, agreed to such demands.
Lara on the other hand, felt glad that she decided to bring Kithra along. Since it would be impossible for her to offer her body to anyone else but Ren. She was certain the moment anyone else forces themselves on her, they would either die or she would die.
The convincing of the other fallen n.o.bles went rather better than expected. With the budget Kithra got from Lara"s solo adventuring, as well as her own budget, it was easy to convince the fallen n.o.ble families to join their cause.
Yet some have actually rejected them, and as instructed by Ren, Lara showed no mercy and annihilated their family right down to their roots. She didn"t really like the feeling of killing other people especially these people that weren"t all that bad. Even worse, since the children were expected to take revenge on Ren if they live, Lara was forced to kill them as well. It was a good thing that their were no babies involved, since Lara wasn"t sure if she could actually go through with killing innocent babies. The youngest she had to kill was around ten years old, which was four years younger than her. It made Lara for the first time almost question Ren"s ways. Still that thought hadn"t even formed when it was removed by her fanatic devotion to Ren.
Still now that all of the fallen n.o.bles in Grenton had joined their cause, the actually n.o.bility in Grenton should have gotten wind of what they were doing. Lara and Kithra weren"t really worried about what those n.o.bles will do to them. Most of them would probably dismiss the situation as the weak gathering to lick each others wounds.
Still some of them will act by sending spies to find out more about the situation. If the n.o.bles decide to get a bit violent with them, they could retaliate under the guise of self defense. The two girls were also sure that Ren might have something planned in case something like that happens.
The reason they thought Ren had a plan, was because someone like him would most probably antic.i.p.ate all possible scenarios once he starts to do something.
...
A day pa.s.sed since Lara"s last visit to the Regalcrags and as promised she returned to their mansion to hear their answer. This time Lara brought Kithra just in case the Regalcrags try something sneaky. Even though Lara hated Kithra"s flirty ways, she couldn"t help but admit that she was indeed someone good in negotiations.
When the two girls finally reached the old mansion of the Regalcrags, Lara felt the presence of the archers on the roof. She looked up to see the archers, staring at her in frustration and fear. This time they only looked at her and did not attack.
The butler Cale from yesterday also appeared.
"Welcome back Lady Lara. Please come in the master has been waiting for you." Cale didn"t bother greeting Kithra, and simply gestured Lara to follow him. Kithra wasn"t bothered by this reaction, since this former proud n.o.ble family didn"t really like dealing with the people of the underworld. They viewed such people as dishonorable. Still because of their current predicament, their honor wasn"t really worth much anymore.
...
Stephan looked at the two visitors. One of them was someone he was expecting to see, while the other was someone he didn"t really want to a.s.sociate himself with.
"Oh, Lady Kithra what a surprise, what brings you here? If you have something to say, please tell me later. I have something important to discuss with Lady Lara."
"It"s alright I was the one who brought her here. She"s one of the people who recently joined under Ren." Stephan and Cale were surprised to hear this new piece of information.
Stephan hearing this news gritted his teeth, and started to question the decision they had made.
"Have we fallen so low, that we would actually become subordinates of someone that takes the likes of the people in the underworld as followers. Still if we don"t join them, that would spell the end of the Regalcrags."
Stephan was already aware of what happened after Lara left yesterday. She had immediately taken over the remaining fallen n.o.ble families, to join under Ren"s wing and those who didn"t join were mercilessly killed, not even the children and women were spared.
Stephan now had to make a choice will he join these people and lose the very essence of their family"s pride and honor, or will he fight them instead and die with his family with the last remaining pieces of pride and honor they had left.
"So Stephan Regalcrag, will you join us or will you perish?" Hearing Lara"s indifferent tone of voice made Stephan look at her. There in front of him was the beautiful maiden with her stoic face, asking him to live under their rule or die with what"s little left of their pride as Regalcrags. This beauty was nothing more than an executioner.
Stephan gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. The decision he makes today will be one that would decide the very fate of the Regalcrags and how they will be looked upon by future historians. Even though he was the weakest head to ever lead the Regalcrags, Stephan was still the head of the once mighty family.
He then decided on what to say and looked at Lara with newfound determination. With a confident voice, Stephan spoke.
"I-"