Chapter 120.
Arcanta sat in his seat and scolded b.l.o.o.d.y and Orphina.
"How old are you to fight like that? Grow up!"
The furious b.l.o.o.d.y and Orphina, who were touching their bruised faces, pointed at each other.
“But that guy!”
“But that guy!”
Having shouted at the same time, the two looked at each other and shouted.
"Don"t copy me!"
"Don"t copy me!"
The two, who said the same thing at the same time again, raised their fists and shouted.
"You punk!"
"You punk!"
"Enough!" The emperor roared at b.l.o.o.d.y and Orphina, who were about to fight again.
With that, the two relaxed their fists and went to their respective seats.
As everyone sat down, Arcanta gave a couple of dry coughs and cleared the air.
"Hmhm, first of all, Orphina. I"d like to hear what you"ve been up to in the Demon Territory. There was a code in the report that said that the report could be peeked at while being sent, so the important things had been omitted.”
Orphina nodded.
Even if the report from the Demon Territory was confidential, considering the distance between there and the capital, there was a risk that confidential information could be leaked in the process of delivering the report. For that, she had expressed her intention to report face-to-face by placing a specific mark at the end of the report.
"I"ll be blunt. In the Demon Territory, Doomstone Blade, the chief of the Crow tribe, is currently there."
Everyone turned stiff at Orphina’s words.
"What? Hyu... Hyung-nim has left Olympus?!”
b.l.o.o.d.y"s eyes shook fearfully. The reason b.l.o.o.d.y was so afraid after hearing of Doomstone"s departure was simple- he had yet to catch his nephew, Denburg Blade. More accurately, let alone not catching him, he didn’t even know where he was.
As long as Doomstone was not in Olympus, he could visit the capital at any time. If b.l.o.o.d.y didn"t even know where Denburg was, it was clear that more iron fist punishments, which were more painful than death, would be imposed upon him.
Even if he did not meet his brother right away, he would have to go to the Demon Territory in half a year. So his fate was as good as sealed.
Arcanta ignored b.l.o.o.d.y who was s.h.i.+vering with fear and asked Orphina, "How many people know this?"
After thinking carefully, Orphina unfolded some fingers.
"First, except for the ones here, I delivered the message to William as we exchanged posts, and my two a.s.sistants, the 7th Corps commander, the 26th Division commander, the captain of the Red Dragon Knights, and finally my dragon Hargan."
Arcanta counted the number of members, excluding William, in the same secret conference room, and Hargan, whom Orphina added at the end.
"So five."
"Seven."
Arcanta nodded dismissively at Orphina"s correction.
"I only counted those who aren’t a.s.sociated with this secret conference. Isn"t Hargan counted as one with you?"
In fact, he wanted to say that it was strange to count a dragon that couldn"t speak. However, Arcanta’s life would be in danger if he said such a thing to Orphina of the Dragon Tribe for she she would hit him in a fit of anger.
Orphina nodded at Arcanta and agreed.
"I see."
Arcanta was too hectic to respond to Orphina"s agreement. Doomstone leaving Olympus was a very serious matter.
With the existence of Doomstone, the neighboring countries, including the empire, could enter a state of tension with a quasi-war status, and the economy would be forced to prepare for tight finances. This was the level of preparation for the Four Great Demons of legend, far beyond human power, but Doomstone was a monster comparable to the aforementioned quartet.
"If Doomstone had been active in the Demon Territory, there would have been traces of him, so how did you handle it?” Arcanta couldn’t hide his nervousness at the possibility of the worst-case scenario that Doomstone"s departure would be found out by the public.
"Oh, you won"t have to worry about that. Externally, I handled it as being the actions of Mirpa Ainsmall and Gawain Blade, who accompanied Doomstone to support him," Orphina replied.
Arcanta sighed with relief. "Phew~ That’s one good thing amongst all the misfortunes. With Mirpa, one of the Four Great Madosas, it would be easy to erase traces or make excuses.” He wiped off his cold sweat and asked, "Did you by chance hear why he left the Olympus Forest?”
Orphina shook her head. "No, I asked, but Mirpa-nim said it was the Crow Tribe’s affair and refused to say more, so I couldn"t press further."
Arcanta nodded. "I see, then who"s in charge of the Crow Tribe now? Doomstone, the chief, and Denburg Blade, the small chief, are absent. Oh, is the former chief, Zendia-nim, in charge again?"
b.l.o.o.d.y answered Arcanta"s question while touching his chin, "No, wouldn’t Hestia be taking care of all the work right now? Or maybe it"s Mr. Weger, the head of the elders? I don"t really know either.”
"I"m sorry b.l.o.o.d.y, but could you ask why Doomstone-nim has left?” Arcanta asked carefully.
Interfering in the affairs of the Crow Tribe was extremely dangerous for the empire, just as the Crows were careful to interfere in the politics of the empire. From the standpoint of the empire, the Demon Territory and the enemy nation were at their border at the same time. Therefore, a rift in relations with the Crow Tribe due to reckless actions had to be strongly avoided. Considering that the collapse of the empire"s former state of prosperity began with the discontinuation of exchanges with the Crow Tribe, it was bound to be more cautious.
b.l.o.o.d.y frowned and nodded. "Okay, but it’d be better to not expect an answer. If Mirpa drew a line saying that it was the Crow Tribe’s affairs, there’s a high possibility that not only Hestia but also other elders will draw a line. Even if they tell me the circ.u.mstances, I can"t tell you if they tell me not to.”
b.l.o.o.d.y was a.s.sociated with the empire but was a member of the Crow Tribe at the core. The reason he was there was for the benefit of the Crows, not because he had sincere loyalty to the empire and the imperial family.
The emperor and Arcanta were well aware of this and were not disappointed. On the contrary, they were grateful because of the fact that b.l.o.o.d.y said it showed he had a lot of affection for the empire.
At b.l.o.o.d.y"s acceptance, Arcanta exhaled heavily. "I"m guessing... But as long as there"s a straw of possibility, we need to try to catch it."
The world now felt like it was being sucked into a strong current without anyone knowing it.
-o-
Flam and I went back to the first floor after the meeting with Guild Director Glont and reporting our appointment.
In addition to Demuir, whom I encountered as soon as I came to Adventurers’ Guild, there were three other civil servants.
"Yahoo! It’s the newcomers!"
Unlike before, Demuir was in a neat uniform and cried aloud. The civil servants who were looking at the doc.u.ments or moving things looked at us all at once.
"Keuhmm, Demuir. Calm down."
When Organ frowned and warned Demuir who was causing a ruckus, the latter locked his fingers behind his head and said playfully, "Ayy, Organ, are you picking on me because we are in the same cla.s.s? Aren"t you always only picking on me too much?”
"That"s because you are always too distracted. And even if we are in the same cla.s.s, I’m older. I won’t expect you to speak formally, but please keep your manners. And try to take after some of the seniors."
Demuir held his chest in an exaggerated gesture as if he had been hurt by Organ"s nagging. "Ayying, you’re too mean!"
Organ casually ignored Demuir and turned to us. "The five people here, including me, are the seniors who will be working with you two in the future."
The senior civil servants took turns introducing themselves. The first person to raise his hand was Demuir.
"Let me introduce myself first. As I said before, I"m Demuir. My main job is accounting, but I basically do everything.”
After the energetic Demuir was a calm-looking woman with light brown hair in a bun.
"My name is Fiona. I am in charge of counter and external affairs as the main tasks. I basically do everything too, but everyone here can do everything, so there"s nothing special about it."
I had met Fiona briefly before when I had stopped by here to rent a place for the preliminaries for the martial arts compet.i.tion. I remember her being a pretty gentle but determined person.
Following Fiona, a large man with short dark brown hair introduced himself.
"I’m Dano. The main job is to deal with claims and deal with adventurers. It"s similar to Fiona’s, but I come forward when more strength is needed. Other than that, I"m mainly in charge of the paperwork."
Next, a middle-aged man with curly hair and a mustache leaning slightly on a desk next to Dano introduced himself with a gentle smile.
"I"m Roseland. I have the highest seniority here and you can consider me the manager who mediates all the work. Unless it"s serious, I"m responsible for most of the problems, so if you have any problems that arise, please tell me right away."
Roseland’s civil servant ID said 5th rank prestige. A 5th rank prestige was about equivalent to a deputy director in my previous life.
Roseland was definitely the highest in rank, given that Fiona was 6th rank, Dano 7th, and Demuir and Organ 8th.
Demuir nodded enthusiastically. "That"s right, that"s right. Roseland really does take care of all the problems."
Roseland sighed deeply at Demuir. "It’d be nice if you stopped causing any more trouble.” His face looked old for a moment as he spoke. It seemed Demuir had caused a lot of accidents.
Good. That means it’s ok to cause some accidents within limits.
Finally, Organ introduced his work.
"I"ve already introduced myself, so I"ll move on. My main job is to cla.s.sify requests. It is an important task to cla.s.sify requests for adventurers by field and level of difficulty. And I"m in charge of collaborating with the guild workers."
After the seniors’ introduction, Flam and I briefly introduced ourselves.
"It is my first time meeting you all. I am Den, and I will be with you all from today."
"Nice to meet you. I am Flam."
Demuir clapped and laughed at our greeting. "Yahoo! Escaped from being the youngest!"
Organ began to nag at Demuir.
"Why are you always...”
As Organ began to nag, Fiona started to talk to Flam and me as if she was used to it.
"It"s about time to receive the adventurers. Do you want to go with me and take a look at the counter first? I think it"s better to get acquainted with the adventurers who will bother you in the future."
Flam and I gently nodded our heads and followed her, leaving behind the nagging Organ and Demuir who was being scolded.
Mmm, I’ll have to cause the right amount of trouble... Since I don"t like being nagged.