"Now then, let's formally commence Loraths 237th Senary council summit. I welcome you all, and hope that you'll excuse my lateness." Like a true king, Lucius commenced the summit with formalities first.
"No, you needn't apologize for such a thing your majesty. Something quite amusing happened because of it." Linia interjected, now with a flapping Chinese style fan in her hand.
"I see, then if that's all I suppose things are just about in order now." Lucius finally took his seat. It was at the very front of the circular formation, positioned perfectly so that anybody in the room could see him.
"Your majesty, it appears that Gerard couldn't make it to this assembly either."
Lucius felt a faint shiver upon hearing those words. He quickly dispelled the sensation by tightening his right hand, which was resting on his left knee. The voice had once again originated from a man by the name of Ferris Stein. He looked more like a half dead butler than a noble. He had pale skin that seemed to compete with his withering jet-black hair, and his body appeared frail, as though his bones could easily be snapped without much effort. Despite this fragility, he maintained a deceptive smile that concealed his true intentions. The only aspect of him that radiated vitality were his pair of crimson eyes, each gleaming with an indomitable gaze, fixated on a singular desire. By all accounts, he was the type of person you'd feel much more comfortable having as an enemy rather than an ally.
"He was never one for gatherings like these, I can't recall the last time he sat among us."
William chimed in, a fresh cup of barley tea in hand as the maid at his side gave him a slight bow before retreating.
"Well, no matter, let's move on to the issue at hand. Is Cecilia Chrystel here?" Lucius said, once again taking control of the dysfunctional summit.
"Y-Yes!"
"You may stand. I would like for each member of Salamander to provide a recollection of what happened on Demon's crypt two weeks ago. Make it as detailed as possible."
Demon's Crypt was the title bestowed upon Alanor by those who knew of the island's mysterious nature and all the strange occurrences that had taken place in and around the vicinity of the wavering sea. But all things considered, the name Demon's crypt was quite Ironic given the current situation.
"As you command." With that Cecilia arose to take the literal center stage, her tone was somewhat bold but Renard and Lucas both noticed the slight wobbling in her legs.
Her anxiety must have reached a boiling point, because at some point, her eyes had dilated into literal swirls.
Whew Whew
The girl composed herself with a series of deep breaths as she garnered the spotlight. Now able to glance at those above, the first person she took note of was Lucius himself. He was well of age, as his lavender colored hair had distinct strands of white standing out amid the already fading shades of his hair, conjoined with his beard and sideburns. Despite his age however, the man showed no signs of being bested by time. His chiseled jaw and firm posture only went to reinforce that fact, and while his face was showing faint signs of wrinkling, you wouldn't notice unless you paid keen attention to his expressions.
He was dressed quite extravagantly at the moment, wearing a white long-sleeved overall coat with gold linings in the middle that branched off and traced a path of gold along his shirt sleeves. His outfit appeared to be perfectly tailored to him too as it stopped just above his calves, eliminating the annoyance the excess fabric would create when sitting down.
"Hey! Whaddya mean you won't let me in?"
"Marion Calm down."
"Shut up Krieg! It's just behind this door."
A pair of familiar loud voices had completely dispersed the built-up anticipation inside the hollow room. Renard let out something of a mix between a small sigh and a chuckle. He raised a and before calling out -
"Your lordship, you mind letting my companions in? It'd help save time if I didn't have to go over everything that was said here."
After thinking about it for a moment, Lucius signaled his approval of the request to the knights down below. The broad doors creaked open once again, revealing the figures of Marion Weaver and Krieg Styles. The girl looked wholly out of place with the giant metal case she was lugging around. Weapons and strange containers such as the one she carried definitely weren't allowed within the palace. Krieg had to remove his gauntlets, but Marion stubbornly refused to part with the container unless one of the knights reprimanding her was able to lift it. After learning of her status as a state contracted mercenary and realizing that it was a futile effort, they eventually gave way to the girl's whims.
"Renard, so this is where you've been...Do you have any idea how long it took us to get here? We had to basically trespass to get on the property, the stupid guards tried to start a fight with us, they even wanted to take my case and-"
Renard simply placed a hand on Marion's head, rubbing it gently as if he were petting a small animal.
"Yo Krieg!" With his other hand, he exchanged a casual high five with the towering man.
"So, Leno didn't come with you huh?"
"Well, it is Leno, after all. Wasn't his motto something like 'The Minimum of the Bare Minimum'?" Krieg had heard that phrase the most out of everyone here.
"Haha! Yea it was something like that."
Witnessing their conversation, Marion's irritation was growing by the second.
"Why are you ignoring me like it's the most natural thing in the world?!"
Marion exclaimed, slapping Renard's arm in a fit of childish rage.
"Oh Marion....What were you saying again?"
"Never mind!"
Renard was a master at stoking the flames of her irritation. His years of experience with women made provoking Marion's explosive personality seem like child's play. Cecilia now looked even more confused as she watched the charade taking place before her.
"What amusing kids." Linia, still flapping her Chinese fan gave a small chuckle.
"Vulgar commoners, my tea's gone bad." William now looked dejected, but Marion shot him a glance that sent a jolt down his spine.
'Ahem!" Ignis drew the group's attention.
"His majesty would like to reconvene the meeting, if you would."
"Yea, let's continue." Renard brought his group over to his previous position.
"Miss Cecilia, we are most interested in the events that took place ON the island. Do keep that in mind when providing your recollection. Naturally, the same would apply to the rest of you as well."
Ferris' statement sounded more like a demand than anything else, his ominous tone had only served to make things harder for the timid girl.
"I will....keep that in mind."
Collecting her thoughts once more, Cecilia then began to recount the events of what happened on that fateful day.
"Kanon Malford, a boy capable of besting even Winson eh?" Lucius pressed a hand to his chin; he had sunken deep into a river of thoughts.
Lucas was the last Salamander member to give a recollection of the events, and even though he didn't have much to offer, the council was intent on hearing every last detail of the crew's encounter.
"Hmm....Their strength aside, they seem like nothing more than a clan of savages to me." William gave his input, he either refused to acknowledge the gravity of the current situation or was completely oblivious to it.
"They sound like quite the dangerous bunch, but if they don't have any intention of leaving that little island then shouldn't we just leave them be?"
It seems Linia's views this time were the complete opposite of Williams.
"What do you think Ferris? You were the one that proposed this plan in the first place, saying something along the lines of how great of a fighting force they would be."
Ferris cracked a smile, as if he'd been waiting for his turn all along.
"Yes, I do apologize for that, your majesty. Veterans or not, sending a unit comprising of a mere 145 warriors on such an arduous mission was my folly. But I'll have to disagree with miss Linia. They massacred a unit from our state all because of some childish whim? It's an affront to the entire nation of Lorath– no, the entire empire of Cian. We simply must retaliate; and from what we've just learned about the abundant resources and mana in Demon's Crypt, wouldn't you call it a fair gamble? If we only sent the proper number of forces with the right equipment this time victory would be ours, wouldn't you agree.... Sir Guile?"
Ferris, who had been relatively silent until now, had begun sowing the seeds of vengeance inside the assembly.
"I agree with Sir Ferris on this. Winson was strong, with a few more years of training he could have easily reached the rank of paladin; but this time he was simply underprepared and outmatched."
Lucius glanced at the now conflicted Linia, and then shifted his gaze over to William.
"William what do you think about this?"
For a brief instant he saw Ferris and Winson exchange a slight gesture.
"I'm for it. Who knows what those barbarians will do if left unchecked?" The man dismissively remarked.
"And you Linia?"
She was visibly nervous. Her wide brimmed hat had now been comfortably placed on her lap, and a single bead of sweat traced a path down her slender neck.
"I...I-"
"Miss Linia, if I recall the people belonging to the domain you govern are often plagued by resource shortages, especially in the winter months when the entire island is covered in snow. Is this not the perfect opportunity to put an end to that once and for all with the resources from demon's crypt"
"Y-Yes...I suppose you're right."
Renard held a wicked smile at the sound of those words.
Lucius' eyes widened with a sudden realization. He only had one more card left to play.
"But even with all of you on board, do you have another concrete plan to get there? You simply chalked it up to a special, limited use artifact for the last voyage."
Huh? Artifact? That's not what happened last time.....Wait.....
Cecilia had also come to the same conclusion as Lucius, although it seems the monarch wasn't aware of a certain mercenary duo tagging along last time.
"Worry not your majesty, that is why I have hired this group in particular. They have something that will guarantee our safe entry once more you see - Genesis Majic."
That revelation sent a wave of discussions through the room once more.
(I see. The fact that he already had a group with something like that on hand must mean that he's been planning this all along, and by the looks of things he's even curried the favor of the other assembly members....so this really is checkmate then. Damn you, Ferris...You're about to send these people to their graves.)
Lucius tightened his fist once more, because all his previous assumptions had been correct. Aside from the ever-moral Guile, the man had already made plans with the other two nobles. The reason he went on such a tangent earlier was precisely to counteract Guile's overly moral nature. Ferris knew he couldn't win him over with bribery, so he instead resorted to using Guile's greatest strength against him. His sense of honor. By manipulating the man's innate desire for battle and his desire to avenge his slain comrade, he easily made the paladin dance to his own tune.
"U-Um...are you really planning to go back there?"
The entire room was speechless as the timid girl was the only one who could speak up in the midst of dread.
"Yes...is there a problem with that girl?"
Ferris gave her a scornful look with his reply, as if he forgot to dispose of something unpleasant.
"N-No, even if I did have a problem with it, I couldn't stop you anyways. Just..."
She trailed off, struggling to find the right words.
"Just don't underestimate them."
"Hmph..... Is that all?"
"Yea, that's all I wanted to say."
Marion gave the brave girl a curious glance as she returned to her original position.
"So then your majesty, would you allow William, Guile and myself to organize our forces this time, in order to ensure that I make no more blunders?"
Lucius knew exactly what he was planning. Even though Lorath was a monarchy, Lucius didn't wield absolute power. If the nobles had conflicting opinions clashing with his own, then a majority vote would have been the official way to settle things, but right now he knew how futile such a tactic would be.
This was checkmate.
"Very well, but we don't have an excess of resources to supply an entire battalion on a mission of conquest across the seas."
"Fret not, we will only be selecting the most capable of warriors this time."
Cecilia gritted her teeth at that remark.
"Very well then. If that's all then this summit is hereby adjourned. Have everything ready in four months' time, or not at all." Lucius gave out the pained order with an expression of regret.
"Leave it to me Your Majesty, I will not fail again." Ferris wore a devilish grin as he gave an elegant bow.
His gesture had concluded the Senary Council's 237th summit in the wake of a malicious omen.