76 Jacob Appears, Again?

-On the other side of the village-

"Maria, it is great that you were able to come, even though it is so late." opening the door to her residence, the woman standing there was none other than the leader of the group of women at the banquet.

"Please, come in as well as all of you. We have quite a bit to discuss now that Maria finally made her first move in the politics of our village." smiling as if she was a peaceful older woman, the leader of the group gestured everyone else to go inside her home.

The room was rather dark, with only a few lit candles spread around the living space of the home. It was almost as if, the woman planned to make sure that passerbyers would not assume anything was going on inside.

"You have a wonderful home." Maria told the woman as the group all sat down in a small circle next to one another. This was the first time that the group had met at Joanna's home, and this was the first time Maria set foot inside of it.

Joanna's husband was a very influential figure in the village council and so there were many small treasures inside of Joanna's home. Such wealth was hard to come by for the average villager, which showed just how formidable Joanna's husband and herself were.

"Maria, unlike the other sisters in our group, you have yet to officially meet the man who has helped us grow up to this point. He has been wanting to see you for quite some time now." Joanna said while Maria scanned the room.

The other women in the group all started to snicker to themselves which made Maria feel a little uncomfortable. Though she was feeling uncomfortable inside, she was unwilling to allow the women to pick up on it as she waited for this mysterious man to present himself.

"I hope that you are not disappointed, Jacob." Joanna called out to the other side of the room. This caused Maria to look at the direction Joanna had called out this mysterious man's name out. However, she was unable to clearly see even a shadow!

"Maria, I am sorry that I was unable to see the speech you made at the banquet tonight, I hope that you can forgive me just this once?" a voice called out to Maria as the women in the room bowed towards the corner of the room.

"Up until this moment, I have tried to persuade Joanna and the rest of the women here how valuable you are to the cause. To see that you are now on board and taking up your own position of power within the village makes me feel very content moving forward."

"If it was up to me, you would have already surpassed your father politically and would be sitting in his seat right now. Alas, some plans take more time than we would like. That being said, I hope you are ready to help us all achieve our own goals."

"Do not worry, with my family's backing in the city, you will have an unshakable position here in your territory. However, this unshakable position will unfortunately for you, come at a cost that you may or not be open to make." the invisible figure explained to Maria, still refusing to show itself to her.

"What cost may that be?" after spending several breaths of time absorbing the invisible figure's words and understanding the meaning behind them, Maria asked this out of curiosity. She was determined to gain as much power as she could, and if this figure could assist her with this, she would be willing to sacrifice almost anything!

"Your father as well as that Leo brat are planning to partake in a test that your ancestor's have passed down over the generations. Without even thinking about bringing you along, they are meeting with all of his advisors so that they could go and take the test." Jacob said before continuing on.

"If they were to reach the test area and gain the power that your ancestors once used to compete against our city, there would be no possible way that our forces could help you gain the new Chieftain position. I am sure you understand the meaning behind my words?" an evil chuckle could be heard by Maria after Jacob finished speaking.

"Are you asking me to murder my father?" with the peach color on her face fading and being replaced with paleness, Maria almost couldn't let out her words as she struggled to imagine the scenario that Jacob had forced in front of her.

"Do not worry, I have invited two executive level warriors from my household to deal with your father and Leo. As long as you cooperate, not killing your father would still be on the table. However, with or without you, what needs to be done, will be done." Jacob said as his evil laughter started to grow soft before it was clear that he had left.

"Do not worry Maria, Jacob actually was kind enough to promise us that he would bring an advanced technique over from his household back in the city to assist you with building up your strength. It will be up to you to try and force your way into the executive level, but you can leave the rest to us." Joanna told Maria as the rest of the women in the room stood up and began to exit.