Chapter 86 - The Council

When the five other commanders of the noble families entered the hall, each sat on the throne whose symbol carved at the top correspond to the coat of arms of their respective family.

"Shall we begin?" The Elf with white hair and tattoos on the upper part of her face inquired. This was Nico Sallow.

All the commanders nodded without saying a word, and then Oliver left the hall.

"What business is so important to bring us together so urgently? I thought our next trial meeting was not until next week." Shanks Ballard, the owner of much of Suzano City, questioned.

"Demons." Amanda Hangen replied. The woman leaned forward on her throne, resting her body on her archaic gavel.

Soon after her answer, buzzing among the commanders themselves began. Not wanting to waste any time, she began to explain.

"They are in Vasconcelos, or at least they were. There have already been two first-degree contacts and also several other incidents caused by their presence."

"Tsk!" A man with gray hair and beard clicked his tongue. He wore a stylish outfit, entirely black except for the inside of his cape, which was red. "Why should we bother with that? That's exactly the kind of problem we fund the Cardinal Church for."

"Yes, but w—"

"If we're having problems with this kind of plague, why should we continue to keep this Church standing?" Erick Smakusa continued to criticize, interrupting Hangen.

Understanding the political strategy Erick wanted to use, Ayumi interfered with his speech. "Mr. Smakusa, you should know well why we keep the Cardinal Church up to this day, no?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, clenching his eyes.

Then the Elf stood up and began walking to the center of the circle in the hall.

"The Cardinal Church is a major player in getting the general population out of further trouble, without wishing to belittle our adventurers and, of course, the Daren family." She explained and pointed to a man with white hair, dark skin, and a proud smile, sitting on one of the thrones.

"It is... I do not disagree that our adventurers and the Daren Family do a good job; however, I judge that it is a great waste for us to fund a foreign organization."

"Mr. Smakusa, you would be right, if not wrong. Although it originated on another continent, the Cardinal Church has already established roots here and gained many believers." Ayumi gestured as she conversed. 

"Yes, that is true, but the Sakan Religion has been gaining many adherents in the South as well."

"Forget that, Mr. Smakusa. The agenda of the moment is not religions." Jimbe Collalto, the oldest member of that generation of the council, accosted the discussion.

"Well then, explain the situation in Vasconcelos, Mrs. Strogueher." Erick Smakusa said, disappointed while resting his head on his right arm. 

"One of the first-degree contacts with the demon was public. Although a Secular managed to stop him, he apparently managed to escape." Yamazaki explained, omitting that it was Luke who managed to kill the demon's receptacle.

"How public was that?" Nico Sallow inquired, seeming interested in the meeting for the first time.

"Enough that I learned about it before I even got here." Jimbe answered her. Although his family mostly takes care of agriculture in the Empire, the old man has ears for all corners of the continent.

The eight commanders continued the meeting for another six hours as they discussed how they should act to solve this problem and others.

The plot of the Strogueher, Hangen, and Collalto paid off, managing to draw the Sallow to their side of the discussion, but Thomas Landford, Erick Smakusa, Rujierd Daran, and Shanks Ballard were still wary of proceeding.

"That would cost too much." Mr. Daran said. "Come on, that's the price of an Epic Gene Skill, and we wouldn't have any guarantee it would work either."

"Offering a hundred gold coins for each person who witnessed it is too much." Erick Smakusa demurred.

"Concealing deaths will never be a cheap thing." Jimbe spoke while stroking the neck of his owl.

"You have me all wrong. I'm not asking for money. I will pay for this out of my own pocket." Ayumi said to nullify any excuses the other nobles might have. "Or do you really think the best decision would be to publicize the existence of demons? That would create enormous insecurity in the population, which would leave the Broteforge Empire vulnerable."

"Let's vote." Ms. Hangen spoke up. "Those who are in favor of publicizing the existence of demons should raise their hands."

Then, the man with white hair and black clothes was the first to raise his hand, surprising a total of zero people. At the same time, Shanks Ballard, the other gray-haired old man, also raised his hand. 

Next, Thomas Landford, the only one who didn't say a word during the entire meeting, also came out in favor.

Jimbe, Ayumi, Nico, and Amanda gave no sign of raising their hands, leaving only Rujierd Daren to vote. The man in the detailed yellow clothing stared at the floor and drummed the fingers of his right hand on the throne support.

If there was a tie, the decision would have to be made in a few more days, giving the commanders time to think it over; however, this would provide enough time to disseminate the information.

To hasten the man's decision, Amanda Hangen said, "The vote ends in ten seconds."

In the end, the required ten seconds passed, and Rujierd did not raise either arm, which left everyone who did not return relieved. 

In the view of the Matriarch of the Strogueher, publicizing an incident with demons, from a commercial point of view, would be very useful for business; however, the social impacts that it would entail would be catastrophic because the insecurity of the population would skyrocket upon discovering that there are monsters outside the Dungeons as well.

*

The festivals in Vasconcelos usually took place every three months. Still, this particular one drew a lot of attention from the population because, for the first time in history, there would be a sporting event and not the typical competition of who can eat the most.

"Come on, Dad! The first match of the 'Luck or Fight' Tournament is about to begin." A lively, froggy little boy exclaimed, striding between the legs of the crowd as he left his father behind.

In the plaza in front of the Dungeon building, many stalls were gathered, mixing people of various ages and social classes. From nobles and adventurers to refugees from the neighboring continent. All this crowd was gathered to see the tournament's first match, which would be of an E-Class against a C-Class.

"How the hell did I go along with that?" Luke wondered during his stretching.

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