Chapter 474 - Decisions

"Tell me," Anfey said, looking at everyone in the meeting room.

"The thing you were going to take care of…" Christian began with a frown.

"That’s urgent," Anfey said. "Which is why I need to leave as soon as possible." He paused and looked around. "Which is why I want to see a plan before I leave."

"This is difficult," Ye said, shaking his head. "Hesier was well-liked. He had a lot of friends in the city," Ye sighed, "but it’s not his friends I’m worried about."

"What is it, then?"

"Nishieva," Ye said.

"Nishieva?" Anfey repeated. The name sounded very familiar, but he couldn’t recall who it belonged to.

"She’s Anthony’s wife," Ye said with a sigh.

"Are you sure?"

"I’m certain," Ye said. "Hesier’s wife is just a normal woman. I don’t believe she was capable of lying to me."

"Where is she now?"

"She’s dead," Ye said. "I needed Edy to make sure she was telling the truth."

Anfey sighed. Hesier’s wife must be innocent, but Hesier put Alice in danger, and Ye needed to do everything it took to find out more about Hesier and his motives.

"Did her story check out?"

"It did," Ye said.

"What did she tell you?"

"A lot of useless things," Ye said. "But she did tell me that Nishieva came to find Hesier a few days ago and spoke with him alone. They talked a few times after that, and she gave Hesier a memory crystal. She told me that Hesier had showed her the crystal and was very proud of it. I don’t think I need to prove anything further."

"Does this mean Anthony is a part of this?" Blavi asked hesitantly.

Blavi’s words made the atmosphere in the meeting room even more tense. If Anthony really was involved in this assassination attempt, they couldn’t just let him get away with it. But with Anfey and Suzanna out of town, could they take down a top level power like Anthony?

"I don’t think so," Anfey said, shaking his head. "Anthony is a careful man. His plans are meticulous. If he really was involved in this… I don’t know how he would do it, but his plan would not be this sloppy. At least, he wouldn’t let Ye find out so much about it in this short amount of time."

"I agree," Ye said. "Anthony and David supported my decision on take Hesier’s wife and investigate his friends. I don’t think I could have done it this easily without their support."

"Anthony’s plan wouldn’t have such blatant flaws," Anfey said, shaking his head. "He wouldn’t use his own wife as bait, either. Whoever made this plan is sloppy. Hesier must be an idiot. Does he think we will just let him go?"

"Well, we almost got fooled by an idiot, so…"

"So we need reform," Anfey said. "We need to examine ourselves. What did we do wrong? How did we allow things like this to happen?"

"Maybe Anthony is behind this," Christian said suddenly. "He purposely made such a sloppy plan because he knew that we wouldn’t attribute such a plan to him."

"Maybe," Anfey said. "But I don’t think it’s likely. News about Alice has already spread throughout the city. Anthony and David have helped Ye, which means they know. Shouldn’t they at least come and visit her? They didn’t, because they are conflicted.

"When Ye found out Nishieva was involved, they found out as well. If Nishieva really is involved, they should bring her to us, shouldn’t they? If he purposely led us to her, he had nothing to worry about. He didn’t come because he is conflicted. If he really gave up his wife, the mercenaries would lose respect for him and his son. David has just taken over Glory mercenary group. He needs the mercenaries’ support. They didn’t come because they don’t want to give up Nishieva. They also know that we will want to punish Nishieva. This is why they haven’t come to visit Alice."

Christian frowned and nodded.

"Another thing. What is Anthony’s goal? You saw how happy he was when Baery announced that he should be a duke. You can’t fake that. Anthony is satisfied with his current status, which is why he turned Glory mercenary group over to David. He wants Glory mercenary group’s achievements to be David’s. Killing Alice does not benefit him at all," Anfey said. He smiled at the people in the room. "Anthony should know a memory crystal is not enough to buy Alice’s loyalty."

"What about Nishieva?" Sante asked loudly. "Sure, he wants to protect his wife, but what about Alice?"

"He’s right," Blavi said, standing up. "Anfey, let’s go. We need to arrest Nishieva."

"Ask Christian," Anfey said. "I can’t make that decision."

"Why me?" Christian asked, surprised.

"With Alice gone, you are in charge all of internal affairs," Anfey reminded Christian.

Christian looked at Anfey and shook his head slightly. Anfey frowned. He didn’t like politics and enjoyed revenge, but he also knew that revenge was the least viable plan at that moment. Demanding Anthony to hand over Nishieva was not a good plan.

"Christian!" Sante said hurriedly. "Say something."

"We must wait," Christian said. "Anthony will come to his senses. I believe he will give us a satisfying answer."

"So we wait?" Sante asked angrily. "What will we tell Alice when she wakes up?"

"Anfey, say something!" Blavi said. He didn’t like Christian’s decision and wanted support from Anfey.

"I support Christian," Anfey said, shaking his head. He saw Christian’s expression and knew he couldn’t let Christian take the blame for this decision alone. "Hagan said Alice will wake up soon. Let’s wait until she wakes up and make a decision."

"What if Alice is insistent?"

"If she wants, if she insists…" Anfey took a deep breath. "Then you can destroy Glory mercenary group."

"Anfey!" Christian said, surprised. "Anthony is a duke now. You can’t just do that."

Anfey shook his head. He could serve politicians, but he would never take part in politics. An eye for an eye. Only then would he be satisfied.

"Who will be charge of Alice’s safety?" Suzanna asked.

"Kumaraghosha will be her personal guard from now on," Anfey said. "Shinbela, I know this will be difficult, but I want you to stay as close to Alice as possible at all time."

"Yes, sir," Shinbela and Kumaraghosha said in unison.