Eastern District.
It was already close to midnight and a crescent Moon hung silently in the sky.
In an enclosed room, well lit but devoid of windows…
About 40 men and women were gathered there.
They were all dressed in expensive fabrics and jewelry.
Their gathering was a monthly, perfunctory event, although it wasn't compulsory to attend. This time, however, they were all required to attend.
This group of people were the cabal that ran Agard.
They had existed since before Marcus's appointment, and have continued to function even after his arrival.
In these monthly meetings, they discuss the advantages and disadvantages, whether individually or collectively, of their businesses in Agard.
A woman well in her forties, dressed in a silky chestnut brown gown, walked confidently into the room.
"Lady Porsh, it's been a while since we last saw you in this gathering."
"Baron Gaus, it's a pleasure to see you too." Lady Porsh smiled flirtatiously at the man who called out to her.
"Please, have a seat." Gaus pulled out the chair beside him for her.
And as Porsh proceeded to sit, her hand brushed the Baron's hands.
"Can the two of you bother to hide your infidelity? It's bothering our eyes." Someone across the table sneered before picking up a cup of wine and downing it.
It was at this point that Baron Savani entered the room.
Unlike the last few months when he attended the monthly meeting, his smug smile was nowhere to be found.
Rather, Egar looked disturbed and poorly rested.
"Everyone, it's good to see that we are all well and kicking." An eccentric man seated at the forefront uttered when the room was filled up, save for a seat or two.
"Sir Maney," some of them greeted back with respect.
The rest of the nobles watched the exchange silently, their expressions hidden behind cups of wine.
From there, a few discussions followed.
Almost an hour had gone by before Baron Savani called for everyone's attention.
"I'm sure you all are aware that the governor is alive and kicking."
"Kicking? I heard that he kicked quite a few coins out of your pocket." Someone joked.
They all knew that Eger had gotten his hands on something quite profitable, but he refused to share it with them.
According to their reports from their spies, Marcus seemed to have seized this "thing" from Eger and he couldn't do anything about it.
"Joke all you want, Cassir, that greedy brat might come for you next. Who knows, I might leak a thing or two about you to him." Egar threatened.
"Hmph! I dare you. Unlike your greedy ugly hands, coming for me is no different from coming for at least a dozen of us." Cassir sneered.
"Cassir is right, Baron Savani," Gaus said while secretly playing with Lady Porsh's hands under the table.
Egar knew this, he just spoke out of anger.
"Either way, we have to do something about this brat before his ego gets bigger and reaches out for more." He added.
"Why should we antagonize the young man if he hasn't done anything wrong to us? Antagonizing him might incur his wrath." A woman said.
"His wrath is nothing to be feared with the backing of his title. If we can choke his airways, that is." Someone said lazily.
"True, I heard that he barely has guards. Everyone here has at least 200 men in their personal army. If it wasn't for our need to be cautious of the Royal Council, we could decide to raze this governor's estate to the ground."
"The young man seems to be spending what he got from you on the roadside peasants. A saint, perhaps?"
"It doesn't matter what he is, I also don't think we should antagonize him. Have you all forgotten his surname?" Cassir pointed out and the room went silent.
They didn't know Marcus's father personally, but they had heard legends of the man.
A single entity that made the Empires and Kingdoms on the continent hesitate when he was involved.
A man said to have reached superhuman levels.
"The man is already dead, should we still be scared of such a person?" Someone muttered, but it wasn't so easily dismissed.
Even though he was dead, he left four kids behind, with Marcus being the youngest.
If the youngest didn't inherit his father's talents, what about the others?
Everyone knew that the Royal Council separated these siblings to weaken them.
However, despite this, no one has specifically or openly come for them in fear that one of them had inherited something from their father.
If they were to destroy everything belonging to Marcus and even take his life unlawfully, any of his siblings could come seeking vengeance…
Sir Maney chuckled, "You all are thinking too much. From what I know, these siblings haven't been in contact for years. At least they haven't been in contact with our governor. Their relationship with him doesn't seem too good."
"Either way, I don't think we should antagonize him over something so little. Baron Savani's son provoked the young man and the father had to pay for it. If your son hadn't provoked perhaps nothing of yours would have been exposed." Cassir added.
Yes, Deril was indeed the cause of his loss. But Egar couldn't accept this loss because of the shame it brought to him.
"A small loss? Do you know what he took from me?" Egar's lips trembled with anger as he thought of it again.
"What, a few hundred thousand silver coins?" Cassir mocked.
"Fuck the coins! That little bastard seized the iron mine I found!" Egar exploded.
This revelation silenced the room.
Eyebrows raised and a few even whistled.
The room erupted into murmurs, greed flashing in several pairs of eyes.
"You greedy bastard, you found an iron mine and you didn't care to share it with us?" Baron Gaus forgot about the hand he had been caressing as he bellowed at Egar.
He wasn't the only one, many people looked at him with anger in their eyes.
Egar was truly a greedy one. Such a money-making resource and he wanted to swallow it alone.
With what connections? With what stomach!?
Even Maney frowned.
Cassir was unable to say anything in response to that.
"The sneaky bastard had already reported the mine's location to the Royal Council and he's been given the right to own it exclusively," Egar added.
This information quickly silenced the greedy thoughts of the rest who were already thinking of how to get their hands on the mine.
Cassir sneered, "Then there's no point in bringing this up. Trying to use us to do your bidding!"
"It doesn't have to be fancy… accidents still happen." A noble said.
"Why use force when we can buy him? Extorting Savani is proof enough." A noble woman chipped in.
"There's no point in doing that now." Cassir dismissed their suggestions.
"I'm telling you all, we need to deal with him now before he gets powerful." Egar urged once again.
Maney sighed. "Egar, let's speak of this in private another day. I think we should call it a night now. It's already getting late."
Baron Savani wasn't too pleased with this, but he couldn't say anything as Maney had spoken.
With this being said the meeting came to an end and people dispersed in twos and threes, but not without throwing Egar a disappointed or furious look.
…
Dawn arrived with the Sun reaching for the far skies.
The air was cold and the wind was, soft with its movements.
Many commoners had already begun gathering outside of Marcus's estate gate.
It was at this time that Amsun arrived to give Marcus an answer…