March 1st, 626

After the doors opened to the Royal Palace, all of the nobles and prestigious persons flooded in and were guided to the Hall of Patrons. 

It was a massive hall made for events such as this, filled with tables and comfortable seating arrangements a level above the Plaza but being much more spacious, with two floors that allowed double the seating to accommodate the sheer amount of people. 

The hall was rich, walls covered in artifacts, paintings, statues, enchantments, and raw gold. Every square inch of material, visible or not, was expertly crafted and shaped. Hundreds of servants made sure that when everyone sat down, all of them were catered to. 

A lunch would be held first, and only then would the first meeting begin. 

As someone who received a direct invitation from the King, a table was set aside for me and those who I invited. But of course, I had brought nobody but Umara. 

And since everyone was required to declare their specific guests beforehand, given that I only come with one, Umara and I were accommodate a single, relatively small table for our dining experience. 

The two of us were near the middle of the second floor, where all the noble patrons were dining, above the rest of the crowds who had to deal with the first floor like peasants. We stuck out like a sore thumb, everyone else having entire families or entourages around them, massive tables accommodating a dozen or two people each. 

But Umara and I couldn’t find it in ourselves to care. We simply spoke to each other for the duration of the lunch, indulging in the premium food, ignoring everyone around us. Our words were exclusive, the wonders of Aura and magic ensuring that nobody else could eavesdrop. 

Not a single person came to interrupt us, even though we earned long stares and dozens of messages on our Aerials. It was quite funny for the two of us. 

Nonetheless, what we did sent a message. I had no illusions about the power dynamic surrounding me. I knew that there were dozens of people who held interest in my industry, nobles who wanted my machines of war to bolster their own forces, others who wanted to tap my resources. I knew that any noble worth their salt had heard about the mines and processing facilities I had bought up. And while I kept a tight lid on everything, the most general facilities still had hundreds of workers, many of which were common folk, and it was impossible to keep information from spreading. Of course, nothing that ever spread could risk anything of mine, so I wasn’t concerned. 

But just because I wasn’t concerned didn’t mean others wouldn’t take it upon themselves to impose. An event like the King’s Assembly was a political battleground for a reason, and anybody atop of it was a part of it, whether they liked it or not. 

And yet I was refusing to play. In the eyes of others, I was a foolish young man who knew nothing about anything, a child who had dove head first into the ocean of noble politics and made big waves before daring to simply sit back and act haughty, as if nothing could concern me. 

Would it be childish of me to say that they were the ones who knew nothing? 

I didn’t care either way. I knew how to think ahead and I had ensured my industry with independence. My vertical integration didn’t rely on any noble I didn’t have an absolute or predictable relationship with, which was to say that the land my mines and facilities operated on wasn’t under the jurisdiction of anyone besides Talexia or the Raven Family and the Whetted City, two entities who I knew wouldn’t ever betray me. 

Both because of personal ties as well as because right now, I was making them assloads of money. The Holy See wasn’t the only entity that received my tech. While not as fast, the Raven Chief was revamping his mining, material processing, manufacturing, construction, and even agricultural industries. Sooner rather than later, his material industries would be outproducing the whole of the Kingdom by themselves, which would only help me later on. 

It was safe to say that my few allies were absolute, and no noble could affect or hamper me if I didn’t want them to. 

Not unless they used the law against me, but I had my own plans for that, most revolving around my middle finger. 

Lunch passed leisurely for Umara and I. Neither of us were particularly worried about how things would go. Recent experiences made us rather numb to anything but the worst stresses a person could feel. Something like a tea party in the Royal Palace, while completely new territory for both of us, was hardly scary. 

Getting stared down by Brigadiers and Marshals? As if that could compare to a King Blood or Corrupted at the same levels trying to murder us in the worst possible fashion and barely managing to escape with our lives after killing thousands of monsters. 

After lunch finally came to an end nearly three hours later, everyone finally started to divide. Only those directly given a letter were allowed to attend the meeting, as well as a single person the invited had the option of bringing. Everyone else who had been brought along were to wait outside, whether that was mingling in the hall where music was playing and food was endlessly served, or bouncing around to private rooms made available, engaging in background political maneuvering or secret affairs. 

As if every wall didn’t have an ear behind it. 

Umara and I, along with all the other invited, were led to the Assembly Hall. 

There, we were seated around a massive golden table covered in beautifying jewels, carvings, inlaid metal and glass, and enchantments. The King sat at the head of the table, the side of which was completely reserved for him and the 4 Grand Dukes of the Kingdom of Dragon Tongue who were able to show up. 

The first was Grand Duke Anselma Sephiar, someone I had spoken to personally. Considered perhaps the smartest Warlock, and some would argue the smartest person, in the Kingdom, he headed the Magic Spire and led the greatest magical development projects humanity has ever seen. 

That was until I showed up, of course, but that was besides the point. 

The second was Grand Duke Intama Ozineth. He was Talexia’s direct superior, one of two Sovereign warlocks in the Warlock Corps. He wasn’t a tall man but he was a pretty boy with blonde hair who opted to wear flashy suits instead of warlock robes. No matter, because those suits were loaded with powerful enchantments anyway. I didn’t know much about the man beyond that. 

The third was Grand Duke Adam Uzoras, a Sovereign knight of the Knight Corps. He was the Sovereign stationed at the Treehouse when it fell, the same Sovereign who was too cowardly to fight the enemy and ran away, leaving everyone to die or fight for their own retreat. A man with a sharp beard and beady eyes, he looked rather distinguished, gentlemanly and pleasant. I still remember when he first arrived at the Treehouse during Polly’s promotion to Brigadier General. 

Too bad that he was a scum sucking cretin not worth the talent he was given. 

The fourth was Grand Duke Haley Omaev, another warlock of the Warlock Corps. She was an older woman, aged gracefully, either approaching her second century or beyond it based on her gray hair and power. I knew people could live far beyond 100 years. Umara’s family had a couple ancestors beyond their second century. 

It was still a bit jarring to see such an ancient being in person though. I could feel the experience behind her. 

Another one of Talexia’s superiors, I had never met, seen, or heard anything about her beyond the fact that I was placed under her command for a time when I went into the military. Since Marshals were usually the ones to handle business, I only ever heard or saw their names from reports, not a Sovereign’s. I had little intel about the old lady, not enough to make an impression beyond her simple but rich appearance. 

The other three Grand Dukes that I knew of were Grand Dukes Petula Tahith, the warlock who had been stationed at Purple Sky when it fell to Anarchy, Grand Duke Duscellis Kinior, a knight, and Grand Duke Phero Runneas, another knight. Those three couldn’t be here today as they were manning other bases, making sure the Scourge couldn’t launch a sudden attack while the Sovereigns were away. 

The immediate sides of the table sported those closest to the King. He had advisors, a few Generals, and other nobles and politicians closely tied with the Royal Family. That included the Ibarin Dukedom, the family that the Queen hailed from. 

Beyond them, further away from the King, was everyone else. Other nobles, Maruqesses whose statuses didn’t warrant them a close seat, Dukes who didn’t care to fight for a closer spot, and other influential personages who held power beyond the obvious noble title. 

To my right was Umara, and to her right was Sawn, who came alone. Polly had been invited, so she brought Jasmine and the two of them sat beyond Sawn. To my left was Ikhor and to his left was Talexia, who made sure she would be near me. To her left was the Raven Family Chief, who had made sure to sit next to a familial ally. The Talerrias and Ravens went back centuries. Naturally they would stick together. 

Besides them, there were Full Generals and Major Generals spotting the chairs. After all, this Assembly was called primarily due to recent catastrophic defeats on the war front. Everyone here had some kind of hand in the war effort, whether that was directly or indirectly, economically or politically. 

It was the only reason I had been invited specifically. I myself have become an integral part of the war as a whole. My inventions, and now riches, afforded me a massive amount of influence. 

Some might think that my brashness or arrogance meant that I didn’t understand the kind of influence I had. 

Those people were idiots and not worth any more than an acknowledgment that they existed, and by extension they wouldn’t be the true players in this game. 

Those with any brain would understand that I didn’t lack self awareness, and even then, there was nobody here who could truly grasp the extent of my intellect and how thoroughly I understood my position. 

There was naught a single person in the Kingdom who had ever come close to understanding the kind of power Psyka afforded me, so long as Maxwell wasn’t considered a part of the Kingdom. 

It took half an hour for everyone to finally settle around the table. Once there was silence, the King spoke. 

“Welcome, everyone. You all have my gratitude for responding to the King’s Assembly.”

He gave his greeting, a whole prepared speech that meant nothing to me. 

“Today is the first day of our deliberations. Today, we will discuss the topics that will demand our attention for the following two days. Naturally, the reason this Assembly was called is the fronts of our war against the Scourge. With the recent fall of the Treehouse and the fall of Purple sky only a few years ago, the coverage of our western and northwestern fronts have been critically reduced, giving the Scourge an opening to launch attacks on the bases before the River of Desolation. Thus, by the end of the third day of the Assembly, we must have an answer to our dilemma, as well as all the problems surrounding the establishment of a new front. We will ensure that these failures cannot repeat themselves, but it will take the cooperation of everyone here today. So, let us officially begin our first assembly.”

The table flashed with his announcement. I saw a name card appear in front of me, obviously with my name on it. It was the same for everyone else. I was able to quickly memorize every face, name, and title at the table. 

It was, however, not the only thing I noticed given a bit of time and observation. 

My Aura was pulled in. Nobody was letting theirs run free here. Only the Sovereigns were allowed to, and even they were keeping themselves quiet, otherwise there’d be a whirlwind of power in the hall and nobody would be able to think straight. 

However, just because my Aura was reduced to my body didn’t mean that I couldn’t see what was installed below the floors. 

The Aura Shields of the Third Claw. 

Holding back the urge to look straight at them, I could sense a large room directly below us. It took a few seconds but I was able to quickly see through the Shield they had boxed the room in, as if trying to make it some kind of magical Faraday Cage. 

I likened the Shield to a compromise between a maze and an encryption. The Aura Shield could be seen through because it didn’t actually block Aura, nor magic. It simply forced them through so many layers of translations and misdirections that the observer simply couldn’t make sense of what was left, thus inducing the illusion of having seen nothing at all, as if they were looking at solid ground. 

But in the end, the Shield was non-destructive, like a blurred image or refracting glass pane. All the data was still there, and it could get through the Shield. All you needed was an observer encoded with the right directions to get through the shield, like a formula or password to an encryption. 

Or, you just needed to be smart enough to decipher it yourself. It was possible for me because I could track thousands of avenues at the same time, easily seeing through the maze they tried to misdirect everyone else through. Even Sovereigns, so long as they didn’t brute force it, would be tricked by it. And even they could only brute force it if they knew it was there in the first place. 

They probably did know, could probably see the tiny passive magical conduits through the floor and track them to an odd structure underneath them. But they obviously didn’t care. The 22 observers in the room weren’t aimed at them. 

I spoke through my telepathic connection with Umara, which had been active this whole time, I may not be able to use it over distances, but when we were this close, it was easier than breathing. 

[The floor has ears.]

[Sorry?]

[There are people watching us from below. Secret observers in a room beneath the hall.]

I tapped Umara’s mind, feeding her an outline of the room.

She kept her eyes up. Smart girl.

[Oh. That somehow doesn’t surprise me. Third Claw?]

[Most likely. That or just another covert branch of the Royal Family. All the same in the end.]

[Mm. I’ll make sure to be careful. If you could, alert my mother and those it may concern. We don’t want them thinking they can speak freely, even in private rooms.]

[Of course.]

I quickly did so, informing Sawn, Talexia, Ikhor, and the Raven Chief plus his wife. All of them were grateful for my warning, not that they weren’t already planning to be careful. It wasn’t crazy to imagine that every wall had an ear. 

I remained silent as the King went over the various topics that needed to be discussed. It took him an hour just to do that. 

First was consolidating and evaluating the total manpower of the military. After having lost over a quarter of a million troops over a 4 month timespan, the military was in dire need of a consensus and redistribution of power. The consensus could be done, but before they could adjust forces they needed to establish where new bases would be built. 

New battle lines needed to be drawn, new bases needed to be built, and most importantly, the manpower had to come from somewhere. 

Yet another topic of deliberation. Where would the soldiers come from? With so many people having died, that wasn’t as easy of a question to answer as it was before the fall of the Treehouse, and not simply because the pool was smaller. 

Besides the more obvious military matters, another matter of deliberation was my aircraft and their role on the battlefield. It was clear to everyone that they needed to be an integral part of every army. Close air support, bombing runs, air transport. They were extremely valuable offensively, defensively, strategically, and logistically. They were the only reason the Treehouse hadn’t fallen much sooner, the reason that although we had lost so many troops, we took many more monsters with us.

Nobody could deny their role or their utility. The question was, how many were there, and how would they be distributed across the entire theater. Almost all of them had been sent to the Treehouse because for a time, it was the sole focus of the Scourge, and Sawn wanted me to have as much support as possible. 

That would no longer be the case. Other Generals, and more importantly, other Sovereigns wanted to get their hands on aircraft and armament, and as far as they knew, there was an extremely limited supply. 

That would be a great surprise for them, to hear that now it was quite the opposite, but now wasn’t the time to mention it. The time would come later. 

Of course, my aircraft wasn’t the only economic topic. A massive movement of soldiers, as newly constructed bases would demand, would require a massive economic movement as well. Weapons to manufacture, armor to craft, vehicles to construct, food to transport, workers to send off, and many, many tons of materials to process and enchant. There would be people losing a lot of money and people making a lot of money, which would be decided by the taxes involved as well as subsidies from the Crown and who could fight for a good position. 

The positions would be determined by who could win the political battles after everyone left this room. But the taxes, and the new laws instituting them, would be determined by the King and the concessions of the advisors, Grand Dukes, and Dukes. 

This was only because each industry had its limits, unlike my own. That was a thought I needed to make sure Umara and Sawn kept in mind for when nobles started coming to us in an attempt to force us any one way. 

Of course, we wouldn’t be able to outright avoid everything, but I had my plans for that which we couldn’t ignore. 

After an hour or so of discussing which topics needed to be discussed, the meeting moved on to discuss the recent defeats themselves. 

Reports were passed around, the prime report being Polly’s since she was, officially, the only surviving intelligence agent at the level of General. She was only a Brigadier General but based on seniority, she was considered the one and only person who had a true grasp on the fall of the Treehouse. Nobody else had survived to say otherwise, short of the Sovereign. 

The assembly went and blabbed about the defeat, nothing I didn’t know in intimate detail since it was only a reflection. They wanted to know where things went wrong, who went wrong, and why it went wrong. 

An hour later and the blame was being passed around, nothing but conjecture since anybody they could blame was dead. Nobody would blame the Sovereign, and although some scrutiny was thrown Polly’s way, she was only a Brigadier General, so it wasn’t like she could take responsibility even if she wanted to. It was never in her hands. 

It was a lot of talk that went nowhere, nothing unexpected. So another hour later and they finally started to shift topics from what went wrong to how they would attempt to recover. 

It was only light talks. The King delegated the tasks of getting a consensus to the Generals who in turn gave out the commands via Aerial to subordinates to collect data for the next day. After that a large map was brought out and many people started giving input about where new bases should be constructed. 

Arguments quickly ensued. Many nobles wanted the bases to be placed closer to their cities so they could become a transfer hub, which would make them money. Benefits were masked with strategy, more blaming was thrown around, as if supply lines were ever the issue, and then they started talking more logistical details. 

That’s where my name was thrown around. 

I kept silent, even when mentioned, simply staring and watching. Marquesses went around blabbering as if my silence was somehow an agreement to hypothesize my cooperation. Airfields and planes were contrasted with wagons and Rails. The pros and cons of both were weighed with major biases since none of them knew the true costs of construction and manufacture. 

I said nothing. Now was not the time for me to get involved. The only people talking were the small time nobles who happened to own territory near the River of Desolation. They wanted to make sure that if transportive logistics were to utilize aircraft, I would know that their doors were open for quick and easy accommodation. 

As if I couldn’t just make a supply center myself and reap every benefit instead of sharing with them. Their talk was nothing but assumptions, not worthy of me even considering, nor deserving of my voice. 

But the point was to open the topic for discussion in the first place, to flesh out the many possibilities so that when everyone retreated to private rooms, they would have the ideas at hand and ready to weaponize for the most possible benefits. 

Because of that, it became clear that I was a major player. My planes had a nearly equal impact on the general economy as it did the military. It was subtle only to normal citizens who occasionally saw them in the air. Every noble knew that I had the capacity to take over transportation and logistics in every industry, from agriculture to mining, and that was just with planes, not even considering new vehicle and even train designs Wonderland had already tested. So when I multiplied the number of aircraft in circulation, and then added hyper efficient vehicles and trains on top of it? The effects would be global and I would be at the center of another small revolution. 

They knew it. I knew it. Question was, would they try to hurt me, or help me? And who would I cooperate with? It was all up to me. I had all the cards. 

The benefits of being a monopoly. I could make or break everything. My decisions could affect where bases were built, if new cities were created behind them. 

The only downside was that if the King could see that as deeply as few others could, then he might try to stick his hand in my business, forcefully. I could still do little before the monarchy, the supreme power of this land. There were no laws that could protect me from him because he and the Sovereigns could change them to suit their interests. And if I fought it, I’d lose everything instead of just a small portion of my business. 

My balancing act was with him, not other nobles. And yet, how we balanced each other would reflect through those same nobles, the pawns in this game. 

I could see it all. Extremely few knew that I could. And yet I loathed playing the game. I had to be careful about outright refusing, but that fact only pissed me off more. 

It was why I gave the Church all my tech already. In their hands, it would thrive with or without me while I fought for a slice of the pie in the Kingdom. 

No, not a slice of the pie. I had made my own pie and now I had to dish it carefully, balancing between revealing how large my pie was and showing everyone that there were limits to the slices I gave out so that they didn’t think they could take advantage of my success. 

Hmm, I loved pies.

I started dozing off at some point, the lessers around the table continuing to argue, continuing to throw my name out occasionally. I just pondered other things worth my brainpower, and yet every word uttered was still memorized in perfect clarity. 

After another handful of hours and absolutely no productive conversation later, the King finally ended the first meeting. Everyone rose and left the hall, moving into the dining area once more where dinner was already being prepared. 

The next two meetings would be the juicy ones. Dukes and Sovereigns would finally start speaking, and I’d probably have to step in. I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up talking to some with Sawn, making deals and promises. After all, Sawn and I were the head of the defense industry, and by bringing the tank here we had already shown that we were here to advertise. We had many new products and all of them would affect these deliberations. 

I planned to let Umara handle the deals behind closed doors, however. I could control myself and play politics but I had no interest in doing so. I’d piss off too many people simply because I knew I could, but since I agreed that it wasn’t the smartest route, I had to let Umara handle things first. 

If they fell out of her hands, then I’d happily step in and draw the hard line. I’d be the bad cop in that situation and perhaps then people would rethink whether they wanted to give Umara a hard time. 

Dinner came and went, Umara and I seated at another small table by our lonesome. Several people finally came up to us during that time, asking for our presence behind closed doors. Umara stepped up and handled all of them, and after those who came realized that I wouldn’t be entertaining them personally, they deferred to her. Of course, I’d be there anyway, but they knew where I stood. 

And so dinner ended. Night had fallen by then and yet there was much to be done. I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of those at the table would be pulling all-nighters. Umara and I would be, most likely, and then we’d be getting straight into the next day and meeting, perhaps buying ourselves a couple hours of sleep, if we were lucky. 

Finally, the time came to enter the ‘private’ rooms of the Royal Palace. I could see Aura Shields everywhere, one or two people behind them, watching, recording, and stashing data for later. How much dirt and info they had remained to be seen, but I didn’t plan on being naive either. 

I had already planted my seeds in the Church. The Kingdom would not be exempt from this, but I wanted to go straight to the core. I hardly cared about little nobles and their scandalous affairs. 

I wanted the deep, dark secrets of the Third Claw. 

They knew how to isolate information just like the Church did. But now, I was in the Royal Palace. There was no better place to inject another seed program. 

Of course, they wouldn’t allow me to go wandering. But once again, I had my own plans, and it started on the first night. 

Umara and I entered a room, inside being a Marquess of a southern territory, one rich in agricultural exports. Naturally, he was interested in our products, and I had decided to start with this little noble. 

We gave our greetings, and after some pleasantries, Umara smiled and brought out a little box. 

“Marquess, I have a gift for you.”

She held out the box, opening it to reveal an Aerial. Gilded, luxurious, comfortable, more functional than any other Aerial. 

A new user interface, a built in browser, intuitive access to Nodenet sites. It was easy, it was pretty, and mostly importantly, it was free. 

Umara pushed the box forward, the Marquess taking it with glimmering eyes. 

“Sawn Industries’ newest Aerial. We want you to have it, a token of our goodwill. With it, we’ll be able to engage in more business with each other.”

I barely held back a smile as the Marquess put it on, replacing his old one. The new Aerial automatically transferred all his data, all his contacts, all his messages with a simple tap. 

He was shocked at how easy it was. How he could simply start using his new fancy Aerial with no trouble or hassle. In fact, he was so pleased that he tossed the old one across the room, reveling in our nice gesture and flattering us with compliments, eager to please and get in our good graces. 

All I saw was the first of its namesake

Umara gave the man a stunning smile. 

“It is called the Trojan. We hope you enjoy its ease of use.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep