Chapter 78: The Elf Conspiracy (5)

“The White Unicorn?” Simon asked while feigning surprise. “You are with the White Unicorn?”

“The people’s spirits are not so easily broken,” Elaine replied with a faint smile. “House Magnos’ reckoning has been in preparation for a very, very long time.”

“I have been organizing such gatherings since I finished the palace’s renovations, though tonight’s guests nearly cancelled it,” Lady Justine boasted upon slouching on a sofa. “Are you reassured now that you have seen his face?”

“What madness possessed you to disguise yourself as the Overlord?” Robert Flauros admonished Simon. “Many almost backed out of this gathering out of fear that Balzam Magnos was attending this ball.”

“If you had told me this party was a front for the White Unicorn, I would have come as the Paladin,” Simon replied, which drew chuckles from a few of the people present. “I just… I don’t understand how my father and Shabram could miss a conspiracy this big. Lord Malphas has been in my father’s service for years; he should have picked up on your true sympathies.”

“My family was never on the Overlord’s side,” Lord Patriate admitted. “The Oracle’s plans stretch across decades and centuries. We were planted many years back with false identities, with orders to climb the empire’s echelons and accumulate as much influence as we could. We played the role of loyal subjects until our orders finally came.”

“The night my father was slain,” Simon said, smirking as he fished for more information. “Did you do the deed? If so, then I owe you my gratitude.”

“Thank you, but it would be misplaced,” Patriate replied politely. “My task was to smuggle in a special weapon called the Mana Sword into Frightwall’s chapel, where the Oracle predicted Balzam’s assassin would find it.”

“The assassin?” Simon’s eyes widened slightly. “You don’t know who killed my father?”

“That information was deemed so sensitive that the Oracle kept it to herself. She alone knows who picked the sword.”

“Which is a pickle, because that mystery assassin still holds the Mana Sword,” Justine complained. “Whereas now we have a new Overlord to deal with.”

Patriate sighed. “Our agents are trying to locate this Casval, but I admit we neglected Telluria and have little to no presence on the ground there. I hope Lady Eole’s knowledge of the shifter tribes will help us.”

This information disappointed Simon. The Oracle was so big on operational security that she centralized all key information around herself, even something as critical as her chosen assassin for the Overlord. She wasn’t so different from Balzam in that regard.

Then again, it made sense. The Overlords continuously ruined her plans by mysteriously divining them before they happened. Simon would have been extremely paranoid too, in her place.

It also seemed the assassin didn’t directly work for the Oracle, or at least not as a direct part of her conspiracy. It must have been either a contracted killer capable of infiltrating Frightwall like the Rogue, or someone already inside the castle like Louis or Euphemia. Simon wondered if investigating who attended the chapel on the day of Balzam’s murder would yield more insight into the matter.

Nonetheless, learning the mere fact that the White Unicorn had little to no presence in Telluria was already valuable information in itself. This explained why Vouivre had such an easy time establishing a foothold there and why the Malphas family decided to personally pursue Louis there in the reign where he visited the Academy. They simply had no one else to send.

This was Simon’s opportunity to learn almost everything.

“What will you do now, Lord Simon?” Lady Justine asked him pointedly. “Our contract only forbids you from revealing our secrets to outsiders, but it doesn’t compel you to help us.”

Simon raised an eyebrow. “You would let me go after I learned all this?”

“Do you take us for the Overlord?” Lord Patriate replied with a hint of disdain. “We don’t force people to join us. You have all of our gratitude for helping smuggle Lady Eole and Lady Firewand out of Frightwall, so we’re willing to help you leave Endymion and disappear as you originally planned if you do not wish to fight with us.”

“But it would help us a great deal if you did,” Elaine admitted. “We could work together to change things for the better.”

By hastening a deadly civil war and bombing Frightwall? Simon nonetheless pretended to be cautiously interested. “I’m… I’m willing to listen for now.”

“Very good,” Lord Patriate said upon inviting him to sit with Elaine. “I suggest we all switch to elvish so Lady Eole can join the conversation. Let us start with a roundtable introduction.”

And so, Simon was introduced to two dozen high-ranked conspirators from all across Magvolia and western Endymion. Most of the people present didn’t surprise him all that much, since he had seen them rise against Louis or in support of Princess Satine’s failed revolution, but a handful had done neither. These hidden members were nobles or powerful merchants from other imperial regions like Valendre or Navarre, or even the imperial heartland. Simon assumed they had either chickened out at the last second like the Eligos did, or preserved their cover by playing the long-game. Nobody present came from the eastern tributaries like Fablan or Telluria, which told Simon the conspiracy mostly focused its efforts in the west due to a combination of its proximity to their allies in Lore and the War Party’s stronghold. Infiltrating the Church Party’s dominions must have been deemed a lower priority since Euphemia was more amenable to compromise.

This meeting also allowed Simon to meet with Lord Robert’s father, Duke Rufus Flauros, and his wife Anselma. The former was a middle-aged man with a graying blond and well-trimmed beard, short hair, his son’s eyes, and a solemn face that didn’t inspire much warmth. The red doublet bearing the burning leopard standard of his house seemed more lively than the man wearing it.

His wife was more interesting. Simon had already seen her portrait from Shabram’s files, but seeing her in the flesh said more than any picture. Although her face was almost identical to her twin sister Justine’s, besides the auburn hair, her smile was warm rather than sharp, her dress modest rather than extravagant, and her posture more regal.

“Greetings, Lord Simon,” she said when he gallantly kissed her hand. “Lady Firewand spoke highly of you.”

“She did?” Simon asked as he turned to look at Belzemine, who seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden. He had extensively drilled her on what to do for this event, including to not look at him for orders, but she was no trained spy. “You look… different, Lady Firewand.”

“I am… free,” she said. Not with triumph, but with uncertainty. “Free to… speak my mind.”

“Free?” Simon’s eyes lingered on her chest and ‘noticed’ the absence of slave brands on her skin. “The Overlord’s Brand… it’s gone.”

“Me and my sister’s life work,” Lady Anselma explained as she presented Simon with a small silver dagger covered in elven runes. “This weapon severs any magical slave brand it touches.”

“But I thought the Overlord’s slave brands were impossible to remove,” Simon said, feigning surprise.

“They aren’t,” Lady Justine replied with a scoff. “The Overlord’s brands are a highly advanced form of demonic pact that can bind a target’s soul to the Overlord’s, even when coerced into submission. Like all contracts and curses, they must include an exit clause: in this case, the Overlord failing to provide the promised ‘benefit’ or revoking the brand.”

“What these daggers do, truly, is to transmit false information to the recipient’s brand that the Overlord failed to deliver the benefit, which causes a paradox and voids the contract without harming the recipient,” Lady Anselma explained. “We planned to use it to free Lady Firewand for years, but we knew the Overlord would sense her freedom and come investigate, so we had to wait for Balzam Magnos’ demise and form a secure evacuation plan before proceeding.”

“I see…” Simon never imagined such a loophole existed in the Devil Brands, or at least in a way that could be exploited. For a weapon to impersonate the Overlord Class’ soulbound command… Crafting these devices must have demanded decades of study and experimentation, perhaps even centuries, especially since removing some Brands should actively harm the holder. “Can I touch it?”

“Yes, of course,” Lady Anselma said. “We have a handful.”

Simon grabbed the dagger’s handle and edge, but though his Class spirit filled his heart with burning hatred and a nagging demand to shatter the blade for the insult it represented, he didn’t sense any loss of connection to Shabram or Duchar. The dagger only worked when used on the slave, not the master.

Could Simon cover that weakness in the brands? They were automatically applied when he used the associated Perks, so he couldn’t exactly modify them himself. A Title might get around the issue depending on the Crimson Throne’s whims, but he knew too little about his own powers to judge that possibility for now.

“This device will change a lot,” Simon said upon returning the dagger. “Many of my father’s generals were kept in line by their brands.”

“Many slaves in Telluria would rise up should they learn their slave tattoos can be removed too,” Eole said with enthusiasm. “I can recommend many shifter tribes that would gladly join our side should we give them this dagger.”

Lady Anselma nodded in support. “Creating copies will take time, but we can craft more now that we have confirmed that they work.”

“Which brings us to the matter at hand, now that introductions are complete.” Lord Patriate clasped his hands. “Now that Lady Firewand has been successfully exfiltrated from Frightwall, the Oracle has foreseen that the Goddess’ Judgment will fall upon this cursed castle on the agreed-upon date.”

“The Goddess’ Judgment?” Eole asked with a frown.

“A powerful astromancy spell cast from Illusea by the Oracle herself,” Lady Anselma explained. “It can only be cast once per year, on the 30th day of the month of Nivose, at a specifically marked location. It will lay down Frightwall and decapitate Endymion’s leadership.”

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Lady Justine waved her fan. “I say we cancel that plan.”

Patriate frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you see the golden opportunity we have, my dear brother?” She waved her fan at Simon. “We have a Magnos in bed with your daughter, who is coincidentally close to Lauriane Magnos. Why not put one of them on the throne once Louis is out of the picture? We could preserve and reform the empire from within rather than tear it apart back into petty fiefdoms.”

“The plan–”

“Whose plan? The Oracle’s? The one that changes every morning?” Justine sneered dismissively, which took Simon slightly aback. She clearly didn’t have a high opinion of the Oracle. “The Mana Sword was meant to kill the Overlord in a way that would have prevented the killer or anyone else from inheriting the Class, with the Goddess’ Judgment destroying Frightwall and the Crimson Throne to prevent the possibility of recovery… Yet the Class found a new vessel anyway. If the first step has already failed, what guarantee do we have that the second will yield fru–”

“Wait!” Simon’s head perked up, his heart skipping a beat. “What did you just say?!”

Lady Justine raised an eyebrow. “The part about your sister, or the Overlord?”

“The latter,” Simon replied, unable to contain his curiosity. “You have found a way to prevent the Overlord Class from passing from one holder to another?”

“We thought we did,” Lady Justine corrected him, her fan covering her mouth. “Alas, the Oracle’s predictions once again proved wrong.”

“It wouldn’t say they were wrong, just slightly off,” Lord Rufus Flauros said diplomatically. “The Oracle informed us she can still perceive the assassin in her latest message to us, so they didn’t inherit the Class.”

“To answer your question, Lord Simon, the Mana Sword is a special blade crafted and reforged over centuries for the purpose of destroying the Overlord Class,” Lady Anselma explained. “Overlords possess multiple Perks and defenses that make them extraordinarily difficult to kill. Weaker weapons bounce off them, they can teleport around or drain slaves of their lifeforce to regenerate their wounds…”