Chapter 323 – Hostile Takeover.

“I see…”

The pale light of a crystal ball faded as the magical connection had been cut. The man before it continued to nervously tap his desk while thinking. Ever since the dungeon appeared in this city he wasn’t sure if he could consider it a blessing. From what had become known to him now, it seemed that it could be turning into a curse.

“My Lord.”

“You can come in.”

The door opened up and soon a person dressed in a maid uniform entered. She was quick to push the curtains blocking out the sun to the side. This illuminated the inside of the room and revealed the city lord’s face. His gaze was plastered on the round object on the desk, it was clear that the news that he received wasn’t the greatest. Before the maid could ask about the issue he started speaking out.

“Our backup plan won’t be arriving for another day, we might be out of luck this time around…”

“I’m sorry, Lord Arthur, It’s all my fault if I had been able to impede them for longer…”

“You did your best, I’m surprised that they made it here this fast, their leader must be an indifferent individual… But in the future, I’d like you to refrain from using those types of underhanded means.”

“Yes, My Lord…”

A sulking Mary was bowing down before Arthur. Both of them were inside the villa that used to be the Mayor’s house. Since they had arrived here the building had gone through a renovation and finally began looking like a proper home for a noble. With the sunlight shining in through the window to this office they could see out onto the courtyard. There some soldiers along with the staff were gathering to receive their new guests.

“What about him?”

“He said that he doesn’t wish to be involved in things related to nobles…”

“That’s what I thought, can’t really blame him.”

“He’s just an ungrateful coward, I knew we couldn’t trust him.”

“It’s not like we trusted him to begin with, our little alliance had a shaky foundation from the beginning.”

Arthur shrugged while weakly smiling. The person that they were talking about was probably the only one that could help them out in this time of need. They already knew about Lord Commander Emmerson the moment he appeared at the city gate. Soon he would make his way over to the villa without them having any proper protection.

“However, without the Guild Master’s help, this will put me in a bind…”

“Are you going to sign it, Lord Arthur?”

“…That depends…”

The city lord started thinking of the issue he was facing. The hired muscle that was supposed to be here to act as a deterrent wasn’t here. Without having any allies in high places there was no one to ask for help or even for a deal. Other nobles that resided on this island didn’t want to have anything to do with the Valerian house. They did not want to catch the ire of any of the sons of Duke Alexander without getting offered a proper payment.

No one in their right mind would provide backing for Arthur who was the least likely to achieve success. Some didn’t even consider him to be part of the race for the duke title due to his shaky birth. This meant that the young man would need to work extra hard to even out the playing field. Now on the other hand, with the Rank B dungeon in his territory, he had become a valuable resource that the other brothers would attempt to conquer.

“What about the other offers?”

Mary looked at the desk that had some paperwork laid out on it. Theodore Valerian wasn’t the only one attempting to get access to the resources from the new dungeon. He was just the one that was the closest to this location. Even if he was able to handle the knights that arrived in his city today, this wouldn’t fix the issue.

Arthur was the fifth brother from the line according to age. This didn’t mean that he was the youngest as their father continued to foster more prospects. During this short time span he received two other letters from other siblings that were asking for the same thing. While they couldn’t legally force him to sign a contract, there was no one stopping them from being persuasive.

Each and everyone that he was going up against had their own hired help. This came in the form of strong adventurers, mercenaries, and even more unsavory types. It wouldn’t be strange if the knight that arrived today wouldn’t leave unless he signed whatever contract he brought along. If he refused then there was no telling to what length Theodore’s men would lower themselves, using force was probably not off the table.

“Oh, more of the same, Theodore’s men just arrived the fastest. Perhaps if we can prolong the discussion enough to buy us some time, they could hinder each other.”

“But will they arrive in time?”

“I don’t think we have any other options, for now, we can only delay…”

Arthur clicked his tongue in indignation. There was really nothing that he could see doing to avoid this confrontation. It was as if the world was against him. Perhaps the people that he was trying to pull to his side had already been bought out by his siblings and it was never meant to be. Without proper protection and time, there was no chance of him ever competing with those brothers of his.

They were treated differently, from the start they were given experienced knights as helpers. Their territories were already somewhat established, they just needed to know the basics of managing a fief. Other people were quickly drawn to those places offering money and power. Working for a duke’s son and possible heir was a very attractive offer. Soon they were commanding large armies with multiple tier 3 Knight Commanders.

To Arthur who wasn’t even given a knight of that status this felt unfair. His brothers were able to just send out a person of such power with leisure and one of them was now at his doorstep. Normally, if he had gained the loyalty of a Knight Commander rank person then no one would be able to bully him out in the open.

They wouldn’t be as brazen to send a large force like this into his territory without any approval. As it stood now, they were not afraid of any retaliation, they were clearly not afraid of any repercussions that could normally come out of attacking a fellow noble.

“What’s done is done, perhaps we can talk things over, our helpers might still make it in time. More importantly, do you have any word of their movements inside the city?”

“Yes, they have been gathering up our associates, they split into several groups and they are gathering up people associated with us, merchants, business owners, even adventurers.”

“I see, they intend to make a scene…”

They were gathering up people that were associated with his name. They were probably not in danger of anything and were just there for the spectacle. It seemed that he would be publicly shamed in front of his associates and retainers. Probably after he was forced to sign the contract, the Knight Commander would force him to make a speech. In it, his brother Theodore’s name would certainly be mentioned as how he was the real lord of the city.

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“They really want to make me look like a fool in front of all those people, are they even going to bring him along?”

Arthur clenched his fist while looking outside the window. There he tried glancing into the distance towards the forest area. His associate that created a lot of helpful gadgets was living there. It was well known to everyone that the city runesmith was working for him. It wouldn’t be strange if the knight dragged him over here to take part in the scene. Wayland was smart so there was no reason to be concerned about this issue, instead he was more concerned about the forced speech itself.

After making such an announcement and word spreading it would be over. In the noble circles, he would become just a henchman for Theodore, his brother. While he didn’t care about his name as much as the others, it carried a meaning. No one would associate with him anymore and treat him as a lackey, regaining his foothold would become impossible. He would probably be forced to accept an overseer inside of the city. This would turn him into nothing more than a puppet.

“Halt! Identify yourself!”

“Hmph, mere soldiers dare stand in my way? Stand aside if you wish to keep your heads.”

“Make way for the Knight Commander! Don’t you see the crest you fools?”

The commotion that was taking place at the entrance gate could be heard by Arthur. The guards that were placed there had been picked and trained in a more proper manner. Even though they knew that the other knights belonged to the valerian household they wouldn’t just let them through.