Godfather's System

192. Augmentation - 33

For them to set the tent barely took a minute, in an area that could be classified as neutral ground. Their speed was a surprise, but not in a good way. Under the current circumstances, it made sense to play slowly, and maybe even waste more time to try their luck with more assassination attempts.

The fact that they were hurrying up wasn't a good sign, at least not in my paranoid mind. It might be that they just wanted to finish what they planned and leave, but watching the intense concentration the servants displayed as they set up the tent, I felt otherwise.

And, if they had a plan, it was either targeted at Town Maell itself, or they wanted me to pin me down with the political talks while they did whatever they had planned. Which was why, when the tent was set, I informed them that I would be joining them in half an hour while I talked with Zolast and Limenta.

With the chaos in Town Yoentia almost quelled, the Wall was the next best target, and whatever they had in mind should be an intense effort, considering they assumed that keeping me tied down with an important meeting could help.

Maybe I was misreading the situation, and they were planning to just deal with me directly despite meeting under the flag of truce, but I doubted that. I didn't trust their honor, but I trusted that they valued their long-term reputation more than whatever benefit they could extract from the current circumstances.

I chose to delay only for half an hour despite wanting to delay for more, because I didn't want to push them too much. Anymore, and whatever mysterious plan they had, they might choose to activate it. Half an hour was enough for Limenta and Takis to arrive at the wall, which should be enough to handle any threat Zolast might face there.

Especially if he were to decide not to hold back.

Half an hour later, I walked into the tent alone. It didn't fit my station, but I didn't rule up the chance that things might turn sour. With our elite forces already sent to the wall, unless I brought the Baron with me, it wouldn't help.

And, it would be stupid to bring their target to them.

I arrived at the tent, and found four people inside. They stood up, each nodding with respect. "Lord Steward," the emissary that I had talked earlier nodded at me, but his body language suggested that he was just a figurehead.

The traitor was also there, doing his best to look calm, but failing spectacularly. I wasn't surprised. Even before everything had collapsed, he did his best to ally with the Somatons though, it was just the Night Blades back then probably in exchange for their help to take the title. Once that failed, he pulled a very open betrayal but when that also failed, he was turned into a disposable pawn of the royal family.

Not that he deserved any pity.

However, the other two figures were more important. One wore a robe with many lightning bolts, and the other wore a masterful armor that was branded with an anvil. Two priests, one of Zeus, one of Hephaestus.

A dangerous combination. A priest of Zeus was understandable, as they were the most respected church of this world, but the priest of Hephaestus was more of a surprise. However, since he didn't come with an army, it was clear that they weren't aware of our heresy. They were probably interested in the great number of weapons that we had acquired.

"Let's start our discussion," the emissary said as he led me to the seat. I sat down, refused the refreshments as while I didn't expect them to use poison, I didn't want to risk it and spent the next five minutes in ceremonial nonsense. Yet, I noticed that, now that I was at the tent, they showed no sign of hurry.

Which supported my earlier guess. They wanted me with them to prevent me from blocking their ploy. I informed Zolast of that, and he confirmed that, a minute after I had entered the tent, the attack at the Wall intensified, but the princess' forces were managing to hold on thanks to their new armaments.

I felt curious, wondering exactly how they were planning to keep me in the tent. Maybe some kind of magical trap but such a thing would ruin the truce. I focused on my Perception, careful to avoid their attention, and noticed a problem.

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The sounds that were coming from outside felt rather flat, like they were recorded. I soon realized that they had used a silencing ward and a spell to make some noise. It was masterful, and even with my Perception, I had to focus to realize the trick. The spell itself wasn't strong, but it was cast masterfully.

Compared to that, blocking magical communication was far simpler. Suddenly, I realized exactly what they were trying to do. They wanted to keep me disconnected from the news. However, they couldn't have guessed that I had a superior communication method under my control, or my Charisma was flexible enough to keep an eye on the town itself.

With that, I let them kill time for a long while. "May I ask when Baron Maell will join us?" the emissary asked five minutes later.

"He's busy with the war effort, so he won't be joining us," I said. "He's still leading our trade caravan to the Wall."

The emissary failed to hide his frustration from my gaze. He wanted to call me a liar, but he couldn't do without revealing his knowledge, and doing so would ruin the veil of civility he was trying to create. "Unfortunately, that will not do," the emissary said. "I have been appointed by the royal court to solve the disagreement in the Maell family, and we have to talk with him."

"Disagreement," I chuckled as I looked at the other member. "Is this what the Ralum family calls gutless betrayals?" I asked.

"That's an uncharitable way of referring to the subject. Andlima Maell had faced with a dangerous dilemma, and chose to retreat from the battle to reinforce the town."

"Leaving his nephew to die," I commented. "His crime is clear, and Baron Maell already declared that he would be executed. The only reason I don't kill him is the respect I'm extending to the Ralum family." Then, I growled. "Don't assume that respect is limitless."

The emissary froze at the declaration, then sent a pointed glare at his pawn. "I'm willing to accept a Blood Duel to clean my name."

I let my expression twist into sharp anger, like it was a momentary slip. "Are you going to fight, or are you going to hide behind while your owners send a champion, dog?" I called, accompanied by a slam of my Charisma.

It was nowhere near its limit, but it was easy to fake it to be so. The traitor whimpered until the emissary stepped in front of him and flared his Charisma to defend. I let him succeed, but maintained my 'ineffectual' attack. At the same time, I pushed a sense of victory to the emissary, which would allow me to read him even easier.

"Does it matter, Lord Steward?" the emissary asked. "The rules of the Blood Duel are clear. A champion is always acceptable."

"So, you have no problem if our church declares a champion as well," I growled, showing that I was sufficiently emotional and feeling insulted. However, as I said that, I watched his expression carefully, and caught a glimpse of happiness. "Maybe I should be the one" I said lingeringly, and his triumph increased even further.

"Too bad that it's a decision our High Priest has to take," I suddenly said. "He might choose to defend the honor of our church directly. You have to wait until he returns," I said.

With that, their elation was gone, confirming that they didn't want to fight with Zolast. Not a shocker, as for the last hour, he had been destroying the Somaton army with great effectiveness, showing that he was not someone that could be dealt with.

Their faces showed that, whatever preparation they had, it wasn't enough to deal with Zolast. The emissary looked panicked, then looked at the priests. They both nodded.

Then, the priest of Zeus stepped forward. "There's no need for a Blood duel. So called treason is only hearsay, isn't it?" he commented. "It's clear that Baron Maell and most of his army survived. Maybe the risks had been exaggerated. Andlima was clearly retreating to defend the town from the siege while Baron fought against the evil forces."

"The Baron only survived thanks to the grace of our divine patron. Our Exalted High Priest and the Crusader both arrived on time to see exactly what happened. There's no doubt."

The priest of Zeus smiled with a disgusting, smarmy twist that he had no doubt thought to be affable and kind. It reminded me of the way some of the district attorneys acted while they were trying to take my organization down often in the payroll of the others.

I felt a similar vibe from him. I had a feeling that his presence here was not approved by his higher ups. The same didn't apply to the priests of Hephaestus, who watched the situation calmly. He was the one that needed to be watched more carefully.

"Well, so they claim," he started.

"Are you calling my high priest a liar?" I said.

"Well, if the shoe fits " the priest started, trying to anger me. And, the other's expression was tight as well. They clearly wanted to fight with me.

I had no choice but to accept it. Pacifism didn't work when the other party was determined to fight.

So, I decided to accept it with style.

I took a step forward, and slapped the priest backhanded. Not hard enough to kill him, but only because of his high level. He still went flying and hit against the tent. Attacking someone during truce was problematic, but a slap, humiliating as it was, sending the priest out of the tent, didn't leave any lasting damage.

With my Agility, none of them were able to register what had happened, let alone react to it.

"Repeat what you said, dog!" I shouted.

"How dare you attack me during a truce!" he gasped.

I ignored my desire to smile. "You think you can insult my high priest with impunity?"

"But" he started.

I cut in. "You can either apologize, or we can go out and have a duel," I challenged, knowing that the last thing they wanted was for me to step outside the tent and access my communication.

It was fun to use their ploys against them.

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