In truth, the items had almost been taken away regardless. When greed festers to a certain point, logic gets thrown out the window. What saved the day - and shocked everyone - was that the Royal Family had moved out their guards, who came to stand behind the Mercenary Guild.
In the name of protecting order and strengthening the youth of the nation, they gave their full support for this mission. As such, the various heads smiled and shamelessly laughed in agreement before leaving.
No one understood why the Royal Faction, which had been greatly suppressed by the Superiority and Equality Factions would suddenly jump into this murky water, but the eyes of some clever ones had shone as they smelled a plot.
It was either that the Royal Faction wanted to hug the thigh of this Master-stage expert who was rumored to have issued this quest by openly supporting him, or that they were willing to represent him in the Andrato Kingdom alongside - or preferably, over - the Mercenary Guild.
Another reason could be because they wanted to stir up chaos and force the Equality Faction as well as the Superiority Faction to move out. Whichever the case, many parties cursed under their breath, for the Royals had played a great card so early.
Of course, now that the quality of the goods had been ascertained and affirmed to be higher than anything produced locally or imported, the various powers quickly set out.
Basically, except for their leaders or vices, everyone else rushed out with their various means of transportation. The only ones who didn't participate were the Royal Faction, who didn't even have the forces to do so.
The Equality Faction was the strongest faction in the Andrato Kingdom currently, with more than 90% of all nobles supporting the group. The Superiority Faction made up the remaining 10%, but they were agents of Fraterina.
With funding and support provided from a higher-class kingdom, they had been able to hold on so far. In fact, their number of Adepts had grown rapidly these past few years after being fed resources of higher quality, but even they paled in comparison to what Darius had provided.
In moving out, the Superiority Faction wanted to secure more clout and funding from the Fraterina Kingdom, so they thought to complete the mission and send the rewards upwards.
As for the Equality Faction, they simply couldn't allow the Superiority Faction to give Fraterina any reason to increase their rival's war budget. They also felt that if they could acquire these resources and use them locally, they could strengthen the kingdom's youth.
Technically, the Equality Faction and Royal Faction were one, but they did not make it seem like so on the surface, yet any idiot could tell. The moves the factions were making carried heavy meanings and consequences, but Darius could care less.
Vena - through Caesar - had told him he was basically an element of chaos. He was an evil soul brought into a relatively stable and functional world to amuse her by any means necessary, so he would do so.
One thing Darius always had in mind that most forgot to acknowledge was that he wasn't alone in this bid. He was the main stage actor, and who were his supporting cast?
The world of Faust and its people!
Whether they liked it or not, whether they were aware or not, Darius would drag them into his plays and force them to dance like monkeys to amuse the Goddess, something he himself was forced to do.
Just like now. In order to achieve his goal, he had thrown an entire kingdom into utter chaos. Whether Andrato would benefit from this or become crippled, who knew?
And who cared?
...............
Darius himself was seated at the bar within his suite as he contemplated the possible consequences of his actions that would affect himself and his interests. He had planned most everything out, but the move by the Royal Faction ended up surprising him.
Darius believed that neither Bistro nor Lord Spencely had told the Equality Faction about the truth of this mission. In fact, even Carlton had lied to his boss about many things.
That's right, the chairperson of the entire Mercenary Guild legitimately believed that there was a Master-stage expert behind them, which was why he even dared to agree but felt as if he had not had any other choice.
Had Carlton not done so, they would never have accepted Darius' commission without taking more payment. This was why Carlton reported that Darius planned to reward them with 5 each of the Spark Potions and Awakening Scrolls, not 7.
As for the rest, did it need to be said?
Right now, Darius was planning to sit and watch the events play out. His involvement was not necessary, at least not this early into the plan. For the time being, he was content to prepare some things he had been planning to when he was in the dungeon.
He had only been interrupted then because of his sudden level up as well as Caesar's eventual descent, but he could rectify things now.
As such, he pulled out one of his four remaining empty spell manuals and focused.
[Would you like to change the Empty Spell Manual into a Light Spell Manual? This will cost 4 Conversion Points.]
Darius made the conversion and watched as the manual transformed into a book that radiated a holy light. It felt like should it shine on the undead, it would rend them to ash under the edification of purity.
He then learned the spell before checking out its function through his Character Menu.
[Detected spellbook. Would you like to learn its contents?
Warning: The spellbook will be destroyed upon using this method! Continue?]
[Purify - Level 1 Spell
Cost: 1 MP
Description: Become a conduit for the light of the world, spreading purity while cleansing all darkness and evil. This deals 5% light damage.]
Darius nodded with satisfaction. This would be a useful spell in dealing with the various Undead he was bound to meet on his way to the Stonekeeper.
