"Yes, there was an attack on your quaint little retirement home by some rabble. Hardly a reason to call us out here if you ask me." A middle-aged noble lady with pale skin and a svelte body commented with slight annoyance.
Shanks ignored her and continued. "While it was an unusual attack on my person or property, it might interest you to know that I have reason to believe it was likely instigated by the Superiority Faction."
This got them all serious as they perked up in their seats. Another middle-aged noble, this time a well-dressed gentleman with a top hat and a monocle, asked gravely.
"Shanks, with all due respect dear fellow, this is a serious matter to accuse them of. Do you have any concrete proof or evidence?"
Shanks nodded towards this nobleman and elaborated the attack on the homestead clearly. The nobles were shocked to learn that even the Garwen Bandits had taken part, as those had been their own bloody agents!
Unfortunately, the Garwen Bandits had been forced to break their incognito status to warn the homestead, which was only proper given the kind of force the civilians would be faced with, so the nobles were not too bothered.
However, what did bother them was the slip of paper Shanks passed around which had the handwriting of Garwen himself. In it, he detailed the plan of the bandits as well as who funded them.
According to him, a strange agent from the Superiority Faction had approached the Diato and Foldo Bandits, even giving Foldo the reins over the operation. In order to make sure that their execution was handled well, they sent their known agent, Jorge, to monitor the situation.
Garwen also listed the things that the bandit groups were promised as well as the items they used to lure out the monsters, which was a steep cost if turned into gold coins.
Most of those at the round table only half-believed the story until they saw this part. They knew that such wealth could not drop from the sky, and only a group as large as the Superiority Faction could possibly finance such an operation.
Gunner quickly looked at Darius and then averted his eyes. Darius for that matter, wore a light smile keeping up the farce that he was as harmless as a little rabbit that could not even chew grass to live.
There was a silence at the round table for a minute as the fellows here digested the information they had been given, verifying it in their minds with what they knew of their opponents and their objective, as well as the possible repercussions if things had turned out differently.
Shanks allowed them to digest this info silently for about 5 minutes before he spoke up again. "In truth, all would have been lost if not for the help of Lord Darius behind me, and his powerful servant, Gunner."
Shanks then informed them about what Darius had done for the homestead, how he had arrived, and his actions since then. Once they heard Darius was a mage who could even make Scrolls of Awakening, they were stunned silly.
An Adept mage at the tender age of 13?! A prodigy, this was a prodigy! Such talents never appeared in a young kingdom like Andrato.
It was more likely to see talents like Darius in the larger empires near the center of the Fallon Continent, and even there, Darius would still be suitably rare!
Yes, this was something Darius had realized after reading up and speaking with Foldo. The Andrato Kingdom was as Darius first pegged it to be, a 'starter zone'.
The highest known power were Adepts, and most of them were affiliated with the Royal Court as well as the Superiority Faction.
The combat classes were in quite the same boat, the highest level was the Adept level, and most of them were bigshots like the head of the Mercenary Guild, the chairman of the Adventurer's Guild, and others.
There were no Masters or Grandmasters here, as they would certainly not bother with some minor kingdom near the treacherous Plains of Death. This was why, with the misconception of his Adept level strength, Darius could largely move around unimpeded.
However, due to the fact that he did not, as a matter of fact, have Adept level strength, Darius preferred to stick to his plan and cement his identity. Afterward, he could still explore the world of Faust and discover his path to Supremacy.
Darius stepped forward and spoke to the group with neither servility nor overberance, maintaining a polite but aloof demeanor. "Good day compatriots, my name is Darius Stone. I'm the last of the Stone Family from the Westerlier Empire that existed up until recently. I'm happy to make your acquaintance."
Once Darius introduced himself with his made-up temporary identity, it was as if a lightbulb flashed over the heads of everyone arranged here, Shanks included.
The Westerlier Empire had been one of the top 10 most powerful empires on this continent in this past, but over the years they had begun to crumble due to internal political struggle which was fanned by the other top empires.
Eventually, the empire had been destroyed due to civil war and the others had swooped in like hawks to take whatever they could. Most of the noble houses in Westerlier had been either destroyed or captured, so it made sense for Darius to be a sole survivor.
It would also explain his prowess with magic at such a young age. Westerlier had been a magic-focused empire that was home to many great mage talents that still existed in the world today.
However, they could not intervene in the empire's destruction as their presence would make things worse.
It was the perfect cover story for Darius, as it would fill in the blanks of his seemingly absurd and haphazard existence, making people feel like he actually made sense as an entity.
One of the other nobles seated around the table smiled obsequiously towards Darius, as a sense of inferiority encompassed all of them. "Greetings on behalf of the Equality Faction of Andrato Kingdom, Young Master Darius! To what exactly do we owe the pleasure?"
Darius smiled. "As the last surviving member of my family, it's my obligation to find a place to settle down and rebuild my noble house's bloodline. I have the means, but not the tools, so I would like to seek help from the Equality Faction on this."
