As we enjoyed the meals, I began to finally talk about negotiations. I wanted to see how far was the bottom line that Mikohime was willing to go into. Now that I knew that the dragon didn't knew about this stuff and would most likely not interfere, I felt more freer to talk it out.
"So how is your sect hanging out, Mikohime? Is everything alright? How are your food supplies?" I asked.
Mikohime was startled as she was enjoying a dumpling, she had poured some soy sauce (which is from this place, something new I found out) and the flavor must have made her rather happy, making her forget the stress of everything that had happened.
"S-Supplies? Well, due to the… mortals being gone, the farms had also come to a halt… even more, the shadow beasts purposedly targeted them for some reason, so we don't have enough food to feed our sect… We can still hunt in the Dungeons for food, but recently there has been something going on in them right after the first Shadow Beast attack…" she said.
"I see, so you're low in supplies… Wait, what do you mean? What's wrong with the dungeons?" I asked curiously.
"Well, we had detected some kind of anomaly, a dark force that was implanted inside, most likely by the Dark Shadow Sect, which is swallowing all the mana from the dungeon and not letting the monsters spawn… what's worse, any monsters that show up are instantly eaten and disappear… some of the people we sent there has yet to come back, from both dungeons… Due to that, we had not been able to get food from the monsters there, which used to be a big supply of food back then," she sighed.
Wait, so this is also the doing of the Dark Shadow Sect?! These guys are really resourceful, they got a million things to use and a crap ton of resources and tools, and it all seems fishy to me, especially because they're getting this out of nowhere. Well, I will find out some clues after asking the souls I captured.
"I see. So there is such a thing… I suppose we can resolve it for you later, maybe tomorrow." I said.
"Oh… R-Really, Drake-sama?! B-But we had already received so much help… How can we even repay all of it?!" asked Mikohime while feeling flustered.
"Don't worry. I am also planning in supplying your sect with resources, the Ice Moon Sect got three whole dungeons that can help you with meat, and we also have our own farms with magical vegetables and fruits, but that will be pricier." I said.
"P-Pricier… I see… Our… savings are in an all time low, but we'll make sure to pay for it whenever we make the money back… O-of course, if you manage to help us out with the dungeon, you'll be able to extract any resources you want from it for free!" said Mikohime.
"Oh, is that so?" I asked with a smirk. Benladann and Miranda also smiled devilishly.
"B-But Lady Winter Lotus, that's a bit too much!"
"You can't offer so much to an outsider… E-Even if he helped us…"
"It is good to be grateful but you're going a bit too far… And you, Drake, you're abusing our goodwill!"
Some of the Elders were fighting off with stupid arguments, as if they didn't realized they were all in the palm of my hand now… However, before I could say any arguments, Mikohime stopped them from saying another word, angrily staring at them. Her aura of moonlight resonated and began to grow stronger, while her spirits emerged too, glaring angrily at the old men.
"Who do you think you are to think you can go against the sect master's decision?! This is my sect, and what I say is what it is done! I've been already eyeing you bunch, you're the ones that barely helped the people in the back! If it weren't because of Drake, many more would had died because you were too cowardly to even help out our own people…" said Mikohime. She was showing off her true colors now and her anger was rather surprising. She was a strong Rank 4 Magus after all, someone with an admirable level of power thanks to all her Abilities.
The group of around 11 or 12 elders quickly fell silent, this big group of old men were most likely the group of "corrupt" ones, there's always a bunch of them in every sect, I see. Meanwhile the other 8 or 9 are very loyal to her, and seem to agree with her decisions, while also being welcoming of our presences here.
"B-But…"
"Mikohime-sama, your power is getting into your head…"
"You'll bring only disaster to our sect if you simply give away everything to an outsider…"
"I-Indeed!"
"You have to understand that it is not something you can simply decide!"
"Silence!" Mikohime roared, as she hit the ground, the entire temple trembled… I guess she still packed a punch as an ice giant.
"Giih…!"
"Ahh…!"
"S-Such pressure…"
"You lot should shut up already, going against the sect master's decisions goes against the sect's rules and regulations. You want to get sent to prison?"
"You have to know that you're not the only elders that makes up this sect."
"Indeed! Being grateful towards our savior is only a normal thing, repaying for what we had received in exchange is the right thing to do! We have to restore our honor."
The other elders quickly confronted the corrupt ones, as the corrupt ones fell silent. I think they didn't cared about honor or whatever, the corrupt ones just wanted to keep all the money and resources for themselves. Well, I wouldn't blame them, if I were in their same situation I would act similarly to them, I am a greedy person, even if I were helped by someone, I wouldn't be willing to give them so much out of my things as others might do…
