Souta, Amanda, and Franklin were guided by a guard. They stopped in front of the door and told them that only Souta could enter. Only the City Lords could enter inside and participate in the conference.
He asked Amanda and Franklin to stay outside and observed the things around the City Hall. Then, he proceeded inside the room.
'This is quite huge...'
Souta said as he strode forward and saw the seat for Ekatoe's City Lord. He pulled the chair and saw down before he slowly examined the people inside the room. There were twenty four seats in total and thirteen people were currently here. The rest haven't arrived yet.
The moment he stepped inside the room, the people turned their eyes and observed him. Especially when he sat down in Ekatoe's seat. All of them knew what happened near Ekatoe City, the death of the Envoy of Mine Valley. Also, they've heard that the new City Lord gained control of the entire city in just a few days after gaining the position.
Naturally, Souta sensed their gazes at him but he simply closed his eyes. He came here for two reasons; To know more about the Murder Society and learn the goal of the Dragon Council that the Governor wanted to establish.
'Sigh... I must complain. Why didn't they serve some drinks for the guest? I want to drink some coffee while waiting.'
Souta complained inwardly. He decided that he would establish the largest coffee shop in Ekatoe once he returned. He would also recruit people that could brew delicious coffee. Preferably, those that have Spirit Chef talents. They could prepare drinks or meals that could give buffs to people.
After half an hour, the twenty four seats were filled. All the invited City Lords have arrived. This surprised him a little bit. He didn't expect that there would be twenty four cities in this place. Some City Lords were strong while others were average. The City Lord of Ekatoe should be also average if Souta didn't take the position.
Among the twenty four cities in this land, the Ekatoe belongs to one of the weakest.
"Hey, so you're the new City Lord of Ekatoe, huh?"
Souta turned his eyes to his left side. He saw a man with a pair of white rabbit ears smiling at him. He looked at the table and saw the tag "Lambrey". It was a city outside the Mine Valley. It was quite far from the Ekatoe and it would take one day to travel from Ekatoe to Lambrey.
"I heard what happen to the envoy. Do you do it? Did you really kill the envoy that the Governor sent?" The City Lord of Lambrey said with a wide smile on his face.
Souta shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I came here for that reason. I want to know the inside-out information about that incident."
"So you're telling me that you didn't kill the envoy? Hmm, that's a bit problematic. Then, who is the culprit behind the death of the envoy? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jovi, the City Lord of Lambrey." The man with a pair of white rabbit ears said.
Souta gave him a light nod. "Souta, City Lord of Ekatoe."
Jovi wanted to ask a lot of things but he stopped himself as the Governor of Mine Valley arrived.
A tall man with slick back brown hair entered the room. He was wearing brown-colored formal clothes and he had a cold demeanor. His eyes swept across the room before he sat down on his seat. Despite the cold aura around him, his posture was well-conduct.
This man was Ray Faustin, the Governor of Mine Valley. The man that wanted to unify the Mine Valley and returned the other cities to the rule of the Governor.
That's how it was in the beginning. All these cities were under the rule of the Governor but as the cities grew stronger, they started to break free from the hands of the Governor. So at this time, the position of Governor wasn't as good as it was in the past.
In the end, strength still matters. The previous Governors didn't have enough strength, and it led to the current situation where most of the cities were independent.
Ray looked at them one by one. "I am the Governor of Mine Valley, Ray Faustin, and I'm grateful that everyone attends this meeting. All leaders of twenty four cities had gathered around the table today."
"I'm sure that you've read the letters, right? I'm prepared to establish the Dragon Council that will stand at the top of the Mine Valley." He proceeded to explain the pros and cons of the council that he wanted to build.
Souta listened quietly. He was a little bit surprised that the Governor didn't even mention the death of the envoy. It seems that this guy knows something that he didn't know.
'It seems interesting.' He grinned inwardly.
"The Hall Plains is restless. Various organizations are mass recruiting people and some of them are fighting each other. The Imperial Capital couldn't handle all of these organizations. Sooner or later, it would turn into a full-blown war. Although they wouldn't care about a backward place like Mine Valley, we still need to prepare ourselves. The Imperium is changing and everyone experienced it." Ray explained calmly so that everyone could understand his words.
'That's right...' Souta agreed with Ray's words. The Imperium was changing and his knowledge of the game was limited. He didn't even know the breaking of rules and increase in mana density events. There's no way something he would miss something as huge as this. Maybe, these two events happened but he was completing some quest so he didn't bother himself with it.
"The Dragon Council will be an organization center in Mine Valley. I want us to join together and help each other in times of crisis." Ray paused as he slowly swept his eyes at the crowd. "Some of you must be wondering why I'm doing this. It's because there are benefits for me if I do this."
If Ray said that he was just doing this to protect everyone, these City Lords wouldn't believe him. It was more believable if he said that he was going to protect the Mine Valley because there's benefit from it.
'There's no person that will try to save everyone if there's no benefit... Maybe, except for Bryan. That guy is a lucky dumbass.' Souta rubbed his chin. Even Souta himself didn't know how Bryan survived all these years with that type of personality.
He looked at the City Lords and found that most of them weren't interested in working with the Governor. They had their own hidden agenda and they wouldn't simply start an organization with other people who were once their enemies.
What if this Governor abolished the underground dealings once they joined the council? Some of them gained huge profits from the drugs and other things they smuggled.
At least, this guy, Governor Ray, couldn't abolish their business as it would lead to war.
'So how are you gonna handle it?' Souta grinned inwardly. It was fun to witness this scene firsthand. It could somehow satiate his boredom.
Ray calmly observed everyone. He saw within their eyes that only a few people were interested in the Dragon Council.
'In the end... It still led to this.'
He closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he spoke coldly, "For those who aren't interested in my offer. I suggest that you leave this room. As for those who wanted to join the Dragon Council, stay here. We'll talk about the rules and establishment of the organization in the Mine Valley. As for other things, it's confidential so I'll only talk about it once you joined the council."
"Huh?!" The City Lords were a little bit surprised when his tone changed. Aside from a few pros, there's no worth in joining the council. They thought that Governor Ray would entice them by offering huge benefits so that they could join.
"I'll stay here."
"Me too."
"I'm interested in it."
Three City Lords spoke. They were the City Lords of the three cities that the Governor conquered. They would willing to accept the Governor's proposal.
'Hmm...?' Souta raised his eyebrows. He noticed something wrong with these three guys. 'The Governor conquered their cities, right? But why is their attitude like that? It feels like all of them are at the same level. They didn't submit to the Governor but rather it is more like cooperation.'
'Right, there's no word that the Governor launched an attack on their cities. After all, if the Governor really conquered their cities and they survived. It means that they've begged for their lives or surrendered to him.'
Cooperation? Alliance? Interesting.
Souta smiled as he raised his hand and said, "I'm interested in your proposal. I'll stay here and join your so-called Dragon Council."
The rest of the City Lords turned their heads at him. They didn't expect the suspect in the assassination of the envoy to accept the proposal.
Did he lose his mind?
Is he scared of the Governor?
Maybe, he surrendered so that the Governor wouldn't use this reason to attack the small Ekatoe City.
