Now that everyone signed the contract, they were in this together. They would protect the Mine Valley and wouldn't plan something bad to this land. Of course, if the Mine Valley was destroyed by other people the contract wasn't going to affect them.
The contract was only done so that each of the Nine Heads wouldn't scheme against the other which would lead to the destruction of the Mine Valley.
It was perfectly done by Governor Ray.
"There are nine of us together. The Dragon Council will do its utmost best for the Mine Valley. As for the other City Lords, let them be. We'll deal with them if they try to interfere with our goal." Ray, the First Head, said as he swept his eyes across the room.
"Okay." Souta nodded. He didn't have a problem with those City Lords. What matters to him right now was to find the culprit behind the death of the envoy.
"What if those people attacked us? Do you think that they will create an alliance to protect their business?" The Fourth Head said. He was an elf with dark skin and was wearing fine clothes.
"I think the Fourth Head is right. They knew about the Dragon Council so they will probably create an alliance in case we fight them." The Ninth Head said. She was a small woman with a muscular body. Her long chestnut-colored hair was tied in a bun on the back of her head. She's a dwarf.
"Want to vote? Honestly, I don't think that we should care about those people. We should find the culprit behind the death of the envoy. I'm sure that they are already trying to cause chaos here since they've assassinated the envoy." Souta expressed his opinion.
"Yeah, I think we should vote. Knowing the hidden enemy is more important than the enemy that we know." Jovi nodded. He was the Fifth Head of the newly established Dragon Council.
The rest of them nodded.
"Okay, we'll start voting. Who's in favor of leaving the other City Lords for now?" Ray said in a serious tone.
Even if everyone decided to interfere with those City Lords. They wouldn't quickly attack right now even if those people were still within the city. It would gather the hatred of all organizations if they did something like that. Not just the overlord of cities even those underground organizations would try to suppress them for their acts.
Also, it was hard to fight those City Lords at the same time. If they really tried to kill them then those people would work together and it would only cause further destruction. A lot of people would die in this land.
The voting had ended. Five people were in favor of leaving those City Lords alone. The least they could do right now was not to fight each other as there was a chance that the culprit behind the assassination was only waiting for that moment.
What if a third party launched an attack while they were fighting the City Lords?
So until they figured out the identity of the culprit, they would try to avoid fighting the other City Lords.
If the other City Lords didn't interfere with Dragon Council, Ray and the rest wouldn't care about them. That's why whether they were enemies or not wasn't decided yet.
"Hahaha, interesting... So how should we find those guys? If you don't have any idea I can give you one." Souta laughed as he looked at the rest of the Nine Heads.
Ray, Jovi, and the rest turned their heads at him.
...
Spring Land...
It was a place beside the Mine Valley. Although it was just an area in the Hall Plains, it was still twenty times larger than the Mine Valley and the resources that people could find in this land were ten times greater.
In this land, a nation called the Heiro Kingdom was ruling the land. It was the overlord of the whole Spring Land but right now... Something was happening.
Various nobles rebelled against the royal family and it caused destruction across the land. They couldn't lose control over various cities and those organizations decided to step up. A battle occurred in different places.
A middle-aged man was sitting on the throne with his hands on his chin. He was the king of the Heiro Kingdom, a small kingdom within the Hall Plains.
"Twenty cities had fallen and Marquis Vincent had died in the battle..." The King muttered as he glanced at his subordinate.
"It's getting worse." One of the subordinates said.
"Father, I think we should focus our army on the remaining cities." A beautiful young lady expressed her thoughts. She was the princess of the Heiro Kingdom.
"Do you want us to give up those cities?" The King gazed at her with cold eyes.
"Father, sister is right. We should preserve our forces right now. Let them fight each other and we will not actively participate in the battle." A tall handsome young man said. He was the first prince of the Heiro Kingdom.
The King closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them once again, he nodded, "Fine, we'll give up those cities. We'll also send some people to our allied kingdoms. I wanted to know why did these guys suddenly become bold."
"I understand, Your Highness." One of the subordinates bowed.
Although it was quite chaotic in the Hall Plains, there were still some peaceful areas. From their guess, it's only a matter of time before it turned into a full-blown war.
"Gather, all the remaining nobles. I want to talk to them." The King added before he closed his eyes. He was contemplating what really happened in this place.
It all started two months ago. In the beginning, it was just a fight between two small organizations. As the strongest force in the Spring Land, those two organizations weren't worth their time. They didn't interfere but in a short amount of time, the scale of the battle grew larger. Dozens of organizations became involved in the conflict and towns and villages were ravaged.
It was all too late before they noticed it.
At the very least, aside from the Heiro Kingdom, there was the Triple Tribe Alliance which was trying to stop the conflict. There were other organizations that tried to stop this battle but they were destroyed easily. So the kingdom and alliance became cautious. They could only stop this battle step by step.
...
Bland City.
In an expensive hotel room, a bald man with thick facial hair was looking down at the masses through the window. He was one of the City Lords that rejected the offer of the Governor. His people called his Lord Amune.
"I thought the Dragon Council is worth my time but it seems the condition is too bad. Ray simply wanted to unify the Mine Valley under those excuses." He took a glass of wine and raised it to his eye level. "If he wanted it then I'll take a bite of his pie. Does he really think that he is the only one who had information?"
He drank the wine in one go before he turned around.
"I think I could reach a higher level soon. It's time to destroy this place. Hehe~"
Suddenly, he paused and looked at the couch. He saw a chubby man with slanted eyes looking at him.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
The chubby man smiled and said, "I'm going to leave this place soon. I'll leave everything in this place to your hands."
"I know what to do. No one bit our bait so I'll change my tactics." He waved his hand, clearly disinterested in talking to the person on the couch.
The chubby man simply shrugged his shoulders as he stood up. He was going to leave when he recalled something, "Oh, right? Be careful of the Governor and the Lord of Ekatoe City. I got goosebumps when I saw them earlier."
"What?!" Amune stared at the chubby man with widened eyes.
"Yeah, they aren't ordinary people. It's creeping me but I can say that they are strong." The chubby spoke with seriousness in his tone. He then changed his expression as his eyes almost turned into a crescent shape. "What do you want to stop your plan?"
Amune calmed down. He glanced at the glass on the table and said, "Even without my orders they will execute it. It is set from the very beginning."
"I see. Then, I hope you have good luck." The chubby man's smile grew wider.
Suddenly, the door was slammed open and they saw a lone figure with a creepy smile.
"Ehe~ good morning! Oh, wait! My bad! It's already noon! So good afternoon!"
BOOM!!
The ground shook heavily as a sound of an explosion erupted. Ray, Jovi, Souta, and the rest turned their heads. They felt the mana spike from the distance and judging from it, a strong and unknown group had arrived.
"What just happened?" Ray narrowed his eyes.
"It's pretty good." Souta smiled as his eyes pierced through the walls and saw the scene where the explosion came from.
