Shadow Clones.
Ever since he had claimed Shallot's Mirror for himself, Eren was keeping at least three clones active every day at all times to maximize his workflow.
His one clone was dedicated to him practicing his potion-making and artifact-creation skills. There was another clone that Eren had maintained to develop a Ranking Technique suitable for his current Rank.
Lastly, the third clone dealt with business and political affairs related to his city and guild. This third clone worked closely with Agatha, lessening her burden by quite a lot.
Eren wanted to have a fourth clone for himself which could help Maya in creating a Spatial Gate for his travel to the otherworlds. However, he found it exponentially difficult to keep his remaining clones functioning.
In the end, Alephee told Eren to stick to using three clones maximum for now. She decided to take the lead in his place, supporting and helping Maya in her task. The duo was also helped by Altair Argas and Osha Daman who had planned to leave Anfang along with Eren, starting their own journeys anew in foreign worlds.
Maya and Alephee worked in tandem to create this Gate. They were only a week or two away from finalizing the task at hand.
The real Eren spent his time with his close ones. Reen had practically reserved the real Eren all for herself ever since she woke up from her nine-month-long slumber.
Of course, keeping three clones active at all times put a lot of pressure on Eren's Spiritual Force. However, he had a lot of soul-recovery potions to mitigate the side effects.
Plus, Alephee had told Eren that keeping clones active using Shallot's Mirror was a good way to increase his proficiency with the artifact as well as train his Spiritual Force. Thus, the butcher kept on abusing the hack that was given to him by the Elder Seed Artifact without a care in the world.
***
"What's an Elementalist?"
Agatha asked Eren, clearly not surprised by the fact that she was dealing with Eren's clone just a moment ago. Instead, she was curious about the term Isadora had used to make sense out of Eren's logic-defying clone usage.
"I'll tell you later," Eren said to Agatha before focusing his gaze on Isadora and others. Taking a bit of time to collect his thoughts, Eren spoke in a calm and collected tone.
"To be honest with you, I was expecting things like this to take place sooner or later. And I don't blame the two continents for acting this way.
I understand you have your own concerns regarding this matter. I also understand that you can't offend the Anfang Alliance directly. But don't worry. Things will not become too serious. I'll make sure of it.
Just carry on with the arrangements we have discussed while I make sure to end this matter once and for all," Eren spoke in a confident tone, assuring Valeria and the rest with his promise.
Valeria and the rest then took their leave, intending to return to Mater as soon as possible before the potential siege could take place. They believed that Eren would do as he promised. They just didn't want to get in the crossfire.
"Erni, how confident are you in handling this siege?" Nina asked with a bit of a worrisome voice. "After all, it's the Anfang Alliance we are talking about."
It was only after the guests had left that the White Raven Guild members allowed themselves to express how tense they felt. They did not have sizable S-ranked entities in their ranks to deal with the Alliance. So it was natural to feel stressed no matter how unbelievable Eren's deeds were in the past.
"Keke. Do you think the Alliance wants to fight with us by initiating the siege?" Eren asked Nina and all the others present in Agatha's office. He shook his head in denial before speaking further.
"Those guys are desperate. They are not in a position to fight. Nobody really is with the way things are in Anfang right now. They just want to scare us into giving them a better deal.
Remember. We have sizable ranking resources in our reserves. They just want a better deal for themselves than what we have given to the Amazonians.
They don't want to strike deals under the table anymore. They want upfront deals to calm their masses. Especially the populace of Rankers."
Eren said while reclining in his chair. The consistent use of the Shadow Clones gave him mild migraine. So he started massaging his temples with his fingers.
Agatha was even more tense after hearing Eren's predictions. "We have already struck a deal with the Amazonians, Eren. We can't afford to involve anyone else if we want our reserves to last for a sufficient time."
Eren smiled before responding.
"We don't have to. I have already talked with the monsters-in-charge from Shiragna. They have sided against the Anfang Alliance in matters related to initiating a siege against Ravendale.
Plus, we have Layla working on greenhouses all across Ravendale. I believe we'll soon gain desirable outcomes from the newly established greenhouses."
"So you mean…" Agatha asked Eren with a bit of doubt in her voice. The latter nodded before confirming her assumptions.
"That's right. We'll ally with Shiragna and even Velen. We will cripple Arsalan, Katiyal, and the Alliance as a whole democratically. By turning them into a minority."
Eren didn't have to do much in forming ties with Shiragna. The continent in which the monsters were the majority had readily allied itself with Ravendale just because Reen was there with Eren. The news of her awakening had reached Shiragna after Eren deliberately let the monsters know of her status.
As for Velen. Eren had a brief discussion with JJ Edgar regarding the potential alliance with the half-bloods who had claimed the continent of Velen for themselves. The half-bloods were already allied with Ravendale.
Eren just promised Edgar that he would be able to use the Spatial Gate with him when it was prepared. And that was all the wager he needed to make the half-bloods oppose the Alliance openly.
