"Hehehe. I was just thinking about you, Mr. Eren Idril. How can I..."
Fiona Fenris seemed to be en route somewhere when she received Eren's communication request. She was on her colt, traversing the wilds. So a small area around her was projected inside Eren's study in real time when the connection was established.
At first, Fiona was very excited to greet Eren. But then she saw that he had company and stopped what she was saying. She looked at Jiana, Amory, Nina, and Argo in the back before commenting.
"Who are these people?"
Eren was leaning onto his desk– half-seated. He had folded his hands and was looking at Fiona with amusing expressions. The half-blood was very cheerful whenever he spoke with her in private. But today she had her guard up for obvious reasons.
"Forget about 'em, hon. I got something for you– a business proposition. Patch me with Sirius this instant."
***
Jiana didn't like that Eren had just made her look like a part of his crowd of underlings. She could already feel that dealing with this man would not be easy if she chose to dissolve her guild into his.
She had added the name of the kingdom of Layos as her target on a whim. She just wanted to shake Eren a bit with her talk. That was not to say that she didn't think of avenging her guild's destruction in the kingdom of Layos at all. But she had always thought that it would be a long-term project and not something that could be achieved with the snap of her fingers.
Jiana's fatal flaw was that she was emotionally driven by people she cared about. However, she wasn't weak as a ranker. There was a reason she was given the kingdom-certified title of Goldy Wings despite just being a healer.
As such, Jiana had considered taking part in the upcoming war. Taking revenge on an entire kingdom was not something she could do just because she was a Master ranker. As emotional as she was, she wasn't delusional. But when Edinburgh's forces banded together, she would be able to gain strength from them and achieve her goals all the same.
In regards to the cultist organization Midnight Moon that carried out the attack, Jiana had decided to ask for help from anyone who bought her guild. That is if she continues with the process.
Jiana's plans weren't perfect. And for the most part, she had just crafted them to make sense of the negative feelings she was experiencing. Her subconscious mind believed that having vague ideas of vengeance was all she needed to cope with the stress she felt.
Jiana wanted to apply a long-term strategy to avenge all her fallen guild members that had died in the attack. Her personal growth would be affected if she followed through with the plan. But that was a trade-off she was willing to make at this point.
She could not believe that someone who was indirectly responsible for her guild's destruction would offer her sought-after revenge like it was no big deal. She didn't know what to make of Eren's diabolical nature.
***
The connection with Fiona was reestablished after a brief pause.
This time, someone else was also looped into the communication array. A spectral form of Sirius Fenris was standing in front of Eren with his hands behind his back.
He seemed to be wearing a wolf mask to hide his identity. Fiona was standing beside him. She had decided to pause her journey and listen to what Eren had to say first.
Sirius was wary of Jiana even though he didn't show it. Fiona had many things to worry about so she didn't pay close attention to Edinburgh's internal politics. But it was Sirius' job to do so. He could never fail to identify someone who had a kingdom-bonafide title attached to them.
'As far as I can remember, this class is the only healer among Edinburgh's title holders. Still, not much is known about her since she likes to keep her cards close to her.
Anyway, why was I summoned in her presence?'
Sirius looked at Eren with an enquiring gaze. He liked dealing with the butcher because the guy was just as straightforward as him. But he was also aware that Eren was not as simple as he was made to believe either.
Eren looked Sirius in the eyes as he spoke.
"I want to target Midnight Moon. Also, I want to bomb some significant places in the kingdom of Layos. You know, something that will make a big splash.
How much will it take?"
Eren spoke casually while scratching Argo's mane. The audience present in the room was shocked again by his words. Jiana was most shocked by Eren's words. She looked at Fiona and Sirius with an astonished expression. She wondered who they were since Eren wanted something from them.
Nina and Amory looked at Eren, Sirius, and Fiona intermittently, wondering where this conversation was heading. The half-blood girl was the first to speak up.
"You must be joking, Eren. Targeting Midnight Moon? Terrorizing the citizens of Layos? You think they'll just let us do what we want because of you..."
"100,000 Extols!"
Eren cut off Fiona's words with an offer while maintaining eye contact with Sirius. The latter also didn't say anything. Fiona took charge of the conversation once again.
"Hehehe. I think too much money has gotten into your head, Eren. Some matters are beyond..."
"200,000 Extols."
"Are you even listening to me? It can't be done. How can you expect us to..."
"500,000 Extols."
"You! Don't think money is everything there is..."
"1 Million Extols."
"Madness... Sir Eren, please. You need to understand the risks..."
"10 Million Extols."
Fiona was lost for words when Eren kept increasing the reward amount. She gulped in anticipation at the thought of receiving 10 million Extols. The half-blood woman clenched her fists and mustered the strength to register her unwillingness to get on with what Eren was asking of them.
"This is not about..."
Fiona was just about to say something when Sirius interrupted her in his deep voice.
"Fiona dear, this is not the way to speak to our esteemed patron. Stay out of the talks and let me handle things from here."
