"You know what?"
The bright moon reflected in Sirius' eyes as he sighed before commenting further.
"I even doubt the validity of the legends themselves even if I were to believe that someone like Lady Eliza existed in that era. I mean… Why couldn't she just beat the opponents from the Anfang alliance if she was that powerful?
The most accurate versions of history do not simply record events as they happen. Most of them exist because they act as a guiding star to inspire later generations, regardless of how far-fetched they may seem from reality."
Sirius shook his head as if he was disappointed by the incomplete recount of history. There were so many questions he wanted to ask the rankers that existed in that era. Alas, those questions would remain a mystery for him forever. At least that's what he thought.
The half-blood clan head from House Fenris felt he was being too harsh on Fiona for having bright hopes for the future. He knew that even the best-case scenarios for the Last Blood Bastian would involve many sacrifices.
However, he shouldn't kill a young girl's dream of a better future for herself.
"You are doing alright, kiddo. Don't sweat it too much.
What I said earlier was only meant as a warning for your young ones. We don't want you to take unnecessary risks just because this war allows us some freedom. We have to ensure that no half-blood becomes complacent in their tasks.
Use this room to rest before heading to your next assignment. As long as I leave this town in about 20 minutes, you are safe to stay. I'll contact you after I…"
"Wait, Lord Sirius. There's another matter that I almost forgot to tell you."
Fiona produced a runic array disk and threw it at Sirius. The latter cursed the former for her carelessness in his head before catching the array disk in his hand.
"What is this?"
He asked before analyzing the array disk. Fiona replied promptly.
"There's this Expert named Saisha Goren who has managed to contact the cultist organization we had used to target the city of Zehra.
He doesn't know who was behind the ones who attacked us. But those guys passed this message on to the Ancients who in turn passed it on to me."
Sirius arched his eyebrows when he heard the name Saisha GoreKnown as an Expert ranker in Layos' army, he was currently posted on the border shared by the kingdom of Layos and the Asikha empire. A message coming from that man was akin to the kingdom's army trying to contact his organization for shady deals.
"What does it say?"
Sirius asked while treating the array disk he was holding with even more caution than before. He didn't want to fall prey to any booby traps that may or may not get sprung on him.
Fiona didn't understand why Sirius was put on edge by a mere Expert ranker's message. She had seen the recording of the message so she replied right away.
"Saisha Goren wants to know who ordered the attack on these many cities in Layos. He doesn't have a problem if we need to keep the client unanimous but he wants us to cause the same level of unrest in Edinburgh as well.
This man is willing to pay double the amount Eren paid to target him and many of the cities present inside the kingdom of Edinburgh. Even a successful attempt to create unrest in Edinburgh or aid the forces that have been injected into the enemy kingdom will be rewarded handsomely.
He has embedded a way for us to contact him and establish an anonymous link. The exchange of resources would also take place securely.
How should we reply to him?"
Fiona didn't have a problem creating unrest in Edinburgh. She was a bit hesitant about going against Eren. But she also believed that she wasn't rebelling against him. For someone like him, it doesn't matter where they target Edinburgh as long as it is not related to him or his business.
Edinburgh and Layos were all part of the problem in Fiona's eyes. If she could participate in the attacks on the cities inside Layos, she could do the same inside Edinburgh as well, provided the right amount of "motivation" was presented to the Last Blood Bastian.
After all, the half-bloods were loyal to their cause. And their cause compelled them to look for financial resources. All so that they could fund their movement.
Sirius, on the other hand, saw things differently. He crushed the array disk in his hands the moment after Fiona stopped speaking. The latter was shocked by Sirius' behavior.
"Lord Sirius, we could have at least listened to what the man had to say. That much money would have helped us…"
Sirius cut her off right away.
"This is all a sham, kiddo. They do not suspect Edinburgh's forces or its royalty at all. Otherwise, their spy network would have seen it coming.
They wanted to find out who had ordered the hit on their cities. Someone who is not part of Edinburgh's royalty or its forces. They want to get to Eren through us."
Fiona was taken aback by Sirius' conjecture. But then she clenched her fists before commenting in a cautious voice.
"You know, Lord Sirius. They could give us their money so we could humble Eren Idril. If we just use our cards right…"
Sirius started laughing when Fiona started talking about backstabbing Eren for higher gains. He also felt a bit upset that the outside world had begun to corrupt a simple-minded girl like her.
"Hahaha. You are learning a lot these days. That's good, Fiona dear. But doing business the right way is not the only criterion for staying in profit. You also need to understand who to stay in business with if you don't want to burn your hands doing it.
Using pressure tactics on Eren to get some kind of leverage? Or betraying him for real just to target Edinburgh and get some money doing it? Neither of them is a wise choice.
Guys like Eren… They don't respond well to pressure tactics. I don't know what gave you the courage to even think of doing something like this. But we better not offend him.
That man… he scares me."
AN: Saisha Goren was first introduced in chapter 644.
