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Lucien's smirk was remarkable. He sat across from Claude at the enormously long table. However, it only seated four people. At the two ends were Lucien and Claude. Beside them, on each end of the table, sat their officers, Victor and Eliana Silvershade. Lucien was reminiscing about the past as he listened to Claude's proposal, and his smirk only widened as time went by.
It was not the first time that Claude had come to him for help like this. Here, in The Seven Swords' Council Room, he and Claude had come face to face dozens of times. Rarely did Lucien ever go to the Council of Virtuous Parley's Grand Council Hall. Then again, rarely did Lucien ever call to the Council for support. Throughout the last six years that Lucien had been in power over The Seven Swords, he had only visited Port Rap two times. His first visit was to congratulate his brother, Claude, on receiving the position of Guildmaster. The second visit was a less serious matter involving trade deal.
Lucien tried to snap out of his reminiscing, but when he finally managed to look back at Claude, he realized that he had failed. Claude's expression was clearly masking frustration. Lucien attempted to calm him, "I was listening. I was, I swear!"
Claude waved his hand at Lucien's blatant lie. "Clearly not. I bet you were just dozing off or something. It's your fault for never taking any time to sleep, so pull yourself together."
Lucien couldn't deny that. He was exhausted. This was simply because he had received a message from a dispatch that Claude would be arriving tonight. He had immediately left his quarters and informed all the guards that he was expecting someone from the Yellowdale Kingdom. So, instead of resting his eyes for a few hours, he had kept himself awake by scribbling all over his paperwork.
Now that Claude was actually here, Lucien couldn't contain himself. The two brothers were practically polar opposites, but when they were together, Lucien became more like his younger brother without notice. His usually humble and reserved personality warped into a more childish and shameless personality. It wasn't something that Claude enjoyed. Claude likes to be the player, not be played with.
Despite Lucien's inability to pay attention, Claude reiterated himself once more. "So, you heard that the shipment you had sent was raided, correct? Well, because you had decided to send two shipments, we wasted our resources trying to retrieve the lesser half."
Lucien laughed a little under his breath. "Old Henrik still hasn't gotten out of those bad habits, has he?"
Claude shot him a glare, but reluctantly responded with, "No. The old man's practically senile, these days." Brushing off the interruption, he continued, "According to Lorelis, we spent 80 platinum pieces on the operation to retrieve the lesser half of the shipment, which was only worth 20% of the entire shipment to begin with. Obviously, we didn't know that it was the lesser half, or else we would have just let it go."
Claude was waving his arms wildly as he explained his plight. His expression continued to attempt to mask his anger, but failed miserably. "Now, listen. I've come up with a plan to make a profit off of this entire ordeal, rather than the measly 20% profit that I was left with after spending the Council's platinum."
Lucien's brows peaked. When Claude had a plan, it was normally worth listening to, whether it was pure genius or just entertaining. "Pray, tell, what is your scheme this time, Claude?" He looked across the table at Claude, whose hair was frizzy from the exhausting travel and his tunic was quite dusty. He then looked to Victor, who was smiling wryly. His helm was set on the table in front of him, and he had his hands clasped in between his legs. His dirty blonde hair stuck up far more than Claude's ponytail.
Eliana shifted uncomfortably at Lucien's side, awaiting the proposition. She was The Seven Swords' Guildmaster's right hand. She acted as adviser and general over the other officers in the guild. Her orders were orders from the top -- Lucien.
Claude noticed her shuffling, and looked her up and down. Her dark red dress fit her well. It matched her long, blonde hair, which swirled down her back in a coiling ponytail. Her light skin reflected the color of the dress well and her blue eyes and slender form created a perfect image.
Despite how beautiful she was, Claude had had interactions with the woman several times, and he knew that the beauty only masked the personality within. Here, she hid it the best she could, most likely for Lucien's sake, with an emotionless, analytical stare.
"Don't worry, Eliana, your beloved master won't die, I swear by the Embers of Alnia." The swear was in reference to the 'diety' that was tied to the bow of a ship and set out to sea. There, she was burned alive, wiping her physical existence from the world. This also was the origin of the Emberbow Sea's name.
She smirked at him sarcastically, "Yes, I'm so worried that Lucien can't take care of himself on one of your pathetic outings."
Claude contained himself and immediately turned away from her. She was simply too much for him to handle, so he continued to explain. "We captured one of the men that led the raid on the first half of the shipment, and through interrogation, we have determined that there are more of them. What we thought was a simple band of thugs might be an entire network of criminals and pirates."
Lucien waved the prospect away. "Impossible. Here in Lelantos Empire, I spend a great deal of the Guild's fortune on protection of the ports. Just because a few brigands from your side of the bay managed to get away with simple theft, doesn't mean that there will be more of them."
"That's not true at all, and you know it, Lucien." Claude leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "This is not the first time that a shipment has been raided. Not in the Yellowdale Kingdom, and certainly not in the Lelantos Empire. However, this one was different."
"Oh, how so? Was it, by any chance, that you left your shipment unguarded?" Lucien laughed at his jest, but Claude did not.
"That is exactly what made this case surprisingly difficult to understand." Claude stood up from his chair and walked to the right side of the table. He grabbed a piece of parchment from the table that lined the wall and then returned to his seat. After scribbling on it for a moment with a quill that was set on the Council Table, he passed the parchment across the table to Lucien.
"That's a small map of the port where the shipment was. All of the Xs that you see are where my guards were killed during the raid." Claude punctuated his sentence by sitting back in his seat and crossing his arms once more.
Lucien looked over the scribbled map delicately. He was unsure what to think of it. He continued to examine it until a question rose in his head. "How were your men killed?"
Victor lifted his hands from the table, his smile gone. In one of his hands, he held another parchment, which he then passed to Lucien, who read it immediately.
The Deaths of the Council of Virtuous Parley's Shipment Guards
The Archiving Division has concluded that all deaths at Port 4-C resembled one another, hence why all deaths will be recorded in a singular report.
The Archiving Division has concluded that all deaths at Port 4-C were caused by poisoned darts to the throat. The poison is a normally untraceable poison that comes from a herb known as Witsbane. The poison acts quickly, disabling the nerves immediately, wherever it is inserted.
Because of its paralytic effects, none of the guards were able to cry out when the darts were stuck into their throats. The poison quickly spread through the bloodstream and killed when it reached either the brain or the heart.
The Archiving Division can also conclude that this form of murder is of the utmost rarity, and should be considered professional.
~ The Archiving Division
Lucien looked up from the parchment and passed it to Eliana. Not waiting for her to read it, Lucien inquired, "Are you telling me that this simple theft was not nearly what it seemed to be? That this was a warning of an assassination attempt, or even an assassination in itself?"
Claude sat forward in his chair and rested his arms on the table, crossing them over each other. His eyes pierced Lucien's eagerly. "Tomorrow morning, I want the second half of my shipment to be in Port Rap, at Port 2-B. I will be there. In addition to that, my officers will each visit the Port at two hour intervals. They will be reporting to me."
Lucien shook his head and let it rest in his hands, his elbows propped up on the table. "The shipment cannot arrive in time -- there is simply no way to pull that off--"
"That shipment doesn't have to be there. It just has to seem like it's there," Victor corrected. He let his smile return to his face, and gave Claude a thumbs-up.
Lucien finally wrapped his head around the plan and was left with one question: "If you're going to use yourself and your officers as bait, how will whoever the assassin is know that you will be there? And that the shipment will arrive early?"
Claude laughed menacingly. "Oh, Lucien. Don't you know? Word gets around quite quickly when you are part of The Seven Swords."
At this, Claude could see that his brother was confused. Luckily, Claude knew that his brother was simpleminded and required proof for everything. He reached into his tunic and retrieved another parchment. "This was found on the scene. What a careless assassin." He passed it to Lucien, who caught it as it slid down the length of the table.
His eyes widened as he read the parchment. "This is insane! You're more senile than Old Henrik! You cannot accuse me of this!"
"Oh, I'm not accusing you, brother. I'm just leveraging you to help me make a small fortune." Claude stood up from his seat, and Victor followed him. The two walked to the door and waited for Lucien and Eliana to follow. "I think we've reached an agreement," Claude confidently remarked.
Lucien passed the parchment to Eliana, who read it to herself. What she read surprised her just as much as it had surprised Lucien, who was clenching his fists and resting his head against them. She read it once more, just to be certain.
Contract of Termination
We have concluded that the target must be eliminated. Our source claims that the target will be on the ship at Port 4-C at roughly midnight. We have provided you with the tools for the termination process. They can be found behind the painting in your room in The Seven Swords' Guild Hall.
 Ty-Harukii · Mon Jul 03, 2017 @ 08:35pm · 0 Comments |
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