NOVGO.NET Chapter 1054: Let it Begin
Chapter 1054: Let it Begin
Author: Last Chapter’s values have been changed. Veil Walkers were reduced from 100 to 10 points and Shadow Vanguards from 10 to 1. This was done due to there being too many people with these ranks. Enjoy the Chapters!
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“Each Consortium head… will be worth one thousand points.
Their lieutenants… two hundred and fifty.
Any other Veil Walker… ten.
Shadow Vanguards… one.”
Then, his smile curled upwards.
“And Devil… brought to me alive… will be worth two thousand.”
<… The king is one smart bastard.> Quinlan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. By doing this, Devil’s life became a thousand times more difficult. Now everyone would be gunning for his head, quite likely even the other Consortium members. After all, what’s loyalty to one’s syndicate when they can become a duke?
Or, at the very least, be owed heavily by the future duke. As per the king’s words, only nobles were eligible for the position, so the Consortium members themselves weren’t in the race. That is, unless they had roots in the aristocracy.
Kitsara agreed. <Yeah. If you weren’t already balls deep in Vexie, we’d even have to fear Black Fang turning against you.>
<That wrinkly hag becoming a duchess? Good joke. She’s too lazy for that. The only reason she’s even a Consortium head is that she could just pawn off all her responsibilities to the three of us, her ’disciples,’ also known as little diligent slave girls. Being responsible for a whole duchy and always having to answer the royal family is not at all her style. She’d go crazy.> Vex instantly dismissed the concerns multiple girls began harboring.
Black Fang would be their greatest asset in the upcoming dog fight, but her trustworthiness was questionable at best. They’d only met the woman once, and her cold, robotic tendencies combined with how hard it was to approach her didn’t give them much confidence.
<So you found nothing wrong with the Slutty Foxy’s statement?> Feng asked.
Vex looked at her with puzzled eyes. Then realization dawned. <Oh, you mean I should be offended by being called Vexie and that Quin is ’balls deep in me?’>
<I’m not saying you should, I’m just surprised you ignored it completely.>
<Being called Vexie is fine with me, especially when the one making the pet name is called Slutty Foxy… As for getting creampied every night…> A faint blush appeared on her delicate cheeks. <How could I possibly complain? Quin is indeed ’balls deep in me’ and I wouldn’t have it any other way.>
Feng sighed defeatedly. <But if anyone questions your youthfulness…>
<I highly recommend you don’t do that, young lady.> She then turned toward Quinlan. <When will you finally hook up with an old woman? I need their mature presence in the harem so I can act irresponsibly! I’m the glue holding things together, and I don’t like it!>
<You give yourself faaaaaaaaaaaaar too much credit, Vexie…> Lucille chuckled amusedly.
As a round of internal giggles spread across some of the girls, those with a more focused mindset noted something strange. Iris was the one to voice it. <A thousand points for the Obsidian Circle Members, two hundred and fifty for their lieutenant, but only ten for any other Veil Walkers? I understand that the lieutenants hold more power, but they’re the same rank… Isn’t the gap a bit too wide?>
Aurora agreed. <Once a lieutenant is captured, the department head will quickly find a new replacement. It’s not like they’re integral parts of the system that cannot be replaced. A new one can be quickly trained and promoted, especially when it comes to the other six departments where there’s no master-disciple relationship present to our knowledge.>
<You could look at it that way. You’re right that numbers-wise it makes little sense. There are many stronger Veil Walkers than Vexie and Raika who are not lieutenants, yet they are worth twenty-five times fewer points.> Ayame responded. <But what if the king cares little about dismantling the Consortium itself, but more so just wants to find a competent duke candidate who proves that they can get the job done?>
Serika nodded. <I agree with you, Ayame. I also think that this is a test with the goal of finding the ideal lord or lady, not destroying the Consortium. That’s just a secondary goal that would be most certainly welcome by the king. Alexios knows that even if the Consortium were to be dismantled right now, if the wrong person succeeds to the position of duke, a new syndicate will pop up sooner or later.>
As if to give validity to Serika’s and Ayame’s thoughts, the king spoke up again. “May the most worthy succeed.”
Alastair, as expected, began stammering. Even his wife, Ophira, stood from her seat and rushed to the podium. The pair then started talking together, cutting into each other’s words.
“M–My liege, you cannot simply…!! Th-this is my birthright! My father, his father, and his father before him have ruled Greenvale since the coronation of King Edrion the First! I am bound by oath, by blood, by ancestral law-”
Ophira swept to his side. Silk skirts whispered over marble, and her face was no longer a mask of aristocratic poise. All one could see was desperation. “Your Majesty, surely you understand the precedent such an act would set! Stripping a hereditary duchy from its rightful line without cause-”
“Without cause?” Elias’s word cut in. The duchess sent the first prince a side eye glare, but her words faltered. Alastair jumped in, his voice rising in despair. “I am a noble of Vraven! My station is recognized by the Crown, my authority legitimized by-”
“Are you a noble?” Caelinne interrupted. It seemed both the first daughter and son had had enough of the Greenvale pair.
The question blindsided him. “I-what? Yes. Of course I am!”
“Then what is the problem?” She spread her hands, as though genuinely puzzled. “You need not cry of stolen rights. All you have to do to reclaim your seat is prove you are competent enough to wield it.”
Alastair’s mouth opened, but no sound came.
“As the previous Duke of Greenvale,” Elias continued, voice sharpening, “you have every advantage. Home territory. Local connections. And, most importantly…” His lips curled in a mocking smile. “… the ’strongest army ever assembled,’ as you’ve so proudly boasted.”
Several nobles tittered behind their hands.
“You have every single advantage,” Alexios finally spoke up. “All you must do is win. Use them correctly. The only question I have is, can you do that?”