Four Split Personalities

Game Time PM 18:21

Violet Empire, Marshal Territory, Mithril City

This was one of the most prosperous cities in the Marshal Territory, its development level was not inferior to Mercury City, where the Marshal main house was located. It boasted considerable capital in various domains and was known as the largest comprehensive city in the territory. It also served as a satellite city to Mercury City, distanced less than a hundred miles from the latter. The frequent presence of several large squads of the Sword of Baffi Knight Order highlighted the city’s importance.

However, today, an uninvited force of over fifty thousand had arrived.

They were called uninvited because they harbored no goodwill towards this land; and predictable because two days ago, the Marshall Family had already withdrawn the garrisoned Knight Order and endeavored to transfer all industries belonging to the family out of the city.

Clearly, from the moment of his escape from Baffi, he had anticipated this day, for the worst-case scenario was to face a joint crusade to enforce the judgements made some days ago. And the Prince, who had been concealing his intentions for over twenty years and was hell-bent on dooming himself, had a ninety-nine percent chance of steering the situation to ’the worst-case scenario’. Not to mention representatives from Fire Claw Territory like Double Leaf, the openly hostile Crystal Wolf, Baroka, and other families, who surely wouldn’t miss an opportunity to kick someone when they were down.

Therefore, on the very first day of his return to Mercury City, the Grand Duke, in theory stripped of all power and status, quickly integrated the central region’s forces and wealth into Mercury City.

As for the neutral organizations such as the Gold Coin Commerce Association, Steam Consortium, and Adventure’s Guild, business continued as usual. They assigned tasks and turned a blind eye to the storm that was brewing, unaffected by the Lord’s Allied Forces that marched boisterously into the city, and carried on with their daily routines as if nothing was amiss.

Since these neutral forces and the common populace formed the main fabric of Mithril City, on the surface, the city thrived as usual.

At least, that was the case on the surface...

Beneath the surface, however, there was an undercurrent of activity, such as a thirty percent reduction in the staff at the two Cloud Traveler Inns in the south and west of the city. The Thief Guild had twice the usual number of personnel moving about, all A-rank missions from the Adventurer’s Guild had been canceled, several large Mercenary Corps were nowhere to be found, the Mage Guild temporarily halted its teleportation services, and the Gold Coin Commerce Association quietly raised the grain prices by five percent. Few were truly indifferent.

These savvy managers had already sensed something amiss when the Marshall Family began their large-scale withdrawal days earlier and had started taking action.

Despite their indifference to the fate of the Marshall Family or fear of the Violet Empire, they still needed to stay somewhat informed about the intelligence and political shifts.

As neutral organizations that had stood on the Innocent Continent for thousands of years and witnessed the rise and fall of many dynasties, they knew all too well that the Violet Empire was on the brink of change, and the extent of benefits they could garner during this process was what truly concerned them.

Observing the situation, withdrawing, conducting covert dealings, collecting intelligence – each branch, lodging, and store was quietly at work. These people might not influence the outcome, but they would be ready to make decisions immediately after the dust settled, and the nature and impact of those decisions would depend on their accomplishments during this time.

Among them, the Cloud Traveler Inn, as the most extensive and loosely organized intelligence network on the continent that always profited, was the most active. The number of Bards in Mithril City had nearly doubled. Aside from the local inns, their colleagues from neighboring cities had also come to gather big news.

But without the advantage of time and place, and unaware of the full picture, they were far inferior to an outsider monk who had his eye on this major news for quite some time.

The owner of the Cloud Traveler Inn in Wayne City, Du, the Mage Cleo, had arrived in Mithril City on the very day the Lord’s Allied Forces set out. He dispersed his adorable pets throughout the area, from Mercury City in the west to the junction of Marshal and Housaiyin Territories in the east, bringing the entire region under his surveillance. He himself, with great foresight, had rented a building with an excellent view on West Gate Street in Mithril City, and at this moment, he was less than ten miles from the Allied Forces’ temporary camp in the city.

"It’s really about to explode."

This elegant Dark Elf, dressed in a plain robe, lazily leaned against the window. His slightly squinted left eye observed the well-ordered elite force of fifty thousand outside the city, while his right eye, connected to Raven number eighteen, overlooked Mercury City from a hundred miles away. Behind him, on a wooden table, a black feathered quill was furiously scribbling across several pieces of parchment.

For Cleo, multitasking to this extent didn’t even count as a burden. He could still elegantly make himself a cup of coffee while simultaneously keeping watch over several locations and thinking through multiple threads in his mind.

"Ptui..."

After sipping his coffee, which he accidentally added seven or eight too many sugar cubes to and which was overcooked, Cleo immediately spat it out. Then, coughing, he poured the unpleasant concoction out of the window and chuckled coldly with his arms crossed, "That’s truly disgusting..."