Chapter 31 – Backstage forces

Heavy wooden door, made of a massive solid piece of giant tree, slid open from a slight push of the gentle feminine hand, making only a slight rustle of sound and bringing a slight breeze of fresh air into the room. However, even that barely audible rustle was like the ring of a huge bell in the dead silence that existed within the room.

A man startled by the sudden sound turned up his eyes as if roused from dream.

"Oh, Y...your holiness. You are so early..." Started to stutter the man in big glasses, covering half his face, when he saw the Holy Lady entering the library.

"It's already noon, Jakob." Said Holy Lady basking him in her smile. "You've been up, reading all night again? I told you to rest properly. Do you need me to specifically come every evening to remind you to take some rest?"

"N..no, your Holiness, I don't dare! I

r…rest properly usually. I promise! It...it's just, I….I get a bit carried away sometime. It…it's not always this way."

"I see." Said Holy Lady watching his stuttering and stumbling from shyness every time he was in any woman's presence, with such a smile as if looking at a cute puppy stumbling around.

"So, have you found what I asked for?"

"Y..yes. These are all that I could find f..for now at least." Said Jakob pointing at a few piles of books on the table that were higher than his head while he sat on the chair behind the table.

"Only these?" Said Holy Lady with a clear note of sarcasm in her voice, however that note must have missed his ears or simply did not fit in his dense to all women's behavior brain as usually. And smiled when he started his stuttering explanation of these being the most likely books with the needed information and how he might find more if he searched some more.

"It was a joke, Jakob. It's actually already too much. I did not really think there will be so much material to look through actually." Explained the Holy Lady not wanting to see how he tormented himself explaining why he did his job unsatisfactorily when in truth he overdid her expectations.

"Oh. Is that so?" Said Jakob with a surprise on his face.

His denseness to women's intentions was already a myth of this place as one of her female guards that openly expressed her likes for him did almost all but openly jump at him naked, yet still failed to express her feelings to him well enough for him to understand it up to this day, gaining herself the laughs and teasing of all the maids in the mansion. Which actually ignited her desire to conquer this unconquerable by any woman to this date, librarian even more than before, making Holy Lady fear for his well being when he returned to his quarters at the late hours alone. The cougars will definitely eat you if you continue like that Jakob. She thought

"Well it's not actually a lot of information. There are only bits and pieces of the requested information. I was trying to compile a list to make it more understandable."

"I see. As I thought. It really is a rare power isn't it?"

"Power of dreams strong enough to counter divination? To t…tell you the truth I have not f…found any mention of anything even close to t…that. At least nothing that any demon or devil that was ever recorded to be in possession of. However t…there are some interesting examples t…that could theor...r...retically do that. Dryad Queen and Succubi Queen are a few examples. B..but there might be more. However their power is heavily weakened by divine power. I don't believe they c…could stand a chance against you, your holiness."

"Thank you, Jakob. Let me know once you complete the list. This is very important."

"I understand, your holiness. I will do it as quickly as possible."

"Just don't forget to rest or Mia might curse me behind my back."

"Mia? Why would she? I think she loves you dearly, y…your holiness." Said Jakob.

"I am not the only one she loves dearly." Muttered Holy Lady while sighing and shaking her head at the looking at her with a quizzical eyes Jakob.

"Forget it. Just rest well." Said Holy Lady and walked out of the library.

"What logic between my rest and Mia's dislike of holy lady is there?" Said dense as a brick librarian, turning back to his research work.

******

"Thank you all for gathering here today. Let us begin the meeting." Said the man sitting at the head of the long wooden table with intricate carvings and decorations, while sitting on an even more intricate looking massive chair made of solid piece of black wood with a backrest higher than him even when he stood up near the chair. Over his head on the backrest of the chair was carved a big symbol of a half moon.

He was adorned in a dark violet mantle with a cape covering his head so that his face could not be seen within the shadows of his hood. He sat surrounded by the people in identical mantles, with faces unseen within the darkness of their mantle cowls. All of them sat with one hand placed on the table showing a golden ring with an intricate insignia in their nameless fingers.

"I will start with the news on the McDaniel family. The plan is progressing well and accordingly. The hair of the late duke has been reported to be successfully disposed of within the Great Tree Labyrinth, without raising any suspicions from the throne and the royals. If there are no unexpected surprises, that household will be our subordinate in the foreseeable future." Said the man at the head of the table.

These words gained him a round of approvals and head nods from the surrounding people.

"Another matter that needs to be discussed above all for its urgency, is the recent events of Greenville town. As you may have heard, one of our VIP members had an accident on their job and had to use the sigil of the association to ask for protection from other members of the association. Bringing enemies to their doors as a result, undoubtedly exposing their hidden identity. As dark associations code imply we ought to use associations' power to help them in their peril. I would like to ask Lady Night Breeze to help them relocate their base. Recent reports show that the city lord is gathering forces, probably with thoughts of attacking the village. We must act with haste in this matter."

"Bullshit." Said the woman's voice from within the hood of the person sitting two seats away from the main seated person. The sigil of the moon surrounded by the falling leaves was carved on the chair's backrest behind her head. Even just sitting she was almost covering the sigil with her cape, showing how much higher she was than the man on the main seat.

"They were exposed far earlier than that and the reason for it is their utter foolishness and inadequaty. These morons can't even hide their gang attitude well for just a short time period. Acting like a bunch of thugs all over the place. It is nobrainer they were exposed. The VIP bringing hunters to their door has nothing to do with them being attacked. City Lord would have wiped them out within this week in any case. I don't see a reason to help those dimwitted idiots. They are a liability to the association." Said Lady Night Breeze.

"The sigil has been used nonetheless. Dark Society owes them for their favor. Let this event be their saving grace then. We must show society that all debts are paid just as we promised our members when they joined our cause." Said the man at the main seat. "Next time they are on their own."

"Fine. However I have another question." Said Lady Night Breeze. "The scion of the McDaniel family has been disposed of inside the Great Tree Labyrinth and the Greenville town is the closest city. The VIP that had an unfortunate event on the job was within the area of the same town. Why did we not commission them for the job, instead of relying on unverified and unguaranteed people?"

"We needed it to look like an accident at all cost. A Count ranked noble house's scion dieing would have brought the great interest of royalty. An investigator may have been sent…."

"Only more reason to use professionals for such a job." Said Lady Night Breeze interrupting the man in the main seat. "They were a group of high rank adventurers in the past, were they not?"

"Well they also do not take commissions like that. They are merchants of narrow niche products now and only wish to deal in this regard." Said the man a bit irritated at being interrupted.

"Why do we even give them a VIP treatment then? We have hundreds of merchants."

"Well they have the connections and clients for their merchandise among the most high rank members of our association. They have what some say a good eye for premium merchandise and got a VIP spot with all the recommendations of their clients in our ranks."

"Tsk. Useless old sluts, lusting for young boys, doing whatever they want, even giving VIP treatment to a bunch of no ones."

"Old sluts they may be, but they are the main source of income and support for us, so we ought to take their wishes into consideration."

*Ught. Voiced her disapproval Lady Night Breeze in an irritation, striking the table with a palm of her lean long fingered hand.

"Let's carry on to the next topic." Said the man at the main seat ignoring her outburst. Her irritation was not a novel occasion to these gatherings of the High Council of The Dark Society.

******

When Noah returned to the guild that evening without a scratch on him and sold all his trophies at the guilds exchange boothe, guild attendant Miss Louriate came over to him asking to spare a bit of time for guild matters.

"How can I help you, Miss Louriat?" Asked Noah sitting down at the chair in the meeting room she pointed out for him.

"Mr. Lewenred, the guild have followed your recent result on the hunts and is very pleased with your achievements. Your exchange rate shows that your catch is always bountiful and you come clean and healthy even after bringing many poisoned vipers today. This all makes us believe you are worthy to skip the trial period of an F-rank and can be trusted to be elevated to the E-rank."

"To tell you the truth I didn't do much. My wolf is the one catching prey and it's a few levels above the prey we catch." Said Noah.

"The achievements are impressive nonetheless. We believe your skills would be useful at an E-rank as you will be eligible to the missions since that rank. I believe your wolf has a great scouting capability seeing you bountiful catch all the time. Many newbie teams would love to have such high rank ability added to the team's capability on their missions. High rank scouts are a great rarity to have on the E-rank levels. You will be very popular." Miss Louriat explained.

"I see. I hope I won't disappoint the guild." Answered Noah.

"Nonsense." She said, smiling a sweet smile at him. "I bet you will make a furor at the guild. Come in the morning to get your new guild card."

"Alright. Thank you." Said Noah standing up and following her to the door.

"Good luck on your next missions."

"Thank you Miss Louriat." Answered Noah leaving for the inn.

*****

Two men sat at the second floor lounge drinking from their glasses while looking at the people on the first floor.

"This is the guy?" Asked Rey. "He seems like a normal newbie to me."

"I agree. But a mission is a mission. We follow and mark all who he comes in contact with." Said Jake.

"I hate shadowing missions, you know?"

"We are getting extra pay for night hours." Said Jake looking at his teams scout with a raised eyebrow

"Tsk. You use my weakness against me too much, you assshole." Said Rey standing up from his seat and following Noah into the streets.