Chapter 77 (1 of 2) How to thwart a plot to seek attention. (Patreon)

“…so now I’d like to invite Marvin Goldcroft the CEO of the largest corporation in the world, Medallion, to come up to the podium and give his words on this tragedy that has afflicted us.”

Harold McGuire stepped away from the podium and walked over to the row of seats to the side. A large crowd of journalists and news reporters were spread out before their stage, but none of the individuals on the stage let it phase them. As he saw down, he patted the CEO on the shoulder and sent him a serious look.

Marvin nodded slightly and walked up to the podium. He adjusted his tie and coughed into his fist before placing two hands on the podium. “These past few months have been the hardest time of my life,” he began solemnly. “I am known for being the founder of Medallion. I’ve been called a miracle-working entrepreneur, some places have even cited me as a genius. But while building up my business has had its fair share of problems… it is nothing compared to the fear of what unknown fate one of my few remaining family members has received.”

Mutters began to break out among the reporters, but Marvin coughed again and straightened up. “Lucille is my great niece. She’s the daughter of my brother’s son, and we have raised her since she’s been five. There have been many rumours spread among the business world that she is not up to standard to follow in my footsteps, but let me tell you now.” He narrowed his eyes at the journalists and broadcast crew. “Never have I considered letting anyone else take over Medallion when I retire.” He shook his head sadly. “I only wish that I said this to the world before her disappearance. She is family, someone with incredible intellect, and I can only say that I believe in my great niece that she will be found-”

‘It’s rare to hear you praising me, Marvin. Please, do it more.’

Shut up.

He stopped himself from rubbing his temples when the dryly sarcastic voice of his niece echoed in his head. Her ability or ‘Origin Skill’ as she called it seemed to be very versatile and allowed her to establish a mental communication channel with him, but even if she couldn’t actually see his thoughts, he didn’t appreciate her frequent comments on his decisions regarding the spreading of the Simulacrum Realm access throughout Earth.

“-whether it be because she finds a way to send a message, or the capable forces of the Esper Union that are working tirelessly to find out how a thousand members of the biodomes disappeared without notice.” He sent Harold a polite nod for good measure and turned back to the crowd. “I will spare no expense to find my niece and the missing members of our youthful generation. It is due to this fact that I am here to announce that the search for the missing thousand will be fully funded by me!”

An uproar sounded throughout the crowd and the journalists and reporters tried to push forward to send their hovering drone microphones closer to him, attached with speakers to shout their questions louder than the competition. An electric blue hexagonal energy shield rebuffed them all, causing them to be pushed back several metres.

“That is what I wanted to say,” Marvin finished solemnly. “But before I step away from the podium, I would like to present to you our most honoured guest here today, the one in the centre of all of the World Government’s actions: The World Government President, Edison Williams.”

Whispers broke out as a man walked onto the stage, flanked on each side by two well-built bodyguards fully armoured in Exosuits, cores of power glowing in their centres. The man appearing in his early 40s was wearing a black suit and his dark hair combed back. Edison Williams smiled calmly and took Marvin’s outstretched hand to shake.

“I would like to discuss a few things with you later,” Edison said in a low voice near Marvin’s ear, in a way that prevented any camera from getting a clear recording of his mouth.

“…yes, as would I,” Marvin replied, but he imperceptibly gripped the President’s hand tighter before they let go. He felt the strangely cool rush of what his great niece called spiritual power’ as he saw the mark briefly appear on the man’s hand, invisible to anyone but him. Marvin pulled away and stood beside the President as Edison William walked forward.

Is it done?

‘Yes. Edison Williams has been given access to the Simulacrum Realm. Very soon you’ll be having a meeting in the realm between you, him and Harold to discuss the implications of my ability and the proof of the coming of the Tower.’

“Marvin Goldcroft’s actions will be a support for many grieving families over the coming days, I’m sure,” Williams said as he glanced at Marvin. He smiled at the audience and spread his hands. “I’m honoured to be invited to such an important event. Before I give my speech, however, I would like to request for you, Marvin Goldcroft, to open the Missing Thousand Charity Event.”

Marvin walked forward with a nod and placed his hands flat on the podium. “As the owner of Medallion and one of the many affected by the disappearance of a thousand of our young adults,” he shouted grandly. “I thank you all for coming, and-”

__________________________________________________________________________

“-wish you all enjoy yourselves at this spectacular event to honour this new era of the Aurelian Commission,” Lucille finished, holding out a glass of wine and smiling brightly at the guests. Polite claps resounded from the people sitting at the long table and she sat down, placing her glass back in its spot.

After she had said that, the important guests at the private luncheon event began to have discussions. As she was the ‘central’ figure of the debut, she had to sit at the end of most importance with Vincent and the three Counts on her right. Opposite them were the highest-ranked guests who had come to the debut – distant Duchy relatives, Marquesses, and such. Of course, as Vincent was the ‘true’ Commission Head, it meant none of them wanted to talk to her because clearly she had nothing important to say.

Vincent wasn’t actually placed directly on her right, however. That spot was reserved for her ungrateful bond. Scytale seemed to be enjoying his food, although looks of distaste were sent his way by the ‘sophisticated’ nobles opposite him. Scytale had never cared about anyone else’s opinions, whether it be racial discrimination or judgment of his nonexistent eating manners.

When he had finished eating the entirety of his apple-shaped natural treasure, including the core – she was disgusted by that fact – he crossed his arms and glanced at her.

‘I’m bored. Can I leave?’

No.

‘But nobody is even talking to us! Vincent’s doing fine on his own, so let’s just retire for the day and head back to the Headquarters-’

Not happening. I’m the ‘host’ of this event. I can’t leave a table filled with the most important allies of the Commission.

‘But what about meeee-’

You’re my bond so you stay here.

‘I bet you only want me to stay so I suffer along with you.’

Well…

‘I knew it!’

She hid a smirk when she heard her bond’s mental cries of injustice behind a sip of her drink and absentmindedly scanned the guests at the table, using the ‘Shard’ to pay extra close attention to the several who had connections to the Malediction Society. She wouldn’t be able to kill them and she was sure Lucius’s subordinates already knew of their identities, but the aim was to weaken the Malediction Society’s connections to Olden and any other major political faction so that when it finally went under, it wouldn’t affect the Empire too drastically.

Now that Lucille had officially had her first debut in front of the entire Empire, then the nobles would finally start either supporting her or directly confronting her. The Commission was a neutral force with major financial power that they could wield more freely compared to other forces like the Duchies and Marches. She had expected some to begin acting on their plots already, but it was nearing the end of the month and the guests were set to leave in three days.

‘Is Annaliese going to come next month?’

I believe so. I haven’t sent her any letters due to the possibility of it getting intercepted while this event is ongoing, and for that same reason I think Jasten Albrecht hasn’t allowed Annaliese to send any letters to us. But it’s been two months since Annaliese saw us and she’ll want to complain about it to us.

‘Yay, at least things will be entertaining around here.’

Entertaining… you could say that. The fortieth floor will be very busy next week.

‘?’

Lucy politely nodded when Vincent gestured to her for some reason relating to the discussion he was having with the noble opposite him and placed a forkful of food in her mouth as she considered how many people were going to be there.

Me, Scytale, Sedric, Hargrave, Annaliese, Sir Albrecht, Raegan, Marellen, Trisroa, Larena, Garthe… and Vincent if you ignore the fact he lives in his estate in the evenings. A full twelve people. Will I be able to get a break?

Maybe she should do a Hargrave and run off to another plane to slaughter monsters and avoid socialising. Unfortunately, she had more responsibilities than the wanted ex-mercenary. Which included the luncheon she was currently participating in.

The luncheon would be a meal with all the most important nobles, but during afternoon tea, Lucy would be having her first formal meal without Vincent by her side during the debut. The reason for that was because, for her plans to work, Vincent needed an opportunity to talk with the titled nobles alone. That left her in charge of running afternoon tea in the Pavilion for all the untitled nobles of ‘her age’.

So she would be stuck with a bunch of hormonal teenagers and haughty young noble brats in the afternoon. Her only comfort was that Scytale would always be worse than any of them. Which wasn’t much of a comfort when she thought about it.

Her great-uncle was doing well with the charity event. He always was one to take advantage of any opportunity to increase his reputation and influence. The fact he knew where she was and could control how much effort to put into the event was extremely beneficial for him.

As Harold McGuire and Stephen Lawrence had also attended, many people had been branded with spiritual energy and given access to the Simulacrum Realm due to the copious amounts of hand-shaking that occurred. The Simulacrum Realm was like a type of highly infectious spiritual disease or virus, spreading through physical contact and utterly invulnerable to any kind of medicine.

And my ultimate goal will be to infect all the realms, allowing me to create an omnipresent communication system that will only be noticed by the people infected when it’s already too late.

‘Wow, evil much?’

How is it evil? I’m going to be providing free internet access to every sapient thing in existence.

‘Knowledge corrupts!’

Ah, so you must be completely incorrupt as you’re the most unknowledgeable creature to ever live.

‘Yeah- no, wait.’

Why are we discussing this again?

‘Because we’re both bored!’

She quietly clicked her tongue in a way that wouldn’t be heard by anybody nearby and leaned back in her chair. Count Ravimoux shot her a smirk and a knowing look, likely feeling the same as her about the entire situation. Lucille finished the rest of her glass and held it out to a nearby servant for them to top it out.

The sooner this debut is over, the sooner I can visit the Counties and do something interesting for a change.

…

“Lady Goldcroft.”

Lucille ignored the call and instead watched the other young nobility seated at the circular tables of the Gilded Dome Hall’s gardens. She knew that someone had said her name, obviously, but the way they had chosen to go about irritated her.

“Lady Goldcroft? Lady Goldcroft, can you hear me?”

Lucy prevented herself from sighing and instead turned to blink innocently at the young blonde-haired woman in her early twenties. A luxurious scarlet dress adorned the woman’s figure and she held a fancy fan.

“I apologise, I didn’t register you speaking to me due to the unfamiliar title,” Lucy replied pleasantly.

“Ah, of course.” The woman hid her smirk behind her fan. “You haven’t been among the noble class for very long now, so of course you’d be unaccustomed to the title of ‘Lady’.”

“Hm? Oh no, it wasn’t that.” Lucille shook her head and returned to watching an animated conversation another table was having about the estimated winners of the upcoming Glory Pantheon Championship.

“Then would you care to enlighten me?” The woman casually sat in the seat next to Lucy – a stupid decision considering who it belonged to – and closed her fan.

Lucy glanced back. “I’m a titled noble, so my title would be ‘Count Goldcroft’ before being called ‘Lady Goldcroft’.” She pretended to hesitate. “Or am I allowed to refer to other titled nobles as ‘lady’ or ‘lord’? I’m still not sure about noble etiquette…”

The woman narrowed her eyes while smiling. “Oh no, you mustn't do that. I sincerely apologise for confusing you. Referring to you as ‘Lady Goldcroft’ was a mistake on my part.”

“Ah.” Lucy nodded once, then blinked and turned back to the lady. “Excuse me, but I don’t recall who you are. What family were you part of again?”

A look of mild irritation crossed the blonde-haired woman’s face but she still replied, “I am the fourth daughter of the Weatherby Dukedom of the 16th Major Kingdom, Sheralis Weatherby, Count Goldcroft.”

“A pleasure to talk to you.” Lucille glanced at the chair the woman was sitting on. “But that seat is taken, so you may have to stand if you wish to continue this conversat-”

“Hey, Lucy! Have you tried the raspberry pie yet? It tastes great with a truckload of cream on- wait, who are you?”

Scytale stared at the random noble sitting in his seat. A piece of half-eaten pie was still in his bare hand, earning him a look of contempt from the noblewoman.

“And who might you be?” Lady Weatherby tapped on her chin with the fan and narrowed her eyes at Lucy’s bond, not knowing she was making a mistake. “Clearly you’re one of the lower nobles the Count here has gracefully allowed to attend this event. Eating in such a vulgar manner…” She studied Scytale and then smirked slightly. She leant forward to see Scytale’s eyes better. “However, now that I see you closer… you seem to have a high affinity for the light element. If you’re a member of the Citadel then I give you my deepest apologies.”

“Uh… no, not a member of the Citadel, sorry. Just someone who wants his seat back, which you are sitting on.” Scytale signalled to Lucy with his eyes sending across a message vaguely equivalent to ‘Who the heck is this delusional crackpot?’ .

“Ha. Your seat.” Lady Weatherby smirked derisively and turned to Lucy. “Count Goldcroft, could I request that you enlighten us both as to who this seat belongs to?”

Lucille took one look at the chair and pointed at the noblewoman. “Lady Weatherby, please get off his seat.”

She stared at Lucy in astonishment which quickly turned to anger. She pointed her fan at Scytale. “My apologies, your ladyship, but I should get off for him?”

“Yep. That’s my seat. Shove off old woman,” Scytale said with a yawn, standing next to Lucy after putting his pie on Lucy’s empty plate on the small table in front of her.

The blonde-haired woman’s face tinged pink. “Excuse me?!”

Scytale winked at her and then morphed into his serpent form with the glow of his golden aura. He slithered onto Lucille’s shoulders and tilted his feathered head at the woman while Lucy gave him a side eye.

“You’d think that by being your compeer bond that I’d get better treatment, but nooo, I’m still just a common pleb with poor manners,” he complained.

Lucy decided to take advantage of the moment to frown at the woman. “Lady Weatherby, I don’t like seeing my bond be treated with such disrespect. It might be best for you to leave now.”

With a huff, the noblewoman stood up and walked off. Scytale flew onto his chair and returned to his human form to stuff the remnants of his pie into his pie hole. “So, was I good pest control? Do I get a pay rise?”

“A pay rise from what?” Lucy asked dryly. “We haven’t established any wages for you.”

Scytale pressed his index finger and thumb together in the ‘OK’ sign. “I accept incentives in the form of food.”

She rolled her eyes but sighed wryly and leaned back in her chair. “It’s clear that the only discussions people wish to have with me are related to their parents’ political wishes and a desire to know my weaknesses and political alignments. I can tell that they’re all begging to know why the Counties didn’t just replace me with someone else to be a puppet head and allowed the actual inheritor of the pocket watch to stay in power.”

“Huh. Well, good luck sorting that out,” her bond replied with the sort of nonchalance that could only come from taking no responsibility whatsoever for anything. “Anyway, while I haven’t met them yet, I spotted those two Alichanteu brat- I mean heirs over on the other side of the garden clearing. Might want to check that out.”

“Hmm…” Lucy glanced at the other nearby tables, but all of those conversations were pleasant, for the most part. She nodded and grabbed her cane from where it was leaning against the table. “Let’s go see what petty arguments those half-brothers have decided to begin.”

They walked over to the other side of the clearing and lo and behold, Artair and Arwen were facing each other. Many nobles were watching the confrontation, and they cleared out of the way when they saw her coming. The two half-brothers didn’t seem to notice and kept gazing at each other.

Arwen, the younger of the two with brown hair, had a smirk on his face with his arms crossed. “It has been a while since we’ve seen each other, dear brother. You’ve been busy holing yourself up in our father’s study these last few months.”

“As the oldest heir of Alichanteu, it is my duty to take up part of our father’s responsibilities,” Artair calmly replied.

“Yes, well…” Arwen’s smirk grew wider. “I’m sure if one of us was acknowledged as the successor, Count Goldcroft would be able to provide our County aid. As it is, we’re facing significant losses by being at this standstill.”

“…our County still remains prosperous.” Artair eyed his brother with suspicion. “Is there a reason why you want to bring this up, Arwen?”

“The County vassals are getting tired of waiting.” Arwen narrowed his eyes and approached his taller older brother. “External influence might be the deciding factor that can allow a new successor to be chosen.”

Artair frowned even more. “Arwen, this is not a conversation to be held in this sitting. Even more importantly, the Aurelian Commission is part of the neutral faction. We will not let ‘external influences’ affect the inheritance processes we’ve carried over millennia,” he stated solemnly.

Lucille walked closer and the sound of her footsteps alerted the two half-brothers to her arrival. She smiled and leaned heavily on her cane as Scytale observed them curiously next to her. “Yes, this talk of ‘outside influences’ feels very arbitrary. What need does the Commission have for others to control what we do?”

Artair looked slightly apprehensive to see her again and bowed stiffly. Arwen gave her a flattering bow. “Count Goldcroft. What an honour it is to see you again. I have been waiting patiently for the day an invitation to visit you would come my way, and I was delighted to receive your invitation to this marvellous…” His words died off as he saw her bright, very fake smile.

“It’s a pleasure to see you both again. We haven’t seen each other since the last debut,” she replied calmly.

Arwen smirked and glanced at Scytale next to her. “You seem to be very close to the individual beside you, Count Goldcroft. Would you care to introduce him to me?”

“You mean introduce him to you both,” she stressed with another fake smile.

“…yes, that’s what I meant.”

Lucy placed a hand on Scytale’s shoulder. “Well, this here is-”

Scytale walked forward and raised a palm. “Yo. My name’s Scytale. I’m her snake,” he said while pointing to Lucy. Once he had done that he placed his hands behind his head and walked off. “Alright, I’m going off to have more snacks. The food here is great.”

Lucille gave her bond a dull look as he left the crowd of nobles, all sporting strange expressions. “…he would be my compeer bond,” she finished dryly.

Arwen smiled. “I see. Then I’ll have to endeavour to talk with your bond more frequently.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever!” Scytale called back.

Lucille checked her gloves and glanced at Arwen. “The reason why I came over here was because I was curious, Sir Arwen. Who exactly where these ‘external influences’ you mentioned?”

Artair grimaced as Arwen gained a confident grin and straightened up. It was clear he was becoming cocky due to the attention he was receiving. “As, well, I was thinking that because we have so many prestigious personnel here today, that it may be worthwhile to hear their statements about the competence of my brother and I-”

Arwen droned on but he didn’t notice the way Lucy stiffened up for a brief moment as a strange, uninvited individual entered her perception field and watched them all from a nearby hedge.

‘Uh, Lucy-’

I can sense them. Hostility level?

‘No killing intent at all.’

A plot for reputation or distraction then. But who for? ….ah.

One of the youngest sons of a Major Kingdom Duke had withdrawn a hidden dagger from his sleeve and had it carefully hidden from view. A quick message from Scytale informed her that he had no killing intent towards her or the intruder.

‘What do you think their plan is?’

A test to see if I’m hiding anything, and a way to make the Commission owe them a favour. They’re going to stage an attack against me and ‘save’ me.

‘Do we let them?’

No. If they want to see if I’m hiding anything, then I just need to reveal something to side track them. When the intruder launches their attack, we retaliate with full force. Bonus points for making the dukedom descendant admit to their plot.

‘Got it. I’ll change into my serpent form now. He seems pretty close to attacking, so just give me the go ahead.’

Lucille focused intently on the body language of the ducal young lord and some of his vassals, who were clearly aware of the plot. As the intruder in the back shifted on the spot slightly, Lucy slowly put a hand to where Ouroboros was.

“-so I’m sure this will be the motivation Alichanteu needs to appoint a successor. Don’t you agree, Count Goldcroft?” Arwen blinked. “Count Goldcroft? Is something wro-”

Now!

Instead of responding she whirled around and unsheathed her spirit weapon. The silvery-white blade activated its shield skill and cured into a dome around her. The black-cloaked intruder’s longsword bounced off the shield with a loud clang and pushed them back. Her sudden reaction made the ducal young lord behind her hesitate as he hadn’t been as quick as her to defend.

Lucy didn’t stop at just defending and pulled out Apophis. The demonic snake-sword crackled with violent power above her head and shattered the ground in front of the attacker’s feet. They hastily backpedalled and she saw them make brief eye contact with the ducal young lord. Some message must’ve been passed because the attacker turned around and activated some sort of speed skill to escape, clearly abandoning the scheme.

30-metres of magically armoured winged snake slammed into him and bowled him over as Scytale’s Lightspeed Sky Predator Aspect enhanced his speed drastically. Scytale hissed and wrapped his tail around the intruder as they struggled futilely to escape his coils. Scytale covered the attacker with his wings to keep them enclosed.

“I have them, Lucy!”

Lucy stayed silent for a couple of seconds, acting as if she was frozen. Then she whirled around with a mock look of panic on her face and looked to the stunned young nobles for help. “Someone get a servant, quick! There has just been an attack at the event, and we need to inform the Counties!” She ran up to a nearby waiter and shook him, trying to look as nervous as possible. “Can you go find Vincent for me? He needs to come here as fast as possible. Preferably with Count Chavaret and Count Ravimoux too. They’re in charge of the security for this event.”

“I- uh, Sir Evisenhardt?” the servant asked, still shocked by what had happened. “Yes, I’ll go get him. Stay safe, Commission Head.”

He ran away, leaving Lucy to breath out a sigh of relief. She turned around and blinked when she saw the stares of the nobles, who were still looking at the ominous Apophis next to the oscillating Ouroboros near her. “Ah.” She scratched her cheek and tried to look sheepish. “Did the Counties never tell anyone I could fight? They should’ve. It’s the only reason why I’m still the Commission Head, after all…”