Cassandra and Claire were really impressed by the plan of Merchant. On the first floor, blood is given the highest regard when it comes to giving someone a title like the head of the family. For example, a woman or a man from the Cross family when married into the Cullen family then she/he could become head of the Cullen family if they hold enough influence.

If all the important family members die then Phyllis and Cassandra actually would be entitled to major roles in the family. Cassandra was the daughter of a concubine of the second master of the Cullen family. While Phyllis was the product of old master r*ping a woman when he was drunk. Because of these things Cassandra and Phyllis were not regarded as the main family. They both may share the blood of the Cullen family, but they were a product of the lust of the Cullen family men.

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If the higher members of these families fell as according to the plan of the Merchant, Phyllis and Cassandra will be able to attain what would be left of the Cullen family. While Claire would be able to finally be free. With the higher-ups gone, the contract that she signed would become void. Thus she would set free. Then she could go and climb the Yggdrasil like she used to dream.

While Claire and Cassandra were lost in their dreams, Phyllis was wrecking her brain to understand the Merchant. She was different from Claire and Cassandra. She was a very smart person. And based on things that have transpired within the past year, she started thinking with her brains. She started thinking about what could be the possible reason for a guy like the Merchant to eliminate families like the Cullen family and the Cross family?

Based on the disguise and the power that the guy they met portrayed she had assumed that maybe this Merchant guy came from the upper floors. But what does he need here? Based on what she knows, the 1st floor is considered a dump by the people from the upper floors. To them, this floor does not have any significant value as there is a very thin amount of mana present here, of which most of it is concentrated in Kalgan forest. So it didn't make sense for a person like him to be here. Right?

Then she started thinking more deeply about it. The only thing that remotely interesting about the 1st floor in the eyes of the people from upper floors is… EARTHLINGS.

Monsters in human disguise that appear near the Kalgan forest area repeatedly within the span of every 6 months. Nobel families employ these people and take care of them for 2 months or so. Between these 2 months, Nobel families recognize the talented individuals from these earthlings. And then send the information about these earthlings to the respective superpowers that these Nobel families are affiliated to.

What those superpowers would do with that information was out of Phyllis's knowledge. But seeing people from upper floors investing in Nobel families on the 1st floor meant that, this information was important for them. Nobel families on the 1st floor are all affiliated with different superpowers from the 3rd floor. And from what Phyllis had observed these superpowers had the same hostility with each other as those between noble houses on the 1st floor. They may seem friendly, but inwardly they all are sly foxes waiting for someone to lower their guard so that can devour each other whole.

As Phyllis knew about this information she understood what was that Merchant trying to do. Or at least she thought that this was his original motive…

Right now all the noble houses hold a very tight power balance. There are essentially two factions of nobles right now. The one that is with the Cullen family and the one with the Cross family. These two factions hold equal powers and right now are forming a deadlock upon each other. So Phyllis's thinking was simple… What would happen if let us say one of the faction gets out of the whole equation…

Cullen family and Cross family hold enough power and influence that they were able to gather noble house to their aid. If one of them vanishes, then the other family would become the overlord of the whole 1st floor. But Merchant said in his letter that he would eliminate both the families… Now that holds a lot of significance.

Cullen family was affiliated with the Aurora tribe while the Cross family was affiliated with another tribe whose name Phyllis didn't know. They both held the same amount of power, but they were both stronger than all the other tribes. That is why they had so much influence. But if these families were to vanish, that would mean that all the information about the earthlings and all will not reach the third floor. Seeing that their affiliated families killing each other may enrage the Aurora tribe and the other tribe. That could spark the war between them…

It was just a theory, but this made sense to Phyllis. Maybe the Merchant is trying to spark a war between those tribes. Only time would tell what profit he would have with this. She was also confused as if she became the core member of the family then information about earthlings will not be delayed or such. And as long they are getting the information they would not care about what happens on the 1st floor.

Maybe he plans to kill her and her friends after he was done using them. But then she thought that maybe all of this was bullshit. Because even if things get out of control Alman was there to stop anything from escalating. After all, this was the only job that he had….

But Phyllis was not able to grasp what was Merchant thinking? She observed that he didn't want any sort of trace that this fight was instigated by him. That is why he didn't himself kill all of the members of the Cullen family and blame it all on the Cross family. After all, that would the most effective way. But rather by going the effective way, he was going to work with Phyllis and her friends. He is trying way too hard to cover his traces. What was he trying to accomplish…

..............

A few days later…

Phyllis, Claire, and Phyllis continued their daily routine after they got the letter from the Merchant. While Cassandra changed after getting the letter. After getting the letter she started seeing the dreams of being a core member. All the luxury that she would be able to get. But she also understood the responsibility that she would get after becoming a core member. So she changed her attitude completely and started behaving more maturely.

Seeing this transformation Phyllis and Claire sighed, but they didn't stop her or anything. After all this Cassandra was far better than the version of Cassandra who likes to gossip and is a chatterbox…

Today was the usual day for Cassandra. She hanged out with her friends. Then she went she gossiped with them. And then by night, she came back home. Exhausted and a little bit drunk Cassandra came back to Cullen estate. Her room was on the left-wing of the estate on the ground floor. She may have been drunk but she didn't let it show on her face. She acted like she was fine and like a refined lady, she walked back to her room without staggering.

As soon as he got into her room, she closed the door behind her. She then took out her high heels shoes and threw them aside. Then like a swimmer who was about to jump in the pool, she raised her hands and straight away jumped on her fluffy bed. This action was not very ladylike. Normally high-class woman would take out their dress hang them on hangers and after combing their hair, the woman would go to bed. But Cassandra didn't do any of that.

Her room was a hotel room. There was enough space for a queen-size bed in the middle of the room. Just behind the bed was a study table which right now was occupied by a man wearing black color clothing from top to bottom. That study table was not used before this day. Just by the right side of the bed, there were three wardrobes all filled with Cassandra clothe and jewelry. And on the left side of the bed were two other wardrobes filled with all kinds of shoes with different shades of color. All of these clothes and accessories would make any woman envious of her. But she still on the other hand was not satisfied with the things she had. She wanted more…

Still lying on the bed, Cassandra was feeling very sleepy. She was feeling very lazy to get up and change her clothes. So she decided that she would like this. That was until…

"So… You are the dumber one of out of all the three bitches that I have to babysit?" came a voice of a man. Listening to a man's voice, Cassandra looked up. And it was then she saw a man sitting on the chair of her study table…

"Hello, Cassandra. The Merchant send me here. My name is Arvin. Nice to meet you." The man said while removing his mask, revealing his badly burned face. Cassandra recognized this face instantly as this was famous all around the 1st floor. This was the face for which Alman had given out a very hefty bounty…