The next morning in the Free City gave way to a huge scandal. There was an attempted kidnapping of the Fourth Prince. That piece of information alone held huge implications for the entire Summit. Not only was the prestige of the Merchant’s Circle damaged due to someone getting past the security stationed around the diplomatic quarter, but there were rumors of them having a part in it. Why would someone kidnap the Fourth Prince who seemed to be the most useless? He would be an easy target. It was clear that whoever wanted to kidnap the Fourth Prince wanted to use him as a hostage to influence the conference. Rather than looking at other countries, all eyes were pointed at the Merchant’s Circle.

Of course, the entire event was fabricated and the rumors were spread by the people working under Leonard. He intended to spread distrust among the countries and the Free City to encourage the Merchant’s Circle to move. As for the one murdered Irving? Leonard had no idea but he hoped they would expose themselves in some way due to his actions. As soon as they showed even the smallest trace, he would catch their trail.

As the different countries made their way to the conference hall there was a lot of vigilance and suspicion in their gazes. Whispers of calling off the conference spread through the air and caused members of the Merchant’s Circle to panic.

Ira took note of the general atmosphere as he and Avery followed behind the Fourth Prince who was noticeably injured.

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble, Prince.” Ira said as he listened in on the conversations surrounding him.

“The Merchant’s Circle are the ones who’ll end up paying for it if something isn’t done...By the way, may I know who your companion is?” Leonard asked.

“If I don’t want everyone else to know, why would I want you to know?” Ira smiled casually.

Leonard nodded but began to form a few thoughts. He had no idea it was Avery Thynne because he had no idea just how much Ira loved her. In addition, Avery had removed her wedding ring while she was remaining anonymous to not give any obvious signs. So the Prince assumed she was either a close friend or lover of his but decided not to pay too much attention to avoid upsetting Ira.

The leaders of each nation had already arrived at the conference hall, much like the banquet the supporting members would arrive after. There was probably some reason for it, but Ira couldn’t see it at all.

After climbing a flight of stairs, the wide conference hall came into full view. It was a huge building that looked more like a temple. The flags and banners of each country hung between the stone pillars supporting the entrance.

The most notable emblem was the one belonging to the Dark Elves. Prior to the Red Moon, the Dark Elf flag consisted of two moons, but after the Red Moon had been added. The Dark Elves viewed all the Moons as something sacred, but the Red Moon had become especially precious to them. The fact that the Red Moon came before the Golden Aurora didn’t fail to escape their eyes at all. It increased their worship around it, that’s why they pursued any information around it. If they knew Ira was the literal owner of the Red Moon they would probably see him as something similar to a Deity.

The attendees entered the room and found their seat at either a large ovular table or at one of the many smaller tables in the background. There were a total of 15 seats for each country at the main table and 10 for the Merchant’s Circle. Each dignitary had 3 seats, one for themselves and two for their closest advisors. The Fourth Prince, who had originally reserved a seat for Ira and Irving, allowed Avery to have it.

After everyone was settled, Lowell, a member of the Merchant’s Circle sent a signal and a volume enhancing array that was inscribed into the table was activated. Since the table was extremely large in size, it would progress into a shouting match if the array wasn’t used.

“Now that everyone is here...We would like to address matters of security. Fourth Prince, we would like to apologize for our oversight and ensure that something like this never happens again.” Lowell said, implying that the Merchant’s Circle had nothing to do with it. The Fourth Prince had interacted with the Merchant’s Circle through proxies, so their relationship could be considered good to some extent.

“Of course, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’re doing as much as possible. Whoever was behind the attempt to abduct me is formidable. They have a large number of resources as they even procured a silencing stone to assist them. If it wasn’t for Ira I wouldn’t be here and someone would attempt to push an agenda. It’s hard to say that there wasn’t one attempt and that there isn’t someone in this room being compromised right now.” Leonard said. His poise caused many people to look twice at him, wondering if he was the same person they had heard about.

“Are you saying that the conference should be canceled because the one in charge of protecting you couldn’t do his job?” A Government Official from the Tel’vian side spoke.

“There may be substance to what the Prince is saying. Whoever orchestrated the attack on him doesn’t fear any repercussions and has plenty of capital at their disposal. Acquiring a silencing stone is difficult without enough money or the right connections.” Saren, The Dark Elf Prince, said. He sent a glance toward Ira who sat with an ever-present grin.

“That is highly possible. It could be someone here. After all, I’m sure we all are in possession of at least three or more. To give one away to a subordinate implies they have quite a lot of money to spend. ” A Dwarf agreed. In his words were undertones of accusations toward the Merchant’s Circle. After all, the Dwarves were more or less forced to use them as an avenue of trade with other countries. A few years ago the Dwarves attempted to ship out a convoy of weapons but were robbed by “bandits.” Ignoring the fact that the bandits were extremely skilled, whenever the Dwarves used the Free City as an intermediary, no such incidents occurred.

“You want to say we had to do something with it?!” A member of the Merchant’s Circle stood up and shouted. It appeared as if his emotions had gotten the better of him and he took the somewhat obvious bait.

“What I said wasn’t remotely close to that, but now that you bring it up, someone in the Merchant’s Circle would have the most to gain.” The Dwarf said.

“Please, let’s all just calm down. The Merchant’s Circle has long since proclaimed its neutrality in all matters and although we are wealthy, we are completely self-sufficient and have no need to overextend our influence. I have no doubt that the perpetrator will be exposed soon and at that time we can all handle whoever is responsible...Now I believe the Diavol have something to say since they were the ones to call this Summit in the first place.” Lowell said as he shifted the topic of conversation.

“Yes, we’ll speak in just a moment.” A Diavol man said as he turned to talk to the people at his side.

“Ira, did you catch that?” Avery asked a low voice.

“Catch what? The Merchant who made himself look guilty?” Ira asked.

“The way the conversation was progressing meant that everyone would silently come to the conclusion that the Merchant’s Circle is the most likely culprit. That emotional outburst was to draw the accusation out before it could gain traction and eliminate any doubts.” Avery explained.

“Really?” Ira looked at the Merchant’s Circle with a bit of skepticism toward them. It became clear to him that they were so skilled that they could cooperate and assist each other without speaking.

“Excuse me, could I have everyone’s attention for the moment.” A Diavol woman said. After everyone had gone quiet she began to speak. “Now, I know we’ve have had altercations with the Grenitians concerning the border east of the Grenitian Kingdom, but we’ve long since forgotten about that. There is a new threat that appeared. One that the Grenitians should also be aware of and that is the City-Eater.”

The room broke out into stir as people began expressing their disbelief and someone even laughed. Ira, on the other hand, coughed a few times before looking the other way although no one paid him any attention.

King Windsor waited for the commotion to cease before he spoke, “While we don’t have a name for it, those who survived the destruction of the Western Valley Fortress have reported sighting a large creature. Though they claim that the mana formation you used to destroy the Fortress preceded the appearance of the creature.”

After the Grenitian King, a long time enemy of the Diavol, spoke some people began to question if what was said was the truth.

“We aren’t sure if we were the exact cause. The Hydra Formation can channel an impossible amount of mana in a short time and its effects could’ve led to summoning the creature.” A Diavol man responded.

“May I ask why do you call it the City-Eater?” King Windsor asked curiously.

The Diavol hesitated for a few moments before one spoke with a melancholic expression, “Savora, the large military installation near our border was completely eradicated, taking the lives of an estimated one hundred thousand soldiers.”

This time the conference room erupted into a huge commotion. If the Diavol really lost such a huge force, announcing it to everyone put them at a huge disadvantage and could compromise their future. The mood shifted between slight doubt to full consideration. Not only would the Diavol have nothing to gain from lying, but their behavior during the summit had been distant with little to no social interaction with other countries.

“...Is that really true?” An Elf asked.

“It is. There was one soldier who survived and was able to witness it for himself, but he died not too long after.” A Diavol man said.

“There are a few on our side who bore witness to what happened that day. In fact, if I recall correctly, Ira was one of the few who saw what happened that day.” The First Prince said as he pointed toward Ira.

In an instant, all eyes concentrated on Ira who had raised a pastry halfway toward his mouth.