Chapter 401: Information
The room froze, and the man, Timmons, stiffened in shock. "What are you talking about, My Lord?"
Vale relaxed into his seat. "So tell me, you just managed to have a full set of information lying around? Especially when you must have had access to information that we would be attacking, enough to guess that we would attack.
"But for some reason, you did not flee. Instead, you waited, and some information documents were just conveniently around. An organization like yours would always prioritize keeping its information safe. So I ask again, who wanted me to see this information?"
The room was instantly cast into deep silence. Vale had not even read the other documents, and he had already come to such a conclusion! The thought greatly shocked Timmons, and he looked at the young Lord with more guarded respect.
Even Tiber couldn’t hide his impressed expression, and Valtor looked downright stunned.
Timmons was an Errant Knight, but as he looked at Vale, who should be at the same rank as him, he felt nothing but fear. Sweat covered his brow. "It is Lady Isolde!"
It was now Vale’s turn to be stunned. Isolde? What the... what’s she doing here? He felt like something wasn’t fully right and got down to the root of it. "Isolde? How can she command you to do something? Did she pay you?"
Timmons shook his head. "Lady Isolde is part of the Gem Organization, and she’s my superior. Her authority outranks mine!"
Vale blinked. Eh? She’s also part of this organization? As well as Hollow Grave? Then, how many organizations is she part of? Vale suddenly felt troubled because the image he had of Isolde always kept changing. Just what is her identity? When he thought he knew something about her, she’d reveal another thing!
’....am I getting played by her somehow...?’
He got down to the heart of the matter. "So, the Gem Organization is interested in helping me?"
Timmons blinked again, then he remembered Isolde’s warning about how he should be very careful when dealing with Vale. That he should deal with him as if he were facing a member of the High Clans. He chose his words carefully. "Not helping directly, My Lord, but we can propose a transaction between us."
Eh? So they don’t want to form a deep partnership, but they still want to hang on. But why? What would be their benefit? He didn’t know, so he just asked bluntly. At worst, he’d learn what they wanted.
"What do you hope to gain from all of this? What does your organization want?" As Vale said this, he also gestured with his hand for Timmons to stand and sit in front of him across the table.
Timmons did as he was commanded. "What we want is patronage. In short, a backer. Lady Isolde proposed to the organization that there’s boundless potential in you, My Lord. As such, the Gem Organization is willing to work with you."
Vale nodded slightly. "Then why not one of the High Clans?"
Timmons seemed as if he had been waiting for a question like that, and he immediately answered. "Well, the High Clans already have organizations like ours that they sponsor. My Lord might not know this, but organizations are ranked according to the level of experts in them, as well as the level of their backer.
"We only have Master Knights at our highest level, so we’re a small organization. If we had Grandmasters, then we’d be called a High Organization. If our backer had a Grandmaster, then we’d still be called a High Organization."
"Oh? You think I can reach the rank of Grandmaster?"
Timmons looked him in the eyes for the first time. "My Lord, you are only an Errant Knight, and you can already defeat Master Knights at the level of the Water Lord. Your potential is unquestionable. Even if you do not become a Grandmaster, if you can unite the whole of the Hinterlands, then as our backer, the influence of our organization will naturally grow."
Vale contemplated things. In truth, there was no logical reason to deny them apart from the fact that they might be working for someone else who had already planted them as a trap for him. That’s a reasonable reason to turn them down. But at the same time, Vale was deeply in need of an organization like this.
’....Isolde...is this your trap? No, is this Hollow Grave’s trap? They can’t have given up on kidnapping me, right.... well, there’s no harm in trying...’
"Tell me what you know about the Tachibana Clan," Vale commanded without giving a straight answer as to whether he was interested in the deal or not.
Timmons’s eyes flickered to the table and the documents. He had already prepared it, but he dared not say anything else. "The Tachibana Clan. They were a small Clan before they were founded by the Akakawa Clan.
"But with the Akakawa Clan’s support, they expanded their territory and employed a lot of Master Knights, some from your Clan and some independent Knights. The Tachibana family controls the whole Clan, and they have absolute authority. But because they tend to adopt a lot of promising Knights, they have a lot of family members, which has already caused friction and factions to form.
"They have only three Chiefs. These Chiefs have their own territories but are subservient to the Tachibana Clan Leader. At the moment, the Clan Leader, together with his Chiefs and Generals, is out there clearing a Rift that just formed around the territory of the Akakawa Clan. They will compete with three other Clans to claim the right to absorb the others and become a branch Clan of the Akakawa Clan."
"Interesting," Vale said. "So who are those that are left behind?"
"The heirs."
"Are they the ones responsible for managing the Hinterlands and dealing with matters here?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Tell me about them."
Timmons nodded. "The Tachibana Clan Leader has no official heir. His legitimate wife died early before she could give birth, so he took many concubines. With them, he fathered twelve children. Out of them, four are already Master Knights. Those four were made official heirs by the Clan Leader about five years ago, and he said he would choose his heir from among them."
"Tell me about them."
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AN.
I have exams for the remainder of this month and half of next, as such, some of my Chapters might be short. Do understand with me. And wish me best of luck!!