Chapter 66: A Father’s Wrath
Inside a decently sized room, with simple furnishings and dull lighting, a group of men sat in gloom. There were four high ministers of the royal court, and ten other active ministers. They all sat around a simple, ornate desk that had the head seat empty.
The atmosphere inside was heavy with tension as they awaited their leader, the grand vizier, Victor Malverin.
All these ministers gathered had heard rumors of the outburst that had occurred in the grand vizier’s mansion only a day ago; in fact, everyone in the kingdom had heard something.
Though what triggered this outburst was still unknown, all that followed was that the grand vizier had suddenly put his entire mansion on lockdown, permitting no entries or exits.
And now, the grand vizier had suddenly called for a meeting of all members of his faction to their secret meeting place, which was only supposed to happen in emergencies.
Now, they were all worried that a problem might have occurred with their plans; maybe the king had found some evidence about what they planned to attempt, and the royal enforcers were on the move.
Since they couldn’t be certain which one it was, they all simply waited for Victor to make his appearance.
The stylish oak single door that led to the room swung open, and Victor walked in with both hands folded behind his back, still looking like his usual elegant and charismatic self, but for some reason, he seemed to have lost a lot of weight and was looking a little malnourished.
The ministers stood up as Victor entered, and sat back down when he took the head seat.
They all noticed his disheveled state, but none of them dared to mention it.
They remained in silence for a few extra minutes, all awkwardly adjusting in their seats as they awaited Victor, who was currently just staring blankly into space to enlighten them on the purpose of the gathering.
It wasn’t until another minute later that Victor turned slightly to his left, where a middle-aged man of average build, attired in luxurious ashen garb, sat. Victor muttered as he stared directly into the man’s grey eyes. "High minister."
"Grand Vizier." The man replied, bowing lightly.
"A message arrived at the palace from the knight commander, requesting some support at the catacombs of permafrost. Is that correct ?"
"Yes, grand vizier, and the Saintess has already designated a team of highly skilled Adept-realm soldiers, and one master realm leader, to go aid them in both manpower and supplies." The high minister explained calmly.
Every person of importance in the kingdom had already received news by now through their spies in the palace that a message had arrived from the royal knight commander, requesting support at the dungeon, so they wondered what Victor had in mind for broaching this matter.
"I have been thinking...." Victor intoned as he drew his gaze to the shelf filled with books in the corner.
"Your suggestion that we correct the issue with the summoning.... And fix the problem with that .....mistake... of a hero..."
"This should not be delayed any further... what do you think ?"Victor said this as his single moustache began to twitch ever so slightly.
"But, grand vizier... it was you who told us to wait and..."
"I remember that, high minister.... but now, I’ve changed my mind.... I believe the prosperity of our kingdom should be pushed for more.... Aggressively... don’t you all agree ?"
Victor added as he spun his gaze from one minister to another while they all nodded in agreement, even if they were still curious, what prompted such a sudden change of mind.
While they had all been eager to eliminate the hero of item box, it was Victor who had made them see reason to act carefully. Now, it was the same Victor who was calling for a more aggressive approach.
Still, they were all on board, but there was just one major problem.
"But, how do we.... What about the knight commander... and even the soldiers that had been dispatched to render support ?" Another high minister voiced the concerns of the rest.
"Hahahaha...." Victor laughed aloud before he began smiling creepily, causing a jolt of unease to run through the spines of all the ministers gathered.
This was the first time they had ever seen Victor laugh in such a manner. It seemed almost unhinged. But that would be impossible. The grand vizier was the most collected and wisest person in the entire Kingdom.
That was how he was able to gather more than half of the court’s cabinet of ministers to his faction. Of course, a lot of brides and threats were involved as well, but it was mostly his collected, calm, and charismatic nature that made him stand out so much in the first place, and allowed him to bring the Malverin family back to its glory days and even better than before.
They all respected the man very much. And they knew fully well what type of man he his. So none of them, after receiving his benefits, would dare try to cross him, even though he was looking a bit out of his element today.
"You don’t need to worry about that, high minister. I have sought the services of the ’hollow choir’ " Victor uttered with a vindictive smirk, while the other gathered ministers had a look of profound horror on their faces.
"The...hollow choir, grand vizier ?. But they are ... too unpredictable... and most importantly... There are rumors that..." One of the ministers tried speaking in a cautious tone before Victor cut him off.
"It doesn’t matter..."
"Nothing matters more than getting rid of that.... Beast who did..."Victor clenched his teeth as a whirlwind of chaotic mana began spiralling slowly around him, quieting the other ministers from asking any more unnecessary questions.
The hollow choir is a collective of assassins with various special skills attuned to sound manipulation...
And they all specialize in long-distance attacks... so the victim and those around them would not even know what happened until their target is eliminated. They also leave no proof behind.
They are considered the ghosts of the assassination world.
Now, it doesn’t matter if the knight commander was with the group or not; this group of assassins can easily eliminate this item box hero without the knight commander or anyone else having any clue.
But there are rumors associated with the hollow choir that they are actually aligned with demonic forces, and that’s why their ways are so irregular and lethal. It’s speculated that an elite group of Adept-realm hollow choir can even eliminate a nascent grandmaster realm expert if the conditions are right.
And their services are just as expensive; said to be worth a kingdom’s yearly budget for a single contract, and that’s just the base value. The stronger the target. The more expensive.
Now, for the grand vizier to get so desperate as to seek out and even hire such a group....
The other ministers were, of course, pleased by his decisive actions, but also worried about what might have caused such a passionate and decisive response.
It also now occurred to them that since the grand vizier had already taken this matter into his own hands and even hired an assassinating syndicate, they must have been summoned for a different reason.
"I am sure you must all be wondering why I called you all since I already have this matter handled ?" Victor added, then, adjusting in his seat, he continued.
"Get ready, everyone. Soon as that... beast... is destroyed...." A boiling rage seemed to be attempting to erupt from within Victor as he made that statement, but he managed to push it down before continuing.
"When the remaining heroes arrive.... We initiate ’the plan’."