It did leave the gathered city lords waiting for Alexander in the meeting hall but no one found anything wrong with him. They only remembered that he was in a meeting with the lord of Central Light City and the state of the city according to the rumors that were circulating around, it wasn't looking all that good.

They only thought it was understandable that the lord took a long while to discuss things in private with City Lord Belsor.

After waking up, Alexander quickly noticed the magically glowing doc.u.ments placed on his desk. When he read through the doc.u.ments, he got the gist of what Lucia had done to him. He didn't understand what kind of magic the woman had used on him but it was a powerful one that restricted his soul and would immediately snuff his life out if the caster so willed it.

The conditions of the agreement were stated in the doc.u.ments. The first one was the requirement to meet the quota for the monthly tribute to the Silvaria Kingdom. It wasn't anything too extravagant and he thought that it was reasonable and achievable.

The second requirement was to open land and sea trade routes for the Silvaria Kingdom. Any merchants from Silvaria were obviously going to be exempt from any tax. The third requirement was to provide all information regarding the various guilds in the princ.i.p.ality and the information of all the nations on Midgard that they currently had.

There were many other various terms and requirements that had to be met but skipping to the last requirement, it was to give the Central Light City and the port city of West Wind to Silvaria. It was in these two cities that Cecil planned to open up the land and sea trade routes for his kingdom from within the Merkruz Princ.i.p.ality. The West Wind Port City was also the city closest to the ocean and the Sky-Piercing Mountains and it also acted as the west border city that was closest to the Machina Reggio Empire.

If Alexander didn't obey and abide by the terms in the doc.u.ments placed in front of him, Lucia would first give out a warning that was in the form of pain a.s.saulting both his mind and body that would eventually lead to delirium and many other side-effects.

The pain would last until Alexander fulfills all of the terms and requirements stated in the doc.u.ments. Cecil had already ordered Quinn to plant a few people to secretly monitor him so they'd know if he wasn't fulfilling any one of them.

After the first warning was issued...well, Cecil wasn't a very tolerant man. If he didn't fulfill the requirements even after the first warning, he'd just directly lead the Silvaria Army and start razing the princ.i.p.ality's cities one by one until he finally reached the capital of Merkruz and directly execute the man and his family.

In Cecil's book, one warning was enough. If the other party didn't take the first warning to mind then that was just them asking for a beating which was, of course, something Cecil would gladly deliver since they were basically asking for it.

Alexander cleaned himself up and was about to tell some servants to bring away the dead bodies in his room but finally noticed that the room was spotless. The bodies were all disposed of and it was as if Cecil and his group hadn't broken into the room at all.

Alexander only grimaced at the thought of him losing a very capable butler. He shook his head regretfully and quickly went towards the meeting hall where the other city lords were patiently waiting for him.

******

After transferring back to the Central Light City, Fatima immediately went to inform Kaiser about the outcome to their 'negotiations' with the lord of Merkruz. Kaiser wasn't expecting much but after reading through the copy of the doc.u.ments that had a full account of what Alexander was going to provide Silvaria with as compensation, he couldn't but help exclaiming, "Isn't this just daylight robbery?! Will he even fulfill all this?"

Cecil chuckled from the side and said, "Heh, if he doesn't, then the first warning would be enough to make him reconsider."

Kaiser eyed his son before shaking his head in disbelief.

"If he still doesn't abide by the terms...well, let's just say I'll go ahead and raze the princ.i.p.ality and directly kill him and his family," Cecil offhandedly said with a shrug.

"Cecil..."

"One warning is enough. I won't tolerate fools who don't know their place. The same goes for the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds back at home. I've already warned them once to not try anything on my family. If anything happens back at home, do expect a family purge, father," Cecil dangerously said before walking out.

"...that boy..."

"Cecil does have a point father," Fatima said. "Luca called a few days ago and suspected that the branch families might try something back at home. That's why we changed plans so that we could hurry back to Silvaria."

"..."

"I heard from Cecil that he had already given them a warning and a chance to do things fairly, but if they still try to scheme something against us..."

"They're still family though..."

"Cecil doesn't see it that way. In his mind, his family is only those from the main branch. If you persuade him, he might not kill them all, but he will punish them by other means..."

"He's grown more loving and emotional but much less tolerant..." Kaiser said.

"No father, it's not him who's grown less tolerant, it's just others taking advantage of our kindness to try and ride over our heads. He already gave them a warning and I agree with Cecil in this regard, one warning is more than enough," Fatima said in agreement with Cecil's mindset.

She too had grown tired of tolerating the branch families' antics. Cecil had only recently come home so he couldn't compare to what Fatima had to go through while he was gone and when they were back on Earth.

"Aren't you tired of it as well, Father?" Fatima couldn't help but ask.

"...It comes with the duty of becoming patriarch. He could learn more from you in the art of tolerance."

"Things are different now. In this world, the balance of power has totally s.h.i.+fted to the main family who's more martial since strength decides whether one has power or not. The branch families are trying to dip their fingers into our martial ways. When our family was first established, wasn't the point of the branch family's formation was for those who didn't want to delve deeper into the main family's traditions? What right do they have to try and..."

Fatima didn't finish her words and only shook her head before continuing, "Anyway, Father, I don't like how they are trying to creep back into our traditions when they were the ones who wanted to back out of it in the first place. They should have just remained in their place without causing any trouble for us! With Cecil's recent actions of opening trade routes to other nations outside of Silvaria, it's already clear that he's been trying to resolve the branch family's problems in his own way...I was wrong about him being inattentive to our family's situation."

Fatima had realized this when she read through the already prepared doc.u.ments that was given to Alexander, the lord of Merkruz, during their brief 'negotiations'. She felt a little bit guilty for having scolded Cecil a while back.

"Hoho, well, that boy...he's used to doing things on his own so you've never seen him actually doing anything other than training and being preoccupied with his own things, but his butler has always been providing daily reports on the activities of every major figure in our family."

"...I feel like an idiot for criticizing him...but he could at least show his effort! It makes us, his family members, only worry for him!"

"Hahaha, I heard that even his wives have no idea what he's been doing on his own! He's a brilliant child but you are right, he should learn to share his burdens. Although technically, he is dividing the duties with his butler, Quinn."

"...Quinn is supposed to be a butler not a secretary... He should rely on his siblings more!"

"I'll have a word with him. Cecil's got much to learn but he's already on the right track, don't you think, Ima?"

"...Yes," Fatima replied before mumbling quietly, "Wish he relied on his big sis more though..."

"What's that Ima?"

"Nothing, anyways, I'll go inform the city's inhabitants that we've rightfully taken over the city so we'll leave behind a few Spell Canons and Storm Howlers to protect the city while also stationing some soldiers in the city to maintain order."

"Go discuss things with Cecil. Since you want him to rely on his siblings more, then you should be more proactive in helping him out by directly sharing your thoughts with him."

"Yes, Father, I'll get going now."

"Yes, yes. Now hurry, before that boy goes and disappears on you again!"

Lucia who was standing right behind them only smiled helplessly and said aloud, "I think you may have been a little too late. I sensed him use Blink just earlier..."

"...I really want to hit him..." Fatima said in exasperation.

"Don't worry, big sis, I want to do the same as well! Let's go find him together and give him a big slug to the face!"

"Uh...okay?"

"Ima, go tell Rowan to organize which troops to leave behind. Also tell Matheus and Gabriel to prepare the troops for the transfer. We're returning to the kingdom in 3 hours," Kaiser called out.

"Yes, father!"

"Hmmm... big sis Ima, how about you go tell Rowan and I'll go tell brother Matty and Gabe?"

"Okay."