BXBX NOVEL Chapter 167 - 167
All eyes landed on Darius, some startled, some thoughtful, and some hostile. Darius himself rose to his feet and bowed towards those at the table before him.
"Greetings, respected ladies and gentlemen, my name is Darius Stone. I'm 13 years old and have been granted the title of Baron within the Andrato Kingdom by Listo's Minor Duke Nicholas Spencely. Behind me stands my servant, Gunner, 15 years old and member of the legendary Giant race." Darius warmly pointed to his Branded Servant.
He made sure to never directly state that he was an Adept with his own mouth but rather let people make assumptions. Who knew if one of them had the ability to tell lie from the truth?
His conflicting words would then put him in a tight spot, so it was best to feign ignorance and play the part. Interestingly, after his introduction, many took deep breaths.
Even the hostile ones were shaken as this information was too scary!
They had known him to be the youngest Adept in their kingdom, but his exact age had never actually been reported as this was the first time he had stated it. Everyone who had bought the information on him had assumed he would be between 15-17 years old.
However, at a tender age of 13, he was this powerful… not to mention his servant who they all felt had broken through the Adept threshold for Strength and Endurance both!
Of course, there were some who had their eyes gleam, various plots appearing in their heads as they took in the sight of this lad speaking.
"I spoke with the Lord Seneschal yesterday about the problems in this camp and I'm happy to tell you that I have some useful solutions to the problems we've identified during our discussion."
Of course, Darius saying this immediately made the prevailing emotion towards him shift from neutral to dislike and even in some cases, hatred.
Only a youth would be so foolish to outright admit that he was the one who enlightened their cash cow leading to today's bizarre situation!
"There are five main problems plaguing this unnamed encampment right now." Darius began, seating himself as he rested his chin on his knuckles, enjoying the sight of everyone starting to underestimate him for his 'youthful foolishness'.
"Firstly, there is the matter concerning the blight encroachment. This is an issue pertaining to the very survival and comfort of all the council members present as well as those you represent, something we can only delay but never truly solve."
"What's worse, it has forced you to expend the manpower of the great and noble priests in order to do so. This has limited your efforts in the battlefield as it resulted in a lack of Light element affiliated fighters to assist in the killing of the Bone Dragon!"
Darius smacked his hand on the table, in the same manner as Elijah had done earlier. "As such, I shall handle the issue concerning the blight by sacrificing my personal stockpile of Purification Potions for the betterment of the camp!"
The moment Darius announced this, there was a palpable uproar. None of the fellows here could believe it! Just when they had lost a huge fish like Elijah, an even bigger fish appeared that was more 'generous'?!
Or was he? Certain parties did not agree, namely the priests themselves. The highest-ranked priest coughed to silence the table and stood up.
"Honorable Baron Stone, we thank you for your kindness and thoughtfulness in trying to absolve the matter with the blight, but we'd like to report that we already have an efficient timetable set up for clearing. Besides, the manpower of our priests is much more reliable than mere potions."
His eloquent speech made many nod as they turned to Darius to see how he would convince them otherwise. Darius was so amused he almost allowed a twisted expression to tarnish his face.
Were these guys living in their own bubble of reality?
Darius' finger tapped the table slowly. "Dear council members, I'm afraid all of you seem to overlook something vitally important."
The same index finger on the table was flicked in the direction of Elijah McNickles, pointing at the calm and detached older man who was totally watching everything as a bystander, showing his resolve.
"The Esteemed Royal Seneschal is deadset on leaving. With him gone, who do you expect is going to pay for the priest's services? Are they going to do it for free? In that case, the camp thanks them for their hard work!" Darius exclaimed with a smile of awe.
Suddenly, many parties froze, especially the three priest reps. The young lad was correct, they had sneakily enjoyed the simple task because it had been practically free money, while conveniently allowing them to stay away from the risky battlefield.
Now that the big fish Elijah had solemnly quit, they didn't even have a chairman and certainly, no one would rush for such a position given the trouble it represents.
So it was either they continued to clear the blight like dogs for free, or they stood back and let the potions Darius was freely offering take hold. Either way, nobody would pay them for their services in the short term.
Many of the reps murmured to each other in agreement with Darius, making the faces of the three priests turn ugly. They glared at Elijah and Darius both, feeling that the duo had cooked up a scheme.
"So, what do the honorable priests want to do? I personally feel it's better for your forces to stop clearing the blight when mere potions will suffice, freeing you up to join the fight. That way, our progress is bound to skyrocket by at least 50%!"
Darius rubbed his chin with a thought-provoking smile. "To be honest, I find it strange that you all took to such a simple job so easily. Wouldn't it be more representative of holymen to charge into the battle with vile undead, using the great power of the Light to quell their foul existence? Why stay at the camp doing this easy job, away from your true duty?"
Darius phrased it as an innocent question, but it was like thunder in the ears of the various reps.
They had been too busy focusing on other things, mostly how to turn the situation into a profit benefitting their own factions, and had treated it as natural for these greedy priests to clear the blight for money as it was a job only their profession could handle.
But now that Darius was offering an alternative and using these words, many of the reps couldn't help but feel like there was more to it in choosing to clear the blight. After all, Elijah had blatantly called out the ugly truth, hadn't he?
This was a camp of competition, not contribution. Who wanted to waste their manpower for others? They would rather others waste their manpower so they could have it easy later on.
Many eyes on the table turned dark as they glared at the three priest reps.