BXBX NOVEL Chapter 60: 58: The Balance of Belief
Times had changed, and various families of Nasir Town were sending gifts.
Of the four knight clans that once existed, one had moved away, another had been slaughtered by the Rhea, leaving only two knight families in Nasir Town, both on good terms with the Fischer family.
Sea merchant John gifted the Fischer family a piece of Class 1 Extraordinary Material, “Blue Flames Demon Fish”.
He too had aged over the past decade, his hair turning grey, but this shrewd old fellow never stopped dealing with the Fischer family.
The new town chief sent by the Hovern family, Andes Hovern, also quickly sent a gift, although it wasn’t very heavy, just a piece of craftsmanship.
What surprised the members of the Fischer family the most was that the silver descendants in town had sent gifts as well, considering their relationship with them was not very good.
The Fischer family soon figured out one thing: in fact, only a portion of the silver descendants had sent gifts, not all of them, and the leading man among those who came was named Aaron.
Aaron was a middle-aged man with short hair, with an authoritative face, holding a gift and accompanied by a few silver descendants. He entered the courtyard and spoke to the people of the Fischer family:
“There are some matters I would like to discuss with the patriarch of the Fischer family.”
His gaze towards Byrne was eager, as if there was something he absolutely had to obtain.
Byrne pondered for a moment and said, “You and I will talk, and as for the matters you want to discuss, Irene will listen too. We will make decisions for the Fischer family together.”
Aaron glanced at Irene and said seriously, “I thought in a family, there would only be one person in charge.”
Irene smiled, completely ignoring the other party’s attempt to drive a wedge between them, because she and Byrne fundamentally had little desire for power.
They would take on responsibilities, solely because they felt the need to put forth effort for their family and loved ones.
However, it seemed that some people could not understand this at all.
The three gathered in the living room, Aaron sitting on the sofa, got straight to the point and said, “Madam Irene is well aware that the elder of the silver descendants clan is about to pass away, his health has deteriorated tremendously of late.”
“Hmm, I am aware of this.”
Irene nodded calmly, as she knew this all too well.
The people of the silver descendants clan, though not very friendly to outsiders, still pleaded with her desperately for their elder.
She genuinely found it amusing to see the expressions of those who clearly didn’t like her much but still had to lower their heads.
However, even the healing power that Irene possessed could not cure the silver descendant elder, for a very simple and unsolvable reason.
Life was ebbing away, beyond recovery.
When she announced the conclusion that his life was running out, the expressions of the silver descendants changed, and some even cursed her in an unintelligible language. Irene, although she did not understand, could tell from their expressions and tones.
Still, she took her reward and left, paying no attention to the silver descendants who were about to erupt in anger. Aaron should have been there at the time, but Irene had not taken notice of him.
“I wish to become the new elder,” Aaron quickly made his ambition crystal clear.
“Among the silver descendants of Nasir, all Extraordinary Exponents below the age of fifty are eligible to run for the position, and I am a mid-level Beginning Bloodline Knight.”
Irene and Byrne exchanged looks; this middle-aged silver descendant with resolute features was indeed forthright, and thinking carefully, it seemed quite unlikely.
Byrne pondered for a moment, crossing his arms and said:
“I know who the two leading candidates are to be the new elder of the silver descendants, and it seems at best you could only be third. And why come to us?”
Aaron did not hesitate, continuing to speak frankly: “Because I need money, and your Fischer family has made quite a bit in the past few years, just enough to lend me.”
Irene had already understood his intention, but still pretended to be ignorant:
“Isn’t the selection of your elder done through revered elders who collectively listen to the voices of the ancestors to reach a conclusion?”
“Do you believe that?”
Aaron chuckled coldly and said:
“Those old devils are all greedy for money. As long as I offer enough, the voices they hear will be mine!”
Byrne slowly stood up, paced, and questioned: “What does you becoming the elder of the silver descendants clan have to do with us? Or to put it another way, what can you promise us in return?”
Aaron stood up, outlining his innermost thoughts with utmost seriousness.
“The status of the silver descendants clan is inherently derived from our talent, being able to provide high-quality spellcasters to the nation. The court mage for Cyart King now is a silver descendant.”
“However, the old folks from various silver descendants clans on the East Coast have always been too conservative, even refusing to trade with outsiders, leading us to be gradually left behind by the times! If this continues, we will inevitably fall into decline and eventually perish like jungle natives!”
The middle-aged silver descendant clenched his fists, clearly very agitated!
“I will become the silver descendant elder in Nasir, and in ten years I will be the Great Elder of the entire East Coast. I will bring about a transformation in the plight of the silver descendants, and you will become the creditors of the Great Elder of the silver descendants.”
He spoke at length about how to change the silver descendants, while Irene and Byrne just listened silently, completely without any thoughts, until the next sentence from the other party made their expressions slightly change.
“The silver descendants on the East Coast have hereditary mines, which are the treasures given to us by the Cyart King a hundred years ago in recognition of our contributions in the battles against the Rhea people!”
Aaron paused for a moment, then continued saying:
“And if I become the elder, I can hand over part of the mining rights to you as repayment for the debts.”
After a moment of contemplation, Byrne spoke with a bit of confusion:
“I think I understand what you mean, do you mean that we give you a personal loan, and if you become the elder, you will repay it with the collective wealth of the silver descendants?”
Aaron lifted his head, proud and still forthright in saying:
“Yes, but as long as the silver descendants choose me to be the elder, all of the silver descendants will embark on a completely different development path, and they won’t fall behind in this brand-new era. A small payment is something they ought to make!”
He looked sincerely earnest, as if he was speaking of something both righteous and incontrovertibly correct!
Irene and Byrne were completely stunned; they had never encountered someone like this before.
Although it was clear that he wanted to rig the election, and later use the community’s assets to repay the debt, he genuinely believed himself to be the savior of the silver descendants.
The two of them didn’t know whether to call him egotistical, arrogantly delusional, or something else entirely.
The mines were indeed tempting, but the entire investment seemed a bit unreliable. After musing for a long time, Byrne finally asked:
“What if you fail and do not become the new elder of the silver descendants clan; how will you compensate us then?”
He quickly got to experience Aaron’s straightforwardness even further.
Aaron spoke calmly and honestly, as if he were stating an inevitable outcome:
“There will be no compensation. If I fail, I won’t repay a single cent of your money, and you will get nothing, while I will become an outlaw, forever evading your pursuit.”
“To avoid such an outcome, it would be better for you to provide me with sufficiently large loans.”
With the conversation reaching such a point, there was nothing more to be said. Siblings Byrne and Irene exchanged glances.
They then temporarily moved away from Aaron, heading into the family basement to discuss.
Byrne, seeing Irene deep in thought and not speaking, couldn’t help but ask directly:
“Are we really going to support him? There is still a little more than four hundred Gold Coins in the family. If we are to support him, how much should we offer?”
He suddenly remembered Robert’s face and immediately added, “If we decide to invest, we must get some form of assurance or leverage over this guy beforehand.”
Irene pondered for a long while, clearly also a bit indecisive.
“Since we can’t make up our minds verbally, let’s write down our thoughts and vote. The minority will yield to the majority.”
Byrne found two pieces of paper, two pens, and an ancient bronze balance scale. He calmly set the scale on a nearby table and said:
“Whenever the Fischer family faces a difficult decision in the future, we can make the final judgment using this method. Regardless of the voting outcome, all family members must comply.”
Irene thought for a moment and then added.
“Alright, but if our sovereign issues any divine edict, naturally, its priority would supersede the outcome generated by the vote.”
Byrne also nodded, knowing that Lord of the Lost was Irene’s bottom line and he had no objections.
After that, the two of them silently wrote down their thoughts and placed them on the scale.
In the end, the results they arrived at were strikingly similar.
“First of all, we must investigate the situation with the silver descendants and Aaron. We can’t make an immediate judgment.”