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CHAPTER 243: THE CALVADOS EMERGENCY MEETING ①

CHAPTER 243: THE CALVADOS EMERGENCY MEETING ①

~ Calvados Wyslo Headquarters ~

In the center of the Dungeon City of Wyslo, there was a building that stood out from all of the rest. It was the Wyslo Headquarters of Calvados Clan, built with abundant funds poured into it.

On the top floor, the members who would hold important positions in Calvados, as well as the leaders of each of the sub-clans that were part of the alliance, were gathered together and seated in an orderly fashion at a huge and long table. The solemn atmosphere in the room made the few empty seats stand out, but the meeting, which had reached the allotted time, began as usual when Stedman, the sub-master who was sitting right next to him, stood up.

「We will now begin the emergency meeting. First, we will discuss the new force, 「Seiha」, that came to Wyslo a few months ago.”

In response to his words, the meeting, which started quietly, quickly became noisy within a few seconds.

An incident that was rumored to be called the “Tragedy at the Tower of the Lion” within the Calvados camp. Rumors beget more rumors, and even if some of the information was exaggerated, it was still shocking to listen to it all.

One of the attendees stood up and asked a question, as if speaking for everyone in attendance.

「If that is going to be the topic for the time being, then let me confirm something first. Are those rumors actually true? Stuff like being cooked alive, or being forced to eat the corpses of their fallen comrades…… But to think that a 20-person Mid-level Party of level 50s was tricked and defeated so easily and slaughtered like livestock…… Surely you understand that for all of us that IS something that is rather hard to believe.」

「Unfortunately, it is mostly true. Four parties that were hunting together on that day in an Advanced-Level tower were wiped out in just a few minutes. There were many casualties, and those who survived are now basically bedridden, suffering from severe mental distraughts and PTSD, which is going to make it difficult to attack the Dungeons for at least several months if not even longer. Also, as the rumors spread, some people are starting to leave Calvados as we speak.」

The Mid-Level Party of the leading force led by Calvados, a famous name not only in Wislo but in the Ibuldia Empire as a whole, was defeated by a party of only five people despite following the manual of launching a surprise attack down to a T.

This incident was intended to increase the Mid-Level Party’s level and gain qualifications for admission to the Highest-Level Dungeon, with the aim of strengthening their forces before any future conflict with the Tekirana camp would ensue. However, “Seiha” happened to appear at that moment. The conflict was outside the scope of the management organization’s involvement, and those on the scene were simply responding according to the manual. For Calvados, it was simply a matter of bad luck, but the damage was too great to be dismissed with just that one phrase.

Reactions to this have varied, but the vast majority expressed sheer disbelief to that.

「Seriously though…… Are those “Seiha” people that crazy? I mean, they are a new power in the region for sure, but considering the possibility that they may join the enemy camp in the upcoming battle, they are definitely something that we just cannot overlook.」

「But even so, their strength is the real deal. If we try to make a move on them, we could get a painful retaliation done on us, like this time……」

「What are you all being silly about?! Of course you’d retaliate if someone tried to do something like this to you! And if they underestimate us, then we must show them just how wrong they are for thinking that!」

「…… That’s why they say the Assassination Clan is all muscle-brained.」

「What the hell did you just say!?」

— BANG! BANG!

「Quiet now.」

The room was in uproar, but the sound of clapping was accompanied by Steadman’s short, low voice, and the atmosphere changed instantly.

Everyone here knew that this man called Steadman had the second-highest decision-making power in Calvados, right after the Clan Master.

This was because the presence of this man, Steadman, has made a great contribution to the formation of the Calvados Union that has come together today.

Stedman has been supporting the current clan master, Garcia, for over 30 years now, and from the moment he took up his position as Sub-Master, he proposed the reorganization and expansion of the Clan Alliance. Not only did he create an environment where talented people could be efficiently secured and trained to a high level by establishing branches in each town of Ibuldia Empire, but he also built a system that allowed him to understand the market by establishing a pipeline with the commercial guilds for the sake of effective fundraising.

In situations where strategic mid- to long-term decisions were required, he demonstrated unrivaled ability, and it was undoubtedly Steadman’s achievement to make the already large organization even more solid.

Because the organization has become too large, it has not been possible to build a system that can perfectly grasp the areas that require flexibility at the field level and share information, but in order to get as close to the optimal solution as possible, he has hedged the risk by creating a manual and thoroughly implementing it.

For Calvados, this clash with “Seiha” was an unfortunate event that occurred when a series of irregular events occurred one after another.

「I would have liked to have taken a little more time to draw “Seiha” over to our side, but now that things have turned out this way, there’s no doubt that they see us as an enemy. It’s probably best to consider that negotiation with them will be difficult. In that case, we will have to eliminate them, but… given their strength, the difficulty of doing so would probably require engaging the military-like force, which already makes it too great of a commitment.」

「Ugh…… So what should we do now……?」

Garcia, who had been listening quietly with her eyes closed, began to speak at that moment.

「Call Envy over here. We shall leave “Seiha” to them.」

At his words, the once quiet room became noisy again.

「H-HuhQ? E-Envy, you say……!? I have never seen this party except from the upper echelons, but does it really exist!?」

「Actually, if the rumors are as they are, it’s impossible to control them……」

「In fact, it could work against us……?」

“Envy” was originally a party of an Assassin Clan, but was transferred to Calvados because of their high fighting ability. They refused to participate in any meetings, never appeared openly in public, and were known within the Clan as a group of random killers who would assassinate whenever they felt like doing it.

They were an unusual existence, almost unique among the disciplined Calvados, and when they transferred to Calvados, they were guaranteed the right and freedom to “accept all orders other than those from their master, Garcia”, but on the other hand, if an order was to come from Garcia himself, they were obligated to follow it regardless of its content.

「Don’t misread the situation. The one who is truly unfortunate here is…… “Seiha”.」

「It’s just as the Master said. An eye for an eye, a “danger” for a “danger”. Not a bad move.」

「So that’s it.」

「If that’s the case, then our response to the “Seiha” threat has been decided…… Now let’s move on to the next topic, the main subject of today’s meeting.」