"Which means Margrave wants to use this war to expand their territory and also reduce the strength of the Monsters." George announced.
The Head Guild of the Five Guilds was a separate guild that controlled and organized all the activities of the five guilds. It was also the headquarters of the five guilds.
"Hmm." Ronnie grunted then said. "I expected that. Margrave has been trying to steal Minora's lands for many years."
"Really?!" Nina said. "How come I've never heard about that?!"
"Klaus told me not to worry."
"You mean King Klaus of Margrave?" Nina asked.
"Yes."
"How did Minora resolve all the atta—"
Before Nina could finish her question, the door to George's office was opened. It was Doris. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.
"Why, are you late?" George asked Doris.
"I had some business that I had to take care of first." Doris replied.
"Sit down. We have more important things to talk about." George said.
Doris walked to the couch and took a sit.
"Last month," George continued. "after our meeting, I went to the head guild. There, the five guildmasters had a meeting with the secretary, vice president and the president of the five guilds. We all voted on waiting to see what was going to happen next before we acted. But now, the worst had happened. The same last month, was when every nation gathered their leaders to decide what they would do. Glavis, Salvador, Belaruth and the Elven Empire decided to wait. But Margrave chose war."
"Now," George said. "we have to choose what stance we should take."
"Isn't it obvious?" Doris said. "We are merchants. We continue to be merchants. Anything Margrave ask, we supply. As we have always done."
"What?!" Ronnie shouted. "Then what about the north."
"It has been almost three months since they made their nation! If they wanted to reach out to any of the guilds, they would have done it already!"
"As you just said, we are merchants. We should be neutral. We should also think of supplying to the north too! What do you think Nina?"
"You are both right." Nina said.
"What do you mean?" Ronnie asked Nina
"I mean. We can do both. Right George?"
"Yes!" George said. "That is the perfect course of action. We are a neutral party. We can continue to supply to Margrave, and also supply to the north. As Ronnie said last month, we can be the first of the five guilds to make a connection with the north."
"No! No! No!" Doris shouted. "How can we extend a hand to people who have not who are about to cause a war?"
"I think this plan might actually be good." Marsh said. "Neutrality has always been the goal. And we are a business. The best thing to do is to take a route that will bring both peace, and money."
"I also agree." Sven added. "Won't that be the best?"
"Yes!" Ronnie said. "If we decided to be neutral, then I also agree."
George smiled and nodded. "Okay!" He said. "Then I believe there is no need for a vote? We continue trade with Margrave, and using Ronnie's connection, we can meet with the leaders of the north."
"Wait!" Nina said. "We can use this!"
"What?!"
"We can use this! We have a connection with both Margrave and the north. We can still the war before it begins."
"Oh?!" George exclaimed. "How?"
"We can set up a meeting. We meet with both Margrave and the north, and we get them to agree to a meeting where they can meet, somewhere neutral, and settle."
"Hmm. I think that might be great. I will have to report this to the head guild, and if they approve, I think it might work."
"Even if it doesn't work, the guild would have made a connection with the north. We would still be able to interfere."
"Okay." George rubbed his chin and continued. "So? What do you think Ronnie? Can you set a meeting with the north? And Doris, can you set a meeting with the king of Margrave?"
"Yes! I can set it." Ronnie replied.
"Yes! I can also arrange a meeting." Doris said.
"Then it's perfect. I will meet with the head guild tomorrow, and if the plan is agreed, then you guys should set the meetings. We might actually be able to stop this war!"
The meeting came to an end a few minutes later after George and Nina decided they were going to escort both Ronnie and Nina to the meetings with the two nations, if the plan was approved.
Then, the Master Merchants all left the room.
*
*
After our reunion with Dorian and his party at the Adventurers Guild in the Blue Lake City, we spent the day, and night, at the special inn for adventurers, before heading to the guild again in the morning.
We had completed our expedition, so we used the Guild's Teleportation Gate to travel back to the Adventurers Guild Headquarters in Novaland.
Even early, the guild hall was filled with people. But we headed to the reception desk and asked for Tina, the female receptionist who helped us three months ago.
She was attending to other adventurers along with the four other receptionist, but after a few minutes of waiting, Jade got to her.
"Hello Tina." Jade greeted.
"Hello." Tina replied. "How can I help you?" She asked.
"We just got back from Blue Lake." Jade said as she gestured towards us. "We have completed our three month long expedition and are here to drop off the Guild's materials." Then Jade took out a medium-sized pouch and dropped it on the desk if front of Tina.
After that, Tina received the pouch, confirmed the contents and paid us for the materials.
Our overall task was complete and it was time to go back home.
We left the guild and immediately headed to the most popular stable house in that area. That was where we had rented out a space for them to take care of our two beasts and the carriage the drew.
We paid the stable men, took our carriage, and began our journey to the north.
*
*
Duke Klaus strode down the hallway leading to the New Rulers Hall, then pushed the door open to see the other fifteen Rulers in attendance in the hall.
He had called a meeting among the Rulers as he had received some important news.
The New Rulers Hall was a large, well lit room with a round table at the middle of the hall. The hall was a newly built hall in the Palace of the King of the Northern Empire.
The round table had sixteen normal sized chairs, and two large chairs. The Lords and Dukes had all taken one of the normal sized chairs, leaving only one normal size chair and the two large chairs meant for The King and his Special Adviser empty.
Duke Klaus entered the hall and sat on the third empty chair.
"Klaus. What's wrong?" Ash asked.
"Nothing is wrong actually." Klaus said. "I just received a message from the Merchant Guild. Ronnie was the one who relayed it."
"The Five Guilds finally want to make a move?" Rouge said. "What is the message?"
"First, she informed me that Margrave has declared war on us. I told her that we already knew that long ago. Then, she said that the Five guild has a proposal for the two Empires... The Five Guilds have decided to be a mediator between the nation."
"How?" Anne asked.
"She didn't say." Klaus continued. "Apparently, the guild wants to know where both nations stand. So they decided it would be best to personally visit both nations and have discussions in person."
"In person? You mean... they wish to come here? To the capital?!" Ash exclaimed.
"Yes!"
"Hmm. We all know that they are not coming here just to discuss right?" Mikey said.
"Of course dummy!" Dawn snapped at Mikey. "They want to use this chance to investigate us."
"True." Roger said. "The north has been closed off from the rest of the world for quite some time. But now, suddenly, we are at the centre of the continent's attention. The Guilds will want to know as much as they can about us. Our strengths, weakness, our King. And maybe our Guardian."
"But, this could also be an opportunity." Lisa added.
"Lisa's right." Ash said. "We have already investigated them. It wouldn't be fair if we don't allow them to do the same."
"What do you mean?" Mikey asked.
"Well, between us and Margrave, public sentiment is probably still with Margrave. The continent just sees us as a mysterious nation of monsters who formed their nation by breaking the so called unwritten rules. But we could use this chance to raise our current status. We can let them know that we have always been here and will continue to be here. That this is our home. And we don not wish for war."
"Interesting!" Lucy said. "You want us to play the underdog. So regardless of the outcome of the war, we would have the people's sentiment on our side. Right Ash?"
"Exactly!"