Despite her heart stinging with pain, Zatiana still held a kind smile on her face, her appearance completely masking her true feelings.
Of course for Minos who was a master of the Heart Path, how could Zatiana hide her real feelings?
But naturally, Minos said nothing, after all he knew there was no chance between him and Zatiana, so it was better for her to come to terms with things as soon as possible.
Fortunately, while Zatiana was hurt, she controlled herself strongly, fooling the entire room into believing that she didn't care at all.
After Zatiana, the rest of the room introduced themselves, taking time to try and make as good an impression as possible.
If they couldn't suck up to the boss, then naturally the next best thing was to suck up to his family, which those with ambition naturally wouldn't fail to do.
With the greetings done, everyone took a seat back at the large dining room table, deciding to resume the meeting from before.
Despite still being embarrassed, Rubella forced herself back into the room, clearing her throat before continuing from where she left off.
"Like I was saying before, our 'House of Wisdom' revenue is up 12% from last month which shows that we're heading in a good direction, but I also hear that the 'House of Treasures' is starting to have some problems?" Rubella asked, turning her head towards Beetus.
"Well we've always had problems with the Nine Treasure Houses, but recently their advances have become even more aggressive." Beetus explained.
"They must not have cared much about us in the past, but as our name has spread and we've started to become an actual threat, it seems they're ready to let down the hammer." Zatiana continued.
"Any suggestions?" Rubella said, her attention turning to everyone.
"We could pull back our production for the time being while focusing on strengthening our current guards while also recruiting new ones." Someone suggested.
"The Nine Treasure House is a continent-wide industry, so no matter how much we strengthen our guard, we won't be able to face up against them if they are determined to fight." Another rebutted.
"Then perhaps we should try to set up a meeting with them and try to obtain some sort of peaceful middle ground."
"The Nine Treasure House has had a monopoly over Underwood City since its inception. There's no way they'd be willing to share that bounty…"
"We can't talk peace and neither can fight, what exactly are we meant to do?" Someone couldn't help but say with frustration.
Hearing his words, the group couldn't help but go silent for a moment as they each tried to think up a solution.
But even as the minutes turned to hours, no one had any viable ideas, and the ones they did have were shot down almost immediately.
Despite seeing the group struggling, Minos still couldn't help but smile with satisfaction, happy to see such a professional atmosphere.
Compared to all those years ago when he had initially created Trin's Abode, everyone had matured tremendously, no longer confused children, but rather hardened adults who understood the realities of the world.
As the time passed, the voices in the room became quieter and quieter, ideas becoming more rare as no one really had any thoughts left.
Tinka and Rinka also looked at this, their moods becoming somewhat depressed as they saw their husband/fathers company in such a hard position.
Despite this, when they looked over and saw Minos's familiar gentle smile, their hearts calmed, knowing that as long as he was around, they were safe.
As the room went completely silent, Minos suddenly cleared his throat, catching everyone's eyes immediately.
To be honest, they had somewhat forgotten that Minos was even here, not because they didn't think much of him, but rather because they had become so used to dealing with problems without him.
It was only as they remembered that Minos was back to lead them, that their eyes couldn't help but glimmer, the depressed mood becoming alleviated as everyone looked towards Minos's unperturbed appearance.
"You guys have fallen into a false dichotomy, thinking that you can only deal with this through either war or peace, but there are other ways."
"Have any of you ever heard of subterfuge?" Minos asked, a smirk hanging on his lips.
"Subterfuge? Like deception?" Rubella asked.
"Exactly deception, but a more evolved version."
"Naturally we've heard of it, but how are we meant to use that against the Nine Treasure House?" Rubella kept asking.
"Who said we use it against the Nine Treasure House?" Minos said mysteriously.
Hearing his words, the group couldn't help but look around at each other with confusion, wondering where Minos was going with this.
Before they could even ask any questions, Minos spoke up again, seemingly not caring to explain his thoughts to the crowd.
"Rubella, I assume you've gathered plenty of information about Underwood City, including the Nine Treasure House?"
"Of course! As the House of Wisdom, this is our line of work, we've even obtained plenty of secrets, but unfortunately nothing that could turn the tides."
"It's fine, just give me what you do have."
"Right away." Rubella said, before turning to one of her subordinates and sending her off to get the files.
After running off for a few minutes, the subordinate returned, slamming a thick stack of files on the table, directly in front of Minos.
With his Omniscient Eyes, Minos quickly scanned through all these files, immediately imprinting all the information into his brain.
Taking the information, Minos and his split souls began running through everything he knew, creating hundreds of plans before finally deciding on one.
All of this happened in only a few seconds, and in everyone's eyes, Minos just took a glance at the stack of files before closing his eyes and reopening them, a smile once again forming on his face.
Of course, Minos still had to play the game, so he patiently went through each file, reading the contents as everyone watched on patiently.
This process was destined to take long, so Minos had someone send Rinka and Tinka off to the guest room so they could get rest.
With them gone, the rest of Trin's Abode sat in the meeting room, watching as Minos finished off the thick stack.
This process took a few hours, and by the time Minos was done, the sun had long since set, but as much as everyone wanted to rest, they had work to do.
Seeing Minos place down the last sheet of paper, the group couldn't help but sigh with relief, waiting for him to finally reveal his plan.
"Interesting, it says here that the director of the Nine Treasure House, Yufu Trembo, has a daughter who's currently married to the City Lord, and apparently their only child is a good-for-nothing son, how perfect." Minos laughed.
"Are you saying we should try dealing with the son in question?" Someone asked curiously.
"What kind of power could such a son have? Even based on this, it seems the City Lord has already begun preparing one of his nephews to take on the position after his death."
"So what are we meant to do?"
"It's not what we are going to do, but rather, what is Yufu Trembo going to do? I can't imagine he'd be happy with the idea that his own grandson is having his birthright taken from him." Minos said.
"But Yufu is already aware of this, and it seems he's already come to terms with the fact."
"That's only because he sees no hope, so all we have to do is give him some."
"Give him hope? How so?" Rubella asked.
"As long as the City Lord dies before he can make his nephew's position official, then Yufu's grandson will be the de facto choice."
"You want to assassinate the City Lord?" Someone asked with shock.
"Of course not, how could I do something so extreme? But rather, why not sow the seeds in Yufu?" Minos laughed.
"Yufu might be power-hungry, but's no idiot. How are we meant to get him to do something so risky?"
"You have to realize that pressure makes people do foolish things, so all we have to do is inflate things until someone pops."
"And how should we go about doing that?"
"Don't worry, you guys just have to do as I say, but for now, I still have more information to scout, so let's call it a day." Minos said, getting up and heading out the room.
Before anyone could say anything, they watched as Minos disappeared beyond the door, heading into the dark streets.
They still weren't sure what Minos was planning to do, but he had never led them wrong, so no one had any doubts.
While the group was brainstorming among themselves about what Minos may be doing, Minos was walking through the streets, heading to his first destination, ready to set the wheels in motion…