Razor didn't believe the oriental-looking man. He sighed continuously as he rubbed his face with his hands.
'The emperor sent one of his men to keep me on check. What gave me the guts to consider Camelot as a place with opportunities?'
Xie said, "I'm not here to convince you. I just came here to introduce myself to you. It is up to you to consider partnering with me for the good of your business.
"If you later change your mind, you can contact me by visiting Cross Forge in the City of Flame."
Xie ended the conversation and left the table. As he left, Razor saw the green mist again. He shook his head to clear his clogged vision, but again, it was useless. The mist left on its own accord.
Razor stared at the oriental-looking man as he merrily intercalated with various people as he disappeared into the crowd.
Minutes later, outside Brave City bunker B1, Biefong Xie walked out of the ripple in front of a rock. He was accompanied by a bunker guard. He turned and said to the lady guard behind him,
"July, in time, I will reward you handsomely."
July, the bunker guard, replied, "I hope to be there on the day of your ascension."
July walked back into the bunker through a ripple while Xie boarded a carriage that was already waiting for him. As the carriage driver guided the carriage away, Xie sat in the cabin, smiling at his reflection on his walking stick's handle.
He mused, 'Like a genetic disease, I'm slowly but quickly corrupting people to join my side without people releasing it. The house of Lucas shall fall, and they won't know what hit them.'
He looked out of the cabin window to appreciate the grassy plain. His passage was not interrupted by the hidden soldiers on the plain. They were corrupted in favour of the oriental-looking merchant.
####
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: the Lord's Hall, Emperor's Castle, Camelot.
Emperor Gerald sat at the head of a long, rectangular table in his office. Before him, to his right, there was a pile of enveloped letters marked with his seal. There were more than a dozen men assembled on the sides of the table. They stood, waiting for the emperor to address them.
Emperor Gerald split the pile into two and moved one pile to his left. He said,
"Each one of you should take an envelope and deliver it to the address tagged on it. Do not mess this up."
The men took an envelope each in sequential order and left the office.
Outside the building, there were horses waiting for the lettermen. The men came out, boarded their respective horses, and left to fulfil the emperor's order.
This night, the lettermen delivered the letters to Camelot's minister of finance, the minister of defence, and the 14 sectional leaders of the Camelot mainland. The letter was a must-attend invitation to a meeting organised by the emperor scheduled for 11:00 a.m. the next day at the emperor's castle.
####
Location: Rodri Manor, Desmond Borough.
Rodri Victor, a short plump frame, held a letter in his hands. He read through the contents of the letter with a frown on his face.
He wondered, 'Did the emperor discover that I had secret shares with the gold mine company at Ribbon?'
After Camelot overthrew the previous rulers of Ribbon, it became an extension of Camelot. The country had a handful of mineral resource deposits, and it was bustling with the trade of mineral resources. Rodri was a greedy man by nature, and he misused his power as Camelot's minister of finance to manipulate the business world within Camelot to enrich himself. He had been exposed a few times, and the emperor punished him adequately but ultimately retained him as minister of finance. Emperor Gerald retained Victor as minster because he couldn't find a replacement as good as him. This was because, despite being a greedy idiot, he was good at balancing the books and keeping the Camelot economy convincingly stable. On Rodri Victor's path, he thought that the reason the emperor retained him was because, after the last punishment, the plump, bald minister promised to turn a new leaf.
Victor was in his bedroom. He turned around, and his gaze fell on the naked lady on his bed. She was his concubine. The lady lay on her side in a way, revealing her alluring proportions and her innocent but seductive face. Minister Victor resisted the temptation to pounce on her again. His anxiety over the reason for the emperor to call for a meeting helped him overcome the temptation. He took a seat and sat behind a table.
The content of the letter he composed read, 'The emperor has called me for a meeting tomorrow; it seems to be a one-on-one meeting with him because the invitation I received didn't mention other presences. I feel that my secrets have been exposed, and this would be the end of the line for me. If things go wrong for me tomorrow, I want you to help me secure my most valuable assets and keep my wife, concubines, and kids safe away from the scrutiny of the public.'
Rodri Victor didn't sign off on the letter. He folded the letter, found an envelope in the drawer attached beneath the table, and stuffed the letter into it before sealing it with adhesive. He pictured the recipient of his letter. The recipient was a 5'9 feet tall man who had an oval-shaped oriental-looking face with slick black hair and brown eyes. It was none other than Beifong Xie.
Minister Victor left his exquisite bedroom and found a servant, whom he assigned to deliver the letter to the only bakery within Desmond Borough, under the guise of a request letter. The letter would then find its way to Cross Forge at City of Flame.
Some minutes after Rodri Victor sent away his servant to deliver the letter to the bakery and returned to his room, another servant came knocking on his door. He grunted in exasperation because he was disturbed enough to stop his dirty joy ride with his concubine.
He got off the bed and didn't bother putting on his pants. He went to the door to see what brought his servant here. The servant was left traumatised and dazed to see her master's invigorated genital
"What is the matter, you rude fool?" Victor barked impatiently.
The servant could barely take her eyes off the eyesore between her master's legs as she spoke.
"A letter came for you from Minister William Waterman."
She handed over a letter to her master. Rodri Victor was angry that his servant couldn't stop staring.
"I will cut your salary, and you will receive half pay this week."
The servant's brains resumed duty, and she begged for forgiveness. Victor brashly ordered her away, and she left the hallway in tears.
"Stupid girl!" Victor cursed under his breath.