ANOTHER POTION IN THE CITY
"Elder Argyriss, Oriese is a little reckless, but that recklessness is his quality. He accomplished much too that many of us couldn't accomplish in our lifetimes", Prince Geoffraie explained to the old elder.
"I don't see much accomplishment in getting all these complaints. He even helped the Knight Templar Academy to abolish the ranking that we carefully negotiated between the families", another elder told Geoffraie.
"Elder Likourgoss, that is only on the face of it. The Academy ranking doesn't help much with the prestige of our families anyway since everyone knows it's a negotiated ranking. Oriese managed to become a Lord Knight of the Order, which is a far greater achievement for our family than the academy ranking", Prince Geoffraie.
"He also recklessly brought down our Mithridocus family in Tarah city", Elder Argyriss said to them.
"That Heller is a moron to practice dark magic and what's worse, he used it in public. Even without Oriese, he would get into trouble eventually", Prince Geoffraie told him.
"But it is still a loss to our family", Elder Likourgoss said.
"I've already reclaimed all our families' former assets in Tarah city. Oriese even expanded our business to capture almost all the businesses of the Gamanos, Hermaios and Diabolese family. Our family is now more influential than the prince of the city", Prince Geoffraie added.
The elders weighed the merits and demerits of Oriese. In the end there were more merits than blame.
"It is fortunate that this Oriese came from our family and not from the other families. That would be a problem for us", Elder Argyriss said.
"We should keep this Oriese close to us", another elder added as they pondered.
"What will Orol from the Kaleon family think about returning to the main family?" Elder Likourgoss asked Geoffraie.
"He would be more than delighted of course", Prince Geoffraie replied to him.
"Good. That will ensure this Oriese' loyalty to our family and not the other way", Elder Argyriss said and told them.
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"Son, do you know that the main family has accepted us again. We will become Mithridocus again", Orol came to tell me excitedly.
Orol was always embarrassed that the Kaleon family was an outcast from the Mithrodocus family, and he always wished to return to Mithridocus.
He just got his wish.
"Yes, your family shall officially become a part of Mithridocus family again", Prince Geoffraie said to us.
"Well, it doesn't really matter to me but if it makes you happy, I'm good with it", I replied to Orol.
"Son, the elders agreed to allow you to compete in the inter Family Competitions. You must do well for the family", Orol said to me.
"It depends on what you mean by 'Well'", I replied to him.
"Are you trying something outrageous again, Oriese. We can't afford it now that we returned to the family", Orol told me.
"We'll see", I replied to them before leaving.
"What's the problem with this boy?" Orol asked Geoffraie after I've left.
"He's in the rebellious stage", Prince Geoffraie replied to him.
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[Before the journey to Maher city]
"Ivan, there is something happening in the kingdom", Mother Asereth told me suddenly.
Ivan was the alter-ego that I used when I first met Mother Asereth. She has stuck to that name ever since even though I've changed my alter-ego.
"What is happening?" I asked her.
"The major families are spending a lot of money buying magic potions and incenses from a new merchant who recently set up business in the kingdom", she told me.
"Which merchant? Should I ask the Noten House if they have heard about them?" I asked her.
"This merchant house operates secretly. They only serve private customers by recommendation. Nobody knows how and where they operate but they are in every city in the kingdom", Camliden told me.
"What does this merchant house sell?" I asked the mother.
"It is said that the potions that they sell could quickly promote the magic of templars. Some users claimed to have increased two tiers of magic by using those potions alone", Camliden added on behalf of the mother.
"So, most of the nobles in the kingdom are using this potion already?" I asked.
"It is possible, and they have been using them for a while, especially when the Family Competition would commence soon", Camliden told me.
"You should be wary about this new potion. You may face much tougher opponents in the Family Competition because of this", Mother Asereth told me.
"I am not worried about that though, but I do worry", I told them.
"I don't understand", Camliden asked me.
"I do worry about how the conspiracy behind the too good to be potion will affect us", I replied to them before I asked, "Do you have a sample of this miraculous potion?"
"Of course, we've obtained a few of these potions secretly although it's not easy to obtain them", Camliden told me.
"That is great. I'll have people study them", I replied to them.
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"There are three rounds of matches in our first fight with the Demetriodes family. I will send out the most suitable among you to fight in the three matches. We must all work together to win this fight", the captain of the team briefed the Mithridocus team.
"We are short of one teammate", someone told the captain.
"I know, it is that Bully of Starri city. I don't know why the elders will put him into our team at the last minute. We all know the stories about him are exaggerated", another teammate told the team.
"Whatever may be the decisions of the elders, is not ours to dispute. I will put the new guy into reserve so he will not affect our training", the captain told them.
"But the fight is already starting, but the Bully is still not here yet", someone said.
"We can't wait for him. If he doesn't turn up, we'll fight without him. We never planned for him to be in our team in the first place", the captain told the team.
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