Ugly Bastard

Lord Belmont walked on the small trail road laid out with tiles, leading up to the small open pavilion in the middle of the garden surrounded by the knights. 

Even though the pavilion was well lit by the magic lamps this evening, it was hard to see inside of it through a gentle tremble in the air surrounding the whole structure, making everything inside seem blurry. 

Lord Belmont walked up to the knights guarding the stairs to the pavilion and stopped bowing slightly in greetings.

“Let Lord Belmont through.” Said the voice from the pavilion as the blurry wall stopped shimmering, letting both sound and light pass through it safely, revealing two people sitting inside behind the small table.

The knights immediately stepped aside, opening the path without uttering a single word, allowing Lord Belmont to walk up the two stairs leading to the pavilion.

As he stepped through the magical barrier, the transparent wall once again became blurry from outside, muffling both sound and light coming out from the interior of the pavilion. From the inside, however, the wall stayed fully transparent if only a bit dim. An effect that was added to shade the people inside the pavilion from the sun in the bright days.

“Good evening, Your Majesty.” Said Lord Belmont, bowing deeply to the King that sat behind the small table with a thoughtful face. Then he turned to the second person sitting across from the King and bowed a bit lighter than before, but still deep enough to show his greatest respect.

 “Master, it has been a while.” 

“Ah, my great disciple, who outgrown his teacher so much, he has no need of his old teachings anymore. There was a time you would visit me all the time when you just took up my post. Now you barely remember your old Master is still alive” Said a very old looking gray haired man without even lifting his eyes from the chess board, but a small smile spread on his wrinkled face.

“That is no good, Dinnay.” Said the King, looking up from the chessboard and smiling as well. “You should visit your master more. Together you can solve problems faster, but I only have to pay one of you. This is very beneficial to the Crown.” He added, and all three men laughed slightly.

“Forgive me, Master. I have indeed slighted you lately. I deserve your ire, Sir. But I swear I will improve.” Said Lord Belmont and the old man raised an eyebrow glancing at him.

“Well? What’s so important that brought you here this evening to disturb our Thursday chess play?” Asked The King, seeing some tension hidden behind the joking words of two Royal Investigators, the current and the previous.

“Forgive me your Majesty, but I thought I needed to report this immediately, also… I came to find you here exactly because I would be able to find the both of you at the same time. I hoped to receive advice from my Master on this problem.” Said Lord Belmont with a guilty look on his face.

The old man’s hand froze in the middle of his move, still holding a pawn in the air, as he turned to gaze with his weary eyes at Belmont.

The King gazed at his playmate in silence this time, not making any jokes to lighten the mood.

“Is that so? It has been a while since you needed any advice.” Said the old man finally finishing his move, before taking the strange looking hourglass from the pedestal on the side of the chessboard and turning it over. 

The pedestal of hourglass holding the two vials with long narrow tunnel-like pipe in between, was patterned with two dragons. A black and white dragon with long bodies intertwined with each other in a helix as if dancing or fighting.

Inside the glass vials of the hourglass, two sands filled both vials separately without mixing with each other. One sand was snow-white, the other pitch black. When the hourglass was turned, the white sand started to slowly pour down while black sand magically rose up. In the long narrow passage between the two vials, the two sands didn’t pour in straight lines, but circled around each other in a double spiral, each going its way opposite of each other, as if they avoided touching each other, just like on the beautiful pattern of dragons on the pedestal.

The magical effect of the Dragon hourglass of course needed a mana source. For that, as Lord Belmont knew, there was a small shard of magic crystal embedded into the enchanted wooden stand of the hourglass that worked in combination with the enchantment placed on the hourglass itself. 

The most useless use of magic crystal. To make a shard you had to break the crystal apart, losing most of the magic energy inside it and then the rest of it would slowly seep away and disperse on its own from the shards over a short time. A family of farmers could cook for a week with just one crystal, and yet here it was wasted just to make a nice looking visual effect of hourglass for two people to play chess on Thursday for a few hours.

“Well then. Let us hear your problem. We have enough time now while his Majesty decides on his next move.” Said the old Master with a smile.

“If you make jokes about my game skills so much, Lord Kolosov, you will have to look for a playmate elsewhere.” Grumbled the King.

“Forgive me, your Majesty, I only meant that you should take your time and think your move thoroughly. No need to hurry.” Said the old man with a smirk, picking up a cup of tea and taking a small sip, before looking up at Lord Belmont and winking at him.

The King growled at the old man while staring intently at the chessboard.

“So young, Dinnay. What advice do you need from this old retired useless master of yours.” Said Lord Kolosov.

“I can hardly be called young, Master. I am as old as when you first started talking about retirement.” Said Lord Belmont.

“He whined about retiring from the times when I was still an Academy student as a prince.” Grumbled the King holding his hand above the chessboard as if wanting to make a move but hesitating, his eyes skipping from figure to figure. “One of the reasons, I gave him retirement and appointed you to the position. I could not hear his nagging anymore. I had to listen to it for almost a hundred years.”

“See. You are still young Dinnay. It's a hundred years too early for you to retire. Ehehehe.” Laughed the both men as Lord Belmont bowed his head with a gentle smile.

“Regarding retirement…” Said Lord Belmont with an expression of discomfort in his face which both old men noticed immediately, looking at him surprised and raising their eyebrows.

“Belmont, you didn’t come here to ask for a retirement didn't you?” Asked The King with a tone of worry in his voice.

“No. Not me Your Majesty but it seems someone has indeed decided to retire.”

“Fuuh.” Voiced the King with a smile as if breathing out in relief before finally lowering his hand and picking up one of his white chess pieces. “If it's not you then it doesn’t worry me much. But seeing as you are the one reporting it, it seems to be someone important.” Added King, lifting the piece and slowly moving it to the cell he was thinking to put it on.

“Theresa Threadweaver retired from the title of Thesalia it seems, passing it on to her daughter Priscilla.”

The chess piece fell down on the chessboard with a clang as King looked at Lord Belmont with an astonished expression on his face.

“What kind of nonsense is this? She confirmed that she would get to work on new Thesalia garments in the shortest time just a month ago! What do you mean retire? She can’t fucking RETIRE from the title! Do you understand what the Thesalia title is, Lord Belmont?” Said the King with a voice full of anger.

“I do. Your Majesty.” Answered Lord Belmont, bowing his head.

“Really? Because I just thought we understood it differently. Let me confirm if you and I are really on the same note here. The title is a fucking sham! A cover-up. It was made up just for commoners and lower nobles that don’t know about monsters. It’s there just to not bring any unnecessary suspicion to the fact that one and the same person creates the best masterpieces for our country for a thousand years without dying, as if an immortal monster. It’s a goddamn cover-up, a trick, fog in the eyes of the ignorant. It does not pass from person to person."

" Theressa Threadweaver, who was known in the past under the name Thesalia is the one and only bearer of it for a thousand years. She changed names, changed identities. She pretended as her own niece, as her own distant relative, even marrying several times in the span of a thousand years, and living in all kinds of places within the kingdom. Everything just to not make it look like she isn’t a fucking immortal monster! But she is the creator of all Thesalia class garments! She is the goddamn Thesalia! She is the title itself! Without her, there is no title! No matter what we made people believe, there is NO OTHER THESALIA! And never would be! SHE IS THESALIA! THE ONE AND ONLY! SHE CAN NOT FUCKING PASS IT ON!” Shouted the King from anger.

Through the barrier wall it could be seen that several knights turned their heads in the direction of the pavilion with worry on their faces. 

The barrier muffled all the words, making it impossible to overhear what was said and blurred the faces enough to not make it possible for anyone to read from the lips. However, it still let through very loud noises, such as the King's shout.

“Well apparently she can. We were the only ones thinking it was impossible. Because we thought her daughters were a lost cause.” Muttered the old man calmly sipping his tea, making the King seething anger turn his angry gaze at him.

“That’s why I immediately came to you, Your Majesty.” Said Lord Belmont, still bowing.

“Ah, don’t be this agitated, Your Majesty.” Said old Lord Kolosov. “Dinnay did nothing wrong. If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself.” He added with a calm face, gazing into the King's eyes without worry even after speaking something so preposterous. Had anyone else told the King he was at fault himself, he’d get his head chopped for such audacity, yet this old man had not a spec of worry on his face.

“What do you mean by that?” The King grumbled.

“Well, I never thought I'd say it, but it seems I was wrong. It is a petty revenge. But I warned you, didn't I? I asked you, no, I pleaded you, to not follow the other greedy proposals of the Council back then, to not stop rendering help. And yet you made the choice in their favor, ignoring what I said. This is her answer to you and the country after you abandoned her in times of need. Not overly bad one I would say. She did not abandon the country, only gave us a set back. We will get Thesalia garments, but we will have to invest into raising her daughter to be able to make them. And invest more than we would have invested in helping her I'd say." Said Lord Kolosov.

"How dare she make an ultimatum like that to me, I...." Started to say the King.

"Will do what?" the old man interrupted him. “Now that she found a way to produce sentient offspring of Guardian rank, she is a full fledged Guardian without relying on Thesalia title as before. Dopplegangers can't make sentient offspring with high probability, yet she did it two times out of two in her last attempts. With that, she earned a solid spot to be Duchess with the same right as all other families, even if she never produces a single Thesalia class garment ever again. And with Thesalia garments back in the picture, Saintess herself will protect her."

"Fuck! That bitch!" Shouted the King.

"Technically she did nothing wrong. As it is a title, it can be passed to someone else. We just never imagined something like that could happen. Although we should have. And we would have been prepared for it, if you did as I implored you all those years ago.” Said Lord Kolosov.

“Had we continued multiple sorties in every dungeon along our borders in search of suitable spider monsters for her, we would have had a coup raised by the nobles.” Said the King with despair in his voice. The retired Investigator was right. They could not just force her to weave if she refused to do it, and now lost most of the leverages on her.

“And with Belmont and Me at your service, we would have sacked anyone that dared."

"Being written in history as bloody tyrant, hardly worthy achievement." The King said.

"Well we can speculate all we want. The fact is that from her point of view, had we kept searching for a solution, we would have found a way to save her daughters eventually. Even on her own she managed to find it as I heard."

"Her grievance is understandable. After thousand years of her loyalty, instead of spending fortune on helping her, we spent a bigger fortune on purchasing similar wares from the Southern Kingdom. Because of that she spent decades doing it by herself. We abandoned her, choosing to enrich our opponents instead of investing it into making her indebted toward us and tying her into the Moonstar Kingdom tighter than before. We could have had monopoly on Thesalia class garments, have strongest army in the future. Now the chance is lost and we earned her grievance.”

“You always said she is above petty revenge”. Said the King calming down, but still seeming quite angry.

"As I said I seem to have been wrong. But in my opinion we very much earned." Said Lord Kolosov

“Did we? She spent a hundred years on her obsession, abandoning her job of Thesalia seamstress, weakening the Country and the Royal family by default. And yet, I still covered her ass. Not only that, but when her daughters appeared and she realized the problem they would face, I came up and helped as best I could, sending squad after squad into the wilds to investigate unknown dungeons in search of spider monsters. How much political leverage do you think I had to make to achieve it. Yes we abandoned the idea after a decade of futile attempts. But our treasury was running low and Nobles showed their fangs at my irrational spendings with all those sorties. Instead of being thankful for all that, she does this? Retire? Not only that, she has given us her word rcently making us buy Arachna silk in bulk, with our hopes raised for the last several months. We now have our treasury full of treasure that we literally can’t touch. Earned it? Even for petty revenge this is overboard. She is undermining my position as a King.” Exclaimed The King spreading his hands.

“Did she really break the word? Did she say she would be the one producing it?" Asked Lord Kolosov.

Lord Belmont and King looked at each other surprised.

"I thought so. Guess she worded it so that it made you assume she would be making it, but never stated it. But it's not that bad. Priscilla is young and inexperienced, but will learn in time. It will just take a longer time that you hoped. I don't know what level she's at. But I'd say ten to fifteen years if she is of mediocre talent and you invest generously to quicken the process. This will not undermine your position. Majority of nobility will agree with this. Besides, most don't know the title never changed hands. They will assume you found a suitable candidate after a century without a title bearer. Quite commendable achievement.” Said old man with a smile seeing as The King opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"But I partly agree, scamming you into buying all that silk in advance when it will take a decade untill we need it was quite overboard on her side. Strange. She normally was well measured in her actions.” Said Lord Kolosov thoughtfully.

“Measured? I spent a month ramming heads with the pigheaded Council to achieve what she requested, but it now turns out it was for nothing. The money I spent is one thing, but all the complications that would entail her request is another thing. Doing it was pure malicious spitefulness on her side.”

“What do you mean?” Asked old man perking up with suspicion on his face.

“One of her requests, Master. To quicken the production she asked for two Keepers families to be transferred from two different Labyrinths under her care. The silver spider clan and pale goblin clan.” Answered Lord Belmont. 

“And you did it?” Asked old man raising an eyebrow looking at them strangely.

“What was I to do? The fucking morons of The upper echelon just could not hold their damn mouths shut, gossiping about Thesalia return in every damn corridor of the Palace. It was just a matter of time before lower ranks with their ears forever perked up, like goddamn dogs whenever superiors talk, overheard these talks."

"They had no idea what the talk was about, so they came to an idea, that Thesalia will be finally chosen after more than a century. No one shared with them any information and kept mum whenever they were clearly just overheard, raising suspicions even more. Lower ranks soon gathered all they knew and started gossiping. And as ignorant as we held them, they came to the one conclusion they found reasonable. That it would be some kind of competition to choose the title bearer."

"Then they inquired that Royal family bought Arachna silk in bulk and so the gossip took a disastrous turn. To win the competition and become Thesalia, the seamstress would need to weave Arachna silk. So they went and started to prepare for the competitions, searching for best seamstresses and buying Arachna silk to practice. You can imagine what happened with Arachna silk price on the market, when everyone was buying it like crazy. And that wasn’t even the worst. I think you know what happened next.”

“Hospitals were filled with fingerless and handless professional Seamstresses, I guess.” Said Lord Kolosov raising an eyebrow.

“More like cemeteries.” Said Lord Belmont. “We take all the precautions knowing all the risks. Our weavers wear steel gauntlets while working with Arachna silk to protect themselves and yet it is still the most dangerous job to do. The Nobles? They did not even try.”

“We had to stop this madness. I implored her to start the new masterpiece so that we could announce the new bearer of the title and stop all conjectures on this topic.” Continued the King. “Her answer was: The new masterpiece would be prepared with all the haste. But she needs those two Keepers families.”

"No Guardian family was ever allowed to hold Keepers as subordinates. Some monsters as guards of their territory at most. That is a dangerous precedent." Said Lord Kolosov.

"Yeah. Now imagine the kind of political walls I had to topple to achieve it. And now it turned out she just made it for fun?" Said The King.

Lord Kolosov rubbed his chin.

"And you did not find it strange?" Asked the old man a few seconds later.

“Of course I knew it was strange. But without announcing the title I can’t stop the madness that is happening around these speculation of who would be the next best seamstress, and without at least a promise of a new masterpiece I could not announce the new title holder."

"If this continues we soon would have no one to make clothes, not to mention arm our armies. I needed her to start making it and agreed to everything she asked for. It was several years at most, anyways. Thesalia masterpiece needs three to four years to be created. In four years at most we would have taken these clans back. Now of course we will do it immediately…but it’ll still take some time to convince the Council. They stubbornly opposed my decision to give her these clans, now they will oppose me taking them back just to have the joy of shaming me." Said The King.

“This does not seem right. She never done something so pointless. There must be a meaning to these actions. I don't believe she did it without a hidden motive." Said Lord Kolosov.

“We thought it over for a hundred times before we agreed to give them to her, but we could not figure out what these Keepers were for? How can they even help? Only Arachna can weave the Arachna silk. The thread is so thin it slices through flesh like a knife. Once it is imbued with magic, as it needs to be done for Thesalia class garments, the thread becomes so sharp, it slices through steel. Even if Silver spiders are best weavers after Arachnas, they are weaklings even among low level monsters. They are good at clothes making but has no mana to protect themselves. That's why they barely struggled to survive in their labyrinth. Weaving Arachna’s silk with no mana is a death sentence for them as much as for any human stupid enough to try.

"That also means the pale Goblins are just as unsuitable for this as humans. If they could help, no reason humans could not. What can they, that human can't. They are good jewelry crafters, good with hands. Special among monsters. But not that special to be of any help to her.” Said The King and Lord Kolosov noticed a light of some kind of realization sparkle in his disciple's eyes. He knew Belmont too well to mist that look of insight on him.

“What do you think?” Asked Lord Kolosov, looking at Lord Belmont.

“That’s what I wanted to discuss, master. It does look like she's been doing it just to spite us, but your words that petty revenge is beneath her, didn’t give me rest. I’ve been thinking this whole time. What could be the reason for her actions? But only after connecting what his Majesty just said with information I received this evening, I think I found a clue, but I still don’t see a clear picture. I hoped that you, Master, would help me understand it."

"What did you find out." Asked the King.

"The event of Dark Association branch being uprooted all of a sudden in the Greenville town seem to be her doing. The circumstances and finer details are still under investigation, but I have no doubt she was the one orchestrating the whole Investigation from the shadows. It reeked too much of a set-up and Investigator Lorenz conducting arrests confirmed it too. It was too easy to be unintentional. Someone architected the whole event and I think it was her.”

"Sounds like her. Killing enemies with someone elses hands." Said Lord Kolosov.

“How is she connected to it? It’s at the other end of the country from her.” Asked The King.

“The whole investigation takes root from the certain event prepared by her. She was performing a Fashion Show in one of the Brothels of Greenville town."

"Fashion show?" Asked the King, raising an eyebrow.

"A kind of performance where a seamstress shows off her skill by making hired ladies wear her dresses and show them to the public. It is on this show, Lady Priscilla announced that she is going to become the new Thesalia."

"Hold on. Her Daughter was there? In a brothel?" Asked Lord Kolosov.

"Yes. She, a lady of the Vespertine house openly representing Duchess Cassandra and Dryad representing the Queen of Dryads of the Great Tree Labyrinth. The three of them announced their cooperation with the intent to sell their products under the brand of Madam Irene Boutique. Madam Irene is the owner of the brothel where the show was performed and also was rumored to be connected with Dark Association."

"That uprooting of Dark Association seems to have been made in such a way that the name of Madam Irene has been cleared of all accusations. She now clearly showed everyone her hostility toward the Dark Association and rehabilitated in the eyes of the general public, wiping out all rumors and speculations about her." Explained Lord Belmont.

"Dryad Queen?" Muttered King. "Could it be? He had such deep connection with Dryads"

"He?" Asked old man.

"A noble boy she announced as her mate recently. When he appeared in Threadwever mansion we also found several Dryads to work there as his maids." Said the King glancing at Lord Belmont. Lord Kolosov squinted his eyes slightly clearly noticing the smal deatil. He knew the both people too well to miss the meaningful eye gestures of the two.

"Who?" Asked Lord Kolosov simply.

"The young heir of recently deceased Count McDaniels." Answered Lord Belmont

"McDaniels? They are quite far from Twin Creek Volley, but close to Green Tree Labyrinth. You think he has a role in this cooperation?"

"Yes. It seems he has a special system. Although he poses as a tamer, we are in doubt of that. With a good reason to do so." Said The King.

"I see." Said Lord Kolosov noticing that the King omitted some information regarding that boy. "You said the show was in a brothel? What kind of public was invited?" Asked Lord Kolosov, turning to his disciple.

"Mostly commoners. Many madams and their girls from famous brothels all over the region, and some lower rank nobles and rich family women. Everyone attending were exclusively women."

"What else? How do the Keepers fit into it."

"They announced lots of products for sale. Not only clothes but all kinds of accessories and other crafts, even alchemy products. They compiled a catalog of sorts of different things that all three families would be selling to commoners in cooperation."

"Aha! That's what she needs the Silver Spider clan and Pale Goblins. They are workers to produce her wares in mass. Is that what you just realized?"

"Indeed, Master. But the logic in doing this is beyond my understanding. We will take them away in a month or two at most, now that we know she is not going to use them to help with Thesalia garments. She should have known that when she announced her retirement in such a roundabout way."

"It is indeed strange. If she meant it all as a long lasting project, she needs those Keepers families, but why does she seem to not be afraid that we will take them away?" Thought Lord Kolosov.

"She will blackmail us with Thesalia garments?" Asked The King. "Either they stay or we get nothing?"

"Seems to be too rough a move for her. From my experience with her, blackmail is more of a brawler's move, throwing threats and fists around from her point of view. Not her style. She is a puppeteer that pulls strings from the shadows to organize your death in such a way everyone would think it was an accident." Said Lord Kolosov tapping the table with his finger as he was thinking

"Yes. That's one of the things I don’t understand.” Said Lord Belmont.

“What’s the other thing?” Asked King.

“Why there? Why in those conditions? Brothel? She could ask for a venue here in the Palace and gather all High-nobles and be as successful. What could she possibly achieve with this? Young Dinnay does not understand it."

“Indeed, Master.” Said Lord Belmont nodding.

"Well whatever the answer to this question is, you better find out soon. Because you are running out of time" Said old man.

"What do you mean?" Asked Lord Belmont.

“That, you will have to find out yourself gentlemen. My weary bones seem to be too tired and need rest.” Said Lord Kolosov standing up.

“Master?” Asked Lord Belmont in surprise.

“My friend, I know you retired, but you would refuse to help us this lightly?” Asked the King

Lord Belmont turned to look at The King with anger in his eyes, making both men surprised.

“Lightly? The only ones taking things lightly here are you.” Said the old man.

“We do not…” Started to say Belmont but angry gaze his old teacher pointed at him made him shut his mouth.

“No? This woman is the Grandmaster of chess, the level of which you can't imagine. She isn't someone to incur loss without a benefit. And now that she sacrificed her Rook, there ought to be a goal that was worth the exchange. The question is who she plays against to be going with such costly sacrifices." Said Lord Kolosov. “And the silent gazes you keep exchanging makes me believe you two know it damn well. You took her lightly. After all that I taught you. You decided to ignore my advice."

"I told you to not make enemies of her when she returns long after I am gone from the position. I told you she's among the most dangerous things living in this world. Yet you when my prediction came true, you did exactly that. Didn't you? What do you want from me now, when all I ever said was thrown out of the window as the useless grumble of a senile old man the moment I stepped off?” He said angrily before turning to the King and staring him down.

“You seem to be fucking your Kingdom well without me. What do you want me to do? To cheer you on? It seems I was right, after all. Petty revenge is beneath her. Because her actions are anything but petty. She is concotting a scheme and if her target is you… she will bury you both alive. And I have no wish to participate in fools's journey to kill themselves.” Said Lord Kolosov before turning away and walking off.

"Rook?" Asked The King. "What did she sacrifice? What do you mean?"

"You did not notice? Then don’t worry. It must be just the blabbering of a senile old man." Sai Lord Kolosov walking out of the pavilion.

“Master!” Shouted Lord Belmont running out of the pavilion after the old teacher.

“You are right, Master, I have long since stopped coming to you for advice because I thought I know enough to not need to rely on you. I was arrogant. It was already a hundred years into her madness, when I took over the post of Royal Investigator from you. She has long since closed herself off in her mansion and become a recluse, cutting herself off from the politics long before I took the post. For the fifty years I have been in the post I had not dealt with her single time until recently. I relaxed. I took your wise advice lightly. It was my fault. I fucked up, Master. His Majesty simply trusted the competency of his Royal Investigator. His Majesty made a decision according to my advice and I have failed His Majesty and this country. It was my mistake. Please do not punish his Majesty and Kingdom for the failure of your stupid disciple.” Said Lord Belmont bowing deeply in the middle of the garden under the eyes of all the knights and some servants that walked by in the distance, looking at the scene with interest.

The old man stalled in his steps. Standing for a few moments in silence as if hesitating.

“I know I have no right to ask for help when ignored your wise advice before. But I beg for your help. I have stumbled into quicksand despite all your warnings, but now realize I have no knowledge in navigating out of it. I thought I could deal with it myself without asking for your advice but only embarrassed myself. I arrogantly thought that if you dealt with her, I could too. Now I know I deal with too dangerous of an opponent to tread blindly as I do." Said Lord Belmont

The old man sighed before turning around and walking back to the pavilion. 

“I did not spend all these years teaching you just to let you die a fool’s death, boy” Said old man as he passed the still bowing Lord Belmont.

“Thank you, Master.” Said Lord Belmont still bowing his head, only raising it after the old man passed him by and followed after his master back into the pavilion.

The old man poured himself some tea into his empty cup and took a sip while the two men watched him silently.

“What did you do?” He asked, sitting down on his chair.

“When she suddenly was back as you wisely predicted, the circumstances were very strange. For decades slowly sank into madness from desperation of not being able to save her daughters. Her fund were dry. At some point we found proof of her underground dealing. First, with different underworld guilds, then with those bastards of the Dark Association. Her desperation was growing worse the worse her daughter Priscilla was becoming. When the Tamer appeared at her side, we became wary. Could she have offered her freedom to save the daughter? Having Thesalia in someone's control was too dangerous.

“Did he really help her?” Asked old man

“It seems so.” Said Lord Belmont.

“Her freedom?”

“We don’t believe she is under any influence right now. But back then…picture was quite murky.” Said The King.

“You threaten her.” Said the old man in a cold voice, creasing his eyebrows.

“We didn’t make any threats per se. But we thought there might be a serious problem and we took actions that…she may have understood incorrectly.” Said the King.

"Incorrectly? How much incorrectly are we speaking here? Because depending on the degree of a threat you posed yourself as, to whatever she holds dear, she might have gone into full on defense. And defense in her meaning is a war to destroy you. And that would have meant destroying this entire Kingdom."

"I sent Archduke of North and Belmont to check on the matters but we did it with swords out, so to say." Said the King.

“Did you harm anyone?” Asked Lord Kolosov his expression going a shade darker

“No. We made sure to not turn her into an enemy in case our conjecture turned out to be wrong. You often spoke how dangerous of an enemy she might be, so I made sure to withdraw timely once the situation threatened to escalate.” Said Lord Belmont. 

“Good you did listen to at least some of my words after all.” Said the old man nodding his head with a sigh. “How much offended was she though when you ‘withdrew timely’ as you say?”

“Well. Not overly much I’d say. We had several discussions after that and assured her that as long as their side cooperates with questioning and we find no fallacy in their words, no further actions would be taken. They agreed. However, they found an excuse to stall the questioning so far. The more recent events though gave us reassurance that we are on the same side and they are willing to cooperate, so we didn't pressure them recently. Which is why we were also this reassured in her words when she promised to resume the creation of Thesalia garments.” Said Lord Belmont

“Recent events?” Asked Lord Kolosov

“The underworld market in the North region capital.” Said the King.

“She had a hand in that disaster?” Asked the old man, raising his eyebrow in surprise. “How?”

“We don’t understand yet. But their side agreed to render this kind of help to the Kingdom in the nearby future as well.”

Lord Kolosov sat silently thinking for a while, only sipping his tea slowly.

“Please don’t hold me in suspense, old friend. Tell us what you are thinking.”

“It seems I overreacted. Her actions speak of her preparing for war but it does not seem to be against you.” Said Lord Kolosov.

“Why do you think so?” Asked The King. “She seemed quite spiteful to me.”

“Her actions so far feel more like a greeting to you after a long absence, Your Majesty. It is in fact partly just a petty revenge. But even though it is so, she does it because it fits her general plan. She could have gone less open if she wanted to. By antagonizing you the way she did, she merely declared that she is back in the arena of politics, and she is pissed off with your actions both in the past and in present. I told you this would bite us someday. That day has come it seems. But her actions say that she is not pissed enough to want to destroy us all.” Said Lord Kolosov. “So her target is someone else.”

“You sure?” Asked The King.

“Had she wanted to hurt us, she would have gone into secret negotiations with any country. Now that her daughters have passed the crisis and become a new addition to the family, anyone would welcome them with open hands.” Explained Lord Kolosov.

“And that would bring a lot more problems than just changing Title bearer. In the worst case we could have war if she offered her service to the South. They have one Arachna of their own and for the last century held monopoly. This already made them dangerously powerful. With four Arachnas they would be a threat we would not be able to close our eyes on.”

“Of course The Central Cathedral would be stepping up to end the conflict but this would literally destroy our honor and respect on the international politics arena. Of course we would lose the chance to buy Thesalia class masterpieces from any of the Arachnas ever again. And that is not to mention the one thing we all know that Arachnas refused to weave, which is also a good piece for any blackmail.”

“Indeed,” Said The King. “She does have a worse way to bite us.”

“Theressa did none of this. Besides she let you buy the material in bulk before it went astronomical high on the market. She is no fool to overlook that. Considering all that I'd say she must be after something else. Our task is to figure out what she wishes to achieve and lessen the impact of her scheme’s result on us. If we understand her goals we might be able to come to a compromise with her. But we must act fast. She seems to be playing a quick pace game and already made a move. Our time to counter is already running.”

“Quick pace?” Asked Lord Belmont.

“What is Duchess, Dinnay? If you need something to be done fast there is no more surefire way than showing the title of a noble. And the Duke title is second only to the Royal family in its ability to quicken the pace of paper pushers.”

"In the world of Merchants and Business, the Title of Duke and Duchess is equal to a battle ram with which you break down castle doors and topple walls of the fort called bureaucracy.” 

“Showing a title at the door is the best way to ensure an unperturbed and easy path in all spheres. If a Duke or Duchess wants the best place in the city to sell their wares, they will get it in the shortest time, even if several shops need to be turned to rubble for it. If they needed cooperation from the best caravans and logistic companies, they would have a line of those willing to cooperate. If they wanted to buy resources they would be offered first before it would be sold to general masses. If they needed official paperwork done in a short time, the town government would work day and night to achieve it by the next morning, abandoning all other tasks and wives and children at home.”

 

“However, there is a big issue with this method. Have you seen a company selling wares to commoners that openly associates itself with a certain family, even if they really belong to some family.”

“No.” Said Lord Belmont. 

“Why?” Asked Lord Kolosov.

“The High-nobles always use a row of proxies. The company may belong to them but it is a possession through several hands of subordinates. The list of proxies may be so big, that even those who own the shop as the very bottom chain link may not know who is their boss at the very highest link. One reason is to not let concurrents find their weakness. The other is that it is very helpful when they do some dark dealing in the underworld. List of proxies is so big it makes it hard even for us Royal Investigators to fully unravel the whole chain of connctions

“Indeed.” Said Lord Kolosov. “But why? Why the hell they need to go to such trouble. Name a company with your name and be done with it. Why do they not do it?”

“I…” Said Lord Belmont but stopped, unsure of what to answer.

“Be it Moonstar Kingdom or any other Kingdom in the Human realm, High-Nobles consider themselves equal to divine or ethereal-like beings.” Said the King. 

“They are moving in the high circles of society only and even the act of speaking to someone lesser than them disgust them. Unlike Lower-Nobles who are directly served by commoners, the houses of High-nobles have daughters and sons of other noble houses as their maids, servants, guards and gardeners.” Continued to explain the King.

“A commoner would not be even let to step on the same soil as the Marquise or Duke house, because he would dirty the ground in their gardens with his dirty feet. If they needed to interact with someone a lot lower in status, there would always be several proxies. If the Duke wishes to speak with the commoner, he would speak to Marquise or Count. Marquise to Count. Count to Viscount or Baron, and so on until the word reaches the said commoner. Commoners just do not meet an eye to eye with a High status Noble. In their view just being in the same room besmirches their honor and ruins their status in the eyes of other High-nobles. Well Adventures Guild put a dent into this happy life of nobles, but still...They would never associate their name with wares sold for the commoners, even though the company still belongs to them in the end."

“I see. The Commoner's hand is dirty, but the money he pays don’s smell.” Said Lord Belmont nodding in understanding.

“Yet Theressa does something unimaginable in High-nobility's eyes. Even if she is a monster she still cares for that status. Many of her associates are High-nobles. She values those contacts and would not want to lose them. And yet, she does something that would be equalled to smearing herself in shit by associating with commoners and openly selling wares for commoners. The moment they know about it, she will be as dirty as commoners for the entire High-noble society. An outcast.” Said old Lord Kolosov.

“I see. Just as you said, Master. She sacrificed something of value for something else.” Said Lord Belmont.

“If it was a game of chess, she just lost the Rook.” Said King nodding in understanding as well.

“But why? What could she gain? I see what you imply when you said the title gives speed. In exchange for her honorable name she received speed of a battle ram to open up all paths before that Madam Irene. The question is what does she intends this Madam do for her, which was worth this sacrifice?

“Take down the Merchant Guild.” Said Lord Kolosov something ominous.

“What?” Said the King surprised while Lord Belmonts expression darkened.

“A move like that from her means she went to war. And if she is at war with someone, I'd say she went for a Blitzkrieg plan. Strike fast and so hard the opponent does not get up, then restore her name with glory of a winner. Force everyone to reacknowledge her, leaving them no choice.” Said Lord Kolosov.

“Merchant Guild represents the entire market of the Kingdom. What do you mean take it down?” Asked the King straightening in his chair.

“She want to install a new leader. If my guess is right, somewhere in two years you will have new Merchant Guild leader, Your Majesty. 

“Let me get this straight.” Said The King. “She wants to make that prostitute our new minister of Economy and Markets? Let her sit in the hall of the High Council, behind my round table of Ministers? What the fuck? You just said she had no malicious intent."

“Master, I don’t understand how she intend to do it. That's just not possible” Said Lord Belmont.

“How is the easiest question. She already showed us. All High-nobles that aren’t in military business are intertwined with the Merchant Guild. Remember how I said they have a row of proxies in their business? The chain of command is so long all important actions take very much time to go up the chain to reach the very top."

"With their list of proxies they lose the advantage the title Duke and Duchess give. Because of their intolerance of anything ‘commoner’ they turned themselves into giant colossuses that move at the pace of a turtle. However, the market can be volatile. Everytime some invention occurs small companies bite off a great piece of the market rising like stars, before those big companies with their stretched decision making chain start to adjust and forcefully insert themselves into the new market. High-nobles don’t import anything new to the market, they only gobble down those who are already successful a lot later.”

“You say, she has a power to make some kind of drastic changes on the market. Turn it from head to toes?” Said the King thoughtfully.

“To tell you the truth, this is just my conjecture. To do something like that she needs to fit in into every market or at least the most of them. She is selling what? Clothes and Cosmetics? She needs alchemy, smithery, magic devices, home wares, a shit load of other things that the entire market consist of. But I too don’t see how this is possible. Where does she gain the confidence to do it? That is the most important question.” Said Lord Kolosov.

“Lord Belmont, from now on this is your main investigation.” Said The King. “The continuation of Paula’s case would have to wait for now. This would also give you enough reason to stall for time.”

“Your Majesty I never…”

“Please, Dinnay. The case is trifling, you could have ended it long ago. I know she is an old friend and you wish not to see her dead. I think you look for a solution that would save her. I closed my eyes on it, because I trust you. If it is you then I have no doubt that the solution would be more beneficial to the Kingdom than her death. ”

“Oh? What is this about? Mind sharing with your old master?” Asked Lord Kolosov. “We have time to speak without distraction while His Majesty’s is placing figures on the chess board.”

“Oh. It was my move.” Said The King

“Move? Your time has run out. I am sorry, but you lost, Your Majesty.” Said Lord Kolosov

“Wait what?” Exclaimed the King looking quickly at the chessboard and the hourglass that has once again separated sands into two separate vials, with all the white sand now resting in the lower vial and black sand in the upper.

 “No. This is cheating! You set your student to distract me on purpose! Had he come five minutes later, I would have won. Re play. This does not count!”

*****

“I am sorry, my friend.” Said the King mate in the night as they were long left alone with old Lord Kolosov, Lord Belmont hurrying to conduct the Investigation.

“No need.” Sadi Lord Kolosov making a move on the chessboard.

“I felt the need to take quick actions and made a decision without coming to you for advice first, my friend. I am sorry.” Said The King with a tone of guilt in his voice.

“Don’t be, my friend. You did what was right. I am a retired civilian while Dinnay is your Royal Investigator. You should not question his decision after my advice. His advice should have been the most important. He on the other hand should have come to me for advice instead of being stubborn and arrogant.” Said Lord Kolosov with a sigh. “But it turned to the best. This bitter pill will be a good remedy against arrogance. We need him in a better state than that for what is going on.”

“The Demon war? You think the Vampire invasion in the StarRain Kingdom is the beginning?” Asked the King.

“It may be. But the demon war has already started. In chronicles the forefathers left us they describe that Demons always started with undermining the authority and alliances. Bringing chaos and fear. And recent events tell me that their actions have begun.”

“Recent events?” Asked The King.

“Tell me my friend, would you change your system?” Asked Lord Kolosov, gazing into the King's eyes.

“If it was possible? No. My system suit me well.”

“What about your second son?” Asked Lord Kolosov again

The King gazed silently into the eyes of his friend.

“I don’t understand where you are leading with this question.”

“I am retired but I still have good ears. Some of my ears are even in the Central Cathedral Country.” Said Lord Kolosov.

“That I am aware of.” Said the King.

“There have been rumors. A sect. New religion.”

“Blasphemy. I am sure that the church would quickly deal with it.

“What if they can offer changing systems? Changing something that Central Cathedral can’t. The systems are considered God's gift, but how many are content with their systems? How many would defect to another God if he offered to change it.”

“Still. Changing system? You sure it's not just stupid rumor?”

“Its not. It is possible in fact. You only need divinity. A lot of it if you want to make a religion around it.” Said old Lord Kolosov.

“Why do you say it so confidently?” Asked The King.

“I have information that Central Cathedral has been doing it for centuries. That’s the reason they have so many healers. But in recent times this ability has been stolen or copied.”

The King gazed at him with squinted eyes.

“If it's their well kept secret, the Saintess would take…” Started to say King

“She can’t do shit if she can’t find them. The same as us.” Said old man making the King thing over his words before understood what old Investigator meant.

“Black market dungeons?” Asked The King

“If it was me, I’d gain control of underworld Black markets and proliferate there silently, unseen to everyone's eyes. Building a Kingdom inside the Kingdom until I am able to come up to the surface and oppose the Saintess. By now the responsible must have spread around the black markets of every country and already spread false religion. She can destroy one or two Black markets but can she destroy them all, or can she destroy them faster than they reappear? What would happen once all four Kingdoms are tied in a new religion and oppose the Saintess.” Said Lord Kolosov

“Dark Association. Is that why they try to take over all Black Markets?”

“I’d say they are most likely suspects.”

“Why do you say this now? Should have told it when Dinnay was still here.”

“I would if he had not been preoccupied with that other business. His job is to investigate and he is best used for that. Let him work on thag without distractions. In this false church matter, we know the suspect and the means. There is not much to investigate. If we could destroy all Black Markets and Dark Association, we would have long done it, with or without the help of your best investigator. If we can’t destroy them, we need to take other actions. Prepare for the attack.” Said Lord Kolosov. “That is a job for you and your ministers. Also if Theressa can help us strike down them while they hide in black markets. You better use her help."

"And allow her to do what she wants with the Merchant Guild?"

"I only give advice. This chess board is yours to play on."