Dark King

The retired old patriarch of the family George Mel was sitting in a chair. There was a gloomy expression on his face. Two figures stood up in front of him. One of his son Mark who was known as a genius businessman in the aristocratic circles. The second one was Sarah who recently was recognized as an exceptional talent. Both of them had ugly faces.

“Tomorrow morning all the nobles, knights and civilians will know that this kid has become the youngest master in the history of the Temple. He will be untouchable!” The wrinkled old face of George was as frosty as an ice block. His brows were like sharp swords. He was angrily looking at the slender figure of Sarah. She was his most proud granddaughter. But right now he felt disappointment and anger.

“Temporarily block the news that we got from Master Thomas. The members of the consortium can’t know about it right now.” George stared at Sarah: “This is something that you controlled from the beginning. It was your first job! You were using all the resources and contacts of the consortium but failed! The kid was someone without a background! Now he has the status of an untouchable and we won’t be able to cope with him!”

Sarah bit her lower lip and her fingers clenched onto her skirt. She suppressed the anger in her heart: “Grandpa, everything was according to the plan. I didn’t expect him to be so capable. He produced a legendary item after short time of proposing the concept of ‘lightning rod’. No one could predict that, I also… ”

George smashed his palm onto the table in anger: “What did you do? Couldn’t you just kill him before he could resist? Didn’t I teach you that you can’t be soft with the enemy? You mustn’t even tease an enemy! Even a wounded dog will try to bite at you if its anxious. Even if it can’t hurt you it will dirty your clothes. Such a simple rule! Why did you forget it?!”

“Moreover he was outside the giant wall for seven or eight days! He had cut off all the contact with the wall. How couldn’t you kill him? He was wanted by almost every power… How did he dare to show up? How was he able to submit an invention?”

Sarah was startled: “Grandpa, I know I’m wrong. I will be responsible for this matter!”

“Responsible?” George heard the biggest joke of his lifetime but couldn’t laugh. He said in a cold tone: “What will you do? You won’t be able to deal with him even if he was an ordinary master! Not to mention he is the youngest master in the history of the Temple! The possibilities are infinite! He has come up with a new concept which has opened a new faction. If the new concept proves itself…Do you know what kind of a person he will become? He could destroy Mellon consortium just like pinching a mosquito. It will be as simple as that! His single word can make all the nobles and civilians to target us! They will cut all the trade with us. Do you even understand the magnitude of the problem?”

Sarah was pale. She realized that the situation what much more complex that she had thought. She was full of remorse. Actually, she was looking forward to see the boy with the helpless look in front of her. But now it seems that her expectations were nothing but a joke. (Is she a tsundere in love with dean?)

“Father.” Mark said: “Blaming Sarah at this point won’t resolve anything. The kid has just become a master and his status isn’t stable. He doesn’t have time to establish network. As long as he goes to the front line then we can assassinate him. We can use the chaos of the war. As long as he is dead then there won’t be anything to talk about.”

George looked at him: “Now that’s the only option. But you have to be successful. The failure is not allowed. Otherwise our losses will be immeasurable. Don’t forget that there are other five tigers who are staring at us!”

“I will. I will make sure that ‘shadows’ obliterate the military escort. They would kill him when he is not prepared. He is just an intermediate hunter. Although he has the magic marks of a juranzhi but his combat power isn’t sufficient. The ‘shadows’ will be able to kill him as easy as slicing a vegetable. ” Mark replied.

George nodded and looked at Sarah “Go back and reflect on your mistakes! ”

Sarah clenched her fists and bowed: “Yes, grandfather.”

“Leave.” George said.

Sarah left the room.

George looked at Mark after she left: “I heard they came to negotiate? Did they really want us to pay 1 million gold goins and cede a passage? They want to destroy us with our own money! It is a joke! This old fox has become more cunning aafter leaving our consortium.”

Mark slowly said: “Father it was just a discussion. Maybe we should send them the money. They won’t be a threat to us with just that. But if we can make a treaty then maybe they will believe in our ‘sincerity’. It may be helpful towards the assassination. After the little devil dies it will be easy to deal with the old fox!”

George nodded: “True, but its going to be a little bit hard to manage that.”

“Yes.”

…

…

Dudian called Neuss after Old Fulin and other left. He told him to refuse anyone who comes for a visit.

It was as he had expected. After the afternoon one consortia after another send messengers to visit him. Some nobles families and knight families came with gifts to congratulate him too.

Dudian looked through the window from the second floor and saw the endless stream of visitors. He covered the window with curtain and continued to study.

The next day.

Dudian checked the morning newspapers. The news about Dudian becoming a master and donating a legendary military weapon was publicized. Moreover the news of the new concept almost covered the layout of the newspapers. Even the military newspaper reported about him donating the ‘steam rifle’ to the military for free of charge.

However the military newspaper didn’t clarify anything about the previous barbarian confessions. Apparently it would appear to be too fake at the moment.

Dudian was very satisfied.

The Temple’s newspaper had exaggerated everything in comparison to the other newspapers. Almost all the news were about Dudian. Him becoming a master, donating weapons, steam energy analysis etc… There were interviews with other masters talking about advantages and disadvantages of the kinetic energy. Moreover the information about the use of steam rifles in the war was mentioned too.

Dudian smiled. He estimated that the Temple had ‘exploded’ at the moment. Most people who were at bottlenecks would try to seek new breakthroughs throw this new concept.

Dudian looked at the newspapers under the wings of other consortia. The information about him was reported in newspapers of all six consortia. Even the Mellon consortium reported about him. They didn’t try to slander him anymore and they reported as if nothing has happened between them.

Dudian gently smiled: “It seems Old Fulin’s is too good at dealing with things but unfortunately its too late.” However the next moment he frowned. He felt a trace of danger as if something was wrong.