Tales of the Pearly City (Pearly Tales Vol.1) [Completed]

58. Poking the bear

This was no small whimsical name change.

For nobles, name and rank were everything. To bypass blood line with a verbal agreement through the declared heir of the house or clan was a rare concession given only to the most trusted and honorable of individuals. To claim familial relation with THE noble family of the city put Cal beyond reproach. In a single moment, this man went from a commoner without a name to royal family member in line to ruling this city. By Groveon's own rules, Cal was now his superior.

"This is preposterous, Mister Ten'lo how can you be so willing to give this impertinent your family name? How can you consider this man your brother? Do you even realize what that means?"

"Hm? I can't say I understand your city folk ways of thinking. But he's technically already my elder brother."

Groveon coughed.

"But I'm surprised he only wants the name, truth be told if it were up to me and dad we'd call him the leader of our clan. Since he won't lead our clan after we asked him to, I've come to learn from him by studying under him by joining his prestigious guild. I was happy he accepted me as a member as well as a liaison for our alliance."

The nobles declared open fealty to the noble family and it was a simple matter since the only member in residence was Shayley. They tolerated the hierarchy since they pretty much controlled the city through its majority.

Groveon now realized the seriousness of the situation. Cal was a threat, a major threat to the status Quo. Not only had he single handedly empowered the royal family whom the nobles 'served' he had joined them. And worse than that with the way that the Eldest son was behaving it seemed that Cal was next in line for the throne. Shayley was the undisputed Ruler of the city and she had so much rapport with its residents on every front there was no chance of anyone upstaging her.

Her brother who was a male heir might have some legitimacy to the throne if he wanted to challenge her, but at most it would only cause a small civil war. At the same time it was obvious that he had no desires for political gain which made him no threat. But he claimed brotherhood to Cal, making Cal a candidate for the throne too. With three candidates for the throne and a bolstering of the whole Dravenkin clan through a formal alliance, Cal had secretly become a major political power despite the budding reputation of his guild.

Cal had dropped a bomb on the noble hierarchy. With the formal support of the royal family's entire clan the guild itself was essentially a royal entity.

He had also created and announced the new lightning elemental types as potential members of the Council. If they became members of the council it would only further raise his standing. With a head up on the nobles, ties to council, a formidable military force consisting of powerful adventures, and a renowned elven clan the only thing that could further his standing would be...

"But if we could get Cal and sis to finally agree to get married, that would sure make life easier for me in the long run." Ten joked, not being able to read the mood.

... a political marriage to the Princess. Cal was quite dangerous indeed, he must not be allowed to establish ties with the Western Shore either, he'd become a hero and unstoppable at that point.

"An adventurer is such a dangerous profession, don't you think. Guildmaster?" Groveon collected himself.

"It wouldn't be fun if there were no risk."

"A Guild is only as strong as its members, I believe the mortality rate for adventurers has always been high."

"As Guildmaster, I train my members to be as sturdy as possible. But they have no fear in the safety of the city, only obvious foul games take place within the Elemental Cities embrace."

"Maybe, but this city was once infamous for being Perilous I wonder how safe it can truly be?"

"I wonder..." Cal spotted Alea and Yvette coming from the stairwell. "Hey Alea, what would you do if you found out an organization in the city was targeting Guild members?"

Alea seethed but calmed herself due to her earlier reprimanding so she decided to use her head instead of spouting out what she wanted to say. She cleared her throat.

"It hasn't been long but from what I've seen between their delicious wholesome food to their alliance with the estranged Dravenkin clan, the Verdant Oathkeepers have proven themselves to be a valuable asset to the city. Anyone who targeted them doesn't deserve the protection of the Valkyries or the einherjar."

"I wonder how much money it would cost out of pocket to provide a district with the same protection that the wind elementals provide. But with the Valkyries reputation you'd probably have to protect against them as well as anything else might come along." Cal acted casually but his threat was clear.

"What do you think Tiki, you're on the council too?" Alea caught on, and when she saw Tiki cowering out of sight in the hallway she pulled her into view.

Tiki's job was to watch over Ophelia, but when Cal gave her to morning off to sleep in. Since Alea was one of her few friends, due to her shut in tendencies, she used the time to wait for Alea to wake. She followed behind Alea and Yvette since she enjoyed the cute side of her friend as she fawned over Yvette.

"Er... um... I guess if someone was after my friends here it would be easy enough to find them and eat them. If we knew who we were looking for." Tiki said nervously, but it was obvious that she serious. The nymphs and slimes weren't vegans after all.

Groveon couldn't believe it, this man already had ties to the council. Even as powerful as the nobles were, it wasn't far off to say that the elves were living in the Elementals city. If the Elementals didn't like you, you'd be hard pressed to get out of the city alive. They had actual eyes in the sky, every wall had ears, and that was just the beginning. But not only were there elementals in the city, the other races on the council were also a force to be reckoned with.

Last, but not least were the druids on the council, they had an honorary seat established by Calloway. They were the unsung heroes on the council but they did their own thing. Their seat was mainly to protect their own interests, but they were reliable when called upon.

They were a big issue because none of the nobles had figured out how to control the Druids. They couldn't be bought and were only lightly associated with one another. However, if one was in trouble they would bind together in droves to protect one another.

"I'll keep it simple, I was sent here to inform you that your little club is disturbing public order and needs to be shut down. We cannot have any more incidents where our citizens don't feel safe walking down the street." Groveon was losing his composure.

"I refuse."

"I thought that you might not agree right away. We are prepared to buy you out."

"I refuse."

Groveon smiled. "I don't think that you understand just how much we are prepared to offer. It's probably more than you'll ever see ever again."

"I have all the treasure I need, and none of it is gold."

Groveon's wicked eye gazed upon Ophelia, "if you can't be persuaded this way... It'd be a shame-"

His world spun and he couldn't even process the overwhelming blood lust coming from the demon in front of him.