Birth Of The Crafts-God

"The city lord made a decision; a somewhat simple decision to be honest but unexpected." Russell said with a solemn expression.

He placed the teacup in his hands down and stared at Lucas.

"The two oppositions had both good and bad points. The advantage of the first was that we would gain your trust and have a smooth and sailing relationship. However, the disadvantage was quite obvious. We would lack control and access to the technology.

"The second side however, gave us this control and access. But in exchange, we would lose your trust and potentially offend the vestige-smith backing you. We might even not gain anything out of it since we don't know who the vestige-smith is or his personality, and so, can't really predict his reactions. Hence, the city lord had to step in."

RusselI then paused for a moment, but this caused anticipation to well up within Lucas. Nonetheless, he didn't say a word and waited for Russell to continue.

As expected, Russell continued a few seconds later.

"The city lord didn't go for any of the options, but went for the third one that no one had taken seriously. He had decided to invest in your store, but in exchange, he would request for the secrets of the SS vestiges. If that didn't work out, he would then hope to bridge an alliance with the vestige-smith behind you, and ensure that Baylands city-state becomes the sole distributor on the entire Groeten continent and even the whole of Eretre, no matter the cost."

Lucas was stunned yet also confused by this answer. If the city lord didn't have any negative thoughts and ideas, then why did things turn out like this?

"Confused, right? I understand, after all, the current situation is far different from that." Russell smirked.

"To know why, you would have to understand the true nature of the relationship between the current city lord, Noah Bergs, and the Bergs family."

Lucas narrowed his eyes and he perked his ears.

"The Bergs family is known to be the City Lord family after having raised three successive generations of city lords. However, the current generation, which is the third, is a bit... unique." Russell smiled.

He didn't continue talking but snapped his fingers after which Lucas felt a strange wave cover the area. Surprisingly, Melissa, who was preoccupied with the snacks on the table, had noticed something different and glanced up. But after a second, she dived back into the luxurious delicacies on the table.

"Whatever is said in this room needs not leave this room." Russell mysteriously smiled.

"I understand." Lucas replied.

"As I was saying," Russell Mertens continued,

"The situation is unique. You see, the current city lord is the stepbrother to the head of the Bergs family, Fredor Bergs. According to the will of the Bergs family's elders, Fredor was supposed to be the new city lord and he was trained since birth to accept the position.

"The city lord's position isn't hereditary, but requires one of both great with and strength to prove themselves and be voted in by the cabinet. However, the Bergs family has a massive degree of influence in the cabinet. Twenty of the sixty seats go to the top four families, and the Dufour family is a very close ally to the Bergs. That makes it ten seats under the influence of the Bergs family. All they need is twenty one more and they could win each election after fielding a good candidate.

"Making some concessions here and there, they can get ten of the twenty elected district seats. When added with their other allies and after striking deals with some others to others, the vote for eleven seats can be obtained.

"Fredor was the candidate the Bergs family prepared to field. But along the line, Noah appeared and began growing at such an astonishing rate that it amazed everyone. By the time the elections were close at hand, Noah was already as strong and qualified as Fredor. Due to this, he had also decided to participate in the elections and made his own faction to achieve his goals." Russell said.

Lucas widened his eyebrows, shocked by the courage of the current city lord.

One should know that Fredor was the candidate the family had raised with all their resources. For Noah to come into the picture at the last minute, not as a supporting character but as a competition to Fredor, it would inevitably cause some dissatisfaction amongst the elders. And Russell's next words confirmed that.

"Without a doubt, this created dissatisfaction amongst the elders, but also confusion. Many remained with Fredor and believed that he was the most suitable candidate, while others in the family sided with Noah. The city lord's position wasn't a Bergs family property, and they would lose it if they couldn't find a suitable candidate.

"Supposing Fredor were to lose in the battle, it would be the same as them giving up their right to fight for the position. On the other hand, Noah was looking to be a more powerful candidate, and a better option.

"In the end, the elders had decided to have them compete against each other in a battle, with the winner becoming the city lord candidate. However, Noah didn't do as they wanted. As I previously mentioned, he had created his own faction to achieve his goals, and he relied on his faction to compete in the elections.

"It was rumoured then that his relationship with the Bergs family wasn't exactly the best, so it was understandable why he didn't move with them. As such, there were two Bergs on the day of the elections, Noah and Fredor.

"During the contest on election day, Noah beat Fredor as well as the other candidates and became the winner of the election, shocking everyone else. It was later discovered that the other side of politics had teamed up with Noah in a bid to reduce the Bergs family's influence. Although he was still a Berg, it was obvious that Noah's relationship with his family was strained. At the same time, he was a very powerful contender and looked poised to win with enough support. And so, the Ross family, my Mertens family, the Oder family, and a few others colluded together and managed to push Noah to victory." Russell smiled.

The meaning behind his smile was obvious, after all, he was the family head during that time. He was the one who had spearheaded the other families to support Noah. On Earth, he would be termed as Noah's political godfather.

"Back to today. You can guess why the situation is different from what the city lord had ordered." Russell stared at Lucas.

"Although he wanted to support you, the parties that had granted him this position wanted your knowledge for themselves. It was the first time they had ever been so serious and desperate for something, so even Noah couldn't deny them especially after they had helped him a lot. It was one human, a store and a mysterious vestige-smith, in exchange for the support of the other half of political power in the city-state. It's quite obvious what his choice would be.

"However, the actions of the factions had created a hole in their relationship with the city lord. They had pretty much ignored his orders for their own motives, and even though the city lord had pardoned them, the damage had already been dealt. Most likely, they won't be able to request anything else from Noah, after all, a man who could go against his family was in no way weak of a pushover."

Russell paused and then took a sip from the teacup once again, to wey his throat. After he had emptied half of it, he continued,

"Seeing the weak link in the situation, the Bergs and Dufour families also joined the party, and so, we have the current situation. A situation where the city lord had given a command, but reality played out in the opposite direction."

Lucas didn't say anything after Russell had concluded his explanation for a short while. The explanation further complicated the situation for him.

Based on the fact that the factions had colluded together and went against the city lord, one could see their desire and desperation for the secret of the SS vestiges. It was as Russell had said earlier; this was a technology that could birth another top family. With such a fat piece of meat in front of them, it would be hard for anyone to curb their greed. Even the top families would want to get their hands on it and go one step further.

Negotiations? All for that was but a lie to have Lucas drop his guard down. In the end, all they wanted was to swallow him and the store up. With the nonexistence of the supposed master vestige-smith, it would further complicate the issue for Lucas.

"I want to ask you a question."

"Go ahead." Russell responded while staring at Melissa.

Lucas looked at Russell Mertens in the eyes as he spoke.

"Does the Mertens family have a hand in this? And also, why are you telling me all of this?"