Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 964: Getting To Know The Threat

Arrangements were made for an emergency council meeting, and Raven and his companions were quickly pulled from their tour. As much as he would’ve loved to forget about what happened, the hero couldn’t simply wander no more, not after the serious danger posed by Nerva. Thus, having already expected this to happen, he took a seat inside the queen’s office, surrounded by a plethora of other officials being brought in and chaired around Joselia’s desk in a smiling arch.

It took an hour for everyone to settle down, and Haurum was the last to arrive. News of the witch goddess’s appearance had already spread like wildfire, and despite knowing near to nothing about her, the lords and the ladies were in a state of utter panic. All the while, the public was still kept under the blanket of ignorance.

”Nerva,” tapping her fingers on the desk, Joselia’s voice sliced through the commotion. ”I suppose I should lead with what we know. Then the guests can enlighten us further.”

”Suppose so,” Raven replied, urging her to continue.

Lifting her gaze from the table, Joselia looked around at the chaotic mess that was her office at the current moment. The lord had grand sway in matters of importance, but they rarely showed their faces in her office and demanded to be seated for a consulate meeting. Alas, with all of them present, even she couldn’t simply wave a sheet of bureaucracy in their faces to shoo them away.

”Lord Hamelth shared some information about the goddess with our priests.” Rising from her chair, she turned to the window behind her and walked up to it. Glancing out of the tower, her eyes pinned the old church, now being renovated to Athenia’s liking. ”We were told not to concern ourselves with her. A dead tale, nothing to worry about. But the information we were getting from your very own adventures, Lord of champions, was directly conflicting with his claim. Nerva was present; whether she’s truly dead or not is debatable, but we had an idea that she was still manipulating things.”

”You knew?” Brien raised an eyebrow, his nails digging into the wood armrest.

Turning back around, Joselia held up her right hand and conjured an image of a fairy through pure dark mana.

”Our lady of the land and my patron, she brings me news from time to time. News that only the head of the council should know, or at least that is her verdict, not mine.” Looking at her ex-lover, Joselia pressed her lips shut for a brief moment. ”Hers was the idea that we separate ourselves from Hameleth, and now, after seeing how he tried to kill us all, I would say it’s best we listen to her and trust in this alliance that we’ve made.”

”And who exactly might be this her?” Raven inquired, drawn in by the curious mirage on Joselia’s hand.

”The fairy spirit of Aurum,” Jeanne answered, followed by her sister.

”She’s the reason for our land’s verdant bounty and has been here long before any of our ancestors decided to settle.”

”Always a conflict between her and the church, however; hence her decision to cut ties with Hamleth was given such scrutiny.” Ellia’s explanation seemed to have roused a quiet murmur that rippled throughout the seated lords. Even yet, not everyone was happy about the abandonment, but none dared speak their minds in front of the queen.

”I suppose it’s time for me to share our side of the ordeal then,” getting off his chair, Raven looked around and dismissively waved at the lords at once. ”Erika, would you mind showing these fine folks out the door?”

”At once.” With the snap of her fingers, the death priestess exuded a wave of crimson miasma that quickly wrapped around the lord and the ladies, including lord Haurum, since his presence was bound to cause problems rather than fix any. ”Get out and wait until you’re called back in.”

Controlling their minds through Asmodia’s powers, Erika forced out the crowd so that Raven could reveal more information about Nerva. A goddess like her could control all those who knew of her influence, and even having her in one’s thoughts was like opening a door to invite her in.

”Sorry about that, but evidently Aurum has no protection against Nerva at the moment, so I would like to limit the number of people who know about her until the orphanage and the church are done.”

”I wasn’t too fond of them either way,” Brien replied smugly, his eyes following the hero as he walked into the middle of the room.

”Nexa Nuvia Nerva, she’s Pathfinder and Aphrodite’s daughter, and as twisted as it may sound, the mother of everything and everyone in this world, even her parents.” Squints and scowls spread throughout the room; no words were needed to feel the grim discomfort the news had brought them. ”And...”

Relaying what else he knew about the goddess of calamity, Raven kept his parentage with Nerva a secret, but beyond that fact, he revealed everything he possibly could. As for the consulate members, the stories about Nerva seemed never-ending, especially with Raven hiding the bits about Nightsilver being his soul parent along with the goddess as well as the mother fae providing Nerva with a body to host him in.

The members weren’t blind to these deviations, but chose to remain silent. Even when the hero was done talking, none of them had a word to say. So much has been discussed in such little time that they required a while to digest the information, preferably with a good night’s sleep.

”All said and done, I will be taking over the church’s renovation. Aranuvians are much faster at building monuments, so I’ll just need your approval to get them here,” Erika asked the queen, and although Joselia wasn’t too sure what was the best option for her people at the moment, she simply went along with the party’s decisions.

Too much was happening in Aurum and outsiders were already making policies. A sight most troubling to the lords and the ladies; however, Ellia and the other girls felt it to be something else entirely.

’I never knew we were so sheltered.’ Thought Ellia, her eyes lingering on her fiancé as he confidently ordered his group to take on different responsibilities. ’Hmm, at least he’s responsible, I guess.’

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, yet she refused to accept the feeling just yet. A few more days, Raven was going to be in Aurum; perhaps in that time, she’d find a way to know him well enough to make her final decision. In the meantime, Raven was in no rush to convince her; after all, there were bigger fish to fry, and as for his carnal needs, they were positively sated by the other three elves on the council.