Lucien sat calmly on his floating throne, posture straight, gaze steady.
Lucien: “Good to see that most of you were able to respond to such a sudden call. Before we move on to the main matter, I assume everyone here has read the report and understands the basics of what happened. You’re free to ask me or Max questions first. Then Finn will share what he’s gathered. Pelta will follow with a second issue and the data I asked her to collect. After that, I’ll provide further information. Finally, we’ll discuss the broader plan. Is that agreeable?”
Finn: “Sounds fair enough.”
Ava: “I don’t have any issue with that.”
Alaric nodded silently.
Selena: “Then I’ll begin. How did you let this happen? Weren’t you there yourself? What stopped you from saving him?”
Lucien: “Let me state this clearly—I won’t avoid responsibility. There was absolutely fault on my part. Mainly due to carelessness. To put it plainly, I was placed in a situation I wasn’t expecting. Worse, I didn’t even realize it at the time. By the time I understood what was happening, it was already too late.”
The directness of his answer caught everyone’s attention. His expression didn’t shift, but the lack of pretense made the weight of the failure land even harder. There was no effort to shield himself. No polished language. No attempts to deflect.
Lucien had chosen not to hide behind diplomacy. He rarely did, but today he made no effort at all. It was part honesty, part strategy, a calculated transparency that revealed the seriousness of the event and set the tone for how they were expected to respond.
Alaric: “Regarding that, what do you know about the magic used by him during the encounter and the escape? I might recognize the nature of it.”
Lucien: “At first, I assumed it was some kind of tribal magic. He had markings that matched that theory. But after hearing Finn’s report, I now believe it was a form of pagan art. He was able to use different technique such mind manipulation, some incantation related spell and most noteworthy was soul transfer. The same tattoos that Max saw when he killed him reappeared on another body shortly after. The residual energies were identical. That’s how I’m certain it was the same entity. Another mistake on my part, I should have memorized the markings when I had the chance. As for the abduction spell, I tore most of it apart, but even then, it still activated.”
Alaric: “Even that much information helps. A pagan art involving soul transfer and teleportation—uncommon, but not unheard of. If that’s the case, then I doubt he’s dead. He likely transferred into another body. People who use that sort of magic are overly cautious. He probably had substitutes prepared in advance. And considering how he tried abducting Ryan. From what you described, I don’t think it was a single technique. Most likely a mix of three separate pagan arts: one to store the spell—probably a talisman, activated by chant—another that marked the location, possibly using blood, hair, something like that… and the third would be the force that pulled Ryan into the sky. You likely tore apart the location anchor or the channeling method, but by then it was already in motion.”
Ava: “So that means Ryan could be anywhere in the empire? Or the world?”
Finn: “Better than being a captive of some lunatic.”
Alaric: “You’re both correct.”
Lucien: “Actually, it’s not as bad as it sounds. The anchor and the power source were destroyed. Without them, the caster would’ve lost precise control. That means Ryan didn’t land far. I estimate he’s still within the empire. Most likely somewhere in the south, based on the trajectory of that… light beam.”
Max: “Since everyone’s asking questions, can I have a turn?”
All eyes turned to him.
Ava: “You do remember that we’re supposed to be asking you questions, right?”
Finn: “No, No, don’t stop him. Let’s hear it. Let’s see what kind of deep question the source of this entire disaster wants to ask.”
Ultimare: “Now I’m curious too.”
Max: “It’s a serious question. Been bothering me for a while now. Brother… why do you look like you’ve been through hell? You look like you just came back from a fight you barely survived.”
Lucien: “Irrelevant. Dismissed.”
Selena: “It’s nothing. We were just playing earlier. Want me to invite you next time?”
Max: “I’m a grown man, Sister. Playtime doesn’t suit me anymore. Still… appreciate the offer.”
Lucien: “If there are no more actual questions, let’s move on. Anyone?”
Finn: “If I may… What’s our objective moving forward? This clearly isn’t just about rescuing Ryan anymore.”
Ava: “What do you mean by that?”
Lucien: “We’ll be dealing with this on multiple fronts. But I’ll speak on that later. Any other questions?”
Ava: “How strong were they? Do they pose any real threat to us? Or to Ryan?”
Lucien: “It depends on the situation. Most of them are weak. Little to no threat under normal conditions. But there are always exceptions, strong ones. Smart. Cunning. Ryan could be manipulated, even broken, if the right hand plays the right cards. The real danger is what happens if he becomes the target of something bigger.
With our bloodline, the moment others realize what he is, it won’t be a simple matter anymore. Inside the estate, we’re safe. Outside, we survive by staying unnoticed. We have no influence, no authority, no protection beyond our name…. And even that does more harm than good.”
Silence followed. No one had anything more to ask.
Lucien: “If there’s nothing else. Max, you are next.”
Finn: “Now that's what I was waiting for, so, max. Why did you let Ryan out in the first place? More specifically, why didn’t you just answer his questions directly instead of dragging him to Clay?”
Max leaning back slightly, “Let me think… alright, I’ve got it. So, what, you think he would’ve said, ‘OH, Thanks, dear brother, for explaining everything. My curiosity is completely satisfied now. So I’m heading back to my room to read shitty novels’? You think that’s how it was going to go?”
Ultimare: “Doesn’t matter. You still had no reason to give in to him. He threw a tantrum, and you gave in. You could’ve left him where he was. Instead, you took him to Clay. And if that wasn’t enough, you dragged him outside again. Then you picked a fight with mercenaries. Unnecessary.”
Max: “Come on. I was just trying to give the kid a good memory. Thought if I did, maybe he’d stop hating me so much. I did protect him, you know. It’s not like I just left him there. It’s just… one thing ruined everything. How was I supposed to know it’d go this bad? Our lives are slow. Boring, even. I get why Ryan wanted something different.”
Ava: “What is your issue? You’re not making any sense, and you’re not taking any responsibility either. Do you even feel bad for Ryan?”
Max: “I do feel bad. I just don’t see this as entirely my fault. And I’m doing everything I can now to help find him. Why is everyone so fixated on blaming someone? He’ll be back in a few days. Don’t worry.”
Finn: “We’re not ‘fixated’ on blame. We expected at least some seriousness from you. This attitude of yours is exactly what caused the whole thing. You need real punishment this time.”
Ava: “Don’t waste your breath. It’s like talking to a wall. Max, your problem is simple. You never think about consequences. Everything’s a joke to you.”
Max: “That’s true for most of us. I just say it out loud. I’m not pretending. And again—I do feel bad for Ryan. I really do. Just give me a chance, and I’ll help fix this. I’ll make it like it never happened.”
Selena standing slightly straighter, “Let’s move on.”
Lucien: “Finn. Take it from here.”
Finn: “Very well. First, take these notes. Most of the content is readable.”
Pages detached from a sealed bundle in Finn’s hand and floated through the air, carried by the hall’s magic. Each member received a set, the papers landing neatly before them.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Finn: “Now for a general briefing. I visited the tribal village this morning to gather the information we needed. And I did get it, though not without a cost. Still, I’ve ensured what we paid will return its value.”
He gave them a moment to scan the first page.
Finn: “The man who abducted Ryan is named shalkas. According to the locals, he came from the eastern tribes as a refugee, a scholar, a man curious about their customs. He gained their trust quickly, lived among them for five years without incident. Then, one day, he brought strangers with him. Outsiders. And those men brought mercenaries.”
He glanced around the circle.
Finn: “shalkas always presented himself as kind, honest, harmless. The villagers said he worked mostly with medicine and basic elemental magic, nothing that gave cause for concern. They never suspected he was capable of anything beyond that. Though, they did mention he had a habit of studying magic from other tribes.”
Ava: “What a freak.”
Max: “Right? Didn’t seem kind or trusting when I saw him.”
Finn: “That’s the full extent of what I gathered from them. Now, regarding the mercenaries... some of this came from Brother Lucien’s interrogation of one of their own. The rest I uncovered on my end.”
He paused only to turn to a second page.
Finn: “The mercenaries were not independent. They were a subdivision of a guild called Skull Knight. One of the largest militant and mercenary organizations in the kingdom. It’s heavily backed by major nobles and wealthy merchants. Their network runs deep across cities, borders, and institutions. There are even rumors nobles use them for covert operations and criminal work. They operate with impunity.”
Finn: “The specific unit that came after us was hired anonymously. Paid in full. Heavily. The kind of contract you don’t question. That’s where the trail ends.”
Ultimare: “So they weren’t random swords for hire. They were sent.”
Ava: “Sent for us. Isn’t that obvious?”
Finn: “That’s what all the signs point to.”
Alaric: “Someone paid a fortune to have us eliminated. But why? We haven’t caused any problems yet. Most people don’t even know we exist.”
Selena: “Who benefits the most if we’re gone?”
She leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowed.
Selena: “the only things that would attract someone with that kind of money could either be our land, wealth... our parent's technology, creations or maybe that artifact. But whatever the reason, this isn’t just reckless. It’s suicidal crossing stellar mountain and thinking they can defeat us, as if they are looking down on us. Whoever’s responsible for such an attempt will pay a very hefty price.”
Ava: “Finn, Explain this contract a bit.”
Finn: “Of course.”
Finn: “I made the terms plain: information in exchange for support. Resources. Medicine. Building materials. The basics. I made it clear this was a trade, not charity.”
Ultimare: “And their reaction?”
Finn: “Mixed. The elders were wary. They didn’t trust the idea of aligning with us or anyone. Their concern was simple: what do they gain, and what happens to them if things get worse?”
Selena: “Reasonable.”
Finn: “Fortunately, their speaker, a younger woman named Arika was more practical. She proposed her own offer. In exchange for our help, they would support the effort to recover Ryan. All the tribes will. Not just manpower, but they will give us access to routes and networks we don’t have. Smugglers. Informants. Traders. Even whisper-lines that pass beneath big cities.”
Ava: “That’s more valuable, than I expected.”
Finn: “She also claimed to be of Navigator bloodline and might have abilities which can help us find Ryan more easily.”
ultimare: “suspicious that she happen to have what we exactly needed.”
Finn: “There’s more to her than what she shows, even I believe she did lied a bit, but there is some truth also mixed in it as well. I plan to test her abilities my self just to make sure if it is legit or not ”
Selena: “What were her terms?”
Finn: “Three conditions. First, help to rebuild the villages. Second, protection if another attack comes. Third, help to recover their stolen people and vengeance for their dead. The last one was personal. She wants to find the killers and end them herself. She said if we help her do that, she’s willing to become something darker under our command.”
Ava: “Impressive, she does seem like someone with praiseworthy intellect and dedication, did you agree to her offer?”
Finn: “No. I told her outright, the help she wanted came with a cost. We can’t function under a scattered alliance where we ask permission for every move. I told her that any coordination or decision related to defense, logistics, deployment would fall under our authority.”
Ava: “Let me guess. They called it slavery.”
Finn: “pretty much.”
Ultimare: “And?”
He folded his arms.
Finn: “They accepted. With one final condition, which is that we aid in Arika’s vengeance as much as we can”
Selena:“ By support, what does she mean specifically.”
Finn: “That we train her, guide her, provide resources and intel she may need. She basically wants to use us as a powerful tool against her enemies”
Ava:“but why she could just ask us to kill all those who were involved, for what reason she is going this far”
Selena:“ for the fun of sweet old revenge Ava, She must have lost her everything and is very enraged. Just asking someone else to do all the thing won't make her happy or feel relived”
Lucien: “It is acceptable, she might even be useful to us but nevertheless she’ll be monitored”
Finn: “She expects that.”
Lucien: “Then it’s settled, moving to Pelta”
Pelta: “Yes, brother.”
She stood, producing another stack of reports. The pages lifted and flew to each seat, landing neatly before them.
Max caught his copy midair, scowling.
Max: “Can’t you people just hand over all the damn reports at once? What’s the point of doing this again and again?”
Pelta: “On the day of Ryan’s disappearance, I was tasked with retrieving what I could from the Empire’s Royal Magic Tower’s networks. I infiltrated this network to access our family registry housed in the Imperial Library.”
She waited as the weight of that sunk in.
Pelta: “It’s a document. Only accessible to family members, officials, or individuals ranked extremely high. Normally, access logs involving high-ranking individuals are not kept and officials Names aren’t listed. Most of the time, no data is recorded at all as they just try to keep it hidden. But I was able to bypass the system and extract some partial logs.”
She flipped to the next page of her notes.
Pelta: “Three separate individuals accessed information about our family. All occurring within the three days prior to Ryan’s abduction.”
The atmosphere shifted instantly with silent realization.
Finn: “Three people, suddenly interested in our family history? I already knew something stank. ”
Ava: “If high-rank access logs aren’t even stored, that means more could’ve looked into us. We’d never know. Combine that with the mercenary attack and this sudden invitation from the Duke of Aquitaine... No. This isn’t suspicious anymore. It is clearly a coordinated assault.”
Ultimare: “What exactly is the invitation about?”
Pelta: “It’s being called a grand gathering. Some multi-day event with meetings, Hunting, rituals, and celebrations. It’s set to begin two months from now. The invitation explicitly requests the presence of the Sinclair family. At the very least, our head must attend.”
Selena: “Or they’ll label us heretics again. Strip our status. Cut our access routes. Open attacks won’t be far behind. Every problem you can imagine will follow. How annoying”
Finn: “Trying to find Ryan while juggling all of this... is dangerous. Do we even bother attending? Or do we try explaining, dealing with it diplomatically, and maybe get support? The problem is we don’t know who’s an enemy and who’s pretending to be an ally.”
The word help hadn’t even finished echoing before Ultimare stood. His voice rose with uncharacteristic fire.
Ultimare: "Help? From nobles? Royals? You’d place our fate in the hands of those parasites? We bow to no one. Let the peasants kneel if they must, we are not them. No more delays. We go to the capital, carve a path through whoever stands in our way, and end this cleanly, decisively, with blood if that’s what it takes. Brother Lucien… draw your blade. Anyone who dares to meet our eyes cut them down without hesitation."
Max leaning back,“Easy there, brother. Hold your horses. You’re starting to sound like me.”
Finn: “Didn’t think I’d agree with Max today, but here we are. I said those words, but I wasn’t suggesting we beg. I don’t like that option either.”
Lucien: “I understand.”
Ultimare: “What?”
Lucien remained still, his expression unreadable.
Lucien: “That’s exactly the weakness in our house. At first, I thought we were strong. Secure. But with some serious reflection, I can name three fatal flaws that could break us.”
Everyone listened.
Lucien spoke with a calm yet were powerful tone
"First: we possess no real influence within the Empire. No seats at the tables of power. No loyal network. We live in shadows, unheard and unseen, we got no power other than our destructive abilities.
Second: arrogance has infested us. All of us, including myself. We are enamored with our strength, convinced it is enough to compensate for our weaknesses. That illusion breeds carelessness. And in carelessness, we invite failure.
Third: we are isolated. Frogs in a well. We have severed ourselves from the larger world. Its knowledge, its movements, its methods. We know little of the magic and techniques beyond our borders… of foreign customs, of diplomacy, of warcraft, of the minds and machines that rule elsewhere. We are not only behind, we are vulnerable because of it. Furthermore, we simply don't know what others are doing, what game they are playing"
Selena raised an eyebrow, a faint grin on her face, “And what are you getting at?”
Lucien: “That this moment, this chain of events, is the right time to correct those flaws.”
Another set of notes floated to every chair. No one interrupted.
Lucien: “To survive, we must gain real influence. Build enough power to stand equal to the one that try to destroy us from the shadows and crush them before they reach us. Right now, we have no proper supply chain of our own. No networks. We get what we need through backdoors and bribery. If we’d had proper intelligence, Ryan might have never been taken. Now we know that we’re facing enemies with reach, wealth, and soft power.”
He looked at each sibling in turn.
Lucien: “Fortunately, we’re not yet at the point where all-out war is our only option. If we act strategically, we can avoid that path entirely. We must resolve this quickly, efficiently, and in a way that ensures our survival, our family’s, and our parents' heritage’s without compromise.”
He paused only to give weight to his final words.
Lucien: “To do that, we must stop being frogs in a well. We need to understand the world beyond our borders, grow more cautious, more informed—and far more dangerous than we are right now. Only then we would truly stand a chance to grab the victory most efficiently.”
Everyone read the documents in silence.
Lucien: “I want all of you to do train way harder now, aim for the next level. Leave no space for carelessness and any sort of weakness”
Selena:"Alright then. I’ll personally oversee everyone’s training and studies. I’ll make sure we have a proper mind map of all key areas and prepare them for the unknown."
Alaric:"I will assist with that too. Besides that, I’ll also work on creating some useful equipment tools that’ll support the training and help with any expeditions outside. It should make everything much easier."
Hearing all this from Lucien and then reading through the detailed plan made one thing unmistakably clear to everyone present, he was absolutely determined.
And the more they thought about it, the more it all began to make sense. Something about it stirred them. A long-dormant feeling awakened within them a sense of challenge, of intrigue, of purpose.
For once, The decision was accepted unanimously and without resistance.
