"Excuse me but how can we begin when—" the spokesperson for the destroyed Creeper's Hide-In began when he was harshly interrupted.
"We can begin. If I'm not mistaken the expected form of remuneration that the victims want is funding for the rebuilding of their town and sustenance until they have found ways to consistently earn their living, correct?" the Supervising Overseer asked while locking his finger behind his back.
"Well... yes but—" the middle aged spokesman wanted to speak up again but was cut off once more.
"I assume you would also like compensation for the destruction of the Creeping Chill as well, is it not?" the Overseer directed this question to the Head of the York Family who meekly avoided eye contact.
"Please stop!" Kurtish stood and angrily slammed his hands against the table. "This is highly irregular! Yes we want compensation but the man supposed to give it, Festos, isn't here to hear these costs and face his crimes against the concerned parties! This is barbaric and uncivilised! Show some respect for Lady Ornamont!"
Kurtish turned his eyes to the velvet haired woman who refused to spare anyone a prolonged look, emphasising her presence to the Overseer.
The sharply dressed man set his eyes on this well respected woman, as did everyone else.
Feeling the attention on her, Lady Onarmont reluctantly decided to speak up, as her agreement with Kurtish through their deal demanded.
"<Sigh>. I agree. This IS irregular. Invite the condemned in so that we can have a confirmation as to his position on the matter and how he intends to pay what he owes," she said in a strict tone.
Kurtish turned his gaze back to the Overseer.
Deep within, he was grinning devilishly.
'Even you can't brush off the word of someone like her, can you?' he thought, ridiculing the Overseer. 'Festos has no choice but to face his crimes! I'll watch him and that pathetic little Family sink today! They'll have to beg and grovel, in which case I may choose to forgive them if Aliyah desires!"
Kurtish slid a glance behind him, smiling at Aliyah who blushed.
The Overseer nodded.
"As you wish, Lady Onarmont," he said.
There were two Association guards standing by the door, along with the lady who had escorted Onarmont to this room.
The Overseer turned gave her a gesture which she quickly understood and walked off hurriedly to enact.
"I was under the impression that another Capital Service representative would be mediating. Not you. It seems I was fed false information," the sharply dressed man pointed out with suspicion in his eyes. He alternated his gaze between Onarmont and Kurtish while pushing up his fancy glasses.
The Oldd Family head smirked.
He didn't feed false information. He just didn't mention that he had invited someone of a high level whose commands couldn't be ignored by a mere Supervisor.
From behind, he could feel Aliyah getting giddy from watching him take charge and 'outsmart' the opposition, the vile guardians of mercenaries.
Heh!
This fuelled his ego.
"Did you honestly think that a hearing could be done like this? Is the Association turning so rotten that it would disregard civilians who have suffered?" Onarmont asked, her voice saturated with hints of disgust.
What was this?
Did the Association want to simply want the list of damages so that they could sit on it and do nothing as the homeless victims suffered?
Was this truly how this would work?
Were there going to be means put in place to discourage things like this?
"That is not the case, Lady Onarmont. There's just been a new development with the... condemned," the Overseer explained.
"A new development?" Kurtish asked with a frown. A look of realisation then flashed on his face, followed by a thrilled one. "Has he run away?!"
Gasps were heard in the room.
Festos had run away?
Was it true?
Ornamont raised a brow.
"Is it true?" she asked the Overseer who chuckled.
"Hardly, my lady," he replied.
The clip clopping of feet on the floor coming from the hall garnered the attention of everyone in the room.
When it reached the door, three figures appeared, their presence causing a cascade of reactions among the onlookers.
...!!!
Onarmont's eyes flashed, their grey hue reflecting the face of one of the three.
Kurtish grinned at first but then... his feelings of triumph were held back by a suffocating feeling of foreboding.
Wait. What was going on here?
The three individuals to walk in were Skullius, Silrat and... Alaris.
The examination officer locked eyes with Onarmont.
He stopped.
"So you're the mediator," he said with a chuckle.
Onarmont stood from her seat.
Her figure zipped past the table bordering her and Alaris, reaching him immediately.
The two stood face to face without a word for a few seconds.
What the heck?
This was unexpected.
What was going to happen?
Kurtish in particular grew tense.
Before long...
Onarmont... gave Alaris a big hug!
"Hahahahaha! You slimy bastard. Hiding in plain sight!" she laughed while slapping Alaris' back harshly.
Alaris who hadn't expected the embrace clumsily wiggled and chuckled.
"Who said anything about hiding? I'm not the one who's constantly travelling," he said with difficulty.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, Silrat and Skullius included.
Kurtish's face turned pale.
'What's going on? Why are they hugging?' he asked himself.
This...
Onarmont split herself from Alaris and gave a smile.
"You've reduced yourself to this, have you? Why are you even here?" she said while glancing at Silrat and Skullius who had stepped a safe distance away.
"<Sigh>. I'm here to represent Festos on behalf of the Association. He is an extremely valuable member that the Board agrees should be placed under special protection like the rest of the 'special kind' they want to keep so eagerly," Alaris explained with a tired breath.
He had spent half of yesterday evening scrambling to gather and discuss Festos with General Board.
...!
"What?!" Kurtish fumed.
"Impossible!" the spokesperson for the Creeper's Hide-In also shot from his seat and exclaimed with a deep frown.
"Oh..." Onarmont voiced. She turned to the two Alaris had walked with, her eyes automatically settling on Skullius. "This one?"
"Indeed. Don't let him fool you with his unimpressive exterior. He's monstrously talented."
'I'm not trying to fool anyone,' Skullius defended himself from within.
Onarmont's gaze unblinkingly remained on the Hybrid Luman for a time before she smiled.
"Fascinating," she said while turning her eyes back to Alaris. "Isn't he merely a rank 4 mercenary still? Why is the Board interested in him?"
"He was. But after another evaluation..." Alaris corrected. "...You wouldn't believe it."
"Excuse me!" Kurtish roared.
Everyone in the room turned to him in the next instance.
The number of gazes nearly made him freeze but remembering that he had someone important watching, he powered through the paralysis.
"What is the meaning of this?! This is supposed to be a formal event! Why are you all chatting casually instead of dealing with the matter at hand?! Isn't that the reason we are all here?! Why is Guilds Association supporting a mere rank 4 mercenary anyway? He should pay for his crimes!" Kurtish voiced loudly.
The spokesman for the town and his group vocally expressed their support while the Head of the York Family remained silent.
Alaris was the first to speak up. Sadly, his words weren't a reply or an acknowledgement to Kurtish's outburst.
"Why are you here? Since when do you mediate anything at all?" he asked Lady Onarmont.
The velvet haired woman shrugged.
"I had a favour to pay off. You know how it is," she said. "But now, I can't say if intervening is necessary at all. Personally, I'm glad I'm being saved the trouble."
Kurtish gaped.
"You-!"
"Festos, as of yesterday was promoted to a rank 3 mercenary. The General Board agreed that he is an asset worth protecting and may I say, the destruction to the town was indeed a tragedy but Festos here's report gave more of a reason to reward him than to punish him. The Cluster General to the Cluster escaped and the catastrophe caused was by its whim. It was terribly powerful given our findings from the remnants of its signature that we studied. The Board and I are willing to back his case," Alaris cut off Kurtish with a lengthy but solid defence.
"But... but...!" Kurtish shivered, his eyes dashing behind were Aliyah was lost for words, looking to him agape.
The town spokesperson huffed.
"This is what you people do?! You make excuses while we suffer?!" he pointed an accusing finger at Alaris.
The examination officer sighed.
"If you hadn't been so rude to this Overseer..." he said while pointing at the sharply dressed young man who had been facilitating the hearing, "...he would have already told you how the Association plans to not only compensate the victims individually but to also fund the recreation of a better town for your people. The Family governing your region will also receive a fair amount of coin for the trouble."
...
"...Well, in that case..." the spokesperson gulped, his face softening as he sat down. "Pardon my hastiness."
He had been under the impression that the coin needed to be funnelled out of Skullius' pocket, which was why he was sour about Skullius not being here earlier.
But with this...
Compensation by the individual...
Rebuilding of a better city...
Hahaha! This was too good to be true!
There were no casualties so why would keep pressing on the matter about Festos anymore?
"Huh?!" Kurtish was appalled by how quickly the person he had decided to support had turned on him.
His eyes twitched and he glared at Skullius who had been silent the entire time, letting Alaris do the talking as he had been instructed.
"If the victims are satisfied, Bil will handle the formal paperwork," Alaris said in closing. "You have no objections right, Mr Oldd? After all, there are no person stakes of yours in this matter."
"I...I..." Kurtish stammered with a constipated face.
"I thought so. My dear lady, let us catch up," Alaris said as he gestured for Lady Onarmont to lead the way out of the room.
Thus the matter was solved so simply.
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