The Conclave sent the names of their participants to the channel the Royal Family provided, the Courtenay residence.
pan,da n<0,>v,el Ernst Courtenay, the Courtenay's Patriarch, replied to their message, confirming receipt of the information and also offered to send a representative to the Conclave tomorrow and escort them to the event site.
Malek initially intended to decline because a detailed instruction on how to go to the site was included in the gold scroll. It also had a detailed map of the site making it easy for all of them to familiarize themselves with the place.
However, Stella, who had been with Malek that time, nodded at him meaningfully, prompting the latter to accept the offer.
Malek did not argue nor question Stella about her decision because he understood her intention.
Stella intended to have Kyran examine the Courtenay's representative and find out if the Courtenay Family had already fallen under the Crown Princess's control.
The Courtenay Family might be acting as hosts to the Royal Family while they were in Starhorn, but that did not mean they were already under their control.
The Courtenay Family was still one of older Noble Families in the empire. They possessed artifacts and relics that could protect the whole family, if not their key members. Of course, how these artifacts and relics work against Soul magic would play a huge factor. Which was why Stella wanted to have Kyran confirm it.
Stella felt regretful that she could only ask Kyran to do this.
To be honest, she could also sense if a person was under the influence of Soul magic. She could not explain how, but it had something to do with the 'memories' of her predecessors.
Stella never told anyone about the memories because she knew Malek and rest of the council members would be worried. Seeing memories of the dead was considered Dark Arts. And she could not possibly tell them that mages who possessed Ancient magic passed down their experiences to the next one through their magic core.
Anyway, Stella could not confirm if a person was under the Soul magic's influence because she had to be in close proximity with that person— something that she was not allowed to do.
Now that the Royal Family had started to make their move, they had to know which faction or family had already fallen under the Royal Family's control.
This way, the Conclave could make their own countermeasures and preparation to protect their people. They could not rely on Kyran to deal with everything by himself. He is a Regis, not a Conclave member.
As Kyran said he was not 'omnipotent.' This was obviously true. No matter how powerful he become, he was still a person in a measly human body.
Besides, the Royal Family's target right now was the Conclave.
Kyran might be willing to help them because of mutual interest, but as far as they could see, they had been on the receiving end all this time. They had not done anything for him.
If before they had the destroyed defensive array of the Tower of Conclave and its member whom he injured as an excuse. This time, they had nothing.
Not even letting Kyran borrow Tyr's identity could be considered an excuse.
As a matter of fact, having him use Tyr's identity boosted the Blacksmith Order's fame over the past week, and even cleared Chairman Noir's questionable credibility.
In terms of resources, Kyran had not asked for anything apart from the consumables and common materials he requested before leaving for the Valley of Morte.
Really, they had not done anything worth mentioning for him!
Because of this realization, Stella had told Malek to spare nothing in providing Kyran what he needed.
Malek's expression turned livid at first, but recalling how all of the expenses they spent to fix the Tower of Conclave's defensive array and healing their people, had all been covered by the spirit stones they had 'ripped off' from Kyran's bounty, he could only agree.
After that, they gathered the members coming from the four constituents of the Conclave who would participate in the joint military exercise.
The total number of participants would be fifty. Forty of which were the main roster, while the remaining ten were substitutes.
Among the fifty participants, the Mercenary Hall was the only one who managed to have five of their 'Elite' members to join. One of whom was 'Tyr.'
It went without saying but since Tyr would represent both the Blacksmith Order and the Mercenary Hall, he was also an elite from the order. However, to fill the headcount, the Blacksmith Order provided one more member who would serve as a substitute.
When Kyran returned to the Conclave, it was already in the wee hours of the night.
He was actually a bit suprised to find that his temporary room had more furnitures. There was now a study area, and two dividers were built separating it from the bedroom, and a small receiving area.
Apparently, Stella deemed the room as Kyran's quarters since he always warped there.
Kyran went to work on the uniform the participants for the Team Competition would wear.
Honestly, he could have make all participants to wear a similar uniform, but doing so would make it conspicious.
If the Crown Princess noticed that her magic was not working, the first likely item they would suspect protecting them was their uniform.
Enchanted armors and clothes were very common. But for an enchantment to work on Soul magic, was close to impossible.
A magic item or a relic that could counter Soul magic was out of the question.
In the first place, information about Soul magic was scarce. There was no way an Array Specialist or even a Master, could know of a material that could attract soul magic energy, not to mention, its Soul runes.
Relic on the other hand, was even hard to find. The sole place where one could find one was inside a ruin and the Royal Family had monopolized almost all the ruins in the Yflaen Empire.
Only the Chaos Palace ruins remained ownerless.
Once Kyran completed the uniforms, he busied himself in adjusting the program of his puppets.
Stella, on the other hand, had sensed his return.
Knowing he would be busy with his own preparation, she did not go to him, even though she was tempted. And because there was no surveillance array installed in the training grounds, she not see what he was doing.
Still, she kept a close 'watch' of him through her magic sense.
At four in the morning, Kyran completed his preparation.
Once Stella confirmed this, she ordered Malek to gather their people going to the joint military exercise for a short briefing. They also took this time to introduce everybody and give the uniform to the participants of the Team Competition.
The one who conducted the briefing was Callan, and Hugh, Malia, Noir and Vaness were present.
Finally, at six in the morning, the Courtenay representatives arrived.
Surprisingly, they were none other than the Twin Belles of the Courtenay Family, Mimi and Millie.
Kyran, however, expected this.
And to be honest, he was glad the two of them were there.
His dark gray eyes glinted under the face-altering mask, as he furtively looked at them.
He might be busy with a lot of things, but he had not forgotten the other reason why he made a ruckus at the Blacksmith Order.
That was right, one of his target had been them.
Given the opportunity, he would then resolve a past grievance.
Thirty minutes after Mimi and Millie arrived in the Conclave, they left with the Conclave's participants with Callan, Malia, Noir and Vaness.
====================
The joint military exercise between the Conclave and the Royal Army (as it was known publicly, but in truth was between the Conclave and its constituents and the Royal Family), would take place in one of the Courtenay Family's lands located south outside of Starhorn City's borders.
The whole area was roughly five hectares in size and a large four-story dome occupied almost a tenth of the land. The dome was located on the north and was surrounded by a large terrain composed of lush forest on the east, an open field on the west, and a lake with a small island on the south.
"The program will start at two in the afternoon," Mimi was saying as she and Millie led the Conclave inside the dome.
She turned to look at Callan and the rest of the Conclave council member representatives, and smiled, "There is still a few hours before then. Please feel free to take this time to look around. If you need a guide, we can arrange something for all of you."
Callan shook his head and smiled amiably at her, "There is no need Lady Mimi. Thank you."
"Very well," Mimi nodded her head and gave a respectful bow at the rest of the council members.
Beside her, Millie also gave a respectful bow but her eyes darted at a person mingled behind the council members.
Initially, Mimi was the only one whom Patriarch Ernst assigned to escort the Conclave. However, she suggested to bring Millie along.
Millie had been going to the Blacksmith Order in hopes of meeting Disciple Tyr again.
Unfortunately, because of the huge number of requests directed at Tyr, he had not stepped out of his workroom.
The day Mimi convinced Millie to stop going there, was also the day the Lumley Family made a move against the order.
News of Disciple Tyr's heroism reached Millie and regretted not going that day.
Since then, Millie had been in a foul mood.
And so, Mimi suggested to bring her along, to pacify her mood.
Seeing Millie giving furtive glances at Tyr, Mimi could not help but sigh inwardly.
The girl was obviously smitten.
Mimi looked at the Conclave participants and smiled, "Please make sure to familiarize yourself with the program proper. Keep in mind the time of your event and if you have any questions, you may come to the reception hall to seek assistance."
All of them nodded their heads and some uttered a short acknowledgment.
"After the opening program, the first event will commence at four in the afternoon. The Joint Military Exercise will then start with the preliminary rounds for the Solo and Team Competitions," she told them.
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