Chapter 38: The Council
The warmth of the sun seeped into the room through the ceiling-to-floor glass, the golden glow bouncing off the polished surface of the long rectangular table.
Eric sat at one end of the table, while several others occupied the seats along its sides.
In front of each figure, a golden nameplate rested on the table.
Their combined presence added weight to the room, so much so that any normal person could feel the choking pressure.
"How much longer does Ronald plan to keep us all waiting? Despite being the one who voted for the meeting, he didn’t even show any courtesy by arriving earlier?" A middle-aged lady scoffed, her hands tied over her chest.
"Well of course you should’ve expected this, Ronald has it in the habit of keeping people waiting." A young-looking man wearing a casual vintage shirt said, he sounded casual and playful in fact.
Of all the members of the room, he seemed to be the most unserious, lazily leaning into his chair with his legs on the table, while picking up berries from the bowl on his lap.
"I’m surprised you made it here before him today. I guess that’s why you have the guts to say such words" An older man, who looked to be in his sixties with white gray hair, peeped at the young man letting out a sigh of disappointment, "And Larry, it would be appropriate if you drop your legs down from the table. You should know where you are, this isn’t your office, and I can’t accept such rugged behaviour near me"
"Maybe I grew older, or my memories have begun to fail me like yours, but I don’t remember this being your office either... Councillor Martin" Larry snapped back with a grin.
Martin’s brows arched at the words as he slowly opened his eyes, "Would you mind repeating yourself?"
Eric who watched the scene play out, couldn’t help but smile wryly, ’Decades of working together and they still argue like children.’ he thought with a wry smile, while clearing his throat loudly to grab their attention.
"Please councilors, this is not the reason why we’re here. At least accommodate yourselves until we’re done with the meeting. Sir Ronald will be here soon"
"Did I hear my name?"
Just as he finished his words, the door pulled open and a man wearing a neat suit, carrying a golden walking stick with a black gemstone handle carved like a dragon.
He walked into the room with a wide small on his face.
His hair neatly swept to the side, a bright smile on his face.
He carried an aura of elegance as he walked into the room.
He could see the annoyed faces of all those that had sat waiting for him, but honestly? He couldn’t care less.
With a casual gait, he walked up the chair at the tail of the table, and sat with a wide smile.
"We can begin the meeting now that I am here"
"Hmph"
"Tsk"
They all showed dissatisfied expressions but no one wanted to bother with Ronald, especially not now.
Eric cleared his throat once more, gathering their attention, "I’m pleased to see that you all honoured my request to hold this meeting." He began, his gaze scanning the room.
Obviously, not all of them had agreed to the meeting, but that didn’t matter, what mattered was that they were all present.
"There’s been a lot happening lately, and I’m sure you’ve all witnessed it yourselves as the heroes have been going from mission to mission. Crime rates have rapidly increased and more impures have been making appearances and also, we discovered something that I believe we should all be worried about" Eric stated with a stern voice, trying to show the degree of the issue.
But as he flashed his gaze to the councilors’ faces, it was just as he’d expected, ’No reaction, they never truly care do they?’ Eric thought with a sigh.
His thoughts were quickly cut off by the sharp words that came next, "Indeed, there’s something I’m worried about Sir Eric, it seems the HA has begun keeping secrets from us, and it saddens me" Ronald’s words raised the brows of all the other councillors as they turned to him wondering what he wanted to say.
Eric’s eyes hardened, ’And he just had to talk, he’s always a pain in the ass’ Eric thought as his gaze locked with Ronald’s.
He didn’t like any of the councilors, but if there was anyone who struck his nerve more than the others. It had to be Ronald.
"What secret do you speak of? How could we do such?" Eric asked back with a chuckle.
"Oh don’t pretend, I mean it’s not news anymore... How come we didn’t hear of the new hero, what was the name again, that’s right. Phantom?"
Eric frowned, ’Why does it always have to be him?’
Ronald raised his staff, staring at it as though admiring the unique designs and architecture, "I asked my head supervisor, she informed me that she didn’t appraise this new hero or even hear about him, so how come he’s already registered under the Association, when we councilors never got any opportunity to scout him?"
"Seriously? Damn, I was also interested in the hero, but I scolded my head Supervisor for not scouting him to join us, never knew the Association just snatched him, way to go Eric" Larry scoffed almost playfully as he looked at Eric.
"This goes against the agreement of the council, such secrecy from the Hero association is inappropriate, how do you account for such? Manager Eric?" Martin snapped at him, his face despite the aging still as sharp as ever, his gaze filled with scrutiny.
The lady by the side pursed her lips, "Why does it matter? I mean, since the Association has gone against their own rules, I believe we too can be allowed to do as we like. Isn’t that right?"
With all their gazes now turned on him, Eric could feel the tension building up, letting out a sigh he chuckled awkwardly, "It was not in my intention to do that as you may know, he’s only been in the association for three days. His case is quite special, so I sent him out for an appraisal first, before proceeding with scouting"
Ronald smiled at his words, "Oh is that so? So basically, you’re saying we can all still bring our offers to the new hero without interference from the association?"
Eric forced a smile on his face, ’Now I understand why ambassador Humphrey never liked this brat’ {A/N: Ambassador also has the name Ronald, so I’ll use Humphrey here. Last name}
Just within a few seconds of his arrival, not only had he shifted the conversation entirely from what was meant, but he had completely pushed Eric to the edge.
"Yes, you can still go ahead and scout for him, however, please be sure to know that the Association has the benefit of all heroes at heart. That said his response should be respected" Eric said, his voice sharp.
"Sure sure, of course. We will respect his response" Ronald replied waving his hands without care, but Eric could tell...
’Shit. I was trying to keep the newbie out of this, who knew he’d go ahead and hit the headlines a few days after his awakening.’ Eric thought, feeling a headache build up.
Not only did the council now know of him, he could tell from the greed in their eyes.
These sharks were out to get him, and they would do whatever they could to get him.
And to these sharks, family was just another bargaining chip.
{A/N: send me gifts, powerstones and Goldentickets. Blows magical powder}
