Chapter 96: Trying to put the world back together
Translated by XianPiete
Guy turned and faced the board of directors. He looked from face to face and said, "I don't believe most of you here remember me, mostly because I never put you in this position. Most likely, you rose up from the ranks by hard work, or by backstabbing and kissing the butt of your bosses for many years. Or, possibly you were given the position by a friend for political reasons. I see two older men here that I recognize and who still should remember me. Gentlemen, this is absolutely not how I authorized this company to be run. I want to know the truth, which one of you, or which group of you is responsible for this?"
One of the men Guy didn't recognize pointed to the chairman. While the others looked aghast at the man's toady like manner of carelessly pointing to the chairman. One of the other men grumbled, "You snake."
Guy looked at the chairman and asked, "Hello, I don't recognize you, would you please tell me your name and your position here?"
The man swallowed audibly, he looked around the room as if to get help before replying, "My name is Jean-Paul Harcourt. I am the Chairman of the Board." He was a tall thin man with grey hair and a hook nose.
Guy then noticed some people making eye contact with each other and pointed at another man, "And your name, sir?" Guy looked at a portly gaudily dressed older man.
"Parc Taillefer, chief executive officer." He grunted.
Guy smiled and said, "As I recall, Taillefer and Harcourt were the names of the former Dukes of Pays Des Abrutis, would that be your former titles then?" The two men looked at each other neither speaking out. Guy nodded and said, "I'll take that as a yes, I suppose it was the Emperor who helped you attain your current positions then?"
One of the other men on the board spoke out, "The Emperor is just a figurehead, we run the Empire."
Guy raised a finger and smiled, "No, you work for me. That means, that I run the Empire. Or do we need another reminder on who's Ito Conglomerate you gentleman work for again?"
All of the men at the table started looking at each other, they knew that they couldn't allow this to continue. A way had to be found to eliminate Guy de Montfort. One of the men found some backbone and said, "Mage Montfort, with all due respect, you are just one man. Do you really believe that you can just waltz in here and simply assume power as if this were the Ito Conglomerate of twenty years ago?"
Guy smiled and wagged his finger at the man, "Ah, but you see. I am not just one man. The entire Council of Magic has returned." He let a long awkward pause sit in the room and then continued, "I don't mean the pathetic rabble that you have riding around in airships pretending to be mages, I mean the original eight. The actual Council of Magic." He tapped his finger on the table top and said, "Gentleman, I don't need to explain to you the difference between the men you have riding on your airships and the Council of Magic, I believe you refer to us as..." He looked at Murphy.
"War Mages," Murphy finished for him.
Guy wagged a finger at the director who tried to put him in his place, "War Mages. All eight original War Mages. None of us was happy with the world we found. The thought that something we had entrusted to you, idiots..." He looked right at the two men from his original board, "has been perverted and abused to this extent has left us feeling that none of you deserve to remain at your current positions. Further, we intend to get a full reckoning and accounting for the company's assets. If I find out that any of you pieces of garbage have been embezzling from my company, let's just say what happened to that piece of trash there..." He pointed to the burnt corpse, "will seem like mercy."
Murphy smiled and said, "Well then gentlemen, which one of you directors is ready to make the first report?"
The men around the table looked at each other no one willing to be the first. Finally, one of the men raised his hand and said, "Mage Montfort, sir, we don't have any documents prepared."
Guy raised an eyebrow, "You're telling me, that no one in this room can tell me anything about his own department?"
A smarmy looking man with slicked-back hair looked at Guy and said in a nasal tone, "You don't seem to understand what it's like running such a large organization, this board receives its intelligence in properly compiled briefings by our aides. If we were to spend our time gathering our own information, how would we have the time to make decisions?"
Guy smiled at the man and wagged a finger at him, "Then the answer to my question is no, you can't tell me anything about your departments. That was quite an eloquent way of saying no, by the way. I'm very impressed with your skill." He clapped sarcastically. "Since none of you actually know a damn thing about the departments you are supposed to be the directors of, just who does have that authority and information?" He looked from face to face, each man looking down to not meet his eyes.
The chairman had a smug look on his face as he answered, "These men are just figureheads. My people run the company. I spent years building up a chain of command full of men loyal only to me. The aides these men spoke of are my people."
Guy nodded and said, "Murphy these directors are all fired. Have them tossed out after they gather their personal belongings."
A few of the men yelled out, "You can't do that!" "Do you know who I am?" "This company will dissolve before we bow to you!" The security guards understood who had the power and quickly escorted the men out.
Guy turned and looked at the smug chairman of the board and tapped his finger on the desk, "Well, what are you waiting for, I said I want the reports."
The chairman leaned back and said, "This is my company, not yours. You can threaten my life but you..."
"Lightning Bolt." Guy incinerated the man before he could finish. "Murphy, go find out who these men are, I want them at this table in an hour."
"It's good to have you back sir." Murphy grinned and then sped out of the room.
A few minutes later the others from the Montfort all arrived in the boardroom. Madeline said, "I can't believe my brother is partly responsible for this, it's just terrible. Even the sky is ruined."
Ella seemed really sad, "I'll never be able to say goodbye to my grandad."
Guy nodded and said, "I'm sorry everyone, we've all lost two full decades and our loved ones, friends and acquaintances have all passed or grown old while we stayed as we were. We need to be strong together now, not just for ourselves, but for the crew of the Montfort. We're starting here today, but we'll soon have to deal with that Council of Magic and the Military. This isn't going to be a quick process. It's going to take us some time."
Half an hour later as they all talked about how they felt, men in black Aumont-Ito Empire Military Uniforms arrived with a few drop knights in heavy armor along with a few smarmy looking men who entered the boardroom as if they were the ones in charge. One of the men asked, "Are you the one responsible for this?" He pointed to the two dead bodies.
Guy looked at the men and said, "Guy de Montfort, second Mage of the Council of Magic, to whom am I speaking?"
The smarmy looking man said, "Arrest this imposter and his friends."
Olivier yawned and then said, "Gravity." With the wave of his hand, the drop knights who aggressively entered the room were smashed as flat as the floor itself.
One of the men in black uniforms stammered, "War Mages, it's really the War Mages!"
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