Free Web NovelChapter 246: Talks Over Lunch
Lucas was more than a little surprised when the older Spirit Initiate who had come out to greet them identified him as the true envoy. She may have had centuries of experience dealing with politics, business, and diplomacy, but it was still an impressive feat.
For a moment, the young boy found himself at a bit of a loss as to what to do, but after a gentle cough from Allina who was standing beside him, Lucas hastily composed himself and offered his own salutations, "Good day to you as well, Supreme Elder Carlson. My name is Lucas, First Disciple of Marquess Celestina Balfour. This is Commander Allina Crest, Vice-General and First Regiment Commander of the Raging River Legion."
"While we would be delighted to partake in your hospitality, the mission we are on is quite time sensitive, so..." Lucas tried to politely refuse Elizabeth’s offer, but just as he was speaking, a faint growl came from his stomach, causing the young boy to freeze mid-sentence.
In the next instant, Lucas’ cheeks flushed bright red with embarrassment despite his best efforts to stay calm.
To make matters worse, Allina failed to stifle her laughter for a second, allowing a slight snicker to escape her lips before she managed to stop it.
Elizabeth Carlson wasn’t fairing much better, her formal expression involuntarily giving way to smile more suited to a friendly grandmother looking after a naughty neighbour’s young child.
The image of competence and maturity Lucas had been trying so hard to project had been completely smashed to pieces, and he knew it.
Silence reigned for a few more seconds before Lucas let out a long sigh and shook his head.
What was done, was done, and pretending otherwise would only degrade his image further, so he instead decided to just go with the flow, "Forgive me, Elder Carlson. It seems I was hungrier than I thought. If your offer still stands, we’d be delighted to join you for a late lunch before proceeding with the meeting."
"Certainly. This way, please," the older woman nodded before motioning towards the manor.
Lucas followed after the Carlson Family’s Supreme Elder immediately, while Allina gave a few instructions to her subordinates before quickly catching up.
.....
Inside what looked like a small, private dining room overlooking one of the manor’s carefully manicured gardens, Lucas, Allina, and Elizabeth shared a meal comprised of small salad and something resembling pasta topped with roasted fish.
It was simple, but delicious; one of the best meals Lucas had ever eaten in his life.
Being a Supreme Elder, Elizabeth had essentially removed herself from all of the Carlson Family’s mundane affairs and day-to-day decision making. Her role now was more an advisory one, and she would only take action when the family’s very survival was at stake.
This kind of arrangement was commonly used by noble families to help nurture their younger generations; after all, if the older powerhouses always managed and took care of everything, the family’s decline would basically be assured once they eventually passed away.
Another important reason for this system was to allow the older generation to focus on their personal cultivation.
Strength was essential to survival on both a personal, and communal level, so if one of the family’s ancestors was able to make just one more breakthrough, it would help secure the force’s future.
All that being said, just because she wasn’t actively participating in the Carlson Family’s activities anymore, didn’t mean Elizabeth was ignorant of the situation around herself. What’s more, since the explosion in the Great Western Forest 17 days ago, she had been forced to take up a much more active role in the family once again.
Elizabeth had even donned her armour and drawn her bow, entering real combat for the first time in decades a few days ago, using her skills as an expert archer to assist Iron Rock’s defenders in repelling a particularly large stampeded which included multiple Fifth Order Wild Beasts.
It had been a lot of work for her old bones, but Elizabeth never uttered a single complaint as she knew that this was no ordinary disaster. At times like this, everyone needed to contribute, even an aloof Supreme Elder like her.
Something that did frustrate Elizabeth, and the rest of the Carlson Family, was their lack of information about anything happening outside of their County.
The Royal Capital had been oddly silent since the start of this crisis, and while a Commander from the Raging River Legion had arrived in Iron Rock to help organize its military response, there had essentially been no official contact from the southern cities of the South-West Province after that.
Occasionally, ships from both Port Calden and Herald City would dock in Iron Rock with wealthy refugees fleeing the disaster, allowing the Carlson Family to glean a bit of information on what was happening down south, but these scattered, exaggerated stories hardly counted as a comprehensive description of events.
As such, now that someone with real first-hand, front-line information had appeared, the Carlson Family’s Supreme Elder was eager to pick their brains.
What Lucas and Allina had to say, however, greatly disturbed Elizabeth Carlson.
"Beast Tides composed of tens of thousands of Wild Beasts, including several in the Fifth Order?" Elizabeth knit her brow, the slight wrinkles on her face deepening noticeably, "Have things really gotten that bad in the south? Are you perhaps here to ask for reinforcements to help hold Port Calden and Herald City? If that is the case, we may be able to spare a few soldiers, but it will take us some time to organize them."
Shaking her head, Allina replied, "Your offer is most generous, Senior, but we’re not here to ask for your help."
Pursing her lips, Allina hesitated for a moment before saying, "If it was just a few Fifth Order Beasts, the situation might still be manageable, but..."
Pausing here, Allina glanced over at Lucas, meeting eyes with him as she seemed to silently ask him for permission to continue. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Elizabeth didn’t miss this subtle gesture and was honestly quite shocked by the level of deference her fellow Peak-Rank Initiate was showing this young boy.
Even if Lucas was Celestina’s First Disciple, and Allina was Celestina’s subordinate, that wasn’t enough for the latter to hold the former in such high esteem. From what Elizabeth could tell, Allina genuinely seemed to see Lucas as her partner, someone whose opinion she respected and trusted.
For Lucas’ part, he was actually feeling a bit flustered as all his plans had been thrown into disarray. He was having a bit of a tough time making things up on the fly right now, especially when the one he was dealing with was an old veteran like Elizabeth.
Originally, Lucas had wanted to use similar tactics to the ones he had employed in Port Calden, probing the local ruler’s attitude and competency before laying his cards out on the table. Doing things this way allowed him to control the flow of the negotiations and maintain the initiative when it came to important decisions.
However, the old woman sitting across from him, quietly sipping on her tea, had essentially cut off any possibility of him doing that. freёwebnoѵel.com
Realizing that none of his best-laid plans would be of any use here, Lucas felt he had no choice but to skip ahead to the finale as doing anything else would just be a waste of time and energy.
It was a pointed reminder to the young boy to not get overconfident and underestimate others, whether they be his allies, partners, or enemies.
Reaching this conclusion, Lucas nodded lightly and took over the conversation from Allina, "The situation, Senior Carlson, is actually far more dire than what we have let on so far."
"Oh? More dire, you say? How so?" Elizabeth was both intrigued and concerned by this statement and urged Lucas to continue.
Figuring there was no point in delaying, Lucas decided to be blunt, "Over the course of the last 17 days, my Master and her forces have faced off against multiple Sixth Order Beasts, and 8 days ago, a Mid-Rank Seventh Order behemoth appeared."
*Crack*
"W-What did you just say?" Elizabeth Carlson stuttered as the broken pieces of her tea cup clattered onto the table. It was the first time since Lucas appeared that she had truly lost her innate poise; in fact, it was the first time she had visibly lost her composure since she felt the explosion half-a-month ago.
The Carlson Family’s Supreme Elder had naturally not holed herself up in Iron Rock her whole life. Elizabeth had taken many trips around the Rockwell Kingdom, and even journeyed to several foreign nations.
During one such trip to the Large-Sized Black Tiger Kingdom, Elizabeth had witnessed a battle between a group of 3 Spirit Elites and a High-Rank Seventh Order tiger.
Despite that day being almost 150 years ago, and having only seen the clash from afar, Elizabeth could still vividly recall everything about that awe-inspiring scene.
Now, Lucas was telling her that a creature of nearly the same strength had appeared just a few hundred kilometres away from her home. It was an alarming prospect to Elizabeth, both from a personal perspective, and from her position as Supreme Elder of the Carlson Family.
