Assassin's Chronicle - Chapter 415

Chapter 415: Executive Council

At a mountain pass, Anfey quietly sat on a huge rock . Red air currents, like moving clouds, flew out from the magic crystal in his hand . The red air currents spread out dozens of yards around him . A Fire Sword floated in front of Anfey and slowly revolved on its own . Every time the Fire Sword revolved once around, it would absorb the surrounding fire elements . The sword radiance was stronger as the color of the Fire Sword turned from light red to dark red .

As the Fire Sword got brighter and became clear as crystal, the sword radiance suddenly became dark, and millions of small cracks appeared on the Fire Sword . It looked like a rock got corroded after years of weathering and then the red light completely disappeared . It was replaced by a warm orange light cloud .

Anfey gradually drew in his telepathy and looked at the Fire Sword in satisfaction . He put the Fire Sword back into the sheath and turned to look at the fire element magic crystal in his hand . Its volume had been reduced by a quarter . Anfey was happy with the result . It didn’t take nearly as much telepathy or time to make a Fire Sword as it had previously . The job was much easier .

"The magic crystal is very rich in fire elements, and very pure," Anfey commented .

Suzanna did not know how to respond to Anfey’s comment . Wasn’t it obvious? If magic crystals were not rich in elements, or pure, then what value would they hold? Suzanna wondered .

"Anfey, do you know you defy common sense?" Blavi said bitterly . "No one would believe it even if they know about it . How could you trigger the elements in the magic crystals with just your telepathy, without any help of magic arrays . Is your telepathy stronger than our professor’s?"

"If others do not believe it, then don’t even bother telling them," Anfey said with a smile . He stood up and walked to Suzanna and Blavi .

"I think I understand what you mean . If there were no others better than you, we would be safer . Anfey, is that what you mean?" Blavi asked .

"That’s right . Blavi, you’re getting smarter," Anfey said .

"Anfey, are you complimenting me or making fun of me?" Blavi playfully gave Anfey a punch .

"I am definitely giving you compliments . You are a commander in charge of the most powerful mage group in our league," Anfey said .

When Anfey talked about the mage group, Blavi went quiet for a while, then said, "Anfey, I do not know if I am in the position to tell you this . "

"We are brothers . Why don’t you just tell me?" Anfey smiled .

"Anfey, Ozzic and his people are not trustworthy! Anfey, I am not trying to create problems among us . I am telling you what I feel," Blavi immediately explained . "Do you remember that day? They…for the magic crystals . "

"I know," Anfey said quietly . "They are not like you . We have the same professor and have been through a lot together . We are not biological brothers, but even closer than brothers . No one could break us apart . They are different . That is the reason I did not want conflict with Fernando and Scarlet . In fact, I do not have to be worried, since most soldiers in Shield of Light legion are from Maho Empire . With their support, Fernando and Scarlet cannot push us too hard . That’s why I don’t worry about Christian’s safety very much . "

"What are you worrying about?" Blavi asked .

"I am worried about the mercenaries in the league . " Anfey sighed . "Fernando and Scarlet are not stupid . They know well that the biggest problem with the league is internal instability . If they did something behind our backs and tried to sabotage our unity, it would be hard to prevent," Anfey said .

"If that is the case, why don’t we…" Blavi looked like he was determined to kill someone .

"No, no! They are still our people now," Anfey said, shaking his head, "but there are different degrees of loyalty to ‘our people’ . Fighting against Fernando or Scarlet is different than fighting death spirits . No one had another option than to unite and fight shoulder to shoulder . There would be too many unexpected factors if we fight with Fernando and Scarlet . We are just keeping things moving forward . They should have no loyalty problems, and that is why I am trying to avoid Fernando and Scarlet . If we could easily win the battle, we would fight . If not, we just run away . The key is to keep mercenaries optimistic . "

"Are we going to continue like this?" Blavi asked with a frown .

"We do not have enough people, so we can only keep going the way we are," Anfey said slowly . "When we meet up with Sante and Zubin, I have an idea . "

"What’s that?" Blavi asked .

"I would like to send our people to each mercenary group . Let’s call them magic counselors . " Anfey thought of the position in his previous world called an executive council . Of course, the magic counselor would have more power than the executive council . "Counselors cannot give commands, but on certain occasions could veto commanders . "

"So it would be the supervisor of a commander?" Blavi asked .

"You can say that . " Anfey smiled . "Blavi, I have already thought about having you be the magic counselor for Unit One . You have to be careful with your language and behavior . No matter what you think of Ozzic, you have to keep a good relationship with him . Don’t fight with him . You have to pay special attention to Ye . If you accidentally show your dislike towards Ozzic, Ye would definitely sense it, even if Ozzic could not . "

Blavi was quiet and slowly nodded .

"Let’s put it this way . If we are in danger, I am not sure about others, but Shinbella and Ye would definitely work for us . Well, Ye is in an awkward position . " Anfey had a smile on his face . "On one hand, Ozzic helped him a lot and trusted him, so he treats Ozzic like a brother and thinks for him all the time . On the other hand, he is willing to work for us and thinks for us as well . For example…"

"For example, if Ye spoke up for you, it would be hard for you to make the decision," Suzanna said .

"Yes . " Anfey nodded . "Ozzic may not be that important, but we need have Ye on our side . He is very good . For the sake of Ye, could you let small things go if Ozzic offends you? Blavi, do you follow?"

"Yes, got it . " Blavi smiled . "If you asked me some time ago to deal with a person I do not like, I might not be able to do it . I will try now though . "

"Anfey, do you think those commanders object if you send supervisors, I mean, magic counselors, to each mercenary group?" Blavi asked .

"There would definitely be challenges, but I have my bottom line . They have to have magic counselors; otherwise I could just do what Blavi suggested: kill anyone who does not obey," Anfey said calmly . "The League of Mercenaries are not regular mercenary groups . The current policies and rules in the mercenary group are not what I want while those commanders have too much power . The commanders set too much constraints on their mercenaries . I cannot allow them keep their absolute power . "

"If they really…" Blavi was interrupted by Anfey .

"Then kill them . " Anfey looked cold . "If I could get support from Ye, it would mean I would get Ozzic’s support as well . We also have Shinbella, the mage group, and us . If we have to fight, we have the advantage . Orsie and Thompson are smart . They know what they should do . The only trouble would be Joseph . That is fine . I could kill him to set an example for others . "

"I am concerned that we could create problems if we suppress those commanders so hard," Blavi said .

"Every magic counselor will have a position in the mage group . When units are on different assignments, they could apply for mages to join the battle though magic counselors, or even ask the whole mage group to help them . With this condition, mercenaries would not be too opposed to magic counselors . "

"Will it be enough if they are just not against it? What if they isolate magic counselors?" Blavi asked .

"They cannot . " Anfey smiled . "Magic counselors mainly deal with regular mercenaries . Regular mercenaries would not refuse to make friends with an honorable mage . Of course, it would depend on each individual mage to develop his own reputation . "

"To bond with regular mercenaries . " Suzanna thought for a while . "Blavi, what do you think?"

Blavi nodded confidently . "I think it would work . " Whenever he talked with mercenaries, they all looked honored and surprised . If he tried purposefully to bond with them, he felt he could get along with them quick .

"Suzanna, do you have any concerns?" Anfey asked .

"No, I think it is a good idea," Suzanna said .

Suzanna was not the same palace maid who was willing to risk her life to complete missions anymore . Blavi was not the same naïve mage anymore . They had experienced so much in the past year . Anfey was autocratic at the beginning because of the situation he was in, and he knew those kids would not have any valuable suggestions . After things had settled, he tried to ask more and gave guidance to Christian and a few others . Whether he was guiding them or pushing them to learn, Christian, Suzanna and few others indeed matured every day . They would not have had so many suggestions a year ago .

Switching the topic, Suzanna said, "Anfey, why did you stop triggering magic crystals? I think you still have telepathy left . "

"We do not have time," Anfey said calmly . "The knights from Shansa Empire are only a few miles away . "

"What? Why didn’t you tell us earlier?" Blavi was shocked and immediately looked up to check .

"Not griffin riders," Anfey said . "They are cavalry . We killed a few griffin riders a few days ago . I think Scarlet feels bad about it and would not send more griffin riders out to get killed . " Anfey was not bragging . The Fire Sword could instantly release all kinds of elements and large-scale series of lightning . If they did not have too many griffin riders, and would fly in close formation, he could kill a bunch of them with one attack .

"How many soldiers do they have?" Blavi asked .

"More than 20," Anfey said .

"Only about 20?" Blavi suddenly looked relaxed . "It is not fun . We could just stop them there and then go to meeting Riska . "

"No, kill these soldiers . We have to catch up with Riska soon," Anfey said .

"Anfey, did you say we have to cover for the mercenaries?" Blavi asked .

"Not necessary anymore," Anfey said slowly . "The day before yesterday, the griffin riders flying northeast were missing . Today, the scout knight in the northeast is missing again, which will give Scarlet enough information to locate us . "