(IN) Chapter 048 - The Wolves of the South

[Hmm? Isn't that wench that fat ass' wife? Vivian was it?] Silvan snickered to himself.

[What's that broad doing here?] Darius asked himself.

Luckily for Vivian, she was protected by some of Duke's Knights who didn't go to the Bandit Subjugation, or else she would've been probably harassed by the two "gentlemen" observing her...

Vivian wasn't dull-witted either as she immediately noticed the two men she detested the most...

Vivian knew that Deacon and Darius would be here as they too were Nobles of the South. And pretty influential ones at that...

Vivian entered the meeting room earlier than everyone in the Consulate and waited on one of the curved shaped seats along with the Knights Dan and Bardis.

Groups of Nobles entered the meeting hall one by one. Not surprisingly they were all male, which made Vivian stand out even more...

Vivian got the condescending stare here and there, but they mostly ignored her until the meeting almost started.

"Um, excuse me, young miss, I think you're lost... This is a meeting area for businessmen, not for little girls to run around" A man who seemed set in his path to turn Vivian away sternly said.

Thankfully, Vivian, although nervous, didn't let the man in front of her discourage her and put her down.

"Thank you for your concern kind sir, but I must inform you that I am also part of this meeting... Vivian, an aspiring Merchant, nice to meet you" Vivian respectfully replied without showing any of the annoyance she was feeling inside as she reached out her hand for a handshake.

*Tch* The man clicked his tongue as he grumbled to himself "A female merchant?! What next? A female politician?" The misogynistic Noble didn't even extend his hand to Vivian's greeting and simply ignored her as she was more well-versed than he was in speech, and he felt he would only be humiliated more if he kept on talking with her... Greeting a woman as an equal was humiliating for the man apparently.

*Hmph* Darius and Silvan snorted as they saw Vivian effortlessly turn away the male Noble's effort to discourage Vivian.

[That woman isn't actually thinking of joining in on the meeting is she?] Silvan thought to himself as he was interrupted by an annoying voice next to him.

"Silvan! Silvan! Are you daydreaming or something?" Deacon, the unaware buffoon next to Silvan asked.

Silvan looked at Deacon. He was about to explode but kept silent instead as he didn't want to make a fuss inside the Consulate which he was an alien to as his family was situated within the East and not the South.

"Hehe, I hope they make the Grain prices go up this year, maybe two to three more times" Deacon laughed giddily while Silvan snorted inwardly:

[Is this guy an idiot? No wonder the South's going downhill...] Silvan might've been a narcissistic asshole, but he still had the illustrious blood of the Medici within him and their keen sight for Business.

Silvan knew just how lucrative the Grain business of the South was, and like Vivian, he too wanted to get in on the cut.

"Yes yes, I hope you sell for even more" Silvan snickered sarcastically.

"Yeah, and since you're friends with me, you'll also benefit from it, right? See, told ya it's a win-win" Deacon, the bumbling idiot he was, didn't notice Silvan laughing at him. Deacon thought he was being sly for sucking up to the Medicis, unknown to him that it was Silvan and the Medici's that were using him.

Silvan saw how the South overpriced the Grain they were selling and planned to buy grain directly from the South and be the main distributors of Grain within the East, further cementing their monopoly on Brune's Eastern trade. And so when Deacon tried to suck up to Silvan, Silvan humored him.

If one analyzed the situation, Silvan was the biggest threat/competitor for Vivian right now.

"Settle down everyone, settle down..." A stern-looking man, tired from everyday life calmed everyone in the room who were starting to get rowdy as they conversed with their respective circles.

"Our first order of business, we have two members of the Her Noblesse who have successfully applied for a Merchant certificate here in Lyons... Please stand up you two" Satrius Bermont, Lord of Lyons and Head Councilman of the Consulate, tiredly called out to Vivian and Silvan.

All of the Nobility within the Empire belonged to the Edler Her Noblesse, a sort of social caste and official registrar that contained every Noble's name in each family within the Empire, signifying you were indeed a member of a Noble Family. It was basically what the Nobles of Brune officially called themselves. But how the Nobles call themselves also varied between the four regions. Sometimes they called themselves the Noblesse, sometimes they called themselves the Edler Hers, and sometimes in some of the most Northern regions, they called themselves Aethlborn, or the Aethl, but most of the time they just called themselves Nobles... The abundant terms and synonyms for the word "Noble" were the direct result of the Empire's integration of many different tribes and cultures as it conquered more and more land, overtime also adopting the different tongues and languages within the conquered territories.

Vivian and Silvan stood up and slightly bowed to the people in front of them as a formal greeting.

"Hello, I am Silvan De Medici, as you may know, I am from the Eastern region and not from here but I feel the South has a lot to gain from my family, and so does my family have a lot to gain from the South" Silvan eloquently stated, quite different from his playboy-ish and boorish demeanor during Darius' party.

*Ding Ding Ding* A bell was rung by one of the Nobles. Each Noble Merchant in the room had a bell they rang to signify whenever they were against something and that they wished to speak out, instead of raising their hands before speaking.

"I didn't know we let outsiders inside our houses these days" A stout old man with a funny beard protested, subtly insulting the notion that Silvan had the right to join the Consulate.

"By all means sir Philipe, Silvan and the Medici's are sponsored by my house! The Benoits! An attack on him is an attack on our Honor!" Deacon preached with a righteous tongue as if he was the one whom Philipe, the Stout old man, insulted. As if he had any honor, to begin with...

"Pft! A person worth the Benoit's honor? Hardly worth anything then" The sly old man cheekily remarked. Making everyone in the room slightly laugh, humiliating Deacon in the process.

[This stupid dumb idiot...] Silvan thought to himself as he looked at Deacon's blundering stupidity in handling the matter.

"Is that an appeal to kick the Medici's out of the Consulate?" Satrius Bermont asked in a tired and uncaring voice.

The room turned quiet and stared at Philipe, awaiting his reply.

But the old man just stared at Satrius, then at Silvan as he replied:

"No, no... I'm just saying we should be careful in who we let inside our very homes... We have enough wolves as it is, You let a man pay his way into your house, next thing you know, you'll be paying him to keep your life as he puts a knife next to your throat..."

Philipe didn't like that the Consulate let an outsider like the Medici's inside not because he was a narrow-minded fool who didn't like outsiders, but because he knew most of the people inside this meeting were already paid off by the Medici's to just nod and say yes like the little corrupt sheep, or in this case, wolves that they were.

But as an old man, Philipe could only watch and turn a blind eye as he knew he didn't have the power to directly ward off the Medici's gigantic influence and money.