Uppercut [Bonus chapter]

Alexander's little scheme was very simple.

Produce enough smoke to draw everyone's attention there to keep the eyes from the real fire.

All the threats and information gathering he claimed were true, but the real thing he was after was a kind of permission from the priests to take their riches legally.

This was for him to have a way to retort when they would inevitably claim Alexander sacked the Temple of Ramuh, the most sacred place in Adhania.

Of course, there were plenty of holes in Alexander's claims that any decent orator would be able to point out.

Like how he made them do it under duress, how they gifted him with only a handful of coins, or how they never expressly said anything.

But Alexander was not interested in building a rock-solid argument.

He was only interested in an excuse.

And for that, this 'symbolic' gesture was adequate.

But Azira and Azura didn't seem to think so.