Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 271

In the days to come, the news of Leopold’s election to the position of leader of Relize washed across the coastal city. Argrave’s thoughts of Elenore and their dilemma were washed away like a sandcastle overtaken by the tide. The tide, in this case, was the great deluge of work that Argrave involved himself in.

Three days after Leopold assumed his office, news spread of his support of Argrave as a claimant. Rumors had been whirling and many people were already privy to this information, but it was another thing to have it directly confirmed. The support of the people was not a rancorous uproar, per se… but it was not a rejection. Argrave was liked well enough, largely due to his actions with the vampires here in this city.

The coronation was set to happen in five days after this announcement. It was to be a public ceremony right before the Grand Council’s Assembly. Argrave would make a pledge to the people followed by a pledge to the Grand Council and Leopold. Following that, he had to make hundreds of pledges day by day. After all, he’d promised to make a parliament that represented the interests of the realm, and it needed seats to fill it.

“This Parliament you intend to found is clearly going to be quite the grand institution…” Leopold noted, biting from an apple. “How many seats will there be?”

“Promised a lot. At the very least, it’s going to be… hundreds,” Argrave shook his head, leaning over a blank draft document. “I would just use the three estates as my model, but we’re lacking one of them… and things are quite different here in Berendar in general.” Argrave looked up, seeing Leopold’s confusion. “Ah, the three estates… I travel a lot, you see. It’s a system from elsewhere,” he explained.

Anneliese put one hand on Argrave’s shoulder, looking at the draft herself. “The most influential people are the wealthy, the nobility, and the magic users of the realm. These match up well enough with your three estates, I should think.”

Argrave nodded. “I know. Even still, I don’t want this to be some kind of council that promotes self-interest. We need good people on the seats—people that I can trust to focus on the betterment of the realm.”

Leopold scoffed. “You’d be better off putting dogs on the seats, then. At the very least I can promise that dogs love people. People that love people other than themselves are few and far between.”

Argrave disagreed, straightening his back and gazing at Leopold determinedly. “An assembly’s culture is decided by its composition. If we choose enough good people to take the seats—diligent and dedicated people—they could set the atmosphere of the Parliament for years to come. I’ll take however long it takes to get the right people. And trust me—they exist.”

Leopold grumbled but helped Argrave ably in finding these candidates. Much of their time was spent searching for people to place in prominent positions. In the patrician families, there were only too many people trained in administration and management that were underutilized because of a variety of reasons. He might’ve left the task to Elenore. Something of that nature was her specialty. Nevertheless, asking no favors of her was important for self-reflection. Even still, it cemented the importance of this plan of his going well. He desperately needed Elenore.

other B-rank spells with Anneliese’s tutelage, and helping out a

pour your fresh blood into this, then you drink,” Argrave explained. “I just need you to do it every night, nothing more. If you do it

with runes on its surface. “After I drink of it… I

wanders. They’re not some bystander, either—they’re a vampire, themselves. Drink your own blood from this bowl,

setting it aside. He held his right hand over the bowl and stuck his finger into his

I’ll come back when you’re done,” Argrave inched

something,” Galamon looked at Argrave. “You’re always

drip from Galamon’s

tell me,” Galamon said plainly. “You owe me that

ritual. When

to the point,”

assured—the vampiric ‘beast’ you talk about, the need to drink blood, the inability to consume food: all of that will be

second by second. He opened his eyes, stared down Argrave,

should get back to preparing,” the vampire said,

the vampire suggested. Galamon was pivotal in the most important

top-notch abilities to sabotage as Argrave had hoped for, at least not until Argrave decided to stop with this charade. It did leave him a fair bit uncomfortable about his plan.

of the patricians of the Grand Council began the process of marshalling their forces. Melan Wratson, S-rank mage and vampire, escorted the architects contracted by the Grand Council of Relize to the Indanus Divide. They would examine the

Securing food, supplies… fortunately, the patricians had a well-trained and well-equipped retinue, so they did not need to worry about arming their men, only feeding them. Leopold, who had a large hand in the non-patrician merchant class that traded in common items like grain, was more than capable of filling that role. Beyond trading, there were several

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