FULL NOVELXO
Chapter 407 No More Beating Around The Bush
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Everyone around the table politely smiled at Rastran's greetings. Lyrian had surveyed every single person within the room by now.
There were 10 main people in total. Many were obvious to figure out, as their clothing or looks portrayed who they were and what they did.
Out of the 10, Lyrian already knew 4 of them. One of them was Rastran, of course, and then Ounz Von Haven, who was a given as well. These two represented the Adventurer's guild and Mayor family within Hogolsworth.
Then there was the father of Hyren Hyrooon, representing the Hyroon family who controlled the supply of mana throughout Hogolsworth. Their control affected water, fire, cooling, and heating instruments. Along with this came electricity, plumbing, and many other aspects of daily life for the people of Hogolsworth.
The next and last person Lyrian knew from the table was Hanol Sheirp from the Jade Spice Cove in the Red Light District.
'I wouldn't expect to see him here, but I guess it makes sense. The Red Light District is one of the biggest attractions of the city, and Hanol is a respected figure who controls a large amount of that area. I imagine his decisions can impact the city as a whole.'
As Lyrian thought this to himself, he couldn't help but notice that Hanol seemed to be shooting nervous glances at him here and there. Hanol was making sure he only looked at Lyrian when the young boy was looking away, but eyes weren't the only thing that allowed Lyrian to know who was looking at him at all times. The sheer presence directed toward another being by the eyes was far more easily detectable by a Magia Cultivator in the Second Layer of Genesis Rank.
'Odd to say the least.' That was what Lyrian thought about Hanol's actions.
"We have a new guest joining us today." Rastran faced Lyrian as he addressed everyone. He raised his hand to gesture toward the MVP.
"Lyrian Theageld of Anaviotis, everyone." As he said this, everyone nodded and faced the boy.
"Please, let's take our time introducing ourselves." Rastran then turned to Lyrian, "And if you don't mind, introduce yourself as well to everyone at the end."
Lyrian nodded in agreement as people began introducing themselves.
In short, the six figures whom Lyrian didn't know were the different lords of the city. One controlled the largest banks in the city--the most prominent merchant. He was a slightly rounder man in his mid-fifties who wore a luxurious set of clothing.
Another was the Law Enforcement Chief of Hogolsworth, a tall and stern-looking man who wore the guard armor of Veridrake. It was slightly different from the normal attire, however. It had more scales on the joints and edges, and also a crowned jewel placed on the center of the helmet. contemporary romance
There was a City Manager, who oversaw the daily operations and implementation of policies. The Chief Buildsmith, who oversaw the city's architecture, engineering projects, and infrastructure.
Finally, two more figures were more interesting than the rest to Lyrian.
On one of the empty seats sat a figure dressed in a light pair of thin metal armor. He laid back in his seat, having his arms crossed and his head pointed slightly down as if he were completely carefree. He introduced himself as Metaal Cynthia, the strongest Adventurer within Hogolsworth.
Lyrian was slightly taken aback by this, but even though Metaal's words sounded arrogant, no one was seeming to rebuke his claims.
'I see... I guess he isn't lying then.' Metaal was one of the 3 Adamantium Rank Adventurers in the guild and the strongest one at that. He was one rank sky of being the highest rank that an adventurer could be, at least within the kingdoms of Veridrake, Yuun, and Yaltas, and others surrounding these three.
Finally, the last one to introduce himself wasn't really a human being. Instead, it was an orb on the table in front of an empty seat. From time to time, however, this orb lit up and a rough, constricted voice came out of it.
"I am Third Head. My job is to oversee the supply and distribution of monster goods across Hogolsworth. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lyrian Theageld."
The orb lit up and spoke. Lyrian's eyes opened up slightly as he heard this.
'I see... I found you, after all, Third Head. However, it looks like you decided to flee and not come in person. I guess that was a given though, since you knew I was coming.'
Lyrian thought to himself, as it finally came his turn to introduce himself.
He stood up, as everyone else had done during their introductions.
"I am Lyrian Theageld of Anaviotis. My goal in this meeting ties to my mission for coming to Veridrake. It is to solve the biggest concern of everyone in this room, which is the missing person's mystery."
Everyone let out determined 'hmms' and 'I see' as Lyrian spoke.
"We usually would discuss that at the end, you see," Rastran exclaimed, following Lyrian.
"I have no
problem with that. I will let everyone discuss what they must first, and then I will continue my investigation from there." Lyrian firmly stated, as everyone respectfully agreed to his proposal and continued their normal meeting.
The meeting went full circle around the entire table. Each representative of the city discussed problems, policies, successes, ideas, and many other things about their respective roles.
However, underlying beneath each and every person's presentation was an impact that the case of the missing persons had left. Especially in Sir Hyroon's case, as he attempted to speak on what happened to him and his family back in Jambaal.
"However, I will restrain myself, as I believe this information is not only known more by Lord Lyrian but it will be presented better by him as well." Sir Hyroon finished his statement, changing the attention in the room to Lyrian at the very end.
Now that everyone was finished, Lyrian was allowed to state his case in the matter.
"I will be upright. There is no point in trying to hold secrets anymore, and quite frankly, I can't be asked to walk as if I'm on sea shells any longer." Lyrian said, standing up.
No one knew where he was going with this, but they all soon understood as he exclaimed, "The reason behind these disappearances is something that we all probably have already guessed in the back of our minds."
Everyone started to fear the worst now. Would he really bring such a horrible premise up? Was it time? Time to finally address *that* problem? Well... it didn't seem anyone had a choice any longer.
"This is all the Black Petal Sect's doing." Lyrian solemnly stated.
At once, shock and silence filled the room.