The God of Jesters
Chapter 513 - 8.06.2 The Golden Pea.

Chapter 513: 8.06.2 The Golden Pea.

The meeting between the family went on for an hour, before finally coming to a simple conclusion. "No matter what, we can’t keep standing behind that man no matter what, it would be outright disrespect to the Church." The Oldest among the elders spoke, finally reaching this point after countless points were put forward.

Yes, the man might be strong, and cozying up to the strong is never wrong. Considering the previous relations the two have had for a while, it can be seen that if they were to cultivate this new relationship properly, then they might gain some profits down the line.

But that was only possible if the church of Truthful Deceit remained uninvolved in the matter. Now with the antagonistic relationship that had been built between the two parties due to the actions of one priest, the most their family can do is back the Church no matter what. They were the protectors, and it was their priority to protect the church’s interest before the family.

Besides the issue of the identity of the Sailor was also an issue, who knows if some trouble would come their way for giving sanctuary to this man.

"Are you sure? This is the right decision?" But one among them remained against this decision till the end. It was Lasi, the one who in a way had interacted with Heroth the most, she knew the kind of person he is, even if there is something disturbing hidden in him.

"We can’t decide on what ifs Elder Lasi, without assurance, nothing matters." The current Matriarch of the family spoke, showing some respect to Lasi while reprimanding her.

"Then talk with him, he didn’t seem the kind to shy away from dialog."

"We would if we had time, the church, Elder should already know the Church will make moves soon..." As the discussion was going on, a knock came on the door, disturbing the group of women.

Though none of them made an annoyed face, if there was a knock on the door at this time, it would mean that something important had cropped up. And they were correct. "A guest from the Bartender’s, had she spoken of a name? Or shown any proof?"

"The guest is here with a church-issued identification, but there are no names or what is her position among the bartenders."

A guest had arrived at this time and asked for an audience with the leaders of the Vermilion, their Matriarch. The timing couldn’t be more coincidental, even they wished to learn more of this Sailor named Heroth from the mouth of the Bartenders, but those people have refused to comment on the issue till now.

"She must be here due to the summons of the church, everyone is curious about who we are dealing with." One of the elders made a suggestion, and she was on point, the individual was here for a specific reason and that was the summons of the church, which no one can deny if they wish to operate in the southern district in the future.

"Then Elders, if you would pardon me, I would go and meet with this woman myself," I spoke the Matriarch, who went by the name Herseyn Aswha.

However, her request was outright denied by the oldest of the elders. "You sit here for now, instead little Ruri, go and call this guest of ours here."

"Elder, are you sure? Doing this will expose all of us to the outside world, the bartenders can’t be trusted." One of them spoke with some concern.

There were a total of seven Elders the four of which were at the ranks of the Grandmaster and the true force of Ashwa the Vermilion Bird’s family. Though on the surface, there were only two grandmasters in the family one of which was Lasi, while the oldest of the Elders, Elder Wahana had long disappeared in the rivers of time.

So calling the messenger from the Bartender’s Guild will expose their matters, which is not a safe thing to do.

"Don’t worry, we need to let them know who they are dealing with, they need to be scared of us before they speak the truth." The oldest of the Elders, Wahana gave a simple reason. And sometimes, this simplicity works the best.

As for exposing the matters to the world? She believed the bartenders won’t be foolish to repeat the mistake again, they won’t expose the matter no matter what.

Not when her family had a weakness of the Bartenders in their hands. ’If the matter of why they exposed the Dragon Family is out, there will be retaliation.’

The Bartender’s treated the sailor like some kind of toddler, they were always there to protect him in any way possible. Which meant that the old man was a kind of weakness of the Bartenders.

******

The Bartender’s Guild was not so stupid, from the moment they had learned of the things that transpired in the southern district, they had already dispatched one of their greatest to the district to deal with the matters clearly.

And the one they chose was a woman, a young woman who looked awfully tall for a woman, though this was not that odd considering the Capital was filled with nobles with varied bloodlines, there were people as short as dwarfs sometimes, and there were people as short as this woman. Who had only recently joined the Bartender but became a core part of their organization, even being privy to some of the most important matters among the Bartenders.

As for her name?

She went by a simple name of the name Pea. Which was probably a joke name considering her height, but this is what everyone in the Bartender’s guild called her.

Pea Of the Golden Chains.

"This place is big," Pea spoke finding this house a bit too big for her taste, it lacked the warmth of a home in her eyes, but she was not here to comment on the way the nobles live in this city, she was here for something else.

"You have been called in." Announced the Servant who then led Pea deeper into the hallways, which at first appeared odd to her. Then with a simple bit of reasoning, she came to a simple conclusion. "I hope I haven’t troubled the Elders for coming at this hour."

"Don’t worry, the elders had expected your arrival for a while now."

"Oh, did she?" Pea smiled, not believing this one bit, as even she didn’t know that she would be here in this cursed district when she woke up this morning.

******

Soon, she finally came to what appeared to be the end of the journey, as she found a couple of protection hexes and spells active outside the door, which showed that something important was going on inside, which the family didn’t wish to leak to the outside world. ’I really came here at the wrong time.’

Entering the room on the lead of the servant, she found herself between some strong individuals who had long ignited their blood, causing the heat in the room to reach an entirely new level. "Please sit." Spoke the Matriarch Hersyne Ashwa, who took the lead in the conversation while pointing at the empty seat on the table.

"I apologize for the sudden Visit, I am Pea of the Golden Chains, one of the four Elites among the Bartender’s guild." The lady smiled during her introductions before sitting on the chair and going silent. Showing that she won’t speak more than this unless spoken to. This can be considered even disrespectful for some, but none of the elders made a sound, they just looked at their Matriarch who ended up asking.

"Then Miss Pea, you should be aware that we have many questions on our own. And we also know that you will barely answer any of the important ones we are curious about. So let’s change the focus. Miss Pea, why did you approach us first instead of directly going to the Church Headquarters?" It was obvious this woman was here under the summons, so why come to this place instead of going to the church? Did she intend to further damage the relationship between the Bartender’s Guild and the Church?

No one is that foolish unless she has some reason. A reason worth enough for her to come here.

"The Matriarch is kind and sharp. I do have a reason for why I chose to come here instead of directly going to the church, and that is to earn your support." The reason was not complicated and this much, the Elder had already expected.

If they had someone on the inside supporting the Bartender’s case, the punishment might not be too harsh. But all of that depends on what this woman says the next. "You speak of earning, so you should be aware that you won’t get it for free. So speak, what do you have in mind, how will you earn our support?"

"It’s easy, the seas... As long as the Ashwa Family supports us during the hearing, we are ready to provide maps, protection, and access to some of the closed island nations that barely do business with the outside world for the next five years."