Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran's eyes narrowed after hearing Mimi.

The gold scroll did not include the time when the event would happen. However, the Team Competition clearly stated that it would only have one battle.

How come it now had a preliminary round?

Kyran could understand the Solo Competition since there were five participants coming from both sides required for that competition. The preliminary round would reduce the number of participants to half, followed by the quarter-finals, then the finals. To give time for the participants to rest, placing the event at the start of the exercise was reasonable.

On the contrary, the Team Competition only had one team, with six members: five being the main players and one as a reserve. Since there was only one team on each side, it was not necessary to have a preliminary round.

Kyran was not the only one who noticed this.

A gruff male voice suddenly spoke from the far end of the Conclave participants.

Everyone except Kyran turned to look at the man.

The man was a huge man, with short blonde hair and black eyes. He wore one of the uniforms Kyran had enchanted, a black leather suit with a silver chest plate, meaning he was part of the team participating in the Team Competition.

There was nothing particularly intimidating in the man's presence even with his burly physique, however, the greatsword strapped on his back exuded a fierce pressure. As if unsheathing it could release a magic pressure that any mage below Master could do nothing than kneel before it.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Kyran's lips. After all, he knew the man.

He was none other than, Dante, the first mage Kyran had ever fought outside the military and the Regis.

Kyran already noticed him, but chose to ignore him. Besides, Tyr did not know him personally— not that Kyran personally knew him. In any case, he pretended not to know him.

Mimi looked at Dante and smiled slightly, "Dante correct?"

Dante looked at her with raised brows. Though he was somewhat famous in the Mercenary Hall, he had not made a name for himself outside that could make one of the Twin Belles of the Courtenay Family remember him.

Callan, Malia, Noir and Vaness also gave a furtive glance at Mimi.

Information about their members was not considered classified. It was especially true with their mercenaries. The reason for this, was when a request arrived at the Mercenary Hall, they had to provide brief information on the mercenary who had taken the request to the requestor. This was also to give the latter a chance to decline the mercenary and change to another one if they dislike anything about him.

However, the information available in public was superficial. Their photo and other sensitive information would not be revealed.

For Mimi to recognize Dante could only mean the Courtenay Family had done their own research.

Seeing Dante's confused expression, Mimi replied, "I am the Conclave's escort, it is only proper to ensure I am familiar with your names at least."

Then she lowered her gaze while touching her right ear.

The silver four-leaf clover earring she was wearing glinted before she answered Dante, "There have been some slight changes in a few of the events."

Mimi then turned to look at Callan and the other council members with an apologetic smile.

"I am afraid I cannot reveal the details at this time. I can only ask for your patience until the official rules of the events are provided."

Callan narrowed his eyes.

No matter how one sees this situation, the move of the Royal Family of changing some of the events without letting the Conclave know as soon as possible was a clear violation of the true purpose of a joint military exercise.

The program and rules should be agreed upon by both parties. It should not be a one-sided decision.

Before Callan could open his mouth to point this out, Kyran's voice sounded in his mind.

[Someone else ordered her to say this. Let's avoid making a mountain out of a small hill and get inside first. We'll discuss our next course of action then.]

Callan was not the only one targetted by Kyran's words.

Malia, Noir and Vaness also heard it. Their expression remained unreadable the whole time making it hard for others to realize something.

But hearing Kyran, Callan swallowed the words he was about to say.

Kyran's warning was a good call, to be honest. The only reason Callan wanted to voice his discontent was influenced by the fact that the Royal Family had been doing what they want all this time and they could do nothing but dance along.

He hated it.

Callan looked at Mimi without concealing his discontent, and said, "Tell whoever it is that ordered you to answer that way to give the official details before lunch. If not, I don't care what the Grand Marshal and the Deputies think or say, we will leave at once."

Kyran could not help but smile wryly at Callan. He was not against the older man's attitude. As a matter of fact, he would have told them to say something along that line if none of them did.

After all, they still had to let the Royal Family know the Conclave was not a pushover. If not, the Royal Family might wonder why the Conclave was not retaliating and might arouse suspicion.

Mimi could only retain her apologetic smile while nodding her head, "I will let them know. Thank you for your understanding."

She looked at the dome which was only a few meters away.

There were three entrances to the dome.

A long flight of steps located at the center, led to the lobby, while shorter stairs on both sides led to another two entrances.

Mimi gestured at the stairs to the right and said, "Please follow me President Callan, Chairman Malia, Chairman Noir and Head Chief Vaness. I will show you to your rooms."

Then she turned to Millie and said, "Millie, please guide the rest of the Conclave participants to their quarters."

Millie beamed at once and nodded.

"Gladly!" She replied with unmasked enthusiasm.

Mimi gave her a hopeless smile before turning her back to lead the leaders of the Conclave inside.

'I'll drop by Master Noir's room later. We can meet there,' Kyran told them.

None of them replied, but that was to be expected. In any case, he had said what he had to so he shifted his focus to the young woman in front of them.

Millie looked at them and gestured at the stairs to the left, "Please follow me everyone."

Before she could proceed, however, another Conclave participant spoke.

"Don't we have to go to the lobby to register first or something?"

The one who had spoken was a woman, with short black hair and brown eyes, wearing silver plate armor over a red coat. There was a Chamber of Commerce symbol embedded in her armor.

Kyran looked at her and recalled her name was Carol, a combat specialist from the Chamber of Commerce. Most of the members of the Chamber of Commerce were non-mage, even Emery was a combat specialist.

"Oh, no need for that kind of formality," Millie replied shaking her hands animatedly in front of her.

Carol frowned slightly. As someone from the Chamber of Commerce where they were taught to keep records of their activities at all times, she found the loose management of this supposed joint military exercise displeasing.

"Uhm... the truth, since the Conclave already submitted your names last night, we went ahead and registered everything. The rooms has also been assigned," Millie explained hastily upon seeing Carol's displeased look.

Millie took out a silver disc from her storage ring and said, "I have the information right here."

Hearing Millie's explanation, Carol's expression somehow lifted. However, she still looked a little disgruntled.

After all, if they did not register and confirm that the names the Conclave submitted were correct, then how would they update it if the Conclave suddenly changed members?

"If you have any question, please don't hesitate to ask," Millie told them with a warm smile.

But...

The rest of the participants all turned their gaze at Kyran, all of them wearing a dull expressions.

Because, when Millie said this, she was looking at Kyran brazenly.

Kyran's brow twitched.

Once again, he was subjected to such scrutiny because of how Tyr's conspicuousness.

Putting on a 'gentle' smile, Kyran looked at Millie and said, "Thank you."

Millie's smile widened as soon as Kyran replied. She nodded and said, "T-Then, please follow me!"

With that, she turned and led them to the dome's left entrance.

Few Conclave participants could not help but snicker at Millie's blatant partiality toward Kyran. That was why a few of them jabbed him playfully as they followed behind Millie.

Some female participants also giggled. They would also find 'Tyr' handsome, and from the recent news on him, they also found him very likeable.

But their feelings were more of admiration and respect than romantic. After all, most of them were older than him by a decade.

Kyran could only accept the teasing of the Conclave participants and sighed in resignation.

But before he could follow them, a thick muscular arm draped on his shoulder as the familiar voice of Dante spoke in a low voice.

"Oi, brat, Hall Master has a message for you, make sure you drop by my room."