"What are you talking about?" demanded Gustaw. He did not like the fact that everyone seemed to be speaking in riddles around him. As one of the heads of the Great Houses, he was used to receiving answers immediately rather than being strung along by half-finished explanations. The increasingly confused expressions on the faces around him only worsened his mood.
"Wait, that isn't important right now," said Fabian as he raised a hand and shushed Gustaw in front of everyone. The gesture immediately made the old noble's face darken because very few people dared to interrupt him like that. Fabian, however, looked too preoccupied to notice the offense he had just caused. His eyes were entirely focused on Karl.
"Why did you ask her to show up?" Fabian asked with obvious concern. "It's not like those people were worthy of her attention, and can we even discuss her in front of everyone here? More importantly, why didn't you mention this during our meeting earlier? This is important information, Karl."
"You are right," Karl admitted with a sigh. "I was so focused on the information I wanted to sell that I forgot to mention it. I will put a message in the group chat later and explain everything properly." Even as he said that, he continued talking only with Fabian, completely ignoring the heads of the Great Houses.
The slight made several of the nobles frown.
These were people who could make Europe tremble with a single decision and influence the rest of the world if they acted together. Yet Karl behaved as though they were little more than decorations in the room. To the older patriarch, their status meant very little compared to the matter currently being discussed.
"As for talking about her in front of them, don't worry," Karl continued. "I am sure that he figured it out long ago. You forget how sharp they always are, especially him." He raised a finger and pointed directly toward Orazio.
At once, every gaze in the room shifted toward the Vassevilliers patriarch.
Orazio remained calm under the scrutiny. A sharp glint had appeared in his eyes, and he had clearly been listening very carefully since the beginning of the conversation. Although he did not understand everything that was being said, he already had several suspicions forming in his mind.
"Yes, I suppose you are right," Fabian said after a moment. "At this point, we are probably only confirming things that he already suspected. But that still doesn't answer my question. Why did they make her angry? It isn't as though they should be capable of doing something like that."
"That is exactly the problem," Karl answered in a cold voice. "They are capable of it."
The room suddenly became quiet.
"They got involved with those corrupted creatures," Karl continued. "She was not pleased to discover that humans had betrayed her so quickly after the beginning of the new era. Frankly, I don't think anyone could blame her for being angry."
The expressions of the Great House leaders changed immediately.
Most of them had already encountered corrupted creatures at one point or another. They knew just how dangerous those monsters could be and had all lost people during the clean-up because of them. However, none of them had considered the possibility that humans might willingly cooperate with such beings.
"Right," Orazio said slowly. "I understand now why you are dissatisfied with us. However, if people have truly allied themselves with those disgusting creatures, then we are helpless to track them down. We don't exactly have methods to detect corruption."
His explanation did little to help the others understand the conversation.
Several people looked between Karl and Fabian in confusion, wondering who exactly this mysterious woman was and why her anger seemed to concern both men so much. Yet the serious expressions on their faces made it clear that the matter was not something to laugh about.
"Yes, I know that," Karl replied. "But if you had dealt with those factions when they first started getting out of control fifty years ago, we wouldn't be in this situation. Those arrogant bastards should never have been allowed to grow this powerful."
The anger in his voice became increasingly obvious.
"Those things are not fit to exist," he continued. "Now we have corrupted humans and those scumbags running around at the same time. I suggest that you involve the government immediately. Surely they already have suspicions that she exists. China has been rather obvious about it for people on your level."
A few people exchanged surprised looks.
They had all noticed some strange behavior from China after they returned to Earth. There had been unusual investments, odd construction projects, and policy decisions that made little sense on the surface. Many of them had already guessed that the Chinese government knew something the rest of the world did not.
"Yes," Orazio admitted after a moment of silence. "They do have suspicions."
He folded his hands together and leaned back in his chair.
"Still, we should continue with the matter of the information you are selling us," he said calmly. "I assume that you want us to pass it on to the government after we have purchased it."
"Perceptive as always," Karl replied with a small nod. "I have no interest in getting involved with politics. If I hand this information directly to Herman, it will look as though we are choosing sides, and that is a headache I don't want."
He let out an irritated snort.
"I swear those people are sitting far too high in their ivory towers," Karl muttered. "They spend so much time playing political games that they forget there are real dangers waiting outside."
Several people could not help but smile at that statement.
Even among the Great Houses, there were many who shared Karl's opinion regarding modern politicians. The difference was that they usually kept such opinions to themselves. Karl, on the other hand, had never been known for his restraint.
"Yes, they are," Orazio replied with a faint sigh. "So please do not start using your medieval methods on them again. We had to clean up enough of your mess during the tutorial, and I have no desire to repeat that experience." Although his voice remained calm, several people around the table nodded in agreement. The incident in question had caused quite a stir among Europe's hidden powers.
"Please don't try to sound pitiful," Karl said with a snort. "It is not as though you people did not use that incident for your own agenda. You were more than happy to remind everyone which territories belonged to the Great Houses and who truly held authority in those regions." A small smile appeared on his face as he remembered the aftermath.
"As for the incident itself, I refuse to comment," Karl continued. "But if it did happen, then the people involved probably deserved it. I heard they were withholding money from their subordinates, and that is simply poor form." The smile on his face widened slightly, making several people in the room roll their eyes.
"Please," Orazio said while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Enough with your rhetoric. We all know your family was involved in that affair, even if we cannot prove it." He let out a long sigh before leaning forward in his chair.
"Now, tell us the price of this information," Orazio said. "Fabian is reading that document with far too much concentration for it to be anything ordinary. If even he is this absorbed by it, then it is clearly worth our attention."
At those words, several eyes turned toward Fabian.
The old doctor had not spoken for quite some time. Instead, he had remained completely engrossed in the documents that Karl had sold to the trade families. Every few seconds, his expression changed, and at one point he even muttered something under his breath.
That only made everyone more curious.
"Right, the price," Karl said while straightening himself in his chair. "I want fifty thousand silver coins from each of you. Then I want the information sold to the government for one hundred thousand silver coins." He spoke the numbers calmly, as though he were discussing the weather.
The room immediately became silent.
Fifty thousand silver coins was not a small amount of money, even for the Great Houses. None of them were poor, but the amount was still significant enough to warrant consideration. More importantly, Karl had asked them to pass the information on to the government afterward.
"I know that this is much more than the trade families paid for the information," Karl continued. "Because of that, I am willing to make a small concession. You are not allowed to spread this information outside your factions for two weeks, but I will allow you to sell it after two days."
A few eyebrows rose.
"Why?" Gustaw asked bluntly. "You are practically inviting us to spread it."
"Because we are not equipped to keep this information secret," Karl answered immediately. "My family is secluded, and so are most of the trade families. We do not have the networks or influence required to control something of this magnitude. If we tried, it would only create unnecessary problems."
That explanation made several of the patriarchs nod.
It was actually a sensible decision.
The Great Houses possessed connections throughout Europe and beyond. If anyone could control the release of information and ensure that governments paid attention to it, it would be them. The trade families simply did not possess that kind of reach.
Fabian suddenly opened the group chat and frowned.
He had wanted to object to Karl's decision to let the information spread so quickly. However, after reading the explanation that Karl had sent, he realized that the old patriarch was correct. None of the trade families had the ability to mobilize such vast resources on short notice.
The information was simply too important. to not sell to everyone at once lest they become public enemies.
"Fine," Orazio said after a few moments of thought. "Send the contracts over already. You have managed to make me curious, and I dislike remaining curious for long."
Several others nodded in agreement.
By this point, everyone in the room wanted to know what could possibly have caused such reactions from both Fabian and Karl. They had known those two men for a long time and rarely saw either of them so serious.
"Very well," Karl replied.
Golden light flashed around his desk as he signed a series of system contracts. Moments later, identical contracts appeared before every head of the Great Houses. The magical papers hovered above their desks, waiting patiently to be accepted.
One by one, the patriarchs and matriarchs read through the terms.
There was nothing unusual about them.
The conditions were straightforward and fair, which only increased everyone's curiosity. If Karl had wanted to deceive them, he could have hidden all sorts of troublesome clauses inside the contracts. Instead, he had presented them with an entirely ordinary business arrangement.
That alone was enough to make several people sign immediately.
Golden flashes filled the room.
Silver coins disappeared from private vaults and treasury accounts before reappearing inside the Sonnenberg treasury. At the same time, neatly bound stacks of paper materialized on the desks of every participant.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then the sound of pages turning filled the room.
Karl watched the scene with a satisfied smile.
"It has been a pleasure doing business with all of you," he said while rising from his chair. "I will leave you to your reading. Goodbye."
Without waiting for a response, he disconnected his hologram.
The image of the old patriarch disappeared from the conference room.
For several seconds, nobody noticed.
Every person present had already lowered their eyes toward the documents in front of them. Some people had only managed to read the introduction, yet their expressions were already changing rapidly.
One patriarch nearly dropped his papers.
Another leaned so far forward that his reading glasses almost slipped from his nose. Even Gustaw, who had been irritated throughout the meeting, had completely forgotten his earlier anger.
The information was simply too shocking.
After several long minutes, Orazio finally lowered the papers in his hands.
His face had become unusually serious.
"I will arrange a meeting with the government regarding both matters discussed today," he said in a firm voice. "I expect all of you to attend. The meeting will take place tomorrow after everyone has had time to digest this information."
Nobody objected.
In fact, several people nodded immediately.
The contents of the documents were far too important to ignore. If even half of what Karl had provided was accurate, then Europe—and perhaps the entire world—was standing before a tremendous opportunity. Or an equally tremendous disaster if they kept it for themselves.
"I will also send all of you an explanation regarding the conversation between Karl and Fabian," Orazio continued. "There are certain things that you need to understand before tomorrow's meeting."
Several heads snapped upward.
At last, they would receive answers.
Who was this mysterious woman? Why had Fabian looked so horrified? And why had Karl spoken as though her anger alone was enough to alarm Europe's hidden powers?
The questions multiplied with every passing second.
Yet nobody asked them aloud.
Instead, they returned their attention to the documents before them. Tomorrow's meeting would answer many of their questions, but for now there was only one thing on everyone's mind.
The information that Karl Sonnenberg had just sold them might very well change the future of humanity.