All part of the plan

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{Vincent Helstea}

-BULL SHIT YOU HEAR ME!" Screamed viscount Du-Gro-Bide after smashing the steel table with enough strength to bend it, in a banging sound that was just as loud as his voice  while I trembled in sit.

-Then are you saying that our 4 one-hundred-and-twenty strong mercenary armies all suddenly decided to commit suicide!" Shouted back lord Smallbite, anger and frustration palpable in his voice as I saw yet another vein pope on his forehead.

-They must have gotten some help from a third party!" Argued yet another prestigious lord while trying to shout louder than the other.

-You call that "help"!" Shouted Du-Gro-Bide with a relentless fury "They swept the floor with 7 yellow core mages, 7 of them! No one could do that without the help of the kingdom's special forces!"

-Are you saying that our king sold us to those egalitarian bastards!?" Barked Marquis Von-Connard who was well known for claiming to have some distant connection to the royal family.

-It could be the Elves or Dwarves supporting them, considering that the elf king is staunchly anti-slavery and that 70% of our slaves are from Darv." Added count Close Talgeuse- or was it Close Tagueule ? I pondered as the nobles continued to shout at each other like savages as I leaned back in my chair to try and stay as transparent as possible to not get noticed.

-WE ALREADY WENT DOWN THIS PATH!" Shouted Du-Gro-Bide as he abused the poor table once again in an ungodly loud voice. "We can't prove anything on whether the other crowns are connected to Unity or not and the king already made it explicit that we were one our own!" He explained before hitting the table once again, finally breaking it.

"So much for the reinforced steel table." I thought to myself as I let out a small sigh only to notice that the assembly had finally calmed down.

It felt like it took longer and longer for them to settle down with every additional reunion, which was rather understandable considering the sheer absurdity of their situation.

It had been more than a year since all the nobles taking part in the slave market banded together in a single anti-Unity front that explicitly called for inequalities between the social classes and races to be maintained. I even heard that they wanted their slogan to be "Keep them poor".

But nothing had gone their way. Every mercenary group they hired, every ex-adventurers they got on board, every one of the hundreds of mages they had sent to protect their convoys or attack Unity had either flipped sides or been whipped out.

Not only that, but the opponent barely ever left any evidence of themselves, like the groups had been attacked by a ghost.

And the few times there was some evidence left, be it personal belongings, or corpses only informed us that Unity's forces were composed of freed slaves which had somehow become mages.

The me from a year ago would have probably been trembling in fear at the suggestion of being seated at this table for such an important meeting, but I had adapted to it now thanks to two key facts.

First, the nobles of the kingdom were far too proud to listen to what I was saying, which meant that it didn't change anything whether I spoke or not.

Second: They were too busy screaming at each other to even notice that I was here.

In other words, as long as I gave the secretary at the entrance the report they asked for, I'd have completed my job.

And, even though I could theoretically sneak out without them noticing and get back home an hour early, I wasn't that audacious. Plus, I still had to play my part in this whole thing.

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