NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88: Society Takeover
Lilith, Kali, and Alex were enjoying watching a show together when they were interrupted by Judy opening the door. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, “but the Society is finally making a move we can get them for.”
Lilith paused the show and turned to face Judy. “Oh? Do tell.”
The Society had been mostly dormant in the time since the Shift, at least in terms of wrongdoing. Their membership had taken a hit once their main goal of “giving magic back to humans” had been realized, so they had mostly been biding their time and gathering strength.
Lilith had been itching to crush them for quite a while, but they hadn’t been doing anything wrong, and so she had had her hands tied. She could have done it behind the scenes, but, unfortunately, there were problems with that.
The first and most important was that she was supposed to embody justice; she had essentially given the Society a second chance when the Shift happened, so she couldn’t just waltz in and deal with them just because she had a bad feeling about what they were doing. The second was that, even if she did things discreetly, people would know it was her who did it.
There wasn’t anyone else who had the information needed to take them out nor the inclination to do so. Everyone else had more important things to be doing, and the Society wasn’t doing anything to make themselves a target. On the other hand, it was fairly well known that Lilith had had troubles with the Society in the past, and so, if anything happened, most would assume it was her doing.
So, she had been forced to sit around and do nothing while the Society recovered, waiting until they made a mistake and overstepped their bounds. They had edged close on a couple of occasions, but had never truly crossed the line.
They were researching weapons like the one Elenoa and Baern had made, but so was literally every other major power. They had provided a suspicious amount of aid to refugees during the Queen of Monsters incident, and had done so very publicly, but, unfortunately, humanitarian services weren’t exactly high on Lilith’s list of crimes, so Lilith couldn’t catch them for that, either.
But, finally, it seemed like they had done something that Lilith could have just cause in punishing them for. “It would appear they’ve declared themselves to be governors over one of the frontier towns.” Judy said. “Instead of establishing their own, they hijacked one of the preexisting towns.”
Lilith raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. And how have people responded?”
“Apparently the people asked them to.” Judy replied. “I’m pretty confident that they’re the ones who planted the idea in people’s minds, though. And not everyone’s enthusiastic about it. It’s mostly humans who are okay with the idea, anyone from Haven tends to be more than a little wary of it.”
“I suppose it’s best I go take a look myself, then.” Lilith replied. “But…let’s wait for a couple of hours and see how the situation develops, and then I’ll determine if I go in guns blazing or not.”
Judy nodded. “Just figured I’d let you know.”
“Of course, thank you.” Lilith said. “Anything else?”
Judy shook her head. “No. I’ll leave you to it, then.” She said, then shut the door.
“So…waiting for a couple of hours?” Alex said hesitantly.
“Enough time to finish up our show.” Lilith confirmed. “Just happens to be a convenient amount of time to let things settle. If people rebel themselves, then I see no reason to deal with the city, and I can focus on other things.”
“But you’re not going to let them go unpunished, right?”
“Absolutely not.” Lilith said. “I’m not going to let an opportunity like this slip through my fingers. But the severity of the punishment is going to have to depend on how successful they were in occupying the city.”
Alex was silent for a moment. “Can…I help in the punishment? I have a few bones to pick myself.”
Lilith gave her a smile. “I don’t see why not. Just so long as you don’t try and get in over your head, they do have a couple of pretty nasty underlings, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I won’t.” Alex promised. “I know better than that.”
“Good. Now, let’s finish this up, shall we?”
Lilith strolled through the streets of the frontier town, looking around carefully as she did. They were…quiet, the kind of quiet that came with people being unsure what the future would hold. There were still a couple of people in the streets, but they kept their heads down and were walking hurriedly towards their destination.
The message was clear; people were, if not afraid of the Society, then afraid of what Lilith’s response to the takeover would be. It was safer just to stay in their homes until it became clear what was going to happen.
Lilith reached out to a human man who was walking down the sidewalk next to her, placing a hand on his shoulder. He jumped in shock, turning to face her. “C-can I help you, miss?” He asked.
“Yeah.” Lilith replied. She was using a recognition blocking spell, so people didn’t behave strangely because they knew who she was. “What’s going on here? I just came through the portal and everyone looks…scared.”
“Y-you don’t know?” The man replied, looking around nervously. “The Society of the Light has finally agreed to govern this place, and we’re all waiting to see how the High Arbiter responds.”
“Really?” Lilith said, feigning surprise. “Are they mad? I thought it was made clear that these places were to govern themselves!”
“W-well, this is different. We asked them, and the High Arbiter can’t fault them for that…right?”
Lilith shrugged. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Whether people asked or not, the fact that they broke a rule hasn’t changed. But…it sounds like you’re happy they took over. You know what the Society is, right?”
“A charity organization? They were fighting the hardest to get magic back to humans, so…wait, why do you care? Look, I have to get going, just keep your head down and don’t draw any attention to yourself until things stabilize, okay?” The man wrenched himself free from Lilith’s grasp and unceremoniously picked up the pace, occasionally shooting nervous glances back at her.
“Well…that could have gone better.” Lilith muttered. She walked for a little longer, then repeated her attempt with another person, and then another. Each time she got similar results; shock that someone had stopped them, some cagey talk about how the Society was good, and then a hurried excuse before the other person walked away. She had surreptitiously checked and made sure that none of them were under the influence of magic, and they weren’t. It was just regular nerves making them act shifty.
The other thing she realized is that the only people actually out and about were humans; she didn’t see a single other species as she walked, not unless they were inside a building or something. So, she continued walking until, eventually, she reached the adventurer’s guild.
She pushed open the door and walked inside to find that it was…subdued. Business was still continuing as usual, but there was none of the raucous laughter or good-natured competitions that she had come to associate with the place. So, she got in line for one of the receptionists, and waited patiently until she was ready to be served.
“How can I help you, ma’am?” The receptionist, a short elf man, asked, a sort of tension present in his voice. He was clearly forcing himself to be professional despite the circumstances he was in.
“I just got to town, and I noticed things have been…odd.” Lilith said. “I was hoping you could explain what’s going on.”
The receptionist cast a quick, almost imperceptible glance over to a pair of humans in the corner, then gave Lilith a glassy smile. “N-nothing!” He said. “Nothing at all!”
Lilith placed an elbow on the counter and snapped her fingers, and what little ambient noise there was ceased. “We won’t be interrupted.” She said calmly. “And I don’t buy that for a second. What’s happening here?”
“I-it’s against guild policy to use magic in the guild, especially outsiders. I think–”
Lilith cut him off by placing a card down on the counter. “Name’s Lily, S-rank adventurer. Now, what’s happening?” She said, emphasizing the last two words.
The receptionist gulped. “Um…”
Lilith sighed. “Look, who’s the guildmaster around here? I came here to talk to them anyway, so we might as well just skip this whole song and dance and get right to it.”
“I–I’m pretty sure you need an appointment, S-rank or not.” The receptionist replied uncertainly. “You can’t just–”
Lilith rolled her eyes. “Clearly something is very wrong in this town, and I’m not here to play games. Normally you need an appointment, but things aren’t normal now. So, go get the guildmaster, or I’ll be going to force my way to them.”
“I–” The receptionist began.
“Very clearly can’t handle someone of my caliber, and no help is coming.” Lilith said, cutting him off. “No one can notice the two of us. And I’m only doing this to be polite, instead of just barging in on the guildmaster. So, are you going to go announce my presence, or am I going to have to take matters into my own hands?”
The receptionist stared at Lilith for a few long moments, then wilted. “I’ll go get the guildmaster. Wait here.”
“Good. And the spell I cast is going to prevent anyone but me and the guildmaster from noticing you, so don’t even think about trying to get help. It won’t work.”
The receptionist nodded, then left the counter, disappearing into the back rooms of the guild. Lilith used magic to watch as he navigated the corridors, stopped to try and talk to someone, gave up when it didn’t work, then finally knocked on the guildmaster’s door.
“Yes?” A woman’s voice asked. “I thought I made it clear I was busy.”
“U-um, there’s an S-rank named Lily out front who wants to see you and won’t take no for an answer.” The receptionist said. “She’s put a spell on me, and you and her are the only ones who can perceive me right now, so I’m kind of freaking out and–”
“Did you check her card?”
“Yes. It’s legit.”
“Send her in, then.” The guildmaster said. “I’ll deal with this, thank you Thomas.”
Thomas nodded, relief etched into his face. “Thank you, ma’am. I’ll bring her.” He stepped away from the door, and hurriedly made his way back to the counter, where he looked up at Lilith nervously. “The guildmaster says she’ll be seeing you. Just…follow me.”
“I know the way, thank you Thomas.” Lilith replied, then snapped her fingers, and the ambient noise roared back into existence. “The line is waiting, so I’ll let you handle it.”
“But you can’t–”
Lilith didn’t wait for his reply, hiding herself from his perception and walking further into the building, retracing the path he had taken until she reached the guildmaster’s door. She didn’t bother to knock, instead choosing to open the door and stroll in.
She was met by a dagger flying straight towards her eyes, but she casually grabbed it by the blade, crushed it to powder, and let the hilt drop to the floor. “Is that any way to treat a guest?” She asked, closing the door behind her.
The guildmaster, an unremarkable-looking human woman wearing rather plain equipment, eyed Lilith warily. “No. It is, however, a perfectly normal way to treat an intruder.”
“Rude.” Lilith said, smirking. “I do believe you invited me in.”
“Enough games.” The guildmaster said. “Who are you, really? I’m sure you very well know that there are no S-ranked adventurers named Lily, and we don’t take very kindly to pretenders around these parts.”
Lilith shrugged and let her recognition filter drop. “You tell me.”
The guildmaster narrowed her eyes. “Prove it.” She said. “You’re pretty clearly an expert in messing with people’s perception, and if you’re real, I’m sure you understand that things are…tense right now. I can’t afford a misstep.”
Lilith activated Aura of the Arbiter, sprouted a tentacle from her back, used it to grab a chair and place it in front of the guildmaster, then sat down. “Good enough?”
The guildmaster studied her for a moment, then sighed and sat down. “I suppose so.” She replied. “The name’s Cleo, guildmaster around these parts. What do you want with me, miss High Arbiter?”
“I’m gathering information on the state of this place before I make an official statement. But…first, what do you think of the takeover?”
“I lived on Haven before the Shift.” Cleo said. “I know full well that the Society isn’t as altruistic as they’re making themselves out to be. Frankly, I think they orchestrated this whole thing.”
Lilith gently probed her mind, and, once she was satisfied that Cleo was telling the truth, nodded. “My thoughts exactly.” She said. “I’m glad you’re not one of their pawns; I would have had to take…drastic measures if you were.”
Cleo gave another sigh. “I get it. So…again, what do you need from me that you can’t get yourself?”
“Information.” Lilith said flatly. “I don’t monitor every single person at every single moment, I’m not omniscient. In your opinion, what do the people of this town, by and large, think of the Society?”
“Depends on who you ask.” Cleo said. “I think around half the town is all for them, another quarter is undecided, and the rest of us disapprove.”
Lilith raised a brow. “That’s a lot of supporters.” She said. “Mostly human, I presume?”
“Yeah. A lot of them are probably new to town, too. More people here settled after the Queen of Monsters incident than left. I’d been willing to overlook it until recently, but…well, most of those new people are human and a significant portion support the Society.”
“Has the Society contacted you at all about this?”
Cleo grimaced. “They made a few attempts to get me over to their side, the last of which was only yesterday. When they left, they said they’d “be watching my conduct carefully”, which isn’t at all threatening, as you can tell.”
“That seems about right.” Lilith said, shaking her head. “What are the odds people around here do something about this takeover themselves?”
“Slim to none.” Cleo said. “No one here wants a big conflict, not so soon after the Queen of Monsters. From what I gather, most people who don’t like the Society plan on…well, leaving you to deal with it.”
“Very well then.” Lilith said. She stood up and held out a hand, from which a dagger materialized. “A replacement for the one I broke.” She said, laying the dagger down on the desk. “With a few extra features added as thanks for your time. I’ll be taking my leave now.” Lilith teleported herself back to the dungeon, not waiting to see what Cleo had to say.
“Well?” Alex asked. She had been pacing near the teleporter and had stopped once Lilith had arrived. “What are your thoughts?”
“The people are waiting for me.” Lilith replied, smiling slightly. “Which means I get to deal with the situation as I see fit.”
“Good. What are we doing, then?”
“Now, I go deliver an ultimatum.” Lilith said. “After that…we’ll see.”
