Heavy, dark curtains block out all light from the outside world, making the atmosphere of the otherwise spacious and bright room oppressive, except for the silver-plated candlesticks on the table and the chandelier overhead, bringing a somewhat eerie light to the gloomy environment.

If you look closely, you'll find silver runes in the corners around the walls and on the doors—carved from melted mythril and from the ancient proverbs of the Church of the Holy Cross's "Original Scriptures."

Its name is "silence".

Where the runes are carved, the power of the Void will be greatly suppressed, no alchemy items or spells will be used, mutated monsters will become weak, and the gods will not even be able to set foot here.

Because of this property, the "Silence" rune was widely used to decorate the Basilica of the Holy Cross in various principalities, as well as the Black Prison and the Heavenly Dome in the imperial capital - by chance of the Phanascist rebellion, the Nine-Pointed Star Wizard Tower obtained the method of making the "silent" rune from Ebolden Cathedral, and soon secretly arranged it in the top floor conference room of the wizarding tower.

The participants who were lucky enough to be able to sit in this room were obviously not concerned about such an oppressive environment—rather because the suppression of the Void allowed them to truly walk in without worrying about the alchemy props and high-level spells laid by a wizard.

"Knock ——!"

The crisp sound of the small wooden hammer struck the hearts of the participants on both sides of the long table, and they all straightened their backs and sat upright, and all eyes looked at the gray robe, thin and energetic old man in front of them.

The head of the Twelve Elders of the Nine-Pointed Star Wizard Tower, Archon of Ebolden, Lorenz Corona.

Several parchment scrolls stacked on the table, with a transcript in each attendee's hand... It is precisely because they know the purpose of today's meeting that they will sit here in unison.

"Now, now that it is clear to all, in the name of the Archon of Eboden, I officially declare this meeting open!"

Coughing lightly twice, he made a simple opening statement, and the energetic old man spoke slowly:

"There are only two things to discuss today, and they are actually one thing—first, how the expansion of Ebolden's trade in the south will face the backlash of the Yod Chamber of Commerce, and second, whether more aid should be given to the Turin family to help them completely empty the Governor's Palace!" he said, glancing to the side.

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

The first clerk on Corona's right hand side, Birdlaire, who was named, quickly got up and humbly bowed to the old man:

"In the past twenty days, while the Governor of Byrne and the Yoder Chamber of Commerce have been busy blocking the Byrne road, especially the county of the Red Blood Castle, they have successfully settled in the three northernmost counties of Byrne;

"But... Because the monopoly of the Yode Chamber of Commerce on the local markets and trade routes, especially wine and salt, makes it very difficult for our Chamber of Commerce to maintain ...... to keep our Chamber of Commerce down, and there is no profit at all when it lowers prices

"And because we're moving too quickly and aggressively, and because the blockade of the Red Blood Fortress is said to have been lifted, Roger Yord is probably already starting to notice it, and if this continues, it should be a matter of time before the other side fights back... It is expected that it should start within one to two months. ”

Accompanied by the sound of parchment turning, Bedlaire was the only one in the quiet conference room who spoke slightly awkwardly.

What the?!

At this moment, these participants no longer care about any politeness and humility, and they gathered in small circles with the people around them, and from time to time they exchanged and discussed in private, and there was a commotion in the conference room.

It is inevitable that the new chamber of commerce will lose money and lose money at the beginning of its establishment, especially if this kind of chamber of commerce involves long-distance trade, but if this is the case, there is no need for Birdlaire to point it out;

This is absolutely unacceptable!

The distance from Ebolden to Byrne is very high, and if it goes bankrupt or is acquired, it means that all previous investments have been lost... While this isn't a lot of money for them, it's not a small amount of money to throw away.

"The issue of cost can be put aside for the time being. ”

Coughing lightly, Corona patiently persuaded: "What we should really care about at the moment is the counterattack of the Yode Chamber of Commerce - as long as we can drive the nail into the south and completely curb the arrogance of the Yode Chamber of Commerce, this investment will be considered a success!"

"But only if we can really resist Roger Yord's counterattack, Lord Archon!"

One of the free aristocrats stood up and complained: "With the support of Governor Byrne, that old Roger has almost monopolized the entire Byrne trade route, we have no chance of winning the price or the reserve, defeat is inevitable!"

"The same is true for Roger and his Yod Chamber of Commerce. The old man crossed his fingers and spoke slowly: "I have received a very critical piece of information, the Yod Chamber of Commerce and the Governor's Palace of Byrne are carrying out a plan for 'road repair', with the aim of connecting the entire trade routes of Byrne with the Red Blood Fort as the core. ”

"This is a very large plan, and once he really succeeds, the entire Byrne's financial resources will completely become the pocket of the Yord Chamber of Commerce, and old Roger, who has the support of the Governor of Byrne, will also become the Lord of Byrne in the true sense!"

"If he were allowed to continue like this, the South would be completely monolithic—not long ago when he was still young and tried to stretch his claws to the North... Ladies and gentlemen, this is no longer a matter of investment, but a matter of life and death for Ebberden!"

"Byrne is four times the size of Ebolden, ten times as many as ours, plus they have Byrne's wines, dwarven minerals, horses from the Duchy of Boi and leather from the Duchy of Arles... It can be said that without the ocean-going trade and the resource network of Lothair and East and West Sakland, we have no chance of winning in front of the Yode Chamber of Commerce!"

The old man raised his head, his sharp gaze looked around everyone's faces, and he was very satisfied with everyone's nervous looks: "Right now... The Yode Chamber of Commerce must have raised a lot of money, manpower and material resources for the 'road repair' project, and has no spare strength to fight back against us. ”

"This is a good opportunity to nip in the bud the forces that threaten and even destroy Ebolden – to crush, to acquire, to annex, to unite... Even the use of force when necessary!"

"We are not opposed to the emergence of local joint chambers of commerce in the principalities, and we even welcome the existence of such a presence, because they can take the initiative to expand the trade network to areas that we cannot reach......" Suddenly, the old man changed his words:

"But! we must not accept a strong enough to threaten our existence—within the Empire, Ebolden must be the core of wealth, the strongest and leading of the Chamber of Commerce, the one who dares to challenge... and they will be ruthlessly destroyed!"

"So, we should establish a joint chamber of commerce in the Red Blood Castle to further support that countess of the House of Turin to defeat the Governor of Byrne?"

The other free nobleman stood up tremblingly and looked at Corona tentatively, "Is that so, Lord Archon?"

"Of course, but definitely not unconditionally, at least to take the monopoly of wine and salt in the Red Blood Castle - as long as the Turin family has not lost their minds, they will definitely agree to this condition. ”

Speaking of this, Lorenz Corona finally smiled: "What's more, we have the support of senior members within the Yode Chamber of Commerce, and we know the current situation of the resources and reserves of the entire Chamber of Commerce - before Roger Yord reacts, it will definitely catch him off guard!"

"Insider?"

"That's right, insider. ”

The old man accentuated his tone, and everyone fell silent under his gaze, nervously waiting for the moment when he announced:

"Roger Yord's eldest son, Yord Jr.'s former heir to the Yoder Chamber of Commerce... Now it's joined us!"