Chapter 101: In the Dark (Part Two)

Anasterian, the king, accepted the intelligence report. The moment he saw it, he revealed a meaningful smile: "I didn't expect them to start acting so soon."

Vellres let out a bitter laugh: "I didn't expect the executive councilors to secretly move so quickly, but from Councilor Patrick Cabron's actions, it seems he has been prepared for quite some time."

"Hmm, he is a very clever elf. This new resolution is likely to catch the councilors completely off guard."

King Anasterian offered his own judgment. Anasterian had been on the throne for nearly thirty centuries and was now nearly three thousand eight hundred years old. He knew the parliament's tactics intimately.

He had seen through Patrick's new policy at a glance, which was designed to prevent and eliminate the infiltration of other forces. The old king could not help but sigh; he himself had underestimated Patrick's political acumen and awareness.

Of course, he also hoped for infighting within the parliament. As long as it did not undermine the state, the fiercer the battle, the better. After all, in the parliament's infighting, he, as king, could balance the various factions, making the loyal forces within the kingdom increasingly solid.

According to the intelligence, the elves secretly recruiting the management layer of the Sunwell Temple were subordinates of the Sunwing family and the Dawnwind family. They wanted to infiltrate step by step into the high levels of the Sunwell Temple, so that when they voted on the resolutions, they would completely side with their own families.

Vellres, as the head of the intelligence organization, was extremely dedicated and responsible. Intelligence personnel with the flame 0 magic seal were spread throughout Quel'Sarlas, and even more so within each great clan, with all of them serving the royal family.

"Patrick has also seen through the undercurrents of the Sunwell Temple. His move is precisely to completely eliminate the external infiltration and firmly grasp the entire Sunwell Temple in his own hands." Anasterian gave Patrick a very high evaluation. "Politically, he is completely unlike a young elf, mature and sharp, seeing things with great clarity."

"..."

The scene shifted to the Sunwell Tower, where the five great figures of the Silvermoon Parliament sat together once more.

"Colleagues, I believe that during this time, none of you have been idle. You should all know about the new resolution of the Sunwell Temple. What are your thoughts?" The leading Sunwing Councilor, Seni-or Sunwing, was the first to introduce the topic.

"Do we need to unite and deal with that little guy? Slowly control the local livelihood and material supplies of the Sunwell Temple, so that he won't be able to stir up any waves anymore." Jenrini Dawnstar, the councilor in charge of taxes, angrily threw out a magic scroll. The other councilors knew it was about Patrick's new resolution. Each of them had their own intelligence networks, and knowing some messages wasn't a major issue.

"Master Bruges, do you confirm that the personal intelligence you provided has no errors?" Greenville Morningstar, the master in charge of the court, began to question the other councilor.

Bruges Dawnwind: "... What is this???"

"From your records, it shows that Patrick Cabron has been working in the family's mage tower all along, with no outstanding performance. He has only left Silvermoon City twice. The first time, he was dispatched by the family to Dathvith Tower to escort military supplies. The second time, when leaving Silvermoon City to travel, he passed by the Eastern Temple and was hired by Orelia as a military advisor." Greenville Morningstar's words turned sharply, beginning to attack Bruges.

"You don't think he's just a young sprout of an elf, lacking any experience as an administrative councilor? But from the new intelligence, do you really believe he lacks administrative councilor experience?"

"So does this mean that you think I deceived everyone?" Bruges Dawnwind's expression clearly changed. He threw out a court record regarding Patrick. The Silvermoon court had dossiers for every elf citizen, recording their past experiences and family backgrounds: "Do the affairs of the Cabron family not know only from the Dawnwind? Are the intelligence organizations you control just useless dead weight?"

Greenville did not continue speaking. Of course he knew the details of the Cabron family, but he merely wanted someone to take the blame. Infighting between parliament members was normal; some councilors in the parliament didn't really take Patrick seriously. Their focus remained on the colleagues sitting at the meeting table.

The five of them were old rivals who had been entrenched in the parliament for many years. Besides displaying consistent actions toward the outside world, they had clear definitions in their hearts regarding the greatest competitors of their own families. The opponents were no longer outsiders but their four fellow councilors.

Although it was a voting system where the minority obeyed the majority, this system often became corrupted, turning into violence from the majority against the minority. Externally, it appeared harmonious and calm, but internally there was open struggle and mutual calculations. In other matters, the five maintained a high degree of consistency. In fact, internal vote rigging was essentially the same and had no practical significance.

There was competition in politics; could diversification prevent darkness? No. It made it easier to form clan-like and gang-like groups, solidifying the barriers of social classes. Of course, there was one point that could not be denied: the voting system did have an advantage in that it allowed those elites to be elected when they were very young. But do not forget that participating in elections required a great deal of social activity, not to mention the extensive propaganda by the media. Do ordinary elves have that kind of money? In the end, it was still the large clans, gang-like organizations that monopolized it.

The Silvermoon City had been playing this game for so long, over 6000 years. Did those great nobles and councilors not understand these principles? Of course they did, because they wanted to solidify their positions forever, so they pretended not to understand. In Patrick's previous life, there were also two who believed this: one called [redacted], and the other called Yeltsin. What happened? It's self-evident.

As far as I know, the decision-making parliament of the Sunwell Temple seems to have no voting procedure. All decisions and proposals are made by the heads of the various departments under Patrick, providing detailed information on governance, finance, law, military, and other matters, followed by collective assessment and deliberation, then gradual piloting and implementation. It must be said that Councilor Patrick is a smart and steady elf.

The silent Dawnblade Master spoke his views, and the other four councilors were clearly displeased. This statement seemed to imply that the four of them were useless. However, as the oldest member of the Silvermoon Parliament, the other four found it hard to react. After all, Master Aux had been in the parliament for many years, a very shrewd old fox, acting with shrewdness, round but not slippery.

The intelligence in Jenrini Dawnstar's hand was instantly enveloped in arcane fire, clearly somewhat angered. All of their secret infiltrations into the Sunwell Temple had been blocked by Patrick, and their prepared tribute had been eaten by Patrick as well. Spending a large sum of gold coins without receiving any political return—how could he not be angry?