>>6246600You knew when you were being lied to, and despite his attempts at subtlety, you had the feeling that Patros was trying to hide something. You could spend all day trying to pick apart the inconsistencies in the experienced merchant’s story, or you could simply do things your way. Finding the latter to be easier, particularly after he’d witnessed your earlier bouts, you stand up, shoving the desk that sits between you and the Morfisian aside. Patros looks up at you, eyes wide, even as the desk clatters against the wall with a thud, knocking many of its contents over.
>“You’re the head of the Consortium, are you not? Then that means you’re the one responsible for this ineptitude. Perhaps I should just get rid of you now and allow someone more talented to take your place. I’m sure they’ll fare far better at finding this supposed mystery culprit.”“W-wait, okay hold on.” Patros stammers, putting his hands out as if that could stop you. “You’re right. Please accept my apology, there is no sense in hiding the truth. I was the one that authorized shelter for the rogue mage, Andreas. I’ll tell you all that I know. Just..let us please act civilized. There is no need to come to blows here.”
“Tell us everything.” Alvin says, arms crossed. “If you wish for us to potentially intervene on your behalf, you had better not hold anything back.”
“Very well.” Patros clears his throat, regaining some measure of lost composure. “It started with the Adjunct, Targa. Him and Klement had come to Shangri-La over one month ago. They breezed through the gauntlet with hardly an issue. No one had ever seen anything like it. The power that you foreigners possess in those Crests, as well as those strange gauntlets that he wielded…it was unbelievable. He destroyed the Ogre with a mere few punches.” He mimics the motion, as if to drive home the effect.
>“Get on with it.”“After Klement was crowned conqueror, Targa approached the Consortium. He wanted two things from us. The first was that we were to sponsor Klement in the Competition, ensuring he had everything he required. The second, was that we were to harbor a rogue mage, who would soon be arriving in Shangri-La. We were to give him everything that he needed, as well as the space to conduct his craft. No one was supposed to find out he was here. In return for all this, Targa promised the Consortium positions of great power and influence once Klement married the Princess.”
“Targa was aiding Andreas?” Alvin asks, eyes wide with surprise as his mind begins to unravel the details. “Does that mean he had something to do with the attack on Ithaca?”
>“What sort of research was Andreas doing?”“I swear on the Sorcerer King, I do not know.” Patros says uneasily. “But, those who were assigned to guard the Vault would report strange sounds from within his lab.”
