378 Catching Up On World Events (1/2)
”Daruun, was that necessary?” Jack asked.
Smiling, Daruun replied, ”I told you that if you arrived on time then I would help you, didn't I?”
”This is what you meant by help?!”
”Jack, calm down. Thanks to that show, do you think you'll have any trouble getting elected to the council?” reasoned Daruun. ”Just keep a calm mind because step three of your five-step plan is still underway.”
Calmer, Jack eyed Daruun. ”Then what else remains with step three?”
”Negotiations,” Eedaj cut into the conversation. ”You'll have to be present, Jack, but I can handle the negotiations should you wish.”
”I'd like you there and you're welcome to speak freely, but I'd still like to lead them,” Jack replied, then looked back to Daruun. ”But I've already spoken with Lyrun and made arrangements with him. Are you saying that's going to fall through?”
”Thanks to us announcing that Eedaj will relocate to Trodar, he'll be forced to renegotiate his side of the terms,” stated Daruun. ”But what we'll be after isn't really their technology or their magic items, Jack. Those can be created by the greis elves with some practice and the aid of Eedaj.”
”Then what are we after?” asked Jack.
Daruun chuckled, ”Sterfen, would you like to answer him, or should I?”
”I can answer that.” Joining the conversation, Sterfen eyed Jack with a proud smile. ”What we're after is friendship.”
Curious and confused, Jack asked, ”And why's that?”
Sterfen answered, ”Because there will come a time that Korten will need more help then they will admit and they'll only come to you if you're on great terms. Also, we can't involve Lyrun in any of this. The relationship we're after must be genuine and created between our nations.”
”But why can't we--”
”Because Lyrun is still a member of the Holy Gods,” Eedaj cut Jack off. ”He can't make certain moves personally, otherwise, he'll face the consequences of the other Holy Gods.”
Jack sighed. ”Then how am I supposed to do that?”
”In a few days, a messenger from Korten should be arriving,” stated Daruun. ”They'll try to arrange a meeting between the guild and your pal Gwendon. You must do everything to make sure you can control those negotiations while not dominating it in order to foster this needed relationship.”
Taking that in, Jack remembered something else he wanted to ask about. ”By the way, I heard something happened in Federal City with the association. What's that about?”
”Lorwynn and the other champion fought each other again?” Startled, Jack continued his questioning, ”What happened? Who won? And what about the guilds? Also, what about Maura's family? Did--”
”Everything's fine, Jack,” Daruun spoke and lifted his hand to demand Jack's attention. ”Thanks to Argyle and Tralon hurrying to Federal City, they managed to finish the Fat Goose's teleportation circle just in time. They managed to escape, alongside with Maura's family, with no casualties. Thanks to the sword you returned to Argyle and your tradition of self-destructing circles, the Fat Goose was saved and no one managed to follow them here.”
Reaching the end of the first loop de loop of that emotional rollercoaster, Jack heaved a sigh of relief.
”As for the other guilds, you'll be running into Hurmot before the elven messenger arrives,” Daruun continued. ”What I'm excited to see is how you'll handle Kaldor. Thanks to those councilmen you've captured, he's been waiting outside of the storehouse all this time and has no clue about what happened. In a few more days, he'll get impatient and start waiting in Gilga. That's when he'll learn about the incident and rush back to find his guild and auction house decimated and robbed of everything.”