Chapter 1363 (2/2)

Despite her status as a diplomat, this was what she had to endure?!? Well Vye had reached the limit of her patience. Tilting her head to the side, she let a little bit of her image manifest around her person. “Did I stutter? Why are you here, Kevin?”

The man visibly flinched. Then a look of confusion spread across his face as Vye let her image drop. As though he was a hound, he sniffed the air as he began to speak. “I know you talked to the foreign minister, but our liege has finally agreed to meet with you. After talking with some other groups, it seems like you weren’t completely lying about some people being freed earlier than us.”

Vye twitched. One more bit of disrespect. She was becoming extremely tired of the attitude that many of the Blighted Paragon’s subordinates took with her. It hadn’t been so bad at first, but after a day of staying nearby, they clearly began to test the boundaries. What was most humiliating was that they had started by demanding that she help with chores around the camp so long as she stayed here.

The Blighted Paragon seemed to take a page out of Communism and lived by expecting every individual to do their part to help the whole. It was why, despite the annoying badgering that Vye experienced, her original report was rather generous when it talked about her opinion on the society.

The local overseer’s request for help was obviously denied. When he had pushed Vye on it, Vye asked what benefit she was receiving which meant she should help. He claimed she had eaten their food so Vye had laughed, produced a sandwich from her interspatial ring, and eaten it in front of him.

Not her most subtle move, but even then the subordinates of the Blighted Paragon were getting under her skin.

When Tatiana asked Vye a few hours after her original report if she had anything else to add, Vye had discussed the problems that were cropping up. And Tatiana’s answer had surprised Vye.

Don’t forget, you represent the legitimacy of the Order Ducis, and by proxy all of the New Earth governments. I know it is difficult, but don’t hesitate to teach them a harsh lesson if they push too hard. Randidly sent a group of his Riders to stay nearby. We have your back.

Honestly, it might be easiest to make a big deal of things now. Then we have justifications to show them the pecking order.

But that didn’t help her right now, a bubbling pot that was about to explode. Her gaze on Kevin was sharp as she made her decision. He had one chance. And if he didn’t take it...

Vye stored away all of her materials and walked to the front of the tent. Kevin didn’t move out of the threshold of the tent, scratching his beard while his eyes remained fixed on Vye. He reminded Vye of dozens of shitty men that had convinced themselves, and sometimes her in the past, that they deserved a bit of their time.

He opened his mouth to say something. Unfortunately for him, Vye was not confused about how to deal with such attention longer. So when she reached a short distance away from Kevin, she smiled and raised her hand. Ritual: Reject.

“You- ooof!”

The strong rejection could only influence objects a short distance away from Vye, but Kevin had leaned forward to emphasize height as Vye approached. The man folded over like a flicked house of cards and was blasted out of the tent. He impacted the ground and rolled through the dirt until he tumbled into a low stone wall along the edge of the camp.

Some of the other people in the area looked up from their cooking fires or out of their tents, but they quickly lost interest. That was the only obvious flaw that Vye had been able to detect in the people who worked underneath the Blighted Paragon. If it didn’t concern them directly, most people wouldn’t bother to stick their nose into something they didn’t understand. Even if it appeared that someone else was being harmed right in front of their eyes. In Vye’s mind, the lack of empathy was a serious problem.

That, and the disrespect, of course.

Kevin groaned and rolled over. With a flick of her wrist, Vye threw out another Reject Ritual on her tent behind her. Just in case Kevin wanted to test his luck again. Luckily, she knew where the Blighted Paragon’s tent was, so Vye could stalk forward through the camp without Kevin’s assistance. She left without a backward glance.

Only one word was appropriate to describe the camp around Vye: tidy. Almost obsessively so, considering that most people were refugees from the cities that the Blighted Paragon had already attacked. To dismantle dangerous regimes, the Blighted Paragon claimed, and the attitudes of the refugees did seem to indicate this environment was superior to their prior circumstances.

But even so…

Vye was relieved when the guards at the Blighted Paragon’s tent recognized her and ushered her through to the interior. The central tent was smaller than Vye had expected, not at all fitting for the man who had gathered such a large group of people to his cause. There was no gold, silver, or precious gems displayed.The only hint of its status was the bristling line of guards that surrounded it.

When Vye walked into the tent, she actually stopped up short only a step past the entrance. Because right as she laid her eyes on the Blighted Paragon, she felt something invading her body. She instinctively activated her newest Ritual: Cleanse. With the support of her image, whatever had invaded her body was instantly eradicated. She quickly followed up with a Reject around her bod to prevent it from happening again.

Howard Boltmer, a man with pale and thin hair very obviously combed over to cover up the fact he was balding, simply blinked at Vye’s actions. Vye gritted her teeth. Seriously? Even you? “Mr. Boltmer… was that an act of war?”

Although she wanted to lose her temper, Vye wasn’t quite that mad yet. Suddenly, she was very aware of how many bodies were between her and any allies. Even if there were Riders nearby, would she be able to last here if this man truly intended to take her hostage…?

But Howard Boltmer just shook his head. “Just habit, don’t think anything of it. But to be fair, would you bother to waste your time talking to someone who was weak enough to fall prey to a petty trick like that? Now that you’ve proven yourself… tell me again about the organization you represent. Perhaps it can be one of my partners in the future.”