The Simulacrum - Chapter 98 - Part 2 (Patreon)

"Whit th' heel is wrang wi' ye? Ur ye it ay yer feckin' min'!?"

"Duncan! Language!" my sister hissed at the big dolt at her side, only to then look at Mr. Griffon and exclaim, "Uncle Roland! Are you listening to yourself? You're out of your bloody mind!"

"Kiddo, mind the language," I warned her, and while I was tempted to complete the rule-of-three template by yelling something about Roland's mind with some suitable expletives in tow, I restrained the urge and only uttered, "Please explain yourself."

Mr. Griffon stood straight, put his hands behind his back, and began his explanation in the tone of a military report.

"I have personally encountered Bel of the Abyss on three separate occasions. The first time was during our infiltration of the Dracis family's property in search of a missing artifact, the dragon-slaying spear Ascalon."

"Ah, right! You guys gave us a scare back there!" Abram cut in, much to the disagreement of his wife.

"We're in an official hearing. Don't interrupt!" she hissed at him in a low voice, followed by a much more regal, "It's ancient history at this point, and we don't hold a grudge over it."

Roland acknowledged her comment with a small nod and waited for me to gesture before he continued.

"During this encounter, Bel of the Abyss introduced himself, and his stated goal at the estate was the recovery of the same weapon. He also took two more of our artifacts during the events of the evening, and he professed himself to be a collector of rare items.

While that moniker certainly fits his behavior up to that point, his future actions made me review his potential motives."

He paused here and glanced around the room, apparently gauging everyone's reactions before he continued.

"In short, if Bel of the Abyss's goal was Ascalon, he had no reason to show himself before us. Furthermore, his words and actions during our second encounter created a further discrepancy."

"By the second encounter, you mean the time he showed up during your meeting," I commented, prodding the discussion along.

"Precisely. On this occasion, he appeared in our temporary base, and using a combination of threats of violence and small concessions, he forced us to suspend our activities on the island.

As for the last encounter, you have all been witness to it today, but for the sake of completeness, let us fully recount the events in order: approximately fourteen days ago, Bel of the Abyss encountered grand elder Xinji, Morgana, and Agrawain during their initial negotiations."

He pointed at each of the named figures in turn and didn't continue until they all nodded. Well, the old man only glared, but it was almost the same.

"Afterwards, during the incident described by Morgana..."

That made me raise a brow. Apparently, they already listened to the two Knights' testimonies while they were waiting for Naoren and me to return. I listened closely to Roland's summary of the 'event', and was happy to hear that they were more or less identical to the agreed-upon cover story we hammered out last night.

"... and so after subduing them in secret, Bel used a pair of curse-amplification artifacts to cast a strong geas spell on the two of them, forcing them to cooperate in his plan to disrupt the grand elder's plans. Did I miss anything?"

"I have nothing to add," Morgana stated a touch blandly, after which Roland continued to recount the events from his perspective, ending at the point where I, or rather, Bel tossed Xiao over to Sahi and left the scene of the crime.

"In light of these events, I think the discrepancies in Bel's actions should be plain to see, but let me recount them for the sake of clarity.

Number one: During our first encounter, Bel had no reason to show himself if his goal was as he stated. However, if we only look at the effects of his actions, they paint a different picture. He not only took the dragon slaying spear before we could gain access to it, but he also disarmed Sir Duncan, and by taking Penelope's artifact interfering with the creation of Restricted Zones, he both hindered us in pressing our advantage, as well as enabling the safe evacuation of the people still in the building.

Number two: Despite describing himself as a collector, he was willing to return Penelope's artifact in exchange for ensuring we would temporarily cease our activities.

Number three: Despite his claim that his motivation for negotiating with us was to ensure we wouldn't interfere with his plans, we hadn't heard of him until today.

Number four: He forcefully enlisted the cooperation of Morgana and Agrawain despite his already proven ability to operate on his own.

Number five: Instead of confronting the Feilong Xinji behind closed doors in search of his missing item, he interfered with the latter's plans, triggering the rebellion of the Luu and Rồng clans ahead of time and leading to the chaos at the arena, despite it not serving his stated purpose at all."

"So your point is that this 'Bel of the Abyss' is an unpredictable element?" one of the clan heads whose name I couldn't recall off the top of my head asked, and Roland promptly shook his head.

"While his behavior is certainly erratic, I think it's easy to see the one common throughline in all of his actions."

He paused here, probably just for the sake of suspense, and while I was the last person to cast the first stone when it came to employing dramatics, I really wasn't in the mood at the moment, so I cleared my throat.

"Please explain yourself."

"As you command," Roland responded with a respectful nod and raised his voice again. "Simply put, whenever Bel of the Abyss took action, it resulted in a swift resolution of conflicts with little to no injuries or collateral damage."

"You call this 'little to no injury'?" Zihao cried out while pointing at his bandaged face, and Roland raised a critical brow at his expense.

"With all due respect, it was you who attacked him without listening to any of our warnings. If such a thing happened amongst your ranks, I think it would've been considered justified self-defense."

Zihao was just about to retort, but swallowed his words when Naoren raised his hand. Once he settled down, the bespectacled clan head turned an intrigued glance at the man in the middle, and he continued at once.

"During our first encounter, Bel's intervention ensured that neither side suffered any losses, which would've hindered future cooperation. Similarly, his second intervention ensured that we would remain inactive, preventing any friction with either the Dracis family or the local authorities, and allowing Leonard to collect us under the same banner.

Finally, Bel's actions today make much more sense if we presume his goal all along was to provide an opportunity for us. By robbing the auction house, he alerted us to his presence, which led to us being on standby and allowed us to intervene during the revolt. Similarly, his co-opting of the Feilong grand elder's plan confused the rebellious clans, leading to a disorganized uprising that could be put down with ease while also bringing Morgana and Agrawain to the scene, and thus reuniting them with the rest of us.

In conclusion, when looking at the big picture, Bel of the Abyss's actions are all purposefully designed to lead to cooperation between our factions. Isn't that right, Bel?"

It took all my effort to remain completely still, surrounded by startled intakes of breaths and restless eyes. In particular, Elly was giving me an odd look, but just as I was about to get really nervous, Roland nonchalantly glanced around and shrugged.

"Apparently, he's not here. My apologies for surprising you, but after the last time, you have to admit it was worth a shot."

It was only at this point that I slowly exhaled and grumbled, "Sure, apology accepted."

"Are you saying that Bel is actively working to establish this alliance?" Naoren followed me up, sounding about as uncertain as I felt at the moment.

"Potentially, though my intuition tells me he might be following a larger plan. For explanation, I would like to direct your attention to his last words before he left the arena. Miss Eleanor, if you will?"

The princess, still too busy scrutinizing me, blinked in surprise when she was suddenly thrust into the center of attention.

"Me?"

"Aside from us, you were the only one present at the scene who is also currently in the room, so I wish to humbly ask you to recount your memories of Bel's parting words."

"Oh, I see," she nodded and after some fidgeting in her seat, she lightly cleared her throat and began with, "After exchanging words with Sahi… Oh, right. You might not know, but she's the granddaughter of the late arch-mage Saahira, and she was the main nominee of the local School. You probably remember her as the girl with the revealing robes, and… Wait, that's not that important. Where was I?"

"The part where Bel said something to her," I whispered, and she nodded twice.

"Yes, that. So, he was talking about the two of them meeting a long time ago in another country during a concert of the famous balalaika-player Alexey Andreyev."

"I can't believe you remember details like that, but I don't think that's what Roland wants to hear about," I whispered again, and it was only that this point that the proverbial light bulb lit up over her head.

"Oh, you mean the time-line thing! Right, he was talking about how he caused some kind of paradox and he had to talk to his future self about something."

"Thank you," Roland spoke up before my girlfriend could start rambling again. "As many of you have seen, Bel of the Abyss seems to be able to traverse short distances seemingly instantaneously, completely disregarding abilities that would normally restrict or track spatial movement. During our previous encounters, we have already hypothesized that he is capable of manipulating time itself to achieve this effect."

There was a long beat hanging in the air following Roland's words, so I took it upon myself to nudge the conversation along by acting as the devil's advocate.

"If my memory serves right, the Magi consider time travel to be one of the Three Impossible Magicks. Doesn't that mean that your hypothesis is theoretically impossible?"

"Stopping true dragon fire is also theoretically impossible, yet he did it without suffering any injuries," I shot back, followed by a solemn, "His abilities are already beyond our concept of common sense, and so I would urge everyone to at least be open to the suggestion, especially considering its ramifications.

If my conjecture is correct, Bel may be working on a much larger scale than we can even imagine. It's due to this that I think calling him a villain would be a gross simplification of whatever motive he might have, and considering the benefits his actions have brought to us so far, we should treat him with caution instead of enmity."

Oh, great. Here goes my plan of making Bel into the boogeyman and having everyone join together to face his ever-so-nebulous threat. Nice going, Roland. Real nice. The fact that he mistook my abject disapproval for the exact opposite and puffed up his chest in pride didn't help my mood either.

"So, what exactly do you suppose we should do about this Bel fellow?" dad-in-law raised the question on everyone's mind, and Mr. Griffon responded in a grave tone.

"In my opinion, he must be working on some kind of grand plan. Maybe a very specific future only he can see. To accomplish that, he repeatedly influenced events to ensure our union, yet that does not mean he's our ally. He's a being of impressive powers, uncertain allegiances, and unfathomable end-goals. As such, we should view his words and actions with caution, and treat his every appearance with care, as he is a harbinger of change. In conclusion, I strongly suggest everyone treat him less as an enemy we must fight, but rather as a force of nature we must treat with great care and healthy respect."

Roland's final words were followed by several minutes of solemn silence, during which it once again took all my presence of mind to stop myself from delivering a facepalm-induced concussion on my own head. At last, Abram raised his voice, sounding unusually low-key for once.

"Thank you for your explanation and advice. We will consider it carefully." A couple of others expressed roughly the same sentiment, but Roland remained in the center until I gave him a nod, at which point he gave a Faun-style salute and finally returned to the side of the other Ordo Draconis knights. Once he did that, and the room quieted down a little, dad-in-law spoke up again, this time his voice as loud and boisterous as usual. "So, putting this Bel fellow aside, we still have a couple of pressing matters to discuss! For example, we have a dragon! Speaking of which, where is she?"

"Lady Xiao is currently resting," one of the Feilong elders responded at the back. "She's still young, and she exerted herself too much, but she refused to lay down until the clan head returned from his duel. I believe she should be already asleep."

"Oh. It that case, let's not wake her up!" Abram replied loud enough that if she was in a nearby room, it was guaranteed he would've woken her up anyway.

"More importantly, I can't help but ask just how long the Feilong family was planning to keep this huge news under wraps," the pale lady at the table, the one with the big fluffy hairdo, cut in, her words all but dripping with vitriol.

"I second Lady Yseult," another Western Draconian bigwig joined the fray, an elderly man. Was he the representative of the Lotans or the Zomoks?

Either way, their inquiries turned all attention to the Feilong trio at the table, and this time it was the grand elder who spoke up first.

"My granddaughter is still young and inexperienced. This world is full of frogs waiting to dine on swan flesh, and it was my decision to hide her away from hungry eyes. To protect her until she was old enough to protect herself."

"How very noble of you," I commented on the side, and the old man sent me a glare at once, so I hastily added, "I'm not being sarcastic here. You had the right idea. A flesh-and-blood dragon is a big deal, and with a brotherhood of knights running around and hunting them, keeping her identity under wraps was a smart decision. Luckily for you, that particular threat is now resolved, and the cat is already out of the bag anyway, so we need to figure out what to do with her." He looked like he wanted to say something, so I quickly added, "I, for one, would like to recommend that you let her stay on the island for a while. As you said, she's still inexperienced, and I happen to know another dragon who could teach her a thing or two."

"Excuse me?" one of the clan heads blurted out after a literal spit-take.

"Preposterous!" the grand elder thundered and nearly rose from his seat. "There's no way such a convenient thing would happen! You must only want to keep her in your sight, so you could sink your fangs into her!"

"Grand elder, please calm down," Naoren called out a tad morosely and put a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Brother Leonard already discussed this with Xiao Xiao on the way here, and she requested that he would introduce her to this mysterious hidden dragon."

"Did… she…?" the old guy deflated, with the wind taken out of his sail like that.

"She did," I confirmed with just a hint of schadenfreude. "She was reeeeally looking forward to it too, but since she's your ward, I ultimately leave it up to your decision. Of course, it might reeeeally disappoint her if you stopped her. She might even grow to resent you. You know how kids are." The grand elder continued to wordlessly glare at me, during which time Elly poked me in the side again, so I hastily toned back the sass and added, "Anyhow, this is a family matter, so I'll leave the rest to your discretion."

"We'll discuss the offer in private and contact you later," said Naoren, only to then glance at the table in the middle and amend, "But speaking of family matters, what should we do with those four?"

"I think it was already decided that the two clan heads are going to be dealt with by the disciplinary council of the Feilong clan," Abram suggested, but Naoren shook his head.

"If we are to proceed with the merging of our families into a single organization, I believe a proper internal judicial system would be necessary," he said, bringing up one of the topics we had discussed in the past sooner than expected. "I propose we temporarily postpone their punishment until negotiations have concluded on the exact form, nature, and membership of said judicial establishment."

"I second the notion," I spoke up at once. "I would also request the presence and active participation of the Ordo Draconis during the creation of the laws that would be enforced by this organization to ensure they would promote cooperative, egalitarian, and lawful behavior among the members."

"That goes without saying," Naoren agreed on the spot, despite many of the other clan leaders looking skeptical.

"And what about these two?" Abram pointed at the Knights sitting at the table. "Are you taking them in?"

"What do you mean 'taking them in'?" the grand elder exclaimed, suddenly furious again. "They conspired against us and gravely injured many today!"

"I'm fairly sure that the only person who got injured by them was you," I responded, and before I could add something along the lines of 'and you deserved it', Elly stopped me by pre-emptively poking me in the side. I glanced at her, and after a few seconds of gaze-judo, I gave up and added, "They were technically under the control of Bel of the Abyss at the time, so if you want to ask for compensation for damages incurred, talk with him. If it would make you feel any better, I can give you a public apology."

"That would be unnecessary, brother," Naoren answered in the stead of the fuming old man, and I took the opportunity to agree at once.

"Very well, then. Father? Can I ask you to keep these two under custody for the time being?"

Abram's eyes lit up with delight and he exclaimed a joyful, "Of course, son! At the same place where these for used to stay?"

"Yes. In fact, they would also be staying over for a while. That way, they could look after these two, in case there would be some residual mind-control in play, as well as be readily available during the future council meetings."

"Sounds reasonable enough! I will inform the staff that we'll have guests!"

"Speaking of 'council meetings'," mom-in-law cut in, accompanied by a pair of air quotes. "Today was a long day, and all of us are tired and need time to discuss everything heard here with their inner circles. I would like to propose to close this meeting for today."

"Before that, I have one last item on today's agenda we should agree upon," the lady with the beehive 'do interjected, and she even produced a fancy fan she could dramatically close and tap against the table. "What shall this proposed alliance of Draconian clans and families be named?"

"Ah, you're right, Yseult! That's a really good question, but… I don't have anything on the mind!" dad-in-lay admitted a touch awkwardly, but then his eyes landed on me and lit up at once. "Say, son? Do you have any good ideas?"

"Erm… Draconic Federation?" I blurted out without thinking.

"Oh? I like the sound of that!"

"Federation implies at least partial self-governance," the lady with the fan mused and tapped the table again, "The Albion family approves."

"Does anyone else have another idea?" Naoren raised his voice above that of the murmuring clan heads, but nobody seemed to volunteer.

"I personally think it has a nice ring to it," Dobry Smok noted on one side, and a young-ish Eastern female representative nodded along.

"Yes, we also think it sounds nice. Should we put it to vote?"

There were more than a couple of voices in the crowd agreeing to her proposal, and when I cautiously glanced Naoren's way, I noticed he was already rubbing his temple while frowning at me.

Well, tough luck, buddy. If you're annoyed by the way things turned out during this meeting, all I can say is, join the club…