Chapter 77

Meanwhile, at that time, a meeting hall discussion was taking place in the Marren Village .

It was about the disappearance of a certain Ortem madman and other issues associated with it .

In addition to the head of the house who had a voice in the village, Abels father, Zelrut, who was at the center of the matter, had been invited to this meeting .

The assembly is led by the chief of the clan .

About a dozen people were gathered .

Norman Karlco, who would normally have been absent from the meeting in opposition to the chief, also showed up on this day .

Ever since the incident when his son Noswell had hit a big poka streak in the exchange market, Norman had been unable to get the Karlco familys family business of cultivating incense leaf to work .

He had even fallen asleep due to the shock of the incident until just recently .

He had just managed to recover his health after the Chiefs mercy had allowed him to exchange the pile of stock of incense leaf, which had been turned into mere trash, for cheap Demon Ore Coins .

Norman was in no position to refuse the Chiefs call .

Besides, there was a possibility that he might be entrusted with the task of cultivating the new incense leaf that was being promoted by the clan chiefs initiative in the future .

There was no reason for him to displease the Chief by being absent from the meeting .

His ambition to run the village on behalf of the Chieftains family had not disappeared .

But now he had to put himself in line with the chieftains family and regain the authority he had lost .

Norman was a calculating, ruthless and smart man .

He was generally excellent, except for his mental weakness and panicking at the unexpected .

On the other hand, Abels father, Zelrut, was buoyant .

Never before had the Berek family been called to a gathering of a small number of people .

It was true that his son had broken the laws of the village, but fortunately, Abel had already completed his coming-of-age ceremony .

Moreover, the law that says that you cant get out was originally established because the people that gets out generally encounter bad things .

Its not something that your family members can be blamed for breaking .

Its more the right of the incense leaf .

The reason why the Karlco family had authority up until now, even to the point of being close to a chieftain, was due to the fact that they had a near-monopoly on the rights of the incense leaf .

Kelrut believed that since Abel had dazzled them, the whole right of the incense leaf would be passed around to him as his father .

He couldnt sleep until late night because he thought that this times discussion will be about the right of the incense leaf .

After fidgeting all morning, my wife and daughter stared at me .

Zelrut is certainly not a bad person .

He had a feeling of regret that he might have pushed his own agenda too far in response to his sons disappearance .

But that was it, and he had switched to this one .

This meeting was a major historical event for the Belek family, and Zelrut saw it as such .

The Marrens, who often married among their relatives, tended to be strong in their kinship lineage, but that tended to make them exclusive to other families altogether .

Power and financial power were also heavily skewed, and there were not many opportunities to overturn this .

Originally, the Berek family was not a quick family, and up to the present generation, they had been viewed through colored glasses because of Abels eccentricities .

For such a Berek family, the Incense Leaf War in the exchange market is a miraculous reversal of fortune .

I couldnt help but fidget now .

Zelrut was not a bad person . However, he was just a man who was weak in power .

He didnt think that the reclusive son could go out and do well, so part of him was high-minded that he would come back eventually .

But that didnt mean he didnt regret or feel remorse .

If Abel came back, he would make concessions, he thought .

Zelrut has been going to the Chiefs mansion these days .

He was beginning to think that he might be able to get him to marry the chiefs granddaughter, Firo, without forcing him to marry his sister, Gizel .

That way, he thought, Abel would have less resistance .

He would be taken as a son-in-law, but if he sold Abel to the Chieftains family, It also works quite well for the rights of the incense leaf . It would be a no-go move .

The biggest obstacle, in that case, would be Gizel, but he was taking it lightly, thinking it would be manageable .

Zelrut had been getting arrogant lately, as things had been moving along at a brisk pace of late .

There was no limit to human greed .

When you can see the top, its instinct to crawl up .

Thanks . Im sorry to hear that my son got you into trouble before .

No, no no no, dont worry about it . Its only natural that there are better ones out there .

Zelrut looked at Norman Karlco, who was seated next to me, and swore to himself that I would not fall like this guy .

Norman had completely lost his demeanor, and the arrogance he used to have was completely gone .

Norman was Norman, poised and sneering, but in his heart, he was burning with anger at Zelruts implied attitude .

All of you . Im thankful to you for answering my call . We have a number of issues to deal with but first I must apologize for my failure to do so .

After everyone had gathered and settled in, the Chief spoke up .

The assembly hall fell silent, and everyone listened attentively to his next words .

Abels method of cultivating the incense leaf was impossible to replicate . Abel was the only one who could make it . It was carefully written down, and thats why I understood it so well .

With a crunch, the two chairs collapsed .

Zelrut crumpled to the floor with both elbows on the floor .

Mumumu, that Abel

In contrast to the sinking Zelrut, Norman stands up vigorously .

Yosshaaaaaa!

Norman shouted loudly and rejoiced .

In his excitement, he leaned upon the round table and thanked the spirits of his ancestors by signing a large cross with his hand .

The people around him were dazed at the sight of it, but to Norman, it was of no consequence .

The opportunity to regain the monopoly and authority of the Karlco family once again came around quickly .

Unreplicable! Hahahahahaa! If thats the case, then I have no business for this place now! Now that Abel and Abels incense leaf are gone, theres nothing to fear! Oh old man, and the Bereks, remember that for going against me will cost you high!

Norman said and slammed the magic ore bag he had been carrying around with him for the rest of his life onto the desk .

After taking a glance at the stunned people from the other houses, he walked out of the meeting place with ease .

However, once you learned the taste of the incense leaf, it was hard to get rid of it .

Once one smoked Abels incense leaves, the Karlco familys incense leaves were nothing more than humus .

Later on, Norman would get down on his knees to ask the chief for forgiveness for his rudeness in this matter, but he did not know that now .

The chief interrupts his coughing and resumes the conversation with the two disorganized chairs intact .

The chief said he would make a flavorless incense-smoke leaf peep and mix it with Abels incense leaf to increase the bulk .

While he was stretching it out, he would slowly change the formula and replace it with something else .

This would not spare the incense leaf from declining, but it would spare the chaos in the village .

As a clan leader, as soon as he was able to strengthen the circulation of the Demon Ore Coin, his attachment to the Incense leaves had already faded .

Even if the Incense Leaf Keepers were to decline, it wouldnt be a problem for him .

In fact, I dont think well of the incense leaf people, which makes life difficult for individuals and creates a gap between the rich and the poor .

Its a good thing that I can use this opportunity to get rid of it .

Then I ask you to keep this matter a secret . If it gets out, it could cause a riot . You must try to convince the Karlcos to cooperate . With the Karlcos cooperation will make things easier for us . Besides, as it stands now, it is conceivable that Norman, in his haste, might leak it .

Before doing so, he would probably realize his blunder, but just in case .

The Karlco family is an expert in the incense leaf, albeit a difficult one to handle . They are also adept at cultivating them .

He had to draw them into his group .

Thenhmm?

The Chief suddenly looked at the wall .

He felt a strange flow of magic power .

Ill be right back . Wait for a moment .

The Chief left the meeting place and looked around .

The signs of someone had already disappeared .

However, the soil near the opposite side of the wall where he had felt the magic power earlier was slightly sunk in .

It was the remains of where they had placed the Ortem .

Someone had killed the signs and was eavesdropping here .

This was the best evidence of that .

The chief thought he knew all the people in the village who were reasonably proficient in the use of magic .

However, He has no idea who can suppress their presence while having Ortem eavesdrop on them .

Nor did he have any idea of anyone who would risk that much and plan to eavesdrop on the gathering .

Feeling disturbed, the chief returned to the assembly hall .