Chapter 199: Cutting The Wings Of The Bird Before It Takes The Flight
He didn’t blame her.
The assassination attempt could’ve cost them everything.
It wasn’t something easily forgiven.
He himself wanted to kill Oran.
But still...
He knew the bigger problem wasn’t killing Oran.
It was what would come after.
As a Lord Candidate, his name was bound to make waves sooner or later.
And if that happened, someone could easily twist the story into "Isaac murdered someone after failing to buy property" or some other nonsense.
The political fallout would outweigh the satisfaction of vengeance.
Selene’s voice cut into his thoughts.
"Are you two even listening? You should save the lovey-dovey act for when you’re alone, you know?"
Her voice was light, playful.
But there was a slight pause in her words, just barely noticeable.
Isaac turned toward her. "Sorry. We’re listening. The place looks solid."
Alice added, "It’s quite good."
They walked up to the fourth floor again where most of the signing would take place.
The paperwork was already prepped.
Selene seemed to have handled the negotiations ahead of time.
The final price was twenty billion Obols.
Isaac wasn’t surprised.
It was high, but considering the location and structure, it was a fair price.
And given his product, he would quickly earn back his investment.
Selene handed over the finalized documents after a quick review, then looked at Isaac.
"Don’t worry about the staff. I’ve already started a selection for them. If everything goes smoothly, you’ll be able to open shop in three days."
"Three days?" Isaac raised an eyebrow. "That’s fast."
"I’ve been preparing for this since before you asked. I knew it was coming."
He nodded. "Thanks."
Selene smiled.
As they stepped outside, Isaac noticed Alice lagging behind for a moment.
She wasn’t even pretending to hide the glare she sent Oran’s way.
Her hand kept twitching as if she couldn’t wait to pull out her Warhammer from the spatial ring and use it to flatten Oran.
Isaac reached out, gently grabbed her hand, and gave a firm shake of his head.
’I want to kill that bastard too. But let’s leave it to Professor Catherine for now.’
Alice didn’t answer.
But she nodded.
Her silence was enough to show she understood, even if she didn’t like it.
Isaac wasn’t as regretful as Alice.
He could see Oran was undergoing some kind of psychological torture.
Professor Catherine was treating him ’nicely.’
’Torturing him is much better than killing him today.’
Isaac could do it later when he had a way to hide his actions.
He didn’t realize he had started to think of kidnapping and eliminating people as a normal occurrence.
Since he had been attacked first, he believed it was fair if he did the same to the other party.
They left the building and walked back toward their ride.
The sun had started lowering just slightly, casting longer shadows over the city.
People bustled around the nearby plaza, unaware of the tension that had passed just a few meters from them.
Isaac looked at the shop one last time.
’Finally, it’s starting in earnest.’
...
Governor Marcellus Dane POV
Governor Marcellus Dane sat behind his large, oak desk.
His silver-streaked black hair, neatly combed, glinted faintly under the warm office lights.
Papers were stacked in front of him. There were reports, personnel files, financial summaries, and intelligence briefings from across Fortified City 50.
His sharp eyes scanned through the top document, one finger lightly tapping the desk every few seconds.
The room was quiet, save for the occasional rustle of pages. Then came a knock at the door.
He didn’t look up. "Enter."
The door opened, and Vale Rae stepped in.
The guildmaster of Titan Edge, one of the four strongest guilds in the city, always moved with the ease of someone used to being in control.
But in front of the governor, his steps were cautious, and measured.
He stopped a few feet from the desk and stood silently, waiting.
Marcellus continued to read for another minute or so, flipping to the next page with an almost exaggerated slowness.
Finally, he placed the papers down and spoke without looking up.
"How did the assassination attempt on Isaac fail so easily?"
His tone was calm, and quiet. There was no hint of anger. But Vale’s shoulders tensed slightly.
"I instructed you to give Oran the best men from the black market. Assassins should’ve been skilled enough to at least threaten him. That boy should’ve been rattled."
"They were the best, Governor," Vale replied, keeping his voice steady. "I had handpicked them. They were veterans of multiple high-risk assignments. I... didn’t expect them to fail so easily."
Governor had Vale both knew Isaac would’ve won.
But they wanted to give him a scare until Vale entered to save the day.
Marcellus finally looked up.
His eyes met Vale’s, and a small smile played across his lips.
Vale’s shoulders trembled.
"There was one good news at least. We now know Isaac and Alice are quite strong. And it seems the Evil Sword has been hiding her true strength until now."
The Governor leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.
For a moment, there was only silence between them.
Then Vale asked, "Sir, do we really need to resort to threats and assassination before offering Isaac our hand? We could try something simple at first—"
"Vale."
That one word was enough.
Vale froze, mouth half open.
He closed it and took a step back, almost unconsciously.
The weight of that single word carried more than any threat.
The Governor studied him for a few seconds longer before continuing.
"Isaac already has everything he could want. Power. Connections. Backing. There’s no reason for him to accept our offer unless he’s desperate. And from what I’m seeing, he’s not even close to desperate."
Vale remained silent.
Marcellus picked up another document from the pile and glanced at it, then set it aside.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
Receiving permission, Vale spoke again.
"With all due respect, sir... we can’t know how Isaac would react until we try. He’s still young. Maybe if we approached him directly—"
"You think he’ll respond well to that?" the Governor cut in, raising a brow. "He’s not stupid, Vale. He knows who we are. He knows what we’re capable of. And if he is smart, he might suspect us as the mastermind of the assassination attempt. After all, I’m the one who controls the black market."
Vale didn’t respond.
The Governor tapped the edge of his desk thoughtfully, then added, "You’re aware he’s been trying to schedule a meeting with your sister?"
Vale stiffened.
He wasn’t surprised the Governor knew.
He was only surprised how quickly he had found out.
That information had been intentionally kept off the radar.
He’d made sure of it himself.
"Yes," he said after a pause. "I know."
Marcellus smiled faintly, as if amused. "You do realize why he’s doing it, right?"
Vale didn’t answer.
"He’s consolidating his position, gathering allies, and increasing his strength. Why do you think he is doing that?"
The Governor let the words hang in the air before leaning slightly forward.
"I assume you understand what must be done."
Vale nodded slowly. "We need to cut his wings before takes the flight."
Marcellus’s smile returned. "Exactly."
There was a beat of silence before he reached for a small folder resting on the side of the desk.
He opened it, glanced through the contents, and spoke while reading.
"Tell the Nagas they’ve been failing too much. This time, they either complete the task and a proper blow... or we will cut ties with them for good. The task is of course, dealing with Isaac."
"Yes, Governor."
Vale bowed slightly.
He knew the Governor would want him to save Isaac at the last moment to appear as the savior.
He turned to leave.
"And Vale," Marcellus added before the man could reach the door, "if your sister continues interacting with him, deal with it. Since you’ve been refusing me until now, I expect you wouldn’t treat Isaac and differently."
"...I understand."
The door clicked shut a moment later.
Marcellus leaned back again and stared at the closed door.
"Isaac," he muttered under his breath, almost amused. "Let’s see how high you can fly before the storm reaches you."
Then he returned to his documents as if the conversation had never happened.
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