Everyone was glued to Alaric, waiting on him to say the next words out of his mouth.
But before he could continue, Reena raised her hand. "If this matter involves everyone, then where is Michael?" she asked.
Although not officially part of the Major and Minor Factions, Michael had long proven himself to be at their level at the very least.
"I have sent him a letter and even personally visited his store in Metropolis. But according to his companions, he is currently away on business.
This is the same for the Duchess. She should be here right now, but I was unable to get a hold of her even through courier pigeons."
Those two figures were the only ones not present in this meeting.
"Is the Duchess okay? She's been out of Metropolis for a really long extended period," said Lucius.
Unbeknownst to all of them, the Duchess was currently enjoying her vacation in the Nation of Reborn.
And as for Michael, even though he wasn't present at the meeting, that didn't mean that no one from Reborn was.
There was a certain shadow in the corner of the room that was silently observing the whole situation.
"As you all know, the Duchess and I have planned for a parade to welcome the tourists to Metropolis. This was supposed to help them get to know our city better and help facilitate a trade between us, or maybe even have them move into our city permanently."
Everyone nodded. This was a pretty good plan so far, with many companies benefitting thanks to the burst of tourists coming into Metropolis.
Of course, only those that were in the parade route could benefit directly from those tourists. But that would change if there were more visitors in Metropolis.
That was why everyone was waiting for the next batch of tourists to finally arrive. There were still the Elves, the Werewolves, and the Draconians still left.
"Has something happened to the tourists?" asked Erlos.
Alaric nodded. "There has. Unfortunately, it seems that they no longer
have any plans on visiting Metropolis."
As soon as he said those words, everyone stood up and started complaining.
"What? How could that be?"
"No more tourists in Metropolis? Then how are we going to earn more Sand Dollars?"
"You're kidding right?"
Alaric shook his head. "No, I am not. I thought we had reached an understanding with the tourists. But they changed their minds."
"How could they change their mind? Where are they going? They can't just camp out in the wilderness forever," said Aerith.
Then, Alaric took out a giant map of the Royal Continent highlighting three specific locations.
In the very left part of the map was Metropolis, where they were currently at.
At the very right was where the Wyverns dropped off the tourists after travelling in between continents.
They were all familiar with this map and knew that there was almost a straight line of easy travel from the shore to Metropolis, making it easy for tourists to go to their city.
But now, in between those two landmarks, there was a newly
Of course, only those that were in the parade route could benefit directly from those tourists. But that would change if there were more visitors in Metropolis.
That was why everyone was waiting for the next batch of tourists to finally arrive. There were still the Elves, the Werewolves, and the Draconians still left.
"Has something happened to the tourists?" asked Erlos.
Alaric nodded. "There has. Unfortunately, it seems that they no longer
have any plans on visiting Metropolis."
As soon as he said those words, everyone stood up and started
complaining.
"What? How could that be?"
"No more tourists in Metropolis? Then how are we going to earn more
Sand Dollars?"
"You're kidding right?"
Alaric shook his head. "No, I am not. I thought we had reached an understanding with the tourists. But they changed their minds."
"How could they change their mind? Where are they going? They can't just camp out in the wilderness forever," said Aerith.
Then, Alaric took out a giant map of the Royal Continent highlighting three specific locations.
In the very left part of the map was Metropolis, where they were
currently at.
At the very right was where the Wyverns dropped off the tourists
after travelling in between continents.
They were all familiar with this map and knew that there was almost a
straight line of easy travel from the shore to Metropolis, making it
easy for tourists to go to their city.
But now, in between those two landmarks, there was a newly
"What do you think other territories would think after they hear this news? Do you think they'd just feel sorry for us now that they're not coming to Metropolis?" she asked Reptar.
"No... they'd, they'd take advantage of the opportunity," he muttered.
Alaric sighed. "And therein lies the crux of our problem, ladies and gentlemen. The Draconians have given the other territories a chance to gain an advantage over us. And trust that they will take it.
If they successfully lure the tourists over to their territory, then we will lose our title as one of the biggest capital cities in the Royal Continent.
Now, I know that we all consider ourselves as rivals, opponents, and
enemies.
But in just this one instance, I hope that we could all come together and move as a unified group.
The Draconians are a prideful group. They do not believe that we deserve the right to grace us with their presence. So we must show it to them. We must show them why Metropolis stands at the top!" Once Alaric finished his words, everyone had the same goal in mind. They wanted to prove their strengths in New Sparta.
They would have to set aside their differences and work together.
After all, the other territories would certainly want to work together
to pull them down.
In short, being at the top for so long put a target on their backs, which meant that they all had to cover for each other's if they wanted
to survive this new era of tourists.
Meanwhile, a certain shadow in the corner smiled before moving out
of the room.
After a good night's sleep, Michael was suddenly awoken by a cluster
of knocks at his door.
He got up and opened the door. "What is it?" he asked groggily.
And to his surprise, it was actually Guillermo and the other Vampires.
It was quite weird to see them here and not in the church. So, he
immediately knew that something was up.
"Is there a problem?"
Guillermo nodded. "We have been trying to recruit all the Vampires that we could contact into the religion of the Iron Maiden.
But lately, we have seen less and less Vampires coming towards Metropolis. Something is happening, Michael.
And thanks to sir Fudge and the Shadow Orcs, we were able to find
out the reason why.
It's the Royalblood Vampires! All the other Vampires are following their lead, and they are being led away from Metropolis!
And get this... they say that they found Gaia!