Chapter 392: Angry Politician
(The Twelfth Elder’s POV, Planet Tithia)
The Twelfth Elder waited eagerly for the good news from the heist team that they had successfully collected the scroll.
After all, what could go wrong?
They had guaranteed access to the vault,
and a secure way back out.
This was as easy a mission as they could get, and Noir did not believe that Jayden or his team would mess it up.
"Well, I wonder how much additional loot they are going to carry apart from the scroll? Must be worth tens of billions of MP at the least," Noir thought excitedly, as he really couldn’t wait to get his hands on some much-needed extra money to fill his coffers and get some infrastructure projects started on Planet Vorthas.
*Buzzzz*
*Bzzzzz*
His private communication crystal vibrated, and he picked it up with a big smile on his face.
"Jayden! You called back... I hope everything went well?" he said as soon as he answered. However, the face that stared back at him was not that of Jayden, but instead Officer Bell.
"Bell? What happened? Why are you calling me instead of Jayden? Is he injured or something?" Noir asked in a surprised voice, but received no immediate answer from the other side.
"Officer Jayden... he, um," Bell began but could not finish, looking away from the communication crystal, as if trying his best to hold back tears.
"Officer Jayden couldn’t make it back, Twelfth Elder... We don’t know if he’s dead or captured. But he’s behind enemy lines," Bell said with much difficulty, and Noir’s face began to drop.
"What do you mean he’s behind enemy lines? What happened to the mission? Did you guys manage to take the scroll or not?" Noir asked in panic, as Officer Bell hung his head in shame.
"No, my Lord, we— umm, we managed to take every single treasure inside that vault, except the scroll.
It was reinforced behind seven layers of protective casing, and we did not have enough time nor the proper tools to break through it.
Officer Jayden stayed back and tried to bring it home while the rest of us escaped, but in the end he could not make it back before the portal collapsed.
We are currently in the clear and heading back towards Planet Tithia, but the mission has been a failure.
We have looted the Serpents, but we couldn’t bring back the scroll," Bell reported, as the silence that followed clung to the room like a thick fog, only broken by the low grinding sound of the Twelfth Elder’s teeth clenching behind tight lips.
For a moment, Noir said nothing.
He just stared.
Stared at Bell’s bowed head on the screen, at the way the soldier avoided eye contact, at the tremble in his voice while reporting the loss.
Then slowly, Noir leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing, fingers steepled in front of his lips as his mind began to tick.
What did this loss mean for his political career?
The scroll was the goal.
Without it, the operation was incomplete. Inexcusable.
But billions of MP worth of treasure... that was enough to fund new recruitment campaigns, weapons upgrades, and even complete the stalled infrastructure work on Planet Vorthas.
If he presented it right, if he spun it as a crippling blow to the Serpents, the Elders Council might just call it a partial win.
He’d still get some credit. Still avoid public backlash from the citizens of his planet.
’Maybe, this isn’t all bad,’ he thought momentarily. But then his eyes flicked back to Bell’s face, and the temporary calm vanished.
He slammed both palms down on the desk, causing the crystal interface to flicker violently as he exploded, his voice echoing like a thunderclap across the chamber.
"You miserable pack of gutless cowards!" he roared, venom dripping from every syllable.
"Do you even comprehend what you’ve done? Do you understand what that scroll was worth to the cult? And you left it behind! You left it behind for Jayden to deal with alone because what— what, it was hard to break?"
Bell flinched, but said nothing.
"Jayden died for nothing. His death gained us nothing but trinkets. And you have the audacity to return empty-handed and call this a report?"
Noir stood up now, pacing.
"You had guaranteed access. Do you know how rare that is?
Do you have any idea what the Dragon Candidate went through to give you this opportunity to raid the Serpents’ vault?
It was the perfect mission, and somehow, you lot still managed to botch it beyond belief!"
He jabbed a finger at the screen.
"Look at you! Sulking like you lost a puppy. You failed a mission your little sisters could’ve pulled off if given the chance, and now you want my sympathy?"
He let out a bitter laugh and waved his hand in disgust.
"I don’t want your tears, Bell. I want results. And next time— if there even is a next time— you better deliver me the mission objective and not your excuses."
He leaned in close, his voice now a deadly whisper.
"Tell the rest of your pathetic team to report in as soon as they land. I want a debriefing. I want details. And by the stars above, I better not hear that you lost even a single piece of that stolen treasure in transit. Because if you did...."
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t have to.
The screen went black as Noir forcefully cut the connection, standing in the middle of the room, chest heaving, eyes gleaming with a furious mix of rage and calculation.
This wasn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
He could still spin this as a half-win.
Sure, it would be harder for him to directly name Leo the next Dragon with this, as this half-success was not good enough to convince all Elders of his potential.
However, with a bit of sympathetic storytelling, Noir was confident he could still keep Leo alive in that race to become Dragon at the very least.