Chapter 696 Hidden Bloodline: Shapeshifter 4
One week later.
At a location that had been recently chosen to be the new clandestine meeting place for those from trade families who wished to talk, multiple people had just begun to arrive accompanied by squads of Mages and Fighters.
An hour later, the meeting began inside the room that had been constructed just that morning.
"Families Bonugo, Kotares, Juniber and Anifares have arrived. Let the meeting begin."
As the official butler who had been appointed to take care of both the duties of checking everyone who was coming and the job of taking care of their needs said these words, the meeting officially started after the door closed behind him.
There were only 4 people in the room, with all those who had accompanied them waiting outside. Of these four, two were men, and two were women.
Of the two men, one had a potbelly, but the other looked like a Fighter: lean and strong.
It was he who stood up to speak first.
"As per our earlier discussion, I went to meet with Dominic personally. I've known him for years, possibly more than anyone else except for his wife and family. It really is him. There was no change whatsoever in the way he behaved, and, as a Fighter, I can notice even the smallest of things, such as how he is still a reluctant teetotaler because he gets violent indigestion every time he sips a glass of wine. This doesn't stop him from staring at others' glasses, and I made sure to check whether it was present. He also knew all the private things that we have spoken about which only the two of us are aware of, so it is impossible that someone has done anything to his family."
As these words hung over the room, frowns appeared on the other three.
Of the two women, one was middle-aged, but her skin was still flawless, and her features retained the beauty that had once been praised as that which could make the sky feel so jealous it would rather it be night so that not many could admire it.
The other was younger, and because her face was hidden behind a veil, her age couldn't exactly be discerned, but everyone knew that the leader of the Juniber family was one of the youngest to have taken charge in any major family in recent time.
It was this young lady who spoke out loud, now.
"Maybe it is time we consider that he found a pot of Ker Gems somewhere…"
As her voice trailed off, the pot-bellied man smacked the table between them with his fist and roared, "Impossible! That damn pyramid thing sucked him completely dry, just like it….argh! If I could get my hands on that damn Jordan, I'll…"
"That's not the point. The point is that we four have allied together because we were smart enough to see, first, what's wrong with Jordan's scheme. We've managed to save at least a part of our money. We decided not to tell the others as it is a golden opportunity to rise above them all. That was our one rule. Dominic's actions, though, need to be handled appropriately, and that is why we have gathered. Let us focus on that. We can curse Jordan and plot against him all we want in the sanctity of our homes."
With a humph, the pot-bellied man controlled his anger and folded his hands as the middle-aged woman spoke these words calmly.
It was the other man who opened his mouth again in the silence that followed.
"It is possible that this is a plot of his to use whatever he has left to rise up in the ranking of trade families by garnering goodwill and admiration. Or maybe he wants to build a sub-tier orphanage to steal the money of the bank by showing bogus records. Either way, we can't know for sure. So what do we do?"
This was the main thing that needed to be decided upon, and after a moment of thought, the lady with the veil said, "I have a suggestion. It is safe, and regardless of the truth, it will benefit us."
The lady from the Juniber family was known for her wit which had enabled her lowly trade family which had earlier been quite small to grow exponentially by capitalizing on the business of innovative trinket creation and export.
So, when she said this, everyone else perked up.
"I say we volunteer to help, by assembling and sending all the orphans in the Alliance to the orphanage. This will be one of the biggest problems to tackle later on, too, so by doing this, we will be getting quite a large share of that goodwill. It will also give us access to the orphanage, and if it is a scam, it will be a golden opportunity to step in and denounce the Viscargo family in order to take charge and reap the profits."
After some thought, this idea was liked by all, and after some more discussion where the details were hashed out, the meeting was adjourned.
The lady with the veil left with her guards to a sprawling mansion that was located in the Kingdom of the Elves.
Even though there had been discrimination against humans before, she had been smart to rope in a poor elf to act as the figurehead of the family so that they could prosper from the trinkets of the elves.
That might not be so necessary now, though, as conditions were changing for the better. However, on the outside, the elf family that inhabited this mansion had a close tie-up with the Juniber family who also lived inside it, even though the truth was that the elves were mere 'employees' who were oath-bound to do their duty.
After arriving, she headed to her room where privacy was given the utmost importance. There were three doors with guards posted that stood between outsiders who wished to even approach her room, and after passing them all, she arrived in a large room with a courtyard in the middle with artistic flowing water and the sound of soft music emanating from trinkets carefully hidden from view.
The moment she walked forward, though, she couldn't help but yelp as she found herself swept up into a strong hug, before her lips became sealed due to a kiss that was planted on them from above the veil.
The kiss continued as she playfully laughed and removed the veil, and after a full minute, the man who had been waiting for her parted from her embrace and asked, "So?"
It was Jordan, and he had the same neutral expression on his face with which he handled most thing. Even when he had 'gotten' that incredible idea about the pyramid scheme, all he had allowed himself was a small smile.
"Like you asked, it's done. They've agreed to send the kids there."
With a nod, Jordan bent and kissed her forehead before saying. "Great. Head inside and freshen up, I'll meet you there."
Blushing a bit on seeing the enigmatic expression of this man who had captivated her and helped her to rise this high in her family while taking it higher and higher in the rankings, she nodded demurely and skipped toward the bedroom.
Jordan waited for her silhouette to disappear inside the room before touching a communication trinket and saying, "It's done. The families will be moving as you ordered."
…
Lan was exhausted.
He was currently disguised as Dominic's wife- an aloof woman who only cared about whether she was better dressed than anyone else in the room.
Her personality was rather shallow, but the man had married her for the wealth behind her, and nothing else.
"I assure you, when everything is ready, we will have a grand gala inside! Oh, the children can watch, and we will event treat them to sweets!"
As the women who had come for the tea party laughed on hearing her absurd statement, Lan couldn't help but sigh and hope that this would be over soon.
Yet…there was two more hours to go, so he decided to try something that had startled him quite a bit the other day.
Dominic and his wife were two of the main characters that Lan was impersonating these past few days. He had had to attend multiple meetings with the bank and with the suppliers and builders who would be doing everything under his name, and all of these things had to happen to make everyone think that he was going to go through with it, until the time came to take the money and leave.
All of this would have been impossible if the real people weren't locked up in the basement, and if they hadn't been put under some spell by that Mage which allowed him to ask and receive answers about anything he wished. This was how he had handled situations where information that only he and the asker should know about had been referred to, as he had checked up on all the stuff like this before the meeting, itself.
It was during a particular three-hour meeting during which this had happened.
He had been pretty idle, and he had wanted to try something.
The idea had come out of nowhere, and mainly because he had nothing else to do, he had gone ahead with it.
Inside his mind, he had first made an effort to clump together everything he knew about the one he was impersonating. This was all the stuff he found out about them in his tailing process that he consciously drew on during the impersonation: their quirks, their habits, their motivations, etc, etc.
After that, Lan had simply tried to…put that clump in the forefront of his mind, with the hope that he could enter an 'autopilot' mode where the impersonation would be able to be carried out naturally, using just half of his mind, whereas the other half could do as it wished.
No sooner had he initiated the first attempt to do this, it had worked, instantly.
Dominic became a different personality in his mind, and his body and thoughts flowed as naturally as if he was Dominic.
Yet, Lan was actually a spectator, with the knowledge that he could take back control when he wished.
He had been so startled by this, that he had stood up with shock and resumed how he normally was.
It fascinated him, but it also terrified him.
What was happening to him? What was that? Why did it feel almost…instinctual? What if…he got stuck like that, forever?
Later on, he had convinced himself that he must probably have been hallucinating because he had been working his ass off. It was unlike anything he had had to go through until then, and he had felt his skills growing by leaps and bounds.
So, convincing himself, he tried it again, and it simply…worked, once more.
Yet, this time, Lan felt that something was off.
His 'spectator' mode was empty and cold, almost like a shell, and it was an unfamiliar place.
In it, he only had himself for company, and for some reason…that was disconcerting to feel.
As he continued to experiment in this, he wasn't aware that he was being watched by the mage he had christened 'Crazy'.
[Elemental fluctuations detected. Minute changes are occurring in the target. It is possible that these are precursors to an Awakening taking place, but it is not conclusive whether they guarantee that the Awakening will take place.]
As Daneel heard this, he smiled, as he knew that the rest of the plan would be enough to guarantee that it would happen.
He almost felt like a Vampire that was fattening up a human first in order to suck up his blood later, but he pushed that thought aside.
Everything was going smoothly, and soon, things would come to a head.
So far, he was pretty happy with Lan's performance, but the real test would be then.
The ghost of that smile lingering on his face, Daneel vanished, as he had decided to use this free time that he had to work on his next step, too.
That step was, of course, finding a way to overcome the limitation of the Shapeshifter Bloodline where it would only mimic the appearance of a Bloodline, instead of its powers, too.
And for that purpose, Daneel had gotten an idea.
As he wanted to channel the powers of a cockroach through the Shapeshifter Bloodline after he obtained it…why not go see exactly what those powers were, first?