Tiger Party and Elephant Party

Black foundations supported rings of pure white marble columns. Groups of male and female slaves moved back and forth through the corridors, converging on the flowing courtyard at the heart of the palace.

Water mixed with ice flowed slowly through specially constructed channels, bringing a rare touch of coolness to Valantis's scorching summer. Neatly trimmed hedges divided the entire courtyard like a maze. Flowers bloomed in abundance, and the fragrance of melons and fruit could be clearly smelled even outside this enormous palace.

Several gem-encrusted recliners stood in the center of the courtyard. Men dressed in toga robes lounged on them in small groups. Beside them, lightly clad female slaves raised faces tattooed with flowers and hearts, bringing fresh fruit and pale green Valantis wine to their masters' lips.

"Doran, your plan failed." A man with an outrageously large beard accepted the green wine offered by a female slave and took a sip. "The Bentalo Family's pig and bastard are dead. That coward ran crying to your father. If your father hadn't been willing to lose face, this matter probably wouldn't have ended well."

Doran Megaya plucked a roasted sacred golden beetle from the back of a male slave kneeling on the ground. He dipped it in chili and tossed it into his mouth, chewing with loud crunches. "They were stupid. I told them to test the Valaerys boy, not to seize his property. Heh, was the old wizard's stuff really so easy to take?"

"The tiger has been silent for far too long." The speaker was tall and thin, with a slender beard as sharp as a rapier. "When the old wizard was alive, those spineless Elephant Party bastards kept us down hard. Now that the old wizard is dead, what is the boy doing?"

He sat up, gulped down a mouthful of green wine, and kicked the wine-serving female slave to the ground. "Bring Valaerys silver wine instead. Son of a bitch, silver wine has more kick."

The kicked slave did not even dare raise her head. She crawled away on her belly.

"The boy is selling his father's land." The man's expression twisted. "Doran, what do you think he's trying to do? That was the old wizard's lifeblood."

"I don't know." Doran Megaya casually picked through the food, grabbed a golden-brown fried worm, and looked at its cut-open body stuffed with minced meat and chili sauce.

"Anyway, however much he sells, I'll buy. It's just a shame those Elephant Party whelps are making trouble. Otherwise, all that land would be ours."

"Only the land?" The voice came from an old man who had been drinking silently.

"Lord Bericio, you mean..." The bearded man hurriedly sat up and turned toward the head of the Megaya Family, the Tiger Party magistrate.

"Doran, your contracts do not include the farmers on that land, nor the workers in those workshops, do they?"

With a single sentence, Bericio stirred up a storm in Doran's heart.

"But generally speaking, slaves attached to land and estates are an accepted rule."

"But the old wizard had no rules." Bericio spoke calmly. "The farmers on his land, the workers in his workshops, the miners in his mines, and the soldiers in his camps were all different from Valantis tradition. Those..." The old magistrate paused. "They were not slaves, but hired workers. So their contracts are still in the boy's hands."

"This..." Doran considered it. "Lord Bericio, but we already have the land. Its yield far exceeds that of our own lands. It is already more than worth the price..."

"Without the skilled farmers and workers left behind by the old wizard, and without his methods, can you guarantee the yields will last even a few years?" Bericio wanted nothing more than to pry open his grandnephew's skull and see what was inside. The moment someone dug a pit, he jumped right in. "Did you also use high prices to compete with those Elephant Party whelps?"

"Yes..." Doran's face immediately reddened. "But this land is important too. More than half of the Valaerys family estates lie within Elephant Party territory. We can use this chance to infiltrate their voting districts."

"We are not at war with the Elephant Party whelps right now." Bericio held his forehead. "Or do you think we can win over Elephant Party votes?"

A stretch of silence followed.

"Forget it." Seeing that no one responded, Bericio could only continue himself. "Doran, you may keep purchasing Valaerys family land. Since the boy is selling, taking it off his hands is not a bad thing. At worst, we can earn his goodwill."

"I understand, Lord Bericio." Seeing that his actions had not been entirely rejected, Doran perked up. "My original intention was also to do the Valaerys family a favor."

"But, Lord Bericio." The bearded man suddenly thought of something. "That coward from the Bentalo Family seems to be planning something. Should we..."

Bericio narrowed his eyes. "Those matters have nothing to do with us." He paused.

"No need to concern ourselves with them."

"You mean that after the Valaerys boy buried the old wizard, he began selling off the family's estates?" Lady Clifna Visama, the Elephant Party's female magistrate, had gathered the Elephant Party senators to discuss the Valaerys family's sale of estate lands.

"Yes, my lady." Hamar of the Cyrenaica Family pointed at the map in the council chamber. He was the younger brother of Vagadu, magistrate of the Cyrenaica Family, and a candidate for the next magistrate. "No matter what the Valaerys boy intends, his family's land is fertile. Even without the farmers and workers attached to the estates, we can continue using it for several years. After that, even without the old wizard's methods, the land's output will still be considerable. Even in the worst case, purchasing the land would be doing our members a favor."

"Senator Hamar, but I heard you lost many bidding contests for those lands to the Tiger Party men?" A tall man with a blue beard raised an objection. "If the Cyrenaica Family lacks funds, we can pay on your behalf. Though the Valaerys family has not held a Senate seat for a long time, they have always supported us. We cannot lose such a powerful ally."

"Yes, yes. At the very least, their Silver Blood Army can truly fight." The general of the Tiger Cloak Army could no longer sit still. "At least with their family on our side, we need not worry about the Tiger Cloak Army controlled by the Tiger Party."

"Enough." Lady Clifna thought for a while. "Do you know why Lonzell Varezes is selling off land and estates?"

Everyone fell silent.

Only Hamar had some idea. "I can roughly guess. The Valaerys family did not begin selling land after Lonzell inherited. They had already begun selling it gradually while the old wizard was still alive. This proves it was not a whim of Lonzell Varezes. Moreover, the Valaerys family had made every preparation before these sales, perhaps even plans we do not know about."

"If their contracted servants are not on the list of assets being sold, what about the freefolk?" Lady Clifna raised the crucial question.

Valantis's democratic system was simple. Every free person who owned land could participate in magistrate elections and possessed their own vote. Yet these freefolk were, in reality, attached to great families and major landowners. They were not entirely "free." Old magistrate families such as the Megaya, Cyrenaica, and Visama families had fixed voting blocs ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of votes. As for the Valaerys family, if Lonzell wished to run for the Senate, the freefolk dependent on his family numbered no fewer than ten thousand.

"Other than free craftspeople bound by contract, the rest will change owners along with the land." Hamar said. "Please rest assured, my lady. The Valaerys family retainer who handled the transaction assured me that there would be no large-scale loss of votes."

"Well done." Lady Clifna nodded. "Keep watching the Valaerys family. If the Silver Blood Army is also being transferred..."

"We must take it at any cost, along with the Valaerys family's silk workshops," the Tiger Cloak Army general declared loudly.

"As for the Tiger Party, keep watching them." Lady Clifna lightly tapped the clearly divided territories of the two parties on the map. "Do not worry about funding. House Visama will provide gold and silver worth three million glory coins to purchase the land and property being sold by the Valaerys family. You may bid freely against the Tiger Party."

"The Holtan Family will contribute seven hundred thousand glory coins." The blue-bearded man raised his hand. "Lord Hamar, we absolutely cannot allow our voting bloc to slip into the Tiger Party's hands."

The Elephant Party was still deeply wary of the Tiger Party, which had once possessed formidable military power, even though it had been in decline for a long time.

"The Margorwen Family will contribute 1.2 million glory coins." The Tiger Cloak Army general also raised his hand. "Lord Hamar, we absolutely cannot let the Silver Blood Army fall into the Tiger Party's hands."

The Elephant Party senators swiftly reached a consensus. No matter what Lonzell intended, the Valaerys family's assets could not be allowed to fall into the Tiger Party's hands.

Especially not their formidable military strength.

The underground laboratory beneath the Valaerys estate.

Lonzell removed all his clothes and accepted a Valyrian steel dagger decorated with pure silver from the red priest.

The red priest's face was covered in tattoos of flames, eyes, and red patterns, but his own eyes were now filled with fanaticism.

Another red priest emerged from the shadows.

This red priest was already old. His wrinkled face was covered in tattoos of roaring flames and dragons. His long white beard fell to his chest, hung with flame-shaped ornaments. His blue-violet eyes were likewise filled with fanaticism and devotion.

Lonzell knew him.

He was Benerro, priest of the Great Temple of the Red God R'hllor in Valantis, and also a mage who often visited Cleorius.

"Begin." Benerro nodded to the young red priest.

Without hesitation, the red priest plunged the dagger into his own heart.

Lonzell extended his hand. As though guided by something, the red priest's blood flowed along the symbols on the laboratory floor in every direction.

Then.

Flames.

Ignited.

A new author starting a new book—please feel free to offer criticism and corrections. The tentative update schedule is one chapter around 20:00 and another around 23:00 on weekdays, and one around 12:00 and another around 20:00 on rest days.