"You've begun to fear them—fear the cultists who dared to wreak havoc in your city! You fear their retaliation! Of course, that isn't the most important part. After causing all that trouble, they suffered heavy losses too. If things continued like this, they would still remain wary of Athkatla. Unfortunately, you chose to do the stupidest thing possible: driving me away! Hahaha, this is truly hilarious."
By this point, Solam could not help but laugh.
"You are weak. Many people know that. But no one knows exactly how weak you are, so many still do not dare cause trouble in Athkatla. After all, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. The power held by Athkatla's Masked Mage Guild and Council of Six still makes many people wary. Unfortunately, you made a stupid move. You exposed your weakness to others, and more importantly, you exposed your cowardice! You feared retaliation, so you expelled me. Hahahahaha! Sery, use that little brain of yours and think—what will those people secretly watching Athkatla think? And what will they do?"
Those people in Athkatla had been eager to drive Solam away, which was undoubtedly tantamount to telling Solam that they feared sacrifice and feared retaliation from the Church of the Dead Three... How weak was that? On the dangerous Faerun Continent, weakness meant being bullied. That was true for a person, and even more so for a city.
The battered and disgraced members of the Church of the Dead Three had originally been Athkatla's best warning to the world: the people of Athkatla were not someone anyone could casually trample on. Yet they actually intended to drive away Solam, the man who had helped them.
Driving Solam away would never earn them the Church of the Dead Three's gratitude. It would only make