A Depressing Beginning, Part 4

Several days later, at City Hall, in the mayor's office.

Meflor was reading an email from Lycaon.

Using the Sacrificial Ghost Theft case, Hugo had pretended to join forces with his uncle, Hartmann of the Ravenlock Family, to get revenge. In truth, he had already secured the backing of Edmond, a senior figure at TOPS, giving him the leverage to fight for the Ravenlock Family inheritance.

Though the Ravenlock Family had a long history in New Eridu, it had long since declined.

The higher-ups at TOPS did not care who took over the family. They cared only about who could bring them the greatest profit.

Meflor did not care either.

All he needed was for his plan to succeed: through Hugo, he would pin the blame for the Sacrificial Ghost attacks that the Praise Society was plotting against New Eridu squarely on TOPS.

That would not only repair the damage the Bringer incident had done to the Municipal Government's image, but also undermine TOPS's reputation with the public.

If all went smoothly, he would then send Phaethon to Weifei Land to seek Yunkui Mountain's support. City Hall's position would be much stronger for it.

As for Griseo, the unexpected variable in his plan, Meflor had made arrangements for her too.

He had already played along with her to build goodwill. Once she agreed to cooperate, he would ask her to go to Pale Land and deal with the greatest threats on the Outer Ring of Hollow Zero: Niniwe and Gepetto.

At the same time, he could pull some of his elite forces back to New Eridu from the outer defenses.

As mayor, he was hardly without military power. It was just that nearly all the armed forces he could mobilize were tied down at Hollow Zero's defensive line.

Would Griseo