The sunshine in Westfall was especially bright that day. Felix had just stepped out of his tent when he discovered that Bazil was already waiting for him.
"Brother Felix, the chairman is waiting for you. Please follow me."
He nodded and followed Bazil to a secluded corner. VanCleef's face was taut as he paced anxiously, finally breaking into a smile when he caught sight of him.
"Felix, I'm very glad. Vanessa is safe now, and most of our brothers are unharmed..."
That was clearly not what he wanted to say.
VanCleef was an excellent assassin, an outstanding stonemason, and a big brother who cared about others, but he was clearly not a capable leader.
Clearly, the earlier defeat in Stormwind City had severely shaken VanCleef, leaving him deeply uncertain about the Brotherhood's future.
People who held forth about politics could content themselves with discussing what things would look like decades later, but those caught in the maelstrom had to first give serious thought to how they would survive until Friday afternoon.
An organization or regime first needed to keep itself alive. Even Ilyich had to first sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, surrendering sovereign rights and humiliating his country in exchange for peace with Germany, before he could discuss winning the civil war, outlasting the Second German Empire, recovering lost territory, liberating workers, and freeing productive forces.
All those politicians who refused to think about what they would eat the next morning, including the suave Mr. Alexander Kerensky, had been eliminated.
Felix understood this, so he took the initiative and spoke. "Chairman VanCleef, please speak frankly. Are you worried about how to keep our brothers alive on this land?"
"To tell you the truth, I am." The anxiety on VanCleef's face deepened. "We didn't bring many supplies when we fled to Westfall, and we can't last long just living off what we have. Our brothers used to be able to eat at the City Planning Office's canteen, but now we... can't do construction work either. We can't go on like this."
"For this problem, we should have different solutions for the short, medium, and long term."
So you already have something in mind? VanCleef looked delighted. "Let's hear it. Start with the short term-how to fill our brothers' bellies right now."
"Chairman, Westfall has plenty of gnolls, murlocs, and kobolds. We can hunt, and target them." Felix calculated that this would both give the brothers some minor wild monsters to practice on and prevent VanCleef from later recruiting all sorts of unsavory characters, including old Hogger, into the Brotherhood, ruining its discipline and reputation.
"Those murlocs can be used directly as food, and as far as I know, kobolds and gnolls both have a habit of collecting gold coins. We can seize their wealth and then use it to trade for food with Westfall's farmers and farm owners."
"A good suggestion." VanCleef first expressed his approval, but then frowned again. "But those murlocs always appear in groups. Can we... can we really beat them?"
"That's why we'll need your strength, Chairman." Felix smiled. "You're a powerful assassin, and you fought in the Second War, but the vast majority of our brothers were still ordinary workers until recently. So, Chairman, you need to begin a training program and train as many of our brothers as possible to become assassins, or at least Stealth Users."
"I will." VanCleef nodded in approval. "Looking at it that way, perhaps it really can meet our needs in the short term. But it isn't a lasting solution, after all. Felix, you know that sooner or later, we'll take all the wealth the gnolls and kobolds have. What will we do then?"
VanCleef paced back and forth. "Besides, sooner or later we'll fight our way back to Stormwind City. We certainly can't be satisfied with just settling down in Westfall like this-"
"That brings us to the medium-term plan I mentioned," Felix interrupted calmly. "It's very simple: take money directly from our enemies."
"Every month, the regions around Goldshire, Moonbrook, Darkshire, and Lakeshire remit part of their tax revenue to the Kingdom of Stormwind's treasury. Right now, teleportation arrays are relatively expensive to build, so this money is regularly sent to Stormwind City by carriage. We can target those funds."
"You mean, go straight after the carriages transporting the money?" VanCleef's eyes lit up, and then he said fiercely, "That's right. We certainly have every right to take that money, because it's what Stormwind City owes us in the first place!"
"Not only that, Chairman. Right now, our Brotherhood is still relatively weak, so we can only find ways to ambush them on country roads," Felix said with considerable humor. "But once we've trained a group of rogues among our brothers who are skilled at stealth, making all sorts of potions, and picking locks, we can also pay direct visits to the Royal Bank in Stormwind City's Dwarven District and the Counting House Bank in the Trade District, and carry out special confiscation operations there. If we can confiscate the illicit assets in their vaults, our money will come in even faster."
At this point, Felix suddenly thought of the famous bank robber on Earth, Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, whose fundraising ability and professional expertise were among the very best in the robbery business.
Since this ruthless bandit from the Caucasus could fund Ilyich's cause through all sorts of illegal fundraising methods, why couldn't the Brotherhood do the same once it had plenty of Stealth Users?
Stormwind City was far easier to operate in than Baku.
Rob farmers? That was where Edwin VanCleef had gone wrong.
The common people had become paupers, and there had long been nothing left to squeeze out of them. Felix had never planned to scrape money out of paupers. He intended to make his money from whoever had it.
With the strength of the Brotherhood's many Stealth Users, he intended to earn money without bowing to anyone.
"That's very good. I'll begin training our brothers right away." VanCleef already sounded rather impatient to get started. Clearly, robbing Stormwind City was a very appealing option to him. "What about the long-term plan, then? What's your long-term plan?"
Felix's expression immediately grew serious, and his earlier ease and cheer vanished at once.
VanCleef might be unable to imagine a regime without a king, so Felix needed to choose his words as carefully as possible to help him understand what he wanted to say next.
A moment later, he gently leaned close to VanCleef's ear and asked quietly, "Chairman, what do you think a king's duties are? Or rather, what are the things a king ought to do?"
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