Chapter 166: The Candidate

"Damn it, we were played!"

A young aristocratic heir slammed his fist into the ground, speaking with fierce indignation.

"He's capable of spatial teleportation. Could he have moved it away when the requisition order was first issued?" another man nearby suggested.

"Unlikely. Judging by the marks on the floor, the items were definitely here just a few days ago. They must have been transferred sometime within the last couple of days."

"Didn't he sign a contract with the City Guard? If he breaches it, the Leiman Chamber of Commerce will face a tenfold penalty fee, which would be enough to completely drag the chamber down. As long as we pinpoint the exact location of the mechanical devices and slap a requisition order on them, I refuse to believe he would just stand by and watch Leiman collapse into ruin."

The noble man had barely finished speaking when a guard hurried in to report. Instantly, everyone's expressions turned grim.

One of them grabbed the guard by the collar and demanded loudly, "Are you certain everything has been fully delivered?"

"My lord, I went inside and inspected it with my own eyes. The City Guard's warehouse is packed to the brim with medical supplies and magical potions. I even asked the warehouse guard, and he said the entire shipment was checked in by noon," the guard replied in a panic.

"It looks like Byron saw through our plan all along. Not only did he move the mechanical devices out in advance, but he also prepared the supplies ahead of time. The moment he signed the contract with the City Guard, he immediately handed the supplies over to them," the noble man said with a dark expression. "No wonder he handed this place over to us so easily earlier. He had already prepared for this."

"Hmph! Even without the mass-production technology for spell potions, the alchemy workshop construction technology will do," the young noble said, deeply unwilling to accept defeat.

"No, quite the contrary. Compared to the potion mass-production technology, the alchemy workshop is probably the technology he cares about leaking the least," an arcane caster draped in wizard robes stated. "I inspected it earlier. The core power source of that alchemy workshop alone—the 'Mana Storage Device'—is something beyond our current ability to develop. The materials are one thing, but the synthesis technology and the inscribed magic runes are a massive hurdle, not to mention the matching spatial expansion spells and structures."

"If it doesn't fit, we'll just build the place larger! What we need are magical plants; we don't need fancy, overly complicated houses like that," the young noble persisted, refusing to give up.

Those around him cast subtle glances at his way, their eyes filled with utter contempt.

The mage secretly shook his head, yet continued, "It's not worth it. Even without using the matching spells and structures, replicating a 'Mana Storage Device' alone would require an exorbitant amount of money. We've already analyzed the materials used in the device; just one of the components uses extremely rare dark steel. A single piece of dark steel the size of a gold coin costs over two thousand gold pieces, and that's just for the finished product. The preliminary research would demand an even larger fortune. Add in the subsequent site development costs, and a preliminary estimate would easily reach a million, if not more..."

The noble's face stiffened. The mage gave him an emotionless look and pressed on, "Meanwhile, Viscount Gordon Ioulaum used to sell 'Alchemy Workshops' for a mere two hundred thousand! Even after the workshops were built, the price rose to five hundred thousand, and that included both labor and materials..."

"Five hundred thousand? Why doesn't he just go rob a vault? Only a fool would do that!"

"No, as it turns out, there actually are fools."

"Who?"

"Construction has already begun at the Shamsuddin Legion's garrison!"

Everyone: "........."

Meanwhile, back at one of the branch mansions where Byron had led his people, Hussein and the elven elder were already leisurely drinking tea and chatting.

"Oh, you're back? What took you so long? I'm almost drowned from drinking too much tea," Hussein greeted warmly.

Instantly, Byron's face darkened completely.

"Leiman, take the brothers and head down. Make sure no one wanders outside casually from now on; things might get a bit turbulent out there."

"Understood, boss."

Leiman took the hint with practiced ease, nodding and leading the men off in another direction.

"Kid, not bad at all. You actually managed to pull wool over even our eyes," Hussein couldn't help teasing the moment Byron sat down.

Byron sat in silence with a gloomy expression, casually snapping his fingers. Several pale blue figures materialized, manipulating the teapot on the table to fill the cups with tea, pouring one for Byron as well.

The elven elder burst out laughing. Hussein's expression stiffened, and he barked angrily, "Hey kid, don't be ungrateful. I had nothing to do with this messy business."

"I know. It just doesn't feel good," Byron said, his mood obviously sour.

"Count your blessings, kid. There aren't many people who can make the Council swallow a bitter pill like that," Hussein said, reaching out to cuff Byron over the head and rub his hair roughly. "Do you really think the entire Noble Council was targeting you?"

"Isn't that the case?"

"Heh... Heh-heh!"

Mimicking Byron's earlier laughter, Hussein let out a few dry chuckles. "Kid, don't think too highly of yourself."

Then, Hussein's gaze sharpened, fixing directly on Byron and locking eyes with him.

"You think the Noble Council actually coveted those little tricks of yours? And went through all this elaborate trouble just to scheme against you? If you think that, you are gravely mistaken."

Hussein's lips curved upward. "If the Noble Council were that short-sighted, the Council would have dissolved three hundred years ago."

Prompted by Hussein's words, Byron finally began to realize the true nature of the issue.

Looking across the history of the Faerun continent, even entities as powerful as the three Creator Races, and even the late-blooming elves, had experienced glorious eras. Yet their models of governance were invariably centralized autocracies—simply put, all supreme power was concentrated in the hands of a single individual, an imperial dictatorship.

Even in smaller nations, everything was ultimately decided by the monarch alone.

Yet Netheril's administrative system could be said to be exceptionally unique.

It was a noble council system.

A council system, also known as a cabinet system.

And a council system was a form of democratic political structure.

This was precisely where Byron felt something was amiss.

In a world defined by a system of supernatural power, where even true gods walked the earth, such a council system had somehow emerged.

It made no logical sense in a magical setting. Shouldn't whoever possessed the greatest might be the ultimate boss?

Whether among dwarves, dragons, or even smaller tribal communities, the strongest individual was invariably the king or chieftain, and the successor was fundamentally the strongest as well.

Yet Netheril's development had taken a rather peculiar turn, evolving from the contemporary noble council system into the later city-state system.

Netheril's council system had left a profound impact on future generations; numerous later organizations and city-states referenced Netheril's system in their own governance. One could easily see how advanced Netheril's system truly was.

Had Netheril not ruined its own reputation in its later years to the point of universal revulsion, its downfall wouldn't have been triggered simply by the fall of a few floating cities.

"You're saying this was merely a test?" Byron asked.

"Correct. To be precise, it was a test directed at you."

"A test?!"

Hussein said calmly, "A city-wide state of alert was already a settled fact long ago. The sudden requisition order targeting you was merely a spur-of-the-moment decision, born from a desire to see how you would handle and resolve such a situation."

A sudden realization struck Byron, and his expression turned ugly as he asked, "Grandfather knew about this?"

"Of course he did," Hussein sold out the count without hesitation, grinning as he told Byron, "He was actually one of the strongest supporters!"

Byron's mouth twitched, and he muttered unhappily, "If you guys had succeeded, would you have actually confiscated the technology?"

"Of course. How else do you think the technology for 'Ioun Stones' came to be? It was only later, after Lord Kenthgerno attained legendary status, that the narrative was altered."

"Fine, you people really know how to play..."

Byron grumbled inwardly. Even the headmaster had been played for a fool before, so he had nothing more to say.

"Still, you did quite well. Very few people manage to evade it on their first try, especially since you haven't even graduated yet. Your score this time will be exceptionally high, and you are well on your way to becoming a candidate."

"A candidate?" Byron asked.

"A candidate for membership in the Noble Council. You need to keep working hard," Hussein added encouragingly. "If you manage to become a council member as well, your Ioulaum family will have two council members. That would be completely unprecedented in the history of Netheril."

Byron let out two dry "heh-hehs," cursing internally: *Damn it... what kind of ridiculous council member is that? I couldn't care less. It's just a waste of my time.*

Seemingly reading Byron's thoughts, Hussein added leisurely, "Once you actually become a council member, you will naturally understand the benefits it brings."