novelThe Hidden Kill Sec
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To the south-east of Lanthanor, there stood a unique mountain which was known to all as the place one could go to if they wished for death.
Standing at 8000 m tall, it came very close to the height of the tallest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest.
Due to the cloud cover, its peaks were perpetually hidden from those on land.
There was only one way in and one way out, and those that tried to get to the peak through any other way would find multiple locations were dead bodies lay as a warning to stay away.
If one walked on the correct path and reached the spot beyond the clouds, they would come upon the beautiful sight of multiple stone buildings artistically built on the sides of the mountain.
In a building at the very top, a figure bent over by age stood, looking out into the distance.
In his hand, he held a trinket which was connected to the Network of Angaria.
"Praise be to King Faxul Coronis! A new era has begun for the Black Raven Kingdom under his rule. The people have taken to the streets to express their joy, and the King has affixed his place in their hearts by decreasing the atrocious tax levied by the previous King. It is a happy day for the Black Raven Kingdom which has been shrouded under a cloud of depression for the past few weeks."
Hearing a knock on his door, the figure turned around and waved his hand, removing the formation on the door and letting it open.
In walked a figure whom Daneel would have recognized as the Envoy who had come to the Kingdom of Lanthanor after he had taken the throne.
Bowing deeply, Skrrag said, "Leader, the signs are all there. The eye of the formation will open soon. Must I contact the Lanthanor Kingdom?"
Hearing these words, the figure turned around again to the window through which he had been looking at till now.
He was similar to Skkrag in the feature that his entire body was covered by scales, with two slits for his nostrils. Yet, the scales were of a different color and they shone with a luster when the rays of the sun fell on them.
The signs of age were visible in his bent back and his eyes which seemed to have seen decades and decades of time. As he spoke, his voice possessed a dignity and authority that made Skkrag stand up straight with respect.
"How was the training? How have the seeds of the Lanthanor Kingdom fared so far?"
"They have exceeded expectations, but only a few of them have the talent required to become assassins who have true value. It has to be commended that there is not one who gave up no matter what we threw at them. The King of Lanthanor will have no cause to complain that we haven't upheld our end of the deal."
Indeed, the ones he was talking about were those from the Lanthanor Kingdom who had been sent to the Hidden Kill Sect for training.
And this area, was the headquarters of the Sect which was feared by all as a force that one should not offend if they did not want a knife in the dark to take their life.
Months ago, in his interaction with the king, he had obtained a promise that the man who stood behind King Daneel who was an expert in formations would help the Hidden Kill Sect obtain control of theirs so that they could extract the treasures stored within for the welfare of the sect.
The time had now come for the opportunity again.
Every one hundred years, the Basilisk Heart Formation which lay underneath the Hidden Kill Sect would expose its root for one hour of time. Inside were the founding treasures of the sect which had been placed there to be safeguarded in case the sect got destroyed.
With time, the general level and power of the Sect had degraded, leaving them with no other option but to obtain these treasures if they wanted to rise again.
With no other option, the sect had decided to give up one item to enlist the help of the man who stood behind Daneel. Given the choice between obtaining nothing and almost everything, they had chosen the latter.
Hearing these words, the hunched over figure nodded and said, "Good. There is still a month until the auspicious time. Send a message, but word it as politely as possible. You never know what kind of ego those experts might have."
After Skkrag nodded and left the room, the figure continued looking out over Angaria, as if he could gaze into its very depths and uncover all the secrets that this land hid.
...
Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Lanthanor.
With a beaming smile on her face, Eloise walked through the corridors of the Palace while humming to herself.
Reaching the King's Chambers, she became a bit disappointed on seeing that the door was still closed, indicating that the King was still in closed-door meditation.
Although she had very happy news, right now, she had no option but to keep it to yourself.
While walking back to her room, she thought about the meeting she had had with Helena and Dalia a month or so back.
Their opening statement itself had been shocking-the duo had actually wanted to take out an additional loan of 20, 000 Gold Lans.
Only after listening to them did Eloise understand that they had truly struck gold.
After hearing that someone so famous was willing to take the embroidery guilds under her wing and sell their goods under her name after ensuring quality, almost all of the guilds in the Kingdom had rallied behind her.
The problem had been that they were situated all around the capital and even the Kingdom, so there was no way for Helena to supervise them all.
Also, after finding out that there would soon be a massive supply of goods from Helena, orders had started to pour in like a flood.
This had frankly shocked the two, who hadn't expected there to be such tsunami of events due to that one decision to accept the offer of the old woman who was the head of one of the embroidery organizations in the capital.
Now, the money was needed to establish a large place on the outskirts of the capital where all of those interested could work at the same place.
Also, they needed a lot of liquid money to buy all the trinkets and materials needed.
The King hadn't been available at the time, and Eloise had taken the personal decision to sanction the loan because she had the power to do so.
She had wanted to tell the King afterward, but she had decided to surprise him when he came back. After all, she still fondly remembered the time when he had praised her by grasping her shoulders.
Sadly, he hadn't come out since then.
Still, with the passing of time, there was only more happy news to share. The first loan given by the Bank of Angaria had been repaid by this family before they took the larger one, making it so that they had their first milestone.
As for the others, most of them were also steadily paying back their loans because of the care taken before to choose those who were truly passionate about their work.
All in all, the King's scheme with the Bank of Angaria was proceeding smoothly, and it would soon be time to expand it so that it could scale up to be worthy of its ambitious name.
On the way, she chanced upon two beautiful ladies whom she had never seen before.
As someone who had grown up in the Palace and knew everything about its ins and outs, she was puzzled to see someone new.
Besides, both of them had such perfect skin and beautiful features that she wondered about their origins.
Because her eyes had been transfixed on them, she hadn't noticed that Kellor was actually guiding them forward.
On seeing her, he said, "Oh, Eloise! Meet Sister Xuan and Molan. They are two new guests who will be staying at the Palace on the King's orders. He has contacted me personally to give them the best rooms here. Do you want to lead them to the rooms assigned?"
"Who is she?"
Answering Sister Xuan's question, Kellor said, "She's Eloise, the right-hand woman of the king. She heads his most ambitious projects, and the King often praises her for her efficient work. Here is the parchment with the rooms assigned."
Holding out the parchment, Kellor became puzzled as he saw the two women looking into each other's eyes.
A tension formed in the air, which he didn't feel because he had no experience with women.
Eloise was startled that the King had personally given lodging to an unknown woman, whereas Sister Xuan somehow felt hostility towards this woman after finding out that she worked so closely with the King.
As both of them continued to stare at each other, Kellor handed the parchment to Molan, who was similarly not understanding what was going on, and left to attend to his duties.
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