"This is the situation according to Long and Ling," Anfey said, looking around the room. "Mourtta and Hotchbini’s attack on Glory mercenary group has caused considerable damage. Ellisen Empire sent a group, with the Palace Archmage Michael at its head, to Glory mercenary group to aid Anthony and intimidate Mourtta. This is old news, of course, but I thought Ellisen Empire would recall Michael after the war with the necromancers broke out. I don’t know why, but Michael is currently still at White Mountain City, which makes things more complicated. What do we think?"
This was the first official meeting of the alliance. Other than the leaders of the mercenaries and Alice’s men, Marino and Entos were there as well. After learning about Michael’s presence in White Mountain City, even Marino frowned.
"I want to remind everyone," Alice said quietly, "that we need to consider the attitude of Ellisen Empire. Anthony is a proud man. He would never let an attack on his men go without retribution. Michael’s arrival boosted the strength of Glory mercenary group and gave them an excellent chance for counterattack. Tiger of Tawau mercenary group is expecting a counterattack as well, which is why they are hiding in Blackwater City."
Everyone’s attention turned to Alice. Whenever she spoke, she did so with a degree of confidence that was very rare in people with such a low level of training. She spoke with confidence and ease and drew everyone in easily.
"However, Anthony did not launch an attack. He did not seek revenge. Why is that? Why didn’t he do anything? There is reason to everything, especially to things that are out of the ordinary. Maybe it is not Anthony’s decision to make, because he would definitely seek revenge. There is only one person that can stop him, and that is Michael, and Michael must be acting on behalf of Ellisen Empire."
"But why is Ellisen Empire stopping Anthony?" Ozzic asked.
"Dark Moon Magic Legion was the pride of Ellisen Empire," Alice said. "With it gone, they cannot be certain whether they could win any battle. They know that they are no match for Maho Empire, which is why they must ally with Shansa Empire. As long as Ellisen Empire is working with Shansa Empire, Anthony becomes less important. They must have initially sent Michael to aid Anthony, but Michael changed his stance because Ellisen Empire cannot risk angering Shansa Empire right now. They need to make peace with Tiger of Tawau mercenary group."
"I think you’re right, Alice," Christian said. "But what should we do about it?"
"There is a plan," Alice said, turning to Marino. "I hope you don’t mind, Lord Marino."
"Go ahead," Marino said with a nod. He was very impressed by Alice’s mind.
"If Lord Marino attacked us and killed a few hundred men, and His Majesty stopped us when we were planning revenge, how would you feel?"
"Angry," Christian said. "I probably wouldn’t listen."
"Exactly," Alice said.
"I see," Christian said, nodding. "Michael might have eased the tension between Ellisen Empire and Shansa Empire, but that will inevitably cause a rift between him and Anthony."
"That’s what I think," Alice said. "Of course, I can be wrong. We need to approach this from another angle. Let’s talk about Anthony.
"Anthony is the only top level power in the Country of Mercenaries. He is the king of this country. He is powerful, proud, strong, but most importantly he is smart. After he became a top level power, he realized the other three major mercenary groups were teaming up against him, which is why he was willing gave up power and allowed his right hand men to take care of his mercenary group."
"How is Anthony smart, though?" Orsie asked. A lot of mercenaries would admit that Anthony was powerful, but in order to make themselves feel better, they would not admit Anthony was smart. The mercenaries pretended that Glory mercenary group only grew because of Davidson and Shanteler, not Anthony.
"He’s smart because he recognized that the situation wasn’t working out in his favor and gave up his position willingly," Alice said. "He hid away and grew his power. Because of his absence, no conflicts broke out between the other three mercenary groups and Glory mercenary group. They may not be friends, but the relationship between them could have been so much worse if Anthony had not given up his power."
"Lady Alice is right," Marino said. "A few years after Anthony became a top level power, I had several secret meetings with Tiger of Tawau and Storm mercenary groups. After he stopped appearing, we stopped those meetings as well."
Alice nodded. "Tiger of Tawau mercenary group’s attack on Glory mercenary group caused panic and chaos in White Mountain City. Anthony isn’t controlling White Mountain City. Shanteler is, in Anthony’s name. After his death, Glory mercenary group descended into chaos due to lack of leadership. Anthony is a proud man, and he did not care for power struggles. He only wanted to practice and strengthen himself. He wanted to become stronger.
"Let’s think about it now. Anthony is proud, powerful, smart. If someone tries to silence him and stop him, how will he react?"
"You’re saying that because there’s a rift between Michael and Anthony, we can leave White Mountain City alone and let them finish each other off?" Anfey asked.
"No," Alice said, shaking her head. "We need to attack that city."
"Why?"
"If Anthony listened to Michael once, he will do it again and again. Michael still hasn’t returned to Ellisen Empire because he needs to maintain peace between Glory and Tiger of Tawau. He still hasn’t left because he still hasn’t convinced Anthony that peace is vital."
"Wouldn’t our attack show Anthony that he should listen to Michael?"
"There’s pros and cons to everything," Alice said. "Our attack will threaten Anthony, but we can also show him another side of this thing. We could tell Country of Mercenaries that Tiger of Tawau attacked Lady Suzanna, and we are looking for revenge. Because Michael is trying to mend the bridge between Tiger of Tawau and Glory, he is our enemy too. We need to make Anthony feel like he is collateral damage of Michael’s actions."
"Alice, what do you mean by show Anthony another side of things?" Anfey asked.
"I believe everyone here is smart enough to understand my words," Alice said with a smile.
The mercenaries turned to each other, muttering in surprise. If this plan works, it would work out greatly in the alliance’s favor.
"Tell your men to ready themselves," Anfey said slowly. "We march two days hence."
"Yes, sir!" the mercenaries said. They quickly stood, nodded at Alice and Anfey, then hurried out of the room to inform their men.