Birth Of The Crafts-God

"What are your thoughts on the current city lord position issue and how do you think it would affect the Dawn-Spring Arrow Company? Do you think that the arrival of a new city lord would affect the company's stocks negatively or positively?"

After the question had been laid out, Russell was in no hurry to answer it. He wasn't a tyro when it came to politics or tricky questions such as this, so Russell had easily seen through the intention. But that didn't mean he would not answer either.

"The Dawn-Spring Arrow Company has a set of amazing workers and strong leadership at the helm. Our performance is based and affected entirely by the market and its sentiments."

The reporters froze for a second, but many hands propped up again with voices accompanying them in hopes that Russell would select them.

Russell's response, while well structured, still wasn't entirely foolproof. If anything, it fell under the third possibility [1], which was that he had decided to take on a more neutral role. Nonetheless, it was still a nice response and nothing was solid. Russell had clearly avoided talking about the city lord issue while still answering the question.

Another reporter was selected and just like the one before him, he produced a tricky question for Russell. The same went on for the following two reporters who were selected. But the head of the Mertens family was aloof in the face of those questions as he tackled them with ease.

Seeing that they couldn't get anywhere, the reporters changed their strategy and began asking questions focused more on the Dawn-Spring Arrow Company than the recent political situation. Russell welcomed these questions and answered them to the best of his abilities. However, he did make sure not to spill out any company secrets in the process.

Finally, the Q&A session was coming to an end after Russell had taken on twenty-four questions from the reporters. Apart from the first four, the remaining reporters were quite satisfied with the answers they got and began drafting articles.

It was at this moment that Russell unexpectedly drew their attention once again.

"Kindly allow me to introduce a special guest this evening."

The reporters were stunned as there was no news of any VIP accompanying Russell for the event. If anything, it was supposed to be a simple press conference. Even Russell's attendance wasn't confirmed and was simply just a rumour until he showed up. So, the presence of another guest was both shocking yet thrilling for these news-hungry fellows.

The side door by the end of the stage opened up and a young man with black hair walked in. At first, the reporters were confused as he didn't seem to be a noteworthy figure from a top faction. But one of them widened his eyes in shock as he recognised who the new arrival was.

'This is big!' The man thought as he gazed ahead.

Following that, the other reporters also got a clue and were able to identify the newcomer.

The terrorist supporter, or at least that's what their news agencies had reported. But some of the reporters present knew the truth.

Under the gaze of both the reporters and Russell, Lucas walked onto the stage with a calm demeanour. It was almost as if he wasn't the young man wanted by the public security agencies a few months ago.

Earlier before this, Lucas was paid a visit by Vergil and his father, Russell. During that meeting, Russell had apologised for what happened the last time they met and also decided to make amends for it by supporting whatever request Lucas wanted or any decision he reached. It was also during that meeting that Lucas found out that the man had scheduled a press conference later in the day.

The press conference has actually been announced the previous day, before Lucas had arrived in Baylands City, so it wasn't done with him in mind. However, after discussing with Russell, the duo reached a conclusion that this press conference could help turn the situation around for Lucas. As such, Lucas was secretly invited to speak.

Gazing at the crowd made up of people who had a hand in forcing him out, Lucas didn't lose his temper or break out in anger. Instead, he smirked at them as he spoke up.

"It's been a while."

. . .

"Breaking news: The truth about the attack four months ago!"

"The prodigal son's return to stardom!"

"Baylands City's first Grandmaster Apprentice!"

The next day began but in ways the people of Baylands City didn't expect. Originally, the focus should have been on the Cabinet's meeting to be held that day which would draw a conclusion to the debate about the city lord's position. However, the news reports were instead focused on an entirely different topic.

The headlines, despite having different words were all —loud and eye-catching. However, the most important quality was that they shared the same message; a popular figure who was chased away had returned.

After a bit more digging into these articles, the public now understood what was going on and even more than that.

Over four months ago, a vestige-smith store was under fire for alleged reports of supplying vestiges to the terrorist group that attacked the city. This came after a security camera recording showed some of the terrorists using the unique vestiges developed by this store in action.

Although the Baylands City Patrol Corps stated that the matter was still under investigation, the public had reached a conclusion thanks to the fuelling attempts of the media, and harassed the store. The store's backers and allies had also stepped back, leading to its market share and popularity crumbling drastically. As if that wasn't bad enough, the store owner was eventually invited into police custody to aid with the investigations. However, he had reportedly gone missing while under house arrest.

The series of events made the public believe that the owner of the store was a terrorist sympathiser and he became hated by them.

Despite this, the headlines today seemed to tell a different story; one that stunned the people and made them realise how big of a mistake they had made.