Birth Of The Crafts-God

The next day came around quicker than most had anticipated. Like a summer breeze, the day ended and a new day came to be —a day to forever be remembered.

Unlike the meeting the previous day, today's session was the concluding plenary to finalise the issue of the city lord. There won't be as much talking as the previous day, but rather, a simple ballot voting.

The sixty members of Baylands city-state's cabinet would vote on the impeachment of Noah Bergs; in support, against or abstain votes were the three options available.

"Damn, there are so many people gathered here already."

A man with cobalt blue hair sighed as he glanced at the crowd in front of the building, the Assembly of the People. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt with a black vest meant for members of the press.

His colleague by the side, who had a big nose and wore the same jacket albeit with a different set of clothing underneath, nodded in response.

"It's quite unbelievable. And here I was thinking we were early."

"Now you guys see why I said we should have left two hours earlier. At this rate, we might not even get a good spot for the camera."

A graceful young woman with raven-black hair cascading down her back felt discontented at the scene.

The cabinet sessions were usually scheduled by 9 am, but due to the nature of today's session, it was pushed back one hour later. Even if it wasn't, the agenda for the meeting was a headliner for any news agency or magazine, so many reporters and agents had arrived early. Some even went as far making it to the Assembly of the People before 7 am.

The trio were from the same broadcasting company, which was just a barely medium-sized studio. They were sent in to cover the voting procedure and the results — and if possible, to also interview some representatives. The lady had suggested they arrive before 7 am, but the other two had disagreed. They claimed that since the plenary would start by 10 am, there was no need to arrive that early, as long as they left before 8 am. This was because of their past experience in covering cabinet meetings; two hours before was just enough.

However, they had sadly underestimated the event. Even though the time was only 7:15 am, there were already at least fifty-five news agencies on site with each of the agencies consisting of at least three people. The more popular and larger press agencies had at least five men on their teams. As such, one could only imagine how swamped the scene outside was with such limited space.

"Anyways, let's just set up our gear." The man with the cobalt blue hair awkwardly tried to change the topic.

Nonetheless, setting up their cameras would be hard. Although drones were equipment used by journalists and had high-definition cameras, they were banned in the vicinity of the Assembly of the People.

8:30 am.

A new set of guests began to make their way over. However, unlike the press, they didn't hover around the Assembly of the People. Instead, they made their way to the establishments closeby. All restaurants, cafés and similar enterprises had either been closed for the day or completely booked. Their doors were closed to the public, but this didn't mean they accepted no guests.

These establishments were either owned by the certain factions of the city or booked full by them. The reason was simple —these influential characters all wanted to witness first-hand the results of the voting.

"I didn't think you would be here today, old man."

The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his late 30s. His brown hair was neatly trimmed with a slight stubble extending from his cheeks to his chin. His sharp eyes exuded confidence with a slight aura of haughtiness, but he kept a dignified pose as he took a sip from a cup of coffee.

This man was Fredor Bergs, the head of the Bergs family and the leader of the camp in support of ousting Noah from the city lord's seat. He was also one of the few tenth level Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioners in Baylands city-state.

"I see your tongue is still as sharp as ever." The azure-haired man, who was the obvious target of the comment, responded.

Despite seemingly being of the same middle-aged class as Fredor, this man gave off a more calm and peaceful aura. Yet hidden beneath that subtlety, was a vigorous spirit that could go head-on with Fredor and not lose out.

This man was none other than the renowned head of the blue-coloured family, Russell Mertens.

"Oh, you two are already present."

A new figure arrived. He was much more reserved than Fredor, just like Russell. However, he had a chilling light in his eyes and the feeling he gave off was cold —just like a corpse. It wasn't the type of chill that one would feel from a supercilious or stony character. Rather, it was the same sensation one would feel when facing a giant snake.

This new arrival was none other than the family head for the Dufours family, Liam II Dufour.

"Here I was thinking I would be the first." Liam smiled.

Due to the importance of the Assembly of the People, the establishments close to it couldn't be owned or run directly by forces such as the top four families or those just slightly beneath them. But for events such as this, there was no way the heads of the family would want to miss out. The only option would be to rent out the establishments owned by other forces, but there was the possibility —albeit slight— of being rejected. There was also the fact that for people of their status, some establishments might not be up to their taste.

Coincidentally, there was one establishment that was free of all their worries as it wasn't controlled by any private force but the city-state instead; or to be more direct, the city lord's residence. It was called, the White Mountain House.

The White Mountain House was a high-class building that could cater to the needs of the city's elites. It was a true-blue five star restaurant with quality dining and services. The four-storey building had an open rooftop that served as an exclusive and private dining spot for the city's elites, but in truth, only very few people could utilise this section; the true elites of the city.

Whenever there was an ongoing event or meeting at the Assembly of the People which required the attendance of the family heads, the rooftop section of the White Mountain House would be made readily available —and today was no exception.

"Henrik isn't here yet?" After glancing around, Liam looked towards Russell with a curious expression.

Everyone knew that the Ross and Mertens families were allied, so it was strange that their arrival wasn't at the same time.

As for why Liam arrived later than Fredor despite the Dufours and the Bergs being close as well, it was because he had to attend to other matters.

"I didn't know I was so popular that I could garner such interest from you."

The athletic Henrik walked out from the staircase, appearing before the group with his signature goatee and cold face.

"I was just thinking maybe you felt left out and didn't want to attend."

Liam smiled innocently, but his words had an underlying meaning. At the same time, his thoughts were deep.

Everyone in the upper circle was aware that the Ross family's head, Henrik, was the weakest of the four family heads.

Fredor Bergs was a tenth level Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner; Russell Mertens was at the ninth level; Liam II Dufour was also at the ninth level; but on the other hand, Henrik was only at the eighth level.

Despite this, Liam had failed to sense Henrik arriving just after him. Naturally, this made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't let out such an expression, but instead, tried to make a dig at Henrik.

The comment "maybe you felt left out" was pointing at the fact that Henrik didn't have much of a say in this matter. If Noah remained city lord, then the statement wouldn't matter. However, if Noah was impeached, with his eighth level strength, it was basically impossible for Henrik to contest for the city lord seat.

"Thank you for your thoughts, but you don't need to worry about me." Henrik nonchalantly replied.

It wasn't that he was unaware of the hidden meaning of that comment, but as a family head, Henrik had to remain composed in the face of anything.l including slander.

Liam lightly frowned but quickly he recovered his expression as he took a seat beside Fredor.

Russell and Henrik sat on the same table but faced opposite them.

This little arrangement clearly demonstrated the situation of the top four families of Baylands City.

The four sides didn't speak much as they waited for the meeting to start. Before anyone knew it, ninety minutes went by and the meeting began.