Chapter 230: Negotiation Table

"Gideon, we’ve been waiting for you. Please, have a seat."

Jade smiled and gestured toward the empty chair beside her.

All eyes were on him and the fact that none protested meant that Jade explained his role well.

The round table was already occupied. Besides Jade sat the representatives of the Merchant Guild, the Artificer Guild, the Aberrant Hunter Association, the Builder League, and White Veil, the organization responsible for doctors, nurses and medical personnel throughout the southern region.

They were all organizations that worked closely with the Merchant Guild, which acted as the bridge between countless factions, settlements and professional associations.

At the center of them all sat the Regional Guild Master herself.

Lin Yue.

She wore a simple black gown today, far less extravagant than the one Gideon remembered.

The only thing that hadn’t changed was the black veil covering half her face, hiding her expression while leaving her wide eyes visible.

The moment Gideon entered, those eyes curved into a smile.

"Ah, Mr. Remington. What a pleasant surprise."

Gideon inclined his head politely before taking the empty seat beside Jade.

There was no longer any reason to hide behind a false identity.

Cinders of Dusk had grown far beyond a nameless settlement, and with the Merchant Guild’s intelligence network, he doubted Lin Yue had believed the disguise for very long.

"It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Lin Yue," Gideon said calmly. "Although I wish it were under better circumstances. You may call me Gideon from now on, or Remington if you prefer. Either way, I believe we have more important matters to discuss."

Before Lin Yue could answer, a rough voice interrupted.

"Discuss?"

An elderly man sitting across from Gideon let out a cold snort.

"This isn’t a discussion, boy."

His hair had turned completely white, and a deep scar ran across one side of his face, narrowly missing his eye.

Even sitting down, the old man carried himself like someone used to commanding construction sites rather than negotiating around a table.

"This is a negotiation. If Freebound refuses to tell us what’s really happening outside these walls, then the Builder League will withdraw every one of our workers from Climber Rift."

Jade merely sighed. She didn’t even look surprised.

"And where exactly do you intend to go, Greg?" she asked evenly. "Edelweiss Town? Then you’ll have to negotiate with Prado first. Let’s see how long the Builder League survives under someone who charges twice as much tax as I do."

Greg’s jaw tightened. "You speak as though Climber Rift is the only settlement left."

"It isn’t." This time Gideon finally spoke. "There are smaller settlements nearby."

Every pair of eyes turned toward him.

"But I know of one small settlement where half its residents abandoned it because they couldn’t afford the taxes or tolerate the leader anymore. Most of them eventually came to my territory."

It was certainly not a lie. Though he lacked information regarding that matter and cursed himself because of it.

In this table, information is everything. However this time around, he was lucky he only needed to be confident.

Greg narrowed his remaining eye. "And your point?"

Gideon folded his hands on the table before leaning forward slightly.

"My point is that leaving sounds much easier than it actually is."

His voice remained calm, almost conversational.

"Outside Climber Rift, the Builder League is just another construction guild competing with dozens of others. Here, however, you’re trusted. Freebound recommends your workers, merchants hire your people first, and your guild already has influence."

"So are you really willing to throw all of that away because your settlement is facing the same crisis as everyone else?"

Greg slammed his palm against the table. "The same crisis?"

His voice rose enough for several representatives to glance toward him.

"People are disappearing! They’re dragging civilians out of the settlement! No one dares leave their own homes after sunset!"

The woman beside him quietly rubbed her forehead before speaking.

Unlike Greg, her voice remained composed. "Gentlemen."

She wore White Veil’s white coat beneath a thick winter cloak, making it obvious she had come directly from treating patients.

"We aren’t here to threaten either of you. What we need is certainty. We need to understand what we’re facing, how dangerous it truly is, and whether Climber Rift can still be protected."

Jade silently turned toward Gideon.

He immediately understood what that look meant.

They couldn’t reveal everything.

Not yet.

The information had to be controlled carefully. If news about engineered parasites, the King, the Pyrovour Borealis or the Scions of the Lord spread beyond this room, panic would consume the settlement long before the enemy ever attacked.

And worse...

Not everyone sitting around this table could be trusted to keep those secrets. Some might accidentally leak them.

Others might simply sell them to the highest bidder.

So this time, Gideon had to become a politician. A role he hated.

He took a slow breath before speaking. "Climber Rift is indeed facing a crisis. Some of the civilians have been infected by an unknown parasitic organism capable of altering a person’s behavior."

"I knew it!" Greg immediately cut in, pointing toward him. "So that’s why your men have been dragging people out of the settlement. You’re executing the infected, aren’t you?"

"However," Gideon continued without acknowledging the interruption, effortlessly pulling the room’s attention back to himself, "our current findings suggest that it isn’t airborne. Based on everything we’ve observed so far, it spreads through saliva."

"We’ve already established quarantine facilities outside the settlement, and no, we are not executing the infected. They’re still valuable sources of information, and more importantly, we believe they can still be saved."

A scoff came from the younger man sitting across the table.

He looked no older than thirty, his ginger beard neatly trimmed while one hand rested lazily on the hilt of the sword hanging from his waist.

Judging from the insignia on his cloak, he represented the local branch of the Aberrant Hunter Association.

"You really believe that?" he asked with a smirk. "With the technology humanity has today? Just put them down before they infect someone else. We can even help."

His eyes drifted toward Jade with an obvious grin. "My men don’t mind hunting humans either."