NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14: Son of the Era_3
About an hour later, Jones left.
At the entrance of Blood Castle, he saw Adelle, Belle, Dora, and Goya waiting.
He walked quickly, and before they could speak, Jones already said, "Get in the carriage, let's go back."
"Uh... it's done?" Adelle was confused.
Jones had already stepped into the carriage and sat down.
The four Liches following him also quickly boarded the carriage. Not a word was spoken.
Everyone else looked at each other and got on the carriage.
The wheels of the three carriages began to move one after another, heading towards the Sea of Clouds.
At the entrance of Blood Castle, the carriage sent by the elders to fetch Jones remained, unmoving like a sculpture.
...
The carriage moved slowly along the mountain road.
In the carriage, Jones sat quietly with his eyes closed, his brow deeply furrowed.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Adelle continued to ask.
Belle also widened her eyes, waiting at the side.
However, Jones said not a word. He just sat there quietly, seemingly deep in thought. His expression appeared very displeased.
...
Half an hour ago.
"No, no, no, we don't want to hear this, child." In the great hall of Blood Castle, Elder Felix smiled and said to Jones, "What we want to know is, after we accept you and we make sacrifices, can we gain more? Yes, I mean more. So-called justice and fairness are not what we need. Faith isn't either. As for the other races and those slaves, does it matter whether they benefit? In fact, freeing the slaves, our property, is a pure loss."
"So, what do you elders want?" Jones asked, puzzled.
"We want your promise. Dracula, Gruglu, yes, we can accept you holding dual identities, but one must be prioritized, right? What you just described to us, the grand future of Giant Snake City... it sounds good and ambitious. But frankly, I didn't hear anything about what benefits being a descendant of Dracula brings to the Blood Clan. I only heard about how you, as the son of the Lich King, want to fulfill your ambitions. The Lich King's faith is your oracle, but our Blood Clan's traditions are trampled underfoot by you. This is not fair."
"But these traditions are inherently unreasonable," Jones retorted.
"Maybe so, but only for the slaves. For the Blood Clan, it isn't. The vast majority of the Blood Clan members support the current system and even take pleasure in it. Every one of them enjoys the benefits brought by the slave system."
Adrian interjected, "I can tell you right now, if you were to tell them what you just told us, the majority of their reactions would be, 'Oh my, do you mean to say you're making me equal to those filthy slaves?'"
"Yes, exactly," Elder Felix agreed. "What you accept may not be what we accept. For us to accept you, you need to at least let us acknowledge that you treat Dracula and Gruglu equally. Whatever Gruglu gets, Dracula should get too. That's fair, isn't it? Rather than making us feel like you're just using the Blood Clan as a stepping stone for your ideals."
"So, what do you want exactly?" Jones's eyes slowly narrowed to slits.
Elder Adrian and Elder Felix both smiled faintly at the same time.
The silent Elder Bartholomew coughed twice and said, "Let me make a suggestion. We can accept you as a member of the Bloodline Elder Council, and we can even prepare a seat for you on this platform. You will become one of the core four elders of the Blood Clan, enjoying endless glory. Every friend and foe of the Blood Clan will worship you. Child, this is an unprecedented honor. You will be the object of all the Blood Clan's reverence. In return, you must institutionalize and hand over command of the Undead Army to the Elder Council. You can continue with your plans for Giant Snake City, but your actions must be constrained. Do you understand? The Undead Army you hold is too dangerous for us."
...
The three carriages sped along the mountain road in a row.
"What's wrong with you?" Belle whispered.
"Nothing... nothing?" Despite saying that, Jones's thoughts were still entangled in the recent conversation.
...
"We don't believe in what you believe, we want profit. Exchange of interests. Frankly, the current turmoil on the Keltos Continent and your appearance made us realize the opportunity for the Blood Clan to step out of the Kolin Peninsula. If there was no chance, who would willingly stay in this ghastly place? But! But! Don't talk ideals with a group of elders who are thousands of years old, we've heard it too many times. In comparison, we care more about feasibility, about tangible interests that we can hold in our hands."
"Your dreams are great, but to get our support, there must be a higher place for the Blood Clan in them. Or rather, the current place isn't high enough. For us, it doesn't make sense. You may have powerful strength, but so do we, and ours is even stronger. The strength you hold only gives you the chance for fair negotiation, but it's not enough to place you above us and to make us give up our existing benefits. Child, you need to think carefully about what you're willing to exchange with us. I think the suggestion just now is very good."