"I have two pieces of good news!" Paton, the Hegang Alliance's advisor and Shion's right-hand man, raised his voice.

"Good news? What is it?" Arthand's eyes gleamed as he looked at him.  

"We've established a secret deal with the Raon Alliance. Neither side will try to reel in the Storm Guild!"

With this, they had eliminated one unknown variable.

"What else?"

He had definitely said 'two' pieces of good news.

"They joined us."

"Hoh."

"What did you offer them?" Shion asked.

"I gave them two of our best SS-rank items, and a 10,000 gold scroll. I also agreed to give them ownership of Ecle Palace once the war ends, and that we'd acknowledge them as one of the 5 great guilds. If the Hegang Alliance wins, we'll provide them a portion of the loot and the reparations as well."

"They wanted all of that? Those greedy bastards!" Arthand spat out.

"Haha, they joined us because there's more to gain. They have no sense of loyalty," Paton said.

"You're not going to give them what they want, are you?" Shion asked.

"I'm not giving up the Ecle Palace," Arthand said, brooking no argument over the matter.

"Of course not. We'll get rid of them once they've served their purpose." Paton smiled wickedly. 

"Hoh."

"They seemed confident that they wouldn't be used and discarded, but they're so mired in greed that they couldn't assess the situation properly. One of the 5 great guilds? What...