Restart:Untalented Man-Chapter 501: Seven Great Family

The words of his servants sound dreadful. It is as if their existence until now was a mercy given by Ryntum.

"You can go now," Van waved his hand and shooed the servant.

The servant bowed and exited quietly, leaving Van alone.

The patriarch paced back and forth, lamenting at their past action.

He and other families have become too complacent.

For three years, Blande had not suffered any attacks from Ryntum. And that absence had lulled them into the illusion of peace.

Not just the ruling elite, but the entire populace believed the war was over.

The people saw no battles, no burning cities, no blockades.

Life continued as it was.

What's worse, without a formal peace treaty, Ryntum had every right to strike again whenever they wished without warning.

And most importantly, without facing any condemnation.

Because war hasn't concluded.

Perhaps the pirate attacks were mercy from Ryntum. To remind them of the situation.

"How could we be so foolish?" Van muttered. "I need to call all lords of Blande."

Van sat down at his writing desk and began to write letters.

He finished in less than an hour since the contents were roughly the same.

He passed the sealed letters to his most trusted courier. "Deliver these at once. Make sure they reach the lords personally."

....

A week later, Vernau was busier than usual. The inhabitants can see people and carriages streamed steadily into the city.

"Did we have a festival that I'm unaware of?" the shopkeeper asked as he watched the parade of carriages.

"That's not it. Rumours are that the patriarch of Vernau has called for a meeting with all influential families in Blande. These people are escorts the guests brought."

"Really? I can't believe these powerful families would heed a call from Vernau. Why would they come running like this?"

"That's what I thought too. Nobody knows the real reason. It must be something big... To get them all in one place so fast."

If not for the alarming tone they sensed in Van's letter, making them move would have taken more than a week. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"I hope he had a good reason for this," said Hugo Hagen, the head of the Hagen family.

As the carriage comes to a stop, Hugo hopes that Vernau will not waste his time.

The carriage door opened and Hugo stepped out.

Based on carriages parked around him, many had arrived. It looks like he was the last.

He recognized the crests of other noble families. The Kemptens, the Ergels, the Leuphans...

All the great houses of Blande are present.

Hugo's advisor cleared his throat. "It seems everyone is here, my lord."

"Yes. Let's go inside."

Inside the entrance hall, a servant guided him toward the room where the meeting going to take place.

The wall of the room was full of portraits of the Vernau ancestors.

A long table had been set up in the centre. The heads of families were already seated.

They are all the true rulers of this country.

Witnessing Hugo entering the room, one of them said, "You're late, Lord Hagen."

"Isn't it given? I live on an island far south. I had to cross the sea, unlike you, Lord Kempten."

Lord Kempten gave a tight-lipped smile and said nothing more.

The rest only glanced at them once. They have no interest in joining the conversation.

Hugo took his seat. He scanned the faces of his peers and felt tension in the air.

Moments later, the heavy doors at the far end opened.

Van Vernau appeared.

"I appreciate your presence here." He let the silence stretch for a moment.

"The reason I summoned you here is because the sea has become more dangerous than before."

Seated a few chairs down, Lord Leuphan asked. "Are you talking about the pirate attack?"

"Yes," Van replied.

"Pirates have been attacking merchant vessels for years. This is nothing new. Don't tell me because you suffered a heavy loss, you want the rest of us to move for your sake."

His words were filled with scepticism.

But Van didn't lose his composure.

"Allow me to clarify as you're the least involved in trade. The attacks we're facing are not the typical raids we know of. These attacks are aimed specifically at Blande's merchant fleet."

Since almost all the trades in Blande were monopolised by them, directly or indirectly, they grasped the severity pretty quickly.

All seven heads of the family start to talk among themselves, along with their advisors.

Van let them be. They need time to digest the news.

Unlike Van, who lived near the warm water ports in the south, the majority of them lived inland.

The effect of the attacks hadn't reached their coffers yet.

They hadn't yet felt the pain Van had to endure, but soon...

"I believe you didn't call us here just to tell the bad news right, Lord Vernau?" asked Lord Kempten. "Tell me, who is behind this?"

The room fell silent as all eyes turned to Van.

"Ryntum."

A few gasps echoed in the room.

Hugo's face becomes pale. Of all the people here, he was the only one who had ever faced Ryntum directly.

The memory of the previous war still haunted him.

It cost him an island under his control to stop them from attacking.

Lord Kempten stroked his chin. "Hmm... Does this have anything to do with the war reparations they asked?"

Van nodded grimly. "We ignored their demands. Now, they use another method to pressure us, by first targeting our trade and commerce."

Hugo stood abruptly.

His chair scraped loudly against the floor.

His sudden movement startled everyone, causing all eyes to turn to him.

"Then what are we waiting for? Just pay them!"

Some nod while others frown at his suggestion.

But Hugo doesn't care. He was desperate.

His memories of war were too fresh for him to entertain other solutions.

If war breaks out again, he'll be the first to suffer!

His base is just across their shore!