"When this is over..." A thought sparked in Alladen's head, as they grew closer to the political goal of their departure meter by meter, "I didn't think much of this earlier, but why wasn't Count Shaezot taken with us?" Marpha raised her eyes at the young man, rubbing her gloved thumbs together, "Gelos has a lot more to do than simply participate in diplomacy, he has give his seal to represent him to the expedition, but, as Kordi is a capital of economic, political and strategic importance, he remained on the island to regulate access to the transport gate.” Faleya overtook Marpha past that sentence, “It wasn't that popular either way, as Heirpejn was a city built on magical practice, only mages ventured there. But, it is still a considerable amount of people to reject and observe, I'd guess." As the Countess concluded her own thought, the Duchess looked away again, resting her right thumb on her lower lip, "But Gelos told me that a few people did manage to slip past the transport stage before a checkpoint was established.” She turned her head back to the other passengers of the carriage again, “Honestly, it is still easier to manage when compared to Count Domialle's or Duchess Kröstek's situation, as the transport gates under their jurisdiction have vanished entirely."   

The Countess clicked her tongue at the mention of the latter noble, "Has she even awoken yet?" Faleya asked with an annoyed expression, steering her face aside, "I suppose not, but because of her usual negligence and long slumber, she didn't repair the north stage before the incident commenced. Sometimes, negative traits seem to turn to virtue, if given the right circumstances." Both the son of the Duke Raressank and the only member of the Usurbruk house agreed, but not expressing it outright with nods or words. 

The Countess spoke next, "Count Domialle took great care to mask the entire disappearance as a quarantine due to a disease outbreak on the other side of the south transport stage, it'll work for a long time before the public catches notice. By the time he will be able to release the quarantine — the cat will be out of the bag." Marpha lowered her hand back down and looked at Alladen. "Going back to count Shaezot: the other reasons why I didn't include him in the expedition is that we don't want to have an entire armed cortege marching unannounced on foreign territory, we are already stretching the limits of the allowed with the Josemm-Narmut order and the Church knights.” After noting that to the young man, Marpha turned to the Countess, “And Faleya is one of the few, if not the only noble who would agree to come without a degree of personal protection.” At her mention, Faleya lifted an eyebrow “I only need a good scribe at diplomatic missions, no?” Continuing with the idea, the Countess felt a pang of suspicion, “Besides, we all spent most of our lives without a single bodyguard, what’s with the obsession now...?” Faleya then stopped talking and rolled her eyes.

“To flaunt your status, of course. Now I look like a dumbass.”

While the Countess marvelled at her near-sightedness inside her head, ger Excellency eased back into the soft cushioning of the seat, "Precisely, I took only the necessities.” Marpha interlocked her fingers and directed most of her attention to the young Raressank, “You, Alladen, are the heir of the person who is a central piece of our unspoken military Coalition against the Ranesairan Unification Legion and the Grand Northern Federation.” Soon after followed the change of focus to the lamenting Countess, “While Faleya is the core of Ranesairan's economy, no matter how little her territory sells or produces, her input into the general produce circulation, intelligence and magical market is more than half of the current annual wyst turnover." Marpha stopped for a brief moment, "Although her own profits don't fit the contribution." The Countess groaned without saying anything, gradually returning to her neutral face.

"And I am the political net of the island, the whole reason why the island is how it is right now." 

“Shoooow ooooooff~” 

Faleya might've thought, but no-one spoke up, the slight smile on the Duchess's face remaining unchanged. With that out of the way, Alladen nodded as he began to speak, "I see, well, that's as reasonable as it gets... I myself felt uneasy when my father told me to take the whole Josemm-Narmut order along with me. Luckily he allowed me to kick it down to four knights instead of seventy." Marriott fought his sleep, and Marpha raised and lowered her eyebrows in an assuring gesture at Alladen, "You are lucky to have such caring and protective parents. It's for the best if you don't frustrate over something so trivial."

The Countess stared at the dipping Marriott, "Aside from that, my next business will be with the head of the Central Bank." Alladed tapped a finger on his forearm after crossing his arms, "Sennoy Korvel? The Central Bank must be thrilled these days." Faleya chuckled, grinning contently, "All this happened right after young Yunes succeeded his father as the head of the Central Bank.” She scoffed, “If he doesn't manage to steer out of this situation, the Central Bank will collapse! Most of their external machinations were done through sea anyway." Marpha remained stationary, not batting an eye while speaking, "If that were to happen, the consequences would be much worse than all of the nobles dying at once." 

Faleya grumbled, moving her eyes over to Marpha, riding her left knee on the seat as she turned her body. "Obviously, I didn't say that I don't realise the negatives of such a scenario. I simply hate the little prick." Her Excellency switched one hand over the other on her lap, "Dwelling on the past?" The Countess recoiled and flung her face away from the preposterous statement, "As if! He is the one to pester me regarding the past altercations. I only owed to Sennoy Korvel bank, not Sennoy Korvel Central bank. The earlier has been disbanded, and with it the debt! I owe nothing to the Central Bank...!" She threw up her hands, "...Yet he keeps sending me letters demanding I pay the inexistent debts! WITH NEW INTEREST!"

"I did recommend Sennoy Korvel for the position of the Central bank due to their persistence." — "Touche." In the end, Marpha was right in this regard. "I doubt that we have to worry about any sort of collapse when it comes to the Central Bank, after all, Yunes takes after his father." Her Excellency raised a finger, and a point, "IASA is what should be our main concern." Alladen decided to question this proposition. "What is so concerning about the Adventurer Agency? They aren't the most economically or politically engaged individuals." Marpha lowered her finger and continued to talk, "Adventurers are adventurous; adventurous means that they love exploring, and, if they love exploring, it means that the second some of them discover the continent, expect a lethal outflow of dangerous workers from the island.” 

Her words gradually made the Countess dread this predicament even more than she had already. “Populations of threatening monsters and beasts will increase in a year's time, flow of unfarmable and important ingredients will slow down nearly to a halt, and their migration to the continent illegally would mean a political crisis.” As if this wasn't enough, Marpha added the last point to her conclusion: “A decentralised, independent and nearly unrestricted organisation of the kind can never seize being a thorn in my side. Even though, like many other nobles, I am grateful for what it did for me in my youthful days." She glanced at Faleya, who began to groan.

“You can say that this is one of the few good things king Ranesairan has left us.”

"This gives me a headache..." The Countess lifted her glasses and reached to rub her eyes, "Why must something like this happen exactly when my efforts finally began to pay off... I couldn't possibly have karma this bad, right?" Alladen wasn't much more enthusiastic after hearing the reasonable layout of their unbearable circumstances, "That is only for you to try and guess, Countess."