Cthulhu Gonfalon

“We have to think of a solution,” the Goddess of Wealth, Marissy, said.

“Yes, this is really urgent.” Sui Xiong seconded this thought.

They looked at each other in despair. If they had any plan in mind, they wouldn’t be in such a daze. That rumor was the crux of the issue: to the aristocrats, the continuation of their inheritance, power and status was their main goal in life. If this was threatened in any way, even the most enlightened and non-traditional aristocrats would still stick to tradition. Of course, there were a select few who could not care less about such matters. Some even felt that the idea of the aristocrats’ inheritance was unreasonable and that they shouldn’t pass power from generation to generation. Every societal group would have such people, and the aristocrats as a whole viewed them as betrayers who needed to be taken care of.

Even though it could be said that wise men ended rumors, but what if the rumors had turned out to be true?

Sui Xiong had previously suggested the conference to the Goddess of Wealth to separate the aristocrats into different social groups and to add on the clergymen and the common folk representatives to reduce the power of the main two clans. This was more for the aristocrats as the merchants were not united at all. When Sui Xiong was in primary school, all his teachers had mentioned that the merchants as a clan lacked foresight and team spirit. If it had been only one or two teachers who had mentioned that, it could have been fake news. However, since all the teachers had agreed on this, it could be taken as the legitimate truth.

Such a situation was extremely non-ideal as this was not Earth. When the news spread, the authenticity of it was easy to judge by using prophetic spells. This was especially so for lies that affected the development of the country and that would lead to long-term effects. The majority of the middle-level mages could use their prophecy spells to make predictions. After the rumors regarding the conference had spread, at least 20 middle-level mages tried different ways to test its authenticity, and all of them predicted it to be correct. Because of that, it led to exaggerated reactions on the part of the aristocrats.

They felt that there was no point in continuing with the conference with this knowledge, and thus the aristocrats naturally had the idea of going straight to battle to settle matters once and for all! So Sui Xiong had to consider this matter very seriously and eventually approached the Goddess of Wealth with a new suggestion.

“Allow the merchants to have a head start? That would be akin to betraying the clan that had been loyally following me for the last few years! No way!” The Goddess of Wealth was startled at his proposition.

The Goddess of Wealth could not be blamed for her indecisiveness here as she did in fact have a large following of aristocrats. If she were to become enemies with them, she would suffer heavy losses or even lose her high status among the gods.

“Well, apart from that, do you have a better idea?” Sui Xiong asked in retaliation.

To that, the Goddess of Wealth had no answer, and she could only smile bitterly. If she had thought of a better plan, she would have mentioned it by now! However, she was still resistant to Sui Xiong’s new suggestion.

“This battle cannot be fought! If the merchants and aristocrats really start a physical battle, no matter who wins or loses, the Commonwealth of Golden Coins will be doomed!” she said.

“You can’t win a battle if you don’t even fight one. If the merchants manage to win, they will be able to properly and legitimately develop their country under their rules,” Sui Xiong said.

“But… what if they lose?” the Goddess of Wealth questioned.

Sui Xiong found himself at a loss for words and was silent for a while before asking in a slightly hostile way, “Why do you think they would lose?”

“While the merchants have money to hire large amounts of troops, the loyalty and fellowship of the troops is highly unpredictable, and they may not have the determination to complete the battle fully. On such grounds, fighting with the aristocrats’ personally trained and fully developed private army would be akin to sending the merchants to die! I may not be a war veteran, but I am aware of the basics of warfare,” the Goddess of Wealth retorted in an equally hostile fashion. She went on to say, “Furthermore, the merchants’ wealth has always been dependent on trade. If a war breaks out, trade will cease as roads will be blocked or destroyed. Even those with inheritances would not be left with much when their property is ruined.

“After a while, they will also run out of means to pay the troops. On the other hand, the aristocrats only need to provide resources for their troops and will not run out, even if they have to fight for three to five years. From my point of view, the merchants will definitely lose. If they really stood a chance of winning, they wouldn’t’ have had to back down so many times in the past in the first place.” The Goddess sighed.

Sui Xiong was silent again. He faced an internal dilemma of whether to share on a powerful weapon that he had used to set off extreme chaos on Earth previously. In the end, he decided not to. It would have been akin to releasing a large tiger out of its cage. It would then be extremely hard to reverse such an action then. While he wanted to help this world improve and develop, he was certain that he did not want to use extreme violence nor cruel means to do so.

On Earth, a king had previously been quoted to have said, “Who cares if chaos is unleashed after I die?” But Sui Xiong, while not entirely opposed to such a liberal mindset, had to consider his immortality… Upon considering the prospect of staying alive and watching the spark that he started ignite into flames that engulfed the entire country, he broke out in cold sweat.

Nima, this could not happen!

In the end, Sui Xiong had backed down and could only suggest that if there was a need to, the Republic of Northwest could send troops to aid the merchants in war.

The Goddess of Wealth wavered slightly and had thought about it for a long time before nodding her head in agreement. “Maybe… that may turn out well. We might as well compel the merchants to relocate to the North where they would be adjacent to the Republic of Northwest and could create a common republic. They could also choose to merge directly into the Republic. With the division of the Commonwealth, maybe the aristocrats would not feel the need to be so aggressive towards other clans as well.”

“I’m surprised that you’re willing to divide a country that believes in you so easily.” Sui Xiong was shocked.

“What’s the issue with that? To me, the concept of a country is fleeting. As long as those who believe in me continue to work and strive, they can continue to develop themselves even within a divided Commonwealth,” the Goddess shot back. Sui Xiong was unable to reply as he felt that he was no longer on the same frequency as the goddess.

After a while, the duo brought their entire conversation to the gods’ meeting to discuss.

The God of War approved of such a suggestion. “Since the situation is now rather transparent in the Commonwealth, the two major clans would probably be unable to maintain the current peace for much longer. It would either be a vicious fight to the end or a major separation where each clan goes their own way. If they choose to separate, at least we can prevent a huge war.

“Do you really think we can prevent an entire war?” Sui Xiong remained skeptical.

“Of course, we can’t guarantee such things, but even if war were to break out after the separation, it would be on a much smaller and less violent scale as compared to a fight over the entire country’s powers. If we can’t ensure that there is no violence whatsoever, at least we can try to scale it down. Unless, of course, you have a better suggestion to share with us right now,” the God of War replied.

The gods had looked at each other, and no one could think of a better suggestion. They eventually decided to agree on the only proposed solution then and there.