Chapter 2843: Temporary Meeting, Handover Resistance

Just as Xia Duo's avatar had left Elder Laruian, his main body immediately received a summons from the Seventon Council. Badijiaer decided to convene an emergency councilor meeting to discuss the unexpected discovery of the ownerless Mithril Mine and the subsequent response measures.

An unexpectedly discovered Mithril Mine had made the relations between the various Northland nations, which had already been gradually easing, tense once again. Regarding this, Xia Duo could only sigh to himself; unless clear evidence of Demon Descendant interference was found, who would be willing to give up the enormous benefits right before their eyes?

Even if it were proven that there was Demon Descendant interference in this incident, so what? The Mithril Mine was not fake; it was merely a matter of having slightly better table manners when dividing the cake and exercising some extra restraint. Conflicts that were bound to happen would still happen.

Even if a certain nation considered the overall situation and acted with high moral character, saying they did not want this Mithril Mine, could every nation make such a choice?

At least Xia Duo would not, and Netheril would not. He felt that other nations could not possibly give it up either, and once he thought this way, it was truly impossible to make any concessions.

After telling Niya about the emergency councilor meeting, Niya, unsurprisingly, indicated she had no time. Xia Duo could only head to Seventon alone, because besides the meeting itself, he also needed to consider the internal distribution problem after Netheril obtained its share of the Mithril Mine.

Sending always had its limitations; it was more convenient to talk in detail after meeting in person. It was not just Xia Duo; he received news that most others had made the same decision.

……

Seventon.

At this time, it had not yet been a day since the Giant Mithril Mine in the Grey Peak Mountains was discovered. The lower levels of Netheril had learned of the news early on, but the further spread of the news required time, generally assuming there were no behind-the-scenes manipulators.

There was almost no situation where a single Councilor could not restrict Permission Levels; more often, several Councilors were responsible for a specific area of affairs together. If the relevant interests were sufficiently huge, it was entirely possible for these few Councilors to collude to engage in shady dealings.

The Councilors Xia Shao saw right now were here to demand a share. Although these Councilors represented the influence of their respective councilors in the Arcane Union, they themselves also had specific duties, responsible for specific affairs in different domains.

At this moment, inside the Saiwendunmu Study.

In reality, it was a split, but the departments themselves would not be completely abolished. The original ones in the Arcane Union would be retained, but the relevant Permission Levels would all be transferred to other institutions. In other words, these overlapping departments would be "clear-water yamen" (impoverished offices) from now on.

What these Councilors wanted to demand now was a larger share of Mithril allocation within their own scope of authority, so that they could provide a little convenience to the Mage Tower organizations they belonged to.

But apart from Aipusi, there really was no one else to choose from. Waiting for a new Mage to grow into a High Mage was not realistic; one was that new Mages were not being trained in the direction of Arcanists, and becoming a High Mage would be considered going astray.

Therefore, since the recruitment information was made public, not even one High Mage had come to apply.

Otherwise, what would be the point of just stuffing in a nominal Councilor?

Some, if there was too much overlap, would not be so straightforward, dragging their feet so that even after the decision was passed, the handover was not completed for several months.

When he first arrived at the Arcane Union, Xia Shao had not discovered any discussions about the Giant Mithril Mine there. It was not until he entered the Saiwendunmu Study that he discovered nearly fifty Councilors had already squeezed in.

At this time, when Saiwendunmu brought this matter up, several Councilors immediately lowered their heads in guilt, and the others, seeing Xia Shao arrive, knew they could not stay here any longer and left one by one, knowing when to quit.

These Councilors were truly able to determine the specific actions and specific policies of the Arcane Union.

Xia Shao's arrival was like pressing the mute button for the entire room. The noisy sounds that could be heard from outside just a moment ago disappeared instantly. At this time, even Saiwendunmu could not help but secretly heave a sigh of relief.

However, Xia Shao was not in a hurry either. At least while Saiwendunmu was still serving as the President of the Arcane Union, he did not need to care too much about any Union Councilors. Who knows, if he sent people there, he might even be called greedy!

Even if it was for personal gain, the very existence of this kind of Permission Level was enough to bring some extra benefits.

"You all go back first. It is not even certain who that Mithril Mine belongs to yet. What are you in such a hurry for? Instead of spending your energy on this, you might as well think more about how to complete the handover work with other institutions under the Council as soon as possible."

After finishing, Saiwendunmu turned to look at the fifty-plus Councilors in the room. And this was not even everyone; if they had all come, whether the Study could fit them was secondary, but he himself definitely could not stand it.

"Xia Shao, you're here. Sit down first; I still have some things here to deal with immediately."

The Tower of Time had not yet sent any Councilors to the Arcane Union, because Councilors were required to be at least High Mages, and currently, the Tower of Time did not have such talent.

Xia Shao preferred to recruit ready-made High Mages from outside the Tower of Time, but High Mages were considered high-level personnel in any organization in Netheril; how could such people easily defect to others?

Another Inheritance Ritual was not a panacea either. Sending someone to Iolum to be an Arcane Union Councilor could be considered a facade for the Tower of Time. It was already so difficult to fast-track a high-level Mage, let alone a High Mage. If they were too far behind other High Mages, it would not be very decent.

Xia Shao's first stop upon arriving in Iolum was the Arcane Union. Although the current Arcane Union had already become a subordinate institution of the Iolum Council, Saiwendunmu was still the President of the Arcane Union and would remain in this position for a long time.

The past Arcane Union was an independent organization, and its various internal functional departments were naturally complete. But after being incorporated into the Iolum Council, these functional departments overlapped with other institutions under the Council, which required a handover.

Of course, whether in the past or now, the Arcane Union had always upheld the principle of neutrality, and the checks and balances among the various internal forces were done relatively well.

Let Aipusi develop a bit more. If he was not comfortable staying at the Plane Exploration Center, he could let him come to Iolum for a permanent posting. This was also a good job; frequently dealing with people could help maintain vitality.

Although the discussion on how to allocate the Mithril Mine shares had not yet begun, one thing was certain: if there were no surprises, the Mithril Mine would ultimately be allocated under the framework of the Arcane Union.

And the Arcane Union itself was a Mage Tower alliance organization, and almost all affairs involved Magic. Since it involved Magic, it naturally had a demand for Mithril.

……

This was, of course, something some Councilors could not accept, but this was a decision by the Iolum Council, and those Councilors were unable to resist. Some Councilors whose affairs had little overlap with other institutions handed them over quite straightforwardly.