As soon as ude and the others left, Zachariah and several of the Bards’ elders fell silent in the


    room.


    After some time had passed, a middle-aged woman said to Zachariah, “Sir, I think ude has a point.


    We need to be wary of Draco Hall!”


    Zachariah nodded. “Indeed, we do, but I’m afraid that we shouldn’t mess with Draco Hall. If Brookbourn


    Mansion joins hands with underground forces like the Emerald Cloud Gang in dealing with Draco Hall,


    our reputation and image would be tarnished if word gets out! Moreover, Draco Hall did notmence


    any further action after absorbing the Cedar Gang.”


    The middle-aged woman thought over Zachariah’s words and said, “Sir, the upper-ss families hand


    over ten percent of their ie to us every year, don’t they? How about we raise that by double? The


    councils in other cities mostly request a twenty percent contribution from the upper-ss families, and


    this makes us seem a little too merciful.”


    “I agree, sir! We might have a wealth of funds right now, but Draco Hall will surpass us if they take over


    the Emerald Cloud Gang. Even if that doesn’t happen, we are now barely on par with each other. The


    way I see it, we should adopt the suggestion that esteemed elder, Edith, has just proposed and


    increase the contribution amount to twenty percent! Only with money can we hire elite fighters, and that


    would most certainly stabilize Brookbourn Mansion’s position!


    After hearing their opinions, another old man sighed. “Our main stumbling block is the difficulty with


    which those upper-ss families earn money. There’s been a recession in the economy the past two


    years, and it’s not ideal for us to make such sudden demands of them!”


    Zachariah took into consideration the views that had been put forth and said again, “The Longhorns


    gave. us three prearranged spots in Liberty City, and the locations that were given are quite good too. I


    believe it’ll bring us a lot of profits, so we’ll leave it at that for now. I think we should invite the people


    from Draco Hall toe over for a drink sometime soon. We can further this discussion once we get a


    feel of their attitude toward us!”


    This belongs to N?velDrama.Org - ?.


    “Meeting Larry and his men just to see their reactions seems like a step in the right direction.” Edith, the


    middle-aged woman, nodded her head in approval.


    At that moment, She had just returned from some shopping.


    “What’s up, Dad? What are you discussing sote at night?” She felt ted after she got Severin’s


    number, and since she knew where Severin lived, she could always hang out with him if she had


    nothing to do. Just thinking about it made her feel excited already.


    Zachariah smiled and motioned for the others to leave.


    After several of the elders went down, Zachariah said to She, “It’s nothing serious. We’re just worried


    that Draco Hall might threaten our status, so we’re nning to recruit a few more elite fighters to


    stabilize our strength and status as Brookbourn Mansion!”


    “Elite fighters? Severin counts as one, right?” She smiled, and then said again, “It’s a shame that we


    left too early today and didn’t get to see an exciting encounter. I heard that three very strong assassins


    wanted to kill Severin, but he turned the tables on them and killed them instead. The three assassins


    were reportedly very strong, so much so that even the Longhorns’ bodyguards had a lot of praise for


    them. In the end, however, Severin faced all three of them alone and killed them! Isn’t he amazing?”


    After hearing that, Zachariah could not help butugh. “Hehe, it would be great if you can get him to


    help our family out. My gut tells me that he has the aptitude, otherwise the Longhorns wouldn’t have


    sided with him at the projectunch today!”