webnovelfull Chapter 171: Demand
Chapter 171: Demand
"As you know, ever since monsters began rampaging across the world, monster hunter academies have become the last surviving shelters for humanity. We survived thanks to the Light. Now, thanks to the players, we are finally able to learn what is happening in other academies and keep in contact with them."
"Of course. I am aware of that," Cassandra replied.
She sat with the elders at the Forest Table, where every important decision in the Forest Hidden Monster Hunter Academy eventually found its way.
The table stretched through the council chamber in a long curve of living wood, wide enough to make distance feel deliberate, yet close enough to force every elder to hear one another breathe. Unlike polished noble furniture, its surface carried the texture of something alive. Ridges rested beneath the polish, veins of darker grain crossed its length, and thin amber lines marked places where old sap had hardened beneath the surface like memories the tree had refused to let go.
The chairs around it were grown rather than crafted, each one shaped from bent branches that seemed to hold its occupant in place. Above them, leaves layered across the ceiling in a natural canopy, filtering the Light into gentle gold.
That warmth should have softened the room, but the Forest Table had never been gentle. Deals were made here, punishments were decided here, and desperate requests were placed before the Light here. Every elder sitting around the wood knew that the tree remembered more than any of them wished it did.
The chamber offered no throne, no raised seat, and no higher desk for one elder to place himself above another. They all faced the same ancient wood, beneath the same canopy, before the same Light, yet Cassandra still drew the eye as though the room had quietly arranged itself around her.
Her posture was relaxed, one hand resting near the table’s edge, her chin slightly raised, and her calm expression carried just enough arrogance to make the silence around her feel intentional. The elders kept glancing toward her, some with irritation, some with caution, and a few with the weary awareness that ignoring Cassandra Selfmore rarely made her disappear.
The elder had a point. The monster flood had swallowed the world with endless hordes, and the players had arrived with endless numbers of their own, along with unique bodies and respawn mechanics that allowed them to answer a catastrophe ordinary humans could only endure. Wherever players brought safety, trade and coin followed close behind.
"Several facilities have appeared across other academies," the elder continued, his voice gaining strength as more heads turned toward him. "For instance, the Auction House in the Hunter Academy of the Endless Rain. It allows players to sell items and conduct business more quickly while ensuring their safety. Our neighboring academy, Mountain Risen Monster Hunter Academy, has an alchemy facility! We have none!"
His fingers pressed against the Forest Table. The wood gave no sound, but the tension in his knuckles spoke clearly enough.
"That is why I implore the Light Tree to bestow a chain of quests upon the Night Espresso Guild and help our academy flourish in exchange for their protection of our land!"
The other elders nodded. Some carried solemn expressions, others looked impatient to have the matter approved and settled, and a few tried to hide the sharp light in their eyes. Greed, hope, and urgency were not easy emotions to bury beneath old faces.
A warm glow answered from the canopy overhead.
Golden radiance slipped between the leaves and branches like sunlight filtered through holy glass, changing the air at once. It grew warmer, denser, and heavier with attention. The Light Tree had heard the request.
Before that sacred warmth could settle into an answer, Cassandra barely lifted one hand, yet the elders quieted as if she had struck the table herself. When they turned toward her, she greeted them with a cruel, elegant smile.
"Are you asking this out of selfless intentions," Cassandra asked, "or are you jealous of the profits the other academies are gaining from the players’ income, as well as the profits those facilities can generate?"
Around them, the Light stilled.
Its glow held in place. Even the leaves above them ceased their faint rustling, and the silence that followed carried the weight of the Light Tree’s attention.
The elder slammed both hands onto the table and stood. His chair, grown from a curved branch, creaked behind him.
"How could you accuse me of greed when our academy shelters over fifty thousand powerless citizens?" he demanded, his voice rough with wounded pride. "Our hunters have kept them alive for generations. Generations, Cassandra!"
Another elder leaned forward, his expression colder and more controlled. "Your conduct has crossed the line, Cassandra Selfmore. This council deserves respect, not mockery."
"Enough," a third elder said, his voice short and hard. "Apologize."
Several voices rose after that, some offended, some furious, and some eager to add weight to the demand now that others had spoken first. The council chamber, solemn only a moment ago, filled with anger. Sleeves shifted, old fingers curled, eyes hardened, and a few elders leaned forward as if they could press Cassandra down with their outrage alone.
Cassandra laughed, the sound light, almost pleasant, and therefore far more infuriating.
"I do appreciate all of you showing me your weaknesses so I can exploit them later," she said. "However, this time, I did not ask that question to look down on you."
"This time?" the first elder asked, one eye twitching.
Cassandra’s smile widened. "Helping the world for profit is still helping. Selflessness is beautiful, but purpose is useful. Humans need purpose. Hunters need purpose. Players need purpose. Even old men sitting around an old branch need purpose."
The formal elder’s mouth tightened. "You reduce duty to profit too easily."
"And you dress profit in duty too easily," Cassandra replied without missing a beat.
A few elders bristled, but Cassandra continued before they could turn their wounded pride into another interruption.
"A new facility in the academy would create jobs. It would draw players here. It would bring trade, materials, commissions, storage fees, taxes, and influence. You would earn plenty of money from taxes alone." Her fingers brushed the edge of the Forest Table, slow and thoughtful. "So, can all of you elders swear, with the Light Tree as your witness, that you will use all this tax money for the benefit of the academy and not for your own selfish desires?"
The anger in the room cracked, and no one spoke.
Shock moved through the elders in widened eyes, tightened lips, and shoulders that slowly lost their proud stiffness. Their request had sounded noble, and in many ways, it was noble, but Cassandra had peeled back the layer beneath it and placed that hidden part beneath the Light Tree’s gaze.
The warm glow above them began to move again.
Soft golden light poured through the canopy and drifted in thin streams until it touched the Forest Table. The old amber lines inside the wood brightened first, then the radiance spread outward through the grain in slow, branching paths. It looked less like light shining on the table and more like something inside the living wood had opened its eyes.