Chapter 114: The Windwalkers

The fifteen-day festival concluded, and all of Silvermoon City began to return to its regular rhythm.

Silvermoon City, House Cabolo.

Patrick returned to his family estate, needing to further clarify his future strategic direction. As his personal strength continued to rise, and with the Council’s obstructive actions intensifying, House Cabolo’s influence within the Silvermoon circle was destined to contract even further.

Logically, upon Patrick’s promotion to the eighth rank, the Council should have granted him an official public position. After all, the position of an executive councillor carried public authority and served as the most direct path of advancement in Silvermoon City—somewhat akin to an imperial examination system. However, the difference was that the Silvermoon Council focused solely on a mage’s spellcasting tier; once a specific level was reached, one automatically gained a seat on the Council.

During this recent session of the Silvermoon Council, the four councillors maintained their tacit understanding, keeping Patrick stationed in the Ghostlands. Although they granted him a marginal increase in authority, they still refused to let him enter the upper echelons of elven society. Currently, only one councillor had reached a partial, secret agreement with him; yet, interests are always mutual—what he could gain was directly tied to what the Dawnblades could secure.

For years, the Council had engaged in constant, clandestine maneuvers: inflating the production costs of House Cabolo’s materials, reducing the Council’s annual procurement quotas, and manipulating the distribution channels for House Cabolo’s products within Silvermoon City. Patrick could hardly be bothered to count them all. Now, House Cabolo’s industrial presence in Silvermoon City could, at best, be considered a training base, with a vast number of talents and mages sent to the Eversong Woods and the Sunstrider Isle to assist in development.

Externally, it was difficult for Council agents to infiltrate his operations, ensuring the steady growth of House Cabolo. While their share of the Silvermoon market continued to dwindle, the total revenue, capital, manpower, territory, and material assets of the family had seen comprehensive development.

Furthermore, ever since he secured a trade route from Terenas Menethil, the goods produced by the Sunstrider Isle were sold primarily to humans. Ordinary enchanted items from Quel'Thalas could be resold at exorbitant prices in human markets, and exquisite magical artifacts were highly sought-after luxuries among the human nobility.

This foreign trade caused the financial revenue of Patrick’s Sunstrider Isle to skyrocket. Figures like Ithonis, Candris, and Quelintaris had even moved their entire families to the Sunstrider Isle to develop; though they were minor, obscure houses, they had profited immensely.

In truth, Patrick had no desire to bicker with the Council. He could even abandon his share in Silvermoon City entirely. Once his influence was firmly established in the periphery of Silvermoon, those few nobles guarding an empty city would be unable to stir any real trouble. When that time came, the Silvermoon Council would have to accept his proposals, whether they liked it or not.

As for the Royal Family, as long as the Sunwell remained in their hands and the hands of the Royalist faction, the nation would remain peaceful, and no civil war would erupt. The Royal Family did not interfere in the internal affairs of the Council. This was the agreement reached thousands of years ago after Dath'remar Sunstrider led a portion of the Highborne clans across the sea: national power would be distributed among the various elven clans through the Council, while the Royal Family served merely as a symbol of the legitimate authority of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, refraining from meddling in domestic politics.

"Yanida."

"Please, Councillor, give your orders," Yanida said respectfully.

"Draft a development plan. Future priorities remain on the Sunstrider Isle and the Eversong Woods. The first phase of construction on the Sunstrider Isle is complete, as are the four buildings surrounding the Spire of the Sun. Our administrative personnel are still insufficient; continue to recruit talent and fully unleash the administrative vitality of the Sunstrider Isle. Additionally, continue to build housing and shops, and refine the town planning. In the future, I will need to install a large-scale magical array beneath the entire Sunstrider Isle."

"As you command."

***

The Ghostlands, Windrunner Spire.

Located west of the Ghostlight Mines and just south of Shan'tis Island, the Windrunner Spire was built on a clifftop plateau. It stood in a commanding position, overlooking the sea and the surrounding plains.

The interior featured a standard aristocratic garden, but unlike the typical gardens of Silvermoon City, it was lush and tree-lined—the environment rangers loved most. Though the colors and styles—white, gold, and red—were typical of Silvermoon architecture, the Windrunners had planted many trees here. At any time of year, the Windrunner Spire remained a place of pilgrimage for the rangers of Quel'Thalas.

Alleria was enjoying a rare moment of vacation, lying in the garden, letting the sea breeze relax her body and mind.

"Sister, you and Councillor Patrick Cabolo..." Lirath left the rest unsaid, sensing Alleria’s gaze piercing through him.

During the gala at the Council hall, all three sisters had received countless invitations to dance, but without exception, they had turned them all down. Not a single male elf had "succeeded," save for Patrick, whom Alleria had invited herself. Moreover, as an eighth-rank Arcanist, Patrick had filled the entire hall with blue roses woven from arcane energy; the two of them dancing amidst a sea of flowers had naturally drawn the eyes of everyone present.

Vareesa, Sylvanas, and Lirath did not believe for a second that there was nothing between Patrick and Alleria. The crux of the matter was the nature and depth of their relationship. After much deliberation, Vareesa and Sylvanas had sent Lirath as their scout to probe for intelligence.

As the youngest male of the Windrunner family and its only direct male heir, Lirath had grown up pampered by his parents and sisters, which was why Vareesa and Sylvanas had dispatched him to inquire about their eldest sister and Patrick.

"They are the ones who sent you, aren't they?" Alleria glanced at Sylvanas and Vareesa, who were pretending to eavesdrop from a distance, and smiled. "Go back and tell your second and third sisters: it is exactly as they suspected."

"But, Eldest Sister, didn't you used to dislike mages? You said they were rigid, stubborn, and lacked the vitality of a ranger."

"Did I? Did I really say that?" Love can make one forget many things—as was the case with Alleria now.

"..."

Lirath walked back dejectedly; Alleria had not given a straight answer.

"Lirath, what did Alleria say?" the two sisters asked, impatient for the gossip.

"Second Sister, Third Sister, Eldest Sister only said it was just as you thought, and then she said nothing more."

"What kind of answer is that? She’s definitely hiding something," Vareesa said, her voice filled with intuitive confidence.

"Back when Patrick first took his post at the Sunstrider Isle, he was just an unknown little elf, yet Eldest Sister specifically left me a note to keep an eye on him. Could it be that even then..." Sylvanas began to recall the scene of when she first encountered Patrick at the Sunstrider Isle.