Chapter 18: Preparation V - Factions

The sun had set and the sky was navy blue instead of black from the bright blue moon that hung in the sky. Thanks to skipping their lunch, both she and Belevere were hungry. The contentment from before had been a mere illusion and her stomach growled as soon as the excitement was over, destroying any seriousness that might have remained.

Instead of making their own food, Belevere, while blushing, had suggested they go out to eat. Annabelle, while blushing, agreed, so they took a tram to a nearby restaurant that was still open. 

Most of the restaurants had shuttered for the break since most of the students had gone home and would not be coming back for a month or so. Unfortunately, the list of closed restaurants including their favorite Terran-Oriental style place, so they settled on the next best, a steak place.

Once there, Belevere ordered a juicy grilled ribeye without batting an eye. While Annabelle really wanted to match her new girlfriend to celebrate the occasion, she couldn’t get used to the redness of the steaks that Belevere liked, despite liking the flavor.

On the other hand, if she dared order her steak well-done, she could count on one hand the number of people she knew who would not lynch her—unfortunately, Belevere wasn’t among them. 

In the end, after much deliberation, she ended up having smoked ribs that were completely and utterly cooked through with no sign of red to be found inside or out. Thankfully, Belevere didn’t bat an eye when she placed her order after so much hesitation.

When they received their food, they touched their red wine together and drained their glasses in one go. At first, Annabelle was apprehensive, but her eyes widened as the wine slid down her throat with barely any burning. Instead, it was the sweetness that stood out the most with a hint of sourness that lingered long after the liquid had gone down.

Her previous experience with red wine had been rather painful as it clung to her throat, so she had been caught off guard.

She saw Belevere grinning at her. 

“So? How is your first proper red wine?” she asked.

“Proper red wine?” Annabelle echoed. She looked at the bottle between them. That bottle and the one she tried before were both red wine, so why did they taste so differently.

“Look at you, so confused,” Belevere said. “That’s right. Proper red wine. Not the cheap stuff you drank before. Knights drink the more expensive wine with just the right amount of alcohol content, aged to let the tannin fade so it’s not as bitter.”

She poured her another glass, filling up halfway, and then poured herself a glass too. Annabelle looked at it in wonder. She could find any difference visually at least. 

“How do you know all this?” Annabelle asked. As far as she could tell, Belevere was at the academy on scholarship. Her family was thoroughly average as far as Tamsel citizens went.

Belevere smiled smugly. “I researched it.”

Annabelle gave her a glare as she realized she had been fooled.

Still smiling smugly, Belevere took a sip from her glass, much slower this time. “But then again, it’s not like wines are particularly expensive, so if you ask almost anyone that drinks, they’ll know the basics. Red wine grapes especially grow everywhere. Some of the wines are made from fruits only found on certain planets.”

Those wines cost a fortune to import. Most citizens outside of the planet of production never ever got to taste those wines. Annabelle knew well how some wines could cost millions of marges—way more than even Belevere’s prize money.

Still starry-eyed from having a whole new world opened in front of her, Annabelle watched as Belevere sliced into her steak and delivered the chunk of meat cleanly into her mouth without a hint of messiness or getting sauce where it shouldn’t be.

It occurred to her that perhaps she shouldn’t have ordered ribs for her first official date. 

Her attempt at using the provided knife and fork resulted in a messy and noisy catastrophe when she kept hitting the bone, with Belevere barely suppressing her laughter.

“Anne, I don’t mind you using your fingers. Who even uses a knife and fork for ribs?”

Her face burning and with Belevere’s blessings, Annabelle finally bit the bullet and tore off one of the ribs and sank her teeth into it, venting her embarrassment as she tore apart the meat.

The rest of their dinner continued in silence. Neither of them wanted to talk while eating, so the atmosphere was just a little awkward. Only when both of them finished did Belevere take the initiative to resume their previous conversation.

They had been interrupted when her mother called.

“So, I don’t think a normal house would work anymore,” Belevere said. “Not with us picking a fight with Vesmelda.”

Annabelle blinked, still unused to Belevere saying her mother’s name. But Belevere had referred to her mother by name for a reason—to help her divorce the concept of mother from the woman named Vesmelda.

With a start, she realized that she still thought of that woman as ‘her mother.’ She’s Vesmelda. Vesmelda Florent, Annabelle repeated to herself. It was going to be a hard habit to break.

 Back on the topic of houses; while Belevere had a point, it's not like they have the budget to construct an actual fortress. 

“Maybe we should just first go for a normal house and then as we gain more funds we can upgrade?” Annabelle suggested. “We have to start somewhere. How are we even going to build a faction anyway?”

“...What is a faction?”

“That’s a good question,” Annabelle said, her confidence suddenly ballooning. After getting shown up by Belevere’s superficial knowledge about wines, she had to pay her girlfriend back. 

Her knowledge on factions went way beyond surface level since she had seriously planned on creating a faction after graduation before that accident with the pod. 

She sobered again as she remembered the kind of work she had to put in if she was going to raise her aptitude back to Grade A again and become an expert candidate like Belevere.

Was it even possible?

Annabelle took a drink from cold iced water the restaurant provided after the meal, letting the chill clear her mind and doubts. She placed the half-empty glass on the table, ice cubes clinking. 

“A faction is a power structure headed by a knight, with different organizations under its umbrella. A knight, being a noble, gives legitimacy to those organizations and sponsors them, uniting them in exchange for their support.”

Every year, hundreds of new businesses are created, while hundreds close. As new ones appear, they tie themselves to knights. They have a choice: join an established power or a new power?

For most, it did not matter, since the scale of their businesses were too small to affect anything, therefore they often chose to put their lot in with new knights in an attempt to attract goodwill.

The businesses paid a portion of their profits as taxes to the knight, and in return, they joined the knight’s faction. By tying together many different businesses, the knight could ensure that all those within her faction could work together and become a more powerful force than any single business could become alone. 

A rising tide lifts all boats, so as a faction grew stronger and more cohesive, almost all the organizations under its umbrella received greater benefits and support.

Belevere nodded in understanding. “I see. So the reason why they say that the Florent Group is said to have a developed intelligence network is because they have so many cybersecurity and electronics companies in their faction?

“Correct. So whenever m-.” Annabelle caught herself in time and corrected herself. “Whenever Vesmelda needs something done, she could just ask one of them for a favor.”

Belevere looked a bit downcast now, and Annabelle could hardly fault her.

Factions were a big deal and were difficult to manage and grow when they were small. As someone who had always been a bystander, suddenly being thrown into all this politics must be overwhelming for Belevere.

“Don’t worry too much about it, Bel. Just leave it to me,” Annabelle said. “I can definitely grow the Odis Group into a super faction superior to any other in Tamsel III. What other faction can boast to be led by an expert candidate or pilot?”

Even with the accompanying prestige, though, Annabelle was a bit apprehensive about their chances of success of a meteoric growth.

Due to the proximity of the academy to Farthington, one of the largest cities in the continent, they had excellent recruiting prospects. Since the tournament and award ceremony, as well as Belevere’s expert candidacy, had all been broadcasted all over the city, they had plenty of free publicity.

The only downside was that they had a lot of competition. Over the years, the academy produced plenty of knights on Baron Arvent’s behalf, and many of them had the same ideas as she did. 

Additionally, they also had Matt Harris graduating in the same year, who had already gathered a large following from their school. The Harris group would start out stronger than theirs due to their greater manpower.

Not only that, Matt Harris himself was a charismatic figure. He looked handsome, but never flaunted it, so he gave off an air of modesty. Instead, he let his achievements do the talking, actively making friends and finding allies.

In terms of pure social ability, Annabelle admitted her loss to Matt Harris. Someone like him was essential to a faction’s operation as the face of the organization. 

Though she hated to admit it, Belevere wasn’t cut out for the job. Her girlfriend was only sufficient as a figurehead.

While she had confidence in herself and her ability, Annabelle couldn’t help but feel a headache from all the work she was going to be swamped with in the future, having to balance the operations of their faction with her own personal improvement.

YuriDoggo

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Next Chapter: Chapter 19: Comfort