Hera, Valera and Insomniac finally arrived at the main building of the Clan Azure a couple of days after leaving the dinosaur room. It was located in a room called Valley of Azure. Hera thought that they had somehow changed the name of the room. Even if that wasn't something she knew to be possible. But Valera was quick to explain what actually happened. Because of their influence, their clan eventually earned the right to own a room. As much as one could own one, anyhow.
Eventually, they grew their power, and once they decided to move to a bigger place, they were offered a list of rooms. Including the [Valley of Azure]. A room that was a large expanse in the middle of two mountains. The mountains themselves had some strange blueish mineral that shone under the sunlight, bathing the entire plain in a soft blue light. But those were beyond the invisible walls, stopping anyone from ever getting close to the minerals.
Aside from that, there were various mansions, including the main one in the very center of the valley. In addition to full blown cities that housed most of the clan. It was a strange setup for Hera. More due to the idea that a clan, a family, had this much power more than anything.
She was used to dealing with the dwarves from Boothudurn, the Children of the Sky, and her own people. Or at least, where her people should be. For those groups, it made sense to have large areas under their control. After all, they were societies.
Having this large of a territory when they were just a clan felt weird. Not wrong, but not entirely right either. It was something similar to those stories about rooms that belonged to companies. After a brief moment of contemplation, she changed her mind. Room owned companies were something much worse than this.
"It has been a few generations since we earned this place. The guild and the alliance have offered us a bigger place a few decades back, but we refused. At this point, our clan has already settled. It is not worth it to move again. The best option would be to take an adjacent room to be our own, but those already belong to other parties," Valera explained while they were in the car traveling across the room.
This particular vehicle was a mixture of a carriage, a four by four truck, and a limo. And a private car for Valera, the matriarch of Clan Azure. As a matter of fact, walking along the older woman was surreal. Hera was getting used to people staring at her, and reporters taking her pictures, depending on the event. But this was different. When people saw Valera, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and bowed. They would keep their heads down until she gave them permission to move along. And if she didn't, they would stay there. Until she left, or at least that's what Hera was assuming, as she wouldn't stay there after Valera was gone.
People became even more worried about what they talked about near the matriarch. Not just what, but how. If someone was asking for fruit, they were no longer asking for the really red apple. They were now asking for the vermilion apple with a stem of two centimeters.
This wasn't just about respect or even pride, for that matter. It was about trying to catch her attention. As if her gaze was a lottery ticket to be won. It felt extremely strange, to say the least, but it wasn't like Hera could say anything about it. Thankfully, she only had to worry about that until they arrived at the car. After that, there was no one around to bother them. It was just Hera, Valera, and Insomniac once again. They crossed the soft hills of the room by following a road that led them towards the center of this area. It was a very well made road with bridges and an electric blue pavement that made the ride extremely soft.
For a good while, no one said anything. They were all just either staring out of the window or into their tablets, barely feeling the car move forward. Hera made an effort to not saying anything. Of just letting this go and continue moving. But there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind complaining about the situation. Not because she was upset that she was here or because she was angry that she was away from what she was doing.
The issue was how someone or a group of people who were this powerful and influential existed and they were nowhere to be seen during the war. And the more she saw about this place, the angrier she started to get. It was just too much.
The people who lived here were all considerably powerful, and she could tell how much mana was in items and equipment would matter. How much they would have benefited the war effort. Even more, she couldn't understand why they refused to side with the alliance.
Why would a clan with people who lived in the MAZE think that humans coming first was a good idea? Especially since she had already seen a large number of elves, dwarfs, and triton in the area.
Those were the three species that mingled the most with others. The Children of the Sky would also do that kind of thing, but it was less common. The biological differences were obstacles for inter-species couples in their case. They happened, of course, but they were not as prevalent as the other options that had fewer barriers.
"Seriously, why did none of you help during the war?" Hera turned to Valera with her angry expression.
"Who said that we didn't help?" Valera asked.
That answer made Hera scoff.
"I was there. In the thick of it. I know that you didn't help. If anything, Azure Chain was in the middle of it. But he died in the Centaur Assault. The rest of your family didn't do anything."
Valera put her tablet down and looked up, staring deep into Hera's eyes.
"Look, you have some power in the alliance and I expect that it won't take long for you to start dealing with the more political things about it. So let me be honest with you. Consider this a kindness. The type that does not come easy in my family. We were in the war. We were helping the alliance with minor operations and some spy work. But we couldn't afford to toss our hat in the ring, so to speak."
"Why not?" Hera asked, not waiting for Valera to give an explanation.
The elderly woman shook her head. But still, she continued.
"Because we were not the only ones who wouldn't get involved. My clan might be one of the bigger ones in the MAZE, but it's not the only one that exists. There are others. Others that are arguably just as powerful as we are. Although I will never admit that in any other circumstance. And those clans would also jump at the possibility of joining the war. They would love nothing more than to join the war and use that as an excuse to attack their rival clans. As a way to destroy them and earn the knowledge they have gained about legacies that were not their own. And if I were to let my family, my clan, join the war in earnest, all the others would quickly follow suit."
"Yeah. But what's the problem? I mean, I'm assuming all of you would be on the side of the alliance, right?" Hera asked.
"Some of us, yes. A good number of us, in fact. But I wouldn't go as far as saying that every single one of us would be part of the alliance. There are a good number of the clans who might choose to join the guild. And a number of them would also only care about assisting the side that was against one specific rival. The clans have an unspoken agreement to never join any of the political struggles in the MAZE."
Valera paused, then stared at Hera for a moment.
"And while I don't believe you will understand the nuance of what I'm saying. We made sure that the clan Azure will always be on the winning side."
Hera stared at Valera, taking in what she just said.
"So you're saying you played both sides? You worked for both the alliance and the guild?" The Empress asked with a worried expression.
"Of course not. We only helped the alliance. Why would we ever assist the guild with their heinous acts?"
Despite the words that were said, Valera's face was almost condescending. Which made it even more clear that the clans were likely playing both sides of the war and waiting to see who was going to come out on top. Again, in a way, Hera was able to understand where she was coming from. If adding the clans to the fight could cause problems, then it made sense that it was in everyone's best interest that they didn't participate in the war. But at the same time, that felt like something completely wrong.
What was the point of having all this power, all this influence if, when people needed you, you were not going to help them? What was the point of making a clan like this if, in the end, people were just going to be hiding from those with real power in hopes that everything would blow over? But she also felt that this was a bit beyond her rank.
Sure, she could be upset and complain about it as much as she wanted. It wouldn't change the fact that this is how things happened. And there was nothing she could do to change how people behaved. At least not right now. She wasn't even entirely sure if she wanted to make that sort of change. After all, if she did, it wouldn't result in just a change for her but for everybody who was associated with the clans. This felt like the type of political issue that was well beyond the Empress and something that maybe she would never be able to truly help with.
Which, in a sense, it was fine by her. She already had a lot to worry about and there was no need for her to put this on her plate.
Eventually, after two hours since they had arrived in the Valley of Azure, the car finally turned towards the villa where Valera lived. The main house of the entire Clan Azure. It was quite a beautiful place with fences made out of chains, everything in a cobalt blue and silver motif and even the hedges were trimmed to look like chains. Although it was possible that they were also plant-based chains. The building itself felt like one of those houses you would see in comics. Something that came straight from the Elegant Duke of the North or something like that. Hera was pretty sure that she had seen something with that name at one point.
But even after entering this estate, they still spent about one full hour just crossing the gardens before they had arrived at the main building itself. Once they climbed down from the car, they were greeted by an army of butlers and maids. With one older man, still younger than Valera but likely in his later years in life, approaching.
"Lady Valera, I hope your travels have been fortuitous."
"Indeed, they have, Joseph. This is Hera, and she is coming here to open the vault. Make her feel comfortable while she stays with us. She's my personal guest for the time being."
Joseph beamed and turned to the Empress.
"Thank you very much for accepting our humble request. Please let me carry your bags to your room. You will be staying with us for an extended period of time?"
He turned to Valera as if to ask for confirmation, but the matriarch shook her head.
"I don't think so. From what I understand, she has business to attend and won't be staying for long."
Hera nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. I just want to open the vault and be out of your hair in maybe a day or two."
It was the first time Insomniac said anything ever since they arrived at this room.
"I was actually hoping that we could use some of the training facilities here. I do have a few things that I would like to go over with Hera. If that's okay with you, of course."
Hera paused for a moment.
"Well, it's kind of hard to say no to the strongest person in the MAZE. And as long as I'm not going to be a bother, I am fine with staying for a bit longer than I was expecting."
Joseph smiled again, but didn't seem to want to comment on the small discussion. Still, he took Hera's bag, which only contained some clothes and emergency supplies like water and rations. And guided the Empress inside. Even then, Hera could only hope that she wouldn't be stuck here for a long time. Having Insomniac helping her with her fighting style was amazing, but she really wanted to go back and move on with her life without being wrapped around this kind of nonsense politics.