Hidden Clause: The Splintered Five Saga: A LitRPG Isekai Adventure (Soulbound Contractor Book 2) by WillPowah

Author:WillPowah [WillPowah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Alley Press
Published: 2026-01-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

Holter grabbed a majority of the papers in front of him and set them haphazardly off to the side. He snatched up one of the few that remained and gently set it just out of reach of Dryth and Ash. “I have a lovely favor that the two”—he glanced at Sindri, who was watching from behind Dryth’s shoulder—“the three of you would be ever so helpful in completing for me.”

Ash shot Dryth a questioning look, and he gave her a small shrug back. “What’s the favor?” he asked, unwilling to agree to anything without more information. “And why us?”

“That’s... It… It’s complicated.” Holter looked at Ash for a long moment before sighing. “But I’m not going to get anywhere if you don’t know the background. Well, I’m not a professor to explain all the details of the government of the kingdom or the way it operates, but the short version is all about where the bureaucracy interacts with the nobility.” He made a disgusted face and shook his head. “It’s pointlessly complicated in my opinion, but while the various agencies, departments, and other bureaucratic organizations take care of most of the common, everyday administration, the nobles are in charge of the governing of the separate regions of the country. The lands, cities, or towns that go with their titles, that is. Sadly for anyone involved who isn’t able to throw their weight around, it gets complicated and fraught with officials and nobles battling for power and prestige. Not literally, but it can get close sometimes.”

With Ewan’s history lesson from two days ago bright in his mind, it wasn’t hard for Dryth to connect some of the dots he could see being lined up in front of him. The bureaucrats who’d been one of the two spearheads leading the escape into this area had done their best to consolidate and keep their power, and so had the nobles that had been the other power behind getting as many people to safety as they had. Somewhere along the line, they’d likely settled into some version of the modern system. It sounded like they’d ended up with a mostly working government with figures in the two different “camps” pushing against each other for individual gains, while the overall engine of the kingdom chugged on without the individual gears grinding against each other doing any damage. Or so he hoped.

There was a lot to unpack there and even more to learn, but it wasn’t time to ruminate on the new questions those answers had generated. “You’re on the bureaucratic administration side of things, right?” Dryth asked slowly. “You’re the local leader of this bounty station, which is part of the Bounty Agency, which means you’re a player in the power games... or not? You’re probably just a more valuable piece with some wiggle room.”

“Close enough,” Holter agreed. He shot Ash another inscrutable look. “I know that outside of the kingdom, the various guildmasters probably have more power than me, but around here it’s different.

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