"Syma had already begun distributing the basic potions for free. All the Adventurers’ Guilds as well as Mercenary Guilds are now being flooded by people."

The assistant reported everything to the people present in the room.

A long table was placed in the middle, as several individuals sat on either side of the table.

All of them had green hair coupled with equally green eyes.

The Eloran Alchemists was one of the oldest alchemy guilds in the history of Jutan.

Owned and operated by House Elor, the guild was dominated by elves, as their race was skilled in making potions, being closer to nature than the rest.

"Arrogance... Those fools at Syma are truly being arrogant. There is no need to worry about their senseless campaigns, as their arrogance will lead to their doom."

One of the elders in the room grunted.

Hearing his words, some nodded their heads in acceptance, while others had frowns plastered across their faces.

"If they were fools, do you really think that a new guild could have been formed out of nowhere and grown to become the second largest in the entire world? It’s not them but you who is being arrogant."

One of the elders on the right shouted across the table while pointing his fingers at one of the other executives of the guild.

"You don’t have to shout for that."

An elder with a frail body that looked like it could wither at any moment spoke in a calm yet commanding voice, making the entire room silent in seconds.

"If I may speak."

The assistant, who stood near the head of the guild, interrupted the conversation, as all heads turned in his direction.

"Cough... It doesn’t really matter if the leadership of Syma is being arrogant or not. The fact is that they have become something that is now being respected among the masses. Even in our empire, many of the commoners are standing in support of the charity of the guild. On the contrary, we are being seen as money grabbers who don’t care for the people at all. Though our presence in the market is still unshaken, it’s clear that the goodwill of the people is with Syma, not us."

The assistant’s words made everyone in the room face reality.

All of them had been under the illusion that a new emerging guild could never compete with the likes of them.

But the same arrogance had led to Syma developing at an extreme rate without being interrupted in its operations.

Many of Eloran’s competitors had already been dethroned from their place, and the only reason that Eloran Alchemists’ was still in the first place was due to the fact that their guild was backed by House Elor itself.

That helped them dominate their home markets, while at the same time being able to put up a great fight in the foreign markets.

Though that position was soon changing, as many of their past buyers were now leaning towards Syma.

No one knew how Syma had been able to recruit such a large number of talented alchemists out of thin air.

It was a known fact that becoming an alchemist required talent and years of hard work to be able to even create a single basic potion, let alone potions of a higher rank.

But Syma—

They had quickly developed potions in all ranges right from tier 1 to tier 10.

The higher-grade potions were sold at premium rates far higher than the market prices, yet the people bought them.

The reason was pretty simple.

The quality of the potions was far better, and then there were the unique potions created by Syma that had never existed in the world.

Expanding the production lines, expending resources on charity campaigns, along with paying for the alchemists who could produce higher-grade potions...

No one could understand how Syma had been able to manage all of that despite being a new guild.

"It’s as clear as the day. Syma... those bastards aren’t as clean as they portray themselves to the public. They must have some other sources of income. Let’s just report it to the Authorities."

One of the relatively younger elves in the room commented in a frustrated voice.

No one agreed with him, as there was no need to.

Anyone could tell that Syma had other sources of income, seeing the rate at which they were expanding even after running charity campaigns that should have cost them a lot.

But—

Even after trying to their best extent, no one had been able to uncover any shady dealings of Syma.

Even the banks, who generally have a lot of people working under them to do their illegal businesses... couldn’t even touch a single feather on Syma’s back, let alone pluck it out.

Syma...

They had now become nearly untouchable.

And after the goodwill and trust that they had earned among the masses... trying to defame Syma was now equal to beheading yourself. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"With due respect, I have a suggestion, sir."

The assistant, seeing the room was quiet again, bowed in the direction of the head, requesting his permission to speak.

There was a long pause, as the head slightly nodded, just enough for the assistant to notice.

"The Big Three among the banks have proposed a deal with us. I think we should consider it seriously and try to turn the situation in our favour in whichever way, available to us at the moment."

Another bout of silence ensued as no one disturbed the man who was sitting at the head of the table, his eyes closed as he thought over the suggestion.

The Big Three were basically the top three banks in Jutan that had the largest share in the financial sector.

If even those giants felt the danger posed by Syma, then...

The situation had truly gotten out of hand for the major players in the business world.

Let alone the financial losses that they had suffered at the hands of Syma... the trust that they had lost in the eyes of the public was the biggest loss for the businesses that dominated the markets of Jutan.