Karion clenched his jaw. He was frustrated, as he hadn''t expected Ragnar to confront them so suddenly. "If I knew something. I would have called you instead of being summoned here and wasting my time."

    Anselm was still calm, but still, he showed a slight tension. "We''ve been working on it. But whoever is behind this is very good at covering their tracks. It''s not as simple as you make it sound."

    Ragnar''s smirk didn''t waver. He leaned back further in his chair. "Ah, so you have nothing yet. Well, that''s disappointing. I thought you''d have something impressive by now."@@@@

    Karion tightened his fists. He refrained from speaking immediately. He knew that he couldn''t win the current argument with him.

    Anselm kept his composure. He was silent. He also didn''t know how to respond. He just let the tension between the two patriarchs play out.

    Ragnar sighed. He shook his head in disappointment. "It seems I''m the only one actually doing the work around here."

    Both Karion and Anselm frowned at his words. Karion was the first to react. "What do you mean by that?"

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    Ragnar leaned forward slightly and smirked more. "I mean exactly what I said. I''ve already found out something about them while you two don''t."

    Karion frowned. He didn''t want to believe it, but something about Ragnar''s smug demeanor told him otherwise.

    He glared at him. "You found something? Impossible. How could you have found anything when we haven''t?"

    Ragnar shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course, with my own way. Unlike you two, I don''t just sit around waiting for answers to fall into my lap."

    He then used his fingers and pointed them at Karion and Anselm. "You two have more people, more resources, and more connections, yet you still haven''t uncovered anything. Tell me now, what exactly are you doing with all that power?"

    Karion''s face darkened even further. A pulsing vein could be seen at his temple. He He clenched his fists tightly.

    Karion shot Ragnar a glare before leaning back in his chair. He was still fuming, but he held back because of minister Anselm.

    Anselm turned back to Ragnar and frowned. "Explain yourself. What do you mean by that, Ragnar? Isn''t it your duty to share the information once you have it?"

    Ragnar shook his head and chuckled. "Nope. Let me remind you of something, old man. My job is to fight them. Yours is to search for information."

    Ragnar then opened his arms and laughed. "Yet here we are. Not only do I do your job better than you but you also expected me to handle the fighting too. Did I say it right, old man?"

    Anselm frowned deeply at Ragnar''s words. He was dissatisfied by the accusation. He began to calm himself before replying.

    Anselm frowned and sighed. "Fine. If that''s how you see it, then we''ll fight too. Now, can you reveal what you know?"

    Ragnar then smirked and shook his head. "Nope. I can''t do that. I still can''t reveal it."

    Anselm frowned. He leaned forward slightly. He was clearly irritated now. "What do you mean by that, Ragnar?"

    Ragnar leaned back comfortably and crossed his arms. "I don''t want just you two joining the fight."

    Ragnar then smirked as he gestured toward his head. "This information is better than you think. It''s far more valuable than you realize."

    Ragnar tapped his fingers on the table and smirked. "If you want it, you''ll have to do better than just promising to fight. You need to pay more or come up with a more... interesting offer."

    Karion snapped. He could not hold it back. "You''re bargaining with us over information? Is that what this is, you bastard?"

    Anselm raised his hand again to stop Karion before he could escalate things further. Anselm then turned to Ragnar and stared at him. "What do you really want, Ragnar?"

    Ragnar chuckled. He clearly enjoyed this situation. He leaned forward slightly. "Now you''re talking."

    Ragnar sat back down and tapped his fingers on the table. "Let''s just say... I have a few ideas. But first, I want to hear what you''re willing to offer."