Six Tongues

The Six Tongues (六枚舌, Roku-mai Jita) is a secret defense organization designed to protect and support the Kingdom of Lugunica from within. It is led by its director, Russell Fellow.

Information

The Six Tongues is a secret intelligence agency created in the aftermath of the Demi-Human War, dedicated to serving Lugunica from the shadows. Compared to the public-facing Council of Wise Men who manage the Kingdom's politics, the Six Tongues protect and support its backbone, which they achieve through means such as spying, infiltration, and counterintelligence. The leader of the organization is given the title of Director. Their total membership is unknown, as is the internal structure of the organization. However, their numbers are enough to keep tabs on those with important roles in the Kingdom, like Marcos Gildark or the members of House Astrea, and to completely surround the auxiliary Astrea Manor in the Royal Capital. Their influence is enough to pull strings to have the Council of Wise Men appoint someone of their choosing to the position of Deputy Commander of the Royal Guard. Furthermore, some of their members have been involved with infiltrating or putting a stop to criminal enterprises, as well as covertly acting in the position of an intermediary between the Big Three underground organizations that govern one of Lugunica's Five Great Cities, the Earth Dragon Capital of Flanders, to maintain balance within the city and guarantee their safe operations through moneylending.

Although not outright confirmed to be part of the Six Tongues, several people have acted subordinate to the current Director of the Six Tongues, Russell Fellow, as the organization's members would. In particular, Russell is well-known among certain dwellers of the Royal Capital's slums, employing thugs living in the slums under his thumb and developing enough notoriety that Rom had known his name. Those who work with Russell, whether members of the Six Tongues themselves or thugs living in the slums, display a fear of being on the receiving end of his terrifying nature. Thought not known if this is a standard practice among lower-ranked members of the group, as a consequence for failing an assignment, at least one person has been tortured through a curse mark that was prematurely carved onto them.

History

Post-Civil War Period

In the aftermath of the Demi-Human War, following Wilhelm Trias's arrest for invading the Royal Castle during a ceremony commemorating Theresia van Astrea's achievements in the war, he was briefly sent to the Prison Tower and met a man named Orphe there. He briefly spoke to the man, learning that he had been sentenced during the war because he was seeing six women in the Noble District, giving each one of them a different story about him and his background, which caused him to be arrested and given the nickname Six Tongues. Though he parted ways with the man nearly as soon as they began getting to know one another, he later returned to Orphe to ask for advice on Theresia's situation, promising to put in a good word for him and speed up his release in exchange for his cooperation. After Orphe's release, at Wilhelm's recommendation, Bordeaux Zergev put the man under his service, having the idea to create an organization for him and for those like him, and name it Six Tongues, after his nickname. Not long after, the Six Tongues were formed as an intelligence service dedicated to maintaining peace in Lugunica and supporting its foundations, with Orphe become the leader of the organization as its Director.

With his new position under Bordeaux's supervision, Orphe, using his tongue as his primary resource, had been permitted to do a wide range of things throughout the Royal Capital and the Kingdom as a whole, procuring information that officials such as knights would have been unable to. When meeting with Bordeaux and Wilhelm to discuss the Stride Faction after they had begun attacking Lugunica, he requested permission to contact remnants of the Demi-Human Alliance and interrogate them if necessary. With one of their merits being to uncover an enemy's tracks, the Six Tongues acquired the information that they had been spotted at Abiate, discovered that those responsible for sheltering them while they were staying hidden from view were thugs, broke mercenaries, or those who bore hostilities towards the Kingdom, the demi-humans from across the country with lingering negative sentiments against it after the Demi-Human War. Orphe relayed Cragrell Dawson's request to speak with the Sword Saint to Wilhelm and, with the Six Tongues presided over by him, he continued to keep an eye on the remnants of the Demi-Human Alliance. In preparation for Raizo's attack on Gionis Lugunica's life, Roswaal J. Mathers suggested using Clind to counter the shinobi, to which Miklotov McMahon approved and Orphe arranged the preparations for to ensure his defeat as smoothly as possible.

Pre-Great Conquest Period

Several decades later, Russell Fellow became involved with the Six Tongues at a young age, quickly acquiring a role that allowed him to act as a supervisor. He provided advice to Fareed Impusen, a noble who felt burning patriotism for Lugunica, guiding him into founding the Golden Wing Party, while he sent Belmont, a subordinate of his, to join the Brotherhood, a parallel organization led by Marcos Gildark, a knight who had deserted his position to support the residents of the slums.

About fifteen years before the Royal Selection, following the ceremony at the Royal Castle commemorating Roswaal L. Mathers's succession as the head of House Mathers and his inheritance of the name Roswaal, Russell had Belmont steal his golden plume, which bore a resemblance to the Golden Wing Faction's symbol. Happening upon Marcos upon attempting to pursue the boy, Roswaal was rendered unconscious, waking up and meeting Russell, who chose to accompany him to locate his missing plume, which had been taken by the Brotherhood. They eventually met with Marcos after he finished speaking with Heinkel Astrea and seeing his son Reinhard. Roswaal and Marcos clashed, with the former being successful in the end once the latter lost his concentration. Later, Russell helped Roswaal form an alliance between the Brotherhood and the Golden Wing Faction led by Fareed Impusen, with a deal being reached to have them contribute to the development of the Industrial City of Costuul. In their conversation afterwards, Roswaal insinuated to Russell that he had caught on to how the Golden Wing Faction had been truly founded, and Marcos decided to rejoin the knights.

That same night, Russell met with Belmont, ordering him to accompany Fareed and the Brotherhood, which Marcos entrusted Leno Rex to lead, to Costuul. When asked about Roswaal, he said that the noble had caught on to more than he had bargained for, having perceived Russell's involvement with the Golden Wing Faction. Belmont also informed Russell that the Divine Protection of Mind-Changing, which had been used on Marcos during his fight with Roswaal, had been detected from the Astrea Manor. The mansion was then invaded by multiple unknown assailants, and Heinkel was suspected of and questioned for potentially holding intentions of insurrection by means of the Divine Protection of Mind-Changing. Quickly realizing that his son was the only person who could have used it, having so in an attempt to aid his father with convincing Marcos to rejoin the Royal Guard, he rushed to Reinhard's room and scolded him for his actions, and the young boy, who had erased the Divine Protection forever, saw a figure outside of the mansion's window who mouthed to him a threat: that he must protect the Kingdom for his family. When getting ready to return to Costuul, Roswaal confirmed with Belmont that he could be counted on if he needed to get in touch with Russell.

Sometime later, while Russell had dropped by the Royal Magic Research Institute as was Roswaal conducting an experiment, and Serena Dracroy, a noble from the Vollachia Empire who was visiting Lugunica as an envoy on official business, showed up, requesting a tour of the facility. When Roswaal left with Serena to educate her on magic, Ilzea, who had been a researcher in the Royal Magic Research Institute, was ordered by Russell to keep an eye on Roswaal's activity, worried that his enthusiasm to teach educate a noble from Vollachia in magic could lead to them making use of it in the future. However, Roswaal had been preemptively aware that Ilzea was affiliated with Russell and had a means of contacting him. Detecting a wavelength of mana that resembled Serena's magic stone earrings as she was leaving Lugunica with Alagar in custody, Roswaal, realizing she had been put in a situation where the magic stones needed to be used, requested Ilzea to get in contact with Russell. Once the situation was resolved, Alagar was allowed to remain in Lugunica so long as he hid his lineage, assuming the new identity of Gwain Merette, and becoming employed by the Fellow family.

Although unknown when it occurred, at some point, Orphe's leadership role was succeeded by Russell, who became the new Director of the Six Tongues, holding the position to this day.

Hexcel Trafficking Period

Five years before the Royal Selection, Belmont, now a young adult, had left Costuul at an indeterminate time and returned to the Royal Capital to infiltrate Reiner Wahrheit's organization, becoming a senior member of the underground group responsible for distributing the Hexcel drug. Another member of the Six Tongues, Helaine Gatness, began to work alongside Bikram Edditz and Julius Juukulius in order to take down Reiner's group. Under the pseudonym Helena, she took Julius to the slums and introduced him to Blau, a member of the organization, providing the man a false story about the rookie knight's identity. When they reconvened after Julius's first day infiltrating the group, he spoke of how he pretended to slay Blau and sought to have him healed, only for Bikram to deny his request. Helaine provided a sample of the Hexcel drug they found, with Bikram saying it was her task to identify their source. While acting as an insider in their group, Julius got to know Belmont and managed to rescue him from capture by the knights. In an attempt to shake up the organization, Belmont spread a rumor that he was affiliated with the knights.

Later, Julius was assigned to transport Hexcel to the Royal Capital with Belmont. However, just as the city was about to reach their sight, the members of the organization ambushed them and captured Belmont, suspecting he was a mole for the knights due to his former membership in the Brotherhood that Marcos, the knight commander, used to lead. Helaine was against rescuing Belmont upon learning of his capture. Julius attempted to convince her and Bikram otherwise, and though she resisted, after she confirmed his view that Belmont would be more beneficial to keep than Blau, they hatched a plan to save him. Using the injured Blau, she drugged him with Hexcel of potent quality, sending him on a rampage that ended with his life being cut short by Reiner's hand while Julius rescued Belmont. The plan succeeded, and Julius sent Belmont outside to a boat along a river where Bikram and Helaine retrieved him. Julius soon clashed with Reiner, ending in the knight's victory and the drug group ringleader's arrest. Another person who had infiltrated the group, a girl calling herself Adelheid, also captured Reiner's collaborator, Count Easley Oruon, ending their operations once and for all. With their mission complete, Helaine and Belmont prepared themselves to move to their next tasks, briefly conversing with one another after the latter's reunion with Marcos.

Following the incident, Adelheid, who had actually been Reinhard in disguise, bargained with the Six Tongues to promote his father, Heinkel, to the role of the knights' deputy commander, which was accepted. Having been confused with the decision upon initially being informed of it by Marcos, Heinkel happened upon Reinhard at a tavern in the Commoner District and voiced the belief his son had pulled strings to cause the promotion. Denying that he spoke with anyone from the Council of Wise Men, Reinhard reminded his father that accepting the position could aid with awakening Louanna Astrea from her sleep. Heinkel decided to accept the role in the end, telling Reinhard to join the knights once he turned fifteen and returning to Marcos to accept his new appointment, unaware that he had pulled strings with the Six Tongues to bring about the promotion. Following Heinkel's departure, Reinhard spoke with Belmont, informing the young man that he had gained permission to join the knights and subsequently swearing he would never swing his sword for the sake of the Six Tongues.

Royal Selection Period

For unknown reasons, the trio of Gaston, Rachins Hoffman, and Camberley came to work under Russell's supervision to some extent. However, they made an unspecified error in using Russell's name, causing them to panic and attempt to find some way to escape his wrath, fearing for their lives. A short time after the Royal Selection Ceremony marked the commencement of the selection, Felt happened upon them, offering them to join her side. Though at first Rachins rebuffed Felt, she quickly won him and his two friends over, and they became loyal to her cause.

At this point, the Flanders branch of the Golden Beetle, a moneylending loan shark organization with strong links to the underworld, was managed by Helaine. Around the start of the Royal Selection, Mozolite, the second-in-command of The Balance, allied himself with her in an attempt to snatch the position of his boss, Manfred Madison, orchestrating attacks on the Big Three with assassins and leveraging his position in his group to do so. Helaine, perceiving Mozolite's ambition and detecting that he could be easily exploited, supported his goal, believing it would be in the interest of the Six Tongues. Two months later, during a meeting with the representatives of the Big Three concerning the attacks that had been taking place, she proposed the one responsible was the Royal Selection Candidate being housed by the Sword Saint of Hakuchuri, having received reports that Felt contacted Doltero Amule and the Black Silver Coin before. As a result, the leaders of The Balance and the Flower Prison Garden, Manfred and Toto, proceeded to seek courtesy visits from Felt as a means to verify her intentions, with Doltero sending his former confidant Safis to inform her of their wishes.

On a night following Felt's courtesy visits with Toto and Doltero, a subordinate of Mozolite's with an Excess Mana Circulation Constitution attacked Mimosa, a student of Ezzo Cadner who worked for the Flower Prison Garden, setting the brothel she was in on fire. Although Ezzo rushed to the scene, he was rendered unconscious and framed for the arson. With the Big Three after him, he escaped from his predicament with Camberley's help and sought Helaine for his safety, offering unpublished magic theories he had created to her in exchange for an abandoned mansion to use as a safe house. Felt, Reinhard, Flam Remendis, and Rachins Hoffman visited the Golden Beetle to inquire his whereabouts. Hoping to establish a professional relationship with Felt, she willingly divulged Ezzo's location. Acting as a representative of Ezzo, Rachins, accompanied by Flam, paid a visit to the gambling quarter to directly confront Helaine, who revealed she was aware of his origins as the son of the Royal Instructor, Rickert Hoffman. Initially making a bet with the unreasonable request that the name or power of the Sword Saint be lent to her, she changed her condition to something more relaxed and what was her true goal: to send a single letter to the Hoffman family with the contents of her choosing. Rachins accepted her bet and selected Shatranj as their game of choice.

During the game of Shatranj, Helaine easily outmaneuvered Rachins. However, Manfred arrived in the middle of it, calling Helaine by the same derisive Golden Pest nickname that he used to refer to her and what Rachins had said just earlier, making Helaine quickly realizing that her opponent had greeted the Tattoo Face prior to the game, with Ezzo removing the cognitive disruption mask that concealed his identity to verify that his status as a fugitive among the Big Three had been put on hold. Furthermore, she misunderstood that Rachins's condition should he win the game had been to arrange for Ezzo's escape, when in reality he never provided her with any condition. He then made six clicks of his tongue, indicating his awareness of Helaine's allegiance while simultaneously exposing it to Manfred, declaring "Shatzbort" to signal his victory in an off-board game. With her loyalty to the Six Tongues revealed, her only option was to minimize her side's losses and take accountability for her own failure. As compensation for her loss, she provided Ezzo with the location of her collaborator, Mozolite, so he could avenge his fallen student, Mimosa.

Once everything was said and done, the Golden Beetle's influence and reputation in Flanders plummeted, with its place being succeeded by Felt, the Balance took Helaine into custody, and in exchange for a large compensation, the Six Tongues managed to retrieve her, with her being taken in and imprisoned underground at an unknown location, likely in a building at the Royal Capital. She personally reported the whole situation to Russell and was subjected to torture from her curse mark in response to her insubordination, vowing to herself that she would overcome the intense pain dealt to her in order to serve him again.

Members

Current

• Russell Fellow (director)
• Helaine Gatness
• Belmont

Unknown

• Orphe (director) (former)

Associates

• Bordeaux Zergev
• Ilzea
• Gaston
• Rachins Hoffman
• Camberley

Trivia

• The name of Orphe's epithet, and by extension, the name of the Six Tongues organization, is likely derived from the Japanese phrase ni-mai jita (二枚舌), an idiomatic expression meaning to lie and contradict oneself, such as in telling someone one version of a story and another a different story.
• In the Ayamatsu IF and Oboreru IF stories, Otto Suwen became Russell's debt slave and was forced to act on his orders. It is unknown if he was considered a member of the Six Tongues.