Badge in Azure

“Then forget it, marrying a princess is no joke. That fellow Jola dared trifle with Cloudflow’s princess, I don’t know if…” Saleen stopped talking abruptly. It was pretty frivolous of him to be speaking in this manner. Saleen actually wanted to say that Jola might not have known the identity of the princess, however, it was rumored that the princess was already pregnant. It would be too disrespectful to mock in front of Lex.

Lex did not really think much into Saleen’s words. She simply said, “Cloudflow wants more control over Titan Duchy, just like what my uncle did to Phoenix. Do you know something? The mages from Alchemy City have created a lot of trouble for the Tanggulasi Empire, which was why the Tanggulasi Empire never had the power to launch a powerful offensive. Upon learning that my uncle had produced war puppets, the emperor of the Tanggulasi Empire even decreased his attack tempo. Such an issue should not drag on. Before the war between the four big empires erupt, the empires will conquer all the other smaller states first.”

There were dozens of states surrounding the four big empires on the Myers mainland, and many other independent cities. Only five duchies truly possessed independence. Qin was in control of two, while the other three belonged to Tanggulasi, Sikeqinya and Cloudflow respectively.

“You want to help the duke?” Saleen deciphered the hidden meaning in Lex’s words.

“Yes. Cloudflow wants to revoke Titan’s authority, so he will no longer be a duke. He wants to give me some items from the princess’ castle, while I will defeat the Pink Army in return.”

Saleen was feeling displeased. If he had traveled thousands of miles just for a mere duke, then that would be too silly. That duke was not even his friend.

“Are you unhappy?”

“Yes.” Saleen did not bother concealing his emotions, he was no longer a tiny mage who had to rely on others.

“The princess’ castle has a magic laboratory with a history going back hundreds of years. The mages in the castle are inferior, however. The duke has promised to allow me to take the laboratory and all of its materials.”

Saleen’s expression softened in that instant. A magic laboratory!

Saleen was not poor, he could even be described as wealthy. It required time to construct a magic laboratory. Many appliances in a laboratory needed to be constantly soaked in the elements as they were developed in a painstaking process. Genuine magic laboratories would have centuries of history.

Since the alchemy laboratory in the hell of god’s punishment belonged to Lex, Saleen was lacking an aged laboratory. Lex had his interests at heart.

“Why else would I bring two grade-5 mages over? Its to help you remove the materials from the laboratory.” Lex’s tone was lined with a tinge of lament, causing Saleen to cackle.

“Saleen, are we on the losing end?” Sika suddenly asked.

“Nope. Anyway we will be going to the first objective, we can lend a hand on the way.”

“The benefit you are talking about are unrelated to me.” Even though Sika was blunt, she was not careless. Being a warrior priestess, she could not utilize many mage items.

Nailisi was also annoyed by the fact that Lex had concealed this matter from Saleen for such a long time.

“Viscountess, is that duke doing this because he is fond of you?” Her words were really insidious. It was obvious that Lex adored Saleen, and she could also feel it. Her words served to sow discord between Lex and Saleen.

“Yes, he even requested the Duke of Titan to propose marriage, but my father rejected it.” Lex glanced at Nailisi, answering her question breezily, as though she did not mind it at all.

There was another mage aboard the carriage who never spoke a word. This female mage was at the standard of grade-4. Saleen had never met her before, and Lex did not bother introducing her.

Seeing that Sika and Nailisi were taking turns admonishing Lex, the female mage was outraged, glaring at them ferociously.

Nailisi was feeling anxious that Lex was not triggered. When she noticed that the female mage was riled up, she was jubilant. Staring at the female mage through her green eyes, Nailisi said, “It is very rude of you to be staring at someone like that!”

Saleen’s heart fluttered. By speaking in this manner, it was highly possible that Nailisi would kill her. This matter would not be so serious had it been someone else, but Lex’s mages could not be trifled with. There was another assassin hidden outside the carriage, and Saleen could barely deal with this assassin.

“Rude? Aren’t you all rude by speaking to Her Highness in this manner?” The female mage was about thirty years old. She was well-cultured, she did not get into a war of words with Nailisi.

Saleen pressed against Nailisi’s shoulder, but did not say anything. If the assassin was not present, he would not have obstructed Nailisi. That assassin was just like a mountain pressing down onto Saleen’s heart.

“No matter how great a power is, it will also be useless if it is not mine. Humph, once I evolve the twenty-four Lightning Dragons into Flying Dragons, will I still give a hoot about the current situation?”

Nailisi detected Saleen’s emotions. She immediately retracted her words, and said, “Master can build a city, why would he care for a magic laboratory? I have heard of the principle of fairness in the world of mages. If Sister Sika didn’t come this time around, you would not be able to obtain anything. Is it wrong of Sister Sika to demand a fair compensation?”

Nailisi was a demon after all, she knew how to locate the weakness in someone’s psychological state. The moment she said that, the female mage became speechless. Saleen was not poor. When the female mage arrived at Metatrin City, she was taken aback by the outline of it. A normal human might not pick up anything, but she already noticed that the upper portion of the city walls was a miniature form of the Dante’s Sequence. Once the white city walls were fully constructed, they would be a magic apparatus, just like a morphing magical tower. The only function of this magic tower was to aid the mages in battle.

That was why this female mage was respectful of Saleen. No matter what Saleen told Lex, she would not feel offended. Nailisi was just a mere maidservant in people’s eyes, the female mage would definitely disregard her.

At this point in time, the soft-spoken Sika said, “Viscountess, I am now the priest of the Caucasus people, tens of thousands of Caucasus people are following me. The moment Saleen summoned me, I got here. I cannot execute this task for free.”

With a vexing headache, Lex said, “Sika, there are very little items in the princess’ castle which are suitable for the Caucasus people. The duke also will never release his rations. As for the weapons, the weapons in the princess’ castle might not be better than what Saleen has given you.”

Lex treated Sika so politely, even the female mage was astounded. A priestess was of utmost importance to the Caucasus people. Lex was, however, a grade-6 grand mage. She should not talk to a Caucasus priestess in this manner.

Very few people knew that Lex and Saleen could enter the hell of god’s punishment freely. Since these people had braved life and death, their relationship was no longer that of viscountess and civilian anymore. The interests of both parties were intertwined. Coupled with friendship, Lex would not fume no matter what Sika said. Other than that statement of discord by Nailisi.

“I understand that the local nobles have the authority to extract the minerals from Cloudflow. They have much more power than the Qin Empire, am I right?”

“Yes. All the minerals in Qin belong to the Grukos family. Sika, you will not be able to move those minerals.”

“I want to mine those magic disciples.” Sika laughed, looking so innocent.

As many magic disciples were hopeless in becoming a true mage, they would switch careers, no longer practicing magic. A group of them was very unique and popular. The magic disciples specialized in extracting minerals. The special metals in those minerals could only be broken down by these magic disciples. Of course, a grand mage would be able to accomplish this task, but why would they deal with minerals?

Such magic disciples were basically monopolized by the huge noble families, and their treatment was no less than that of a normal low grade mage.

“Sika, I have many magic disciples!” Lex looked at Sika in bewilderment.

“Those men are yours. I want the magic disciples to belong to the Caucasus people, they will only be extracting minerals for me in the future.” Sika would not budge. Saleen had already discovered an iron mine with substantial deposits to be extracted for himself in the future. Saleen did not possess any suitable mining equipment nor magic disciples. Naturally, he would have to cooperate with others in order to extract it. By doing so, his profits would be pared down.

“Have you found a mineral vein?” Lex was astonished.

“Yes, an iron mine, but I require manpower.”

“Okay. Anyway, Cloudflow is going to take back everything, the duke won’t be able to control those mines in the future. I will help you acquire those magic disciples, but you will have to sell those produced metals to me directly, what do you say?”

“Sure, I will be able to take care of more Caucasus people that way,” Sika replied with a wide grin.

Saleen was filled with immense gratitude. Even though he was a Sikeqinyan, he always found it hard to make demands of his friends. Without Sika’s help, the profits from the iron mine would definitely be measly.

“I also want the selling rights to alcohol.” Sika continued making demands as this was a very profitable aspect.

Lex furrowed her brows in thought, then said, “This will result in fixed price fluctuations.”

“You can discuss the issue of fixing the price with Saleen, I will only be responsible for selling the alcohol.” Sika was bent on securing her interests. She would not be exasperated over this issue, but Saleen had secretly revealed to her that the intent of this trip was to open the doors to the temple using the Ring of Gifts given to her.

Without the Ring of Gifts, everything would be empty talk.

Lex smiled bitterly, there was no way she could coerce Sika. Lex said decisively, “What other requests do you have?”

“I want a hunting-prohibited area to be developed in Metatrin City, no one will be able to hunt the magic beasts willfully there. The Caucasus people will be in charge of managing that area. Unless the magic beasts harm someone, even the mages will not be able to lay a finger on them.”

This request by Sika was purely an attempt to secure welfare for the Caucasus people. The Caucasus people were skilled at rearing magic beasts. Given enough food supply, the Caucasus people would not even need to hunt magic beasts. Instead, they could transform the magic beasts into their able assistants. The mages would massacre all the magic beasts in the vicinity of the city, however.

The northern region contained numerous magic wolves, the favorite choice of ride for the Caucasus people. Without stringent control, the Caucasus people would definitely get into a conflict with Lex’s mages in the future.