Badge in Azure

Lex was the last to arrive. By the time she came, Saleen had already learned about all the events which happened in his absence. Metatrin City was developing well. Since it was winter now, the port was frozen, so there was no business. There were several merchant camps in the city though. On land the route leading to Phoenix was still in operation.

The people from the Tiffany family had organized a large merchant convoy carrying hundreds of magic beasts. These magic beasts were camel horses which had rough skin and thick flesh, they could simply survive on hay. With these hundreds of camel horses the people from the Tiffany family could still conduct business and sustain the operations of their shop in Metatrin City.

The other trading firms emulated them causing the price of such low-cost magic beasts to increase by several fold.

The baroness and the people left behind by Aini had begun assembling a mercenary group. At the moment, this mercenary group had expanded to consist of more than one-thousand men. Only mercenaries registered with Metatrin City plied this two-thousand mile commercial route.

Even more Caucasus people had arrived. Loulan had been occupied and the Caucasus region was fully invaded by forces from the Holy See displacing countless Caucasus people. There were at least more than fifty-thousand Caucasus people in Metatrin City now.

Almost every Caucasus person was a warrior. Under Sika’s leadership a Caucasus camp with ten-thousand people had been developed.

Untrained Caucasus people could not partake in invasions, but in the aspects of defending a city and patrolling the wilderness, they were the mightiest warriors. At the moment the task of patrolling the nuclear regions of Metatrin City was under the control of Sika’s Caucasus camp.

That was good, at least no outsiders could infiltrate the vital areas of Metatrin City anymore.

The mages from Sregl Island only engaged in training, while the municipal administration was solely left to Daniel. The skeletal battleships left behind by the winged skeleton were patrolling the ocean. In this season, no one would try to harass Metatrin City though.

As for the temple, Nailisi was in full control of it. Nailisi’s three demon subordinates had completed the authority transfer process, they were now in charge of the temple’s defense.

The population in the city had ballooned to three-hundred and fifty-thousand, these people had already registered their identities in the town hall and became Metatrin people. There were numerous nobles in the city, one-hundred and twenty-four of them. In this city, with over a hundred nobles, there were about twenty-thousand servants and trusted soldiers.

Many of the defected nobles had already constructed castles north of Metatrin City. The development of a castle was tedious, but with the three kings around, there was naturally an endless stream of spirits for usage. In order to build their castles the nobles had spent huge amounts of gold coins and these gold coins flowed into the town hall turning into Saleen’s wealth.

Lex’s two swordsman’s camps, which had over fifty-thousand people, built a small town west of Metatrin City. The city only had two emblem groups worth of manpower, they were stationed in the vicinity of Lex’s residence.

All these arrangements might seem disorderly, but in actual fact, Metatrin City was extremely organized.

Lex had already helped Saleen train two camps of soldiers, these two camps were in charge of Metatrin City’s defense. There was no war at the moment, the manpower was not in shortage.

Currently, Metatrin City was expanding Northtown. They wanted to emulate Holy Rock City and station professional armies outside the city. Once Saleen’s army was sufficiently staffed, Lex would then withdraw her army from Westtown.

“Lex, I want to develop an arena.” This was the first thing Saleen told Lex.

“Saleen, aren’t you a little too anxious?” Of course Lex knew what an arena was and she was a little repulsed by such things. It was difficult to limit the lethality in an arena.

“I am afraid there are too many professions in Metatrin City. If there is no arena, trouble might ensue. Since Metatrin City is newly developed, these people who have arrived have not adapted to this place yet. Once they settle down there will surely be a number of private organizations, it will be better for me to manage such a situation in advance.”

“That’s true, but building an arena will cost a lot.”

“That applies to other cities. This time around, I want to use the three kings.”

“I am talking about the daily operational expenses when the arena becomes functional. The salaries of the workers, the rewards for the victors, and the maintenance fees.”

“As long as you do not object to it, all that will not be a problem,” Saleen proclaimed confidently. He knew that he had a large amount of cash at the moment. It was fully adequate to support this arena. An arena would reap profits too. Since there were so many free citizens in this city the sale of tickets would already be a huge source of income.

At the moment, Saleen was thinking about the establishment of a gambling outlet to allow the residents of Metatrin City to place their bets.

The Cloudflow nobles were often involved in such affairs, while the Qin nobles felt that this was a display of poor upbringing. “I am still a mage, if I get involved with such things, I will definitely be scolded by other people.”

Setting up a gambling outlet could boost the income by more than three times. If Saleen did not want to earn this amount of money, then he would not be a Sikeqinyan.

“Okay, since you want to do it, I will get Narnia to stay behind and help you design an arena. The drawings in her brain are very holistic, just allow her to give you ideas regarding the design of the arena.”

Saleen concurred, “I cannot let the mages from Sregl Island handle this matter. The knowledge in my brain isn’t related to unpopular construction either. I can only seek help from Narnia.”

Saleen discussed matters with Lex regarding the training of an army and the developments in Cexing City, then he bade her farewell. He then discussed with Nailisi and the rest about the development of Metatrin City.

Metatrin City was built around the temple. It was split into four parts, having four cities in the north, south, east, and west. The southern part was a more isolated environment, there was only a tiny grassland outside the city and mountains surrounded the city. A towering mountain measuring more than two miles in width was situated near the coast and there were no exits there at all. The Caucasus people lived there, living a life of nature in the mountains, just like their ancestors.

The eastern part was the commercial area near the harbor. There business families of all sizes were gathered. The youth from the four biggest business families had established their residences there. The one with the best position was Aini’s residence, this part was the most open area.

The northern city housed all the nobles who had defected to Saleen. This city was filled with superior buildings, there were almost no civilians there.

The western city housed most of the free citizens. It would be best to establish an arena in the western city. Metatrin City’s free citizens were not impoverished. These people had to have some wealth considering the fact that they had moved thousands of miles here to become free citizens. Back then when Saleen was selling the houses in the western city, he made sure not to sell them at too high a price.

The free citizens in the western city led pretty comfortable lives, itcontained the most workshops and craftsmen. The professionals who came to try their luck in Metatrin City had also congregated in the western city, such as some low grade mages, swordsmen, the rarely seen wizards, assassins, and pirates.

As the sky gradually grew dark Saleen allowed everyone to go and rest. He was taken back to the room by Sika.

“Saleen, did you miss me?” Sika turned around and locked the door tightly with a grin.

“Yes.”

“Then come over.” Sika beckoned, causing Saleen to swallow hard. Saleen ran to the door, closing his eyes and using his perception to scan his surroundings. Nailisi was peeping from the room next door.

Saleen wanted to open the door to dismiss Nailisi. Unexpectedly, Sika grabbed his collar from behind and carried him on to the bed.

“Saleen, I have missed you.”

“Wait, I will do it myself!” Saleen was startled, even though his devil set was extremely sturdy, he was still worried that Sika might damage it.

“Relax, I know the consequences.” Sika helped Saleen remove his long robe, but Saleen had to undo the belt himself. Beneath the long robe was a tight-fitting magic robe. After Saleen removed it, he quickly used the Cleaning Spell.

“The Cleaning Spell is not good, a bath is more comfortable.” Sika took out a gigantic wooden tub. The fact that she kept such a thing in her Ring of Gifts made Saleen laugh.

Using magic to create huge volumes of water, the wooden tub was swiftly filled to the brim. Sika removed her clothes quickly, then jumped in.

“Saleen, come in.” Sika gestured. Saleen could not resist the temptation, so he joined her quickly.

“Sika, do you remember the first time we met?”

“Of course, you were staring lecherously at me.” Sika rub her chest against Saleen’s body.

Under the effect of magic, the water temperature rose quickly, causing steam to fill the room. Nailisi was eavesdropping next door, she could hear that the two people were bathing slowly and chatting. Nailisi punched the floor violently, then mumbled to herself furiously, “You two haven’t seen each other for a long time, yet you are still wasting time!”

“I wasn’t a lecher, you had hit me too!” Saleen cried. Back then, he was still very young. He only felt that Sika was very beautiful, but he did not have any other motives.

“I have already hit you, but you can stare at me now.” Sika embraced Saleen, feeling overjoyed.

“Sika, marry me.” Saleen could not help but blurt out his thoughts.

“Aren’t you mine by now? The Caucasus people will not agree to our marriage. If I get married to you, I might lose my powers.”

“How is that possible?” Saleen could not understand the logic behind Sika’s loss of power. As a mage, he believed that something which belonged to oneself would not be lost unreasonably.

“Don’t as me to give up my power, if you want a wife, ask Lex. She will probably ask you soon enough. I feel that someone will come forth to make a marriage proposal by next year.”

“Marrying someone else? Then what about you?!” Saleen was flustered.

“Me? When I miss you, I shall see who will dare obstruct me.” Sika said boisterously. At the same time, she turned her back to Saleen and said, “My back is itchy, help me to scratch it.”

Saleen laughed bitterly, “Indeed, Sika is an earth priest now, not many people will dare trifle with her. Even Lex will not want to offend someone like Sika. The problem is, do I want to marry another woman?”

“Use some strength Saleen, a penny for your thoughts.” Sika felt that her back was even itchier now as Saleen was using his hand to draw circles on her back.

“Master, use some force!” Nailisi nagged from the next room, blaming Saleen in her heart, “Why are you not getting to action after such a long time?” At that moment, someone knocked on the door gently.

“Come in.” Nailisi quickly sat upright after returning to her chair.

Cuisi entered. Coming before Nailisi, he bowed respectfully. “Master, I have…”

“Advanced?” Nailisi allowed her eyelids to sink, she did not even bother looking at Cuisi.

“Yes, Master. I drank some medicine given by a mage. I then advanced to a supreme demon. I still don’t have the abilities of a supreme demon yet, I have to strengthen them slowly.”

“Why are you telling me this? Isn’t it good that you can be rid of my control once you become a supreme demon?” Nailisi’s tone was flat, but Cuisi’s heart trembled. He could sense that Nailisi was not in a good mood. He would never expect that Nailisi’s foul mood was because she was interrupted from peeping at Saleen.