Badge in Azure

“I was going to help my Master repay the debt. I did not expect you to be so generous!” Nailisi exclaimed.

Gugger assumed that Nailisi was ridiculing him, so he went along by saying, “How is that generous? I just don’t dare to ask for money from His Highness.”

Nailisi noticed that Gugger knew how to play along so she laughed and said, “You are pretty interesting. Take this.” With that, Nailisi took out a bunch of magic nuclei from her bracelet and threw them to Gugger.

“I cannot take this!” Although the Viscount was not sure how much the magic nuclei were worth, he knew that they were definitely more valuable than what he had invested in Saleen. The war had been going on for some time and the price of magic nuclei had been fluctuating. From the looks of it, the magic nuclei looked like they were middle-grade magic nuclei that were either grade-5 or grade-6.

Nailisi’s hands might not be huge, but she still managed to grab more than 80 magic nuclei. Magic nuclei like those could not be bought anywhere, as they had all already been bought by the military. A grade-5 magic nucleus was easily worth more than 800 gold coins.

How many tens of thousands of gold coins were they worth? 60,000 or 80,000?

“Take them. When you see Master, don’t bring up the past,” Nailisi warned Gugger. She was afraid that Gugger would be cunning enough to try to blackmail Saleen emotionally. The only problem with Saleen was that he was often too soft-hearted when he was overcome with nostalgia.

“Oh yes, Gugger, where is Ulysses?”

“He went to take care of the people from the capital.”

“The capital?”

“Yes. The rumor out of the capital was that Metatrin Kingdom owned a fleet that was as good as Cloudflow’s. Since then, people from the capital have been stationed at all the cities along the sea…”

“Based on Ulysses’ standard, it will not turn out well.” Nailisi immediately pointed at Cuisi and said, “Go and help Ulysses take care of those people from the capital. Don’t let a single one get away.”

“Yes, Master.” Cuisi stood up and pulled down the mask to conceal his face. A pair of metal wings on the back of his armor spread open and he flew into the sky. The devil flying armor allowed him to fly faster than when he was in his original form.

Gugger was taken aback and Chris instinctively gripped the hilt of the sword. He had sensed the power in Cuisi and could not control his body’s instinctive reaction.

Gugger secretly felt guilty. Although he had been training very often, he no longer possessed the combat abilities of Chris. At the end of the day, he was still just a useless member of a royal family.

“Gugger, I think my master’s intention was for you for repair this place, am I right?” Nailisi did not think that Cuisi was powerful at all, so there was no way she could understand Gugger’s feelings.

“I was thinking that if His Highness returned in a good mood, I will just take it as an investment.” The way Gugger spoke would have been considered by the Qin people as crude. He was very straightforward and that was something that Nailisi liked.

“Gugger, I was just joking with you just now. Those magic nuclei are your rewards.” Nailisi laughed. She was making an effort to maintain her image by not laughing uproariously. As a result, Chris became even more smitten with her.

“How can I accept this?” Gugger asked nervously.

“Why not? Once you see Master, there will be more good stuff waiting for you. Go ahead.” Nailisi heard Saleen’s voice in her heart and urged Gugger to go in.

Saleen was in a good mood. He was lying on his own bed. The window has been fixed on with faint-colored glass, so that he no longer had to suffer from the cold wind like in the past. There was a huge mirror on his wardrobe and Gugger was also responsible for the whale-oil lamp on the wall.

The Viscount was very meticulous and had probably bought the design of the house back then.

Gugger entered the stone hut alone. When he reached the second level, Saleen was lying on the bed and called out lazily, “Come in.”

Gugger opened the door and stepped in as Saleen sat up on the bed and pointed at the chair in front of him with a smile, gesturing to the Viscount to take a seat.

The difference in mental strength between the two of them was so large that Gugger obeyed Saleen’s command without thinking.

“Viscount, what do you think about my return?” Saleen looked at Gugger and asked a serious question.

“Your Highness, I have a few things to ask of you.” Gugger replied very seriously.

“Go ahead.”

“There is no way we can keep this under wraps for too long. Within two to three weeks at most, the capital will know about this. We will probably be able to make it all the way to the border. The bodyguards in my residence have been loyal to my clan for more than 10 generations. I beg Your Highness to allow them to send their families off first. As for my wife, she has stayed by my side for so many years and has been working hard every day. If I were to die, I hope that Your Highness will transfer my rank to her. This is something that I have brought along. Please take a look.”

Gugger was rambling on while taking out two items from his pocket.

Saleen did not know whether to laugh or to cry. One of the items was a birth certificate from the town hall that included the records of Saleen’s clan in Ceylon City. The other item was an official document written by Gugger with his seal imprinted on it. It had a picture of the Gugger clan’s badge.

Saleen waved the two items in his hands and asked, “You already prepared these items way beforehand?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you know this is could get you executed?”

“Yes, but I wanted to bet on Your Highness. I have already invested so much in you that there is no return for me anymore.” Gugger replied honestly.

“In that case…” Saleen pondered deeply for a moment before saying, “Gugger, I have no intentions of leaving immediately after receiving these items, otherwise there was no need for me to come here personally. I want to expand my territories here by occupying here and within a hundred miles from here. Don’t worry. The capital will not send their armies here. My fleet will be reaching the northern sea region any time. In a week’s time at most, we will launch our attack on Ironwall City.”

Gugger thought to himself, “Ironwall City? That city can never be taken down!”

“I will bring a 10,000-strong main army here to train your bodyguards. As for your wife, don’t worry. I intend to build magic towers and teleportation portals in Ceylon City. If it really becomes dangerous, I will teleport you and your wife directly to Metatrin City. I can afford that kind of thing.”

“Your Highness…” Gugger’s plans had been completely turned upside down. His plan was to extend his services to Saleen before fleeing to Metatrin City with the latter. By then, he would be able to find a way to become a member of the nobility there and he would never ever have to worry about survival again. If Saleen was generous enough, he might even give Gugger some land and a fully-built city.

“Gugger, my return should be grand and glorifying. In that case, even Danny will not dare to do anything to Ceylon City. Let me ask you, even if you manage to escape, what about your people? Can you bring along the tens of thousands of people in Ceylon City?”

Gugger shook his hand. All of a sudden, he realized how immature he was. Even if he managed to escape, what about the rest of the people in the city? Gugger was not such a heartless person. The moment he thought about the fate of his people, he could not help but tremble in fear.

“Gugger, my purpose for seeing you today is to discuss expanding the port of Ceylon City. After that, I am going to move on to destroying Ironwall City. If I succeed, do you think Danny will still dare to cause trouble in Ceylon City?”

“Your Highness, Ironwall City is…”

“Gugger, I will bring you to the battlefield so that you can take a look for yourself.” Saleen’s assurance terrified Gugger. Saleen even continued, “Eventually, Ceylon City will be expanded until it can contain a population of at least 300,000. We only need about 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers stationed here. In the future, after the Holy See has been destroyed, this place will become a crucial interchange station between Tanggulasi and Sikeqinya. Your land will only become more and more valuable.”

Gugger’s mind was blank. He barely registered what Saleen was saying. He only heard Saleen saying that he would bring him to the battlefield as part of the battle to take down Ironwall City.

“Gugger!” Saleen called out to wake Gugger up.

“Your Highness!” Gugger could not help but stand up. Thereafter, he sensed an invisible strength pressing down on both of his shoulders and into his seat.

“When I said that I want to destroy Ironwall City, that means that I have sufficient confidence to do so. So, what you are worried about? When you have taken care of the people in the city, I will leave behind some resources for you and protect your loved ones. Prepare a ceremony to celebrate my return. I don’t need it to be luxurious, but everyone in Ceylon City must know that I have returned.”

“Hmm.” Gugger’s reply revealed some slight disappointment.

Saleen opened his elemental eyes and scanned Gugger’s entire body. He felt a tinge of regret. Gugger was past his best years, and it would be difficult for him to try and achieve a breakthrough in his combat abilities. Nevertheless, Saleen had golden grand swordmasters that would be able to ensure that Gugger at least advanced to a grand swordmaster.

The collective powers of the entire Mainland had been increasing and the Viscount should be no exception.

Gugger was slightly creeped out by how Saleen was looking at him and only heard Saleen say, “At most, you can only advance to a black metal grand swordmaster, and perhaps before you die, you may have a chance of advancing to silver grand swordmaster. Forget it, I will leave more men behind to protect you.”

Saleen did not wish for Gugger to be killed. After all, he did receive a few bags of flour from Gugger when he was young. Without the flour Saleen would have starved to death. As the ruler of Ceylon City, Gugger ensured that no robbery would take place. Therefore, all the heartless people had no choice but to wait for Saleen to die slowly.

“Gugger, after I have destroyed Ironwall City, I will give you a reward. What do you want?” Saleen did not mind that Gugger was a weak person. In any case, Saleen was merely returning a favor. He did not expect Gugger to be fighting alongside him anyway. His plan was for Gugger to become a member of the noble family with the ability to make money for himself.

Gugger was pleased to hear that. It seemed that Saleen was keen to return to the favor that Gugger had extended to him in the past.

“Your Highness, just allow me to continue guarding Ceylon City. After all, the tens of thousands of people have been following my clan for centuries.” Gugger said teasingly.

“No way.” Saleen chided playfully and said, “I cannot be so stingy. I will make you a first-class Earl and also give you a total of five million gold coins over 10 years. You will build up the city. As for the port, I will send someone to build it, so you don’t have to worry about that. The location of this residence of mine is not bad. I will build a castle in the mountains behind this place. If your city encounters any trouble, the castle will be able to send reinforcements immediately.”

Gugger thought he was dreaming. Five million gold coins? What kind of concept was that? Gugger had never seen so much money in his life. He could not even repay a debt of a few tens of thousands of gold coins. He was even on the brink of selling his properties and lands.