Badge in Azure

These three nobles had contributed an astronomical number of presents. The two-hundred horses could not be underestimated, it would be akin to Lex receiving more than ten-thousand pedigree horses.

Safilos was very pleased, he wanted such an outcome. The nobles would keep giving resources to Lex, but they would not deploy any soldiers. “It will be fine for Lex to conquer Cloudflow, Cloudflow is a country made up of scum.”

Other people might be in the dark about the situation in the Cloudflow Empire, but Safilos had specially sent people to infiltrate it. Safilos had informants in the palace. He was very clear about the atrociousness of the Cloudflow emperor and the extravagance and obscenity of the Cloudflow nobles. Even Safilos, a Cloudflow person, felt that Cloudflow was an insult to humanity.

“I had planned to sacrifice Lex, but it seems like it will be better to use another method to do so.”

There was a reason why the nobles were so keen to assist the Bitter Water County. Everyone’s interests were based in Loulan and Lex would surely not advance west again. The nobles decided to let her attack the Cloudflow people, they could provide all the financial support as long as Lex gave Loulan up.

Lex’s identity was very sensitive, the nobles could not attack Lex’s territory openly. Antos had suffered massive losses and also gotten berated by the emperor. No one from the House of Commons spoke up for him. Ever since then, everyone understood that despite being out of favor, Lex still bore the same surname as Safilos.

It was okay to do some tricks behind the empire’s back, but it would be disrespectful to the imperial family to attack Lex openly.

The hundreds of nobles present were all the wealthy and influential people in Qin. Even if each person contributed one-hundred-thousand gold coins, Lex would receive more than ten-million gold coins. The nobles did not provide any gold coins, they were giving military resources.

In Qin, it was already very challenging to buy such resources in bulk. This time around, Safilos had really given solid help. If it was anyone else, they would only donate huge sums of money to Lex.

While Holy Rock City was busy preparing gifts for Lex, Cloudflow was busy increasing their military strength. The Sikeqinya Empire was discussing ways to deal with this political marriage.

The Sikeqinya emperor had even summoned his closest ministers over.

Emperor Danny of Sikeqinya already made a killing selling appliances to the three empires. This time around, the matter revolved around the Bitter Water County and Metatrin Kingdom. He was deciding whether to signal friendliness, or to maintain neutrality.

The ministers close to Emperor Danny were once valiant generals. Summoning the ministers over, he immediately confessed his doubts.

“What stance should we have regarding the marriage between Bitter Water County and Metatrin Kingdom?” Emperor Danny toyed with his beard using his fingers, observe his ministers with his tiny eyes.

“Your Majesty, just ignore them, we come from a mercenary background, of course we should maintain neutrality. The Tanggulasi people tried to pull us into the war, but didn’t we reject their offer too?”

“That’s right. Your Majesty, don’t bother about whatever conflicts they might have. We should just carry on with our own affairs, no one will dare lord over us. They are getting married, we should just follow the international protocol and give them a suitable present.”

“But, it won’t be good to be too stingy either!” Danny replied with a smile.

The ministers looked at one another. Suddenly, one of them had an eureka moment as he understood Danny’s intentions. Laughing, he said, “Your Majesty, the Bitter Water County is short of soldiers at the moment, we can gift them a ten-thousand man mercenary group to celebrate their wedding. Lex will surely go along with the tide and hire this mercenary group. That way, we can make Lex accept our help without needing to spend much money.”

“Ha ha ha!” Emperor Danny, who had already advanced to a Golden Grand Swordmaster, laughed boorishly. He was very pleased with this minister that thought of such a brilliant idea.

According to the laws of the empire, he could deploy a regular large mercenary group with just a small sum of money. This mercenary group would not grumble. They could go to the Bitter Water County to attract more business, everyone understood that. Most importantly, this mercenary group was going to battle with Cloudflow and not the Tanggulasi people. The Tanggulasi Empire, who was just a stone’s throw away, would not be angered.

“Killing three birds with one stone. No matter how light my present is, Lex will not mutter a word of sarcasm because I will be sending a large mercenary group over.”

“Very good, but which mercenary group shall I send?”

“The Red Tiger Mercenary Group. Their sorcerers were abducted by Metatrin already,” one of the ministers gloated.

“No, if we do that, Lex will not accept our gift,” Danny blatantly rejected.

“Even though the Red Tiger Mercenary Group is registered in Phoenix, it is actually a local army in Laiyin Duchy. I still have to inform the Grand Duke of Laiyin about this, which means that I will owe him a favor.” Given Danny’s stinginess, he would never owe others a favor like this.

“Your Majesty, didn’t the Dragon-slaughtering Mercenary Group just recruit two grade-8 mages? It has advanced to a grade-8 mercenary group already, let them go. They are unruly. If they remain in the empire, we still have station them in a city, which will be very troublesome.”

“Mm, good thinking.” Emperor Danny clapped. According to Sikeqinya’s laws, a mercenary group would possess the right to manage a large city the moment it advanced to grade-7. It could transform that city into its base, and thus charge all kinds of taxes.

The Dragon-slaughtering Mercenary Group was originally a grade-6 mercenary group. It was difficult governing it as the leader was very stubborn and was not on good terms with the local nobles. Since it had advanced to grade-8 now, Danny would surely be reluctant to give a city to that leader. By tossing this mercenary group to Lex, they might even get killed in Lex’s war.

“Your Majesty, if the Dragon-slaughtering Mercenary Group leaves, their base…”

“Don’t touch it, after all, they still have two grade-8 sorcerers with them. If the sorcerers are angered, none of you will live in peace.” At least Danny was semi-conscious, he did not think of denuding the Dragon-slaughtering Mercenary Group’s base.

The miserly Emperor Danny continued discussing the details with the ministers, such as how to deliver the gift and how to chase the Dragon-slaughtering Mercenary Group away. The Sikeqinyan Empire was serene and unruffled. Of course, the one in the most commotion was Metatrin Kingdom.

The moment Saleen’s news was received, Sika immediately disseminated the first national order as the regent. This order affected everyone in the kingdom. The civilians would be tax-exempt for one year, while the farmers would be tax-exempt for three years. All the nobles grinned from ear to ear, they would receive so much more.

The benefits received by Saleen’s trusted nobles needed no elaboration. The Phoenix nobles, whom Saleen had subdued, had obtained the right to govern their own cities. Even though they did not receive any land, they would enjoy unlimited management power. These nobles would act as municipal officials for the time being and they could retain twenty percent of their taxes.

The Phoenix nobles were not rejoicing over this. They were jubilant because the marriage between Saleen and Lex would transform their statuses. Lex bore the Grukos surname, she was the daughter of the former emperor. The Phoenix people approved of Lex. The alliance between Saleen and Lex was the main reason they defected.

All of a sudden, Saleen was going to marry Lex. As a result, the Phoenix nobles finally regarded Metatrin Kingdom as their country. Saleen would surely distribute the lands gradually, this was an indisputable fact.

When this news was circulated within Metatrin Kingdom, southern Phoenix also got affected. In the regions which were not under Qin’s control, millions of people swarmed into Metatrin Kingdom. Some nobles who were hesitant at first also joined Metatrin.

In one go, the population of Metatrin Kingdom had exceeded ten-million. It finally resembled a country.

With a population ten-million, it would be much easier recruiting soldiers. Saleen’s kingdom could finally develop steadily.

An atmosphere of jubilance spread throughout Metatrin Kingdom. Back in the temple, Sika laid in Saleen’s room, looking at the ceiling in a daze. Nailisi stood beside her cautiously, not muttering a word.

“Nailisi, do you think Saleen will have a change of heart?” Sika asked the imp.

“Sister Sika, Master will definitely not have a change of heart, I understand how you feel.”

“What does a demon know?!”

Nailisi thought to herself, “Then why are you asking me?” But Nailisi did not verbalize her thoughts. Instead, she said, “Lex is also fond of Master, but she will not put Master in a difficult spot. She is a mage, her goals are different from yours.”

“Right, she is a mage, that’s why I wished that Saleen could marry her.” Sika’s eye lit up for a moment, then dimmed a little again.

“Sister Sika, it doesn’t matter whether you are a mage or not. Master likes you because you are his precious lover.” Nailisi recited the depiction of love written in a human book she had read in the past to Sika.

“Precious?”

“Of course, you are the most precious one. When Master ran into me, you were already with him. I also adore you, so if Lex dares to bully you, I will eat her.”

“Heh heh.” Sika giggled. Even though Nailisi might not be spouting the truth, she would really dare to do something like that.

“Sister Sika, you are only feeling uncomfortable. Before Master made this decision, you still kept persuading him. Do you know why Master made you the regent before he left?”

“Why?”

“Master’s teacher requires this country, because a teleportation portal has been built under the temple. In the future, you will be family with Master’s teacher.”

Sika was flabbergasted, she knew that a demon’s description was not always accurate, but that was definitely Saleen’s plan. “Saleen will surely engage in very perilous activities. By leaving the kingdom to me, he isn’t asking me to take care of this land, he is actually asking his teacher to take care of me!”

Straightening her thoughts, Sika wiped her nose. Then, asked said, “Saleen still has a conscience. Nailisi, what else did he say before leaving?”

“He asked me to protect you. If I don’t do a good job, he will not want me anymore,” Nailisi said pitifully.

“Protect me? Ha ha, even if a Caucasus priestess is pregnant, their offensive powers are still the same…” Sika suddenly shut her mouth, as her face turned scarlet. Sika remembered that this imp was always trying to take a peek whenever she and Saleen were getting intimate.

“Sister Sika, Master’s child is of utmost importance, please don’t get physical. Are you afraid of the dark?” Nailisi posed a very strange question.

“No.” Boldly, Sika proclaimed, “I can see more than one-thousand yards ahead in the dark. A priestess’ eyes are better than that of many magic beasts. Why are you asking me this question?”