Badge in Azure

Chapter 109: Not Evil (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Some short sentences in Qin language tended to have dragging, euphemistic endings. However, this young nobleman said them with a rigid manner and ended the sentences abruptly. It was obvious that this nobleman was from some faraway place.

Saleen was helpless, so he simply continued the conversation and asked, “What is it?”

He did not want to be entangled with the nobleman any further. The entire convoy looked like they were from a foreign land. They might not have known the rules here, so it was possible that they would start a fight at anytime. If only Joey had been here here, he could have simply cast a Grade 9 spell. These foreigners might have been so frightened by it that they would have pissed their pants. The young nobleman had a lazy tone but he was not in a bad mood. Instead, he walked over enthusiastically.

Saleen saw that the nobleman was running towards Viscountess Lex, so he quickly cast a Fog of Confusion with a small radius in order to separate the nobleman and Lex.

Saleen had cast the spell too quickly. This caused the mages in the convoy to notice the elemental fluctuations and made them anxious. Then, over ten fireballs flew over. The nobleman simply waved his hand and extinguished all these fireballs while they were in midair. Saleen’s eyes were a bit pained so he blinked forcefully. However, he just could not figure out how that nobleman had extinguished all those fireballs.

If he had not experienced the torrent of elements from Joey, Saleen would have been hurt by the fireballs. But now, his horizons had broadened. The fireballs were only Grade 2 magic. When he became a sorcerer, he would also be able to dispel them.

The nobleman was clad in silk just like an actor. It was very messy and degrading to a mage. Saleen felt very repulsed upon seeing that nobleman. So, he took a step to the side and blocked the path of the nobleman.

Saleen thought that as long as he was fighting a mage, his unarmed combat would definitely surpass them. No mage would waste their time on martial arts. Since Saleen had been beaten since he was young, he was not afraid of being hit at close range.

“Ey? Why are you blocking my way!” the nobleman asked in shock. It seemed like the nobleman had only now discovered Saleen’s existence.

Saleen was beyond angry. He had thought that nothing would go awry when he had snuck out of the palace with Lex, since the people in the capital were all law abiding citizens. He had never expected to meet with a foreigner. Saleen’s hometown had been ruined by foreigners. He could not act on impulse now. He needed to be cautious. The emperor would definitely protect the viscountess, but he might not protect Saleen.

Lex was amused. She had not asked Saleen to be her sidekick, but now Saleen was faithfully blocking the nobleman from her, like a fighter.

The Fog of Confusion was very intense. Lex could not see the convoy at all. Saleen’s magic control was truly amazing. He was already at the standard of a mage master. This area magic had been turned into a single magic. Saleen had used Lex as the target so the Fog of Confusion would move with her, and the area of effect was less than five feet in radius.

“You asked the two of us to stay. I am one of the two,” Saleen replied while pointing to his nose.

The nobleman slapped his head and looked like he had a moment of realization. “Yes, it must be you. I want to speak to the female mage. Make way please.”

“The female mage doesn’t want to speak to you. Please go back.” Saleen’s reply had been like a poem recited in the palace. His answer was neat, but was not euphemistic at all.

“What right do you have to speak for another mage!” the nobleman roared. He was annoyed as Saleen had blocked his way multiple times. If that nobleman had been in his own country, he would have asked his underlings to beat Saleen up long ago.

“And what right do you have to make two mages stay behind?” Saleen simply replied, feeling a little frustrated. He had not even learned the laws of the Qin Empire, so he did not know how to resolve these matters properly. But he knew that Viscountess Lex did not want to talk to him, otherwise she would have stopped him long ago.

“Hmph!” The nobleman breathed loudly through his nose, and stared ferociously at Saleen. Then the nobleman said, “Mage, state your name, and let me have a duel with you.”

Pu…

Saleen burst out laughing, causing saliva to land on the nobleman’s face. “The imperial capital forbids duels. Look, there are people coming this way. If you want to create trouble, please find out more about the laws in this city.”

Saleen pointed at the other side of the main road, where a team of patrolling soldiers was making their way over.

“Mm, this tiny mage. You don’t even dare tell me your name?” The nobleman was truly furious now. Saleen could feel his murderous aura.

“Sorry, I don’t know you at all. If you love duels, you can go to the Tanggulasi Empire. There’s a colosseum there.” Saleen was very sensitive to murderous auras. He then turned and walked into the Fog of Confusion. He pulled on Lex’s sleeve, and the two of them walked away from the nobleman in the opposite direction. The nobleman very much wanted to catch up to them, but he saw the soldiers coming over to interrogate him and could not do anything.

The nobleman had found out that the magic robe Viscountess Lex was wearing was special, so he had wanted to buy it for a large amount of money. However, the tiny mage had just had to spoil everything. In his heart, the robe was worth at least five hundred thousand gold pieces. He would have offered Viscountess Lex eight million gold pieces, and she would have definitely sold it to him.

The nobleman turned around and walked towards his own carriage, thinking in his heart that the female mage had such outstanding looks and her magic robe was so conspicuous that it would not be hard to find her. When he saw her again, he would buy that robe at all costs. As for that tiny mage… if he had the chance to meet him again, he would definitely make his life difficult.

The patrolling soldiers were stopped by the convoy’s swordsmen. The nobleman had entered his carriage and did not interact with the soldiers. The commander of the patrolling soldiers had not seen anybody causing trouble, and he also did not want to offend the nobles. Hence, the commander only made sure that the convoy went far away before continuing on his patrol.

Lex and Saleen had escaped that sticky situation. Saleen then asked, “Viscountess, did not you say that the imperial capital was very safe? Those two men in golden shells actually wanted to hit you. You should find some people to teach them a lesson.”

Saleen was not trying to bully others simply because he had the viscountess’ backing. It was just that he had felt the murderous auras from those men and had immediately thought of retaliation.

“That was the envoy. Let’s get back to the palace quickly.” Viscountess Lex did not look too good.

“Envoy?”

“From the Cloudflow Empire. Actually, it should have taken them six months to arrive. I don’t know why they’re here so early. They must have used the teleportation portal. It was just because there were so few of them that I couldn’t tell from the start.”

As Lex explained this to Saleen, she was vexed. She did not know why the Cloudflow Empire’s convoy was in such a rush to meet with her father, because there was a huge price to pay for using the teleportation portal, especially when teleporting live humans. Each person entering the portal required six pieces of giant magic nuclei, and each piece cost up to tens of thousands of gold coins.

There were about fifty people in the convoy just now. It would have been impossible to send them all here using the teleportation portal. This meant that the Cloudflow Empire had planned this movement long ago.

When Viscountess Lex got back to the palace, there was a messenger who came immediately, saying that the emperor wanted to meet the viscountess. Lex did not go back to her residence. She went straight to the emperor’s residence with Saleen. This time, the Qin Emperor was waiting in his study.

“Father.”

The Qin Emperor took a look at Saleen and frowned.

Lex laughed and said, “If I establish a county, then Saleen will belong to the Bitter Water Prefecture.”

“The envoy from the Cloudflow Empire is in the imperial capital now.” Aside from the emperor, Saleen, and Lex, there were a few palace swordsmen in the study room. Their auras were completely concealed, and even Saleen could not figure out what powers they truly possessed.

“Saleen and I have met him. The envoy even stopped me…”

“Did you all get into a conflict?” the emperor asked nervously.

“No, he had self-control.”

“Mm, that’s good. War has erupted in Loulan, and Safilos has requested for the empire to send help. Even though the empire’s strength is not just for show, I cannot allocate more troops to you. To establish a county, you need to improve and organize all of your equipment. You…”

“Father, I went to meet Master Joey.”

“What did the master say?”

“Nothing much. He just gave me some items.”

“Lex, I can put my heart at ease if the master supports you. Even though our empire boasts of having millions of elite soldiers, in reality, we can only mobilize about two hundred thousand troops. Safilos will lead one hundred thousand of them, while the other half will be stationed in the imperial capital. If the nobles from other cities were to send their troops, they would have to spend a lot of money, so I don’t think they would be willing to do so. If you are lacking soldiers, you might want to consider hiring mercenaries. I can give you money.”

“Father, mercenaries cannot be trusted. You can ask Saleen.”

The Qin Emperor then turned to look at Saleen. Saleen was startled. The emperor’s eyes were too terrifying, and the murderous aura in them was at least a hundred times more intense than that of the envoy. Saleen felt as though he had been exposed. Under the gaze of those average eyes, Saleen had nearly lost the courage to respond.

“Your Majesty, mercenaries are motivated by money. They are usually credible, but they cannot be the main force. The strong mercenary groups are all gathered in Sikeqinya. Smaller groups are weaker than the normal army. They will only stand a chance if it is three against one. If they lose the battle and the mercenaries go crazy, it will be scarier than facing bandits.”

“So it is like that!” The Qin Emperor was astonished. He had thought that since Sikeqinya was able to rely on its mercenaries for defense, they were nearly the same as the normal army.

“Your Majesty, mercenaries are only suitable for small battles. Minimal usage of the mercenaries would be okay,” Saleen had not intentionally supported what Lex had said. He had simply expressed his own opinion.

“Lex…” The Qin Emperor pondered for a while before painfully saying, “The matter of Hadisai City is not easy to resolve. Earl Molokari’s son strongly insists that it was you who sent people to kill his father. The lower house did not set a motion, but they obviously support him.”

“It’s obviously the Holy See’s ploy!” Saleen blurted out, unable to help himself. He had experienced this himself, so he knew exactly what was going on.

“Safilos, myself, and more than half of the lower house are aware of that. However, everyone hopes that I will marry Lex off to the Cloudflow Empire so that the two empires will be united by marriage. We can then attack the Tanggulasi Empire together, and a lot of trouble can be spared.” The emperor was very glum. There were many advantages to having an upper house and a lower house. At least within the context of the four empires, the number of nobles in the Qin Empire was very well controlled. It had been more than seven hundred years since the empire had been built, but the number of nobles had only doubled thus far.

But there were now problems with this relationship between the upper house and lower house. The emperor could not behave wantonly, because the marriage would be good for the country. However, it would mean that the emperor would need to sacrifice his own family.

If the emperor did not protect the interests of the nobles, then why should the nobles continue supporting him? Even the upper house possessed this mindset.

In that moment, Saleen began to realize just how smart the Holy See was. They had killed Earl Molokari but spared his son so that the nobles in the imperial capital would be thrown into turmoil. They should have spent more time in Hadisai City to solve this problem thoroughly.

But the question was, how had the Holy See understood all of these internal affairs of Holy Rock City, and how could they have known what choices the Qin Emperor would make? Could there have been a spy beside the emperor? It should have been impossible. Since there were three Grade 9 mages living in the palace, nobody would have been able to hide from them. Also, the Qin Emperor did not look like an average person. He was at minimum a grand swordmaster, and the emperor’s gaze had been as horrifying as Joey’s torrent of elements.