Chapter 879

Chapter 879: Act 55 – The Preparations of the Embassy II

The coach soon arrived at Valhalla, stopped in the central area after passing through a city gate along the road on the enormous tree roots; Brendel glanced at the scenery outside while gesturing to Flour to stop, then opened the door and jumped down, only to see Prince Younger waiting not far away.

“Teacher.”

Haruze respectfully bowed to Brendel as a student should, standing behind him was Lady Nemesis, and alongside her was a figure dressed in a pristine white linen robe, resembling an ancient Greek goddess, albeit with snake hair—a Medusa. Brendel had heard of the Medusa named Laisimeka before, but this was their first meeting.

“Your Highness, how has your swordsmanship progressed these past two months?”

Haruze’s face instantly flushed, and he struggled to find words.

It seemed not very well, Brendel chuckled slightly and patted the young prince’s delicate shoulder: “No need to worry, it’s okay.”

At that moment, several emerald vines descended from the towering canopy of Valhalla, each as thick as an arm and interwoven at the ends to form a basket-like shape; Brendel instructed Haruze, Lady Nemesis, and Little Romain to share one basket while the others took another. After giving the command, the vines began to ascend slowly. Although it wasn’t Little Romain’s first time on this mode of transport, she still excitedly looked around, swinging the basket in mid-air and shouting, making Haruze grip the edge tightly. However, after reaching a certain height, the business lady also held on tight and became obediently still.

“Swordsmanship is not everything, Haruze,” Brendel continued, looking down at the diminishing hills and brown forests. “If I recall correctly, next month you will be thirteen years old.”

Haruze looked at his teacher with some confusion and nodded.

“Starting next month, I will teach you magic.”

“Magic?” Haruze blinked in surprise. “Can I really learn magic, Teacher?”

“Of course.” Brendel nodded, choosing not to elaborate further. He suddenly felt a gaze on him and discovered that Lady Nemesis was staring at him. Her wounds seemed to have healed, and today she wore a tight military uniform, exuding a heroic aura. “What’s wrong, Lady Nemesis?” Brendel asked.

“Have you informed Her Highness the Princess that you intend to teach the Prince magic?” Lady Nemesis inquired.

“Not yet, but Haruze has great potential for magic; he has already wasted too much time on swordsmanship. Why not try another path? Thirteen is too late to start learning swordsmanship, but it’s just the right age for magic. Who knows, he might become an outstanding wizard in the future,” he chuckled, “As for the Princess, I will inform her.”

The vine basket quickly ascended to the top, where many wooden walkways extended from the central square for those in the basket to step onto. The aide who had arrived early in Valhalla was already waiting for them, holding a pile of parchment for unknown purposes, followed by Tia and other members of the Husher Mercenary Corps. Upon seeing Brendel, Romain, and Flour, Tia joyfully called out ‘Sister,’ while the aide shot a glance at him. Brendel understood and asked, “Have they arrived?”

Antinna nodded.

“Where are they?” Brendel pressed.

“Lady Tanyia doesn’t like noisy places, so I arranged for her to rest in a quiet hall.”

If she doesn’t like noisy places, why is she opening a shop in the bustling district of Ampere Seale? Brendel shook his head, puzzled. “Let’s go meet her.”

The nominal owner indeed arrived as scheduled—

When Antinna pushed open a beautifully designed arched door, a fairy lady was sitting serenely at a round wooden table in the quiet hall. She was kneeling on a mat—on the table, a small cushion had been prepared for her, alongside a diminutive tea table with a similarly small white porcelain tea set filled with fragrant tea—upon seeing Antinna and Brendel’s party, she turned back, delicately sipped from her teacup, and gently placed it down.

“The council is dissatisfied, little one.” The first words from the fairy lady silenced the hall.

Medusalaisimeka fixed her gaze on the silver star brooch on the fairy lady’s chest, as if struck by something.

“Not everyone initially agreed to let the Azure Spear be kept under your protection; it was Master William and I who persuaded the council to ensure it was allocated here, but now you’ve put us in a passive position.”

“Lady Tanyia, this isn’t entirely our fault; I think you should understand this,” Brendel innocently replied while gesturing for Flour to close the door. “You all assured me that the illusion placed on the Azure Spear would never be detected by anyone—unless that person was a living sage, but that sage is still well in Erlandta, yet your spear was stolen by the Cruz.”

Tanyia lifted her eyelids, gazing at him with surprise through her silver-rimmed glasses. “Stop with the nonsense, little one. If you hadn’t used it against a real deity, the illusion on the Azure Spear wouldn’t have dissipated.”

“But at that moment, Xi wasn’t nearby; if even a slight ripple of divine power can’t be withstood, then this so-called strongest illusion is rather overrated, isn’t it?”

“If I were to relay your words verbatim to Roan, do you think he wouldn’t come to duel you like a mad lion?” Tanyia almost laughed at this unreasonable argument. “That little ripple of divine power destroyed three cities and left the Frosted Forest in ruins. Don’t think we don’t know.” She tapped the white porcelain teacup and asked, “This cup is nice. How do you have fairy-specific tea sets here? Was it prepared specially for me?”

“That’s for Light Spirits,” Brendel casually commented as he glanced at the tea set.

“Just like your grandfather, not a bit good at charming women,” Tanyia shot him a glare. “The council means that the Azure Spear must be retrieved.”

“That is simple,” Brendel replied. “With your strength, you could easily pressure the Temple of Fire into returning it. The Azure Spear was originally ours, and the Cruz were wrong from the start in this matter. If you stepped in to demand its return, they wouldn’t dare to procrastinate.”

“Naive little one, it’s not that simple,” Tanyia said. “While Bud is indeed the most powerful country in the world, the Cruz are no less formidable. The land controlled by the Temple of Fire is vast and populous; the enmity between these two large powers involves a series of complicated issues—it’s not just about war. To be honest, little one, the chances of persuading the council are zero.”

“Then you still want to retrieve the Azure Spear, don’t you?”

Brendel sighed lightly, as if he had anticipated this. “I see; you all are relying on me again.”

The fairy lady looked at him with sidelong eyes. “Stop pretending. You’ve known all along, haven’t you?”

Brendel smiled without embarrassment. “But Aunt Tanyia, you can see it’s impossible for me to oppose the mighty Cruz Empire unless someone assists Erluin from behind.”

“Except for direct intervention—” Tanyia began.

“Except for direct intervention,” Brendel assuredly repeated.

“Speak. How do you want us to assist?”

Having prepared in advance, Brendel gestured beside him to Antinna, who quickly unrolled several pieces of parchment she had been holding, displaying a few blueprints. The fairy lady flipped through each of them and understood, “A Cruz escort ship. You want us to help you build this?”

She leaned over the blueprints and turned to Brendel, who nodded, then shook his head.

“I want you to help me build ten such escort ships, of course, at your expense; but not just that. I hope you can help me build a large magical dock in Valhalla that meets the technical standards from the Year of Thunder, capable of building at least the smallest type IV battleship. The dock should also include a gargoyle casting workshop to provide at least a squad of gargoyles as aerial defense forces for the dock and harbor, while also training three phases of shipbuilders along with the accompanying professional wizards.”

Tanyia looked at him in surprise. “You seem to know quite a bit about magical shipbuilding?”

“A little,” Brendel replied with some pride. “Just to avoid being deceived.”

“Hmph, a trifle. Any city-state in Bud can easily build a dock like this for you; we wouldn’t go through the trouble of faking it for such a minor request,” Tanyia casually flipped through the Cruz escort ship blueprints that Brendel and Antinna valued highly, answering disdainfully, “Only you would consider such garbage worthy.”

“Garbage?”

“The technology of the Cruz comes from the Wind Spirits. You surely know who taught them the magic battleship technology, right?”

Brendel certainly knew; only artisans and wizards from Bud had that kind of confidence, one pole of Vaunte’s magical technology was currently before him. He took a gentle breath and asked, “Could you help us build a type of battleship? Akagas Dragon-class?”

“Eh, how did you know about the Akagas Dragon-class?” Tanyia asked, somewhat surprised. “That’s certainly impossible.”

The Akagas Dragon-class was the latest type of battleship Bud had been constructing since the Year of the Cold Moon and would be a revolutionary mainstay in the forthcoming Slate Wars. Brendel had never expected it, merely saying it offhand. He then asked, “What about an older version?”

“Also impossible.”

“How about escort ships?”

Tanyia shook her head. “Little one, give up that idea; the Silver Council values its own isolation. Helping you has already been an exception, and persuading those old folks is out of the question. Even if they help build a magical dock, it’ll have to use Wind Spirits or Cruz technology. As for the gargoyles, since that technology already flowed out before the Second Holy War, it won’t be too difficult. But don’t think about the rest too much.”

“Ah,” Brendel sighed, as if he had expected it all along. “Since that’s the case, Aunt Tanyia, why bring up my hopes?”

“Because you’re a fool,” the fairy lady answered crossly. “While we can’t, someone else can.”

“Who?”

“The Hazel people. The Hazel are mortal enemies of the Cruz. If one day you really do find yourself on the opposite side of the Empire, I can find a way to connect you with them. I’m sure those arrogant little folks would gladly help you become a thorn in the Empire’s southern border.” She glanced at Brendel and replied, “You don’t look down on their technology, do you?”

“Of course not! I certainly don’t!” Brendel finally realized, thrilled. This was one pole of magical technology; how could he dare to look down on it? It was just that the Hazel rarely interacted with the outside world, and he hadn’t dared to think about it.

Tanyia flipped the blueprints again and asked, “So, is that all of your requests?”

Brendel immediately shook his head. “Of course not, Aunt Tanyia. I certainly can’t go to the Empire to retrieve the Azure Spear with just ten escort ships. This previous request is merely the premise of our cooperation; it’s to guard against potential retaliation from the Empire against Erluin once I retrieve the Azure Spear. The task of reclaiming the Azure Spear itself is a challenging task, and I need your unreserved support.”

The fairy lady regarded him with an expression that suggested she expected this response, saying, “You don’t mean to say that you need a battleship to reclaim the Azure Spear, do you?”

Brendel awkwardly smiled, clearly caught out, and quickly shook his head. “Certainly not. I just want some minor things, Aunt Tanyia.”

After reaching a preliminary consensus, the subsequent discussion felt much lighter—though this lightness was relative for one side. After two hours of haggling passed swiftly, Brendel felt quite satisfied, while Tanyia’s expression was not particularly pleasant. “If your grandfather had half your shrewdness, he wouldn’t have ended up like that.” This was a direct quote from the fairy lady. Although she seemed quite displeased, she still accepted Brendel’s invitation to attend the banquet hosted in Valhalla, as both sides understood that these transactions were mere trifles for Bud.

When Antinna followed Brendel out of the quiet hall of Valhalla’s town hall, she couldn’t help but feel a bit incredulous, as if she were still dreaming. Despite having already witnessed grand occasions, she quietly asked Brendel, “My Lord, did Lady Tanyia really agree to give us a thousand gargoyles?”

Brendel nodded.

“And three hundred steel puppets?”

Brendel nodded again.

“And the Aether Dragon?”

Brendel seemed to have guessed his aide’s thoughts; he turned back and replied, “We’re just helping the Bud people deal with their stock. These items are outdated technology for them, gathering dust in warehouses every year and requiring continuous maintenance payments. Even scrapping them costs a fortune; giving them to us is beneficial for them. After all, it’s not free; we have to help them out too.”

“But those are gargoyles, My Lord. Years ago in Erluin, it would have been an immense honor for any noble to have a gargoyle as a guardian in their castle. To suddenly possess so many is simply incredible.” Antinna could hardly imagine that these things were merely regarded as scrap by Brendel, and it seemed that only at this moment did she gain a more intuitive understanding of the power of the legendary silver kingdom. Of course, she also recognized her Lord’s willingness to ask for so much; she wouldn’t have dared to demand such a staggering price from the Bud people herself.

However, in fact, Brendel cared more about that small deal at the end. He hoped Tanyia could help him gather some special materials urgently needed in Valhalla. If we consider which collection in this world is the richest, perhaps no one surpasses the white-bearded wizards of the Silver Alliance.

Antinna took a while to recover from her dazed state and rubbed her forehead, quietly asking, “My Lord, where to next?”

Brendel nodded.

“The Cruz are giving us trouble, so we should give them some in return,” he answered. “Let’s go meet Prince Rainwright.”

The two of them left the quiet hall one after another, while Prince Haruze, wanting to follow, was suddenly pulled back by Medusalaisimeka. The young prince turned, looking puzzled at the Medusa. “Sister Laisimeka, is there something you need?”

Laisimeka put a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, hissing softly, “Is that Lord Earl your teacher?”

Haruze nodded.

“Does he support you in becoming the king?”

Haruze shook his head. “I don’t want to be the king, Sister Laisimeka. But don’t tell my sister; she’ll scold me.”

“Alright, little one,” Laisimeka patted his little head. “Regardless of whether you want to be king or not, you must hold onto your teacher tightly; there’s probably no one in your tiny nation more capable than him.”

“What’s wrong, Sister Laisimeka?” Haruze asked, somewhat confused.

“Nothing,” Laisimeka suddenly inquired. “Little Prince, can I join you on that mission to the Empire?”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to go, Sister Laisimeka?”

“I changed my mind.”

“Oh,” Haruze replied. “I think that should be fine. I can choose a few people to accompany us; I’ll have Ms. Wensley stay behind.”

“Thank you, little one.” Medusalaisimeka licked her lips with her forked tongue, glancing in a strangely curious way towards the direction Brendel had left, “It’s quite interesting that you can motivate the Bud people.”