Badge in Azure

Although Sikeqinya was to the north of Phoenix, its borders were surrounded by mountain ranges, and its climate was highly affected by the warm currents from the west. Its average temperature in a year was slightly higher than Phoenix’s. Due to its unique geographical location, Sikeqinya need not face Tanggulasi empire’s iron knights head-on, nor worry about its naval forces since the Tanggulasi empire’s coastal areas were affected by cloud currents.

The roads leading from Sikeqinya to the south were limited, and they all basically began from Laiyin Duchy. There was only one road leading to God’s Grace Duchy, and the road contained three impregnable passes. That eliminated any possibility of Tanggulasi empire’s invasion.

If Tanggulasi empire wished to invade Sikeqinya, the best route would not be through God’s Grace Duchy. Instead, they should enter Laiyin Duchy from the eastern part of Luolan, then enter Sikeqinya from Laiyin Duchy. This was a much longer route that would increase their mileage by an additional 10,000 miles, which would be a headache in terms of logistics.

Entering Sikeqinya through Qin would be much easier. Qin’s borders were very close to Laiyin Duchy’s, and some of Phoenix’s lands even overlapped with Laiyin Duchy’s. Pass through Laiyin Duchy, and you would reach Sikeqinya’s great wall. The great wall must be guarded heavily, so Sikeqinya empire was willing to put up with the Dragons and Roses Regiment.

This grade-9 regiment consisted of two very powerful leaders who commanded more than 10,000 of the most elite members. Their numbers surpassed what a normal regiment should have. Nevertheless, the Sikeqinya empire needed them to guard the borders, so they chose to turn a blind eye to it.

Saleen knew that it was hopeless to attack from Laiyin Duchy unless he commanded an army of 10,000 with more than ten sorcerers. He could enter Sikeqinya from the side through the chaotic swamp, though.

Saleen was no longer the clueless youth that he had been in the past. Now, he was more aware of what was going on in the mainland and also understood the various possibilities available to him. Invading Phoenix was a necessity. Although the north had mines, wood, and even a sufficient supply of beasts, they did not have enough grain.

Although the lands of the north were fertile, the issue was that there was only one season throughout the year that was suitable for agriculture. Excluding the crops that the farmers would keep to feed themselves, there would not be much left. Once a war broke out, the farmers would not be able to farm and would have to buy grains from external sources. If they reached that stage, the enemy would only have to seal up all the roads, and Metatrin would become an isolated city.

Taking Phoenix was a must. It would serve as a granary. The noble families of Phoenix might not be the richest, but they definitely possessed the most grain in the world.

During wartime, grain might not be available even for all the money in the world. Therefore, it was essential to stock up before war fully broke out throughout the mainland. Metatrin City’s advantage was that there were a large number of mages. Saleen definitely had the resources to build a huge granary to store all the grain.

Ordinary grain could only be kept for three to five years, but if they were stored in granaries built by mages, they could last up to 30 to 50 years instead.

Metatrin City had been stocking up on grain all this while. They sold most of their ores for grains, with only 20 percent being sold for gold coins.

Sharman was intelligent but was also limited by contextual knowledge. Based on their size, the Rolande family might be bigger than a Marquis family and could be considered as a grade-1 Earl. Therefore, the issues that were on Sharman’s mind were still stuck at the level of an Earl. She was still a young girl. Naturally, she would not know what Saleen was thinking.

Seeing how Saleen looked, she could no longer pretend to be naïve and said defeatedly, “In any case, these are all the men that I have. If they all die, there is no way my sister will allow me to come out like this in the future.”

“That is not possible. The losses that you have suffered can be fully compensated by those goods.”

“I am talking about mage Buharin,” Sharman said in frustration. “He is the top mage under my sister. If he dies, my sister will hate me forever.”

“Grade-5 mages will not die so easily. See, I am not afraid at all.”

Saleen spoke and took out a tea set from the demonic ring at the same time. Soon, he was starting a fire and boiling water.

“Is there wine?” Sharman was one head shorter than Saleen and was still a young girl no matter how you looked at here. When she requested wine, Saleen shook his head and said, “Let’s drink tea. Mages do not like to drink wine.”

“I just want some wine to boost my courage. You must protect me. I am only 15 years old, and I don’t want to die.” Sharman unbuckled the half-sword at her waist and put it on the table. Her hands cupped her face, and she was in a daze while watching Saleen boil water.

“15 years old? How old is your sister?”

“19 years old. When she was 15, the rank of Baroness was personally assigned by the Emperor to her instead of the House of Commons.”

“I heard that for the women of noble families, the topic of marriage will come up when they are 16, and by the time they are 18, they are usually married.”

“The Emperor said that he will make the decision on my sister’s marriage. Subsequently, the emperor… died and no one in the family dared to bring this up for fear of upsetting Holy Rock City.”

“Ah, no wonder you have come to Metatrin City. This is something that Lex will be able to settle.”

Sharman could not help but squint her eyes after hearing what Saleen said. Saleen mentioned the Duke of Bitter Water’s name casually, which meant that the two must be very close.

“My sister does not know how to bring it up.”

“I will talk to Lex.” Saleen used magic powder to light up the charcoal and created restorative water to make tea.

“Brother Saleen, you have a good relationship with the Duke?”

“You could say that.”

“I would like to ask, what is the relationship between the Duke and Metatrin City?”

“Why do you ask?” Saleen did not stop what he was doing. After the water has boiled, he washed the tea to remove the dirt on the tea leaves before draining way this first round of water.

“Because my sister cannot make up her mind. I can see that you and Aini are very close. I tried to persuade her to follow you, but she still prefers the Duke.”

“If she follows Lex, your sister will still be under the control of Holy Rock City for the time being. If she follows Metatrin City… what does your sister want?”

Saleen was noncommittal, but Sharman could not tell and continued, “Sister’s Baroness status was assigned by the Emperor and is not something that the House of Commons can just take away. The current Emperor dares not order the House of Lords around. It is only a matter of time before the Prince controls the House of Lords. You may not know, my sister was assigned the title of ‘Baroness’ because the emperor… the Emperor felt that she resembled the Duke. The prince is aware of this. There is no time to take stock of things now, but if they were to remove my sister’s title in the future…”

“I understand now. Is your sister a mage?”

“Yes, my sister is a grade-4 mage,” Sharman replied with pride. The two sisters were highly regarded in the Rolande family partly because of their abilities. She became a high-grade swordmaster when she was very young while her sister became a grade-4 mage about three years ago.

These two sisters would have been treated with respect even if they were in the royal family. What she did not know was that Saleen did not lack mages but needed grand swordmasters like her instead. She was only 15 years old and would advance into a black metal grand swordmaster within five years at the most. Around 30 years old, she could very well become a silver grand swordmaster.

Even though Saleen was a mage with strong and resilient physical attributes, he was no match for a grand swordmaster when it came to charging into battle. Saleen did not care much for Baroness Guya’s grade but was interested in this little grand swordmaster instead.

“The surname of Metatrin… was reputable during the fourth dynasty,” Saleen did not continue further and gave Sharman the freedom to guess what that meant.

Sharman came from a family of merchants, so she immediately knew what Saleen was trying to say. Chaos was coming and those with abilities would not wish to be overlooked. Most of the clans of the fourth dynasty now resided in Cloudflow, so those that were able to survive in Qin must possess a rich heritage.

“500 miles north of Metatrin City is a river. I will be building another city there to look after the mining activities in the north. If your sister can bring me craftsmen that can create weapons, I will free her from the Rolande family’s control. As for the rank of Baroness, I will not be able to give her that now.”

Sharman was a little disappointed and said, “My sister does not care for the title. She is only worried…”

“Worried about the safety of Metatrin City?”

“Yes,” Sharman replied directly.

“No hurry,” Saleen said with a smile. He did not mind Sharman’s tone and poured tea for her while saying, “Within one year, I will invade Phoenix. I suppose your sister will want to achieve a breakthrough and become a grade-5 mage, or she would not dare to make any demands.”

Sharman was stunned because Saleen had hit the nail on the head. Indeed, her sister had hopes of achieving a breakthrough to become a grade-5 mage. After Guya received Emperor Chanake’s assignment as Baroness, she recruited a group of fighters. She also had 20 bodyguards who were all high-level swordmasters younger than 30 years old.

As long as one possessed some intelligence, one would definitely be able to become a high-level swordmaster by 60 years old. To become a high-level swordmaster before 30 years old, one would have a high chance of advancing into a grand swordmaster.

The two sisters had money, abilities, and the Emperor’s support. Within a year, their statuses had risen quickly within the family. The sudden passing of Emperor Chanake had caused Baroness Guya to become uneasy. Luckily, Holy Rock City had yet to come looking for trouble, so she still had some time to make plans for her future.

Once she received news from Aini to come to Metatrin City, she brought all her trusted followers along immediately. Once she was there, she was indecisive because she could see that there were two camps in Metatrin City that were in positions of power. One of them was the Metatrin family that owned the city and had their external affairs handled by a death mage, while the other was the army from Bitter Water Prefecture.

With limited time, Baroness Guya could not figure out the relationship between these two camps and Aini was also unwilling to reveal too much. She has not been able to make up her mind and had been observing all this while.

“Let your sister observe for another year. By then, she should have made up her mind.” Saleen held up the teacup and sipped lightly.

“Humph! My sister will not wait for another year. The family has already…” Sharman stopped suddenly. She realized that if she continued on, she would be losing leverage for negotiations.

“Then bring all those that she can bring along over to Metatrin City. The Rolande family will not dare to do anything to her.”

“Why?”

“The majority of the Rolande family’s business operates in the northern part of the empire, which will soon be controlled by Bitter Water Prefecture. I am sure they still want to carry on with their businesses.” Saleen laughed coldly. Money and interests had always been the four big families’ priority so they must have thrown their support behind Prince Safilos by now. Nevertheless, Saleen was not worried. If their caravans still wanted to continue operating their businesses, they could not afford to upset Bitter Water Prefecture either.

Lex was more ambitious than Saleen. Now that she had the Goddess’s bond to fulfill, she would definitely think of ways to invade the north of Qin first followed by the central Mainland. As for Saleen, he had set his sights on Phoenix and Sikeqinya.