Badge in Azure

The Grand Hall of Saleen’s palace was not as majestic as Cloudflow’s palace. It was, instead, similar to other Qin palaces in that there was a seat for everyone. By right, the group of envoys had been arranged to rest in one of the Halls first after such a long journey. Saleen had to meet with Bard first and the group of envoys could not possibly stay in the palace, hence a banquet was set up.

On the gigantic oval-shaped table, Saleen sat at the tip and his men were seated on his left while the envoys were seated on his right. Bard did not sit directly beside Saleen, instead, those seats were occupied by the two sorcerers. Stephanie did not seem to mind that Nicholas had seen through her identity. She just continued to remain quiet.

Saleen felt conflicted. What was the meaning of Holy Rock City sending two grade-8 sorcerers? If Nicholas was not by his side, were these two sorcerers planning to harm him?

He had not thought this way, but the problem was that Stephanie had been disguising herself as a white-robed mage and was not seen through by Jola along the way. It was after Nicholas mentioned it that Saleen used his elemental eyes to look closely and discovered the issue.

As such, Saleen was disinterested in Bard, but the noble families on his left were all very excited in contrast. They looked at Bard expectantly and were hoping that he would bring good news that would benefit the kingdom.

Surely Holy Rock City did not send him here to play and have fun?

Bard did not know where to begin. By right, according to customs, he should have been settled down first and both sides should have arranged an appropriate time for a grand ceremony to be held and the letters of credence to be exchanged. Then, the envoys would socialize with Metatrin’s noble families for a while before Bard would finally speak to Saleen about the task given to him by the Emperor and Prince Safilos.

Who knew that Saleen would ignore all that and bring him to the palace directly?

Fortunately, Saleen was well-prepared. Metatrin City was full of noble families’ servants so they were able to help prepare a banquet before the envoys arrived.

The dishes were served after a round of drinks. In consideration of the envoys’ comfort, Saleen did not arrange for spirits of the dead to serve them like at the temple.

Instead, the servants borrowed from the noble families were the ones to serve the dishes. Since Saleen was still unmarried, there were no female palace officers, only men.

After the wine glasses had been filled, Saleen began to give everyone a toast using typical noble families’ pleasantries and this made Bard much more comfortable. Although Saleen spoke as if he was back in the fourth dynasty, Bard was fond of it.

After three rounds of drinks, Saleen arranged for a few low-level mages to concoct a new type of wine for everyone. This was the custom of Bitter Water Prefecture. Using restorative water to concoct wine would make it blander and less harmful to the body.

The atmosphere was harmonious so Saleen finally asked, “Duke, is there any special reason for his Majesty to send you here?”

He did not bring up the letter of credence. The contents would most likely revolve around appointing envoys to stay in the other party’s kingdom permanently to facilitate the exchange of letters after all. Such embassies would require the setting up of teleportation portals. Such portals would be able to send and receive letters and documents any time, but not humans.

The letter of credence would surely also mention borders and the issue of armies passing through these boundaries. These were not what Saleen was concerned with. What he wanted to know was the Qin Emperor’s personal opinion of Metatrin City. He knew what the relationship between Safilos and Lex was like and was certain that Holy Rock City would be cautious of Metatrin City.

His own army would not be able to enter Phoenix. At most, he could follow the path that had been opened up by the Holy See expedition that followed the borders of Phoenix and into Luolan.

“His Majesty…,” Bard cleared up his train of thought and said, “His Majesty hopes to establish a trading route between Holy Rock City and Metatrin City. Specifically, His Majesty hopes that Metatrin will be able to supply Holy Rock City with magic nuclei in times of war.”

Bard did not mention Prince Safilos’ request. Tiffany belonged to the Emperor’s side so some things were better left said without her knowing. It was entirely possible that the Emperor had sent one more sorcerer along in order to deal with him. If the two sorcerers found out that Bard was serving the Prince’s agenda more than the Emperor’s, they could very well kill him and everyone around him.

Among the soldiers, only fourteen-hundred of them took orders from him. The remaining sixteen-hundred soldiers would take orders from Tiffany.

Stephanie’s reputation struck fear in him. This woman was said to be Emperor Chanake’s personal mage and did not belong to the circle of royal mages. Whatever actions a private mage like her committed, the palace would not have to admit nor take up any responsibilities. By that time, she would only have to flee to Alchemy City and he would have died for nothing.

“How many does his Majesty want?”

“One-hundred-thousand grade-4 magic nuclei.”

“At what price?”

“One-hundred gold coins.”

“This…,” Saleen pretended to gasp. There was a price range for different grades of magic nuclei and the one for grade-1 magic nuclei fluctuated the most. They could be sold between one gold coin to five gold coins. Grade-2 magic nuclei could be sold at ten gold coins while the exceptionally pure ones could be sold at twenty gold coins. Grade-3 magic nuclei could be sold at one-hundred gold coins.

The most expensive grade-4 magic nuclei could be sold at one-thousand gold coins, but usually they were priced at about four-hundred gold coins before they had been cut. After being cut up, they were usually priced at two-hundred gold coins. A mage with good techniques would be able to cut a grade-4 magic nucleus into three standard units.

Magic nuclei had to be cut up in order to be fused into magic arrays.

Magic nuclei that had not been cut would be priced according to their sizes. After cutting, their sizes would be the same. Excluding the craftsmanship involved in the cutting process, each magic nucleus would be priced at two-hundred gold coins.

One-hundred gold coins must be the price after cutting. The size of a grade-4 magic nucleus was such that at least three standard units could be cut out from it. Surely the Qin Emperor would not try to force this deal no matter how arrogant he was.

The noble families began to panic. This was the price at which Saleen was selling to them. If Saleen agreed, the noble families would not be able to earn any profits. The level of difficulty in cutting grade-4 magic nuclei was tens of times higher than low-level magic nuclei and the craftsmanship would be costly too. If Saleen did not help them, they would be earning very little. They were in no position to dissuade Saleen, but if Saleen refused to help them with the cutting in future, their profits would drop by another thirty percent.

“I cannot agree to this price. This year’s supply of magic nuclei has already been sold to the Dukes and Earls seated here today. I only have about forty-thousand magic nuclei left.”

Everyone became nervous. Saleen had yet to hand over the magic nuclei to them, everything had only been verbal agreements so far. It was understandable if Saleen chose to sacrifice the noble families’ benefits in order to establish a better relationship with Holy Rock City. The noble families would have much to gain from Saleen establishing a trading route with Holy Rock City too. The noble families could not help but feel conflicted.

Bard looked like he was about to say something, but Saleen carried on, “The market price is two-hundred gold coins. These are not low-level magic nuclei. They need to be cut up by mages. Not even apprentices can do it. I request for an increment of fifteen percent to one-hundred and fifteen gold coins. If you are agreeable to that price, I will compensate my noble families with my own money so that they will sell to you at that price.”

Bard was caught in the middle. Before he left, Ojarvis had emphasized that he must obtain the magic nuclei. In terms of prices, he was allowed to accept an increment of up to twenty percent. In other words, the Emperor was willing to purchase the magic nuclei at a price of one-hundred and twenty gold coins. As long as the price was higher than one-hundred and twenty gold coins, he would not gain any profits from it.

Saleen had made himself very clear. He had already sold away the magic nuclei. If Bard was not agreeable to this price, he would have to discuss with the noble families on his own separately.

He would be offending all the noble families of Metatrin and there would be no hope of accomplishing what the Prince had tasked him to do.

The noble families felt more assured now. Although the price of one-hundred and fifteen gold coins was still low, they need not fork over any capital or do anything else except to collect the money. They would still earn fifteen gold coins from each magic nucleus!

Eventually, Saleen’s arrangement was to give the four Dukes twenty-thousand magic nuclei each while the twelve Earls would receive five-thousand each. The remaining twenty-thousand magic nuclei would be divided up amongst the rest of the noble families. Each of them would be able to receive a few hundred magic nuclei.

“The four of you will give up ten-thousand magic nuclei each while the rest of you will give up five-thousand each. Alright?” Saleen did not bother to wait for Bard’s reply, he was already discussing the terms and conditions with his noble families.

Guya and the rest came from the four major families, so wealth was never an issue for them. This was not the case for the other noble families. The four of them would not hesitate to use up capital, but the twelve Earls were more receptive to this arrangement. By selling all five-thousand magic nuclei that they were given, they would be earning fifty-thousand gold coins without doing much. Although Saleen said he would compensate them, they would not dare to accept.

For Aini and the rest, they would not dare to refuse even if they were unwilling. They would still have another ten-thousand magic nuclei that they could sell. On average, they would still make a significant profit.

“Your Highness, his Majesty has also asked me to present you with some gifts.” Bard did not dwell on the issue of the magic nuclei any further. He already noticed that Saleen did not bow down to the two sorcerers and knew that he was not someone that would not give in easily.

“Oh, his Majesty is too kind. I wonder what gift is it?” Saleen seemed curious. Now that the issue of the magic nuclei has been settled, he would be able to sell them to the Emperor privately at this price as well. The Emperor would not buy on credit so this was a good business deal.

Bard was also thinking to himself that the Emperor had wanted to purchase as many magic nuclei as possible. Seeing how Saleen agreed so readily to one-hundred-thousand magic nuclei, this must mean that he still had reserves. If Bard bought more from Saleen at this price, it could be a source of profit when he returned. He had brought along more than twenty-thousand gold coins with him. If he bought the remaining magic nuclei and sold them after he returned, he would be able to earn about ten-thousand gold coins.

“It is not something I can carry around on my own. Grand Mage Tiffany, please…,” Bard spoke to Tiffany courteously.

Tiffany smiled and stood up to walk towards an empty space in the hall before releasing a gigantic object from her spatial equipment. This was an alchemy mechanine that was more than ten yards long. It was golden yellow in color and looked like the shuttle of an enormous piece of embroidery. The curvature of the surface of this mechanine was abnormally perfect and dark silver colored magic rune rules were arranged on every individual structure.

“This is a diving combat vessel. It was newly invented by Holy Rock City, even Lianyun City is not equipped with it yet. His Majesty knows that your city is close to the ocean and it is important to build up naval defences, so he would like to give this to you,” Bard explained very proudly, but Saleen did not know whether to laugh or to cry.

Diving combat vessel? Clearly it was a hundred times more powerful than what Lex had refined initially, but now that Saleen already had pan turtle alchemy ship, what would he need a diving combat vessel for?