300 Clown’s Action (1/2)

Chapter 300: Clown’s Action

Translator: Kris_LiuEditor: Vermillion

”It's a city in the Sky?! In the Kingdom of Holm?” Mercury repeated the words out of great surprise.

Hanger and Reindeer were also shocked, ”Rentato? Near the capital?!”

It was totally out of their expectation, like how Lucien felt when he first heard where the Congress was. They simply could not imagine that the Congress of Magic could exist above board right in front of people's eyes in the country across the strait.

They thought that the Congress was probably deep into the mountain ranges, or even in another dimension or demiplane, which was secretly connected to the main material world.

Philosopher, Viscount Klein, had more or less heard something from Count Hayne, Count Rafati, and some other big nobles, so he remained relatively calm.

Looking at the surprised faces of the apprentices, Lucien felt quite satisfied, ”Yes, the Congress is in Allyn. It's gained some support from the nobles in Holm, and its power has way surpassed that of the Church in the kingdom. Right now, if it was not because of the nobles' wish to maintain the power balance between the three parties, and if it was not because of the great cost the Church has paid to hold the Radiance Church, the kingdom would have been under the Congress' control.”

”It's… It's unbelievable…” Mercury murmured, and she still could not believe what she just heard. She was born and also grew up in the Duchy of Violet, and in her mind, the Church's power was greater than anything else, even across different dimensions. If the Church had not been divided, most sorcerers would have died out already. How was it possible that the Congress of Magic could overpower the Church?

Mercury was not alone here. Even including Philosopher, the apprentices present were all very surprised and confused. Although Philosopher had heard something about the kingdom across the strait, because he was not qualified enough to sit close to the grand duke, the information he had was also very limited.

In order to give him more confidence, Lucien briefly told them the history of the development of the Congress of Magic, the achievement made by some great arcanists from the Congress and its current situation. In the end, Lucien said to them, ”The Congress has been the second most influential power across the continent. In Allyn, you can learn arcana and basic magic for free, and you don't need to hide anymore. Instead, you can earn yourself status and wealth that you deserve by learning magic.”

Lucien was not trying to exaggerate anything, but his plain tone made the apprentices thrilled. Their great excitement left their body slightly shaking, as they finally saw the light in the seemingly endless darkness.

Although Mercury was quite calm most of the time, now she almost burst into tears, ”Then Mr. Professor… What shall we do? I think the Church must have blocked the strait… Can you lead us to get there?”

What she said reminded the other apprentices—they realized that they were not in Allyn yet, and there were still lots of dangers waiting for them ahead.

”I've got my own things to deal with. I cannot do this for you.” Lucien first rejected them and then told them the two possible routes to get there. Then he added, ”If you've got any magic items that can make you fly, consider to take the route in the north through Schachran Empire. If you don't, go to Sturk and find Ferryman. There you have to prove to them that you're qualified to be sent to Allyn. So try to show them your ability and potential if you haven't become a real sorcerer when you arrive in Sturk.”

Lucien did not tell them who Granneuve was, because there might be a spy from the Church among the apprentices. Lucien only told them how to find Ferryman.

Learning from the lesson a few years ago, the liaisons from the congress now had a strict series of procedures to observe, question, identify and test the apprentices. So even if the spy told the night watchers how to find Ferryman, it would still be very hard for the night watchers to get to Allyn.

Mercury calmed down a little, ”Thank you, Mr. Professor. If there's a chance, I hope to see you in Allyn.”

The apprentices including Philosopher knew that they had to work really hard to prove that they were useful to the Congress in order to obtain the chance of going to Allyn. This was the cost they had to pay, and they were well aware of it.

”I hope that you can tell this to other apprentices and sorcerers who you can trust. Don't be selfish. Give others the chance to choose.” Lucien nodded, and then he added, ”After tonight, you might want to change an identity and find another place to hide. I'm concerned that there are still spies from the Church in other magic groups.”

”Got it, Mr. Professor,” the apprentices answered seriously. They completely trusted Professor's words, and no one wanted to fail when they were almost there at the edge of the light.

After a while, Hanger said to Professor with some passion, ”Mr. Professor, you mentioned something about arcana and basic magic. As a profound middle-rank mage, can you make some brief introduction of them? As for the pay, you can pick any magic materials that we have here…”

”It's free to make some basic introduction...” said Lucien in a plain tone. In fact, the materials here brought by the apprentices were just nothing in his eyes.

Hearing that, all the apprentices including philosopher stood up and gave Lucien a respectful salute following the manner of the ancient magic empire.