458 Sika’s agenda Part 2 (1/2)
”Lex, just accede to Sika's request. I will resolve the issue of the magic nuclei.” Saleen finally opened his mouth. The magic wolf cavalrymen of the Caucasus people were not suitable to act as charging riders, since it was more expensive feeding a magic wolf as compared to a warhorse. A warhorse fed on specially produced grass while a magic wolf consumed meat. Occasionally, some magic powder had to be served in order to help a magic wolf maintain its powerful strength.
Such cavalry mounts were simply too costly. It was too troublesome rearing expensive items and it would be too painful to lose a few of them. In the future, Saleen had planned to deploy the Caucasus magic wolf cavalrymen as the city's defenders or scouts. It was impossible to build a large formation of cavalrymen. The magic wolf cavalrymen were suitable for mountainous battles, and normal cavalrymen would lose out to them.
There were countless of forests in the vicinity of the Metatrin City. If the Caucasus people occupied that area, no one would be able to infiltrate Metatrin through the woods anymore.
The capital required for hunting magic nuclei from the Frozen Sea would not be too high, since a huge quantity of magic nuclei could be obtained each time. Even if the warship's consumption and forecasted depletion were included, the price of magic nuclei would still be able to match that of the ones obtained from hunting on land.
”Since Sika has spoken, I will agree to it. The Caucasus people will have the selling rights to alcohol and the rights to extract a mine. Every Caucasus person will be allowed to rear magic beasts, and not to hunt them.” Lex's words were equivalent to law in the Bitter Water County. Sika was overjoyed when Lex acceded.
Metatrin City was developed by Saleen, but it had to be attached to the Bitter Water County legally, otherwise the Holy Rock City would conquer it at all costs. As a result, Lex's agreement was needed in the aforementioned issues.
If it was not for the chaos brought on by Nailisi, Lex might not have agreed to those things so easily. Sika patted Nailisi's shoulder, but did not say anything. That caused Nailisi's face to contort disgustingly, losing all her image. Sika knew that Nailisi was a demon, so Nailisi had to have a great physique. She did not withhold any strength. If Sika had patted Saleen, Saleen would have to bathe in magic liquid already.
A blanket of silence fell over the carriage suddenly. Sika had stopped talking, while Nailisi rubbed her shoulder, not intending to carry on sowing discord. Saleen felt slightly awkward, but was concerned about this duke who had suddenly come into the picture. He began thinking of ways to manage the relationship with the duke. ”Lex's friend? Heh, he is more like Lex's suitor.”
Saleen's guess was not entirely wrong. Five to six years ago, the small duke from Titan had went to the Bitter Water Prefecture in hopes of recruiting a batch of low grade mages. Back then, the Lex he knew was amazing. Despite Lex not being an adult yet.
Afterwards, both parties shared a business relationship, frequently communicating via letters. The small duke from Titan even acquiesced Lex to deploy her spies into the Cloudflow Empire using his duchy as a medium. This was no small matter. If those spies were captured, he would be responsible.
It would be wrong to claim that the small duke from Titan was Lex's admirer, at least he was not bent on marrying Lex. He simply wanted to please this female prodigy from Qin.
Given the culture in the Cloudflow Empire, loyalty would not amount to much. The small duke definitely possessed the heart to love.
The fact that Lex and the small duke could cover each other's tracks meant that they were excellent friends already. This time round, Lex was going to help him shift his assets around, which the Cloudflow Empire wanted to keep in their possession.
If the Duke of Titan did not make a trip to Cloudflow, the Cloudflow Empire would have deployed their troops for an offensive, just like how Qin dealt with Phoenix. If the troops were deployed, the Duke of Titan would never have the chance to return to his duchy again.
Lex did not give further thought into Saleen's issues, she began calculating the amount of fortune in Titan's treasuries. A duke's private assets could not be touched. Many treasuries were categorized as public assets, though, and they belonged to the Cloudflow Empire on paper. This was unlike Qin. Qin only demanded taxes from the local nobles, but Qin would never build a separate treasury.
The small duke granted Lex twenty percent profits because she had the God's Ring, which could help him transport large quantities of items. A twenty percent cut was not a small sum, a small duchy was very much richer than the Bitter Water County. Once the Pink Army got extirpated, its fortune would go to Lex. The small duke only wanted the Pink Army's secret base.
Of the current five large duchies, Phoenix was fragmented while Loulan had been razed to the ground, and Titan would soon be seized by Cloudflow. God Grace Duchy was also rumored to be in turmoil, where insurgents had launched an offensive against the army of the Tanggulasi Empire. Only Laiyin Duchy remained fine. The Sikeqinya Empire was no better, its emperor was only after profits.
Once these duchies disappeared, the four big empires would share a border. There would be no more buffer regions anymore.
It had to be noted that the small duke was extremely sagacious and decisive in wanting to seize all the assets in the duchy, leaving behind an empty shell for Cloudflow.
When day broke, they were almost reaching the princess' castle. Lex allowed the convoy to stop and take a two hour break. The convoy only continued after the men had consumed some food.
Staring out the window, the fields on both sides were extremely fertile, they were filled with oil-producing vegetables. Titan had done a great job in the area of irrigation. Saleen spotted a magic water wheel and some low grade puppets ploughing the lands.
A puppet was better than cattle because cattle would get sick due to effects of the weather. When dealing with high value crops, the wealthy nobles would procure some puppets and hire some magic disciples to care for the crops.
Saleen lapsed into gloominess when he realized that such a good farmland was going to be destroyed by the flames of war.
By withdrawing the land of the Titan Duchy, the Cloudflow emperor was planning on participating in the contention. A few years back, they were still sitting on the fence, but they had finally come to a decision already.