583 Saleen’s Wild Ambition Part 2 (2/2)

”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.