689 A Gift from Holy Rock City Part 2 (1/2)

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.”