716 A Forced Marriage Part 2 (1/2)
”I am a first-class earl who was personally conferred by His Majesty, Lex, you…”
Nicholas could not be bothered to listen to all the noise coming from this earl. Pointing one finger at the earl, the earl immediately lost his voice, he could no longer say another word. The Holy See used the Speech Prohibition spell most frequently. When a person was on trial, they would not be able to rebut once this spell was used, the accused could only wait for the Holy See's verdict.
Su put his sword into its sheath and went beside Lex, then said, ”Your Highness, you should kill this person straightaway, the mere sight of him is disgusting.”
”Kill him? Humph, Agares has insulted me, I will not simply kill him. Execute all the servants which he brought along and bring this fellow to the alchemy laboratory.”
Hearing Lex's words, the earl finally grew fearful. Once a person entered a mage's alchemy laboratory, their fate would be unknown. Clearly, Lex was unaffected by his threats. ”This is impossible, the military strength of the Bitter Water County is less than four-hundred-thousand and the newly added lands are only around two-thousand miles in area. Once His Majesty's army arrives, all this will be turned to ashes. Is Lex crazy? Killing an envoy is akin to declaring war!”
Just as he wanted to plead for mercy, the Speech Prohibition spell caused him to feel as if his throat had been fossilized. He could not produce any noise, he could only pant deeply.
Lex's trusted soldiers carried the earl to the alchemy laboratory, tossing him onto the alchemy platform. Some magic disciples then went forward to remove the earl's clothes, leaving only his underwear on.
The earl looked at Lex imploringly, but Lex's blue eyes made him feel abnormally cold.
”I am too lazy to ask for your name. Now, I want to ask you some questions and you will answer me, you cannot lie nor say that you don't know the answer. If you answer in this manner, do you see this?” Lex pointed to the low-grade mages afar who were working beside the alchemy platform, then said, ”There are so many mages who need to practice and gain experience. I will allow you to become an experimental subject until everyone here gets a try. The experiment we are conducting today is fossilizing a skeleton. I will first use the earth-type Shock spell to shatter your bones, then let the mages heal you temporarily.”
Lex stopped and turned to look into the earl's eyes. His eyes were filled with terror. Lex then continued, ”The human body has over two-hundred bones, as long as your answer disappoints me, this experiment will carry on more than two-hundred times before stopping. I guarantee that you will remain sober while the process is going on. If you understand, nod your head.”
The earl nodded desperately, then Lex turned around to look at Nicholas. Nicholas gently tapped the air, and the earl could finally speak again.
”First question, how many troops will Agares send to attack my Daliang City?”
The earl's heart twitched, as though electricity had just passed through it.
”One-million and two-hundred-thousand, Your Highness.”
Lex nodded in satisfaction, then said, ”Second question, when will Agares' troops arrive?”
”In mid-November, Your Highness.”
”Is it true that Agares will deploy his troops whether I agree to the marriage or not?”
The earl's eyes became anxious in that instant, he really did not know the answer to this question. There was something wrong with the emperor's brain, all the Cloudflow nobles knew that. Even god would not be able to tell if the situation would unfold like what Lex had described.
”His Majesty will not relay his secret decree to the receiving fleet, nobles at my rank don't ever know the truth.” The earl tried his best to answer in a way which would avoid angering Lex.
Lex remained silent for a long while, then said, ”Fourth question, tell me the composition of Cloudflow's fleet and its equipment status.”
The earl did not hesitate this time around, he revealed the data on Cloudflow's army, such as the ratio of commanders, offensive power, and allocation of equipment. A lot of this information was not secret. He did not dare fabricate anything, he only revealed what he knew.
Lex did not bother memorizing, she asked the low-grade mages to record this information using magic and organize all the intelligence provided by the earl. The earl went on for more than two hours. Even though the earl had a pathetic offensive power, he had access to quite a lot of information. From a certain angle, this fellow was not entirely useless.
There were very few useless nobles because the nobles were the foundation of a country. An emperor would never confer titles upon just anyone, even in a place like Cloudflow where nobles were in abundance.
Back in Metatrin City Saleen had summoned all his trusted nobles over, conducting a meeting in the palace. Since Aini was not around, the other three nobles sat on Saleen's right side, while Saleen's followers sat on the left. The only difference this time around was that Sika was sitting beside Saleen.
”I am making a trip to the Bitter Water County and bringing along the newest warships and weapons. After I leave, Sika will be the owner of Metatrin City. She is the mother to my child. Right now, I shall confer Sika the title of Caucasus Queen. When I am not around, Sika will be the regent, while Daniel will continue to manage the administration of the city.”
No one could raise objections, Sika was pregnant with Saleen's child and she still had over one-hundred-thousand Caucasus warriors who were her fanatical worshippers. It was only right for her to become the regent.
”Nailisi, you will stay behind to assist Sika. Eleanor, Isabella, you will follow me. As for the military, Guya will be in charge for the time being. For commerce, Irene, you have to take care of it. Renee, you have to monitor the Phoenix nobles closely, don't let them create any trouble.”