1395 Meeting of the Princes Part 2 (2/2)

”My liege, the navy is the most expensive branch of the military to maintain. Didn't Saleen say that he would support you? We'll be able to see how sincere he is by seeing how much money he is willing to spend. If it so happens that he just want to keep you controlled...”

”Then what? It's not like I can fight him and win,” Safilos retorted plainly.

The two mages were flustered and said, ”My liege, you still have a lot of people at the imperial capital and those people rely on you. It'd still be alright if Lex continues to be the empress, but if someone from the Golden Plains were to succeed throwing Lex off the throne, that would be the end to all of us.”

The mages told what was on their minds without a care. None of them actually resented Lex. On the contrary, Safilos' people were more wary of the people of the Golden Plains interfering with palace affairs.

Safilos turned silent. Saleen was just too headstrong. His personality said that he would have never given in. However, the people from the Golden Plains were getting more and more obvious with what they were doing.

But then again, despite possessing the skill and talents for running a nation, she had not been sitting on the throne for long. There would have definitely been something she overlooked in all that mess.

Saleen was right. If he were to let the Nature Faith in, then he would have been able to gain command of a holy army, which would have enabled him to stand against Golden Plains.

Safilos would have never harbored such thoughts in the past, but things were different at the moment. Golden Plains forces had began to refuse providing some help that would have been free-of-charge in the past.

If the Golden Plains were to become yet another Alchemy City, it would have only been a matter of time before the empire got toppled.

The empire of his brother...

The Bloodline of the Grukos on Golden Plains was far away from that of the emperors of the empire. The Qin Empire suffered a crisis with succession of the throne for past 200 years or so, with the imperial bloodline being on the verge of extinction.

Despite not having any liking for Lex, Safilos nonetheless hoped that Lex would be able to give birth to a child as soon as possible, in order to keep the imperial bloodline alive, the bloodline that had been keeping the empire afloat for over a millennium.

Safilos had indeed given Saleen a different list when the mage came to visit again. A naval fleet and 1000 sets of magic armors, as well as huge numbers of mid-level magic nuclei were added to the list.

Saleen looked at the list and smiled at Safilos, saying, ”I see you've made up your mind, your highness.”

”I have indeed. I'd still need you to sire descendants for the empire after all,” Safilos answered in a rather exasperated manner.

Saleen replied in a rather embarrassed tone, ”I'd work on it. But this list of yours is just...”

”I'll pay.”

”It isn't an issue about money. That part is easy to deal with and I can give you a discount. After that discount, I've no problem accepting credit to certain amount. Your highness, I assume that you have yet to realize how important your territory is.”

”Important?” Safilos felt like berating someone right there and then. His place was one where neither agricultural nor fishing activities could be carried out. The trees at the mountains were near worthless and when it came to hunting, there were also few magic beasts around to be hunted.

”This place should be somewhere near Alchemy City's secret base.”

”What do you mean?”

”Alchemy CIty is now being taken over by the half-dead and a skeletal dragon. All of that city's mages have migrated. I wasn't able to pursue them, but I knew that those mages would have holed up deep in the southern mountains. I've done some rough calculations using astrology, and their place should be somewhere east of your territory, less than 2000 kilometers away from here.”

”Alchemy City!” Safilos was almost gritting his teeth when he uttered those words. He believed what Saleen said regarding that point. Alchemy City had destroyed Pompeii City.

Saleen was the kind of man who owned up to his actions instead of denying any actions that would have been detrimental to him.

”Your territory is important and it's now probably a target of those mages from Alchemy City. As such, I'm planning to invest.”

”Invest?” Safilos felt the notion being a funny one. Saleen was a king himself and the husband of the current empress. He was also a powerful mage, yet what he said made him sound like a merchant.

”I want to build a temple here—a temple of the Goddess of Nature. I'd dispatch priests and about 100 adherents of the faith here, maybe add tens of demons, or spirits, to the list while I'm at it. Those people would be stationed in your city but they would not be propagating the faith. They would just stay put here instead.”

”Your price?”

”Allow me to do this, and I shall provide you with a fleet for free, and another at a discount. You'd only pay me half of what it's worth for the other fleet.” Saleen was doing calculations while he was saying all of that. The deal would not have earned him a single gold coin.

Never mind. No sheep, no wool. You have to give something to earn something.

”My port can't hold two fleets. How about we just settle with that one that you'd give me free-of-charge eh?”

Safilos knew that shipbuilding was a lucrative business, but he did not have the ability to create powerful warships. If he were to get to making the ships, they would have probably been sunken by the Cloudflow people, as soon as they leave port.

”No no no, your highness. I'd help you expand your port. I'm a mage. Making your port deeper and wider is a no-brainer for me. Furthermore, your fleet would need someone to help with training. I would send two fleets over to stay by your side, until your army became able to fight at sea with the magic warships independently.”

Saleen laid out his intentions bare—not only did he want to build a temple there, he also wanted to station his army in the city.

Safilos knew Saleen well enough to know that the mage was not after his lands. There were few places in the whole of Qin that proved to be in worse shape than his place. Saleen was doing all of that, because he did not believe in Safilos' abilities.

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