Chapter 462: Everyone has their concerns (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The protracted night was over, while the rain had stopped. The small duke called Bifano invited everyone for breakfast, but Saleen simply rejected it. By then, Saleen was used to consuming his own prepared food. Usually, when he was traveling, he would not touch other people’s food.
There were too many types of magic medicine which could kill a person silently and leave no clues whatsoever. The Detection Magic was not one-hundred percent accurate either. Lex had the God’s Ring, which could prevent any danger, but Saleen did not own any premium godly equipment.
Since Saleen did not go, Sika naturally abstained from it too. The both of them had already prepared breakfast, while Nailisi accompanied Lex to meet Bifano.
Identical to the exterior of the castle, the dining hall was also simple and spacious, while its windows were narrow. The crystal chandelier which suspended from the ceiling only had six lights, causing the dining hall to appear dim.
“Bluefox, meet Her Highness Lex,” Bifano told a swordsman who was standing behind him.
This swordsman was clad in soft armor, with a longsword hung around his waist. With one knee on the ground, he bowed deeply at Lex.
“This is Bluefox, the captain of my trusted soldiers. For the trip down south this time around, my team will be commanded by him.”
Lex nodded. Bluefox was about thirty years old. He had a calm demeanor, and every action he took was as sturdy as a mountain. Lex was too familiar with such a vibe, a Black Metal Grand Swordmaster.
Lex was not astonished. Even though it was difficult to become a grand swordmaster, there were still many more grand swordmasters as compared to sorcerers. Titan Duchy had a population of almost ten-million, almost one-tenth of the Cloudflow Empire. It would be very normal for a duke to have several grand swordmasters serving him though.
Northern Titan was inclined to prudence, it was very different from Cloudflow. Breakfast only consisted of corn porridge and white bread. Meat options only included two pieces of smoked meat, topped with twenty grams of cheese which was barely sufficient. Fortunately, the vegetables were fresh. They were coupled with some mushrooms and sauce, and a small bowl of soup. These items summed up breakfast.
Habitually, Narnia prepared tea for Lex, and Bifano could not help but roll his eyes. Currently, Narnia was already a grade-4 mage, a grand mage. Bifano could not bear to see that she was using magic to brew tea.
Another female mage helped Lex change her cutlery into a set of silver ones. Afterwards, she used the Detection Magic to check each and every food item, before giving it to Lex with peace of mind.
They were used to doing such tasks. Even though the mages serving Lex lacked experience, their safety awareness was extremely high, it would be extremely difficult to assassinate them.
Bifano felt utterly embarrassed. He could not berate a the mages, those mages were not his subordinates after all.
“Bifano, please don’t mind, they are used to doing such things.” Lex smiled gently as she consoled Bifano. She did not mean to do it either. There were many practices she did not wish for her subordinates to alter. It was good that these mages were serving her. If the lifestyle mages did not inculcate a similar habit, they could possibly lose their lives over trivial matters.
Bifano was rendered speechless. Luckily, this was only breakfast, there were no multiple rounds of dishes. The Detection Magic was only employed once. It was normal for Bifano to feel upset as the integrity of his food was questioned right in front of him.
Nailisi began eating the food, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings. She was not interested in the food. At the moment, she was more interested in learning the etiquette of humans. As for any poison that might be present, it could be disregarded as long as it did not enter her heart. Everything in the demonic plane was poisonous. To Nailisi, the Myers mainland was a little too pure already.
The swordmasters brought by Lex were arranged to have their meals in the small dining hall, while the few grand mages had not left their magic war chariot yet. Just like that, breakfast was over without any fuss or frills.
Bifano and Lex began discussing the situation down south as they drank some tea.
“Lex, the Pink Army will definitely attempt an assault during the journey. Please allow your swordsmen to be led by Bluefox for the time being, it will be helpful for the battle.”
Lex broke into a smile, and said, “No, the dozens of people have been following me since the Holy Rock City. They can only converse in the Qin language. If they were to operate with your men, you would have even more trouble. I will deploy them to protect my chariots.”
Lex’s words left no room for Bifano to rebut, but he did not have the intention to kill Lex and her men yet. He simply laughed it off and did not continue making any further requests.
“Out of my five-hundred soldiers, there are two-hundred cavalrymen, one-hundred shield infantrymen, one-hundred heavy swordsmen, and one-hundred archers. The cavalry will have three horses, while the rest of the men will have two horses. Their speed will not be too slow. You have seen the map too, the road conditions are pretty good. We will be able to cover at least two-hundred miles each day. By the end of the month, we should arrive at Fire Dance City.”
“That is very commendable to me. How are the preparations going on in Fire Dance City?”
“Other than the lack of mages, the rest of the problems have been settled. Lex, what is Saleen’s background?” Bifano could tell that even though Saleen belonged to the Bitter Water Prefecture on the surface, he was actually extremely independent. He was almost free from Lex’s control. Bifano had never done an investigation into him, and it would be too late to do so now, so Bifano decided to get information from Lex.
“Mage Saleen is a great man. What do you want to know?” Lex smiled. She would not reveal anything to Bifano. She would never disclose the secret between the both of them to anyone else.
“I heard that all mages have an inheritance. Do you know anything about Mage Saleen’s inheritance?”
“His teacher is from the Alchemy City.” Lex gave a murky answer. In Alchemy City, there were tens of thousands of mages and hundreds of grand mages. By giving such an answer, Lex did not reveal anything to Bifano.
“He is really from Alchemy City,” Bifano became guarded.
“He is indeed impressive. Saleen might be the youngest grade-5 mage ever at the moment.” Bifano was unlike what he had described himself to be, having zero knowledge in magic. In fact, Bifano had been continuously learning magic. He was only exposed to the theoretical knowledge of magic, so he could only be considered as a high grade magic disciple at the moment.
“Not true. When I became a grade-5 mage, I was younger than him.” Once again, Lex put a stop to Bifano’s probing. Bifano did not realize anything, he only felt that Lex was being egoistic. She had the right to be.
“You are the publicly-acclaimed magic prodigy, Lex, he will never match up to you.” As Bifano spoke, he was carrying out some analysis in his mind. “I heard that Lex had gone to the Alchemy City for a period of time. The Alchemy City should be supporting her land development in the north. In that case, Saleen is really not a person to be trifled with. Teacher is right. I should deploy some people to collect information from Alchemy City first. If Saleen is an unimportant figure, then everything will be a piece of cake. If Saleen is the crux in the cooperation between Lex and the Alchemy City, then I will have no choice but to think of another solution.”
“Hypocrite!” Nailisi sagged her eyelids as she drank her tea. “Master shouldn’t worry about a person like that.”
As usual, Lex smiled like how a noble should, refusing to comment on Bifano’s flattery. Bifano got slightly disappointed. Ever since Lex arrived at the princess’ castle, her attitude towards him seemed to have changed.
“Lex, I will send fifty shield infantrymen to defend your chariots.” Realizing that he could not extract any useful information about Saleen’s background, Bifano reverted to the previous topic.
“That won’t be necessary, you should let them protect the archers. I have two Black Metal Grand Swordmasters with me. It will be difficult for the enemy to get close to my chariot.”
Bifano felt his muscles cramping once more. Those two people were actually Black Metal Grand Swordmasters. They had not left the chariot, remaining onboard to protect the mages. Even though Bitter Water Prefecture was dozens of times smaller than Titan, its military prowess were not much weaker. At first, Bifano thought that it relied on its population of mages, but it seemed like its army was really powerful too.
“If this army was mine, it will be fantastic. The damn Cloudflow keeps restraining Titan’s military power. I can only deploy my troops privately. Other than the trusted soldiers, I cannot even form a camp. I can barely form five emblem groups, a total of five-thousand people. All of them have been positioned in Fire Dance City. Even if this plan succeeds, only less than half of these five-thousand men will remain.”
As Bifano cursed in his heart, a smile of nobility remained pasted on his face.
“Lex, your horses will not make it. Before the journey starts, I will give each one of you two warhorses.”
“The ones pulling the chariots too, sorry to trouble you.” Lex did not stand on ceremony with Bifano. In order to rush here, all her horses had gotten injured. Lex also did not wish to use the skeletal warhorses in the mission with Bifano.
As there were no death mages in the team, the skeletal warhorses were stored inside Saleen’s Green Spirit. If they got killed by the enemy, they could not be summoned anymore.
“Of course, but the warhorses Mage Saleen was asking for…”
“Send them straight to Bitter Water Prefecture.” Regarding this matter, Lex made it very clear. Saleen requested for five-hundred warhorses which could mate, and she would get some benefits in the future as well. The population of warhorses in Qin had been insufficient for a long time. The quality warhorses had been controlled by Holy Rock City. Even in Lex’s swordsmen’s camp, the cavalry regiment had been vexing over the warhorses.
These warhorses would be ameliorated in Bitter Water Prefecture with help from the mages. In at most three to five years, warhorses suitable for the northern region could be cultivated. A skeletal warhorse had its flaws too. Against the priests from the Holy See, they would be restrained by their divine spells. Furthermore, it was impossible for the three kings to accompany the army for wars. There were also too little death mages in the Bitter Water Army and none of them was a grand mage yet. It would be impossible to use the skeletal warhorses to supplement the insufficiency of the cavalrymen.
As for the magic wolf cavalrymen? There were too few of them, and Lex did not want to be indebted to Sika.
“Rest assured, once we arrive at the Fire Dance City, warhorses will have reached Bitter Water Prefecture.” Even though Bifano agreed generously, he was extremely reluctant. The combined value of five-hundred warhorses was enough to produce a colossal main battleship already.
The discussions went on smoothly. Other than the abrupt request for the warhorses, Bifano had prepared everything else already. By noontime, the five-hundred trusted soldiers stood guard around the new convoy as it set off on its journey.
Within the new convoy, the two chariots which Lex brought along were left behind. The supplies on those two chariots would be disposed of by Bifano. As for task of procuring winemakers, it was left to the people in the princess’ castle.
Besides the two magic war chariots, the convoy had an additional ten huge chariots which were actually filled with military equipment and tents. When the convoy was setting off, Bifano noticed Lex and Saleen going aboard the same carriage, and he could no longer maintain his composure. Suppressing the rage in his heart, he steered his warhorse to the front of the convoy. His trusted soldiers immediately followed, not knowing why their small duke was seething.
The more terrible someone felt, the worse the events would be. Less than one-hundred miles after leaving the princess’ castle, the rain started again. Since the next town was still more than one-hundred miles away, Bifano had no choice but to order his troops to select a piece of highland which would not flood and set up camp there.
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