Wizard: Scamming a Demon God

Chapter 191: Chapter 152: The Bizarre Itra Kingdom

Although Isaac still had some doubts about Angel’s motives, he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. "So, does this mean we can cooperate amicably again?"

Though his words seemed to be for both Philo and Angel, Isaac’s gaze was fixed mainly on Princess Philo. After all, she was the one with a track record.

Philo knew exactly what Isaac meant, but she felt nothing but annoyance. ’Under normal circumstances, I’d definitely be unable to resist stabbing him in the back.’

’After all, as a Mad Witch of a rather pure bloodline, getting something for nothing is our usual M.O. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to give away "my" Kaleidoscope Eye and Time Page at all.’

’But unfortunately, these were not normal circumstances...’

’Isaac... he’s quite possibly the only Mad Witch from the old era left in this age. A madman who dares to snatch power directly from the hands of the Outer Gods. He has both immense power and courage—but most importantly, he’s just incredibly strong. I’m no match for him.’

’Angel’s raw power is only average, in my opinion, but her time abilities are bizarre and extremely difficult to deal with. Furthermore, the Witch Country behind her is fiercely protective of its own, so her background is no less formidable than mine.’

’Things are different now. I can no longer plot against them like I did before.’

"Of course," Philo said, looking at Isaac calmly. "But if you wish to act alone, be my guest."

’I have enough power to seize this Kingdom on my own. Of course, that’s assuming Isaac doesn’t interfere.’

’But I’ve grown during this time. At the very least, I’ve come to understand Isaac a bit. Although he’s a Mad Witch from the old era, his methods are very modern. He’s a lot like an Arcanist, adhering to the principle of equivalent exchange.’

’Unlike a Mad Witch like me, whose first instinct upon seeing something desirable is to simply snatch it, that guy... as long as he’s outside the domain of the Outer Gods, forget being a Mad Witch, he’s so principled he doesn’t even act like a Legendary Mage!’

’So, even if I don’t get his help, as long as I offer sufficient benefits, I can buy his non-interference.’

’Compared to Isaac, however, Angel won’t be so easy to deal with. The enmity between us runs deep. If Isaac weren’t here to mediate, we’d probably already be at each other’s throats.’

Logically, then, Philo should have been doing her utmost to win Isaac over, not provoking him and pushing him away.

But as she had just concluded, in matters not involving the Outer Gods, Isaac was a Wizard much like an Arcanist. He was driven by profit, and as long as the benefits were great enough, he wouldn’t care about a few sharp words.

And as it happened, she currently held something that was very important to Isaac...

’Just as I thought...’

Leaning back in his chair, Isaac chuckled. He looked at Philo and said, "I’m just kidding. It is my honor to cooperate with you, Princess Philo. Now then, could you please tell us about this Kingdom’s situation? I can’t be bothered asking an Outer God; it’s too much trouble."

As he finished speaking, everyone’s eyelids twitched. Even Philo, who had been certain Isaac would cooperate, couldn’t help but stare at him, astonished. ’This man... he really is the craziest Mad Witch of all!’

’He’d ask an Outer God about something so trivial?!’

However, while Philo and Angel were surprised, they didn’t realize Isaac had no other choice. He simply had no effective channels for gathering intelligence and only a superficial understanding of the situation in the Itra Kingdom.

’Operating here under these circumstances would be extremely dangerous!’

’I could easily walk into someone’s trap without even realizing it. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles. Intelligence is crucial.’

’Besides, a thief never leaves empty-handed. When I perform an Evil God Ceremony, I’m not just going to ask for information; I’ll definitely take something extra. A deal’s a deal, right?’

Philo gave Isaac a long, hard look, then asked, "Before I explain the situation, how much do you two actually know about this Kingdom?"

"It has the Time Page, and there’s an uprising happening."

"It has the Kaleidoscope Eye, and there’s an uprising every year."

Philo: "..."

Philo raised a hand to her forehead. ’Are these two incredibly bold because they’re powerful, or are they just reckless? They dared to come here knowing only that?’

"Alright, so you basically know nothing. I’ll explain in detail," she said, pausing to look at them both. "First things first, care to guess the number of troops on each side of this conflict?"

"Number of troops?" Isaac pondered for a moment before speaking. "Itra is just a small Kingdom, and one that suffers an uprising every year. Whether the cause is internal or external, its domestic military can’t be that strong. Ten to twenty thousand in total, perhaps?"

It wasn’t that Isaac looked down on the Itra Kingdom. Rather, while this world possessed supernatural powers, the size of its armies was comparable to those of ancient times in his past life. After all, an army couldn’t be composed entirely of Ordinary people; there were bound to be Transcendents serving in management roles.

Thus, army sizes couldn’t be too large; any more would be financially unsustainable.

His estimate of ten to twenty thousand was already on the high side. It included the cannon-fodder slave units serving as death squads and the logistics troops. Otherwise, the number would be even lower.

After all, Solomon, a Border Noble, had to constantly defend against the Black Orcs of the wastelands, yet his standing main combat legion was only a little over three thousand strong. A large portion of his funds went to support his elder sister’s Magic studies, but another reason was that any increase in troop numbers would disrupt the demographic balance of his domain.