Azure Scepter

Page 104

Trier nodded, then took a very thick envelope out of his backpack.

"Don't worry—once you arrive in the City That Never Sleeps, just go to the Death Grip Tavern in the Floating Ring, find Rakwald's apprentice Frostnova, and tell him that under high-temperature electrification, the Dorron Solution will gain stability and can be used to contain the Lurking Night Demon. After that, it will take you to Petrarch, and then you just need to give Petrarch the letter, which contains enough leverage to persuade him."

Seres was dumbfounded. He had thought Trier was very smart, but the other man's words shattered his expectations.

Why would someone directly say there are chips in the letter? What if that old monk keeps them all for himself?

The old monk did not take it. Instead, he asked rather solemnly, "Sir, aren't you worried that I'll keep this letter for myself?"

“This is a test. If you pass it, I guarantee you can take another step forward on the path of necromancy.” Trier raised an eyebrow slightly, not hiding his intentions. “By the way, since your original eyes are completely rotten anyway, why not get an undead prosthetic body? After contacting Rakward’s apprentice, remember to have him arrange surgery for you to get a pair of vampire eyes.”

The vampire priest sitting next to him couldn't help but shiver, and the old mage also trembled involuntarily.

“Lord Trier, that’s quite valuable.” The old mage took the envelope and said humbly, “I’m penniless now.”

"Don't worry, just make sure the letter gets to Rakward. The Vampire Eye surgery is nothing to it," Trier said casually. "Of course, if you have other undead prosthetics you prefer, just tell it."

“Trier, if it’s convenient, could you tell me about the contents of the letter?” Vercingtoli suddenly asked.

Trier didn't mince words; he answered directly, "Please ask it to help research the Blood Plague, and if convenient, support some graduating spellcasters."

The bishop silently lowered his head, the afternoon sun casting long shadows on his slightly hunched figure.

The entire tavern fell into a brief silence.

"Are you sure you don't need to solve the problem of the life-extending magic?" Trier suddenly asked in a deep voice. "It's not complicated, it's very convenient."

For a moment, Vercingetorius's pupils suddenly contracted, and even the usually shrewd Vercingetorius showed a rare hint of hesitation. But after a moment's consideration, he firmly shook his head.

“Trill, you have foreseen the location of that demonic vessel for me, and that is enough. I will deal with the problem of magic myself—if I am destined to die young, then it will be the decision of the sublime and perfect radiance.”

Upon hearing the other party's reply, Trier's expression remained unchanged. He turned to look at Ceres, whose face was filled with complex emotions.

"Have you made up your mind?" the time traveler asked.

The mercenary leader nodded: "I'm happy to serve you."

“Alright, let’s get started on the plan then,” Trier said in a deep voice.

P.S.: The transition chapter is finally finished. It wasn't easy.

Chapter 209 Edith's Dream

Edith had that blood-tinged blue dream again.

In that distant yet incredibly real dream, fire rained down from the sky, palaces and cities burned fiercely in the raging flames, and endless, powerful demons surged forth from the distant horizon like a tide—the demons seemed inexhaustible, while she stood alone at the forefront of the demons' charge, holding a battle axe full of nicks and a blue banner.

The earth trembled, and the sky seemed about to collapse, but she felt no fear, not even tension, because in her dream, she had finally obtained what she had always longed for—the power and courage to protect the kingdom.

She calmly raised her weapon and then slowly walked towards the rapidly advancing torrent of demons.

With a fierce chop of the axe, hordes of demons exploded instantly, their blood staining the withered ground red.

With a slight flick of the spear, the tip easily pierced the heart of the Flame Demon. Boiling blood gushed from the shaft, and the Flame Demon exploded into flames amidst screams.

The three-headed, six-armed serpent demon swung its decapitation sword from all directions, but she simply made a swift, sweeping motion, and the axe blade suddenly burst into sparks, then chopped off the serpent demon's head one by one along the edges of all 18 greatswords.

Edith didn't know how she did it, but subconsciously she felt it was easy.

The six-armed serpent demon's swordsmanship was too inferior. She thought to herself.

Three demon heads fell to the ground one after another, and the frenzied, bloodthirsty demons were clearly frightened—the demons in the front row stood frozen in place, while the demons in the back row slowed down their advance.

The next moment, Edith slammed his foot down and swept his flagpole across the ground. Amidst the carnage, a visible shockwave surged forth like a thunderclap, causing the endless sea of ​​demons to stagnate and countless demons to fly backward like crossbow bolts.

Within half a breath, the pale holy flames swept across the entire ground, half the sky was illuminated by the holy flames, and even distant, unnamed mountain peaks were shattered by the exaggerated shockwave.

The demon's flesh mixed with fire rain lashed at Edith's face. She did not flinch; the slight burning and stinging gradually excited her, and her usually calm heartbeat slowly quickened.

The demons fled, surging madly back the way they came. In their haste to escape, they even turned on each other. Edith, however, remained unperturbed. She followed them slowly along the blood-red path, step by step, toward the abyss gate that stood tall in the distance.

“Lossevier, you’re courting death…” Inside the Abyss Gate, a succubus as large as the Lorenzo Mountains whispered a menacing threat. Though she feigned indifference, her voice was filled with barely suppressed terror.

Lothaway?

Am I...dreaming?

Edith frowned and stopped in her tracks.

The next moment, the dream abruptly changed, and she arrived at Winterclaw Castle, which was covered in snow.

Amidst the snow-covered landscape, a stunningly beautiful blue-haired woman stood gracefully at the edge of the city. She smiled, yet her brows held a hint of sorrow and pity.

“Wake up, little Edith,” she said. “Cherish the little time you have left. Don’t take responsibility too seriously. Enjoy your last moments.”

As the blue-haired woman whispered, the long, transparent dress behind her, as clear as a cicada's wing, transformed into an overlapping phantom. Within the phantom, the blue-haired woman seemed to transform into Futia, who smiled faintly. Futia opened her soft arms and gently embraced herself.

The next moment, Futia seemed to transform into the cool and reliable Trier again. Edith gently rested her head on the other's shoulder, then slowly turned her head, mustered her courage, gently lifted the other's chin, and kissed her.

The distant, damp sound of rain brought Edith back to her senses.

The princess slowly opened her eyes, and a deep blue velvet curtain came into view. As her consciousness gradually returned, the sound of drizzling rain outside the thin veil became clearer—after entering the first ten days of May, the drizzle in the southern duchy region became more and more frequent.

"I had another dream. These dreams are happening more and more frequently." Edith didn't rush to ring the alarm to wake the servants. She blinked, a strange sense of loss creeping over her. "What a strange dream..."

Most of the dream vanished as if erased by an eraser, except for the final embrace with Fythia and the wet kiss with Trier.

Edith subconsciously touched her lips, the sweet, honey-like taste from her dream still lingering between them. The next moment, she felt a burning shame and self-reproach.

“By the Radiance, how shameless! This…this is insane,” she thought. “How long have I known Trier? Is it possible that you’ve been swayed by his similar interests and some trivial sweet talk? Edith, you are a paladin, the heir to the kingdom, you cannot insult yourself and your honor like this!”

She pursed her lips, tidied her messy hair slightly, and then angrily rang the alarm clock.

"Ding dong!"

A few minutes later, the personal maid, looking worried, slowly walked into the room.

"Your Highness, are you having another nightmare?" the personal maid asked.

Edith sat in front of the dressing mirror, looked at the rain outside the window for a while, and then answered absentmindedly, "It can't really be called a nightmare."

“That’s a sweet dream. After all, as long as it’s not a nightmare, it can help people avoid nightmares.” The personal maid said with a smile as she combed Edith’s hair. “Your Highness, you got up exceptionally early today. It’s not even dawn yet. Would you like to rest a little longer?”

Edith stared at herself in the mirror, and upon hearing the first half of the maid's sentence, she suddenly had a realization.

Perhaps my sudden infatuation with Trier is a projection of another kind of escapist emotion.

She wanted to protect the kingdom and become a hero, and Trier's heroic deeds in Beaver Town fulfilled her desire to be a hero. Her shame and anxiety about not being able to fulfill her responsibilities transformed into a special attitude akin to admiration.

If we add some rational, utilitarian considerations, such as Trier being the second in line to the Southern Duchy and Trier's legendary spellcasting abilities, then it would be perfectly reasonable for this admiration to turn into a dream of infatuation.

In short, he was less in love with Trier than he was afraid of failing to fulfill his responsibility to protect the kingdom.

Edith blinked, then replied as if waking from a dream, "No, no need. I... I'm a little unsettled. By the way, are you alright? You seemed a bit worried when you came in."

The maid's hand, which was combing her hair, paused for a moment, and then she lowered her head.

"It's nothing, Your Highness. I just heard some bad news from the servants. Apparently, grain prices in Erlav have skyrocketed again. A local noble lady's maid told me that even some military reserves have been resold."

Edith rubbed her forehead, then remembered that she hadn't finished reading the briefing before bed. So she reached for the briefing on the dressing table and continued reading.

—Bad news, all bad news.

The first piece of bad news was that the Aureno Fortress north of Eraf had fallen. Twelve days ago, on a moonless night, a group of bizarre spirit knights capable of penetrating magical walls stormed into the Aureno Fortress and beheaded its commander. Then, countless elite undead launched a fierce attack. Although the defenders fought desperately, they were outnumbered and slowly forced into the main castle. In the early hours of the morning, a massive fireball blasted the entire main castle to pieces.

“The defensive pressure in the north is increasing.” Edith looked worried. “I can’t find out anything in Eraf. I might as well lead my troops north and fight the undead directly. At least I will still be able to command the army. But will my teacher agree?”

She shook her head and picked up the second briefing.

PS: First update, one more to come.

Chapter 210 Eraf Holiday (Part 1)

The second piece of bad news was exactly what the personal maid had told her: due to large-scale grain purchases, the already high grain prices in Eraf began to skyrocket, and there were even numerous incidents of garrison troops stealing and selling military reserves. As a result of the soaring grain prices, the security situation in the city was also deteriorating rapidly, and even open murders and robberies had occurred in the outer districts.

The spies claimed in the appendix that a rebellion was imminent and that a large-scale riot would be inevitable if no action was taken soon.

Edith felt increasingly depressed, and she couldn't help but recall the suggestion Trier had made a few weeks earlier in the family cemetery—to evacuate the forcibly concentrated population. She felt a tightness in her chest.

She put down the second briefing and picked up the last one.

—Still bad news.

One of the high-ranking paladins from the investigation team has gone missing. According to the spies, the paladin, named Alex, was last seen in front of a brothel in the lower city.

Coincidentally, the brothel was the "Red Brick Bishop's Fine Wine" brothel that had burned down a few weeks earlier and was now in ruins. Even more coincidentally, the key clue to finding the vessel for the Demon Lord's descent in Trier's prophecy was this high-ranking paladin named Alex.

"Your Highness, I'm done combing your hair. Are you satisfied?" the personal maid asked softly.

Edith put down the briefing and nodded: "Thank you, very good."

“Your Highness, I have something to say that might be presumptuous,” the personal maid suddenly said. “Perhaps… you should leave here as soon as possible and leave all the responsibility and blame to His Excellency the Sword of Judgment.”

Edith froze, and she blinked instinctively.

“Your Highness, you are all alone here,” the personal maid whispered. “Although you are nominally the leader of the investigation team, you can’t do anything. Everything in the investigation team is handled by Lord Oris. The worst part is that people’s resentment will not be directed at Oris, but only at you.”

“Velite, that’s my responsibility,” Edith said without hesitation. “As for the teacher… perhaps he has his own ideas.”

The personal maid looked pained, her eyes lowered.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty, if a serious problem were to arise, your reputation would be severely damaged, and your brother might seize the opportunity to rise up—don't you find that strange? The dire situation, the constrained environment, His Majesty's orders, and the almost nonexistent support—don't you really think someone is deliberately targeting you?"

Edith hesitated for a moment, then immediately shook her head as if to convince herself.

“Stop talking, Vilit, stop talking.” Edith sighed. “I…I’m willing to believe my father, just as I’m willing to believe my teacher.”

"Your Highness..."

“Velite, no…” Edith’s voice grew weaker and weaker, and her hoarse voice even carried a hint of pleading.

“Someone wants your position as crown prince. This is a trap. Once the problem arises, His Majesty can rightfully pin the blame on you.”

"Shut up!" the princess snapped, unusually losing her temper.

The room fell into a deathly silence, with only the patter of rain audible.

After a long while, Edith covered her head and whispered, "I'm sorry, Vilit, I know you did it for me, I'm so sorry..."

“It was I who overstepped my bounds,” the personal maid said softly. “Your Highness, you don’t need to apologize to me at all—you apologize too much, which is not good for your mental health.”

Silence fell over the room once again.

“Your Highness, perhaps you should go to the outer city and see for yourself.” After a long while, the personal maid, Vilit, spoke again. “The situation there… is really bad.”

“I’ve been there many times,” Edith retorted instinctively. “I know the conditions there are terrible.”

“What I mean is, you should look at it from the perspective of an ordinary citizen, rather than from the perspective of an upper-class noble,” the personal maid suggested again.

Edith hesitated for a moment, then his gaze swept back to the briefing report on the food shortage.

—Since there's nothing I can do staying in the upper city anyway, I might as well try my luck. Maybe I can actually find that scoundrel who buys grain at high prices.

To be fair, Edith knew that what she was doing was not very meaningful. Her efforts were less about solving the problem and more about finding peace of mind.

She couldn't help but feel increasingly depressed, and even a vague sense of confusion arose in her heart.

“Okay.” After a moment, Edith nodded.

Although bad news kept coming, there was one piece of good news—after two weeks of rest, Futia's injuries had healed.

When Edith secretly found Futia and explained her purpose, she received a piece of news that surprised her greatly.

“Edith, actually... there’s no need to investigate the reason for the soaring food prices.” Fythia stood by the window, draped in a green cloak. “Trier said that if you ask, I’ll just tell you directly that the reason for the soaring food prices is that he’s buying up food on a large scale.”

"?" Edith thought she had misheard, and she looked at Fythia in disbelief.

“Trier wants to open a passage to the northwest to transport the overcrowded people out.” The elf fastened the buttons of his cloak and tucked his gleaming dagger into his deerskin boots.

"But where are the troops here now? Does he intend to rely on people who haven't received any military training?"

“Noy’s aunt, Rolina Hall, has supported him with some private soldiers. He has also hired a military contractor. In addition, he has recruited some desperate people as auxiliary soldiers. And in the past few days, some local minor nobles have joined his plan one after another.” Fatiya told her everything. “They are expected to set off in the next day or two.”

“By the radiance above.” The Edithians were utterly dumbfounded.

If she felt lost and powerless before leaving home, she now felt shocked and terrified.

There are organized mercenaries in Erlav? The Hall family has a private army? And those minor nobles have private armies? Why does Trier have such a strong influence?

Moreover, why did all of this happen so silently? Why didn't anyone in the Kingdom's Survey Team know about it?

How did Trier manage to do that?

She opened her mouth slightly and slowly looked at Futia, who seemed to see right through her thoughts.

“If Trier hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known either. To be honest, we’re not welcomed by the ducalists of the South at all.” Fauci pushed open the door briskly, then turned and smiled. “Edith, you know, Trier is always very good at persuading people.”

"Where are you going?" Edith asked instinctively.