Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 291: Chapter 94: Hill Brings Joy to William Again

Flying above the valley, Hill looked at List, who was waiting for him on the Magic Tower terrace with a look of surprise.

Hill allowed Srei to choose his own location for opening his shop and then lightly descended toward the terrace.

”How did you get back so quickly?” List came up to greet him.

”The Earl died in a most disgraceful way. Manton simply did not want to wait any longer.” Hill sighed, ”As soon as I arrived, he hurried to bury the Earl.”

”Was it that lady’s doing?”

”It wasn’t just one group involved.” Hill walked straight to the bathroom, ”Those Princesses of Saral, how did they know I was wealthy? Generally, isn’t it assumed that the wealthy one is my grandfather?”

List stayed silent for a few seconds, ”I’ll go ask Diamant. Those princesses might know about Lady Melanie’s capabilities. They might be paying attention to your affairs.”

”When in court?” Hill mused, ”Then I should also inform my grandfather. The leak might have come from the King’s side.”

Just as List was about to leave, Hill, who had dipped into the water, stopped him, ”What’s the hurry. My grandfather should be informed about the Earl’s matter. It will soon spread to Saral, and soon enough, the whole nation will be talking.”

List listened in surprise to Hill’s straightforward explanation.

”Um... It’d be better to discuss this lady’s matter with Mr. Fran,” List said slowly, ”After all, Prince Edward’s uncle by marriage is also gone. Although I don’t know how he died, the Consort Queen dealt with it swiftly. But it’s said it wasn’t too graceful either.”

Hill let out a long breath.

If it weren’t for Hill’s observation, these two rival camps indeed wouldn’t share information. It really would have been a pointless death.

”I’ll discuss it with my grandfather,” Hill shook his head, ”I don’t even know whose family she belongs to now. The Noble Church is so... well, it’s complicated, isn’t it?”

Fran and Adrian looked at each other upon receiving the message.

”Adrian, go to the Royal Palace and inquire.” Fran said somewhat perplexedly, ”Also mention those princesses’ affairs. While Hill thinks it’s his provision of formulas to His Majesty the King that leaked, I don’t think so. His ideas about money have almost been skewed by the Undead Tribe, but he was already wealthy enough before that, wasn’t he? In the eyes of those princesses. And about that woman, I think His Majesty the King might not even know who she is. I’ve said it all!”

”Hill really is a man who brings joy to His Majesty the King!” Adrian exclaimed, ignoring Fran’s displeased glance, and went off to the Royal Palace.

Fran could only silently watch him leave and after a moment, couldn’t help but laugh.

He saw nothing wrong with it.

The timing of Perast’s death was just right.

After all, Hill never liked dealing with people from the Saral side.

And mostly, people wouldn’t associate him with the Earl, since Hill, a Nature System Magician, was often seen as a Half-Elf by many, having long forgotten his paternal lineage.

Hill indeed brought joy to William.

Hearing Adrian’s words, William sat on the throne and roared with laughter.

”That woman is from the Noble Church,” he let out a long breath, steadying his laughter, ”It is said she was a Cardinal’s mistress. Someone just said she was the one who served in Saral for decades.”

Adrian quickly recollected and faintly recalled the Archbishop’s brown hair, then fell silent for a moment.

”So, was it the people from the Noble Church who saved her back then?” Adrian couldn’t help asking.

He wondered how the people from the Noble Church were generous enough to save a Cardinal’s mistress from ten years ago!

”Looks like she must have seen something she shouldn’t have and was about to be silenced when the woman brought out some evidence and they took her away,” William continued laughing, ”This woman behaves oddly, I was still wondering why she sent people to those two camps, and was looking for the reason! Was it revenge?”

Adrian couldn’t help his criticism: What’s so funny about that? Although it’s a bit frustrating, isn’t it quite common among the nobles? It’s only crossing the line when the only son a wife bears her husband turns out not to be of her husband’s bloodline.

William saw Adrian’s puzzled face and spoke, ”Your young Hill has a face that is oblivious to worldly affairs, and he’s always followed by Natural Consciousness. I wonder what he would think of all this?”

”He just looks like an elf. He isn’t one. He grew up in a noble family, he’s used to such things.” Adrian still didn’t understand why William was laughing so much, ”Besides, it doesn’t concern him. The unlucky one is the eldest son of that Earl. Moreover, aren’t elves just as disorderly?”

”Hey, you’re really no fun,” William said helplessly, ”I can’t just tell you that the potions that woman holds in her hands are Mage supplies. For some Cardinals, their bodies are already heavily elementalized, making them slowly lose some senses. Therefore, they need a bit of stimulation. But such stimulation is no different from poison to the mortal body of a Grand Knight. Moreover, these potions are actually used by Legendary Mages to replenish their bodily elements.”

They are openly sold by the Mage Association, although they do have a slight side effect of making people overly excited, but for many Mages, they are suitable.”

William glanced at the stunned Adrian: ”Your teacher must know, but he probably detests dealing with these kinds of things. That’s why both you and Hill have no idea. I also only found out about this substance when I sent people to search her house.”

Adrian couldn’t help but scratch his head. So there were always Mages concocting such unorthodox potions? Are these the substandard products derived from analyzing those potions?

”I always thought that those potions were circulated by the Artisan Guild,” Adrian admitted honestly.

”How could that be? If they could analyze materials themselves, they wouldn’t have fallen to this point,” William said scathingly. ”Only people who don’t think for themselves join that guild. The longer they stay, the less likely they are to leave, getting easily discarded by the market due to their mechanical production. When I saw their internal data, it’s just the most basic manufacturing methods from the Dwarves. It’s precisely because humans and Dwarves have no involvement, and the Nobles don’t value these small crafts, that they can survive.”

Thus, in the end, while other churches in Saral couldn’t find any manpower, the Artisan Guild could.

Those people, they simply refuse to learn the work in the Alchemy Workshop.

They refuse to change, stubbornly clinging to their own methods.

Others who had never done such manufacturing work learned quickly and soon stood firm in the workshops.

But the followers of the Artisan Guild felt that William wanted to ruin their livelihood.

Adrian quickly understood why William had no respect for the God of Smithing and Craft.

Unlike the God of Nobility, the God of Craftsmen needed the faith of lowly craftsmen, blacksmiths making farming tools and rubbish weapons, to ascend back to the Divine Throne.

And William, not to mention other Alchemy Workshops, the few that produced farming tools and weapons for soldiers could basically supply the entire world.

If this God of Smithing and Craft of humanity could have awakened two years earlier, he might have been able to muster some followers.

But even the God of Nobility was still asleep. This one stood even less of a chance.

”How did the Deities of the Dwarves and Elves awaken so quickly?” Adrian curiously asked.

”They’ve lived on the continent for over a hundred thousand years,” William said with a smile. ”When the World Will expelled the gods from the continent, they probably prepared well. With enough followers, just holding a large ritual suffices. Actually, the God of Nobility should have been fine since He has already reached the Main World. But He chose to sleep, probably wanting to rid Himself of the Abyss’s bindings. He wouldn’t want to be thrown into chaos and truly become a slave to the Abyss even if He turned into the Evil Faction!”

”So you’re saying that the God of Craftsmen has nothing?” Adrian fell silent. Indeed, depending solely on others for survival was bound to lead to a grim end without a resting place.

”He betrayed humanity from the start, dedicating himself and his church to the Dwarves. His doctrine for the fanatical followers within is filled with too much worship of Dwarves,” William said mockingly. ”So when the Dwarven God of Smithing awoke, perhaps his church’s people helped a lot. As a result, he himself didn’t even get a chance to awaken.”

Adrian noticed that William still used respectful language for the God of Nobility, but in William’s eyes, the God of Craftsmen was no longer a consideration.

He stood up and bid farewell to William; it was good as long as William understood the situation.

”Wait, tell Hill,” William suddenly called out to him, ”those Undead Tribe members he sent to monitor that kid are now mine.”

That Edgar? Adrian nodded to show that he understood.

Adrian didn’t intend to ask William about how he would deal with those people.

The King was not there to answer such queries.

He believed that by the time he returned to the Magic Tower, Mr. Fran should have already obtained the results.

On his way flying back, Adrian thought about some things Mr. Fran was unwilling to tell him now. Was it because he feared that he would lose the filters of viewing the Mage profession too early? Losing reverence for the path of a Mage was too easy, and deviating from it without reaching Legendary status would be disastrous.

”You’re overthinking it,” Mr. Fran said flatly after hearing him, denying it outright. ”What I don’t tell you and Hill about are some interpretations of laws by the Mage Association and some speculations about worlds beyond ours. According to that fixed model, people of your caliber could have already advanced to Legendary. Then they’d be stuck forever at the Legendary Primary stage, never finding a future path. While young, it’s fine, but as life ends, they could commit any folly. You just reached Magister; learning those things would ruin you.”

Adrian laughed and said, ”Of course, I know my teacher must be looking out for my best interests. I’m just a bit shocked that the Mage Association, which always portrayed itself as so elevated, would actually sell...”

He cut off his words, but both understood what was left unsaid.