Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 407: Chapter 206: Gentle Persuasion, Heart Racing

William knew that Holmes could manage to keep those folks from the Saral Royal Family safe with his abilities, which was why he seemed indifferent to everything.

However, Holmes had no interest in being a nanny to a country they had brought to its knees through their own foolish actions.

With the temper of a Mage, he wouldn’t even coddle his own son like that.

He pondered for a moment before speaking, ”Would it be alright if I let Adrian temporarily take the role of City Lord here for a few years? Adrian is quite familiar with various Magic Arrays in the city. Besides, being born into the Saral nobility, he knows quite a bit about your affairs.”

”Would he be willing? He is a Mage!” Holmes asked, surprised.

”I’ll arrange some deputies for Adrian, just to have him hold the title. He won’t need to do much besides look after the Magic Arrays. He gets along well with the Undead Tribe and won’t cause trouble,” William sighed, ”Let’s also keep Belter here and see if he can do something.”

Belter was the Royal Duke who came along this time and was a member of the Saral Royal Family, rare among them for having both reasonable intelligence and emotional quotient, and he was a Grand Knight!

”Belter staying here?” Holmes paused, ”I thought you wouldn’t reuse people from the Saral Family.”

”Just as a deputy, we’ll see how it goes,” said William nonchalantly, ”I’d use him if he proves reliable. But with their previous behavior, who would dare to trust them!”

It was as if employing them meant making their children William’s heirs to the throne.

This time Obastian made a blunder, prompting William to declare that he intended to stay in this world for a very long time, at least until the Dwarves were extinct.

A war in which deities do not intervene can last for hundreds of years normally.

The Saral Royal Family members immediately straightened up.

After all, it was now a contest of who could live longer.

If one wanted their descendants to be King Saral, then they better start training them properly!

Otherwise, no matter how exceptional the child is, one cannot guarantee their children will be exceptional as well.

Despite the Undead People being numerous and strong, fighting on someone else’s territory is not just about battling people.

It had been several days, and the large armé of the Undead had just moved a small distance from the border.

”What if others also follow?” Holmes, displeased, questioned why he accepted William’s invitation to stay put, as those folks were too troublesome.

”Previously in your Mage Tower, it was easy to find you because people from the Saral Family were stationed there,” William suppressed the urge to sigh, ”Now, you reside in the Legendary Mage Tower controlled by the Tower Spirit’s puppets. Unless you wish it, no one can enter.”

”Then help me modify Obastian’s tower too,” Holmes straightforwardly made his request, ”Even if I’m here for a few hundred years, I’ll still need to go back there eventually.”

William promptly nodded in agreement, assuring that he would get it done: Holmes wouldn’t be seen if he didn’t wish to, and even William himself wouldn’t be able to enter.

Satisfied, Holmes turned and left directly.

William sighed and leaned back in his chair, lost in thought, while instructing someone to call Adrian over.

He initially intended to have Spencer stay here, with Belter as his deputy.

This location required dealing with the Undead.

Appointing a clueless Great Noble as City Lord was akin to sending the Dwarves a death sentence.

Especially that group who had just fought with the Undead and were soundly defeated, who knew what trouble they could cause.

William knew though Belter hadn’t been beaten, his subordinates had participated.

Thus, he couldn’t allow those folks to become the City Lords.

He didn’t want the castle he spent so much building to be blown up by the Undead he invited.

But Holmes was right in his observation that his overt favoritism towards Naven Spencer had fueled rumors that Spencer’s family members were after his throne.

Although William had spoken firmly in front of Holmes, he knew that the Spencer Family hadn’t truly forgotten about his throne.

After all, compared to the foolish performances of the Saral Family, the Spencer Family was indeed superior.

And to William, both families started off on almost equal footing in his heart.

If the Saral Royal Family Members proved completely incompetent, William might indeed consider the Spencer Family.

There had even been attempts recently to demote Naven, his most trusted cousin within the family, to make way for their own children’s advancement.

Although quashed by the Clan Leader.

They had the Goddess of Joy; the family wasn’t going to vanish in the sands of time. The Wise Ones knew when to quit while ahead.

But there’s never a shortage of those blinded by self-interest, and a family entirely composed of wise members is rare.

William indeed shouldn’t burden Naven with more troubles.

However, apart from Naven, William really felt that without him, others would quickly crumble under the Undead’s pressure.

He certainly couldn’t step up personally.

Even if he had to remain here for a long time, he couldn’t stoop to become a mere City Lord instead of a King!

That would be too disgraceful.

It seemed as if there was no one but Naven he could use.

But in reality, that was just not feasible.

He indeed could find seasoned officials adept at dealing with the Undead, all cautious in their actions and genial in their manners.

The Undead generally wouldn’t take a dislike to such officials, nor would they deliberately cause trouble.

But they were just minor Nobles or even commoners, unable to hold sway over the Great Nobles.

Only Adrian, with his good relations with several Undead families and a positive reputation on the Undead forums, could manage.

Moreover, during this time it had become apparent that he knew exactly how to assign tasks to the Undead Tribe without letting them overstep their boundaries.

Not only was he of Great Nobility, but behind him were two Legendary Mage heavy hitters.

The nobles, no matter how foolish, wouldn’t dare to provoke him.

Moreover, the two legends standing behind Adrian could also suppress the two magical power factions, reducing much trouble.

With Fran around, even if Legendary mages from the Mage Association came, they wouldn’t bother him.

After all, the people who could be sent were likely to be the direct descendants of the president.

With Hill present, those coming from the Sorcerer Tower would generally not provoke Adrian.

If it weren’t for Naven, Adrian would be the most suitable choice.

William sighed, slumping into the throne.

The only trouble was that Adrian probably wouldn’t be willing to do it.

He had a good relationship with his cousin Naven and often mocked—no, sympathized with his tragedy.

William watched as a confused and baffled Adrian walked in, took a quiet breath, and now, it all depended on how he would be persuaded!

Weak point attack, get!

Adrian was already feeling uneasy.

William was too enthusiastic, almost immediately inviting him to take a seat.

And he poured him tea!

Adrian felt that behind William’s hearty smile, there hung a great shadow.

So, when he heard William ask if he was willing to become the city lord here, Adrian first breathed a sigh of relief and then declined.

Is it the Magic Tower in Kexlote that’s not good, or the students in the Mage Academy that are not well-behaved? Why should he suffer this?

William asking such a question was indeed a misdeed!

”Hill has already become a legend,” William slowly said. ”I don’t believe you aren’t anxious, Adrian.”

Adrian gave William a peculiar look. Is being anxious the same as seeking death?

”Here, is the front line facing the Dwarves. It’s the frontline headquarters of this war,” William said sternly. ”If you spend a few years here, the World Will will remember your contribution.

Hill became a legend so quickly because he did a lot for the world, so much that it overflowed with luck.

Every time I see various laws blessing him, I feel envious!

You still haven’t found your own path yet, have you, Adrian?”

No, Adrian shook his head wildly.

He had built this city and already had many inspirations, not needing to seek thrills in the arms of the Undead.

And Hill had told him long ago to build this city without accepting any reward, as the world would remember Adrian’s contribution.

The world didn’t care about sincerity, it would remember simply based on your actions.

William pondered a moment and knew, Hill must have told Adrian something.

Fran was excited about the new type of Magic Array from the God of Time and Space, and wanting to do something for this world, thus did not ask for payment.

But Adrian knew nothing about it all, with affairs numerous and complicated, and he even had to deal daily with the Undead Tribe. Even cousin Naven cursed him daily, yet Adrian never accepted the payment he offered.

Sometimes Hill certainly did misdeeds!

”But staying in Kexlote also means nothing more than trouble for you,” William exhaled. ”I’m not asking you to handle those miscellaneous tasks, just to watch over them and ensure that the Undead Tribe isn’t up to any tricks. I really don’t want to clean up a mess.

If you stay here for five years, you get to pick any of the Mage Apprentices from Saral before they graduate.”

Adrian looked at William in surprise. He did have a few apprentices in mind, but they had all signed contracts with William, destined to enter Royal service upon graduation.

No matter how much he liked them, he couldn’t make a Royal Mage the heir to their Magic Tower.

The cost for such Mage, trained by the Royal Family, to leave was enormous.

Unless a perfect student came along, Adrian could only look and forget about it.

But now, William’s meaning was to let him pick freely without any restrictions?

Adrian was somewhat tempted.

”It appears that the students you like all come from commoners,” William said, somewhat surprised. ”I always thought you would choose those from noble origins.”

Children of nobles or rich families, even if they attended the King’s Academy, did so on a paid basis.

They wouldn’t casually sign contracts to commit their lives to Saral.

Just like Hill initially sending Edgar there, he also paid the tuition fee. Of course, his worry was that Edgar’s background would mean no one would sign a contract to take him on.

He could only pay money and ask favors.

William, although not much concerned with these noble children’s education, as long as they didn’t make trouble in the academy it was fine, but he knew these kids had a solid foundation.

He had always thought that Adrian would find students among these children.

Unexpectedly, he preferred the commoner children who had signed contracts with the Royal Family?

And even willing to become a city lord for them?