Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 490: Chapter 288: The Stormy Kexlote

Hill felt that William probably wanted to acquire some things, after all, this world had basically stabilized now.

Saral had become the most important link in the human kingdoms, with other nations sending envoys to Keslow to show their respect.

However, William said that when it came to money, probably nobody could be richer than him, especially in terms of gold coins.

Although the gold coins in this world had to go through a special alchemy process before they could be used, the alchemy was very simple, even an alchemy apprentice could do it.

It was just because there were deities in this world. The Nobles and the God of Monarchy, when they ascended to the starry sky and were inscribed deep in the stars, were recognized by the sacred laws of the world: one of the laws for nobility was that only professionals could become nobles, and one for monarchy was that only the king could mint and issue gold coins.

His conflict with the mages was because he wanted to bring all currency under the power of the monarchy, but the mages cared little for his wishes, for crystal stones were natural, and the deities dreamt if they thought they could monopolize them!

Yet, at that time, human mages still conceded one point, recognizing the monarchical nature of gold coins.

Many years later, most legendary mages, despite being able to create gold coins themselves with a flick of the hand, had to trade with the nobility they looked down upon because they could not defy the will of the world, often cursing the God of Nobility.

The God of Nobility, naturally not very broad-minded, would retaliate with thunderous heavy hits when cursed directly to the face.

After many years of conflict, the most pitiful legendary mage almost got snatched and killed by the God of Nobility, who descended from on high.

The God of Nobility had never been so vicious towards William back then.

The only one from Saral fortunate enough to experience lightning was Holmes.

He supposedly cursed the God of Nobility over gold coins as well.

The first king of Saral originally established a duchy, not a kingdom.

Even though they occupied a gold element mine and there was a massive gold mine nearby, they still had to go to Haifasar Sardo to exchange for gold coins.

At that time, Holmes was seen constantly flying back and forth, laden with heaps of gold ore, perhaps suddenly tired of flying and unable to resist the impulse to curse the God of Nobility.

While all the Saral nobility knew about this incident, as it was considered one of the amusing stories from the founding of their kingdom,

Holmes didn’t really run into any severe trouble; he was only chased by lightning bolts for more than twenty days.

But to this day, no one knows exactly what he cursed.

In any case, the current king of Saral was able to mint gold coins himself.

And the way Saral minted its gold coins had long been reformed by Fran at William’s request, definitely a large-scale apparatus, requiring at least twenty alchemy apprentices to start initially.

If you wanted full power, probably over a hundred apprentices would need to work together.

It might be a bit difficult for other countries to find a hundred or so trustworthy alchemy apprentices, since those who could learn alchemy were not from poor families, only those of noble descent with sufficient aptitude would study it.

But Saral could easily find hundreds, if not thousands of alchemy apprentices who were fundamentally unable to advance.

Anyone with the slightest mage aptitude would learn some alchemy, for it was a way to make a living.

Finding over a hundred trustworthy ones among them was all too easy.

Luckily, William still had some self-control. He still remembered that he was not just purely the King of Saral. He wanted to ignite the Divine Fire, to build his Divine Kingdom along the River of Time and Space!

Otherwise, just with gold coins, he could completely obliterate those other countries.

But on the other hand, as a king, William basically didn’t have a profound cultural foundation.

Especially among the nobles, many times, they had to praise each other’s ancient heritage and laud their powerful, perfect collections.

As a king, when entertaining emissaries, it was, of course, natural to showcase one’s abundant cultural depth.

But in Saral, this might pose a problem.

William certainly couldn’t pile up heaps of gold coins and crystal stones, could he? That wouldn’t be a noble’s display, that would be a parvenu’s arrogance.

He might have strength in numbers, but in international dealings, one cannot only show off one’s military force.

However, Hill had long seen both the Saral Treasury and William’s own private collection.

Not to say they were poor—on the contrary, they had wealth comparable to any other country. It was just that they lacked many of the traditional treasures of nobility.

Let’s not even talk about antiques and treasures for now; even gemstones, which were quite easy for William to obtain, were one such example.

For a royal family with a knightly heritage, the absence of legendary or greater artifacts like armor, swords, and shields was a bit awkward.

William had probably distributed the past ones to the members of the Saral Royal Family.

Hill even felt that William had given some to Charles, otherwise that prince’s attitude towards Saral would not be so peaceful.

Compared to Charles, William disliked Edward’s family even more. Hill always suspected that Young William’s death was also connected to Edward.

Edward had a much longer reach than Charles when it came to maneuvers within the court.

Indeed, Young William was probably seen as a threat, as the Spencer lineage meant that as long as he grew up healthy and not misfortunate, he would at least possess the ability of a Grand Knight.

Let’s not forget that Naven, who was with William, was once said to be the least talented direct descendant of the Spencer Family, but advancing to Grand Knight was still an easy feat for him.

Even if Edward had eliminated Charles before the Old King’s death, Young William would have still been waiting in the wings. It was unlikely Edward could be certain he would outlive the Old King so early on.

However, it was unexpected that Young William really did manage to kill him, and someone even more terrifying came along.

As for Charles, merely observing the Royal Family and the Nobles from a distance didn’t really count as a fault. Therefore, compared to Edward, William’s attitude towards Charles was relatively good. Actually, many of the Undead Tribe had always gone to Charles’s Duchy to carry out missions, mainly to deliver messages and goods.

On Edward’s side, although he had died long ago, few of the undead still ventured there.

So even though William never said anything, it was quite obvious that the nobles of Saral only dared to keep in contact with Charles’s old friends and relatives by marriage.

Hill sat leisurely on his terrace, basking in the sun while waiting for a reply.

What surprised him was that William’s response was even faster than Fran’s, extending a very sincere invitation for Hill to visit Keslow, with his list in tow.

After receiving confirmation from Fran, Hill decided to set off for Keslow. Something must have happened in the Royal Capital; William was unusually eager.

Hill looked at the empty food pantry, exceedingly satisfied.

No matter what happened, at least he wouldn’t suffer cravings for being unable to satisfy his hunger.

Before stowing away Agleya’s Ice Crystal, Hill nagged her again to behave herself in the coming days.

After all, Keslow was the territory of the Gods of Time and Space, and he could not get in touch with Agleya there.

Just like how after Agleya’s appearance, the hands of other deities no longer reached out to Hill’s side.

The Sun God and the Goddess of the Silvermoon might appear within the shards of oak, a backdoor the Goddess of the Earth had opened for them long ago, but they wouldn’t casually leave the oak and come to Hill’s valley.

They must obtain Agleya’s permission first.

Agleya behaved very docilely, probably scared by Hill’s nagging.

She should be well-behaved for a short period.

Even when Hill requested her not to separate Divine Power into the valley temporarily, she complied earnestly.

As long as Agleya behaved for over a month, the Divine Power spent on the Ring of Winter could be mostly replenished.

Hill figured that by then, even if she could no longer restrain her curiosity for excitement, it wouldn’t matter.

Hill decisively used the Teleportation Array the next morning and arrived at Keslow.

When he arrived at the entrance of the Royal Palace, the Captain of the Guard was already there waiting for him.

He smiled especially sincerely, ”Mr. Polanio, long time no see.”

Hill eyed him curiously, ”What’s happened in Keslow? His Majesty the King seems a bit too enthusiastic.”

”Recently, many countries have sent their princesses over, hoping to forge a marriage alliance with Saral. There have arrived a few, and they don’t need to be potential successors; as long as they are official members of the Royal Family, that’s sufficient,” the Captain of the Guard explained concisely, ”His Majesty the King, although not intending to intervene in this matter, lets the Royal Family members make their own decisions. But to host these princess delegations, the treasures in the Saral Treasury are not sufficient.

His Majesty the King, after all, can’t put his Divine Artifact in the King’s Hall to display the king’s majesty, can he?”

Hearing the Captain’s lengthy explanation, the corners of Hill’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

He struggled so hard not to laugh.

It seemed that William had sent the Captain of the Guard ahead to signal to him, to bring out any good items he had; as long as they were suitable, he could buy them.

Hill estimated that William had probably only received a few princesses from small countries, like the neighboring Noah’s.

Otherwise, the Captain wouldn’t have said that it was sufficient for them just to marry into the interior of the Royal Family.

And princesses from other countries are likely to arrive later.

Delegations carrying princesses do not travel fast.

According to the traditions here, these princesses all come with dowries, attractive both in wealth and appearance.

This means they are definitely intended to marry into the close lineage of the Saral Duchy.

Especially Belter, he must be a top priority.

For a while, the Capital of Saral will definitely experience agitation and turmoil.

All the princesses from major kingdoms gathered together, keeping their eyes peeled for the most likely candidate to become king, choosing a Duke from Saral to marry.

All sorts of conspiracies and scheming, jockeying for position—it would certainly provide the Saral nobility with years of entertainment.

As for William, who is looking down from his lofty position and preparing to watch this annual spectacle, his biggest hassle is the arrangement of the Royal Palace Hall when hosting these princess delegations.

At the very least, each time a delegation is received, the treasures on display cannot be more than three of the same items reused.

Though William might find it somewhat annoying, Hill was honestly quite delighted.

Following the Captain of the Guard, Hill walked and thought at the same time, swiftly reaching the King’s Hall.

He gripped the ring, constantly calculating in his mind.

Legendary weapons and equipment are easy to discuss; Hill would only ask for the market price plus 20%, but what about the Demi-God Artifacts?

”Hill, contain your expression,” William sighed from his throne, ”if you intend to fleece the buyer, you don’t have to make it so obvious.”