Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1474: Chapter 52: Great Sage Ismael

Faced with Finch’s righteous stance, Count Stelter could only respond with a contemptuous sneer: ”I don’t think so. At least some mages don’t feel that way, otherwise, we wouldn’t have the current era of crystalline energy.”

Finch laughed: ”But if it weren’t for us mages trying to restore past glories, would the people under royal power have any way of life?

Even someone like you, a great noble and a noble by military merit, almost had your family ruined by a prince’s whimsical acts.

Oh, and it was discovered by a Great Sage who didn’t care about the Noble Families or the Royal Family!”

Count Stelter looked at him inexplicably: ”Did you get something wrong?

I have no issue with mages, but as someone from a hereditary noble background, even though my ancestors were merely small nobles, I truly love the current Danboro, even when my son was ruined to this extent by the King’s son.

With conspiracies like these, when encountered, I can only deal with them as they come... losing is losing, but there’s always a chance for revenge, isn’t there?

Even if that person is a prince, it doesn’t mean I have no power to fight back.

Yet, in that so-called past era of the mages... if mages wanted to deal with our Stelter Family, would they still need a conspiracy?

Whenever people were ruined and wiped out, it meant nothing even if nobles died, let alone civilians!

Even if survivors wanted revenge, they had to see if they could survive first; it was even difficult to outlive the enemy.

At least now, us mortals in the mages’ eyes can still refuse to accept fate... While crystalline weapons aren’t made by everyone, you can still buy a weapon capable of killing a level 10 mage as long as you’re willing to spend the money.”

He cast a cold glance at Finch: ”Furthermore, those who want to scheme against us will always plot, no matter when!

They’ll only act respectfully before your noble mage families!

Of course, for you, the past was better when no one even dared to scheme against you.

But, I won’t think the world was better just because of the Stelter Family’s circumstances.

The current Aesces is the best time for us.”

Finch was silent for a few seconds: ”500 per drop, do you want some? I can bear the pain of parting with two drops for you.”

Count Stelter was stunned for a second: ”Damn it! Even from afar, it still works this clearly? How has our family survived to now?”

Then, he nodded without hesitation: ”I want!”

Splashing his face with cold water, Count Stelter, after organizing his emotions, continued to communicate with Finch as usual.

No one could tell from his solemn face that he was actually an idealist.

Though Finch maintained politeness outwardly, he was somewhat nonchalant: Count Stelter doesn’t seem like a complete royalist... he supports the Royal Family simply because the Royal Family is currently the best leader.

Then, he looked thoughtfully at the Ismael Tower at the center of Basia City, taller than the Hall of Abundance... Count Stelter’s manner seemed somehow familiar to him!

The last time he felt so speechless might have been when he saw Great Sage Ismael?

His father, Great Sage Finch, always advised him to minimize contact with Ismael, who genuinely believes in his unconventional ideas, such as deities not being in the Mortal World, humans needing to save themselves, and allowing mortals to live freely on earth among other nonsense... furthermore, he has a particularly strong ability to manipulate people’s minds.

Also, he always seems to innocently walk away from various conspiracies and schemes without much effort!

Alchemist Masters attempting to snatch his blueprints aren’t few, but what happened in the end?

They all had to let someone like that fool Delgado remain as vice president, otherwise, there’d be no one left.

Most crucially, his own rapid advancement was impressive enough that other Sages investigated several times to see if he had some special lineage.

The study of crystalline energy was too mature.

How should I put it... even after inventing something, the most skilled Alchemists need a long time to consistently innovate through generations.

Nonetheless, Ismael, after publishing the foundational theories to the world, still managed to find the most suitable update method under the unified pressure of several Great Sages from various countries, at unparalleled speed.

It was like he already had a detailed blueprint moving from simple to mature in his mind.

And mages can’t comprehend why even two generations of Danboro Kings trust him almost without any bias!

This is a king!

In such a long noble era in Aesces, wasn’t every king self-serving and hypocritical to overcome fierce royal struggles?

The Finch Family witnessed firsthand how the previous king fought a bloody path among over a dozen sons of the Old King... of course, the consequence was his own offspring were few, leaving the current king, with decent political acumen despite lacking military power, to ascend.

But someone so decisive and ruthless, unable to tolerate even unthreatening brothers, trusts Ismael genuinely without suspecting that the results of holding the most formidable weapons might transform the Danboro Kingdom directly into the Ismael Kingdom!

Great Sage Finch, from initially suspecting Great Sage Ismael of being an incarnation of a deity, has now come to think of him as the executor of the Will of the World of Aesces.

If he were an incarnation of a deity, with Aesces’ control over the world, it wouldn’t allow him to live wildly until now.

During the mature era of crystalline energy, such a deity should have revealed his identity and harvested some faith.

Yet Ismael is still Ismael.

This fundamentally doesn’t conform to the consistent rules of the World of Aesces... The mages’ hidden legacy has already informed them. Despite Aesces appearing to have many deities, only Aesces himself holds the ultimate authority.

The Sea God does have a bit of autonomy; otherwise, the thousand-year war that caused Danboro heavy losses wouldn’t have happened.

The mages actually regret their enthusiastic resistance against the invading Sea God, an Exterior God... Who knows that desertification of the continent isn’t just due to the Sea God’s wrath?

Mortals, guided, cursed the Sea God’s mercilessness, but they aren’t so foolish.

Finch couldn’t help but glance again at Count Stelter: This guy used to stay with the army all year round and has only been in the castle for five years, so it’s unlikely he brainwashed himself into a fool.

That must mean he’s one of those Ismael worshipers... well, the soldiers’ high status is due to the appearance of crystalline weapons.

Finch observed Count Stelter for a while, noticing that although he was a bit embarrassed by Finch’s scrutiny, there was no unease, before softly exhaling: It seems Count Stelter and the Ismael Family aren’t colluding.

Yes, in Basia City, there’s Lucimar, who can be counted as the most unwise member of the traditionally earnest and clever Ismael Family.

Moreover, he’s a fool who believes his mage talents are unmatched... Strange indeed, which Archmage who becomes a Great Sage hasn’t been a Mid-level Magician before the age of 40?

Yet the other young members of the Ismael Family are not like this, clearly indicating someone was educating him... Such mutation in behavior, could it be the Ismael Family is facing karma?