Badge in Azure

Chapter 112: Aini’s Parents (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Saleen hid in his room and endured for three days before his injury finally subsided and he was ready to meet others again. Looking at a mirror, Saleen inspected his own appearance.

He could no longer see that weak and frail youth he had once been. Now, Saleen’s skin was fair and healthily moisturized, and his hair had changed from brown to black. With his azure eyes and slightly higher nose, one could still see the slight differences in appearance between Saleen and a person from the Qin Empire.

Clad in a brocade magic robe, Saleen looked spotless. Just like that, Saleen was now a widely envied mage. Who would have thought that just a few years ago, he had been an orphan who begged on the streets.

Nailisi appeared behind Saleen, looked at Saleen’s reflection in the mirror, and said, “Master, do you really plan to follow Lex from now on?”

Saleen looked at Nailisi’s reflection. Nailisi still had her original clothes on and possessed a hint of willfulness. But she looked so beautiful and elegant that people could not even tell that she was not human.

“Yes, I have made an agreement with someone.”

“Then aren’t you just like me?” Nailisi had a look of sadness, as if she felt that such a thing was unfair for Saleen.

“Nailisi, this is an equivalent exchange.”

“What is an equivalent exchange?” Nailisi’s green eyes resembled that of Joey’s.

“Equivalent exchange means paying for something by giving another item of the same value.”

“But you did not pay a price for acquiring me right?” Nailisi asked doubtfully.

“How is there no price? If people discover your true identity, then I will have to abandon you. Otherwise, my life will be in danger. Too many people in this world will want to have you, and some people will not play by the rules.”

“But you won’t abandon me right?” Nailisi leaned gently on Saleen’s body, her expression becoming that of a pitiful child.

“Mage Saleen, the viscountess asks that you go over.” The viscountess’s swordsman knocked on the door.

“Coming.” Saleen pondered for a while, and said to Nailisi, “Come along too.”

When Saleen had confronted the envoy from the Cloudflow Empire earlier, he had felt unsafe. After all, he was only a Grade 2 mage who had not had a martial arts exponent with him at the time, so he had been perceived as a weak person.

Lex was already dressed and waiting for Saleen, looking like she was about to go out. Faerun and the four black metal grand swordmasters were following her. It had been several days since Saleen had last seen her, and Lex was looking better now, not looking so depressed anymore.

“Saleen, let’s go. We shall go and meet the people from the Clyde family.”

“Viscountess, you are heading there personally?”

“Mm. They are earls after all.”

Saleen nodded. Bitter Water Prefecture was a remote place, but if the viscountess really wanted to do business, the Clyde family would certainly help her open up the necessary networks. Since the viscountess was establishing a county, she would need to buy large quantities of weapons and armor. The alchemists in Bitter Water Prefecture would not be able to fulfill these massive orders alone.

The cities surrounding the prefecture would also need to be renovated, and all of the construction would expend a large amount of money. There were enough mages in the Bitter Water Prefecture, so necessities such as alchemy drawings did not need to be purchased. However, building materials such as stones and wood would need to be supplied by external contractors.

Lex could use this business opportunity to build a long-lasting relationship with the Clyde family. Additionally, if the Clyde family were the first to start a business in the new county, they would be able to enjoy tremendous tax benefits as well.

When Saleen saw that Lex had brought all of her combatants with her, he asked Nailisi to get Sika to come along as well. He was worried about leaving Sika alone in the palace.

This time around, Lex could not exit through the main gate since her carriages were waiting by the side gate. When they had just gotten into the carriage, it began to rain. The rain droplets were very fine, like a light fog. The swordsmen put on their cloaks and pulled up their hoods while the mages cast invisible shields, and the convoy advanced silently in the rain.

When Saleen and the others had first entered Holy Rock City, they had turned around a bend and entered from the north. The Clyde family was staying to the west, and nicely enough, that was the same direction as the Bitter Water Prefecture.

Saleen noticed that the farther away they got from the palace, the more extravagant the buildings became. Even the lousiest house had a structure made up of green steel brick, and houses over three stories tall had been designed by alchemists. Less than three miles from the palace, a mansion could be seen from afar.

The towering roof had the design of the First Dynasty, simple and solemn. There were two smaller doors beside the main door. They had curved domes and looked like they belonged to a fortress, but the building did not have the cramped feeling of a fortress.

The front of the main door possessed a large depiction of a badge which contained a picture of a crouching lion. In that moment, Saleen thought of the badge that Aini had given him. That badge had depicted the exact same lion as the one on the image on the main door.

There was a man who resembled a butler waiting by the main door. He was clad in long robes and was holding an umbrella, waiting for the viscountess. When Lex’s carriage stopped in front of the door, the man came forward. He lowered his umbrella and bowed respectfully towards the carriage.

“Your Highness, I am extremely sorry and very regretful that the earl is unable to welcome you personally.”

This butler had heard of the viscountess’ story a while back and was feeling perturbed. Presently, no one in Holy Rock City wanted to trifle with Lex, nor get chummy with her. The butler did not know Lex’s agenda for visiting the earl today. If she had just been passing by then it would have been fine, but Lex had even sent a card to notify them beforehand.

“Got it. Please lead the way.”

Lex responded. Then, the carriage doors opened and she walked down slowly. The butler was a little startled. Fortunately, his professional habits persisted and he quickly bowed, welcoming the viscountess with a gesture of his hand.

Lex came down from the carriage while rain droplets scattered around her. Her colored mage robe looked just like a flower blooming in the rain.

Saleen and the rest of the lifestyle mages came down from the carriage too, and followed the butler into the earl’s residence. There were more than ten servants waiting behind the door to welcome the convoy and tend to their horses, but aside from that, their journey was silent.

Saleen closely observed the earl’s residence. The house was modest, unlike the other houses outside. Geometric lines filled the house, and rooms could be found on both sides of the walkway. The rooms had large doors and windows. The servants obviously possessed martial arts skills. They were no experts, perhaps only mid-level swordsmen, but for servants, that was already very good.

Judging by the size of the earl’s residence, it could easily house more than one thousand people. With so many swordsmen around, the earl could already form a small army. The butler did not look like he had any martial arts skills and he did not possess any elemental fluctuations either, so he must have been a mage disciple.

Many mage disciples were unable to be promoted to mages, so they eventually gave up their pursuits of the knowledge of magic and changed their careers. Because mage disciples were literate, they could help people manage financial matters, become butlers, or become enlightenment teachers. Some mage disciples even went on to learn martial arts and became swordsmen.

Most mages despised these disciples who switched careers, but Saleen could empathize with them. If a person had no money and no talent, they would only starve to death if they did not switch careers.

At the other end of a colossal courtyard, a man dressed in noble clothing stood at the bottom of the stairs. It seemed like he had been waiting for a long time.

From afar, the man could see Lex and her entourage, so he laughed and projected his voice, “Viscountess, I was unable to welcome you personally. Please don’t condemn me.”

Was this the patriarch of the Clyde family? Saleen looked over at the man. This middle-aged man had black eyebrows and a short mustache. He had a squarish face and wheat colored skin. His footsteps were steady and strong like those of Viscountess Grukos, unlike some nobles who were unfit and unhealthy.

Lex simply nodded and did not display much enthusiasm. There were many earls in the imperial capital. Lex was here to discuss business, so she did not need to bow down to him. Both of them were nearly of the same rank, and furthermore, Lex was a Grade 5 mage.

From the time they entered to the moment they reached the living room, Saleen did not see any experts from the Clyde family. The living room was enormous, and there was a small, exquisite garden just outside its massive window. A green silk vine was hanging from above and had been soaked in the rain. Saleen had seen the chandelier on the ceiling before, in the castle where Baron Cook was stationed. Perhaps the Clyde family had sold Cook these chandeliers.

There was a young man sitting next to the earl, keeping him company. He looked a little like the earl, thus it was possible that this young man was the earl’s son.

As the servants were pouring the tea, two female mages who followed Lex around began to laugh. They took out their own tea set and tea leaves, and then created restorative water. Hu An cast a Burning spell and cooked the tea quietly. The earl grew a bit awkward, and asked the servants to hold onto the tea.

Nobles usually brought many things such as their wine sets, smokes, and tea sets wherever they went. But it was the first time that the earl had ever seen an arrangement like Viscountess Lex’s.

Saleen watched from the side and learned a new trick. Under the surface, Lex had already used her energy to suppress the earl. The earl was now inferior to Lex even though she was not the empire’s viscountess.

The Clyde family had many mages as well, but they were not so extravagant as to ask their mages to make tea.

“Sebastian, actually, I’d wanted to wait until you’d entered the palace, but I will not be able to stay in the capital for long so I just made my way here. My father is going on an expedition and your clan is busy with so many matters that I thought you wouldn’t have had any spare time anyways.” Lex took a cup of tea from Narnia’s hands and placed it under her lips before giving it a blow.

“Yes,” Earl Sebastian sighed. He then continued, “Our clan is currently busy with transporting the materials that the army needs. I have even stopped my businesses in the northern cities. What do you have for me this time, Viscountess?”

“You are my father’s favorite. How could I order you around?” Lex took a sip of tea, and smiled faintly, behaving as perfectly as a flawless magic formula.

Earl Sebastian’s face turned red. He needed to rely on the emperor in order to sustain his family’s honor and glory, and yet he had not even dared to personally welcome Lex into his residence for fear of angering the other nobles. Lex was obviously lecturing him by saying those words. But Earl Sebastian was a smart person as well. He did not mention anything about the pressure from the Prince of Phoenix and simply replied, “Viscountess, I had planned to enter the palace, but the other three clans were closely monitoring me so I truly could not seek you out.”

“What I really wanted to say is…” Lex put down the cup of tea and looked at Earl Sebastian. The earl felt as if his heart was in his throat. “I have delegated the east side businesses in the Bitter Water Prefecture to Saleen. This is Saleen. Get to know each other,” Lex said indifferently.

Lex pointed at Saleen and did not talk anymore. Her eyelids closed, as though she was meditating.

Earl Sebastian was over the moon. Whatever Viscountess Lex had just said meant that she had allowed the Clyde family to go and do business in the prefecture. In the Bitter Water Prefecture, all business matters were controlled by the viscountess’s residence. But once the county was established, business would expand by at least a hundred times. When Earl Sebastian heard the news, he knew that this would be an enormous business opportunity.

“Mage Saleen, I am Sebastian Feng Clyde.” Earl Sebastian was abnormally polite when introducing himself to Saleen. He did not possess even the slightest intentions of looking down on Saleen simply because he was young.

“I am Saleen, Saleen Metatrin.” Saleen was shocked. Lex had so easily introduced him. She truly believed that he would do a good job in settling business matters with the Clyde family.