novelRotterdam's Alchemist
| ← Ch.0476 | Ch.0478 → |
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"It is said that the Rotterdam Kingdom is situated in the region where the Goblins had lived. They had discovered a great number of relics from the Goblins' era before." Gerian did not forgo any opportunity to show off his knowledge. His two plump lips did not stop moving."I heard that Rotterdam Kingdom had always been doing related research into it, and has already succeeded in manufacturing their own Alchemy Colossus and employed it in their military. Wait, does that mean the Rotterdam Kingdom is supporting the Syer Bandits... ?"
Gerian was not the only one in disbelief. Although the Syer Bandits was a famous organization in the Breezy Plains, it was a bandit association, after all. Geographically, it made the most sense for Ledin Kingdom to support them if there were to be any intervention from any external force.
"Tell me what you know about Rotterdam Kingdom." Lin Li prompted Gerian. He was really keen to know more about the place. If a kingdom on the mainland of Anril would want to study the Alchemy Colossus, it would be possible for the Syer Bandits to do it as well.
It was rare for Lin Li to have something he did not know of. Gerian forgot the unhappiness he'd felt previously, and continued to splat his saliva with excitement as he started to introduce Rotterdam to Lin Li."This Rotterdam Kingdom is situated in the north of the mainland, and more than half of its land is covered in snow all year round. Hence, it is called the Land of Eternal Frost. Of course, most of its citizens are living in the southern part of Rotterdam, where it is relatively warmer. On the west of Rotterdam is the Dwarf Kingdom, and I heard that both kingdoms are on very good terms with each other since the Dark Age ended.
"The Rotterdam Kingdom provided many rare resources for the Dwarf Kingdom. This not only included crops, but also magical technology and its products. Similarly, the Dwarf Kingdom helped Rotterdam forge quality weapons and armor, as well as provided them with rare magical minerals. It could be said that the two kingdoms are role models for an establishment of mutually beneficial relationship.
"Speaking of the strength of the Rotterdam Kingdom... Maybe you will not believe it, but according to various estimates, the Rotterdam Kingdom should rank third in power among the countries in the mainland of Anril. Yet, despite having such a formidable strength, Rotterdam had never entered any disputes with the other kingdoms on the mainland ever since the end of Dark Age, and no one knows why. It was as though they had zero interest in the other territories. The only conflict it intervened in was when the Dwarf Kingdom got invaded. The Rotterdam Kingdom sent their troops to the aid, and it was said an Alchemy Colossus was part of the team. But, this is just hearsay, and not from the official historical records."
"Oh? It seems that this Rotterdam Kingdom is really low-key, " Lin Li commented casually.
"That's right, low-key is the word. They were low-key to the point that many people from other kingdoms would never hear that there is such a kingdom existing on the mainland." Gerian took a sip of water before ending his speech helplessly."I only know this much."
Lin Li shook his head after hearing it. To be honest, anyone would be able to acquire such information easily from books. But, according to Gerian's words, the four Alchemy Colossuses from the Syer Bandits might be closely related to the Rotterdam Kingdom. After all, Alchemy Colossuses were considered high-level magic machinery during the Goblins' era. No one could recreate them just by conducting some simple research. The production of an Alchemy Colossus required high-quality machinery and forging techniques, which conditions could be easily met with the relationship between Rotterdam and the Dwarf Kingdom.
Lin Li really could not think of any other kingdom in the mainland of Anril which could create an Alchemy Colossus. He was also extremely curious why Rotterdam would provide aid to the Syer Bandits.
"Forget it, I will make it a point to see the Alchemy Colossus myself. Let's talk about how the battle went. Since the power of the Alchemy Colossus is comparable to an Archmage, I presume that our mages had no trouble dealing with it?" Lin Li stopped thinking about the relationship between Rotterdam Kingdom and the Alchemy Colossus, and directed his attention to the team's battle information.
"Hmph, it'd be good if there were only four Alchemy Colossuses. That big guy was so dumb. As long as we strategize, they would be done for. After I brought the men for a temporary retreat, I managed to lure them into a trap. But, just when I was about to smash those big guys, 10 freaking level-18 Archmages appeared out of nowhere. Goddammit, if I had had such a force, I would have swept Jarrosus clean, " Gerian said affectedly. If he had had 10 Archmages, how would he have let the Shadow's Nest attack his Jarrosus? Being a guild President, the fact that his guild was always looked down on just because of its geographical location made Gerian very embarrassed.
"What? There were 10 level-18 Archmages?" Lin Li exclaimed in shock. Although Gerian was standing in front of him as a breathing man, Lin Li could not help but feel concerned for him.
Not to mention a broken guild like in Jarrosus, few strong guilds of magic or families in the whole Felan Kingdom would have the ability to defeat 10 level-18 Archmages. If Lin Li had not been generous in equipping his mages with all the armor and weapons, they would have been blasted into pieces by those Archmages.
"I've confronted them many times enough to be sure that I've seen them correctly. Do you think it was easy for me to hold up the four Alchemy Colossuses and 10 Archmages?" Gerian said with lingering fear. The opponents felt like 14 Archmages, after all.
"So you had many exchanges with them? How was the casualty rate? Why didn't you retreat?" Lin Li asked doubtfully. Since they had a great difference in power, why did Gerian choose to stay? He knew Gerian was not a rigid person.
"Don't worry. I know that you lack manpower, and that makes it seem like your actions are mere harassment. Look, the good thing is that we are all alive.
"I did not call for retreat as I realized they appear to be preparing for something. Especially the 10 Archmages, they would only appear when we got close to the bandits' nest. It was as though they were busy with something, and could not leave far. Otherwise, they would have driven us out of the Dragon Mountains."
What could be the matter that would occupy the 10 Archmages? Lin Li thought about how the Syer Bandits dug something out of the church in Black Clouds Town. Could the Archmages be protecting that treasure? But, what treasure could it be? I'll ask the people from the Malfa directly when they come over.
After hearing the updates on his guild, Lin Li left the tent with Gerian. As the President of the guild, as well as the owner of the Tower of Dusk, it was only natural for him to go and have a look at the condition of his men. At least three months had passed since he was away from the guild. He noticed some new faces in the Tower of Dusk, but knew that there was still no one with outstanding abilities.
"President Felic, let me introduce the new people to you." That was Gavin, whose role in Tower of Dusk was like a majordomo's. Although he had no official duty, he took charge of most of the matters.
There was an addition of 13 new members in Tower of Dusk over the three months Lin Li was away. However, the most able among them was only a level-14 Magic Shooter, while the less able ones were two Magic Shooters who had just reached level-10. It couldn't be helped, since the guild of magic had just been established in the Breezy Plains, and the stronger mages had all been attracted by the other forces long ago. If not for Basel's introduction, Lin Li would have to bring a group of people under level-10 on all of his missions. It would be like a child playing around then.
Gavin was a level-16 Archmage, and was considered the strongest mage after the President. Of course, that was excluding Basel, who was the Head Referee of the guild. After them would be Alan. He had just quit his habit of being a miser with mana, and successfully become a level-15 Archmage. The rest of the people were mostly Magic Shooters of level-10 to level-13, but it was still considered a significant force after being equipped with quality gear.
At this time, the new members of the Tower of Dusk were all looking at their young President. Although they had all heard that their President was a young man, they only knew how outdated they were when they saw the President in person. Usually, a young guild President would be around 40 to 50 years of age. None of them had imagined that he would look so young.
Of course, despite the fact that their President was really young, no one dared to doubt his ability. Although the existing members did not tell them his age to prevent people from provoking the President, they'd frequently tell them how terrifying his powers were.
After meeting the new members, he went to visit the injured members with Gavin, and had a cordial chat with them. Lin Li tried to understand the details of their injury and asked them if they had any problems and difficulties. Then, he reassured them to focus on the treatment and wished them a speedy recovery...
It was a blessing none of them had been severely injured despite having faced four Alchemy Colossuses and 10 level-18 Archmages. After visiting the wounded, Lin Li took out some Healing Potions and instructed Gavin to hand them to the others.
The sight of the Healing Potions changed the expressions of the new members. Healing Potions were very different from vulnerary. The latter had very general and basic functions like treating inflammation and clotting blood. The Healing Potions, however, were considered high-level magical potions that could rapidly heal injuries. Things that could be used to save lives were usually not cheap. One such Healing Potion could be sold from 8, 000 to up to 1, 000, 000 gold coins in the market.
But, this young President not only gave the potions to them, but also did it without any sign of hesitation despite the hefty price. This won the favor of new members by a lot.
"Mr. President, your tent has been prepared. You may take a rest now, " Gavin said as he went back to Lin Li after he distributed the Healing Potions.
"Yeah, let's go, " Lin Li replied gently, and followed Gavin to the tent.
"Mr. President, feel free to call me if you have any needs, " said Gavin respectfully. When he first entered the Tower of Dusk through Basel, he had thoughts of supplanting the young President, yet he did not dare to entertain such thoughts anymore. He was present in the Blackstone Mountains when he first saw the young level-19 Archmage use his powers. Now that he was back, Gavin could feel a stronger power within the young President. Gavin could hardly imagine what could be stronger than a level-19 Archmage. Mr. President was only 20 years old! 20 years old!
That night, the young and mysterious President was the main topic in discussions of all the guild members. No one dared to belittle him for his young age. The existence of the young President gave everyone ample confidence in themselves and the future of the Tower of Dusk.
It had been some time since Lin Li had a good rest. He remembered it had been nearly four months since he'd last slept in his tent in the Blackstone Mountains. This time, despite being dangerously close to the enemies, he felt extremely carefree when he slept.
Lin Li took an extremely long rest. He slept for three days and three nights. It was not that he was lazy, but that his mental strength had been greatly depleted from his journey to the Abyss of Tharlen. Using Connoris' ancient demonic runes had consumed a great amount of his mental strength. If it had been other people, their brain would have burst.
It was noon when Lin Li woke up. When he wanted to get some food, he saw Gavin standing outside his door. It seemed that Gavin wanted to look for him."Hey, Mage Gavin. When did you arrive? What's the matter?"
"Mr. President, Hutton from the Malfa Family is waiting outside the campsite. He is looking for you." Gavin had an unusual expression. He did not know that Lin Li had sent an invitation to the Malfa Family. Gavin knew about the tension the President had with the family. Hence, he felt very confused when he saw Hutton extremely polite when he brought his men over.
"Yeah, it's alright. I sent Beckley to the Malfas to request assistance, " said Lin Li casually.
But, Gavin still could not regain his composure. That was the Malfa Family—one of the top forces of the Breezy Plains! How would the young master of the family personally attend to the President's request just because of a letter?
Lin Li did not care what was on Gavin's mind."Leave him alone for the time being. Bring me my breakf— lunch."
"Y-yes, Mr. President, " Gavin replied after a short pause. But, thinking of how his President was treated by the Malfas, Gavin thought that it was only right for them to leave Hutton hanging for a while.
Hutton and a few of his followers were standing in front of the entrance of the campsite. It had been some time since he sent the message of his arrival. Yet, there was no more response from the campsite. He did not see their President anywhere, either.
"Sir Hutton, they are too rude. How could they let you wait here when they are the ones who summoned us?" One of the followers sulked with a great sense of injustice.
"That's right. Sir Hutton, why don't we return to the campsite first?" another follower asked.
"Shut up, we will wait here silently, " Hutton snapped at the two followers in a low voice.
Finally, after some time, a burly mage with the built of a Warrior came out of the campsite."I suppose you must be Mage Hutton from the Malfa Family. Our President is waiting inside. Please follow me in, " the mage said to Hutton.
That made Hutton's followers very indignant. This was the first time they saw anyone treat the Malfa Family like that. Not only did they not wait at the door for the arrival of the young master, they also sent no one to greet him. Now, did they just let a servant call them in? Who did they think they were?
The two men looked at their master expectantly. They were waiting for Hutton's order so they could dash into the campsite. They were so prepared to bring that darn President before Hutton for an apology. But, they did not expect the arrogant young master to take a step back.
"Oh, sure. I'd trouble you to bring me there then, " said Hutton politely.
Hutton got increasingly shocked as he entered the campsite behind Gavin. Since the Tower of Dusk had only been established less than half a year ago, Hutton had not expected to see the campsite and mages to be so different from his expectations. He knew how great the young President Felic was. But, he just could not believe his eyes.
The moment he entered the campsite, he looked at the arrangement of the different facilities. Although it was a temporary campsite, it had a simple arrangement that was extremely orderly and well-planned. Hutton was a clever man. He could tell that the scattered formation of the tents had the ability to counter large-scale magical attacks and provide great support to one another in emergency.
What surprised Hutton the most was the mages from the Tower of Dusk.
Mages had incredibly high social status in this world. Hence, it made most of them very complacent and lacking discipline and respect for others. It was the same for the mages in the Malfa Family—they would feel very insulted if they were asked to train their battle formation like the Warriors.
Yet, the mages in the Tower of Dusk reminded Hutton of a group of well-trained Warriors despite their differing magic abilities. He even felt that the elites in his family might not even have much chance of winning if they were to challenge this group of mages.
The main reason was not that the mages in Tower of Dusk had great abilities, but Lin Li's willingness to invest heavily in them. Lin Li's action made them feel that they needed the Tower of Dusk, and not the other way round. Hence, in order not to be given up by the Tower of Dusk, they had to put in effort to adapt to their rules.
Unlike them, mages in local forces such as the Malfa Family were hired and paid. These forces did their best to accommodate them for fear that they would quit and join other forces if they were unhappy with their treatment. How would they dare to let them participate in training just like Warriors?
It couldn't be their lack of competency, either. To Hutton, although none of those mages other than that monstrous President could impress him, all of them were at least level-10. Together, they would be a significant force that couldn't be ignored.
Although a team made up entirely of mages was not something to be amazed with, what about the military-style discipline they had? Then, Hutton suddenly realized another difference between the mages in the Tower of Dusk and his own family's. Each of the mages here was wearing and using high-level magical equipment which his family could not bear to give their employees. To them, only the core team of the family had the right to own these items. Even the elites he'd brought along only had a few pieces of normal magical equipment.
Damn it! Could it be that there was a sale going on at the stores recently? Look at those magic robes! That magic staff! And that jewelry! Hutton felt a little resentful when he looked back at the status of the elites of the Malfa Family. They were like poor beggars relative to the people in the Tower of Dusk.
Hutton was even thinking if he should think of a way to ensure that his men did not meet the mages in the Tower of Dusk. Otherwise, they would be fighting to enter the Tower of Dusk before completing their mission.
Hutton had mixed feelings when he followed Gavin to Lin Li's tent.
Gavin gestured to Hutton to wait outside as he entered to notify Mr. President of Hutton's arrival. Then, Gavin came out of the tent."Mage Hutton, our President would like to invite you in."
Hutton smiled as he nodded his head, and walked towards the tent.
This time, one of the followers sped in front of Hutton. He reached out his arms to help Hutton open the entrance of the tent.
But, his arms were blocked by Gavin."Our President only invited Hutton in, " Gavin reminded sternly.
"You!!" Hutton's follower shouted. He was enraged. How rude! Why is the host not yet out to receive us? He felt that it was as if the darn President was calling the young master of Malfa like a servant.
Since Hutton really wanted to butter up to Lin Li and the Tower of Dusk, how would he care to haggle over such trifles with them? Hutton waved his arms at his men."You two... return first. Tell them no one is to leave the campsite without my orders."
Initially, Hutton had plans for his men to wait outside the tent. But, he feared the two men might wreak havoc in the campsite of the Tower of Dusk.
The followers of the Malfa Family were oblivious of the conversation that happened in Sorenson's study. One of the reasons was to protect the pride of the family, and the other was out of fear that the leakage of the secret might trigger that young President. Geresco's three relics were extraordinary. If one revealed they had a new owner, it would create a commotion. Then, the Malfa Family would be the first to get into trouble.
Hutton could not explain his concerns to his men. All he could do was to give them orders so they minimize any interaction with the people in the Tower of Dusk. Without interaction, there would be no conflict.
Hutton's gave them an extremely wise command. But, many a time, people were affected by their so-called 'common sense'. Who would think highly of a 20-year-old President and a guild of magic which was incapable of dealing with the leftovers of the Syer Bandits?
Lin Li had just finished his meal when Hutton entered. He gestured at the seat beside him, and said smilingly, "I didn't expect you to be here so early, Mage Hutton."
"Hehe, as a force of the Breezy Plains, it is our utmost responsibility to deal with the bandits affecting the stability and peace of our region. Hence, I've mobilized the elites of my family immediately as soon as I received your message. We have traveled here at twice our usual speed to assist you. Hope we would be of help in the operation to eliminate the bandits, " Hutton replied ingratiatingly the moment he sat down.
Bullsh*t, I'd be a moron if I were to believe your fanciful words. Weren't you in cahoots with the Syer Bandits before this?
Despite his natural distrust in Hutton's words, Lin Li did not expose Hutton directly."Then I shall trouble you, Mage Hutton. I believe that the elites of the Malfa Family have to be extraordinarily strong."
"You are too kind with your words. I've seen for myself how capable your men are as well. I'm really envious of you, " Hutton responded flatteringly.
The two men Hutton had brought along, Yeric and Waldo, turned towards the exit of the camp without giving Gavin a second look. Both of them were outstanding figures in the team of mages under the Malfa Family. Their capability was similar to that of Emendas, and they were both level-16 Archmages. They would have the ability to eliminate all the forces in Jarrosus and take control of the entire place if they wanted.
The two men discussed Sir Hutton's unusual behavior as they walked towards the exit. They could not understand why Hutton had to be so cautious with this newly established guild. As the first heir to the Malfa Family, Hutton was quite an esteemed man in the Breezy Plains.
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