Badge in Azure Chapter 275

Chapter 275: Murder Plan (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The terrain north of Phoenix was incredibly primitive, so the river that Saleen had chosen to set the trap in had been changed many times. Daniel needed to go upstream to where the river used to be and build a temporary dam. Once this dam was opened, the river would flow into the other path.
Since they had cleaned the river first, Daniel’s progress was incredibly fast. The giant death creature was more effective than any puppet. After all, there were only so many things a mage could command a puppet to do. A summoned creature was like an extension of one’s body, it could do things that puppets could not.
There was a giant rock blocking the river, but the corrosion magic released from the horns on the three heads of the Pikoosi quickly destroyed the white rock. Daniel was able to quickly finish half of his job.
The mages from Sregl Island also commanded the large puppets to set up the trap. At the two sides of the original path of the river, Saleen had gathered a large pile of stone materials. They were almost one-hundred meters high, as he had mined them fervently every day. When the stone materials were placed on the magic array and it was activated, the heavy stones would immediately slant and drop into the river to cut its flow.
In the history of the Myers Mainland, cutting a river flow was not anything very difficult. A grade-9 mage could easily block a small river alone. Saleen’s trouble now was that even though the river was not wide the river currents were rapid and deep. As he was cutting off the river flow he had to ensure that the lightning dragon could not break through the defenses and return to the sea.
Saleen did not have anyone by his side that was higher than a sorcerer, so he had no choice but to do things the primitive way.
The lightning dragon was faster than any combat vessel in the water, Saleen had to ensure that when the river flow was cut off, it would not be able to return. When it came back, the mages on both sides of the riverbanks would have to evacuate too. If they waited there they might not be able to withstand the electric current’s powers like him and Nailisi could.
Once the river flow was stemmed he needed to stop the river flow at the top and divert it as well. If he did not, it would overflow from the stone materials. The lightning dragon could not leave water and once the waters crossed the dam, the dragon would return to the sea and Saleen would not have any way to deal with it.
Even if the lightning dragon was not an intelligent creature, it would not fall for the same trap twice.
Seeing as the traps were almost laid, Saleen and Nailisi sat at the river bank looking at the mages setting the magic arrays. To let so many stones fall into a river that was more than ten meters deep, they needed them to fall in all at once. A magic array was not enough. Rhis would use up thousands of times more energy than magic stone artillery.
Human strength was incredible; Even though they were not as strong as they were thousands of years ago, when so many weak humans came together they could kill a grade-8 lightning dragon. As hundreds of people split up to work, they were all individually as weak as ants to the lightning dragon.
The river water was cold and even on the river bank Saleen could feel the chilling aura as the wind blew over. The environment in the north was indeed harsh. No wonder no wealthy people were willing to develop the land there.
Feeding a farmer here would cost more and they still had to give taxes to the empire.
“Nailisi, what is your hometown like?” Saleen thought back to his own hometown; Ceylon City. He still had no idea when he could return. Saleen no longer wanted to impress all those that knew him there, it was immature. After becoming a grand mage, Saleen no longer considered the opinions of the commoners.
He did feel a little sorry for Gugger, he had taken his money yet was of no help to him. If he felt this way, Gugger’s investment was already half successful. So long as Saleen could return in the future, he would definitely bring about enormous benefits for Gugger.
Sikeqinya was not like Alchemy City. Over there, mages were held in higher regards. The mages in Alchemy City might seem to look down upon the other professionals, but the competition between the mages was also intense. There were normal mages, disciples, and grand mages around; but the true powers were only in the hands of the sorcerers.
The mages that Jason had sent to Saleen would definitely carry out Jason’s orders without question. Unless they became sorcerers, Jason would always have power over them.
What seemed to be loyalty was in fact obligation. That was not something Saleen fancied. His ideal life for the mages, or what he could accept for them, was something more like Lex’s ideals even though they were not very realistic.
“I have already told you.” Nailisi was incredibly tired now. She had used the bracelet to carry a large amount of stone materials and that took up focus too. She did not have the sense of a contract creature and she did not want to answer Saleen.
“In my hometown, the river would freeze in winter and the port would close too. I have heard in places even further north, there would be mountains floating in the water that are made entirely from ice.”
“Oh,” Nailisi answered lazily not focusing on his words. Sika and Lex being gone was a little difficult for her to adapt to. She wished Sika were there. Even though Lex treated her well, she did not like someone who had too much controlling power. Even though Saleen was getting more and more powerful, it could not change the difference in grade between them.
“Don’t you want to go back and see?” Saleen seemed to be full of words today. He rarely shared his feelings and most of the time he had was used to train his magic.
“I do, but there is no point. You can’t go back with me anyway.”
“Why not? Nailisi, do you think I am such a heartless person?”
“Master, you are too weak. I don’t want you to be eaten up by the supreme demons.” Nailisi’s answer was a heartless one.
Saleen was not offended by Nailisi’s frankness. He looked at the puppets busying themselves on the other side of the river as he said to Nailisi, “If I become a grade-9 sorcerer, I can go back with you, right? I want to see what the other dimensions look like.”
“Haven’t you been to the interdimensional space?”
“I was forced by the oracle there, but I hope one day I will be able to enter and leave different dimensions just like humans from the past.”
“I remember that you wanted a ship, but you can’t even move around freely on the Myers Mainland. Stop saying nonsense,” Nailisi said with apparent attitude in her voice.
“Oh, then I shall build a large ship that can move across different dimensions and bring all my friends on it.”
“Master, besides Sika, who else is your friend? Lex is a partner isn’t she? Your ship must be incredibly small.”
Saleen was left speechless by Nailisi’s words. He had been struck painfully by what she said, but it was true. During his time at the viscountess’ residence, not a single mage there had become his friend. Besides Sika, he could not find anyone else he trusted completely.
He could not blame anyone for this. Since his youth, he had been cautious of everything. He was slightly more normal than Aini and because of this his relationship with Aini was decent. The problem was that Aini was only half a friend. When true danger approached, Saleen would not trust Aini with his back.
“I still have my teacher,” Seleen spat out after a long silence.
“Gratefulness, trust, dependence; are all of them what humans call emotions?” Nailisi had been reading recently and was becoming less and less like a demon. Her words were straight to the point. Saleen trusted Jason because everything he owned had been given to him by Jason. Without Jason, Saleen would not be in his current state. If Jason wanted to take everything back, Saleen would not resist.
Saleen was fighting this hard for Lex mostly so Jason could own the six-element space. This was his way of repaying him. Saleen wanted to be close to his parents now, but they had died and the only one he could consider family was Jason.
Nailisi’s words were too accurate. Saleen was like grass without roots. He wanted to dig deep to find connections.
“Master, this Nailisi spoke out of turn, you should punish her!” the voice of the winged skeleton sounded again in Saleen’s brain.
Saleen said casually, “She would be hurt.”
“What?” Nailisi asked, thinking Saleen was talking to her.
Saleen was stunned for a while before laughing out loud and saying to Nailisi, “Soldier said your attitude was atrocious and asked me to punish you. Do you think I should do that?”
“Hmph, that creature…”
Nailisi suddenly remembered that she was not his only contract creature and had another competitor. Hearing Saleen, this winged skeleton was very loyal indeed. If Nailisi’s attitude kept up, Saleen might really become distant from her.
At this thought, Nailisi immediately put on a smiling face and teased Saleen, “Master, didn’t you say I was your maidservant? The wealthy always punish their maidservants. It is written in books that they would smack their butts first before dragging them to bed.”
Saleen was a little regretful that Nailisi was literate now. Nailisi did not need to train like him and had a lot of free time. While Saleen was training, besides sleeping, Nailisi would be reading books. The more she read, the more troublesome she became.
No matter how crafty a demon was, they were innately more innocent than humans. Nailisi was now a demon that had been tainted with human thoughts. She was suddenly reaching her hands down Saleen’s shirt and reaching downwards.
“Stop!” Saleen shouted. His voice was so loud that even the mages in the distance could hear it. Many of them looked over and saw a sight they were quite envious of; Saleen’s beautiful maidservant was groping him.
Mages were not all cold and unfeeling, and many of them were envious of Saleen. He had a powerful and beautiful female warrior for protection and a stunningly pretty maidservant to serve him. His friend was the viscountess of an empire with a large area of territory.
For the mages of Sregl Island, Saleen’s life was much more interesting than theirs. Saleen was Jason’s only student and many of the mages believed Jason would manage everything on Sregl Island sooner or later. If Saleen worked hard, all that would become his in the end.