Badge in Azure Chapter 357

Chapter 357: Mayhem in Phoenix (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Dinner had been served. Saleen poured some wine for Irene before raising his crystal wineglass and laughed, “Mm, for the future.”
“For the future.”
“For the future.”
A crisp sound was produced when the three crystal wineglasses clanged together. Saleen felt satisfied, not really caring about the profit he would receive. It was just that with this working relationship, the four big families would not be able to monopolize trade in the future if they decided to take root in this city. Saleen still remembered a story he had heard in the past. A company with a profound history had been pushed out by the four big families when it had tried to develop in Holy Rock City.
The four families had infighting, but when other powers tried to take a cut of the profits, they would immediately unite.
Now that the representative from the Clyde family and the Williams family had been placated by Saleen, the other two families would not be able create any uncertainties anymore.
Business affairs could not be settled with the use of force. The best solution was to have covert distinction.
Once cooperation was affirmed, the three people warmed up to one another. It seemed like Irene had forgotten about her unpleasant childhood memories, as she began discussing about the location of the company with Saleen and Aini. The site selection of a company was a deliberative process. Aini had the upper hand, but Irene had not arrived too late either. There were still some excellent locations for her to choose from.
Before dinner was finished, Nailisi dashed in from outside.
“Master.”
“Nailisi, come over and take a seat.” Saleen was in a good mood and allowed Nailisi to sit next to him. He knew that Nailisi was not a reckless person. There must have been a reason why she had entered in such a hurry.
“Master, it is not an enemy.”
“Oh? Then who are they? The guts of them to deploy their troops here.”
“This…”
“It is fine, Irene is family,” Saleen replied as he decided to go with the flow. If Nailisi was going to speak about some classified secret, she would not have come here. She would have waited for Saleen to return to the temple before revealing anything. The two of them had telepathy and chemistry.
Irene did not know that Nailisi was Saleen’s contract creature, and when she heard Saleen’s words, she felt a little smug.
“Do you remember Baron Piac?”
“Yes, it will be good if he even has ten soldiers. Aren’t they all scouts? Oh right, I instructed him to wait in Deep Forest Town for the time being. I will go receive him once I gather sufficient manpower. Has he come on his own?”
“Not only that, he has even managed to persuade two viscounts to defect to you.”
“Pu…” Saleen sprayed a sip of wine from his mouth. Right from the start, he had never looked up to Baron Piac. To think that he would do such an earth-shattering matter. A baron only owned a small town at best, but a viscount would already own a sizeable city. Saleen’s hometown, Ceylon City, was the territory of a viscount.
Piac was a down-and-out baron, yet he had managed to persuade two viscounts to abandon their cities and defect to such a faraway location. Saleen could not believe his ears. Was Phoenix in trouble or were there any movements from Holy Rock City? Saleen did not feel that he had a reputation which could tempt two landowning nobles to defect to him.
Irene’s eyes were wide open, staring at Saleen. Nailisi’s words are too astounding. There are actually nobles defecting to Saleen. What magic does Saleen possess? Irene’s mind was in a frenzy, clouding her judgmental ability. But in her mind, Saleen’s image became even mightier than before.
“Mm, Nailisi, accompany Irene to her accommodations.”
Saleen had lost all appetite. He simply wanted to meet with the two nobles at once, to find out what trouble Phoenix was in.
“Irene…”
“It’s okay, go and settle your issues. We will discuss our matter tomorrow.” Irene smiled knowingly, her face full of amorousness.
Aini’s lips moved, but when Aini noticed Nailisi’s hostile glare, he corrected his words, “I will go back for now, to plan for the ocean expedition next year.” In truth, Aini had wanted to go with Saleen and take a look, but since Nailisi had signalled for him not to go, he had no choice but to put up with it.
Saleen trusted Aini, but Nailisi did not. She trusted Sika the most, that silly girl. Even if Saleen sold Sika away, Sika would not even know.
“Miss Irene, you don’t have to go back right away. Lodging has been provided for your subordinates, they are taken care of.” Nailisi grinned, then she instructed for Irene’s soup to be swapped out and the dessert to be served. Aini stood up embarrassedly, unable to get angry. He hated himself for being so fearful of a mere maidservant.
Saleen took his leave without helping Aini. He had the utmost trust in Nailisi. After so many untold dangers, he already understood that Nailisi was thinking of him most of the time. He was aware that Nailisi would reveal her true nature occasionally. This incident might have been a pure coincidence, but there was a higher probability that there were unforeseen circumstances in the south. If Phoenix had really run into trouble, Lex could meet with danger when she returned next year.
Saleen dispatched someone to summon Jola to bring along troops and leave the town hall, and go to the west of the city. The construction of the city was almost completed, and there was a temporary garrison camp. Besides practicing magic, Daniel spent most of his time there training his soldiers.
Upon meeting Daniel, Saleen commanded him to lead one hundred soldiers and two hundred spirits to leave the city and receive Baron Piac. On the other hand, Saleen himself waited in the campsite.
Daniel had been ordered to establish the first camp. He only had two hundred pirates to start with, and even though the campsite was huge, only a portion of it was actually utilized. The moment Saleen arrived, the guards did not even have the time to rest. They quickly put on their armor and stood guard on both sides of the room. In reality, Saleen did not need the protection of these men. He already had Jola, who could defeat all the pirates.
However, Daniel trained his soldiers strictly. Since Saleen had come personally, no one dared skive. With a death mage as their commander, the pirates had already gotten used to executing orders without hesitation.
Saleen thought of the situation in Holy Rock City, and he felt that once the city was fully constructed, the location of the army camp needed to be shifted to the outside of the city.
“Sir, are you worried?” Jola said. He could tell that something was bothering Saleen, so he took the initiative to chat with him.
“Mm, I don’t know what is going on in Phoenix. According to the plan, even if Phoenix were to be in mayhem, it should only happen after three years.”
“Actually, it doesn’t matter when the mayhem starts. In fact, the earlier the better. Sir, you have the spirit kings and five thousand spirit soldiers. Now that Phoenix is in turmoil, you can seize this opportunity to recruit manpower from Phoenix. With these two viscounts defecting, they will bring about one thousand people, and if Sir manages this well, more people will come.”
“Lex will cross the border from Phoenix next spring,” Saleen finally confessed his worry.
“Actually, after getting information from the two of them later, it won’t be too late to think of a countermeasure.” At this moment, Jola was not laughing cheekily. He spoke to Saleen solemnly.
Saleen nodded, worried for Lex and Sika. Since these two people were imperative to Saleen, Saleen had become fidgety due to his concern for them. Had it been anyone else, Saleen would never have lost his composure. Jola was right, and even if Phoenix had undergone some massive changes, Saleen would be able to deploy some men for an interception outside the border. This would allow Lex to make a detour to Lianyun City and travel by sea to return to this place.
Saleen grew bored from sitting. Since he was unwilling to meditate, he summoned a soldier to bring a chess set and began playing chess with Jola.
After about two hours, Daniel finally led some people back.
“Sir, I have brought the people back. They are outside.” Daniel entered the barrack, reporting to Saleen.
“How many people are there?”
“A lot, about nine hundred of them.”
“What’s the arrangement?”
“They will set up camp outside the city, and I will leave one hundred spirits with me.”
“Good job, what about Piac? Let him in, along with those two guests.”
“Okay.” Daniel turned and left, and before long, a fat baron led two middle-aged men into the barrack. From a distance, Piac ran towards Saleen before bowing deeply to him.
“Piac, long time no see. These two people…”
Saleen spoke flatly. Saleen was a grand mage, and even though the other party was a baron, he did not need to reciprocate the greeting.
The two middle-aged men were clad in civilian attire. When they approached Saleen, they executed a nobleman’s greeting, then introduced themselves, “Great Mage, I am Suha.”
“Peter.”
Both men announced their names briefly, but did not mention their surnames. Noticing that these two middle-aged men were fraught with worry and seemed to be in a daze, Saleen said, “Gurney should be outside, get some guys to serve tea. The two of you, please take a seat.”
Calming down, Suha and Peter sat on both sides. This was a barrack, and the table in front of Saleen was enormous, so he could open up a map. The three men sat far apart, and when the two men seemed to have wild thoughts running through their minds, Saleen opened his mouth to speak again.
“I heard that the both of you have abandoned your territory and decided to come forth. Is there perhaps a sudden change in Phoenix?”
Suha and Peter stared at each other, not knowing how to respond. They were of noble status, and even though a mage enjoyed more prestige, it was still unheard of for a noble to seek refuge from a mage. This was despite the mage right in front of them owning a city.
“Piac, tell me.” Saleen did not want to waste any more time.
Piac was not as distressed as before, since he had already regarded Saleen as his commander. Upon hearing Saleen’s question, Piac smiled fawningly and said, “Sir, it is true that something had happened in Phoenix. The…”
Piac talked endlessly as Saleen listened intently, and later on, Saleen’s furrowed eyebrows began to relax. Indeed, an unforeseen change had occurred in Phoenix, but this change was not directed at him.
This matter had to be traced back to the previous month. Back in November, news had come from Holy Rock City that the new Grand Duke of Phoenix had died under bizarre circumstances, and this piece of information sent huge shockwaves throughout Phoenix.
Following the emergence of the black mages, the cowardly Grand Duke of Phoenix had escaped to Holy Rock City and would not return to his territory no matter what. Saleen knew of this matter, which had become a classic joke among the Qin nobles. But, no matter how cowardly the Grand Duke of Phoenix was, he was still the sole owner of this duchy, and even the Qin Emperor would be helpless.
In November, the Grand Duke of Phoenix had died in Holy Rock City, and Holy Rock City could not clarify his cause of death. To make things worse, the Grand Duke of Phoenix had not left a heir. Yet, after living in Holy Rock City for several years, he had suddenly bore a son.
Holy Rock City had thus decided to let this one year old boy inherit the title of grand duke. The upper house had passed this motion and there was no objection by the lower house either. Naturally, the nobles in the duchy objected. The envoy from the capital was expelled, and a conflict ensued between the few large powers in the duchy. According to the laws of Qin, the land of the duchy would remain independent forever, belonging to the nobles living on it. As for the death of the grand duke, everyone believed that it was a conspiracy orchestrated by Holy Rock City.
And just like that, a war erupted without any warning whatsoever.