Chapter 772: Cooperating With The King
The fallen nobles had all gotten used to being reared like pigs by the Brilliance Shrine. If anyone wanted to free them, the latter might just retaliate against them. Hence, Sinelli planned for a large number of nobles who were close to the Brilliance Shrine to be wiped out during this incident. He wasn’t worried about attracting the attention of the Brilliance Shrine. Ever since Pope Rosario stopped appearing for a long time, the lofty clergymen also stopped caring about them.
However, Sinelli did not expect the Tower of Dusk, which had been remaining silent, to attract the attention of the Brilliance Shrine and Pope Rosario, who had not appeared for decades. He had no idea if he should be angry or thankful. After all, Pope Rosario’s appearance proved that what he had done before was not enough. Regardless of Rosario’s influence, his Sanctuary-level power alone was something that Sinelli’s huge army couldn’t defeat even if he had millions of soldiers.
That was perhaps a good thing. If he hadn’t been sure if Pope Rosario was still alive, and had continued acting the same way, he would probably have been dethroned. Ever since Marshal Benjamin left, Sinelli remained seated for a long time as he knocked his finger against the table gently, thinking about what he should do next.
After solving the matter about the caravan, Gavin brought the caravan back onto the road, and returned to the Tower of Dusk in the Breezy Plains again. However, Lin Li did not go to the Darkness Shrine immediately. Instead, he returned to the Holy Mountain again, and headed back to the Church of Dawn. He owed the Brilliance Shrine a favor.
Giving Rosario an antidote was just for fulfilling the previous agreement. In act, Lin Li had not expected that the matter about the caravan would get Rosario to appear in person and allow the Tower of Dusk to have unrestricted business rights. Of course, the favor needed not be returned immediately. Lin Li didn’t return to the Dawn Cathedral entirely for the sake of returning the favor; it was mainly because Rosario promised to allow him to freely read the classics collected by the Brilliance Shrine instead.
Previously on the Holy Mountain, Rosario had allowed Lin Li to read the Light Bible as a form of reward forgiving him the antidote. In addition, he’d also wanted to use the Light Bible to verify if Lin Li was the Son of the Holy Light which the Brilliance Shrine had been looking for. However, it was obvious that as long as Lin Li did not take out his debris of the stars, Holy Light, he wouldn’t let the cat out of the bag.
Combining his own prophecy and the information that Englos and Martin had gotten back then, Rosario would never let Lin Li go just like that. He knew that Lin Li was going to the Darkness Shrine, but if Lin Li was really the Son of the Holy Light, he would be sending himself to the lion’s den by going to the Darkness Shrine. Hence, in order to make Lin Li stay, Rosario not only agreed to let Lin Li read the classics freely, he also promised to give Lin Li some pointers about theurgy, which was the use of the power of the Holy Light.
Sendros hadn’t mentioned what the matter was about or how urgent it was. Hence, Lin Li decided to stay at the Brilliance Shrine for a few more days, and returned to the Holy Mountain with Domingo and Holliard even though he had originally planned to leave. Of course, Lin Li’s return also made the old fogies who were passionate about pharmaceutics extremely elated.
Two days later, Marshal Benjamin personally sent the information regarding the Tower of Dusk to King Sinelli.
“Is everything mentioned here… true?” Sinelli looked at the information which caused him to be in disbelief. He knew that only a powerful force would have the ability to purchase 15 Magical Crystal Cannons all at once, be it in the Ledin Kingdom or the Felan Kingdom. However, he hadn’t expected it to be the Tower of Dusk, which he had never heard of. To his surprise, it had only been a little more than two years since the Tower of Dusk had been established.
It was built from scratch, and within just two years, it managed to become the top force in the Breezy Plains, and in fact, the entire Felan Kingdom. That was simply unfathomable; even myths were not that exaggerated. The information was about the description of the strength of the Tower of Dusk, the dozens of Archmages above level-15, the hundreds of Magic Shooters above level-10, and their commercial network all over the world. King Sinelli could even say with certainty that the Tower of Dusk would definitely be the greatest force besides the Brilliance Shrine even if it were in the Ledin Kingdom.
From the destruction of the Syer Bandits to the destruction of the powerful Dark Blade, the Tower of Dusk had killed plenty to achieve its current status. Everything was because of the extremely young President, who was a mage in his early twenties.
Having obtained the inheritance of Geresco, the God of Mages, and gone to the restricted area of the Haiga Mountain Range, Lin Li proceeded to explore the Seventh Sky Castle of the High Elves. He then disappeared for half a year, and returned again as a level-23 Legendary-mage. He even defeated the two Legendary leaders of the Dark Blade. It was said that he had also gained a lot from the participation in the operation of the Supreme Council—the exploration of Osric’s mausoleum. Compared to the rapid rise of the Tower of Dusk, the growth and progress of Lin Li was even more exaggerated than legends, making Sinelli feel like he was reading a myth.
“Your Majesty, this information about the Tower of Dusk is actually no secret in the Breezy Plains, where everyone knows about this. This Mage Felic is not easy to deal with.” Benjamin shook his head and sighed. When he’d first got the information, he thought that the person who obtained the information made a mistake, and that the Tower of Dusk might have been established for 200 or 2,000 years, and not just two years. However, after comparing the information obtained via various channels, he found out that it had really been established for more than two years.
“Deal with him? Why!?” Sinelli looked at the information in his hand, and his shock gradually subsided. His grimace was replaced by a smile, and he said, “This Mage Felic is indeed a rare talent. However, I can tell from this information that he’s not someone who can be easily recruited. Even the Supreme Council had chosen to cooperate with him during the exploration of Osric’s mausoleum. He’s someone who refuses to submit to others,” said King Sinelli, who felt rather envious and jealous.
“Your Majesty, please speak with caution,” Benjamin said hurriedly to remind him. Now that Pope Rosario who had not appeared for decades finally appeared in front of the world again, the believers had become much more loyal. God knew if anyone in the palace would tell on him.
“Haha, okay, let’s not talk about this. Let’s talk about Felic. It’s impossible to recruit him, but cooperating with him is a good choice.” Sinelli looked away and glanced at Benjamin.
“Cooperation? Your Majesty, you’re a king and the leader of the nation, he… ” Benjamin frowned slightly.
“Leader of the nation? The real leader of the nation over there,” Sinelli said as he pointed toward the Holy Mountain. He helplessly continued, “I’m afraid the pope probably appeared this time because he was impressed with Mage Felic’s abilities. We’re already lagging behind, and yet we pushed him further away because of that matter.”
“This is all my fault for failing to check on him clearly,” Benjamin said with a look of guilt.
“It’s not your fault. That Mage Felic has really exceeded our expectations. If it weren’t for what the Brilliance Shrine had done to defend them, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have believed the information here,” Sinelli said emotionally. He felt that the glory of the Queldala Family should not be drowned in history. Although his journey was destined to be extremely difficult, he would still have to go on.
Just a few days after Lin Li returned to the Dawn Cathedral, Harquis, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Ledin Kingdom, sent him an invitation that was similar to a diplomatic summons. Although Lin Li was a little surprised, he felt that it was normal after giving it some thought. Although diplomatic summons were generally used for foreign envoys, it was not exactly excessive given the Tower of Dusk’s current position in the Ledin Kingdom. The big shots of the Brilliance Shrine who had asked Lin Li about pharmaceutics were rather displeased with the Ledin Kingdom’s actions, but they didn’t say anything, because the Tower of Dusk’s interests were concerned.
Lin Li arrived again in Sparta, this time in a luxurious carriage of the Ledin Kingdom. When he went there a few days ago, he was busy discussing pharmaceutical problems with Domingo and Holliard. This time, he finally had the chance to observe the landscape of Sparta City. He had no idea if it was because of the doctrine of Holy Light, but the buildings in Sparta were all still clean and bright even though they were not all white.
Of course, the most obvious and outstanding one was still the Dawn Cathedral of the Brilliance Shrine. From time to time, the luxurious carriage would move past the white chapel. Others who didn’t know would simply think that they were going in circles, but when he returned previously, Lin Li heard from Domingo that there were more than 100 churches of various sizes in Sparta. The largest one was located next to the square in the city center, and was helmed by a cardinal.
The carriage stopped slowly in front of the palace. The guards were all standing neatly on both sides of the gate of the palace. A red carpet was extended from the gate, all the way to the spot where the carriage stopped. The Foreign Affairs Minister Harquis led Lin Li onto the red carpet, and they walked past the guards before entering the majestic Royal Palace of the Ledin Kingdom. Right from the beginning to the end, everything was carried out with diplomatic etiquette, which Lin Li found to be a novelty. However, those were nothing considering his current identity. Even a level-23 Legendary-mage deserved respect from the king.
Although the interior of the palace was gilded and brilliant, it did not attract too much of Lin Li’s attention. After all, he had already seen Osric’s mausoleum and the Sky Castle. Hence, it couldn’t really be considered luxurious in comparison. The High Elves were really the epitome of living in luxury, and their pursuit of everything luxurious was something that humans could not compare to.
Lin Li followed Harquis all the way to the hall where the king received the foreign diplomats. As the guards in front slowly opened the doors for them, they were greeted with a clear view of the hall. As the door opened, King Sinelli, who was initially sitting on the throne, slowly made his way down the stairs and walked towards Lin Li smilingly.
“Your Majesty, this is the owner of the Tower of Dusk, Master Felic,” said the Foreign Affairs Minister Harquis. He then turned to look at Lin Li, and said, “Master Felic, this is His Majesty, King Sinelli.”
Queldala was a surname of the Ledin Kingdom’s royalty, and originated from the High Elves’ language. It was said that the Ledin Kingdom did have some ties with the High Elves during the Dark Age, though it was unknown what their relationship was. Perhaps only the true successor of the Ledin Kingdom would know the truth.
Although the relationship between the king of Ledin and the High Elves was unclear, Lin Li felt that King Sinelli was rather handsome, and he seemed to resemble the High Elves a little, though Lin Li was unsure if it wasn’t just a misconception. Of course, it was not that there were no outstanding humans in terms of looks. Lin Li reckoned that he was probably misled by the surname.
“It’s my utmost honor to see you, Your Majesty.” Lin Li bowed slightly to King Sinelli out of respect despite everything that happened to the caravan previously.
“Don’t stand on ceremony, Master Felic. It’s my pleasure to see you, the youngest Legendary-mage in the Felan Kingdom.” Sinelli smiled and bowed before gesturing for Lin Li to take a seat. Instead of returning to the throne, he sat down beside Lin Li.
Sinelli’s move shocked the Foreign Affairs Minister Harquis, but after thinking about the rumors that surfaced in the past two days, he didn’t find it that unacceptable, because there was a new decree put in place by the pope.
Looking at King Sinelli who was seated beside him, Lin Li didn’t feel flattered at all, and simply had a better impression of him. After a few polite exchanges, Lin Li asked about Sinelli’s purpose in seeing him this time. After all, he was not a real envoy of the Felan Kingdom, and he could only represent the Tower of Dusk.
Sinelli had carefully studied the information about Lin Li. Although it was not very detailed, he still managed to gain some understanding of Lin Li’s character. Hence, after hearing Lin Li’s question, Sinelli didn’t hide anything, and simply truthfully said, “Master Felic, I invited you here this time mainly to discuss the matters of trade.”
“Oh? Your Majesty, please go ahead,” Lin Li said while showing some interest.