Chapter 161: Killing the Grand Swordmaster (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Saleen felt neither remorse nor pity for what he had done to the bronze grand swordmaster. To him, the most important thing now was to study how the residual sword aura inside the swordmaster’s body could be destroyed using only Grade 1 spells. Seeing that Nailisi was still standing beside him, Saleen said, “Nailisi, whatever information you’ve squeezed from this guy, tell it to Lex. Now.”
“But what about him…” Nailisi’s voice faded out as she pointed her finger towards the bronze grand swordmaster. She had not tortured him just to set him free, after all. Understanding what she meant, Saleen nodded his head, acceding to her request to use the swordmaster as a human dartboard.
Nailisi made her way out of the tent, satisfied that she had gotten what she wanted. The black fog was still present, shrouding the surroundings in complete darkness. Nailisi called softly, “Lex?”
“So what did he tell you Nailisi?” Lex asked.
Nailisi grinned and replied, “Well… it seems like we’ve got the wrong person. It was Forest Enterprises that stole their goods. They were just trying to get them back.” As she spoke, she observed Lex’s reaction.
“Oh?” Lex was not surprised, nor was she flustered. Even if Forest Enterprise had stolen the goods, the goods that they had been robbed of had probably been illegal anyway. This would explain why those people had needed to disguise themselves as bandits to try and get them back. To Lex, the matter of which party was at fault did not matter. She was not a lawyer representing the noblemen, nor was she a referee settling disputes. Even if they had killed the wrong people, it had been their own faults for dressing up as bandits.
Seeing Lex’s stony expression, Nailisi knew that she had failed to rile her up. She continued trying to fan the flames by saying casually, “The goods that they were smuggling were emperor berries.”
Emperor berries! Lex thought.
Lex was surprised that they had managed to get their hands on such a rare fruit. The emperor’s berry was a poisonous plant that only existed in small quantities over in the southern jungles of the Qin Empire. The strange thing about the berry was that it could not be artificially cultivated, no matter how hard other people had tried. The emperor’s berry was similar to the opium poppy, in that the raw juice of the emperor’s berry was addictive. However, for an opium poppy to achieve the same effect, its juices had to be refined. Even the strongest swordmasters would be hopelessly addicted to the fruit after accidentally ingesting just a single emperor’s berry.
However, the emperor’s berry was not dangerous to mages. As long as the ideal ratio of one part berry to twelve thousand parts water was reached, the juice of the poisonous fruit was basically harmless. Any mages who were still skeptical about this golden ratio could use magic to find out the toxicity levels of the fruit before deciding whether or not to consume it.
The most distinct feature of the emperor’s berry, one that did not require magic to see, was the strong smell of alcohol which the fruit would emit. The smell could not be hidden, not even with magic. The emperor’s berry could be used to refine medicine. Hence, it was one of the most important imperial medical supplies in the Qin Empire. Medicines prepared using the berry could get rid of plagues and act as anti-inflammatory painkillers. In the hands of a mage, the berry was basically harmless. This was what distinguished the emperor’s berry from the opium poppy, for the latter would still be poisonous even after being refined.
Unfortunately, the emperor’s berry was best known for being an active ingredient in some wines. The fruit was only about the size of a pearl, but it was enough to convert an entire bucket of water into hard liquor. Those smugglers possessed no knowledge on converting the berry into medicine. Therefore, any attempts at smuggling the berry were probably done with the intention of manufacturing inferior hard liquor for sale. This alcohol had a low toxicity level, and drinking too much of it was detrimental to one’s health. What was even worse was the fact that a person could even get addicted to the drink.
Nailisi continued, “Six months ago, the Holy See proclaimed a ban on this alcohol. Those emperor’s berries they had smuggled were worth nearly four hundred thousand gold coins in the Tanggulasi black market.”
Lex was all caught up now. She could not believe her ears. They had gotten all worked up over a simple smuggling case. The only thing interesting about the case was how quickly the price of the berry had soared. Four hundred thousand gold coins. This amount was enough to “inspire” noblemen to take risks – to the extent that his men had needed to play dress-up in order to get ahold of the fruit.
The fact that the Holy See had issued a liquor ban was the most important news Lex had heard all day. In all four empires, wine-related businesses were always some of the most lucrative industries. The only difference was that each empire produced different-tasting wines.
A person could say that the Tanggulasi people were infatuated with hard liquor. In fact, large amounts of grains were harvested every year solely for the purpose of being used for the refinement of wine. Contrary to popular belief, despite the huge size of the Tanggulasi country, the amount of land suitable for the cultivation of these grains was very scarce. The fact that the Holy See had declared a ban on alcohol meant that they were trying to save up these grains for the future. Maybe they’re planning an attack in the spring, Lex thought. In fact, with the amount of food they were saving up, they could even increase the scale of the war before winter started.
The Tanggulasi Empire had issued repeated alcohol bans, but to no avail. Now, with the Holy See joining in, the Tanggulasi merchants would no longer have the guts to fight back. As expected, once the alcohol ban had been announced, the price of hard liquor had soared so quickly that it was nearly ridiculous. It was simple economics, after all.
Under these circumstances, the smuggling of the berries was potentially a good thing.
Not only would hard liquor made from the emperor’s berry inflict mental harm upon the enemy, but the production and sale of these items was also very profitable. Had Lex known earlier that the Holy See had implemented such a law, she would have been tempted to do the same.
As a Qin citizen, she could not give two hoots about the health of the Tanggulasi people. In case anyone was wondering, she was not worried about how her plan, if executed, could have backfired on the Qin Empire either.
Hard liquor, compared to other businesses, did not bring in as much money in her country. The wines that sold well here were those that were fermented using grapes. All grapes were best grown in gravelly soils. Unfortunately, the type of soil in the country did not prove to be a suitable environment for the cultivation of grains.
“Who’s behind all of this?” Lex asked. She was no longer concerned about the details. Smuggling was not exactly a rare occurrence. The issue was that smuggling things into enemy territory, regardless of whether or not it would tilt the odds of the battle, had the potential of being used as political leverage. Even if the matter was escalated to the imperial capital, it was possible that the officials there would not make this case their top priority.
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“Marquess Gilya from Dragon Bone City.” Nailisi replied.
“Oh? He’s something else,” Lex praised. Marquess Gilya was the head of the Goethe clan and was also a prominent nobleman in the south. He was one of the few people who could grow the emperor’s berry in his own fields. He had produced the fruit solely for the purpose of selling them to royal archmages. This time around, the smuggling had been an inside job, and he was the mastermind. The emperor’s berry had always been produced in the Qin Empire. However, it could only be sold to the royal families.
No wonder the mission had been kept so tightly under wraps. Lex shook her head. They had killed people that were not supposed to have been killed. If she had known these details earlier, she would not have hesitated to kill the swordsmen from the Williams family. Now, all she could think about was whether the swordmasters from the Williams family knew that the commodities they had stolen belonged to the Goethe clan. If the answer was yes, then they were knowingly dragging Saleen down with them.
Lex was not afraid of Marquess Gilya. He could throw a temper tantrum for all she cared. She was a governor now, and was of higher status than him. Bitter Water Prefecture and Dragon Bone City were thousands of miles away from each other. Even if Marquess Gilya became infuriated, he could not do anything to her.
The only problem now was that Dragon Bone City and Alchemy City were fairly close to each other. Lex knew that she needed to handle this matter with care.
Inside the tent, Saleen repeatedly cast the Icicle spell onto the bronze grand swordmaster. He had maintained the complexity of the spell at Grade 1. In addition, Saleen had deliberately slowed down the speed at which the icicles were fired. The sword aura present in the swordmaster’s body immediately activated its defense mechanisms in an attempt to ward off Saleen’s attacks. The latter observed patiently as he repeatedly shot icicles at his captive’s body. However, just before each icicle was about to pierce through the bronze grand swordmaster’s skin, Saleen would immediately release a counter-spell to disperse it.
After some detailed observations, Saleen discovered that the sword aura was similar to a life force in itself. The holy masters in the mainland used powers similar to this, which had been passed down from the Goddess of Myers.
Saleen felt as if he had experienced the power of the goddess herself. It was very different from the sword aura. The latter was more cohesive and full of explosive power whereas the former was much more magnificent overall. In fact, as an added bonus, divine powers tended to provide a feeling of comfort along with strength. The only thing shared between these two magic forces were their roots – they both existed as forces outside of the six great elements.
Even if the sword aura’s strength did not originate from the six great elements, Saleen was still able to pinpoint its weakness. As long as the circulation of the sword aura was slowed by one hundred times, he could weaken it enough to destroy it easily.
Regarding the bronze grand swordmaster, he was on the verge of death. He had survived for far longer than expected despite being severely injured. He had lost total control of his body, and the sword aura was circulating in his body at a much slower speed. It was just the right time for Saleen to test his theory.
At the moment, the bronze grand swordmaster had passed out from the pain. Had he been awake, he likely would have been so humiliated that he would be wishing for death. Saleen controlled each icicle with extreme precision. Every icicle was immediately dispelled before coming into contact with the captive’s flesh. Although Saleen was able to fire nearly two hundred Grade 1 spells, he decided to end his experiment after seeing that his magic chords had been depleted of energy.
Since Saleen now understood the defense mechanisms of the sword aura, the bronze grand swordmaster was no longer needed. He let the next icicle pierce a hole the size of a small bowl in his captive’s lower abdomen. The residual sword aura remaining in the body of the bronze grand swordmaster, having been struck in its weak point, immediately flew out of control. In an instant, his internal organs were torn to shreds by the now out-of-control sword aura. Saleen sighed as he stared at the dead man that laid before him.
Thanks to the swordmaster, Saleen had been better able to grasp the workings of the sword aura. However, he knew that even if he was equipped with said knowledge, he would still lose terribly in an actual battle against warriors that had attained swordmaster status. There were just too many ways of utilizing the sword aura. More often than not, these methods were very unconventional as well. It would be too difficult to predict how they would utilize their sword auras, and thus, predicting their moves would be an uphill task as well.
Saleen held a magic nucleus and observed his magic chords as they regenerated at lightning speed. The truth of the matter was as clear as day to him. With his current strength, it would be very hard to defeat a zun grand swordmaster. Plus, once he used up all his scrolls, he would be in even more danger. Lex had warned him earlier to never be obsessed with power. However, Saleen was actually more sensitive about this subject matter than Lex. He had learned nothing from Jason, just a little too much about the rules of becoming a true mage.
Just then, Saleen heard his name being called from outside the tent, “Saleen, let’s go!” The voice belonged to none other than Lex.
She had no desire to stay here any longer. She knew the identity of the bandits as well as the mastermind behind the smuggling. Should the people from Marquis Gilya return, she did not want to be present to kill them, even if she knew they deserved it.
What Saleen had done could still be tolerated by the Gilya clan. A mage eradicating a group of bandits was not an uncommon event. However, now that Lex knew the identity of these bandits, she had to choose between two options:
One, kill them. Or two, make her presence known.
Neither of these options seemed appealing to Lex, so she had decided that it was time to leave. After calling Saleen out of the tent, Lex ordered Nailisi to put it away. She did not bother dispelling the black fog. Sika, accompanied by eight horses, approached them. The group of four, no longer caring about the group of merchants, mounted their horses and sped off towards the east.
This time, Lex did not control the speed of the horses. The four of them switched horses every hour and had already covered a distance of nearly two hundred miles by sunset. However, even with the help of magic, the eight horses were too tired to carry any loads by the end of the two hundred mile journey.
Alas, even though they had sped up, they were not at the town they had wanted to go to. The horses were too exhausted to move, and walking was not an option either. The four of them realized that they would have to camp out in the woods once again.
After arranging a simple magic array to protect the eight war horses, Lex placed a few magic traps and magic alarms outside of their camp before joining the others in preparing food beside a bonfire like ordinary mercenaries would do.
In the northern part of the empire, the nights were always cold, even during the summer. Tonight was no different. In fact, if it had rained earlier, this place would have been a bit chilly by now. Mages were able to adapt to all climates as long as they had their magic chords with them. Sika, meanwhile, was not afraid of the cold. Even deep into winter, she would still go outdoors wearing clothes that exposed her lower abdomen. As for Nailisi, because she was an imp, the Myers Mainland’s natural environment was like heaven to her.
If anyone had come close enough, they likely would have been scratching their heads in confusion at the sight before them – a group of three girls and one boy wearing starkly different outfits. Nailisi was dressed in clothing made of the fur of a Pixiu; Sika was decked in armor from head to toe; Saleen was wearing a simple mage robe, and Lex was wearing her rainbow-colored robe. Not only would any onlookers have witnessed their outrageous clothes, they would also have gotten to see them huddle around a bonfire started from pure magic medicine, not wood.
The stars were glowing beautifully in the night sky. As Lex hummed a tune and watched Nailisi prepare food over the magic flame, she gradually became more cheerful. She could get used to a life like this.