Ximengsi Continent’s southern region, Adelaide Kingdom’s strategic border town, Atad
Because Franconia Empire and Adrian Empire were at war, this area had become Franconia Empire’s rear, entrusted with logistics and supply lines. Clyde led Steinbeck Fief’s 10,000 or so troops to Atad, thereby forcing Franconia Empire’s army at the frontline to withdraw.
Adelaide Kingdom’s army defending Atad had over 20,000 people. The commander, Earl Harrison, was proficient at defensive warfare. With the defense works of the city and superiority in military strength, wishing to forcibly break through Atad City’s defense lines with just 10,000 or so troops under Clyde seemed a dream. Not counting Clyde, it would be very difficult to break into the city without catapults and Magic Chemical Cannons since the army of Steinbeck Fief was still imperfect. It greatly lacked archers as they had very few decent bows and crossbows.
Clyde successfully entered Atad by himself under the guise of a merchant by relying on Augusta Empire’s honorary citizen medal to fool the guards. Through a combination of monetary policies and successful governing, this city had flourished at the border of Adelaide. Even before the war had broken out, this place had been one of Adelaide Kingdom’s important trading centers. In fact, the tax income derived from this place accounted for one-third of Adelaide Kingdom’s entire finances. If something happened to Atad, then the destructive effects would result in subsequent heavy damage to the entire Adelaide Kingdom.
Adelaide Kingdom was a close neighbor of Steinbeck Fief, and the only nation that had not been hit hard among the Clark Alliance nations around Steinbeck Fief since it had been the most cautious. Since they had already defeated Kruft Kingdom and Cromwell Principality before, as long as Adelaide Kingdom was also defeated, the surroundings of Steinbeck Fief would foreseeably experience a long segment of peace. The war against Adelaide Kingdom was unavoidable; those wise men might even had said that it had been destined from the very beginning.
Earl Harrison was Adelaide Kingdom’s King Halid the Second’s cousin. Relying on this blood relationship, he was able to obtain the governing rights of Atad, this important territory. This was a cushy job, and his regular income and black market income combined was definitely more than most of the other Suzerains of Adelaide Kingdom. The direct evidence of this could be found through a simple examination of Earl Harrison’s residence. The size of Earl Harrison’s residence was comparable to Adelaide Kingdom’s imperial palace; in addition, it was built in accordance with the specifications of an imperial palace.
After Halid the Second had inherited the throne, he had excessively indulged this cousin. If other kings were in his place, they wouldn’t have allowed Suzerains under them to build their respective residences to be comparable to their own imperial palace since that could already be regarded as a rebellion to a certain extent.
Clyde walked on the streets of Atad, quietly observing the crowds walking back and forth. He saw many merchants engaging in all sorts of trades, but he didn’t pay them any attention. While they often dealt in under wares, ultimately, most of Clark Alliance’s merchants were slave traders. Merchants who focused solely on non-slavery-based merchandise were relatively small in proportion to the others. Clyde had no slaves in his hands; thus, he pretended to be a treasure trader. Relying on Lamina Dynasty’s treasures that he had borrowed from Cursed Queen Lafania and her younger sister Nightmare Queen Mephis, he could convince everyone that he was a truly high-up treasure trader with goods that far exceeded the average.
Clark Alliance practiced slavery. The purchase and sale of slaves in member nations was open and legal. On the streets, slave trading could be seen everywhere. The pedestrian walking to-and-fro had long been accustomed to this. No one had any thoughts about watching slave trades. All along the way, Clyde saw slaves, both men and women, wearing coarse cloths, ready to be traded, everywhere on the street.
Slaves traded on the streets were the lowest grade of slaves. They were often treated as hard laborers. If one wished to buy higher-grade slaves, one had to go to the slave shops along the street. The windows and doors of these slave shops were covered with black cloth. Basically, the circumstances inside couldn’t be seen from the outside. These shops traded mid-grade slaves. For every trade, all stealthily entered from the entrance door, so this strange scene made Clyde think that these places conducted illegal underground trades.
For high-grade slaves, one had to participate in an auction at Atad’s Auction House. However, Clyde had come to investigate the war situation, not to trade. After watching the bustling for a while, he decisively discarded any thoughts of visiting the slave-trading shops. The important task now was to confirm the position of Atad’s Suzerain Earl Harrison as well as the specific layout of the troops defending the city wall so as to figure out the correct direction for a subsequent attack by Steinbeck Fief’s army.
“Is there no decent treasure here? Really, you claim your shop to be over a hundred years old! Like this, it’s too disappointing!”
“Big Sister Halisi, after returning, I will ask my old man to close down this shop. Truly making us make a fruitless trip…”
“Eh, Princess Halisi, Miss Vignia, this shop truly is over a hundred years old. Merely…”
A clamor emerging from the roadside attracted Clyde’s attention. At a well-decorated antique shop that sold various kinds of treasures, a pair of beautiful women were raising a commotion. Whether this shop was truly one hundred years old or not was unclear, but looking at the old shop’s brick and tile structure, anyone could tell it was truly old. Compared to the slave trading shops all around, this antique shop was like a clear stream.
In the antique shop, two ladies with guards kicked up a row. The owner of this antique shop scowled miserably while explaining his position together with an attendant, hoping he could satisfy these two ladies. Otherwise, they might truly be unable to keep their shop.
The ladies making such a noise in the antique shop were Princess Halisi, the daughter of Adelaide Kingdom’s King Halid the Second, as well as Miss Vignia, the golden daughter of Atad City’s Suzerain Earl Harrison. Both of them were existences that this shopkeeper couldn’t afford to offend. Princess Halisi was fine since her tone at least had some room for negotiation, but Miss Vignia, however, was different. She was truly a standard unruly Miss with a bad temper.
Clyde looked on from outside the antique shop. Those two ladies were objectively beautiful, judging from their attractiveness indexes. He couldn’t help but take a few more glances at them. Princess Halisi was a light blue-haired beauty with light blue pupils. With a blue magic robe embroidered by a light blue colored six-edged star logo and wave pattern, her clothes proved she was a water magician. According to the rank suggested by her clothes, she should be an Advanced Magician.
Vignia was a red-haired beauty with similarly colored pupils. She had tied her hair in a single ponytail. She was also a magician, wearing a fiery red magic robe with a crimson-colored six-edged star and flame pattern, clearly stating that she was a fire magician. Her rank was an Intermediate Magician, a rank lower than Princess Halisi’s. The difference in the profession’s ranks could be discerned from their symbolic patterns. Princess Halisi had a full wave pattern while Vignia had a flame, nothing more. Once her pattern advanced to become raging flames, she would also become an Advanced Magician like Princess Halisi.
Magicians had the capital to be proud. The number of magicians among the Human Race on Ximengsi Continent was very low. To become a magician, one needed a large amount of money. Unless one had outstanding talent, common people could never advance as magicians. Only aristocrats and the wealthy had the necessary financial resources. Princess Halisi and Vignia clearly belonged to this latter group and had used financial resources to cultivate rather than depending on hard work or talent.
Princess Alyssa who Clyde had seen before was also a water magician. Like Princess Halisi, she was also a blue-haired beauty. The only difference was that one had dark blue hair, and the other had light blue hair. Clyde later learned that these two princesses also knew each other as they had been compatriots at school when they had studied together at a certain magic academy. Merely, they had schoolmate friendship, which just existed in the academy and nonexistent outside the school gates.
Princess Halisi still maintained an aloof state, letting Vignia beside her make trouble. Vignia’s guards were all armed and had postures of wanting to destroy this shop. The antique shop’s owner looked deathly pale. This inheritance of a hundred years was about to be destroyed in one day. From the gossiping of the surrounding crowds, Clyde roughly understood this matter.
As it turned out, a few days later just happened to be Earl Harrison’s birthday as well as the wedding day of the Earl’s son, Hal; it could be described as having two happy events at the same time. In order to congratulate them, Vignia thought to purchase some, and together with Princess Halisi, who had come representing the king, she came to this antique shop to buy some treasures. Because the magicians’ eyes and knowledge were high, even after the owner had taken out the best treasure of this shop, these two ladies had been left unsatisfied, so this farce had appeared.
Allegedly, this was the fifth unlucky antique shop. There were already four antique shops that had encountered the tragic fate of being forced to completely close down and wouldn’t be able to reopen their shops within the foreseeable future. If this antique shop also collapsed, then Atad wouldn’t have any other antique shops. The owners of the antique shops all had long faces. In former days, during such celebrations, all had sent slaves as gifts, but this year, no one knew what had happened, but treasures had been decided to be given as gifts. This caught them unprepared and basically left them without sufficient stock.
“There really isn’t anything suitable. Vignia, deal with this; this is your family’s territory.”
“No problem, Big Sister Halisi! Why are you all still standing here? Quickly start working!”
“Your Excellency the Princess Halisi, Miss Vignia, show mercy! Give this old man a little more time. I assure…”
“Boss, can you appraise my treasures. All the other antique shops are closed. Only yours is left.”
Just as the footmen of Miss Vignia were about to make a move on the antique shop, Clyde calmly entered the antique shop and pretended to be someone asking the shopkeeper to appraise a relic. When this crowd saw someone had interrupted them, they wanted to take up arms and beat that fellow, but upon seeing the honorary citizen medal on Clyde’s body, they didn’t dare to act randomly. They couldn’t afford to offend an important merchant of Augusta Empire.
Upon seeing the person who had interrupted them was a handsome young man, Princess Halisi and Miss Vignia who had originally been on the verge of berating this interloper swallowed all their words. The merchants of Augusta Empire couldn’t truly be pushed around. An ordinary merchant would have been fine, but Clyde’s honorary citizen medal had Princess Ophelia’s seal, proving that he belonged to Princess Ophelia’s faction. As princesses of a kingdom, they didn’t dare to offend people who had any connection with Princess Ophelia.
“Guest, please wait a moment. The inspection room is here.”
The antique shop’s owner pointed toward the treasure inspecting area as if clutching onto the last straw. When walking about, Clyde deliberately revealed the treasure of his bosom, letting Halisi and Vignia see it. The two beauties immediately sunk into a dazed state. They were experienced and knowledgeable. In addition, they had studied a lot of treasures, but they were unable to see through what the treasure in Clyde’s hand was.
Princess Halisi and Miss Vignia subconsciously followed behind Clyde and entered the treasure inspection area. Those subordinates had to temporarily wait outside for their master’s instructions. The crisis of this antique shop being closed down was brought to a temporary halt.
