Chapter 796 - The Anxious Goddesses
Chapter 796 The Anxious Goddesses
Ro-What’s his name?
Roland?
Hearing the name, Stephanie remembered the content of her journals again. At this moment, she didn’t quite remember Roland. There was still a special power that prevented her from recalling her dreams.
However, with the help of the journals, she knew what the name represented.
“Has he come from the dreams?” Stephanie seemed rather delighted. Then, she bit her lip worriedly. “Who is he here for? Anna, or all of us?”
Even though she was a queen, Stephanie was just the same as any woman.
Most women tended to be sensitive. The more they cared about something, the more sensitive they could be.
It was their nature that couldn’t be denied.
Even Andonara, who was as powerful as a Demigod, couldn’t get rid of her nature.
“He’s indeed here for us,” replied Lady Bluebird casually.
“Then, he stayed for a month in your manor?” Stephanie looked Lady Bluebird up and down and said jealously, “No wonder your skin got so much better.”
Lady Bluebird was quite considerate. She voluntarily came close and grabbed Stephanie’s hand, before she said, “Your Majesty, he was wounded. It took him a month to treat himself. He asked me to inform you the moment he recovered.”
Stephanie finally felt better after hearing that.
According to her journals, Roland was already a Demigod in her dreams.
If such a strong man was wounded in the main plane, whoever hurt him must be related to the gods and goddesses.
It would’ve been irresponsible if Lady Bluebird had informed other people of his arrival before he recovered.
After all, he could hardly take care of himself back then. If the news was revealed, the enemy might come to him.
Just like that, Stephanie convinced herself.
She nodded and said, “Okay, I’m going to your manor to talk with you. It’s been a long time since we had afternoon tea.”
Lady Bluebird smiled delightedly. “Indeed… You’re more than welcome.”
Then, Stephanie dressed up. She even put on the lingerie that Roland particularly liked in her dreams.
It always took time for women to change. By the time Stephanie met Roland, four hours had already passed.
Before they met each other, Stephanie was rather worried.
Because of the memory blockage, she only knew Roland from the words she wrote; she didn’t have any real feelings.
She had been worried that she might be disappointed to meet Roland, or that Roland might despise her after seeing her.
However, after she met Roland, all her worries were gone.
A lot of memories from the dreams flashed back. After being stunned for two minutes, she walked to Roland with a charming smile and scratched Roland’s chin majestically. “You left me alone in this world for almost seven years. Do you plead guilty for disrespecting the crown?”
For Roland, he had only been away from Stephanie for a month. Hearing that, he laid his hand on her hip and asked, “Yes, I do! How are you going to punish me?”
“Do what you must.” Stephanie raised her chin rather proudly. Then, he did what he must.
The queen didn’t have a morning audience the next day.
At noon, Roland, Stephanie, and Lady Bluebird had lunch at the dinner table.
It was actually brunch, as they had gotten up too late.
“Roland, are you here to take us away?” asked Stephanie.
Roland nodded.
“Can you stay?” asked Stephanie hopefully. “You’re probably used to our life here, but we might not be used to your life on the other side. After all, the dreams seemed to be based on our world.”
“I want to stay too, but my world needs me.” Roland then briefed them on what Ma Huajun had told him earlier. “Even the gods on our side aren’t confident of winning the war. As a soldier that has been specifically trained, we wouldn’t stand any chance of winning if I don’t go back.”
Stephanie sighed. “Okay.”
She knew what a responsible man Roland was.
Besides, it was a matter that concerned her people. Badgering him with love would be pointless.
Even if he stayed, he probably would be pained by the choice for the rest of his life.
“I don’t plan to force you to come with us. The war is dangerous, after all.” Roland’s eyes wandered between the two women. “But I do hope that you can come with me.”
“I understand. So, the final decision is ours.”
“Yes.”
Thinking for a moment, Stephanie said, “Then, when are you going to leave?”
“I don’t know yet, but it will take a while, because I have to rebuild the floating city.” Roland looked at Stephanie and said, “I hope that you can give me the mines of hard rocks in Aipinte.” “That’s the Northern Lion Marquis’s territory.” Stephanie thought for a moment and smiled. “I can introduce you to each other, but you’ll have to convince him yourself.”
Staring at Stephanie’s beautiful eyes, Roland said, “Thank you. I can’t help Anna for now. If I dare to show up, the Life Goddess will be after me. I have to lay low for a while, so you’ll have to take care of many things for me.”
“No problem.” Stephanie licked her lips. “All you have to do is to work harder.”
Having refrained for years, Stephanie was finally able to relax.
Lady Bluebird blushed as she listened to their conversation.
Northern Lion was a title suggesting that the family lived in the north and was as ferocious as lions.
Aipinte wasn’t too close to the royal family. They usually kept a friendly distance from each other.
So, when a low-key Mage approached the Northern Lion Lord with a secret order from the royal family, the lord was quite confused.
“Sorry, Mr. Mage, but I’ve never heard of you.” The Northern Lion Lord was handsome and had the vibe of a gentleman, but his eye bags were saggy, indicating that he must’ve had as much fun as Roland did although his body wasn’t as strong. “But the secret order is real. So, I’m quite curious; has the royal family sent you to talk us into joining their side?”
The queen was qualified as a ruler.
Still, she wasn’t politically mature, so the royal family’s influence wasn’t too high. Roland shook his head. “The royal family simply offered a chance for us to meet. I’m here to negotiate a deal with you, sir.”
“What kind of deal?”.
“I want the hard rock mines on your territory.”
“How many mines are we talking about?”
“All of them!”
The Northern Lion Lord was stupefied for a moment, then he burst into laughter. “My friend, that’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard. One-fourth of my dominion is a plain, one-fourth is a forest, and the rest are hard rock mines. You want all of them? Do you want me to cede half of my territory to you? Are you here to rob me of my power on behalf of the royal family?”
The Northern Lion Lord already became quite cold, if not aggressive, as he talked.
“My lord, don’t get angry.” Roland waved his hands. “I only want the hard rock mines, not your territory. I will only be mining.”
“Just mining?” The Northern Lion Lord finally looked better.
“Yes, just mining,” replied Roland casually.
“Even though the hard rocks aren’t very valuable, do you know how big half of my territory is?”
Roland replied with a smile, “I think I do.”
It was almost as big as a province in reality.
“No matter how cheap something is, it may be extremely costly if the stock is huge enough.” The Northern Lion Lord snorted. “What does the royal family intend to pay for the mining rights?”
“Not the royal family; I’m making the deal with you as an individual.” Roland thought for a moment and said, “I’m told that the Northern Lion family is valiant yet short of excellent equipment. You have the money, but you can’t find a seller.”
The Northern Lion Lord nodded. “That’s true. But even if the fine equipment of the royal guards is to be given to my soldiers, that won’t be enough to buy out one-third of the mines.”
“But what if I’m selling magic equipment?”
The Northern Lion Lord was dazed for a moment. Then his eyes glittered. “What did you say? Magic equipment?” If a merchant had said the same, the Northern Lion Lord wouldn’t have been convinced. He would even have the merchant driven away from his castle.
However, when a Mage offered that, it sounded much more believable.
Roland waved his right hand, and a set of armor and an iron spear appeared on the ground.
Both pieces of equipment emitted the vague brilliance of magic. Roland had reconstructed a Mystra’s Mansion in this world recently.
The spell could help him evade the detection of most enemies.
However, Roland estimated that the Life Goddess could probably find him if she noticed traces.
After all, this Life Goddess was much stronger than Roland had anticipated.
She was at least two ranks higher than Elyse in the game.
“What are these?”
The Northern Lion Lord stepped up and skillfully swung the spear. Then, he easily stabbed the spear into the stone wall.
He plucked the spear out without resistance.
“Very sharp,” remarked the Northern Lion Lord casually.
He was a professional Warrior too. Although he was just level four, he was much stronger than ordinary people, and his eyes were very keen.
Roland explained, “Sharpness and Firmness are cast upon the spear. Even if the spear is hit by a regular weapon, nothing but a dent will be left on it.”
The Northern Lion Lord tried twisting the spear and found that it was indeed hard. Then, he looked at the set of black armor worn by a wooden dummy. He waved at a solder nearby.
The soldier smartly gave him a long sword. After that, the Northern Lion Lord held the sword with both hands and performed the Northern Lion Sword Technique… which was no different from random slashing.
After the crazy slashing, the wooden dummy inside the armor was almost shattered, but the armor itself only had a dozen sword marks and wasn’t really ruined.
A level-four Warrior was actually quite strong.
If he couldn’t really destroy the armor after slashing at it for a minute, the common soldiers on the battlefield certainly couldn’t.
This set of equipment could definitely be sold for three gold coins.
A lot of people would be fighting for it.
“Can you provide such equipment on a large scale?” The Northern Lion Lord gazed at Roland.
Roland replied with a smile, “It’s my standard equipment. I’ve manufactured some of it. If you’re willing to negotiate, you can get the goods very soon.”
What was most important to a lord?
Four elements.
Tax, soldiers, weaponry, and peasants. They were the foundation of a family.
Thinking for a moment, the Northern Lion Lord said, “I have too many hard rock mines on my territory. You’re going to have to give me an appropriate price for them.”
“How many do you think will be appropriate?”
The Northern Lion Lord thought for a long time and struggled to say, “A thousand sets.’
He struggled because he too thought that his demand was too high.
Indeed, his territory had the most hard rock mines, but it didn’t mean that other lords didn’t have any.
If this Mage was willing to talk to them, some lords would be willing to make a reasonable offer.
However, everybody was greedy, and it was natural that the Northern Lion Lord wanted more. His minimum requirement was actually just five hundred sets.
Roland thought for a moment and said, “My lord, you are a great businessman… but I’m fine with it. I can even offer you another hundred sets, as long as you promise me something else.” “What is it?”
“Can you purchase magic materials? You’ll pay for them, and the additional hundred sets of equipment are for your hard work and to reimburse you for the materials. Don’t worry, the materials won’t cost you much.”
Hearing that, the Northern Lion Lord instantly smiled. “Yes, of course.”
He’d be stupid if he were to refuse such easy money.
In the Paradise of Magic, however, Mystra was completely dumbfounded.
She had been searching for Roland through all means possible recently.
She used divination and benedictions.
She knew a thing or two about fate too, and she used the anchoring spells relating to fate.
However, she didn’t find any trace of Roland.
Not at all.
It almost felt like the man had never existed.
She estimated that it was probably because Roland wasn’t from this world.
At this moment, a plume of smoke rose next to her and turned into a beautiful black-haired woman.
“Have you found Roland?” asked Mystra earnestly. “Any leads?”
Sophie shook her head. “His soul isn’t in the Netherworld. I used the Soul Attraction Technique but there was no reaction.”
Mystra frowned. “I used it too. In the dreams, I could lock onto his soul, but his soul doesn’t exist right now.”
Sophie’s face was still cold, but she talked much faster. “Did the Goddess of Light lie to US?
“That’s impossible. The Goddess of Light couldn’t have lied. She’s on our side.”
“Then… did something happen to Roland?” Sophie bit her lip.
Mystra’s face became pale. “If that’s so, I’m going to kill the Goddess of Life.”