[Third chapter. I'll consider four chapters tomorrow. Please count the votes. It'll be like this this month. I hope everyone's votes will allow me to persevere next month!!!]
That night, Eleanor did not sleep either. She did nothing but lay on the bed and stared at the magic patterns on the ceiling in a daze. She did not expect to impart elven magic to Salin, and even draw so many blueprints for him. These were all secrets of the Elven Plane that could not be divulged.
Of course, it was not because she liked Salin, but because Salin had taken care of her for so long, she did not want to return home to the Elven Plane.
It was also good to be by Salin's side. Back then, the marquis liked her beauty, and she was convinced by the marquis's brilliant thoughts. That was why she married this human. By Salin's side, she never revealed her true appearance. Salin took good care of her, and never mentioned anything that would make her sad.
As an elf who had lived for hundreds of years, she was much more mature than Salin. Salin's actions could not be hidden from her.
On the surface, Salin haggled over every ounce with her, wanting an equivalent exchange for everything. In reality, it was probably because he did not want her to feel pity.
After sacrificing so much, she could not return to the Elven Plane. Even her father would not forgive her. Not only did she marry a human, but she also revealed her secret to another human.
The four Elven Ancient Trees were planted. From now on, Metatlin City was her home.
If the marquis appeared alive, what should she do?
Or perhaps she was already disappointed in that man, and had a reason not to follow him. He killed his children for those women. That was enough. She did not owe him anything.
Thinking of this, Eleanor seemed to heave a sigh of relief. All this time, she had been thinking about a problem. If the marquis was not dead and suddenly appeared in front of her, given his personality, he would definitely kill Salin. The marquis would not allow a man to bring his woman with him, even if there was no intimate relationship between them.
If such a day really came, then she would be completely free. Although the marquis was powerful, he could not stop Salin's badge. She had nothing to worry about anymore. She did not need to leave …
The construction of Metatlin City continued. This time, there were many details to the construction. The basic works had long been completed. The main buildings and streets had been paved. Even the underground drainage and sewage purification plants had no loopholes. What this city needed were people, the motivation to live.
Ships from the south filled up the port every day, delivering large amounts of food, seeds, magic cores, magic materials, and ores.
To the north of Metatlin, there were a few more small towns. The ore was transported from the north, and the teams transporting the ore needed supplies along the way. According to Eleanor's plan, Salin built a sturdy castle along the river where the white stones he mined were continuously transported over.
Salin wanted to build the vicinity of Metatlin into an inviolable zone. This area was two hundred li wide and one thousand two hundred li long. Beyond 1200 li, it was impossible to farm. All that was left was a huge mine.
The equipment designed by Eleanor was also being manufactured in batches. Salin's ten main legions did not recruit people. Instead, they selected victors from the arena and constantly replenished their numbers. During this time, Salin had the Sorcerers create countless level-1 blank scrolls in preparation for signing contracts.
Salin wanted all the elites in his army to sign contracts with Metatlin City. Before signing the contract, he naturally had to verify the loyalty of the soldiers.
Rex had sent Salin a letter. She told him that every swordsman in the royal swordsman camp had to sign a contract. Even those who had served in the palace for generations had to do so. There were no exceptions.
Rex even sent Salin a sample contract. In the contract, apart from requiring the soldiers to maintain their loyalty, there were also many reciprocal obligations for the party who signed the contract.
Soldiers might have to pay with their lives in times of war. Taking care of their families was something that they had to do. Some very humane things were also written inside. For example, when necessary, a suicide squad could be formed. Those who joined the suicide squad must have descendants.
Rex told Salin about the experience of the Glücos Dynasty managing the royal swordsman. Salin then realized that it was too expensive to raise a strong and loyal army. If not for the fact that he had too many magic beast materials, he would not have been able to afford the scrolls.
An army of a hundred thousand people meant a hundred thousand level-1 scrolls. Fortunately, this scroll would not fail at all, and the material requirements were not high. The number of magic beasts in the sea was terrifying, but most of them did not have magic cores. The skin of these magic beasts could be used to write scrolls, and it was very easy to refine.
With the ocean as his backing, Salin did not have to worry about these low-level materials at all.
In the blink of an eye, eight months passed. The Winged Skeleton returned with the Coiled Turtle Alchemy Ship. This time, the Winged Skeleton's harvest was not as good as the last time. Without many strong people following him, he could only target the low-level magic beasts.
Fortunately, the number of red krill harvested was very large. Salin could harvest more than three hundred thousand level-four magic cores. He had promised the nobles 160,000 Monster Cores, and these 160,000 Monster Cores would be distributed at a price of 100 gold coins at most. The remaining 40,000 Monster Cores were kept by Salin for adjustment purposes.
The remaining 100,000 magic cores were simply stored by Salin.
Salin gave the Winged Skeleton the spiritual pool he had obtained and told him not to go out to sea. He wanted to refine the Coiled Turtle Alchemy Ship first. Nelis had also woken up at this time. She could not help but sleep for more than half a month before she absorbed the ability of the Undead Lord and evolved the fifth skill belonging to Luoluojialuo — Lord of the Undead.
This skill allowed Nelis to learn undead magic below level-nine and transform into the form of an undead. It had a suppressive effect on all undead below level-nine, and Nelis could also summon the undead.
There was also good news from the border. The second army of Holy Rock City had reached Jia Loulan and launched an attack with another main army, one from the south and one from the north. The main army in the north used War Puppets and destroyed more than ten cities in a row, forcing the army of the Vatican to retreat thousands of miles.
The main army in the south had attacked for almost eight hundred miles, and the situation changed instantly.
Rex sent a letter saying that because of the strong attack of these two armies, the army of the Vatican that had besieged her had to retreat to support the main army of Jia Loulan.
But the Red Tiger Mercenary Group of the Rhine Duchy refused to come. Salin was a little surprised, but then he understood. Although the Red Tiger Mercenary Group did not have two level-nine Magic Shooters, they could not take this lying down. The two Silver Sword Saints were proud and arrogant. It was said that there was still a level-eight Mage in the mercenary group. The leader of the Red Tiger Mercenary Group, with his strength greatly reduced, had developed a grudge against Salin.
Salin was not in a hurry. It would take some time to obtain the Rhine Duchy. The Vatican had suffered a defeat in Jia Loulan and would definitely think of a way to regain the victory. The Rhine Duchy was a good target for the Vatican. If the Red Tiger Mercenary Group went to the Vatican, then he would have a reason to send troops.
In mid-August, the envoy group of Holy Rock City arrived. The leader of the envoy group was Grand Duke Valder, one of the twelve Grand Dukes of Holy Rock City. The news spread in Metatlin City, and the citizens were excited.
Although Salin had already established authority in their hearts, everyone still needed the approval of Holy Rock City. After all, no one wanted to start a war with the huge empire next to them at the beginning of the kingdom's establishment.
That was what the nobles were thinking as well. They had to wait until they were strong enough to expand their territory.
The fact that Holy Rock City sent Valder meant that even Prince Sephiroth had approved of the existence of Metatlin City. Because Valder was a member of the lower house, the nobles still understood this political reasoning.
In order to receive the envoy group of Holy Rock City, Salin had already built a small palace in the north of the city as his place of governance. He would not let the people of Holy Rock City enter the temple. There were powerful Mages in the envoy group of Holy Rock City. Salin did not want to let them see anything. Because under the temple, there was not only his huge warehouse, but also a space he had prepared for drawing the interplanar teleportation formation. That was Salin's most important thing, and he could not allow any mistakes.
Salin sent two people out of the city to receive them. One was Zola, the other was Helene. The two brought the court swordsmen all the way to West Town.
Although Valder had been entrusted by His Majesty, he still looked down on Metatlin City. When they passed by Duanren Pass, it was still cleaning up the ruins and rebuilding the walls. The burned towns along the way were not finished either, and Valder saw too many broken walls. Moreover, he had brought a level-eight Magic Shooter with him this time, so Valder still felt that he was superior.
The nobles of the lower house always said that the nobles of the upper house were hypocritical, but in reality, the nobles of the upper house also felt that the nobles of the lower house were shallow. This was not without reason. If a grand duke of the upper house came, he would definitely not show arrogance on his face, and would be polite to Helene.
Helene saw Valder's expression and understood why Salin had told her not to be angry when she set off. Valder raised his nostrils to the sky, revealing a section of untrimmed nose hair, and looked at Helene.
What Valder did not expect was that Tiffany was looking at him with disdain behind him.
"Why didn't Salin come out of the city to receive us!" Valder shouted at Helene in dissatisfaction.
Helene was secretly infuriated as Jorah tugged at her sleeve and whispered a few words into her ear. Helene immediately put on a smile and urged her horse forward, but she said to the person behind Valder, "Master, my king did not know that a strong person like you would come, so he did not come out to receive you. Please forgive him."
After saying that, Helene bowed slightly to Valder. She did not even dismount from her horse. This was too light a greeting.
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