Fulilian: The Little Master Who Doesn't Understand Love

Chapter 270 The Abnormalities of the Southern Empire

The oppressive atmosphere of the Royal Palace of El was completely different from that of the Imperial Palace of the Southern Unified Empire.

In particular, a garden located in the heart of the kingdom, bathed in sunshine and adorned with various exotic flowers and plants, resembled a meticulously maintained garden, completely devoid of any trace of a power center.

Lord frequently visited the palace to discuss matters concerning the Magic Association with Fidel. Fidel would never receive him in the main hall, but instead chose a small pavilion in the garden, which seemed more casual and intimate.

Of course, this is also a better place to discuss topics that are not suitable for outsiders to hear.

Hot tea and delicate pastries were laid out on the stone table. Fidel deliberately dismissed all the maids and personally poured tea for the black-haired youth opposite him.

That black-haired youth was none other than Lord.

Although from Fidel's perspective, Lord was merely the apprentice of Lady Celie, he had no need to maintain such a humble attitude towards him.

But for some reason, Fidel could always sense a subtle but powerful aura emanating from this excessively young man.

He couldn't quite describe the specific aura he felt; it was just a vague sense of awe.

Moreover, putting aside that feeling, the fact that the other party could make decisions for Celie alone was enough to warrant Fidel personally pouring her tea.

"Mr. Ad, thank you again for your and Lady Celie's help to the Kingdom of El."

With genuine gratitude, Fidel said, "The Magic Association not only imparts knowledge selflessly, but also does not restrict where its students go. This magnanimity is truly admirable."

Lord took the teacup and nodded slightly.

To be honest, I'm really not used to hearing His Majesty the Emperor call me Ade all the time. Besides, do I really need to hide my identity now?
Lord thought about it and realized that there really wasn't one.

“Your Majesty flatters me. However, there is something I need to tell you. My real name is not Ade, but Lord.”

"Lord!?" Fidel's mouth dropped open.

Like most people, Fidel immediately saw Lord as someone with the same name as the god-slayer in history.

"I never expected that Lord Lord would share the same name as that Godslayer, and that he would be taken as a disciple by Lady Celia. Is this a strange arrangement of fate?"

Lord shook his head slightly. Sure enough, apart from a few people, most believed that they were just people with the same name.

Forget it, he was too lazy to correct it anyway. Even if he exposed his identity, it wouldn't do him any good other than making Fidel more respectful.

The Magic Association has been established, and Fidel has indeed provided the greatest assistance; for the time being, there is no need for him to do anything more.

It's not too late to reveal your identity if you need to use them again in the future.

But then, Lord was about to give Fidel a little lecture about his ancestral comrades.

"Indeed, but the smooth operation of the Magic Association is also inseparable from His Majesty's support, and Celia is very grateful for His Majesty's help."

Lord once again began to play the role of Celie's prized student, his words and actions were just right, leaving no room for criticism.

Fidel smiled, seemingly unconcerned about Lord's earlier act of calling Seria by her first name, and changed the subject, a shadow falling over his smile: "If we're talking about thanks, it should be me who's thanking you."

After all, the situation on the mainland is developing in a different direction now. He sighed softly, his gaze drifting to the flowerbeds outside the pavilion, as if organizing his thoughts.

“Lord Lord, you have spent many years studying under Lady Celie, so perhaps you haven’t paid much attention to what’s happening in the south,” Fidel said slowly, his tone becoming serious. “The emperor of that unified empire, Leggett, his recent actions have been very unusual.”

Lord paused slightly in his teacup, then looked up at Fidel: "Oh? What does Your Majesty mean?"

“Large quantities of gold and treasure, as well as a large amount of magical ores from the Southern Unified Empire, especially strategic resources such as Star Silver and Mithril, have been secretly transported to the territory of the Western Dwarf Kingdom in recent years in astonishing quantities.”

Both Star Silver and Mithril are superior materials for crafting equipment and magical items. More importantly, both can be continuously refined.

When refined to the extreme, Star Silver and Mithril are in no way inferior to legendary materials like Eternal Ore in terms of rarity.

However, due to the enormous losses and costs involved, coupled with the fact that ordinary countries simply do not have furnaces capable of continuous refining, it was mostly used as a common and rare material.

The fact that the Southern Unified Empire was transporting large quantities of Star Silver and Mithril to the Dwarven Kingdom, the only country on the continent with the technology to continuously refine these two ores, made it hard for him not to suspect something fishy going on.

Fidel lowered his voice, "My intelligence agents have confirmed it multiple times, there's no mistake. The sheer number of them is enough to empty a country's treasury, and it has even affected the normal supply of magical equipment to the Southern Unified Empire."

A flicker of surprise crossed Lord's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

He didn't care about the flow of resources between human empires; to him, those were merely worldly riches.

After all, when they killed that famous dragon from the mythical era and found mountains of treasure in its lair, they only took a small portion of it.

"The dwarves are skilled at forging all kinds of weapons, equipment, and magical items. Perhaps His Majesty the Emperor simply wants to build an elite magical army? After all, hasn't he been forming a court of mages lately?"

Lord offered a reasonable conjecture.

“At first, I thought so too.” Fidel shook his head, his brow furrowed. “But the cost was too high, far beyond reason, and such a scale of materials was somewhat superfluous just to equip an army. What puzzled me even more was the dwarves’ attitude.”

He leaned forward slightly: "Lord Lord may know that my ancestor, the Holy King Norn, was a close friend of the Dwarf King Som, and the forging of the Light of Els also benefited greatly from the help of the Dwarf race."

Lord nodded, indicating that he knew about it.

Or rather, he not only knew it, but also experienced it.

"Thanks to this connection, our country has always maintained good relations with the Dwarf Kingdom. But this time..."

Fidel's face showed obvious confusion: "I wrote letters myself and even sent envoys to try to find out Leggett's purpose from the dwarven masters."

But no matter who it was, they all kept quiet about it!
They only acknowledged receiving payment from the unified Southern Empire for a great undertaking, but refused to reveal a single word of the details.

The dwarves certainly value their promises, but such a level of secrecy, to the point that even our country is unaware of it, is extremely rare.

It is true that dwarves value promises and contracts, but they also have a characteristic known as greed.

Sometimes, just a few barrels of fine wine are enough to make the dwarves obediently reveal everything.

Fidel had wondered if he hadn't offered enough benefits, which was why the dwarf masters were unwilling to tell him the truth.

(End of this chapter)