Wizards: Starting as a Potions Master!

Chapter 267 Meeting with the Duke of Salonica

After exchanging greetings with the Rost family, Su Nan purchased a new villa and a manor in the inner city of Stormwind Keep.

That afternoon, in the evening, he received some news.

The Storm Royal Family and the Storm Church, under the guidance of several high-ranking members of the royal family and church, jointly verified King Barry's identity and confirmed that he was indeed the king and that his perception was correct.

Old Frank secretly sided with the cultists, slaughtered all the priests of the Lavia Church, and slandered the king, so he was imprisoned in the Storm Church prison.

Because he was a high priest, he was not subject to trial by the royal court, but only by the church court. Therefore, how to deal with him would have to wait for further internal church discussions.

Inside the new manor villa, Su Nan tapped his fingers on the desk while simultaneously organizing the books from the Capital Library that had been moved into his room in his study.

And the AI ​​was instructed to use the usable information from these books to accelerate the development of a new potion to enhance mental power.

This sudden change in the situation proves that the blind king's arrangements in Stormhold are more extensive than he thought, and that some of them may have already infiltrated the Storm royal family or the high-ranking members of the Storm Church.

I just don't know who it is.

However, it's not a big problem. Anyway, with me here, that blind king won't be able to set up the 'Gate' for the completion ceremony in Stormwind Keep.

Su Nan said, "I didn't expect that even someone of Old Frank's status couldn't change the current situation."

"interesting."

In the midst of the wolf pack effect, Su Nan asked Wolf Three if he had discovered any wizarding relics left behind by the Golden Wizard, but Wolf Three had not yet found anything.

Su Nan said to Robert, who was standing outside the door, "Robert, go and inform Warwick to prepare to go to the Rost family's manor."

This is the inner city patrol officer from yesterday. After discovering that his villa was on fire, Earl Rost invited him to come over.

……

In the council chamber of Stormwind Keep's palace, after King Barry finished discussing the latest national policies and how to deal with the raiding Bulgars and Nicomedia Empires with his ministers, he dismissed them. Then, his pupils suddenly turned completely black, and he laughed at the empty council chamber.

"So, being a king in the mortal realm isn't such a bad thing after all."

"As long as you don't care about the opinions of your subjects, no matter how powerful you are as a king, you can do whatever you want."

"Blind monk, the blind king sent me to help. Who knew that in the past few nights, two of our strongholds have been destroyed, resulting in heavy losses of sorcerers? If the 'gate' hadn't been opened, the sorcerers lost these past few days alone would have been enough to cripple our High Order. What exactly are you doing?"

"If I hadn't stepped in to help you, we might have even lost our throne."

The blind monk emerged from a corner of the council chamber and addressed him, saying, "As for the one who governs the dead, I do accept your questioning of me."

"I didn't expect that at this time, a formal wizard who is hostile to us would enter Stormwind Keep. I'm working hard to deal with it, and I've reinforced the manpower at every one of our strongholds inside Stormwind Keep."

King Barry sneered, "Formal wizards are indeed troublesome, but even if one were to enter the capital now, it wouldn't matter much. Should I make a move? If I do, death could befall that formal wizard at any moment."

The blind monk whispered, "Not for now."

"If you make a move, it will easily alert the hidden Divine Knights and Saints within the Church of Storms. Although that Saint should have already fallen into our King's trap and is now seriously injured, old and frail, unable to move."

"I will handle this matter."

The blind monk said, "I have already begun to nurture Leviathan within my Rubik's Cube. Leviathan is about to take shape. Furthermore, a five-star sorcerer has appeared by my side—a sorcerer equivalent to a formal wizard. And because sorcerers are effective against wizards, a sorcerer of the same level will certainly be stronger than a wizard of the same level."

"This is common sense that we have learned from our past experiences."

"My power has also begun to recover to the level of a first-circle wizard. Sunan Peter only gained some initial advantage. From now on, he will no longer be a threat."

King Barry nodded somewhat helplessly. "Don't you believe in my power? Or don't you believe... that I am indeed on your side? Is it because of my past identity?"

"Heh, I have long since abandoned the pantheon of order."

"Never mind, we already have a great advantage. As long as I am the king, I can access many secular resources."

"I've already sent people to restrict that wizard's movements."

"Blind monk, get the situation back under control in Stormwind Keep as soon as possible."

……

Inside the Rost family manor, Su Nan discovered that, in addition to himself, there were eleven barons and three earls gathered there, and even the Duke of Thessaloniki was present.

Everyone was gathered around a table in the manor's reception room.

Everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts.

When the Duke of Thessaloniki saw Su Nan and Earl Rost enter together, he greeted Su Nan in a friendly manner as if he had never had any previous animosity towards him, nodding and saying, "Earl Peter has also arrived."

"That's great. The Peter family is a powerful family in the central part of the Storm Kingdom. They even have the full support of Bishop Borgia of the Achaia Diocese, and a powerful city like Maple Leaf City."

"Even the Bulgars have to give Count Peter some face."

Sunan could tell that the Duke of Thessaloniki was genuinely pleased to see him.

The duke was an elderly man in his sixties, with anger and weariness still lingering in his eyes.

He was probably exhausted by King Barry's bizarre actions lately, and he couldn't even understand all of King Barry's behavior.

Su Nan nodded to the Duke and the others, and took his seat. He didn't speak immediately, as he wanted to first observe the purpose of this secret gathering of high-ranking nobles for a tea party.

The Duke of Thessaloniki, taking the initiative to continue the topic that had been discussed before Su Nan arrived, said: "That greenhorn of a king has recently been investigating all the taxes and population taxes of my territory over the past fifty-eight years, and even believes that the city walls of my family's residence city are higher than a certain standard."

"He demanded that I demolish the city wall. I don't understand why he keeps provoking me so persistently, no matter how many ways I offer him, he won't take them."

"Especially under these circumstances of internal and external troubles."

Earl Rost continued, "The King also sent a commoner tax collector to investigate some of my family's businesses, believing that some of them did not comply with the kingdom's laws. To be honest, some of these businesses do not stand up to scrutiny, but everyone already knew about their existence... It's not like the King's own family hasn't done it before."

Many nobles also joined the conversation, complaining that King Barry and his royal council officials had recently been making things difficult for their families on some “trivial” issues.

Interestingly, Count Tuval was also here.

When Su Nan entered, the three servants behind Count Tuval, all dressed in black sun-protective trench coats, looked at him.

For a fleeting moment, their pupils transformed into the unique pupils of vampires.

Moreover, Su Nan discovered that all of these vampire servants had wolfsbane in their bodies, and Count Tuval had also become a vampire and had wolfsbane in his body as well.

In other words, if he hadn't intervened, the Tuval family would have been effectively dismantled and sided with the blind king after the count turned into a vampire.

It seems that Ron the vampire is quite efficient.

Count Tuval looked at Su Nan, his throat bobbing. Su Nan thought that Su Nan had originally attended this meeting with the intention of infiltrating, but now, things were different.

The special wolfsbane I gave them would take effect on moonlit nights.

That will be incredibly painful.

Su Nan looked at Count Tuwar and said with a smile, "Count Tuwar, why do you like to wear black sun protection clothing, cloaks and hoods when you go out lately?"

Count Tuval bowed his head to Sunan, avoiding direct eye contact. "You jest. It's just been hot lately."

Duke Thessalonian looked at Sunan and Earl Tuval with a puzzled expression. It was winter, yet Stormwind Keep was not hot at all.

However, the Duke felt there was no need to say anything more on this matter.

So he spoke up, saying, "Gentlemen, I've heard that the King is currently vying for power with the Archbishop and fighting with the Grand Chancellor, Cavendish Houston, who graduated from the University of the Capital. He also seems to fear us nobles. Only this can explain all his actions."

"I suggest that we unite to fight against the king's tyranny."

The Earl of Houston immediately replied, "That is precisely why I have come to participate in this event, obeying my father's orders. My father wants to launch a small-scale coup before King Barry convenes the National Council of Nobles."

"Completely sideline the king and eliminate the treacherous officials around him!"

"Now that we have the help of the Duke and Count Peter, powerful local nobles, I think our chances of success are very high."

Although they are both counts and dukes, their connotations are completely different.

Both Sunan and the Duke of Salonica were powerful local nobles, while the Earl of Houston was merely an honorary earldom of the court. He received some royal and state honors because his father was the Grand Chancellor, and he only had some scattered estates.

They are not even as powerful as some barons.

The same applies to the Earl of Rost family, except that it's just an honorary title.

However, the Tuval Earl family is an exception. This family has always been a powerful family and is one of the most powerful traditional noble forces in the capital, apart from the Grand Chancellor Cavendish Houston.

Upon hearing about the proposed small-scale coup, the Duke of Thessaloniki's eyes flickered, and then he surprisingly said, "I think this is a bit excessive. I believe we can use legal means to let the king purge the treacherous officials around him himself."

Su Nan looked at the Duke of Thessaloniki and knew why he had refused. The reason was that this guy was planning to let the king incur public wrath for a while longer, so he could legitimately become the new king himself.

He must have had nothing better to do than to willingly join a conspiracy that has no meaning for him at this time.

He came here simply to say a few more bad things about the king.

Su Nan himself didn't want to get involved in this matter. "The Peter family will remain neutral."

The Duke of Thessaloniki nodded in agreement with Sunan and said, "Count Sunan, we hit it off immediately. There must have been many misunderstandings between us before."

"But now I've discovered that our personalities are really compatible."

Su Nan realized that the Duke wanted to win him over, so he gave him a perfunctory smile.

Indeed, if the Duke wants to become king, he must win over a group of high-ranking nobles to support him.

The current Peter family is one that the Duke covets and wants to bring into his own camp.

Upon hearing that the two local nobles were not prepared to participate in the coup, Houston's eyes dimmed somewhat, but there was nothing he could do, after all, he could not offend Sunan and the Duke.

Sunan and the Duke have now fully acquired the means to be independent.

After all, the Storm Kingdom is essentially a fragmented kingdom.

Even if the king went mad, he could only wield his power within Stormwind Keep. Su Nan and the other two simply returned to their camp, locked themselves in, and became local tyrants.

Su Nan, on the other hand, felt that as a wizard, there was no need for him to get involved in the intrigues and politics among the nobles.

During the day, he collects books and calculates new magic and mental enhancement formulas; at night, he hunts for sorcerer bloodlines.

At the same time, the AI ​​provided feedback and completed two calculations.

The improvements to the Wilderness Spell, a summoning spell specific to the first-circle conjuration school, are complete. It can now be paired with wolves to become the first-circle Wolf Pack Origin Spell.

[A new mental power enhancement formula has been completed, and one part of it has been deduced: "The Warlock's Blood Elixir." The key ingredient is the blood essence of a warlock of three stars or higher.]

[We are currently attempting to deduce a first-level mental enhancement potion recipe that does not require warlock bloodline.]

Su Nan secretly ordered the AI, "Initiate the work of deciphering the monk's Rubik's Cube."

Su Nan realized that the monk's cube was not just something the blind monk used to summon an army and give power to the demon hunters.

Its essence is very special, seemingly involving the source of power of blind monks.

If one can analyze it, one can easily subdue the blind monk. Moreover, one can obtain his power to strengthen one's werewolf army.

Su Nan said a few words casually, and then took his leave before the secret gathering ended.

(End of this chapter)