Wizards: Starting as a Potions Master!

Chapter 27 The Duke's Letter and the Exploration of the Secret Realm

Inside Baron Peter's castle, Sunan glanced at the letter that the Duke of Thessaloniki had written to Gus Pasha.

For reasons unknown, Gus Pasha actually copied his own letters to the Duke of Thessaloniki and placed them together under the floorboards of a long-unused room in his own estate.

If it weren't for the fact that the old butler Warwick was very responsible and meticulous, repeatedly checking the Pasha family's estate over the course of a month, these letters might never have been discovered.

The letters reveal that the Duke of Thessaloniki, acting as a friend and elder, constantly encouraged Gus Pasha to expand his ambitions, utilize his talents, and elevate his noble rank, saying things like, "Your abilities are not limited to this."

I hope to see you in a more significant political position.

【My friend, your family has served the Peter family for generations, but that doesn't mean it can't change in your generation. Your master, Baron Peter the Elder, is dead; you no longer need to serve a mere child. The empty loyalty of a warrior like you to that immature child—I think even the Storm God would pity you.】

Su Nan rolled his eyes. No wonder Gus Pasha's ambition was so inflated, ignoring the feudal hierarchy and wanting to replace him.

It turned out that an old man was constantly whispering and boasting in his ear.

It's not hard to guess what the Duke of Thessaloniki was thinking.

However, their aim was simply to turn the Pasha family against their cause.

But if the Pasha family were to truly replace him, their blatant acts of betrayal, or even patricide, would lead to their isolation by all the lords, leaving the Pasha family with no choice but to rely on the Duke.

This is a very obvious, overt strategy.

It's just unknown whether Gus Pasha realized this before his death.

However, it seems that the two were wary of each other, otherwise Gus Pasha would not have made copies of his own letters. Perhaps he intended to use these letters as evidence to threaten the Duke.

It is worth mentioning that in the letter, the Duke of Thessaloniki told Gus Pasha that he needed Maple Leaf Town's financial resources and therefore needed Gus Pasha to take control of Maple Leaf Town by the end of this autumn.

Because the Duke of Salonica recently recruited a large army to fight against the Butcher Chief of Bulgaria in the north, and the money for this army was borrowed from bankers of some republics on the western peninsula, and he was required to repay part of the money by the end of the autumn.

The Duke of Thessaloniki felt it would be difficult for him to repay the money on his own, so he came up with the idea of ​​exploiting the wealth of Maple Leaf Town.

Su Nan tossed the letter aside, knowing that the Duke of Thessaloniki would likely not get his way, since Su Nan couldn't possibly use his own money to fill the hole.

Even if the Duke waits until next spring, let alone the end of autumn, he will not contribute a single coin.

Su Nan thought for a moment, then frowned. "That's not right."

"The Duchy of Thessaloniki, separated from the Bulgarians by a considerable amount of territory, faces... the Bulgarians directly from Stormcastle."

"The Duke has conscripted so many troops to fight the Bulgarians? That's ridiculous. I think he has a much bigger ambition to maintain such a large army."

The Storm Kingdom, having only been established for 57 years and acquired its kingdom illegitimately, has left behind many hidden dangers.

For example, the Duchy of Salonica, while ostensibly loyal to the Storm Kingdom and part of it, is actually an independent nation.

No taxes to pay, judicial independence, administrative independence, and military independence.

Even the responsibility to defend the kingdom is only nominal.

The Storm Kingdom is like a band of robbers who swallowed up the remnants of the Eastern Empire and then divided the spoils among themselves, but the king is merely the leader of this band of robbers, and is too much of a figurehead.

Not to mention, the current Duke of Salonica is the father-in-law of the King of Storm Kingdom, and the two arranged the marriage to strengthen their alliance.

Su Nan rubbed his head, but these things had nothing to do with him.

Having now essentially unified the territory of Baron Peter, he simply wanted to digest this achievement and then continue exploring the truth.

Anyone who dares to disturb me is my enemy.

Su Nan said to the old butler, Warwick, "I understand."

"Mr. Warwick, I plan to explore the secret realm this afternoon. Could you arrange for some werewolf messengers to protect the attic and prevent it from being disturbed by outsiders, or have the new maid approach it?"

"For any urgent matters, you can contact me using the wolf pack strategy."

The old butler, Warwick, said, "Yes, young master."

Sunan finished his lunch hastily.

Now that his financial situation has improved, his lunches are much more substantial, featuring rich cream of mushroom soup, soft and delicious honey milk bread, some pork, beef and lamb, and a flavorful sauce made with chicken broth.

After finishing lunch, Su Nan returned to the attic.

With a slight thought, he rediscovered the special state he had previously used to open the secret realm, allowing his magical power to connect with it. Then, he entered the secret realm.

A full moon still hung in the sky above the secret realm, only this time it was brighter.

Meanwhile, in the wilderness filled with verbena and unidentified wildflowers, some wandering fragments of souls appeared.

This indicates that Su Nan's magical projection in the secret realm has undergone a slight change.

Meanwhile, Su Nan, standing on the highest point of the wilderness, discovered that the area of ​​this wilderness was about one-fifth larger than the last time he came in.

It seems that as his magical power increases, his domain in the secret realm is also expanding.

The fog was driven back by its own symbol.

A larger portion of the ancient castle complex and fortresses left in the secret realm by the Gray Earth Cemetery have emerged from the mist.

As soon as Su Nan entered the secret realm, he heard the sounds of battle.

On the edge of the wilderness, the Guardian of Or was wielding a huge black scythe, fighting an eight-legged spider.

Strangely, the eight-legged spider, which was the size of a tank, had no eyes. The parts of it that should have eyes only had smooth gray skin.

For some reason, the Guardian of Orl seemed to be suppressed and was fighting very badly. When he saw Su Nan, he was like seeing a savior and immediately said, "Lord Su Nan, please help me."

"This spider is too much of a nemesis to me."

"It is a creature of the energy world. In the secret realm, all my attacks have become mental energy attacks, but there is no will in my power."

"It will instead devour my power and become even stronger."

"Lord Sunan, quickly use magic! In the secret realm, magic will be more powerful and easier to cast."

"In this world, which can be infinitely equated to your inner world, any magical power possessing the will of a wizard can be amplified several times over here."

"This monster is not a creature from the secret realm. It must be that in the real world—the material world—someone... a cultist used a ritual to summon an energy world to descend. Part of that energy world overlapped with the material world, causing the material world to change. All the changes in the material world will then be reflected in the secret realm."

"I don't know what kind of energy world it summoned. If it's an ordinary elemental world, that's fine. But some energy worlds are terrifying and extremely evil, far beyond what ordinary elemental worlds can compare to."

"Two thousand years ago, only those insane and twisted cultists would summon an energy world to descend upon the material world. Wizards always went to great lengths to stop this. Who would have thought that two thousand years later, such behavior still exists!"

Su Nan raised his eyebrows. Although he was curious about what the energy world was, he still stepped forward and took out two bottles of potions, one of which was Ghostly Summon Frog and the other of Ghostly Summon Wolf.

Perfect timing, let's gather some combat data on these two potions.

The Guardian of Or jumped back, disengaging from the battlefield and leaving the fighting position to Su Nan. "Be careful, Lord Su Nan."

"Energy beings should be quite different from all the beings you have ever fought."

"They are neither idealistic nor materialistic; their world is governed by energy, where mind and matter coexist. They exist in another world!"

(End of this chapter)