Witch Troupe and the Undead

Finally, there's "Pride" in the Royal Palace area. Livia has two goals: one is the location of the magic academy or arcane society in the Gluttony area, and the other is the underground research institute in the Royal Palace area.

These two are the information she deduced about the entire ritual and the location of its core components. The latter is more likely, but considering that not everyone has the courage to put a super bomb under their own throne, it is also possible that it was placed in the underground research institute of the magic academy.

After all, the place is not only heavily guarded, but also has very good infrastructure. You won't accidentally get involved in any royal secrets, and you certainly won't have a curious little princess/prince wandering around in the middle of the night and stumbling into places they shouldn't be in—basically, more than half of the similar disasters in magical otherworlds are caused by such ridiculous reasons.

Therefore, it's quite possible that the magic book is located in the underground research institute of the magic academy. Livia's destination is one of these two locations. Of course, the magic book in the academy library is also one of her main objectives.

As he traversed the dilapidated residential area, Alessina, with the skills of a seasoned adventurer, searched the buildings along the way and found many valuable items, such as utensils that were once used by ordinary citizens but are now expensive antiques.

For example, there are some handicrafts whose techniques and craftsmanship have been completely lost. The most expensive of these is a wool tapestry found in the mansion of a merchant.

It wasn't worth much back then, but now, because the species that supplied the raw materials—a four-eyed goat that the locals called "Rock Tower Goat"—has gone extinct, its price has been driven up to an astronomical figure by idle wealthy merchants and nobles.

“However, the content of this tapestry is quite ordinary, and the weaving technique is also average. Therefore, it cannot be valued according to the prices of tapestries woven for noble family histories and epic themes at auction houses.” Vilandella used the innate recognition ability of dragons to make a simple valuation of these relics collected by Alessina.

"If it's auctioned, it'll probably fetch around 400 gold coins if the market is bad, but up to 650 gold coins if the market is good." For an ornament, that's indeed an astronomical price.

"Then this candlestick isn't worth much. Although it's in a classic handcrafted style, the material is just ordinary copper plating. If it doesn't have any special historical value, it probably won't sell for more than 10 gold coins."

Although this is already a high return for a typical adventure team, their daily adventure quests are considered to have a profit of 5 gold coins, which is quite generous. Well, this refers to profit; the actual price of the quest is usually above 10 gold coins, and such a high profit can only be achieved if the difficulty is not too high.

Compared to the skillful Alessina and the Vilandella who accurately selected the most valuable loot thanks to her excellent discernment, Leslie's choices were terrible; she basically picked a bunch of random, valuable items.

"Hmm, trash~" The little witch casually tossed the books Leslie had collected into the campfire, then opened the next one, which also had a "trash" review, causing the campfire to burn very brightly.

"Isn't there a single one useful or valuable?" Faced with Leslie's wailing, the little witch looked at her gently with her emerald eyes, then patted her head, indicating that it was alright. Even though all she picked up was trash, the thought behind it was enough.

“Truly rubbish.” Vilandella casually flipped through one of Leslie’s books. “The materials aren’t anything special, and the content is just a classic novel that’s been reprinted hundreds of times. Unless it’s a limited edition or a different version, it’s basically worthless.”

The value of a book comes from a few sources. First is the content; if it is a rare or unique copy, its value will increase many times over. Second is the materials used; if it uses materials such as monster hide, it is also very valuable. Third is its commemorative significance, such as handwritten copies by famous people.

It goes without saying that the fact that books could be found in the residential areas of the outer city indicates that people at that time were relatively well-off. It was almost impossible to find rare or unique books or books with high-value materials. However, there was a certain possibility of finding handwritten copies by famous people.

"They're all printed..." Since they're not magical knowledge, just ordinary storybooks, they're all reproduced using some kind of printing-like magic. In other words, they're not handwritten copies and have no commemorative value.

"Hmm, this one is somewhat useful." After picking and choosing among a large pile of books, the little witch finally found two books that could be kept. After being screened by Vilandella and Roach, a few more books were kept.

Livia left behind a children's picture book, which she considered somewhat useful because she hadn't read the stories in it before; and a brief history of the ancient kingdom of Luster, which was unfamiliar and lost knowledge, and was also useful.

Roach left behind two books whose craftsmanship was clearly different from other mass-produced books. As for the contents, Livia glanced at them and found them to be ordinary introductory knowledge of arcane magic, which she had found at the home of an apprentice in the outer city.

Furthermore, the little witch stated that the contents were not only outdated but also riddled with errors. If Roach hadn't discovered that the cover and pages were made of a material that was not the common type of paper but rather more like parchment, he would never have kept it.

Finally, Vilandella left behind a handwritten manuscript, copied by an ancient priest. It was worth some money as a gimmick, but the only problem was that only she could keep it.

If Roach and his group were to sell anything, the church might cause trouble—because the ancient Church of Luster has been destroyed, and for the modern church, such doctrinal texts could easily be defined as contraband or cult products. Although Livia is not afraid of the church, it's always better to avoid trouble.

"..." After examining what Leslie had found, Livia looked at her number one "big sauce" with expectant eyes. Roach sighed and took out a few small items and placed them on the folding table in the camp.

Livia played with a five-hole ocarina for a while, even trying to play it. She puffed out her cheeks until her face turned red, but could only make a few "poof" sounds, which almost made Leslie laugh out loud in a very impolite way.

The two rings, made of unknown materials, are silver and black, with ancient Lustic script engraved on the inside. The script is illegible and is likely an abbreviation of some unknown meaning.

Finally, there was a green mirror with a dark green ring around its surface, inlaid with a copper ring and several runes engraved on it.

"How did you find these things?" Vilandella was dumbfounded. The relics that Roach found were the most valuable ones. She didn't know how this guy could find these treasures so accurately from a civilian house.

“Because of this…” Roach took out an L-shaped metal rod, with three bright yellow gemstone fragments embedded at the right angle, and a thread with a conical pendant hanging from the end, “a simple secret source detector…”

"...?" Even the little witch looked at her with confusion.

"The jealousy magic here has been drawn to a baseline concentration, which I figured could be considered as a near-uniform background. I measured the maximum fluctuation value of its fluctuations and then did this. This pendant is very sensitive; it will deflect as long as there is a slight imbalance of the secret source nearby. However, this effect is very weak, and it is impossible to determine what caused it. So it took me quite a while to find these little things."

Roach explained the principle, which is roughly similar to the principle of magnetic field deflection. The alien magic was previously squeezed inside and around the magical item by the jealousy magic. Now the jealousy magic has been reduced to the baseline concentration, and because of the ritual, it is constantly being replenished and then drawn away by the magic pump.

As a result, these alien secret source magic powers will expand periodically, similar to breathing. This expansion will interfere with the jealousy magic power, forming weak magic vortexes. Therefore, Roach created this thing based on this principle.

Hold the L-shaped handle with both hands, and the pendant below will gently rotate clockwise. If the rotation deviates, it means there is a magical vortex nearby.

Of course, the accuracy of this measuring device is very poor, but its sensitivity is very high, which causes Roach to miss many times, because the natural environment can also produce natural magic vortexes.

Therefore, most of these vortexes, large and small, were false alarms, and only a very few allowed him to find the target. This was only because he filtered out some areas where items would obviously not appear—such as the streets.

Livia clapped happily, seemingly very pleased with Roach's invention, as it solved one of his biggest problems: he couldn't sense the existence of the secret source magic, making him the only one in the team completely unaware of magical traps and ritual fields.

“I prepared a lot of tools to detect these relics, but after trying most of them, I found that they were not very useful.” Roach showed everyone something that looked like an early metal detector, as well as a thing that looked like a radar.

There was even a handheld echo detector that looked like a loudspeaker. Except for the last one, the others were all failures. They either couldn't detect the target at all, or they would alarm for any target, or they would break down after a few hits.

"This echo detector is made using the spatial echo principle of the otherworldly secret source." The secret source sorcerer researches spatial artifacts, such as teleportation artifacts, and its only function is to detect abnormal distortions in spacetime. After Roach's improvements, it can detect the distribution of matter within a spatial range.

"Just stick it to the wall, and you'll know if there's a hidden compartment behind it. It's much more accurate than tapping with your hand." After taking the device out to try it out, Alessina came back and said that the invention was quite useful, but the distance was too short and it had to be pressed tightly against the target.

Its effect is less about probing space and more about the reverse: probing the location of matter in continuous space. Once there is a break or cavity, it cannot be detected. Conversely, as long as a break is found on the detector, it is known whether there is a cavity behind it and how far the cavity is from the detection point.

As for whether this cavity is a crack or deformation caused by years of disrepair in the building or a real hidden compartment, it's hard to say. If multiple detectors work together, they can outline the approximate shape of the cavity.

"Ineffective against multi-layered camouflage." It breaks through cavities, so if there are two or more layers, the later layers cannot be detected at all.

"Not as useful as magic for navigating mazes," Livia concluded. Vilandella, on the other hand, gave an even worse assessment of the material cost. If it weren't for the fact that it was intended to compensate Roach, who couldn't use magic or sense the power of the secret source, it would basically be a piece of junk.

Chapter 135 The Color of Wisdom

In the Emerald Province, at the Byrne family's workshop, the old man in charge, as usual, prepared some snacks and drank a lot of wine. When he woke up, he saw his beloved patriarch standing in front of him with a dark expression. Lord Byrne took a deep breath. He thought that the people in the council were already traitors, but he didn't expect that there were traitors in his own family as well.

"Damn it, how can I do anything with these insects?!" Bourne thought he could finally understand how the princess felt. It seemed that only an octagonal cage could deal with these insects. Locking a bunch of insects in a cage would surely help them decide who was the strongest, right?

"Take him away and treat him well," Byrne waved his hand, and his attendants and guards naturally dragged away the guy who was clinging to his leg and crying, to be cooked. As for the result of the cooking, he had no interest in it. What he cared about most now was the family workshop in the newly established Emerald Province.

The success of Roach Livia's crossbow led Byrne to discover a blind spot: the patent was currently in his hands. Before others recognized its value and cultivated a good relationship with Master Roach, he could sponsor the master's research at a relatively low cost and obtain firsthand weapon improvement plans and ideas.

Then, they organized a team to tackle the challenges and turn the master's drawings into a physical object. As for how this relates to the Bourne family's business...

Of course there is. The casualties of those knights and the persistence of the council army will make the empire and even other countries on the continent begin to understand this kind of magical weapon and start corresponding tactical and equipment innovations. This is an extremely huge market!

However, due to the speed of information transmission, differences in political systems, national conditions, and interest groups in various countries, this kind of innovation is not something that can be achieved by simply changing clothes today and receiving a batch of orders tomorrow. Rather, it is a slow process that will gradually accelerate.

Therefore, on the one hand, he advised the princess to form an experimental unit, and on the other hand, he came to inspect his workshop to ensure that if the princess agreed to his plan, there would be enough production capacity to secure the order.

"Let those idiots compete," Byrne said, referring to his colleagues who were also jumping around. After all, the leadership of a brand-new knightly order or magic legion represented military power and various forms of influence. Byrne, however, seemed to only want to make a quick buck, focusing on securing logistical support as much as possible.

Of course, considering that he was the one who initiated this, even though everyone knew it was a very lucrative position, they didn't compete with Bourne for it, or rather, they only symbolically fought for it.

“If we really get into this unit, this business will be difficult.” Bourne had mastered the ultimate secret of arms dealing without any formal instruction: an arms dealer who doesn’t sell weapons to enemy countries is just a peddler.

If the princess's unit achieves outstanding results, it's hard to say what others will think. At the very least, the enemy it defeats will be the one that reacts the fastest, allowing Bourne to make two deals in this relatively neutral capacity.

When everyone is using the Bourne family's weapons and consumables, they naturally gain a voice. While guns are powerful, they also require logistical support. At that point, their colleagues simply cannot compete with them, unless they expect a sudden shortage of ammunition or equipment on the battlefield, or their enemies or competitors in their allies acquire unidentified supplies.

This idea of ​​transcending the three realms and watching others enter the "octagonal cage" was the best solution that Bourne came up with after studying the princess's actions.

Look at Princess Freya, spending her days in the palace, eating snacks and reading idle books. Her extravagance and debauchery are even more terrifying than the late emperor's. At least the late emperor's decision to open the arena is still being condemned by a group of old nobles and scholars.

Then compare her to Princess Freya. She did the same things—eating, drinking, and playing as she pleased. No one, from top to bottom, liked her, but there was no hostility either.

Because commoners are happy to see nobles enter the octagon. Regardless of whether it's a proxy duel or not, just seeing them in the arena is worth the ticket price!

For nobles, the one who can beat you the hardest is the noble on the other side. What? You say there are proxy gladiators? Yes, the other side is also a noble, and they also have proxy gladiators. Then, after both sides exchange pieces until the end, there will always be one proxy who is one less (because the number of people in the council is odd, there will always be one side with one less) and they will be pushed into the arena to get a beating.

This powerfully demonstrates that, given the right environment and conditions, even the ruling class can engage in vertical division. In fact, this tactic is a standard imperial strategy. However, due to the natural alliance of interests among the ruling class, vertical division through normal means of dividing interests is unlikely to be effective in the long run.

So in the end, the hatred was directed at the four parties involved in the war, not at the princess. She just sat on the dry shore, reaping many benefits and accomplishing her tasks (regardless of the outcome), without taking any blame. If things went well, everyone would naturally think it was due to the princess's octagonal cage system. If things went wrong, it would naturally be because the opposition's fists weren't strong enough!

"It's best for decent people not to personally get involved in the battle." Bourne really didn't want to go to the battlefield again like before; it was too dangerous. This time, his side had a technological advantage, but after this round, the next time he went to the battlefield, the other side might use Master Roach's invention to blow him up.

Therefore, it's best to retire while you're still at the peak of your career.

"Speaking of proxy gladiators, shouldn't I start planning ahead?" This is a huge market! Bourne pondered silently, unaware that during his absence from the capital, the princess had come up with something new.

“It’s always the same familiar faces, we’re getting a little tired of it,” Freya said, watching the two councilors having a “friendly match.” “And they seem to be commoners, why do the nobles appoint these people as councilors?”

"Well, it's probably because... well, not all nobles have enough martial spirit and courage, and if they die in the arena, then who will ride warhorses to protect the royal family and the country?"

The advisor minister could only try to explain to Freya in this way, because he knew that it would be difficult to reason with her about things like secret deals, the exchange of connections, and the fact that nobility is not solely determined by fighting ability (at least not entirely).

"Ah, I see," the princess seemed to understand, then the advisor realized it was too early to breathe a sigh of relief. "Well, I have a new idea..."

"..." "..." Everyone looked at her with horrified eyes. Others might imagine how the princess's wisdom was beyond the comprehension of mortals, but they truly knew that the princess's "wisdom" was indeed beyond the understanding of "mortals." Well, the conclusion was the same, but the two meanings were completely opposite.

“The nobles don’t come to duel because they need to protect the country, so these people coming to gladiator fight means that the nobles think they are people who can be sacrificed. So… um, what do you think, I should recruit these gladiators and form a magical knight order?”

The advisor opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. From the perspective of imperial strategy, this was a standard tactic of divide and conquer. After all, the princess could also offer the same price that nobles could pay, and even more, such as a quasi-noble status like an honorary knighthood. And the princess could offer the same price that nobles couldn't, such as a proper knighthood and a manor fief.

Then, the selection of these proxy councilors found from among the mercenaries, gladiators, and adventurers would naturally be made. If these people all joined the princess's knightly order, then the entire council would become her one-man show, which the nobles would absolutely not tolerate, but they had no choice but to remove them from their councilor positions.

However, this would essentially be a powerful purge of the parliamentary staff. After all, replacing a proxy takes time, and there might not be enough trusted retainers to fill the position. Besides, even trusted retainers—they want to advance, you know. They had no better option than to serve you before, but now they have a chance to improve.

However, the advisor was certain that Freya had only understood the literal meaning: not all nobles possess martial virtue, which is why they need agents, implying that these agents are all highly martial; they need to protect the country and cannot die, which means that these people are capable of dying.

Finally, if these people were organized into a knightly order specifically to protect the royal family, would the nobles no longer need to go?

Thus, it was concluded that, in order to see new faces and rivers of blood, the princess chose to artificially create even larger rivers of blood, recruiting all these agents to form a magical knight order—as for where the supplies, funds, weapons, and equipment would come from, she certainly hadn't considered it at all.

Thinking about this, the advisor calmed down. After all, this was just a spur-of-the-moment decision by the girl; when it came to discussing money, equipment, and supplies, she just…

"Damn it, what's going on here!? Why are there so many donations and sponsorships!?" Looking at the statistics on the expenses for the Magic Knights and the various public, anonymous, legal, and illegal donations and sponsorships for its formation, the advisor felt that this world was too crazy.

Since the military nobles already knew from Byrne about the governor being beaten, it was very meaningful to have a force that used the new weapons in advance in order to avoid being beaten by the mob in their territory with cheap "Rocky Livia" weapons in the future.

They had considered banning it, but when they thought about what the Bourne family had done, they weren't sure they could do it. After all, they were all members of the ruling class, and they knew each other's true colors. It was certain that they would verbally ban it, but it was also certain that they would sell it like crazy and develop and research it on this basis. If any idiot actually believed that it was a contraband, that idiot was just waiting to die!

Just as biological and chemical weapons are prohibited from research and deployment by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, nuclear weapons are also prohibited from being tested in the atmosphere by the Non-Proliferation Treaty. But what is the reality?

Any idiot who actually abides by the agreement and doesn't conduct research or deploy it is a real idiot. It highlights that anyone who believes that is a fool. Of course, on the surface, everyone still keeps the agreement; that's all in private.

And what about the newly emerging enlightened aristocracy? Laughable! Do you think your Bourne family is a monolithic entity? I can practically hear your schemes all over the capital. You're not the only smart person in this world. What you can think of, others can too. They're just a step behind for various reasons.

In speculation, being a step behind is already fatal; being two steps behind means you really can't stay in this circle anymore.

Finally, the traditional knights had a different idea. Regardless of how much of a threat this poses to the knightly profession, just tell me, isn't this a knightly order?

Yes, that makes things easier. Like I said, if I were a traditional knight, I would oppose it. But now that I'm a magical knight, I'd definitely support it. How do I become a magical knight? By contributing money and effort, of course, and trying to be the first to get in!

You ask if there are any objections? Yes, there are many. Various feudal lords, various regional officials, and various people who think they can take over the government as regents after the emperor kicks the bucket. Even local guilds and chambers of commerce have considerable opposition. The last one is afraid that Freya will actually have troops and then directly levy taxes on them. That's exactly what the old emperor did!

"The Magic Knights?" The old emperor looked at the proposal and stared blankly at his old friend, who looked back at him with an even more bewildered expression. He wouldn't be surprised if this proposal came from whoever it was; it wouldn't be impossible for him to say that it was a "pre-death proposal" found in the homes of his two sons.

But who did this? Freya? She finally realized that having troops is the key to getting people to obey! The emperor didn't know whether to be happy or threatened; after considering his physical condition, he felt mostly happy.

An emperor who inherits the throne through normal succession may be a ruler who maintains the status quo, or he may be a bunch of incompetent rulers. However, an emperor who comes to power through a coup is unlikely to be a bunch of incompetent rulers unless there are special circumstances. And if an emperor comes to power through a coup by the army, he can hardly be called wise and powerful. At the very least, he is a "divine ruler of Tongliao".

After all, being able to stage a coup at least means having the ability to win over and control an army, and someone with that ability can't be an idiot—but that's the problem. After observing Freya for the past few months, he really is an idiot!

"Who suggested this to her?" This was the old emperor's first thought. If this girl was an idiot, then someone must have been instigating her to make such a sophisticated suggestion.

"Which part are you referring to?" the old lord asked hesitantly. "If it was the idea of ​​the Magic Knights, it was that lad from the Byrne family who suggested it. He's been running a magic weapons workshop lately, and it's related to the rebellion in the Hot Sands Province. Those council troops were using weapons from his workshop. He suggested that the royal family also establish such a new type of force to avoid encountering the same situation. There are no countermeasures, of course..."

Of course, the two shrewd people in the room could tell at a glance what this guy's purpose was. However, such petty thoughts did not offend the emperor. After all, compared to those precious items, Bourne had actually gone to the battlefield to observe and use the new weapons to win battles. He was quite capable, and his suggestions were very feasible.

As for getting some benefits or making some money in the process, that's not a big deal. The old emperor knew very well that if you can't give your subordinates some kind of benefit or advantage, you can only rely on ideals and beliefs to maintain your position. But people's beliefs can change. Even if you stick to them for a lifetime, you can't guarantee that your descendants will inherit them.

Therefore, the most stable solution is to combine the two: on the one hand, rely on ideals to create a vision, and on the other hand, rely on interests to strengthen beliefs. However, this approach will be extremely difficult.

"If it's about recruiting manpower, it's simply because Princess Freya saw this suggestion, and because of the nobles hiring substitute gladiators, so..."

"So, she planned to stuff these people into this organization, her purpose was just..." The emperor hesitated, "You're going to do something so big just to get those who rigged matches in the arena to withdraw? So, you choose to bribe the champions who rigged matches, stuff them into another organization, and then throw them into the battlefield to be used up, or rather... as part of making use of waste."

Well, if you look at Freya as an arena operator, she's really great. That way, no one will dare to throw matches, because if you have good results, you'll actually be sent to the Magic Knights to fight on the battlefield. If you don't have any skills, you're sure to die.

However, for truly skilled adventurers... although this world doesn't have the saying "master your skills and sell them to the emperor," the principle is the same. For adventurers, mercenaries, and gladiators, this is a good thing—in order to ensure they can get this "job," they will naturally go all out on the field.

This naturally elevates the viewing experience by several levels, but there's a problem: you're not here to run an arena!

[PS]

Freya is based on a real person, which is why I've always thought fairies are less capable at their jobs than people with intellectual disabilities.

I remember seeing a female community grid worker at the town government; she had a mild form of intellectual disability. How severe? When she came to work, she would stare blankly at a black-screened computer. When I asked her what she was doing, she said the computer was broken and unusable. I glanced at it—it wasn't turned on. Yes, that's about it.

But her work ability is not a problem, because her mother had told everyone that this girl was mentally unstable. As for herself, she didn't learn anything except two things: first, to call for help whenever there's a problem; second, to add people on WeChat after calling for help and regularly give them money—highlighting a Summoner's playstyle.

And yet, despite having a mental problem, he's never had a problem at work!

Chapter 136 Teacher Ma: They all have to die!

"Tired~" The blonde loli looked up at Roach, her emerald eyes revealing that she didn't want to walk anymore. Roach glanced at the black horse, then at the market area where there was still at least half the journey ahead, and felt a little troubled.

It wasn't out of pity for the Black Horse's workload, but because its back was already full of supplies and dismantled magic pumps, so there was no extra room to put a little witch on it.

"Let's set up camp here." Carrying her on his back is out of the question. Although she is not heavy, she still weighs thirty or forty kilograms. It is definitely impossible for Roach to carry this weight while already carrying a lot of equipment. As for Vivi and Alessina, they do have the physical ability, but they are the main combat units of the team and they are also carrying a lot of luggage and equipment.

"Smack!" Livia kicked Roach's shin in a fit of anger. She didn't use much force, and he barely felt it through the "automatic armor," but it still hurt for a while.

The location for envy in the Sin Domain was easy to choose. Alessina glanced around and then kicked open the door of a rather sturdy house. Two thorny demon hounds pounced out of the shadows, but before they could reach Alessina's face, a hand grabbed their necks and slammed them to the ground, instantly turning them into a pile of scattered thorns.