Starfall 833, April 17, morning.
This day was a dark day for the mages belonging to the empire.
Because their extremely great Emperor, His Majesty, was in a very unhappy mood.
Very, very unpleasant.
Centered on the three magic fortresses around the Three Mountains Holy City, the time and space fluctuations caused by teleportation spells are continuously transmitted. In just the time it takes an ordinary person to eat breakfast, hundreds of teleportations occur. A moment later, the empire in the morning There were many more tired-looking spellcasters in robes on the street.
They hurriedly came from all over the country. They were mages belonging to the empire. Among them were members of the Dragon Disaster Detection Team as far away as the South China Sea, explorers who went deep into the black forest, researchers who were nesting in the laboratory, and even those stationed in the southern fortress. Many of the military mages who accompanied the group came back.
After all, the Imperial Royal Mage Association includes all the mages in the entire empire. It can be regarded as the top five spellcasting organizations in the entire Mycroft Continent. In terms of the size of its personnel, it even surpasses the Seven Lights Council in the Eastern Plains and is second only to the Guantian. The number of high-level spellcasters in the tower, which was only a partial gathering of members, exceeded 200, and these mages were all without exception, and they all hurriedly gathered towards the Morlai Palace.
The black mist commotion that occurred in the Second Underground Laboratory last night destroyed most of the Avenue of Truth, displaced thousands of civilians, and corroded and disappeared many precious magic experiment reports. Direct economic losses exceeded 800,000 imperial gold coins, and indirect losses were incalculable. It is estimated that most of the responsibility belongs to the gold-level mage Hasu in charge of the second laboratory, his disciples and partners, but there is no doubt that other mages present are also jointly and severally responsible.
Although the emperor's anger is mainly directed at these people, the subsequent reform of the Mage Association is closely related to all mages.
The Royal Mage Association is an old organization with a history of more than 500 years. There are many factions in it, and they have powerful forces in various places. Even if Israel wants to take this opportunity to rectify it, it cannot be done instantly. You know , most of the mages who stay in the imperial capital for research are relatively easy to control. Most of the noble mages have their own wizard towers and territories, and even academies. Most of these mages simply accept the topics and tasks given by the association. , after completion, they can freely conduct their own research. In terms of freedom, they are much higher than their colleagues in the imperial capital.
But no matter how free they are, these mages receive research funds and special subsidies from the association, which is also a large amount of money for the empire. For example, there is research on the power core of the floating airship. This alone project, the empire has thrown nearly four million gold coins to research laboratories in various places. It is not that it feels sorry for the money. Israel mainly noticed that the recent association mages have begun to treat the tasks assigned by the empire somewhat. A sense of nonchalance, the most obvious example of which was an experimental error caused by Hasselblad, and he decided to change that.
The specific reform content is still being discussed in the Holy Emblem Hall, but many Association mages who are studying or inspecting abroad quickly sent representatives to attend the meeting. They were either worried or excited, it didn't matter how natural it was. Yes, but most people only care about one thing, and that is whether their research funds will be cut.
But these have nothing to do with Joshua, who is already preparing to leave the imperial capital.
After a belated dinner last night, the warrior and Nostradamus met the emperor again.
The meeting was very concise. Israel, who had paid close attention to the entire incident, expressed praise to Joshua. However, due to time constraints, he did not say any more nonsense and was prepared to give the warrior the reward he deserved.
"I heard that you also have a dragon."
In the Shenghui Hall, in front of the throne, when the majestic Emperor talked about his dragon, his originally angry face relaxed a lot. His eyes seemed to be looking into the distance, and he nodded with a smile: "They Although they are a bit vicious, as long as they are close to you, they are very cute guys."
"yes."
Joshua nodded in agreement. This was indeed the case, but Hei's way of getting close to him was to lick him with his tongue. This bad habit cannot be indulged: "It's just too big, so I can't carry it with me at all times."
Hearing a hint of pity in the warrior's voice, Rin who was standing beside him immediately became alert. Later, Firefly also reacted. The silver-haired girl frowned and whispered to her brother: "Master has never been blackmailed. Have you cleaned your scales?"
"We have never prepared food for it. If you think about it carefully, we have done all this work."
"He rarely even takes Hei for a walk... If he really goes everywhere with him... "
The atmosphere of wariness spread, and the two of them looked at Joshua alertly.
"Really? Yes, yours is a sea dragon. Remember, it is the blood of the black dragon. It is really troublesome to not be able to fly."
Not paying attention to the whispers of the young girls on the side, His Majesty the Emperor nodded thoughtfully, and whispered to himself: "My dragon has always followed me. It has the blood of the Hell Dragon and its body temperature is very high. It’s also hard to carry around, but it’s an astral dragon after all, so there’s always a way to solve it.”
"Gu Long should be about the same."
After thinking for a while, Israel seemed to have decided something. He stretched out his hand and opened a small space-time channel, and then groped for something in it. While groping, His Majesty the Emperor shook his head and said: "Time is too long." I'm in such a hurry that I can't thank you properly, but Mr. Radcliffe, I think you will like this."
After saying that, Israel took out a strange-looking pendant, and Joshua took it.
This pendant is about as big as a person's fist, has a V-shaped shape, and is entirely silver. According to the feel, the warrior thinks it is made of mithril. There are light blue magic light patterns flowing on it, which obviously contains powerful power.
"The Shapeshifting Pendant can be used even by giant dragons... This is just a small personal thank you. The empire will never treat its meritorious ministers badly. This time you solved the black mist incident of the Royal Mage Association, and they will naturally do the same." Express a little gratitude and treat it as interest.”
As Israel spoke, he and Nostradamus looked at each other. The two nodded at the same time, as if they had reached a consensus. Then, His Majesty the Emperor continued to say in a serious tone: "Due to the temporary suspension of the Empire's Royal Mage Association, I have lost my skills and am unable to handle plague-related experiments, so I decided to send a research team headed by Tamara Moore, leader of the third research team, to Moldavia to conduct plague research there."
Joshua was not surprised by this, because Nostradamus had said it before, and now he was just relying on His Majesty the Emperor's mouth to confirm this matter.
At this time, the old mage looked very happy. He touched his beard and nodded with a smile, and sent the entire third research team to Moldavia. Studying the plague was naturally one of them, but could something like the Evil God Plague be used? Doing it in a main city without any professional mage labs? This is naturally not possible, and it just so happens that there is a magic laboratory that fully meets the requirements near the Snowy Mountains of Nissière and Winterburg Academy.
This, of course, has nothing to do with the recent lack of mage teachers at the Winter Castle Academy. It is definitely not because of this that Nostradamus deliberately obtained the opportunity to let his old friend temporarily escape from the imperial capital full of undercurrents. After all, the mage is in It's normal to do anything after research. There are people who work as adventurers, mercenaries, and even killers. How normal it is to be a teacher.
The matter was almost over. After Israel had temporarily dealt with these matters, he said that he was a little tired. He had to meet with representatives of mages from various places during the day and needed a break for the time being. Nostradamus said that he would stay. He came down to attend the meeting and was unable to go to the Northland for the time being, but he had already informed Moore that Joshua only needed to find the other party.
Next, it’s time to say goodbye.
Things in the Imperial Capital have come to an end for the time being, and the warriors at this time are preparing to return to Moldavia through the portal set by Nostradamus in the Mage Association.
Behind him, there were fifteen high mages wearing gray hooded robes. They were talking quietly among themselves, discussing their mission.
But no matter who they were, they all showed great respect for Joshua. Even towards Hotaru and Rin, everyone was very polite.
After all, they are all mages, and they are all very smart people. The strength and means of warriors are obviously beyond what they can cope with. So instead of showing the arrogance of mages, it is better to be a little gentler and show their goodwill. Of course, this It may also be due to Joshua's abyss of charm. Everyone forgot what they were going to say when they saw his face. How could he be so arrogant
Even Moore didn't say much. This friend of Nostradamus stood silently behind the warrior, as if he was still recalling the dream he saw at night.
On the side, the silver-haired girl was holding a V-shaped shape-shifting pendant, playing with it curiously, but no matter how she played with the silver pendant, the magic power contained in it did not leak out at all.
"Master, what exactly does this thing do?"
After trying for a long time, there was no result. Firefly couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. She handed the pendant to Rin and asked the black-haired boy to try it, while she went to Joshua to ask.
The warrior was waiting for the portal to open. When he heard the girl's question, he couldn't help but feel it was difficult to answer.
"I have used the Shape-changing Pendant before. It is used to pass through narrow stone cracks and passages when taking risks. In general, it is to change a person's size while maintaining proportions. "
Joshua had used similar things in his previous life. It was usually used to clear some special dungeons. For example, for missions in the Fairy Kingdom, you had to use the Shapeshifting Pendant to become smaller before you could access it. Those cute little guys hated it the most. The difference is in body shape.
, but the pendant Israel gave him was obviously different from the ones the warrior had used before. The magic power flowing on it was more powerful. Indeed, as His Majesty the Emperor said, even with the dragon's magic power, this pendant has an effect. .
"But to what end?"
Thinking of Israel's subtle expression, Joshua couldn't help but frowned. If it was just to make Hei smaller, easier to ride and take around, there would be no need to be so careful about it. Does a pendant like his have any special functions besides this? After all, the Diamond family has a pact with goblins in legend, so it wouldn't be surprising if it was any different.
Shaking his head slightly, the soldier temporarily ended the association.
The space-time door located in the center of the hall opened, and a faint blue light illuminated the entire side hall of the Mage Association. A transmission channel directly connected to the Northland slowly expanded until it was large enough for a carriage to pass.
"Everyone, get ready to leave."
Shaking his head to disperse the distracting thoughts in his mind, Joshua, as the leader, took the lead in crossing the portal after saying hello.
What reached his ears were bursts of piercing screams.
The current year is Starfall 833. If the time written before is wrong, then I must have written it wrong. The current time shall prevail.
It's still early for the Dragon Calamity to end. The war in the Far South is still going on. It's just a stalemate at the moment. Otherwise, how would the plague come next...
(End of chapter)