"Mm, since you know each other now, I shall head back," Lex said, setting her teacup down.
Earl Sebastian was stunned. Lex had come over personally just to introduce Saleen to him? He looked at Saleen carefully, but could not find any clues. This young mage had a composure that was steady and stable, and a dull expression. The mage was clearly smiling, and yet his azure eyes did not display any happiness.
It was a look of nobleness. Earl Sebastian secretly evaluated Saleen.
Saleen also stood up, but Lex waved her hand and said, "The rest of the crew will follow you back. You can stay and talk to the earl."
The rest of the crew referred to the four black metal grand swordmasters. Saleen knew that since the viscountess had created this opportunity for him, he needed to complete the task well. Given Lex’s habits, since Saleen had such an important mission this time around, he would also be rewarded handsomely. Hu An’s eyes were burning with rage. He must have been eyeing this position for a long time already.
Saleen kept quiet and slowly sat back down.
Even though Lex had come to the Clyde family’s house with her own tea and had only spoken a few words, Saleen already admired her immensely. Lex was usually polite with mages, but when interacting with nobles, she had her shrewd means of handling them. No matter how many methods the earl may have had, he would not have been able to use them on Lex. On the surface, it may have seemed that the earl was fully in charge, but once there was a problem, Lex would simply kick him aside.
The Clyde family would also face difficulties in trying to bribe Saleen, because no one knew the relationship between Saleen and the viscountess.
Saleen sat on the chair and grew bored, thinking of how to negotiate business with the sly and cunning earl. Unknowingly, Saleen picked up the teacup that Lex had left behind.
There were a few pieces of green leaves left in the cup, and there was half of a red lipstick mark was on the interior of the cup. Nailisi giggled as she took the teapot and poured water into the teacup. Saleen was deep in thought and the water had gotten a bit cold, so he did not drink it.
Lex had not left any instructions for Saleen and Saleen could not make decisions on his own. This session was purely for networking, to get to know the relevant people of the Clyde family. The details would have to be worked out and planned back at Bitter Water Prefecture. Saleen read a lot of books, so he understood that building a business relationship and learning magic were the same in that both were complicated affairs. Otherwise, there would not already have been so many impoverished low-level mages around.
Right now, Saleen would not negotiate any business, but he needed to get to know Aini’s parents. Aini was not exactly an easy person to interact with, but he valued relationships. As long as Saleen built a good relationship with Aini’s parents, everything would be able to progress smoothly in the future.
But Saleen did not know whether Aini’s parents were imprisoned or under house arrest.
After a long period of time, Earl Sebastian and his son returned to the living room. The four swordmasters did not even move, simply sitting in their chairs unwaveringly. That gave Saleen the confidence to talk to the earl.
"Earl," Saleen called out lazily. From Saleen’s accent, it was very difficult to tell that he was actually from Sikeqinya.
"Mage Saleen." Sebastian returned to his original seat, saw Nailisi serving Saleen, and did not know where to begin. Looking at Saleen’s expression and the way he dressed, it was obvious that he did not lack money. Nailisi was also very beautiful, so it would be hard for Saleen to be seduced by other women. Should he use his own authority to pressure Saleen? He was an earl, but Saleen took direct orders from the viscountess, and Saleen also had four martial arts exponent protecting him.
This situation was like a tiger meeting a hedgehog and not knowing how to devour it. In this world, the hardest type of person to deal with was a mage who did not lack money, and Saleen was exactly that type of mage.
"Actually for this trip, business is secondary. I am more interested in meeting someone." Saleen knew that he would not be a match for the earl if he discussed business with him. Fortunately, the business was not urgent, and furthermore, there were three other clans in the imperial capital, so the earl would try to prevent Saleen from negotiating with them.
"Who does the mage want to meet?" Earl Sebastian was puzzled. Bitter Water Prefecture had always been isolated. None of the clans had any business networks there, and the prefecture could be described as a sealed-off world, so who did the mage want to meet with?
"Aini O’ Clyde," Saleen replied as he took a sip of cold tea. The tea had a hint of sweet fragrance to it, just like Lex’s breath.
"Mm?" Earl Sebastian grew rigid, then relieved. Saleen could not have been the Holy See’s subordinate, much less Viscountess Lex’s.
"Aini is my friend. After we split up in Phoenix, I have missed him sorely," Saleen replied as he put down the teacup.
"Aini…" Earl Sebastian hesitated. Aini had been a genius in terms of magic, but unfortunately, he had been destroyed by the underlings of the Holy See. Who would have thought that Aini would start learning death magic from the ground up again? The family was not ready to publicize this matter. Was this Saleen trustable and reliable?
Saleen could immediately figure out Earl Sebastian’s concerns. It was not because he was smart, but because he had already known what Aini was going to pursue. A death mage was still of great importance to the Clyde family.
Saleen took a look at the earl’s son. His son gazed the ground, as though he was not interested in the conversation, and Saleen could not tell what he was thinking about. If Aini became a death mage, would it affect this young man’s status in the clan?
"Earl, has Aini bought the death flames?" Saleen pretended to be surprised.
Earl Sebastian did not answer Saleen’s question directly. The earl was relieved. It seemed like Saleen and Aini truly were on good terms. Otherwise, Aini would not have told Saleen about the death flames. Earl Sebastian nodded and said, "Aini is not in the imperial capital. It is not very convenient for him to practice his magic here."
"It is truly regrettable. May I visit his parents? Aini asked me to pass something to his parents."
Earl Sebastian answered forthrightly, "Not a problem. Aini’s parents are right there, Mage Saleen…"
Saleen stood up immediately. Smiling, he said, "That is terrific. I shall go and visit them now."
Earl Sebastian was caught off guard when he saw Saleen looking so joyful. Saleen had already taken a few steps forward, and he was so excited that he was going to roll up his sleeves.
Saleen was secretly thinking, "This earl only has a business relationship with me, but I have gone through life and death with Aini. It will be much easier interacting with Aini’s parents than this old man." Even though Aini’s parents had gotten themselves into such an enormous mess, they were only under house arrest in the capital, so they must have held very high positions in the clan.
Lex would recall these four swordmasters sooner or later. It was better for Saleen to find a backer in the Clyde family. At least for future meetings, Aini’s parents could look out for Saleen.
"Ok, ok..."
Earl Sebastian could not ignore Saleen. Saleen pulled him along and walked towards the door. If Saleen had been an authentic noble, he certainly would not have done that, but he was no such thing. As Saleen walked, he looked back and told Sika and the others, "All of you, wait here for my return."
Earl Sebastian could only follow behind him, asking his son to entertain the guests.
Saleen pulled on the earl’s sleeves. He walked and talked at the same time, rendering the earl unable to continue the conversation.
Along the way, many people who saw them were shocked. They did not know where this young mage had come from. As the business deal had not been settled, Earl Sebastian did not want to push Saleen’s hand away, so all he could do was tolerate it in silence.
Not long after, the earl and Saleen came to a lone courtyard. This courtyard did not have style of the Qin Empire, and was a little like Joey’s home. It had a lone perimeter wall and door, and the courtyard was not surrounded by other buildings.
There were two guards standing at the door. With just one look, Saleen knew their levels. These guards were already high level swordmasters.
"Earl." The two guards bowed but did not open the door. Saleen noticed that the door was not locked and the stairs were clean as though they were frequently swept. Since there had been a slight drizzle just now, the area of the front door looked exceptionally clean, without even a speck of dust able to be seen.
"Go and tell Fellett that Aini’s friend is here to visit."
Saleen felt very strange. If Aini’s parents were under house arrest, why was the earl not entering the courtyard straightaway? Did not he have the authority to do so? As Saleen continued thinking about this question, a swordmaster went in to report this matter. After a short while, the swordmaster came out and said, "Earl, Lord Fellett asks the visitor to go in alone."
Saleen looked at the earl, but the earl simply shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands. Saleen then said, "Earl, you… you should go and take a look at your son. I am worried about my two subordinates."
Saleen had suddenly thought of Nailisi. Saleen hoped that Nailisi would not create any trouble, as it was possible that she would have some weird thoughts. The earl’s son did not look as sharp and bright as his father, so it was possible that he would be pranked by Nailisi.
Saleen ignored the stunned expression on the earl’s face and walked up the steps into the courtyard.
There was a stone path in the courtyard, and flowers were being grown in the soil on both sides of the path. The rain had just cleared, thickening the fragrance from the flowers and causing the moist air to smell very fragrant. There was a colossal two story stone house at the end of the path. In front of the door was a colonnade. Saleen walked up the steps and knocked on the door gently.
"Come in," a gentle voice came from inside the house. Saleen pushed opened the door. In front of him was an enormous magic laboratory.
There were no walls inside of the stone house aside from the two staircases at both ends. There were more than twenty laboratory benches and one hundred racks in the room. Facing Saleen was a gigantic glass window which allowed sunlight to shine into the room. The light shone upon one man and one lady.
The man was tall and had red hair, while the lady was slender and had black hair. They looked to be about thirty years old. The man and the lady did not wear mage robes, only simple linen shirts. Saleen could feel intense elemental fluctuations coming from the man, but less from the lady.
Saleen felt like the man resembled Faerun. If the man had worn a mage robe, Saleen might not have been able to tell the difference between the two of them.
Saleen stood by the door and waited. He did not approach them because the man was completely concentrated on his magic experiment. On the laboratory bench, there were six metal columns mosaicked with gemstones placed in a circular position, and a gemstone was levitating in the middle of this circle. The man was controlling the black colored corrosion rays, carving the gemstone.
The man was Aini’s father!
When Saleen thought of how this man had killed a lurker who worked under Holy See for his son, he teared up. Thinking carefully, Saleen could only vaguely remember the warm hugs of his mother and the face of his father.