Chapter 1188: Astonishment
However, in the face of his father’s rebuke and the furious glares of the other ministers, Cantory merely smiled confidently, and said, “Father, don’t worry. I’ve been in the Breezy Plains for such a long time, and gotten a good understanding of Felic. Making him apologize to us is a Herculean task, let alone making him hand over his subordinates. Since he could stir up such a huge ruckus at our guards’ barracks for the sake of his sailors, how can he be willing to hand over his subordinates?!”
“You mean Felic will never accept our conditions no matter what?” Burgess asked, looking at his son, seemingly deep in thought.
“If that’s the case, negotiating with him is redundant. We can just go to war!” exclaimed Delano who had come over at some point in time. After hearing Cantory’s words, he was still quite puzzled, and couldn’t help but speak up.
If Delano was the only one who asked, Cantory really wouldn’t bother to explain, but he saw that several other military generals also seemed bewildered by his decision. Hence, he shook his head, and said, “We’ve already made such a huge compromise. If Felic still doesn’t appreciate it and reciprocate, what excuses can those few who are in support of peace come up with?”
Hearing Cantory’s explanation, the surrounding crowd came to a sudden realization, and all looked at Cantory with their eyes full of admiration. Someone almost stood out and praised him for his intelligent approach. They then looked at those few who were in support of peace with contemptuous and disdainful gazes, as if they had already tricked the peace-supporters.
In fact, the peace-supporters were still rather optimistic about it. In their opinion, they could avoid a war by asking the Tower of Dusk to apologize and compensate them while making Lin Li hand over his subordinates. They thought that Lin Li definitely wouldn’t turn them down. Hence, the main focus of their discussion now revolved around compensation. They were also thinking of a solution that would protect the kingdom’s pride while also ensuring that the Tower of Dusk wouldn’t reject it.
After receiving King Bradlor’s order, Jefferson, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Gilded Kingdom, headed straight to the emba.s.sy of the Tower of Dusk early the next morning with a few subordinates. However, on the way, he also secretly instructed his subordinates not to speak up after meeting the members of the Tower of Dusk, and to follow his arrangements. The subordinates naturally did not dare to oppose. Anyway, Jefferson would be there to protect them, and it was just making a trip there.
The Gilded Kingdom’s palace was near the emba.s.sy; soon, Jefferson led them to the Tower of Dusk’s emba.s.sy. There were two people standing in front of the emba.s.sy gate, both dressed in the mage robes of the Tower of Dusk. The Gilded Kingdom had originally arranged for soldiers to guard the entrance. However, Lin Li suddenly left with some people, and when he returned, the guards had already been chased away long ago.
Jefferson walked to the emba.s.sy gate with a formal smile on his face. He said to the two mages in front of the gate, “h.e.l.lo, I am Jefferson, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Gilded Kingdom, and I’m no stranger to President Felic, either. I have an urgent matter to see him for now, please inform him.”
Normally, Jefferson wouldn’t be that polite to the two gatekeepers, but when he got closer, he realized that the two mages who were merely guarding the gate were at the Legendary-level. Although there was still the Sanctuary-realm, Legendary-mages were already like G.o.dlike existences in the eyes of ordinary people.
Although Jefferson would not be defeated by two Legendary-mages, Legendary-mages still had a high status in the Gilded Kingdom. Legendary powerhouses were Legendary powerhouses, after all. Even if they were just watching the gate, they were not to be belittled.
The two mages from the Tower of Dusk looked at Jefferson and the others, but they did not make things hard for them. One of them nodded, and said, “Okay, I’ll go and see if President Felic has the time to meet you or not.” After saying that, he turned around and walked into the emba.s.sy.
Before Jefferson could say anything, a young diplomatic official behind him could not contain his displeasure about their att.i.tude anymore, and took a step forward. He said, “We’re here to solve the problem sincerely, but you’re making us wait outside the gate. Is this the att.i.tude you should have when solving a problem?”
Before the remaining mage of the Tower of Dusk could answer after hearing the words of the young diplomatic official, Jefferson flew into a rage, and pulled him over to give him a tight slap on his face. He cursed, “What did I tell you before we came? Who allowed you to say those words?!”
Although the members of the Gilded Kingdom seemed to be righteous, the peace-supporters including Jefferson all needed the Tower of Dusk’s help. If Lin Li agreed to the Gilded Kingdom’s demands, the peace-supporters would continue to maintain their political stand. Otherwise, the war-supporters would suppress them.
Hence, Jefferson now stooped low mainly because he was worried that he might anger the people of the Tower of Dusk.
On the contrary, the mage of the Tower of Dusk seemed to be unable to tolerate it any longer as he stood out to persuade. “Lord Jefferson, don’t get physical, young people are insensible. Just chide him a little.”
Hearing these words, the subordinates behind Jefferson couldn’t help but roll their eyes. They could all see clearly that the mage of the Tower of Dusk who was talking was much younger than the official who got slapped.
At this moment, the mage who went in to inform them walked out, and said to Jefferson, “You’re lucky that President Felic happens to be free. Come with me.”
I’m lucky? Hah, what’s going on? We’ve been arguing for a day, but the Tower of Dusk seems to be completely uninvolved. Jefferson smiled bitterly.
Jefferson took a step towards the emba.s.sy, and a few of his subordinates rushed to follow him, but they were stopped by the mage at the gate. The young man was about to argue, but after sensing it, Jefferson turned around and told his subordinates to wait at the gate. In fact, since the young official intervened, he no longer dared to bring them to see Lin Li for fear that someone from the war-supporting camp would deliberately try to stir trouble.
Under the lead of the mage of the Tower of Dusk, Jefferson soon met Lin Li, but he was shocked by Lin Li’s appearance. At this moment, Lin Li still looked rather fatigued and haggard, as if he hadn’t slept for a few days and nights.
Seeing Lin Li’s appearance, Jefferson suddenly felt more at ease. In his opinion, the reason why Lin Li looked like this had to be because he had been fretting about the serious consequences of making a scene at the guards’ barracks, and was worried about going to war with the Gilded Kingdom. He thought that his heart had to be in turmoil; hence, he looked that haggard.
“President Felic, you don’t seem to be well. Are you facing any health problems lately?” Jefferson asked, pretending to be concerned.
Lin Li raised his hand and asked Jefferson to sit down. He then shook his head listlessly, and said, “Thanks for your concern, it’s nothing serious.”
Hearing Lin Li’s answer, Jefferson sneered in his head. Despite being a Sanctuary powerhouse, he’s actually so worried. Fancy him saying that it’s nothing serious! Of course, he could not say it directly. Instead, he tactfully said, “President Felic, I came here this time to solve your worries.”
Once he heard Jefferson’s words, Lin Li immediately looked extremely surprised, and he scanned Jefferson from head to toe before saying with great suspicion, “What did you say, Lord Jefferson? Please clear my doubts!”
After Lin Li had rescued those sailors yesterday, he had been staying in his room to study the Divine-Smith-level mageweath. If it were something else, Lin Li probably wouldn’t feel that exhausted even after a month without sleep. However, the mageweath of the Divine-Smith-level had depleted a huge amount of his energy after just a night of studying even though it seemed easy to study.
Although Lin Li was a Sanctuary powerhouse, the Divine-Smith-level mageweath had already reached the level of the G.o.ds, and it was like an ant trying to lift an elephant. The knowledge contained in the Divine-Smith-level mageweath was like a ma.s.sive elephant, while that in Lin Li’s head was like an ant. They were simply worlds apart.
The problem in Lin Li’s mind was the mageweath of the Divine-Smith-level. Hence, when he heard Jefferson’s words, he was a little surprised, and he thought, Could it be that the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Gilded Kingdom is also a Divine-Smith-level inscription master?
However, Lin Li soon snapped back to his senses, and thought that Jefferson clearly wasn’t a Divine Smith. Be it in inscription or other professions, one would be a true G.o.d once they reached the level of the Divine Smith. Even though they might not be strong before becoming a Divine Smith, the strength they possessed would definitely not be weaker than an ordinary G.o.d’s.
However, Lin Li did not sense a single trace of G.o.dly aura from Jefferson, and he merely felt a level-19 mana fluctuation.
After reacting, Lin Li couldn’t help but shake his head. It seemed that he had been driven mad by the Divine-Smith-level mageweath—so much so that he actually developed that thought. He adjusted his mood a little, and said, “Lord Jefferson, we’d better talk about what you’re here for. My problems can’t be solved by you.”
Jefferson naturally could not imagine that Lin Li was actually vexed about a Divine-Smith-level mageweath, so he decided to continue making a.s.sumptions based on his own guesses. He smiled ambiguously, and said, “President Felic, it’s wrong of you to say that. Some things cannot be decided based on personal strength, so I might have a solution for the difficult issue that you’re facing.”
d.a.m.n it, the more you say it, the more it seems like it. You’re just here to pretend, huh? Or do you really have a way to solve the Divine-Smith-level mageweath?! Lin Li simply stood up, walked towards Jefferson, and said, “Okay, since you’re so confident, come with me to examine the Divine-Smith-level mageweath.”
When Jefferson saw how agitated Lin Li was at first, he thought that Lin Li was going to ask for his help to solve the conflict with the Gilded Kingdom this time. However, immediately after that, he heard Lin Li mentioning the Divine-Smith-level mageweath, and the smile that had just appeared on his face suddenly stiffened.
“What? Divine-Smith-level mageweath?” Jefferson was a bit dumbfounded. He knew nothing about ordinary mageweaths, let alone the Divine-Smith-level mageweath. If he had that ability, he probably wouldn’t have to take on the thankless job as a foreign affairs minister even if he only had Master-level attainments.
“Yeah, I’ve been studying it for an entire night, but I still couldn’t get a clear idea of what it is. I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable, Lord Jefferson. You’re actually confident about solving this issue for me. Please.” Of course, Lin Li knew that Jefferson didn’t have the ability to do that, but after studying for an entire night, he felt that he had to vent some of his frustration and anger. Hence, he deliberately tried to make things hard for Jefferson.
Only now did Jefferson realize that Lin Li simply disregarded the major matter that he had mentioned to Lin Li because the latter was preoccupied with the Divine-Smith-level mageweath. With a bitter smile, he said, “President Felic, pardon me for not making things clear enough. I’m here this time under the orders of the king to ask you to go to the palace to discuss something, not to study a mageweath.”
“Oh, I see.” Lin Li finally returned to his seat and looked at Jefferson. He calmly said, “Is your king planning to apologize to me for what they’ve done to my sailors? That’s unnecessary, I still have other important things to handle, so I can’t be bothered to hold it against you guys regarding that matter. Just make sure not to create trouble for nothing in the future.”
Luckily, I’m the one who came! If it was His Majesty or the other officials that are in support of the war, they would probably go to war with the Tower of Dusk. Jefferson almost vomited blood after hearing Lin Li’s words.
“President Felic, what you did yesterday is very unacceptable for the Gilded Kingdom. If this had happened anywhere else, we might have been able to compromise, but this concerns the pride and dignity of the Gilded Kingdom since it happened in our capital. So, His Majesty would like you to go over to clear up this matter and reach a consensus on a solution that can satisfy both of us.” Seeing the way Lin Li was behaving, Jefferson knew that if he directly said that he wanted the Tower of Dusk to apologize and compensate, Lin Li definitely wouldn’t give in. Hence, no matter what, he had to try to invite him to the palace before anything else.