Chapter 469: Simplistic, Yet Hardly Simple
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The first n.o.ble to come forward was an upstart that specialized in the plantation business.
Calling his plantation business a “high-end farm” was not incorrect, as this n.o.ble not only produced half of the total sugar cane consumed within the Empire, but also raw materials needed to produce a variety of medicines. The combined income made him one of the richest men in the Empire. However, until Duat attempted to invade Isythre, this n.o.ble was not at the highest level of the socio-economical status.
Like others, this n.o.ble lost some properties during the invasion; however, the demand for medicine rose after the invasion, prompting the demand for his raw materials to increase, netting him a fortune large enough to cover his losses many times over. Seizing the opportunity that had presented itself, the n.o.ble quickly bought land and property for dirt cheap from people that had gone bankrupt, lost their relatives, or were no longer able to feed themselves and their family. His a.s.sets grew, and he soon joined the ranks of the most wealthy in the Empire. This provided him the opportunity to enter Baiyi’s auction. This goes to show that winners emerge even from even the most disastrous events.
Duat’s Invasion had dealt a devastating blow to Isythre, causing huge changes in the status hierarchy. Older n.o.bles began to move; in an attempt to keep up with the new billionaires, they pulled out all the stops.
Unlike most n.o.bles present at the ball, this rich upstart did not have a large box filled with gold and other precious materials. All he had come with was a contract, and when he stood up, he read out its contents for all to hear. If Da Xue gave his kin one of its seats this semester, then from this year onwards, Da Xue would receive five percent of the upstart’s annual profit.
If an agreement was reached, then every year, Da Xue would receive five percent of the upstart’s annual, till the contracts expired. Even if the upstart’s kin graduates before the contract expires, the academy would continue to receive the profit!
The offer was so generous that it took the other n.o.bles — who believed that had seen it all — by surprise. Baiyi was shocked, too. Who would have expected the auction to begin with such an explosive deal?!
Grand Princ.i.p.al Hope was known for being avaricious, favoring rare raw materials over money, but he found it difficult to turn the upstart’s monetary offer down. What the upstart had offered was a share in a nascent business, in which profits were expected to rise in a couple of years. If the business profit continued to rise at its currents pace, in a few years, five percent of it would be worth ten million gold coins or more!
All Baiyi had to do was give the upstart’s ward a seat.
The barter was quite unbalanced and seemed almost too good to be true. Baiyi quietly pondered for a while, and he decided to reject the upstart’s offer, for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, Baiyi was not eager to be a n.o.ble’s fool. If he accepted the offer, he would begin to rely on the profit as income for Da Xue. He would then have to focus more attention on the upstart’s business, to ensure that he received the five percent profit each year. The Voidwalkers would become the upstart’s a.s.sistants, who would do everything to guard him and his business.
a.s.sociating Da Xue, which had long since maintained a neutral stance, with a capitalist was sure to bring trouble! Baiyi even believed that the upstart’s real intention was to secure a powerful patron for himself.
As the status of n.o.bles increased, they looked for powerful ent.i.ties to support and protect them. Such n.o.bles would target royal families, like the Imperial family, or mega organizations, like the Church. As older n.o.bles had already latched onto the Imperial family and the Church, it would be difficult for upstart n.o.bles to secure their patronage. Hence, it only made sense that the upstart n.o.bles chose to target ent.i.ties whose power was rapidly growing, like Da Xue.
This was a huge reason why Baiyi declined the upstart’s offer. The Voidwalkers would never allow themselves to be swayed by a bag of gold coins dangled before their faces! As Baiyi recalled, this was not the first time he had tempted this way. After he created Da Xue, he had been extended offers of the same nature multiple times. Some n.o.bles had even dared to offer the hands of their young daughters as a part of the trade! However, Baiyi had rejected them all.
This was the reason why only the Dole family enjoyed Baiyi’s patronage at this point. They did not have enough money to sate Baiyi’s appet.i.te, but they were descendants of a Voidwalker. Undines ties with Baiyi’s Angels, her cute, and sometimes very s.e.xy, disposition helped bolster the tie between Baiyi and the Dole family.
Huge monetary offers did not make Baiyi lose his mind in the past, and it would not do so now.
Baiyi’s stoic silence was enough for the upstart to realize that the Grand Princ.i.p.al was not interested in his offer. This did not surprise him, though. At first, he thought that such an offer would appeal to Da Xue as it looked to be on the brink of a war with the powerful Church. However, to the shock of the n.o.bles present, Baiyi had announced that he would not need their help when Da Xue and the Church collide. This drastically reduced the possibility of his offer being accepted.
With this in mind, the upstart still proceeded to pitch his offer, hoping that Master Hope would bite. Alas, his offer was rejected.
The upstart did not leave after that, though; he remained in the hall. There was something else that had caught his interest: the spider marionette that had been on display earlier. If the spider marionette was used to defend the empire at some point in time, as someone that invested in the project, he would earn himself a spot of the pages of history books!
As for the other n.o.bles, they had watched Baiyi’s expression carefully as deliberated on the upstart’s offer. When they saw Baiyi’s disinterest in money, the n.o.bles were relieved. Most of them were not prepared to place bids with cash.
The next n.o.ble to come forward represented a tea-making family. Although the family had not fully recuperated from the invasion, the family head was set on sending his kid to Da Xue. He walked towards Baiyi with a coffin-like box in tow. Everyone watched as the tea merchant removed the box’s lid.
Inside the coffin-like box was a pale-grey suit armor set that resembled those worn by common mages. However, this pale-grey armor looked more decrepit and out of fas.h.i.+on. Its design was not aesthetically pleasing, neither did it have any decorative patterns. Even the restoration job the armor seemed to have undergone did nothing to hide the scars it had gained over its long period of existence. The armor looked so archaic that it made Baiyi’s Augustril armor, which had been through h.e.l.l and back, look pristine!
A wave of unkind laughter rang out from the crowd. It was not a surprise that someone would try to trade armor for a spot at Da Xue, but such attempts had failed, as no one had been able to present armor good enough to entice the Voidwalkers.
For starters, Baiyi’s armor, the Sanctus, was crafted from Augustril, an incredibly rare magic-enhancing metal. It was given to him by the Emperor of the Walthart Empire, and this increased the value of the armor. The armor used by other Voidwalkers had been carefully crafted by the prodigious Blacksmith Walker and the genius Engineer Walker, using materials that were developed by the Alchemist Walker, an accomplished alchemist. The inventions produced by this trio were ahead of those made by other artisans in Isythre. This was not a surprise; the trio’s inventions incorporated otherworldly concepts — such as ergonomics and human anatomical science — acquired from Earth. Each armor had also been designed to accommodate each Voidwalker’s preference.
How could anything else in the world match such a standard? Showing off armors made by artisans in Isythre was nothing but a joke to the Voidwalkers. It was akin to presenting microwaved sausages to Gordon Ramsey! [1]
“This armor set is my family’s ancestral treasure, handed down to us from generations past,” said the tea merchant. “Legend has it that it was gifted to one of my ancestors for helping a mysterious and powerful existence. No record of the armor’s name has been found. We have had many experts appraise it, and they all tell agree that it’s not ordinary. Such an armor befits a man as mysterious as you, no?”
The crowd’s laughter grew in intensity. They could not help it; to them, that pitch sounded like something a snake oil salesman would come up with.
“You have not grown weary of that old wives’ tale, have you, Old Hanks? You believe it so much that you brought that junk here, trying to pa.s.s it off as treasure!” A cackle rang out from a n.o.ble that could be seen bending over in laughter. “I can’t believe it! You’ve actually done it this time!”
“Haha! You can only fool drunks with this story, old man. To have the gall to repeat it in front of everyone here, do you think Master Hope is an idiot?! Or, have you finally gone senile?”
“Oh, Old Hanks, you just made yourself a joke. I can’t believe that you and your family actually treated this rusting junk as an ‘ancestral treasure’!”
It was obvious that the tea merchant had told the story many times in the past. Back then, his family was renowned amongst the n.o.bles, so no one dared to make fun of him. His peers had even pretended to be blown away by the armor’s backstory.
However, now that the tea merchant’s fortune had almost run out, the other n.o.bles expected him to, at least, exit the group with a favorable impression! But, here he was, recounting a stupid story, making a fool out of himself!
The tea merchant was not perturbed by the taunts. He strongly believed that his father — and those that came before him — would not make up such a story, with the intent to fool their descendants. The plebeians around him may not be able to recognize the worth of the ancient armor, but surely an accomplished sage such as Master Hope would!
The tea merchant’s son was much more thin-skinned than his father. As laughter rang out from the crowd of n.o.bles around, his face turned beet-red, and he could not help lambasting his father in his mind. If the senile man had to offer the family’s ancestral treasure, he could concoct a better lie to sell his pitch. The old man’s honesty had only humiliated the family!
Even if the junk armor was worth something, its value will not be enough to catch the eye of the greedy Grand Princ.i.p.al.
The tea merchant and his son, who were both nursing different thoughts, gazed at Baiyi with different expressions. The tea merchant looked hopeful, but his son looked embarra.s.sed.
Baiyi did not laugh. Instead, he studied the armor quietly for a few minutes. When he was done, he tossed the placard to the tea merchant’s son. “You’re fortunate to have such a good father, young man. Please, do not disappoint him when you enter the academy.”
The laughter instantly died down, replaced by looks of shock. Except for the tea merchant, every n.o.ble in the hall was at a loss for words, including the Southern Duke and Undine. As power n.o.bles, everyone present had seen numerous treasures, so they possessed a knack for recognizing valuable items; however, neither of them could see any value in the tea merchant’s junk of an armor.
Why would the greedy Hope accept an armor like that? Could it be because…
Baiyi did not bother to explain anything to anyone. He walked towards the coffin-like box and stared at the armor. A few moments later, he turned his gaze to the tea merchant’s son.
“Da Xue is a very demanding academy, young man. If you are not diligent enough, you may get overwhelmed,” said Baiyi. “So, before I take this armor, I’ll ask you one last time: do you really wish to join Da Xue?”
As the tea merchant’s son would be the one to attend the academy, Baiyi’s question was directed at him, not his dad. It was his consent that mattered.
The youth did not seem to have heard Baiyi’s question, as his face still held a blank expression. He kept staring blankly at the cold, metal placard in Baiyi’s hand. He still could not understand how that old armor, which had a cheesy backstory, had been able to sate Master Hope’s appet.i.te. Could it be that the armor was just as special as his father had claimed? Was the backstory many laughed at actually true?
The embarra.s.sed tea merchant had to pinch his son before the latter was jolted from his thoughts. Realizing his impudence, the tea merchant’s son quickly bowed and said, “S-sorry, Master Hope. I, uh, was lost in my thoughts.”
Baiyi dismissed his lapse in attention with a wave of his hand and said, “Will you be willing to follow Da Xue’s rules, and aspire to work your hardest?”
“Y-yes!” The tea merchant’s son hurried exclaimed. “Without a doubt, yes! T-thank you so much for the opportunity, Master Hope!”
“Good. Before the new semester begins, you may decide which faculty and course you would like to enroll in. When you do, just bring this placard to our student affairs counter,” Baiyi said. As he carefully took the old armor out of the box, Baiyi added, “Do call me Princ.i.p.al Hope from now on.”
The son was beyond himself for this sudden stroke of luck, but his father was less euphoric. With a somber expression, the tea merchant asked pointedly, “Princ.i.p.al Hope, if I may… Can you please divulge the truth of this armor to us? It has always been an unsolved mystery, pa.s.sed down from generations to generations, even before our family had reached our current prestige. I’ve exhausted quite some resources into finding out its background, yet nothing ever turned up. But you… You seem to know something about it, Master Hope. Please, enlighten me.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to regret your decision,” Baiyi said, his tone belying a sharp hint of warning.
The tea merchant froze. Then, with a heavy heart, he flashed the Fifth Walker a powerless smile and said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s some long-lost legendary relic or regalia—it’ll always be nothing but junk if no one in our family knew how to use it. I weighed the value of my descendants’ future with the possible value of this treasure, and I chose the former. I’m merely curious of its origin.”
“Is that so?” Baiyi murmured. Swiftly, he dismantled the armor by pieces and stuffed them into his storage pouch as if he was worried that the tea merchant would regret his choice after hearing his explanation.
He only started answering the tea merchant’s inquiry after he tucked every last component into the pouch. “If I’m not mistaken, this armor’s name should be ‘Mystique’.”
The crowd inhaled sharply. Mystique? As in, the ‘Mystique’ mentioned in legends? The armor rumored to be the most powerful Divine Regalia to ever exist?
Mystique was so mysterious that even the legends surrounding it were inconsistent and at odds with each other; the only detail these legends agreed on was that Mystique had disappeared from the face of the world two thousand years ago. Its appearance, its owner, and even what it was used for before its disappearance was never agreed upon. Some said that it was the legendary divine armor worn by a powerful paladin to smack all heretical G.o.ds and demons with his mighty, divine hammer; Some said that it was worn by a powerful druid, who used the armor to summon great spirits of wolves and trees to kill every single paladin who came to his land to proselytize. Still, some claimed that it was once worn by a powerful necromancer or a mysterious a.s.sa.s.sin whose name had lost in time, or even…
n.o.body could give a canonical account of the legend, but everyone was sure that it must have been something really incredible to become such a legend in the first place. This was the reason why n.o.body could have expected the fabled Mystique to look like a nondescript sorcerer’s armor at best, and a pile of sc.r.a.p metal at worst. No wonder the family who owned it had locked it in their bas.e.m.e.nt for thousands of years!
“To be fair, Even I do not know about the legends that much, because not even we Voidwalkers knew anything about it. I’ve only managed to glean its name from a detail carved in its body,” Baiyi explained and pulled out the chest plate from his storage pouch. Suspending the plate in midair, he overlaid a layer of mana on top of it, causing the plate to react by projecting Ancient Rohlserlian formations into the air.
“Some of you may know that it’s common to find hidden texts within Ancient Rohlserlian formations, similar to the text hidden in the Sorcerers a.s.sociation’s emblem. This one right here,” Baiyi pointed. “This one declares its name: Mystique.”
The n.o.bles gawked. Not many alive were well-versed in the almost-lost language of Ancient Rohlserlian, let alone decode formations crafted from it. It was just too impossible to believe, but it seemed that their most knowledgeable Grand Princ.i.p.al Hope believed this to be the genuine article!