Closer
“Young master, we’ve received news that a Gold Priest of the church of wealth would like to meet you. He’ll reach Venus Port in the next few days.”
Claire and Clara blushing brought Jacob a goblet of mixed fruit juice after waking up from their reverie. This was a drink of the elves that Leylin found delightful.
“Gold Priest? Just having a Silver Priest coming over would already be enough…” Leylin half-reclined on the elven rattan chair, looking languid, comfortable, and not ruffled at all.
Waukeen’s priests were divided into a few ranks, the highest of which was the current Patriarch. The rest of them were arranged according to currency, copper being the lowest and gold the highest.
A Gold Priest was equivalent to an archbishop, a status that greatly exceeded that of Bishop Tapris from the church of knowledge. Even if Tapris was converted by Waukeen, he would only be a Silver Priest.
The church of wealth sending out a Gold Priest showed that Faulen Island’s trade volumes had reached a terrifying level. It was to the point that it even attracted some attention from the Goddess of Wealth!
“Understood. Tell them to give him VIP treatment!”
While this was important, Jacob felt relaxed after hearing Leylin’s instructions. It was like he believed that as long as he did as Leylin said, things would go well!
This was the prestige that Leylin amassed over time, and at times, had the ability to reverse the trend of events.
After watching Jacob leave, Leylin pursed his lips and took a drink of fruit juice, a strange grin emerging on his face, “The Goddess of Wealth? Not bad…”
Port Venus was like Leylin’s personal fiefdom. While it belonged to Baron Jonas in name, Leylin held the real power here, and had tight control of the management of the port. He had not constructed any churches here, much to Bishop Tapris’ chagrin.
But neither Leylin nor Baron Jonas wanted the church of knowledge to solely occupy Faulen Island. And besides the God of Suffering, the Goddess of Wealth was the god that was most worshipped by nobility.
The nobles held the most faith in their own benefits and power. Of course this led to them believing in the Goddess of Wealth. After all, who could resist those adorable and dazzling bundles of gold?
Baron Jonas had long hoped to be able to attract the church of wealth into building a shrine to their goddess here. However, the Faulen Family had been too poor before, and the church of knowledge had obstructed it. However, this was now a request from the church of wealth themselves, and with a Gold Priest being sent over it was obvious how serious they were.
Leylin welcomed the church of wealth’s presence here. The benefits it would bring to the region’s development were obvious.
The priests of wealth were amazing at making profit. They didn’t limit themselves to business; even with their gamut of profitable ventures there was nothing they did not do. From storing precious items, to remitting gold, to converting money between the different metals, they even provided high interest loans— as long as it was profitable, there was nothing they wouldn’t dare do.
However, it could not be denied that with the church of wealth would partially take over the role of a bank, and there would only be advantages in trade and economic development.
Since this was a request from the other side, how could Leylin let go of such a great chance to rip somebody off? He could also take this opportunity to take revenge on what they had done in the past.
At this thought, Leylin’s smile widened. He took a look at his stats.
[Leylin Faulen. Age: 16. Race: Human, Rank 9 Wizard. Strength: 4.5. Agility: 5. Vitality: 6. Spirit: 9. Status: Healthy. Feats: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell Slots: Rank 4(1), Rank 3(3), Rank 2(5), Rank 1(???), Rank 0(???)] [Progress of analysis of the Weave: Rank 0: 100%. Rank 1: 100%. Rank 2: 25.17%. Rank 3: 8.89%. Rank 4: 0.001%.]
This past year, Leylin had secretly worked to help the Scarlet Tigers eliminate their enemies. Isabel now had the nickname of the ‘Scarlet Witch’ and was notorious in the outer seas. Half of that was thanks to Leylin.
The Devilblood Dagger also took this opportunity to drink the fresh blood of enemies, pushing Leylin to rank 9.
A rank 9 wizard was an existence that could make contact with fourth level of the Weave! At this point, Leylin had basically graduated from his study under Ernest. If not for Leylin’s continuous motivation, Ernes would’ve been embarrassed to see his disciple. He had spent a lot of effort and broken through all the way to rank 10.
“Now that I can cast rank 4 spells, master Ernest has nothing to teach me anymore…” Leylin sighed. He could now cast rank 4 spells, and due to his specialisation, Ernest rarely learnt spells out of Abjuration and Evocation. Leylin felt like it was a great pity.
He now spent most of his time in self-study. Of course, with the Faulen Family’s current wealth, buying some foundational spell models and scholarly volumes was no problem. However, what vexed Leylin was that the kingdom’s wizard guilds were useful for low-ranked wizards, but spell models at rank 4 and above, including research, were kept a tight secret and not sold publicly.
As for information for high-ranking wizards, or even about Legends, it was the most taboo of all and was protected quite well. There was no way for Leylin to see it.
“Master Ernest has already given me a letter of recommendation. With this, I might be able to get the qualifications to get into a wizarding guild in the Dambrath capital…” Leylin’s eyes were half-closed, and his brain continued to ponder different ideas.
“It’s a pity that the outer seas cannot operate without me. Marquis Louis’ patience must be at its limit, and his attacks of vengeance can come at any moment. And then there’s also the partnership with the Barbarian Pirates…”
After a long while, Leylin sighed deeply. He obviously could not leave now. At the very least, he had to give Louis’ family a firm push, but the day was near for that. Leylin’s eyes blazed…
……
“Trash! You’re trash!” The ink, quill pen, parchment and all the miscellaneous items on the table were flung onto Viscount Tim’s body.
“A year has passed! A whole year has passed, but what have you done? Not only have the few ships you have been sunk by him, he’s taken most of our trade! How did I get a son like you?” Marquis Louis exclaimed, the veins bursting out on his forehead in his fury.
“Father! My investigations show that there’s a large possibility that Leylin, the son of Baron Faulen, is the person behind the Scarlet Tigers. We can ask for a trial from the kingdom and catch him on charge of being a pirate… And then there’s the Barbarians. As long as we amass all our strength and attack Pirates’ Cove…”
Tim lowered his head, concealing the icy glint in his eyes and trying his best to persuade his father.
He hated Leylin and the Scarlet Pirates to the bone. Leylin seemed to have become his nemesis. Ever since the incident with the Black Tiger Pirates, the few shipping routes in his control had been fiercely attacked, and his few attempts at revenge were seen through when he was trying to implement them. He had metaphorically been slapped in the face, and the organisations under his control had all been mostly or completely lost.
He had lost the favour of his father, and even the servants began to treat him with less importance. Of course, there was also his most hated big brother, who ruthlessly poured salt on his wounds and took the opportunity to take over much of the businesses he had possessed. His brother was even brazenly recruiting his men!
*Boom!* A black crystal ink bottle was thrown at Tim’s head. Ink flowed down Tim’s forehead, mixing with blood and leaving him frozen.
“Are you stupid? Guilty of being a pirate? Do you have any evidence, or do you want to implicate us too?”
Marquis Louis’ yells were even louder, “And attacking Pirates’ Cove? That’s the biggest joke I’ve heard all year! That’s the place where all the dark organisations in the outer seas gather. Even if we attack, what good is it for us? We’ll even have to take on their counterattack…”
“Father!” At this moment, a gentle voice could be heard from behind the door. Marquis Louis immediately regained his calm, and the light in Tim’s eyes dimmed.
The door pulled open. His brother, who seemed to have been blessed by the gods from birth and possessed all the fortunes of the world, walked in.
“William!” Seeing the son of his first wife walk in, Marquis revealed a rare smile.
“My men have already found traces of the Scarlet Tigers, but they seem to be very alert and don’t stay on an island for long…” William smiled while he announced this, and Tim who was nearby felt like his face was burning.
“That’s normal. They have a powerful wizard who even escaped Boruj’s scrying and probes,” Marquis Louis muttered to himself, “It’s rumoured that Baron Jonas’ son, Leylin Faulen, has a wizard behind him. I suspect that the wizard could be part of the pirates!”
“Father, please give me control over the Black Skeletons. I am confident I’ll be able to destroy the Scarlet Tigers in 3 months!” William bowed, dealing Tim the final blow.
“Don’t underestimate them,” Marquis Louis regained his previous expression of a scheming man with deep foresight after his moment of rage had calmed.