Chapter 623: 101. Which Side
“Well, I expected this when I saw you,” Keken smiled and added, “The world knows about the conflict between Mr. Fisher Benavides and the Royal Academy, and also knows about your teacher-student relationship with Master Lacazette. I mean, of course, Queen Elizabeth knows as well.”
“I know, I’ve disappeared for four and a half years without showing up, and after appearing, I haven’t gone to Nali to see her, she must blame me.”
Fisher smiled regretfully and looked at Keken, saying, “But regardless of the situation, I am a disciple of Teacher Heilson. I must return to personally attend his funeral.”
“It’s probably not that simple, Mr. Fisher.”
Keken interlocked his fingers and hesitated for a moment before pointing northward, saying, “A few months ago, one of the renowned Four Great Pirates, the Ice Mountain Queen, was ambushed by the Black Chieftain, leading to her ship sinking. After that, she and her crew were forced to leave the sea and enter the Northern Region, seeking the help of the Frost Parasol Tree, along with Princess Isabel. After Queen Elizabeth learned of this, she sent emissaries to the Northern Region to bring Princess Isabel back, as for the outcome…”
“Is the Black Chieftain the pirate who cooperated with Captain Alagina?”
Speaking of which, he had previously invited Alagina to search for the Storm Sea, and now Nali even has factories producing mechanisms in the Holy Realm. Coupled with the Black Chieftain betraying Alagina, his connection to Nali became clear.
Listening to Keken’s words, Fisher first furrowed his brow.
Anxiety about Alagina’s situation filled his mind. He knew that ship was the only refuge for Alagina and her crew, but now it had met with disaster, forcing them into exile, which worried him greatly.
Only when he heard she had gone to the Frost Parasol Tree did Fisher relax a little, then the inevitable feelings of guilt about Valentina and Alagina meeting surged up.
“Alagina must have refused.”
“Indeed, I forgot that your relationship with the Ice Mountain Queen is also quite unusual. But beyond that, Queen Elizabeth certainly understands that Princess Isabel would not return so easily; after all, it’s obvious that it was Princess Isabel herself who did not want to come back to Nali. Therefore, the meaning conveyed by the emissary is more threatening than conciliatory.”
“Something feels off.”
“You noticed it too?”
Keken smiled slightly as he looked at Fisher, who was deep in thought and had tapped the table, and then analyzed, “If Valentina has truly emerged, as a being with the power of a phoenix sweeping through the entire Northern Region’s beliefs, it would surely cause panic among the countries of the North. At the very least, her name would be widely circulated, and the far-off Elizabeth cannot be unaware of it. Even if Elizabeth has little knowledge of the legendary phoenix’s strength and abilities, she wouldn’t recklessly threaten the Parasol Tree unless she is confident that the Parasol Tree is no match for Nali.”
“Yes, this is also a reason for Patriarch Barleyen’s concerns. On the surface, Nali appears to be a rising star on the Western Continent, but few can see through the driving force hidden within, and it’s difficult to guess what cards Queen Elizabeth holds up her sleeve. It’s just that I need to remind you, that newly awakened phoenix might not be easy to deal with. It is said that in her reply to Queen Elizabeth’s letter, she might have mentioned you.”
“…”
Fisher was momentarily stunned, even halting the action of tapping the table.
“She mentioned me? To Elizabeth?”
“Ah, probably. At least that’s what Patriarch Barleyen said. But that phoenix wouldn’t overstep her bounds too much, right? Probably.”
“…”
Why does it feel like this trip to Nali has suddenly become dangerous?
He fell silent, rubbing his temples, appearing somewhat troubled.
It wasn’t that he feared Elizabeth, for he had decided long ago, even before he left the current world to traverse back in time, to resolve his matters with her.
But with only five days until Heilson’s funeral and Elizabeth set to attend in person, he could already predict that she would certainly have some arrangement regarding Fisher. Fisher simply did not want to turn his teacher’s funeral into a venue for them to settle past grievances.
At least he wanted to wait until after the funeral.
“You are working for those slimes, aren’t you? Given their infiltration of society beyond the Northern Region, do they know nothing about Nali or Elizabeth’s secrets?”
“Unfortunately, no. Over the past few years, whether in the Southern Continent or the Western Continent, slimes lurking within have been quietly executed, to say that my understanding of Nali is limited to that of the general populace. I can only feel a flourishing overall, but I do not know where the confidence supporting Queen Elizabeth comes from.”
Keken shrugged and shook his head, but then suddenly seemed to remember something and added to Fisher, “However, I do know a little secret about this ‘Human Allied Forces’ from the Southern Continent. The entire army here is actually hired and not the native forces of Nali, and the source is a small country on the eastern shore of the Western Continent that has suffered serious population loss. It’s evident that Queen Elizabeth had little expectations for this army; otherwise, she wouldn’t have treated General Barbatos’s appointment so casually. He is entirely an unknown person. It’s hard to say what Queen Elizabeth’s true intentions are, but it’s best to remain cautious.”
Eastern shore of the Western Continent?
So that’s how it is regarding Barbatos’s appointment to the Human Allied Forces.
Fisher pondered; if Elizabeth was unaware of Barbatos and Ag’s demonic backgrounds, then why did she send this support troop to a puppet regime, especially as the personnel were from such a sensitive war-torn area?
“Well, thanks for the reminder, but I have already decided to return to Nali.”
“Alright. If Mr. Fisher decides so, I can also let the slimes know about it. With their teleportation abilities, you won’t have to travel by sea anymore. Come, come, Mr. Fisher, eat some more. I still don’t know why you are here and what has happened here before. I thought the Dragon Court would struggle to withstand the advance of the Human Allied Forces, but although it seems they suffered losses, at least the outcome is good.”
Keken raised his glass again to fill Fisher’s with red wine. At this moment, a bottle of fine wine from Nali had just run out, and he was about to call his wives to get more wine, hoping to lift the mood and reminisce about the past.
Fisher saw his drunken state but did not advise against it. Keken had done everything he could to help this old predecessor in the Southern Continent and Western Continent, and to be honest, he was quite admiring of him regarding coordinating relationships between his wives.
Otherwise, Fisher wouldn’t have such a lack of imagination that the mere thought of the group of women connected to him made his back shiver.
For who knows how long, Fisher’s mind had been surrounded by many things, urging him to think continuously. And looking at Keken, who was raising a fine wine, Fisher also relaxed for the first time in a long time and cast aside various problems swirling in his mind.
He simply raised his wine glass, lightly clinking it with Keken’s, causing the fine wine in the cup to ripple.
“Alright, alright, you really have had too much to drink, you need to calm down now.”
The conversation continued until dusk. During this time, Fisher and Keken talked a lot, naturally covering various topics, but Keken spoke much more while Fisher spoke less.
From his mouth, Fisher learned about the current situation in Nali, and there were certainly accounts of his acquaintance with the slimes. His collaboration with the slimes was still aimed at his dream of establishing himself without relying on his family. From the current situation, at least in Fisher’s eyes, he appeared to be more outstanding than many of the younger generation of the Boche family.
After he got drunk, his three wives came down worried and stopped him from getting another bottle of wine.
Seeing him inebriated, Fisher took the opportunity to excuse himself. Madam Dora wanted to send Fisher off, but he needed no escort; he simply went alone to the deck prepared to leave.
Behind him, Madam Dora politely wanted to follow him out, but in the blink of an eye, after Fisher left a line saying, “I will come looking for Keken later,” he vanished, leaving her wide-eyed in surprise.
Before long, Fisher arrived at the Blessing Tower without anyone noticing.
He was not drunk at all and casually released Emhart, who had been in his arms for the whole afternoon.
“Oh, you bored me to death. Your friend really drinks a lot but can’t hold it well. He’s practically about to puke but still wants to drink. I originally thought you were outrageous enough, but I didn’t expect him to be so exaggerated, even going so far as to deal with slimes. Are all students from your Royal Academy like this?”
Although the Royal Academy already had a bad reputation, to be fair, it had nothing to do with the Academy directly.
“I didn’t expect him to marry a slime, especially someone so purely from Nali like him.”
“Oh, a pure Nali gentleman.” Emhart stood on his shoulder, shaking his head and sighing, “In this regard, you are nowhere near him. Just look at how harmonious his three wives are. Now look at you, good heavens, I even find it scary to help you remember those names. How do you even navigate between them so casually?”
“Bold and meticulous.”
“…Really shameless.”
Fisher ignored the contemptuous words of Emhart, and now that the drunkenness had faded, he began to think about the issues at hand.
The top priority is to find a way to save the dead fetus in Raphael’s belly.
Secondly, to search for and read all the completion manuals, noticing two points here: one is to be wary of the content of the Apocalypse Prophecy, and the second is how to read the complete completion manual.
Regarding the latter, he must expedite reading the Death Completion Manual and then seek out the so-called “treasure” to complete the reading of the Life Completion Manual.
As for the former, according to Hela, the Apocalypse Prophecy has already been initiated, and the two different versions of prophecies related to Raphael are:
“The Crimson Dragon Queen will rise first, burning all of humanity with wrath.”
“The flame of the soul shall ignite first, burning all in the world with war.”
According to the Subhuman Girl Enthusiast, both prophecies are true, so war should soon ignite.
The war between the Dragon Court and the pseudo-court of the Southern Continent is already a done deal, but what about the Western Continent? The Northern Region?
The next prophecy concerns the “Mysterious Child of the Sea,” which relates to Jasmine.
It’s worth noting another version of the prophecy mentions, “Distorted life will stir up mighty waves, erasing the rules upon which living beings rely.”
He wasn’t quite sure what this so-called “distorted life” referred to, leaving him somewhat hesitant.
But he remembered that the Subhuman Girl Enthusiast had left some clues for him somewhere in Nali. If both prophecies are true, she is likely the one who can decipher the Parasol Tree prophecy, so the clues she left in Nali should also relate to the Apocalypse Prophecy.
In summary, returning to Nali has become a necessity for him.
With Teacher Heilson passing, being his only disciple, Fisher had to return; moreover, he had promised to return to Nali to see Elizabeth once again, and now he no longer wanted to avoid it; there were also the clues left by the Subhuman Girl Enthusiast, which might contain key information pointing to the direction to break the Apocalypse Prophecy.
While pondering the next steps, Fisher slowly walked to the door of Raphael’s room. He raised his hand to push the door open; the light of candles brightened the room, where Jasmine and Raphael were talking about something.
Seeing Fisher come in, Raphael and Jasmine both looked up at him, calling out, “Fisher, you’re back.”
“Teacher Fisher.”
Fisher blinked; for a moment, the two in front of him seemed as harmonious as Keken’s two Cardu sisters, but upon closer observation, one could still see a slight awkwardness, obviously different.
“Ah, I’m back. What were you two discussing?”
Raphael glanced at Jasmine, who seemed a bit shy, and was the first to speak up, “She tried to call that…”
“It’s Lord Ramastia!” Jasmine quickly picked up the conversation, wagging her tail as she looked at Fisher and said, “I’m sorry, Teacher Fisher. No matter how I called Lord Ramastia, there was no response. It seems like she’s completely detached from the ocean now. I don’t know if it’s due to some other factors; I can’t help at all.”
“That’s about right. As for my side, my mother’s health is generally fine; she just isn’t very conscious. According to the guards of the Wanhua Pavilion, there was a tsunami at that time, and she went back to save a reporter named Ingrid, but Ingrid had already died under the collapsed building, and she didn’t come out. Thankfully, she just fainted and wasn’t crushed by the building.”
Raphael breathed a sigh of relief, partly lamenting that Ingrid, and partly thankful that her mother was okay.
“As for the rest, although the losses of the Dragon Court seem acceptable in the face of victory, it will still take some time to recover. What about your side? What news did they bring?”
Fisher roughly explained the news of Heilson’s passing. Raphael wasn’t particularly familiar with Fisher’s relationship with Heilson but knew he was also someone important to Fisher. Jasmine, on the other hand, immediately covered her mouth and exclaimed, “But the great magician Heilson was just fine before! He represented Nali in negotiations in Shivali before we left Nali. How could this happen so suddenly? Could it be that Elizabeth…”
Upon mentioning “Elizabeth,” though Raphael had just said to “act as if they didn’t know her,” she couldn’t help but look at Fisher, clearly thinking the same as Jasmine.
The words weren’t fully spoken, but Fisher had already made his decision.
“There is indeed that possibility, but to be honest, I would prefer if Elizabeth used my teacher’s death to lure me back. In any case, I must return to Nali to confirm this in person.”
Raphael and Jasmine exchanged glances, each seeing the worry in the other’s eyes. But then they realized that Fisher was now at a Mythical Rank, and no matter how Elizabeth was just a human, what could she do to him?
“Alright, there’s no helping it. Just be careful when you go back, Teacher Fisher.”
Jasmine said this, and Raphael nodded, rubbing her belly thoughtfully for a moment, and added cautiously, “When are you planning to leave?”
“No rush. Counting tonight, I have a full five days. I’m not taking a boat; with the slimes’ help, I can reach the Western Continent quickly. I plan to leave the day after tomorrow. This doesn’t concern me, but I still have not figured out how to save our child.”
Jasmine pursed her lips, while Raphael smiled and shook her head, softly reassuring him, “The boat will reach the bridge when it gets there. We will find a way.”
Fisher smiled helplessly; although he might not be as optimistic as Raphael, he truly didn’t have a better plan at the moment.
“Alright, alright, you’ve been busy all day today. Go take a bath and rest a bit; I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Just as Fisher was about to nod and leave, Jasmine, who had been interlacing her fingers nervously, suddenly spoke up, “Wait, Teacher Fisher? You’re leaving the day after tomorrow?”
“Ah, that’s what I’m planning. Although there are still five days, I have a place I want to visit before that.”
That place referred to the address left by the Subhuman Girl Enthusiast.
However, seeing the increasingly unwilling look on Jasmine’s face, Fisher could not help but ask, “What’s wrong, Jasmine? Is there something strange?”
Jasmine looked at Fisher, then at Raphael, and finally couldn’t help but mumble, “N-no, it’s just that I also want to help Teacher Fisher with a massage… after the bath.”
Fisher raised an eyebrow and noticed Jasmine’s slightly fidgeting fingers, seemingly understanding her hidden request.
But then looking over at Raphael, who was sitting at the table with her tail gently swaying, she first glanced at Jasmine and then at Fisher, clearly looking like she wanted to devour him.
Emhart had already taken to the air, heading outside as if he hadn’t heard or seen anything.
Fisher, who remained standing in place, swallowed nervously, and after hesitating for a moment, said, “How about we do the massage in Raphael’s room?”
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(End of this chapter)
