The Amber Sword

“Alright, speak. What do you want?” The Faerie snapped, and Brendel smiled in satisfaction because it meant that at least he was halfway to his goal now.

“First thing we need is a place for us to close the deal.” Brendel replied.

“Huh? What’s that?” Tania asked warily. She stared at Brendel suspiciously, “I keep hearing all these new terms pop out of you, but it feels always like you’re plotting something, little fellow from Kardiloso.”

Of course he was plotting something. Brendel would never admit it though, so he shrugged, “That’s not true. You must understand, Aunt Tania, that Ampere Seale after the war is now a crucible of all kinds of people. Especially with the Holy Cathedral of Fire and the northern nobles’ spies in the city closely watching our every move. You know who the forces are behind the northern nobles....”

The Faerie flew up quickly; Brendel’s words had tread upon one of her biggest concerns. She irritatedly flew in a small circle and muttered, “The Holy Cathedral of Fire and Evil Cultists are indeed a problem. Especially the Holy Cathedral of Fire. Although they’re weak, they sure are annoying. Like the buzzing of flies.”

Brendel blushed with shame at her words. The People of Silver were probably the only ones who would dare compare the Holy Cathedral of Fire to flies, but at least the two of them were in agreement with the dislike for the Holy Cathedral of Fire, “Of course, we want to clear them out completely, and give them no reason to stay at Ampere Seale....”

Tania interrupted him before he could finish speaking, “Wait a minute, you want us to help reclaim Ampere Seale?”

It was common knowledge that Ampere Seale was a promised autonomous land to the Holy Cathedral from Aouine’s royal family. In this era, where the rule of religion was growing ever the more powerful, The Holy Cathedral had multiple lands like Ampere Seale under their govern, across the various different kingdoms the Cathedral ruled over. Aouine’s nobles too had been eyeing the rich land of Ampere Seale for quite a while now; it was just that none had been brave enough to make a move, unlike Brendel.

Brendel looked back at Princess Gryphine and saw her staring at him in surprise, her mouth agape. As if she was only now really seeing him for the first time. This is nothing. Brendel thought. It’s just the beginning.

What he wanted was a brand new Aouine, a land that was not at the mercy of anyone—an Aouine that could be the master of its own destiny.

He already had a plan in mind, and he spoke more confidently, “Is that not so? Do you really think that the Azure Lance can leave Aouine easily? Although the Holy Cathedral of Fire doesn’t have the guts to snatch anything away from the Buga Mages, they can still assert that the Azure Lance was unearthed in Aouine. As you know, the Kirrlutz have influence over Aouine too.”

He was not wrong. Because the people of Aouine were also descendants of the Flame King, the relationship between Aouine and the Holy Cathedral of Fire was recognized across the nations. Even the people of Aouine themselves agreed that they should be under the jurisdiction of the Holy Cathedral of Fire.

Everyone except for Brendel, of course.

The Faerie frowned, “You’re naive to think like that, little fellow of Kardiloso. Do you really think that those greedy devotees will give up this harbor just because the Silver Alliance puts pressure on the Holy Cathedral of Fire?”

Brendel was now a little excited—this was a problem that he had already considered, and so he had long since had a solution in mind.

This was the first time an opportunity like this was so close to Aouine.

“In the past, of course not. But right now the Holy Cathedral of Fire has made a huge mistake. They lured the devils into this world. Have you forgotten the Covenant of the Gods? Now that the Silver Elves and the Buga Mages are all here, what if you force them into giving up the jurisdiction of the harbor with the terms in the Covenant?”

“You guys are qualified for that, right?” Brendel asked, smiling like a fox.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Her Highness behind him.

Tania inhaled as well, “You had it all planned out didn’t you?” The Faerie suddenly realized that things might really go as Brendel predicted, and, if so, the Holy Cathedral of Fire might really have to give up on Ampere Seale.

Especially with the Holy War so imminent.

This fellow is changing history.

Having suddenly realized this, she couldn’t help scrutinizing Brendel. Brendel was wholly unbothered, however, and replied, “It’s just a guarantee for the closure of the deal, and if the Buga have the power to do it, why not do it well?”

“Even you must admit, Aunt Tania, that we have to find a quiet environment to ensure the transaction occurs safely, right? Besides, the Silver Mage is going to get the Azure Lance anyway, so you’re profiting from this deal no matter how you look at it.”

“You’re right, you little fox.” The Faerie looked at him snootily. She didn’t actually care whether Aouine could retake Ampere Seale, she just thought the whole thing troublesome. Truth to be told, she knew very well that the Library’s Scroll Mages would resort to any means to get their hands on the Azure Lance.

Not to mention helping Aouine reclaim a harbor, they wouldn’t mind even if they needed to involve themselves in the mortals’ Holy War.

The long lifespans of the People of Silver have long since shaped their characters with hubris and apathy for the world,

“Good.” Brendel nodded with satisfaction. Chasing the Holy Cathedral of Fire and northern nobles away from Ampere Seale, and thus letting Aouine reclaimed the harbor was only part of the deal. The crux of the matter was that this would make it difficult for them to infiltrate the south through this; Her Highness would have a much easier time uniting the southern lands this way.

Of course, he would never elaborate on these implications and waste a few of his terms of the contract for nothing. He then continued, “Then, the next thing is the personal compensation that I need.”

“And what do you need this time?” Tania asked grumpily.

“Something simple, I want to learn the interpretation of ancient writings from you and study the three slates with you during your stay in his harbor.” Brendel replied.

This was actually the main point of the deal for him.

Right now, no one was aware of what bloodshed the Earth Sage Slates would cause in the future, the reason being that the knowledge on the slates was far too precious. It not only recorded ancient history, but also recorded the long lost secret techniques and knowledge from before the age of the Deprived Radiance.

Everything about the past history and the vanished Gods’ People was in there.

Deciphering slates was a specialized skill that even the Buga Mages knew little about, and right now was an opportunity to get started on learning it. How could Brendel possibly let this chance slip away? Aouine had missed the first War of the Holy Saints, and thus failed to take its place amongst the most powerful empires in Vaunte.

But right now, with him, how could the Aouine miss this second opportunity?

To Tania however, the deal sounded a little too trivial. She was shocked, probably not having expected Brendel’s request to be so simple. The look on the Faerie’s face softened a little as she observed Brendel, “Looks like you’re not really a greedy person after all. Things must have been hard on you.”

She flew to Gryphine’s side and sighed, “You have a wonderful knight, Gryphine.”

“Yes.” The half-elf princess nodded solemnly.

Brendel felt embarrassed. It was obvious that, because of this seemingly simple request, the two ladies thought his previous outrageous demand had only been made for the sake of the kingdom. In reality however, they were putting the cart before the horse by assuming that.

“Very well, I will grant you your request. Searching for knowledge is a noble thing to do. This won’t count as part of the deal. What more do you want, little one?” Tania suddenly spoke up.

“Uh, how about fixing my gear for me?” That was actually his initial purpose of coming here today. But he thought about it and added, “By the way, can you help me find some magic equipment? It wouldn’t be too hard for a Buga Mage, right?”

“It’s hard to say, the lesser magic equipment have mostly been broken by those old fellows, and I can’t find you any better ones.” Tania remarked offhandedly, “Let’s look at the equipment you want to be fixed first, which, speaking of, is probably what you came here for in the first place.”

Brendel nodded and took out the equipment from the Dimension Space one by one. When the Faerie took a look at it, she shrieked in aghast, “Glow Wave? How did it break so badly?”

“Wait a minute, isn’t that the Crimson Red Blessing? Did you throw this into the Magic Furnace or something? Almighty Marsha, the dragon god will surely curse you...”

Tania’s eyes widened more with each piece of Mythical Artifact Brendel took out. Eventually, she had to hold her glasses into place, her stunned gaze fixed on Brendel, “Did you rob a dragon’s treasure trove or something? What’s with all these Mythical Artifacts, and, don’t tell me you want me to find one this level for you?”

“Do I look like a big fat sheep to you?” She could not help but scream.

“No no, you’ve misunderstood me.” Brendel was sweating, he did have more gold-tier equipment than was normal for someone living in the era before the War of the Great Demonic Wave, but they had been ones he had obtained by risking his life, not robbing some dragon’s treasure trove. While he did have a dragon by his side, he didn’t have the guts.

“I just want some amulets, any class will do.”

‘Amulets?” Tania was startled, “Why do you need those things?”

“I need more than just amulets.” Brendel replied, “Aunt Tania, I need an amulet that will increase one’s physical and mental strength.”

“Ah.” The Faerie understood now, “Aren’t those the amulets used by magical apprentices during their spell practicing? Little fellow of Kardiloso, weren’t you the son of a Sword Saint?”

“That’s my grandfather.” Brendel explained tirelessly, “Also, I’m an Elementalist too. But I don’t want them for spell practice. I’m not interested in becoming a mage at the moment either, but it’s important to me, Aunt Tania.”

The Faerie raised her eyebrow, “I see, do you need it now?”

“No hurry, let’s wait until things tie up over here first.”

Brendel thought to himself, It’s about time to cause some trouble for the Holy Cathedral of Fire.