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Chapter 197: Remuneration
“All the bone jade stored in Alban was made into bone jade bombs?” Ann almost dropped the half-chewed bread to the ground.
Nemo put down the cloth bag in his hand and nodded heavily. “Each one carries a weight monitoring array. I adjusted and peeled it off, and finally scraped out these— According to Mr. Medes’ request, this should be enough.”
The mouth of the bag was open, revealing some fine snow-white particles inside, which looked a bit like crushed pearls. Even if they were grouped into a whole, they were barely the size of an apricot.
“I will give these to Medes. Thank you, Nemo.” Ann carefully patted the breadcrumbs between her fingers, and then carefully wiped her hands on the clothing exposed behind the leather armor, before picking it up with both hands. Even though she knew that Nemo had done enough protection, she couldn’t help but closed the opening of the silk bag.
Nemo tried to pull out a smile and his eyes fell on the tip of his dirty boots.
Ann’s gratitude made a sharp residue of bitterness and guilt mixed in his heart.
Ann took a long breath, took out the task paper roll directly, and signed it neatly.
“I can give you my personal account directly.” The female warrior smiled slightly bitterly. “Of course, I have deducted your debt from it.”
“You can keep a fifth of it. You’re also a member of Tumbleweed, Ann. You have been acting with us, and you deserve it. The usual rules apply. Half goes to the team fund and half is kept,” Oliver responded calmly.
“Thank you.” Ann nodded gratefully; her voice dropped in seriousness. “Now we need to continue to talk about the bone jade bombs. Nemo, what the hell is going on? You’ve seen that thing before?”
“Actually, I saw one at Withered Castle, but… Well, it failed to explode successfully.” Nemo explained in a low voice.
In fact, it exploded very normally, but at that moment, Nemo’s heart was on Oliver’s safety, so he didn’t control his strength and completely suppressed it, and it only released a light sound.
This directly led to Nemo himself having no idea about the power of the jade bomb. He had only read corresponding data in books.
“In addition, I saw a document in the storage room” Nemo continued uncomfortably. “There are two copies, one is a strike plan for important cities in Willard, and the other is a ‘treatment plan’ for the southern border of Alban. The former is prepared for a full-scale war, while the latter—”
“He wants to use this thing against Gallagher Salter.” The former knight commander clearly pointed out, “Mr. Light, do you remember the bomb. Is the model number on the bomb?”
“Model?” Nemo was taken aback. “According to the information from the Abyssal Church on the bone jade bomb, there’s only one type of bomb.”
“’Cleaner’, I know. The relationship between Garland and Alban is quite friendly. When I was still in the position of Chief Justice, I heard a bit about it— Alban had borrowed heavily the manpower of the Gatekeepers to promote a new bone jade weapon research,” Adrian said in a quiet voice.
“Cleaner?” Oliver asked. In his life, he had heard that the most complex magical explosive is a bomb enchanted by fire discs worth ten gold coins each. People usually use it to blow up mines.
“Not surprising. It should be the kind I came into contact with at the Withered Castle,” Nemo explained immediately. “Completely stimulate the power of the bone jade with an instantaneous burst of energy to erase all things. The bone jade which… uh, is part of the origin of abyssal magic will continue to exert its influence. In the next few decades, demons will only continue to appear at the explosion site and surface creatures won’t be able to survive there.”
The bone jade must be related to the Demon King. Nemo could feel the familiar fluctuations in it. That was his power, but there was a significant difference between the bone jade and the skull fragments of Ulysses…
The power in the bone jade was relatively docile and gentle, and more concentrated, as if it had been pre-processed.
It was like a voluntary surrender of power.
But now that he was determine to explore with Oliver to the end, Nemo wasn’t in a hurry to worry about this issue at the moment. “If you say that a new type has appeared… I did find an incomprehensible word.”
“What is it?” Adrian’s expression is very serious.
“In the plan used for combat in the territory of Alban, the ‘Philanthropist’ was mentioned. At the time, I wasn’t sure about its meaning, but now that I think about it, its nature close to that of ‘Cleaner’.”
“It seems they have completed it.” The knight pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache.
“Have you heard of it?” Ann pulled Jesse, who was about to stick to the knight commander, aside, and leaned forward to him.
“Well, I heard my teacher mentioned it once. The ‘Philanthropist’ will only take effect on living things— It will ignore houses and cities, but all life with flesh and blood will be turn into dust. Although it consumes more bone jade, its impact is easier to deal with than the devastating ‘Cleaner’,” Adrian explained as he almost pinched the bridge of his nose red.
“Don’t be sad, love. You know, humans have always been very aggressive and extremely talented at this sort of thing.” Jesse finally glued himself over.
The knight sighed, too lazy to avoid the palm of his hand.
“Damn it, the prince will do it soon.” There was more hesitation in Ann’s voice.
“What you mean?” Oliver noticed the uneasiness of the female warrior.
“Let’s put it this way, as far as I understand it, the smartest thing for our Mad Dog Marshal to do right now is to forge a successor and rely on the evidence of the emperor’s legacy to go to war with the prince.” Ann spoke quickly. “But he can’t just pull someone off the street to pose as heir. Long-term grooming isn’t realistic, and the longer delay, the more troubles it brings, and short-term preparation will take at least a week.”
“According to what I know about Ettram, he probably gave the Mad Dog Marshal a fake royal emblem— Gallagher must find a suitable person and brand this fake emblem. Not counting the time to find someone, it takes about a week to cast the spell alone. It’s estimated that he’s already looking for someone now.”
“So… Once the Mad, no, Marshal Gallagher introduced the legitimate heir who ‘has royal bloodline’, it will be hard for the prince’s side to act, right?” Nemo asked carefully.
“Yes, after all, the Mad Dog is watching. He can’t strike from a long distance and then find an excuse to muddle through… Just like what he did with the emperor and Annabelle.”
Ann let out a sneer. “But now it seems he has chosen a more extreme way. To strike the Marshal and tear his, and that of all civilians of the border cities, faces off and bury them all together. Although it will have a violent reputation, it is a border area after all. As long as he could come up with beautiful excuses, there will be room to maneuver on this matter.”
“The Marshal has been on the battlefield for a long time, so he should be unaware of what the ‘Philanthorpist’ is.” The Chief Justice added.” No one would use ‘Cleaner’ within their own country, which is why this isn’t something Marshall Gallagher would consider.”
“Time?” Oliver then turned to Nemo and asked dryly.
“It’s not written in the plan, but I guess prince has stored the schedule somewhere.”
Then the entire Tumbleweed suddenly fell silent.
Their goal was originally one thing— To rescue Delia.
Now that they got the remedy to cure Delia, they just needed to give Delia the medicine regularly and then picked her up after she recovered. With the young princess and Cat Whiskers inseparable, Nemo can easily find her.
Tumbleweed’s mission could even be said to be over. Ann even gave them the remuneration in advance, but…
“Let me contact Delia,” Nemo said suddenly.
Ann raised her eyebrows at him.
“Delia is a smart girl and has her own view of the overall situation. She is not a deadweight waiting for me to carry things out. I think it is a good thing to ask her for her opinion at this time.”
Facts have proved that Nemo’s considerations were quite right.
“Thank you for your respect, Mr. Light.” Although a little suppressed trembling could be heard, Delia’s voice was cold and calm. “Thank you also for your prescription— Since you’re subordinates to Gallagher, tell the Marshal that I will not leave.”
“Why?” Ann cried in disbelief.
“I have Cat Whiskers, Miss. My uncle is unsuspecting of me that he thinks I’m stupid enough to not even know what disease I have.” Delia breathing became short, and there was still some struggle in her tender voice. “I… I can easily obtain information.”
Ann stood in place a little bewildered.
“Even if the Marshal takes me away, I have no legal right to inherit as a minor. This will not be the reason that will hinder uncle from acting.” The young princess still mistook them as Black Chapters who were hired by Marshal Gallagher.
“Tell Marshal Gallagher, over the years, I have understood my uncle’s character. He’s not a wise nor wicked man. Even from my point of view, he’s naïve and ignorant— He will not be a qualified king. If he does reach that position, many people will pay for his idealism. Believe me, many people… and he killed my mother.”
For the first time, there was an eerie hatred and darkness that came from the princess’ voice.
“Marshal Gallagher can’t lose. No matter from any point of view, he absolutely cannot lose. Even if we do whatever it takes, we will win.”
“You don’t want to leave, is that right?” Ann murmured.
“I never said I wanted to leave! If I remember correctly, the last time we met, I said, ‘I will go to Salter’s side immediately’, not ‘I will escape from the palace with you’— I am from the Alastair family. Although I have never loved this family, I at least carries the blood of this maniacal family.”
She raised her tone, and suddenly it revealed a bit more distorted obsession.
“In a sense, I also carry this country on my shoulders. I want to prove it, I will prove it… I must prove it.”
The young princess’s declaration of her determination came through the connection made from abyssal magic and scattered in the air.
Ann suddenly burst out laughing, sad and hoarse, but filled with a little relief.
“Okay, don’t go,” after laughing, she said softly. “If you want Gallagher Salter to win, I will let him win for you.” ”
The communication terminated.
Everyone looked at Ann together. There was still a little smile on the latter’s face.
“Gallagher Salter needs a legal heir, very well, he has one now.” The female warrior moved her wrists, her eyes brightened alarmingly. “When I successfully hand over the medicine to Delia, I may need to leave the team temporarily, Oliver.”
“You’re going to participate in a war.”
“Yes, but this is a matter for the Alastair family.”
“…A very dangerous war.”
“The favor between us has long been clear.” As if perceiving the other’s subtext, the female warrior narrowed her eyes.
“Yes, I know.” There was a soft smile in Oliver’s voice. “So I’m asking for payment.”
“Little bastard, I have no money anymore.”
“If Marshal Gallagher wins this war, will you recognize Delia?”
“Of course, she needs a relative.”
“I want a promise,” Oliver said. “If… The queen succeeds to the throne.”
“Huh?”
“I want a pardon from Tumbleweed. I want the new king to grant civilian status to everyone by then. How about this deal?”
Ann looked into Oliver’s emerald eyes speechlessly, and after a few seconds, she showed a big smile.
“Very good, I like it very much,” she said. “It’s really gratifying. You’re already a qualified leader, Oliver.”
Gallagher was still unaware of the “disaster” he was about to face.
“This woman won’t do.” He glanced coldly at the young woman who was paralyzed on the ground. “Haa, let me guess, her family was taken by the reward and directly ‘sold’ her to us.”
The brown-haired woman on the ground let out a sob of fear.
“Do you think there are not enough flaws?”
Marshal Gallagher almost laughed at his subordinates. “How do you want me to disguise such a… thing, huh? Not to mention etiquette education, it’ll take three and a half weeks for her to look a people without shivering. I understand your suffering. Women are indeed fragile creatures, but at any rate, at least find someone more decent— Even if I don’t like women, I won’t close my eyes and force them to die. Find someone who is really willing to come.”
He emphasized heavily on the word “really”.
“But…”
“If the refugees can’t do it, then it has to be criminals. At leaser they’re bolder. If that doesn’t work, then we can hire a Black Chapter. There are also many female Black Chapters who has family to support. I don’t believe we can’t find anyone who’s not willing to change the lives of their loved ones.”
“Yes, Lord Marshal.”
Gallagher snorted, poured himself a glass of sweet wine, and sat back in the soft armchair. While shaking his glass, he carefully watched the map on the table.
“Lord Marshal…” It was a pity that Gallagher couldn’t enjoy his peace for longer than half an hour when his subordinate who had just left came back.
“What’s the matter?”
“Found one.”
“…Are you playing with me?”
“No, it was delivered to our door. They seem to have guessed what we want. There is a woman in that group, and the basic characteristics are all in line. Except, uh—”
“Except what?”
“She doesn’t look like a compliant person and seems a bit crazy. We asked her about remuneration, and she— She…”
“It’s just a young woman.” Gallagher impatiently put down the wine glass and adjusted the angle of his collar. “Don’t look like you haven’t seen the world before. What does she want? Just give it to her.”
“…She said…‘If you really want to talk about remuneration, I want all of Alban.’”
The author has something to say：
The young princess isn’t necessary good, maybe natural at best, but more suitable to be king than Ann. It’s just she still too young XD
Ann… In a sense, is still too conscientious. _(:з”∠)_
Tumbleweed is going to the battlefield!
The fuller goat can finally have a name! ……Legendary mount (×
Kinky Thoughts:
Fuller goat!!!!! You’re coming back! How could Tumbleweed abandon you like that!