Chapter 430: 404 Dirty Deal
Reiger and Nipede among others had not gone far before they sat down on the deserted lawn across the main road.
Originally, there were no seats available in this area.
However, once Nipede arrived, he lightly tapped the lawn with his magic wand, and the ground immediately seemed to come alive, quickly bulging and directly forming several stone seats and a small stone table.
Still unsatisfied, Nipede tapped the ground again with his wand, causing an even more intense swelling of the ground, and before long, a somewhat exquisite small stone pavilion appeared.
"Impressive,"
Reiger looked at Nipede with newfound respect.
This effortless application of magic was something Reiger was witnessing for the first time.
This must not be constructional magic but rather control magic, manipulating the earth and the rock plates within it to form the pavilion. It seemed very simple, but actually contained a considerable amount of technical content.
At least as a magician specializing in control magic at the strategic level, Yuri could not achieve this, and neither could Reiger using only control magic, which indicated how high Nipede’s mastery of magic was.
"That young master of the Hadi family called him a master, right?"
Reiger grew curious about Nipede’s identity.
"It seems this title of master really means something."
Thinking this, Reiger soon sat down at Nipede’s invitation, with Antie also sitting beside them, and the three of them started to chat intermittently about Reiger’s exploits in the capital. Clearly, Nipede and Antie were also very curious about Reiger’s affairs.
In contrast, Ophelit, the young master of the Hadi family, felt like he was sitting on needles and left after a while because he could not bear it.
He simply could not ignore Reiger’s occasional meaningful glances.
Therefore, Ophelit finally hurried to the side and contacted his father via a communication magic crystal to explain the whole situation.
Ophelit was severely scolded by Earl Hadi, and his frantic voice was nearly heard in the corner where Reiger and the others were, sufficiently alerting Ophelit to the intimidating power of the title "Sword Saint."
Fortunately, Ophelit had not made any mistakes yet; his father, although angry, did not abandon him.
"I’ll contact your aunt to see if she can persuade your uncle to apologize to the Thunder Light Sword Saint. If your uncle is willing to come forward, the Sword Saint should not hold it against you,"
while saying this, Earl Hadi warned sternly.
"Next, you better behave properly, and treat the Sword Saint well, understand?"
Upon hearing this, naturally, Ophelit repeatedly nodded, constantly agreeing, his submissive demeanor nothing like his usual arrogance in Karudi.
Earl Hadi cautioned a few more times, seemingly uneasy, and kept reminding and warning until Ophelit reassured him multiple times, only then did he hang up the communication.
Only then did Ophelit breathe a sigh of relief and cursed under his breath.
"What kind of situation is this?"
Indeed, this day had been extraordinarily unlucky for Ophelit.
In front of Nipede, he had to be concerned about his image, to flatter that great magician, thus he could only speak gently and adopt a courteous demeanor.
In front of Antie, he had been scolded numerous times, losing face many times, yet he could not react, only able to suppress his frustration.
Now it was even worse, apparently having done nothing, yet it seemed he was targeted by the Sword Saint, which made him extremely embarrassed.
Since when had Ophelit Hatite ever suffered such humiliation?
In Karudi, whatever he did always went smoothly, no one dared to defy him because his father was the Earl and the manager of Karudi, and everyone in Karudi had to court him, so naturally, they also had to court Ophelit.
Even if someone of a higher rank and position than his father appeared, considering that the Hadi family was a vassal of the Meipros family and the wife of the Border Guardian Sword Saint was also the current head of the Hadi family’s elder sister, they dared not act recklessly, at least showing the Hadi family some respect and face.
Therefore, even when facing the young masters and mistresses of Marquis and Duke families, Ophelit was able to remain calm, and they similarly dared not underestimate Ophelit.
There were very few people whom this Ophelit could not provoke, apart from the royal family, were only other Sword Saints and strategic level magicians whose status and influence were no less than that of the Border Guardian Sword Saint.
Yet today, such high-level figures not only appeared but two appeared at once.
Reiger Brillhaut was a newly promoted Sword Saint, backed by a strategic level magician and a Fransel Marquis family.
Nipede Jialan, though not a noble nor a strategic level magician, in some ways, he was even more influential than a strategic level magician, at least in the world of magic.
The Hadi family could not afford to offend either of them, even with the support of the Meipros family, they dared not offend them carelessly.
Thus, Ophelit had a very suffocating day today.
Accidentally, Ophelit glanced at Reiger, looking at the younger appearance of the other, and suddenly, a swell of jealousy erupted within him.
"Why should such a low-born bumpkin become a Sword Saint, while I have to smile respectfully at such people?"
Ophelit’s face twisted slightly.
He was also a magician, but his talents were not notable enough to mention.
In Kaludi, Ophelit was considered a genius, yet when he traveled to the capital at the age of 15 to test for admission to the Spiller Academy, he was not accepted.
This meant that Ophelit had the talent to become a magician, but it wasn’t high enough to allow him entry into one of the only four prestigious academies on the continent of Acasha.
His aptitude for magic was also quite ordinary, third grade in transmutation, third grade in manipulation, second grade in interference, and second grade in construction; he didn’t even have a single fourth grade, let alone become a tactical level magician. He couldn’t even learn the highest level of magic below tactical level.
Thus, Ophelit’s strength was roughly equivalent to the most ordinary knight in the knights’ orders under the command of great noble families, equivalent to Lv.3, only a bit stronger than Gel.
For someone like him, apart from inheriting his family’s noble title and becoming the next Earl Hatite, he decidedly had no other means to stand out.
His father did plan to push for him a bit, giving him a chance to learn from Nipede, which is why Ophelit was traveling with Nipede and his grandson, to curry favor with Nipede and learn a thing or two from him.
However, Nipede’s attitude towards Ophelit was lukewarm at best, respectful but with a touch of distance, preventing Ophelit from finding any opportunity to seek guidance from him.
Ophelit even wondered if, by marrying Nipede’s granddaughter Antie, he could become a great magician in the magic world, more popular than even strategic level magicians?
Unfortunately, his intentions were too obvious and too malicious, making Antie, who had a subtle awareness, abhor him immensely.
"Those people, merely commoners and lowborn without even noble titles, why should I, a future Earl, have to be mindful of their opinions?"
The more Ophelit thought about it, the angrier and more jealous he became.
Especially when Ophelit saw Liz distributing food among the crowd, he was barely able to contain his negative emotions.
"Damn it!"
Ophelit could only curse like this, hidden in a corner to vent his emotions.
Until...
"I’m back."
A deep voice sounded, and Jack’s figure suddenly appeared behind Ophelit.
Ophelit was completely unaware and was startled, but when he saw Jack’s face, stiff as if dead, he relaxed.
"Sorry to have made you come here for nothing," Ophelit said to Jack with a wave of his hand, "No need to investigate those people anymore, I already know their identities."
Upon hearing Ophelit’s words, Jack just nodded without offering any opinions.
Ophelit, accustomed to Jack’s manner, didn’t care and turned around.
"That guy is Reiger Brillhaut, the newly raised Thunder Light Sword Saint. He is not someone I should provoke."
Ophelit’s words made Jack’s eyes flicker momentarily.
Glancing at Jack like that, Ophelit suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "You’re okay, right? Just make sure you don’t slip up in front of that damned Sword Saint, okay?"
"...I won’t," Jack paused before responding impassively, "No one can see through our guise, not even the Border Guardian Sword Saint."
"Is that so?" Ophelit felt somewhat relieved.
Feeling reassured, Ophelit’s mind became active again.
"Since no one can see through your guise, is there a way you can kidnap someone for me without the Thunder Light Sword Saint noticing?"
Indeed, Ophelit still hadn’t given up on seizing the perfect prey before him.
He wanted that girl badly, so much so that if it were not for Reiger and Nipede’s presence, he would have acted on the spot, snatching her away to his home.
She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, the women he had seen before weren’t even fit to carry her shoes.
Not being able to have such an exquisitely beautiful girl, Ophelit felt he would never be able to let go for the rest of his life.
Thus, he ultimately chose to speak up to Jack.
"...We can try,"
Jack paused again before saying this.
"But there’s a price."
Hearing this, Ophelit didn’t hesitate and immediately agreed.
"This time, I’ll give you three hundred men."
Ophelit offered this without a second thought, which made Jack’s eyes flicker again.
"Okay."
The next moment, Jack agreed, making Ophelit smile.