noveltune Chapter 116 A Born Academic Prodigy?
Chapter 116 A Born Academic Prodigy?
Chapter 116 A Born Academic Prodigy?
foreign aid?
Eliza had considered this approach, but it had too many hidden dangers.
First, there's the finances. For a city of viscount size, Holy Stone City is actually quite well-off, definitely above average. But now that the city is about to undergo restructuring, and I haven't yet secured my position, maintaining good relations with the higher-ups in Milandil is of paramount importance. I also need to bring in more qualified nobles to supplement Holy Stone City's numbers, all of which will cost money.
Hiring mercenaries is a bottomless pit, and whether there will be any return is hard to say.
Secondly, there's the issue of security. The power of the Shadow Kingdom shouldn't be known to outsiders too early. If powerful mercenaries learn its secrets, the security of Holy Stone City will be in serious trouble, which is not in our best interest.
"The foreign aid I'm talking about isn't what you're thinking," Bright laughed. "I mean, some undocumented mercenaries. They're not very strong, and they keep each other in check. If we can keep them under control and increase their pay a little, we can make good use of them."
"Does Lord Bright mean black market mercenaries?" Judge Osric immediately understood what the other party meant.
The black market mercenaries in Milandil and the northern district have formed a low-end industry chain. Many nobles know about this, and although it is not respectable, it is extremely cost-effective for handling certain matters cheaply.
"The envoy's disappearance is a serious matter. Will those mercenaries be of any use?" Eliza frowned.
"First of all, there are some excellent mercenaries employed in the black market. For example, the three knights under the Lord's command all come from the black market of Mirandil. You should agree with their abilities, right?"
Eliza remained silent. Those three were the only fighting force she could muster. All three were indeed from the black market, so they were indeed from the same line of work. Now that Bright had ruined the plan to rotate the samurai on a large scale, recruiting an elite team from the black market might be a solution.
After all, the mercenaries hired in the black market aren't even contract workers; they're purely outsourced. Once you find a qualified and reliable one, you can use a knight's position to recruit them. She's a viscountess now, and her children have a few knight's positions. If everyone could recruit someone like Kailan (Wang Gou Dan), that would be a pretty good improvement.
Thinking of this, she nodded slightly: "You mean, we should hire a large number of black market mercenaries for intelligence gathering, so that we won't be exposed, and we can be eliminated at any time in case of special circumstances, right?"
This woman is ruthless...
Brett was speechless, his first thought being that he could silence him at any moment.
"Lord City Lord has thought things through perfectly. That's exactly what I mean. According to my deduction, that envoy should not be as powerful as the one in the Shadow Hut."
"Why do you say that?" the judge asked curiously.
I killed them all, of course I'd say that...
Bright rolled his eyes inwardly, but outwardly feigned an analytical tone, saying, "First of all, if powerful Shadow Messengers can move freely, then they don't need to win us over at all. You should have guessed that, shouldn't you?"
Eliza and the judge exchanged a glance. To be honest... they really hadn't guessed that.
Bright continued, "To be able to infiltrate a third-rate cult like the Heart of the Forest for so long, the Shadow Messenger's strength should be about the same level as Prosecutor Lady back then. It's just that he might have something important on him, which is why the Messenger is in a hurry. As for where this important thing is, it's hard to say, after all, a lot of black market mercenaries have recently infiltrated outside."
"As far as I know, Duke Raven has a large amount of intelligence funding. Because of the special geographical location of Holy Stone City, which is located on the border between two countries, the barrier that the Igor family erected here was of national war level and cannot be easily shaken. The elite troops of the Beth Empire should not be able to come here to gather intelligence. The only way is to hire mercenaries without proper documentation. However, Duke Raven should not dare to hire those high-level mercenary groups on the market. Those powerful mercenary groups will definitely dare to monopolize anything with too much profit."
"So most likely, they used mercenaries from the black market. The envoy's tragic death was probably done by mercenaries from the black market. One advantage of this situation is that because those mercenaries are not high-ranking, they may not be able to identify the important items in the envoy's possession."
"I see..." Eliza clapped her hands. "Mr. Bright's intelligence is truly admirable. He was able to analyze such a result so quickly. I even suspect that you are the strategist of some faction."
"You're too kind, Lord City Lord. I'm now serving you, so I'm practically your strategist, aren't I?" Bright said with a smile.
It seems the other party agrees. Well, that makes sense. I ruined her plan to replace the samurai. The best way for her to gather a group of elite Shadow Bloodline warriors is the one I suggested.
The reason I facilitated this was to make it easier for players to actively approach these two people to accept quests later on.
The examples of Wang Gou Dan and Bai Cai have taught me that as long as I can keep providing tasks, players who aren't stupid will always side with me. I don't need their loyalty; I just need them to know that I'm an NPC who always has the best tasks, and that's enough!
Eliza smiled slightly: "I hope so too."
As they were talking, Bright suddenly looked a little flushed and touched his head.
"It seems Lord Bright is a bit too heavy-drinking." Eliza stood up and stepped forward to help Bright. "Why don't you... stay here tonight? I'll worry about you going back like this."
The judge gave Mrs. Eliza a strange look. For someone like Mr. Bright, maintaining that kind of relationship was a good way to form an alliance, but wasn't it a bit too secretive? He was still there.
"I..." Bright was dazed and seemed unable to speak properly. At this moment, the judge could not tell whether Bright was making excuses to stay here and enjoy the erotic night or whether something had been put in his drink to cause this state.
But thinking about it, as a member of the Igor family, Lady Eliza probably wouldn't dare to directly murder Bright, right?
Having thought this through, he stopped dwelling on it, stood up, and said, "It's getting late, I should take my leave."
Seeing that the presiding judge was so understanding, Eliza nodded in satisfaction, stood up and said, "I'll see you out. By the way, we'll need your support for tomorrow's Noble Council meeting."
"Rest assured, Lord City Lord." The Chief Judge quickly agreed. Now, as the top judicial officer of Holy Stone City, he was responsible for the review of many noble inheritances. His power was unprecedented, and his influence was no longer what it used to be.
At this moment, after Eliza saw the person out, she slowly returned to Bright's side, looked at Bright who seemed to have passed out drunk, and smiled, saying, "It seems that not everything can be predicted, Mr. Bright."
At this moment, Yu Nu Wugua stood behind Lady Eliza and whispered, "Is there anything you need me to do now, Madam?"
"I suspect something must have happened in the forest, and I suspect it has something to do with Bright. I'm going to inform Kaylan; I'm going to the forest myself to check it out!"
"Isn't this too dangerous?" Yu Nu Wu Gua frowned. "Should I go instead..."
'
Eliza turned around and gave the other person a long, meaningful look, and the Rain Woman quickly lowered her head.
"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that there are some things I need to see with my own eyes to feel at ease."
Upon hearing this, the Rain Woman nodded, then took out something resembling a diary and began writing something in it. Soon, several Shadow Force players, including Eliza, saw the message.
"Lady Elizabeth has ordered us to assemble immediately, report on the mission status, and that there is a new mission."
At this moment, everyone's location in the team was communicated to each other, and everyone could see the contents written in the Rain Girl's Notebook.
The Shadow Scholar... Is this her ability?
At this moment, Bright's spirit stood quietly to the side, observing everything.
The Corpse Whisperer's innate advantage was once again demonstrated. When the physical body fell into a deep sleep, or was even poisoned or trapped, it did not affect the spirit's ability to leave the body. At this time, Eliza got herself drunk, which allowed her to use her spirit identity to do things without being suspected.
He was silently observing Eliza's actions, and it was the first time he had witnessed the extraordinary abilities of the Rain Woman.
The Shadow Scholar, as previously mentioned in the information, is a very basic profession in the early stages. It can deconstruct shadow knowledge and shadow spells, but requires a lot of time to learn and improve, and to touch the knowledge of the underlying shadows.
It is not the ability of a scholar to organize a small team using a shadow notebook, know the location of each other within the team, and share information.
Instead... it belongs to the Shadow Priest.
As far as Bright knew, the ability to be a "rain maiden" came from her studies in the Shadow Hut, where the old man taught her about the spells of the Shadow Priests. This process only took two days.
In just two days, Yu Nu Wu Gua had acquired the essence of the Shadow Priest's abilities, which made Bright look at the little guy with renewed caution.
The strength of a scholar's abilities is entirely related to their analytical skills. A strong enough learning ability can turn a scholar into a shadow magic expert, but it's easier said than done. Understanding the principles and replicating them requires highly difficult occult knowledge. Is this guy a born academic genius?
"Lord City Lord, the location has been confirmed," said Yu Nu Wu Gua respectfully.
"Excellent!" Eliza was extremely satisfied. The other party's abilities far exceeded her expectations. Even the messenger in the Shadow Hut praised the other party as a genius. This trip to Milandel was truly a treasure.
Let's go!