Chapter 9: The Best Candidate
Just as the mages in the Imperial Capital had made their decision, Joshua was in a side hall of Saint Lawrence Cathedral, waiting for the teleportation array to activate.
Aside from the teleportation gate personally constructed by Master Nostradamus on the top floor of the Lord's Manor, there were two other teleportation arrays set up in the main city of Moldavia. One was located at the City North Merchant Guild, and the other was within the church, inside Saint Lawrence Cathedral.
Under the busy adjustments of a young priest, the originally dim divine-arts array slowly began to glow. As holy light filled it, the power of space-time, tinged with an ethereal blue, started to operate. Little by little, specks of fluorescent light drifted out, filling the entire side hall.
"The teleportation gate leading to White Dove City has been opened."
The priest apprentice adjusting the array was a big black-haired boy, probably no older than twenty, looking somewhat shy. After confirming the gate was open, he breathed a sigh of relief, then gave everyone a nervous smile and said softly, "Lord, you may use it at any time."
"Good work."
The warrior nodded slightly. The effect of the Mist Pocket Watch was indeed useful. Even a seemingly shy young man like this, upon seeing him, did not show excessive fear—at most, his expressions and movements were a bit stiff.
That being the case, there should be no disturbance in the Imperial Capital.
Turning his head, Joshua carefully observed this divine-arts array.
In his previous life, the warrior had frequently used teleportation arrays to travel across various lands. Although the divine-arts array before him was somewhat different from a magical array, its effects—and even the nodes where energy operated—were identical.
The Mycroft Continent was so vast that the journey from one end to the other would take an ordinary person a lifetime to complete. Even for a professional, without teleportation spells, accomplishing this was extremely difficult.
In the wilderness hills and grasslands lurked countless magical beasts and monsters. Facing rampant horse bandits and fierce alien tribes, even a large merchant caravan would find it troublesome. Especially the journey through the mountain forests of the Black Forest, whose danger surpassed ordinary imagination. Without a Gold-rank expert or a massive dragon beast leading the way, it was simply impossible to advance.
No matter how prosperous a city, without a teleportation array, it was just a rural place. The Northern Lands had always been called a remote frontier precisely because the frequent space-time disturbances there made it impossible to set up teleportation gates. However, this had changed last year. Starting from this spring, adventurers from all over the world had been using the Merchant Guild's teleportation array to come to Moldavia, then venture into the mountains and ice fields to explore.
Through the ethereal blue space-time gate, the main hall of the White Dove City church was already visible. Joshua could even make out the golden patterns on the hall's walls.
The teleportation network on the Mycroft Continent was generally divided into three systems. One was the network between merchant guilds—semi-civilian, usable by anyone who paid. Another was the internal network established by national governments, basically only usable by nobles or the military. The last was the network within the churches of the Seven Gods' Church. This one was stricter than the merchant guild's but more lenient than the national network, generally depending on the user's reputation with the local church.
Joshua's reputation needed no elaboration.
Once the space-time gate was completely stable, he led Ying and Lin and stepped through it without hesitation.
At the same time, in the Imperial Capital.
"I don't have time."
When the mage who had come to visit the Kaos Family met the blonde swordsman and tactfully made his request, the answer he received was this cold refusal: "Please leave."
The Kaos Family residence was located in the northern part of the Imperial Capital's inner city. It was a classic, ancient-style mansion. Its exterior seemed no different from other ordinary houses, but the interior decoration was unimaginably luxurious.
Like a starry sky, the star-crystal floor released specks of golden light, paired with the silver ring-shaped glowstone lamps overhead, making one feel as if they were deep in the cosmos. The middle-aged mage from the Imperial Royal Mage Association stood in the center of this mansion's hall. Upon hearing the refusal, his face flushed red, but he dared not vent his anger at being slighted.
This was the Kaos Family's mansion in the Imperial Capital. Facing the future heir of the Empire's most powerful spellcaster family, the blonde swordsman hailed as the next Sword Saint, even a Gold-rank mage like him dared not say an extra word.
But then again, he had already anticipated this outcome.
The Imperial Royal Mage Association was divided into many factions. The master behind him had always been at odds with the Kaos Family and Nostradamus's faction. When he came here, this middle-aged mage had already prepared for refusal, even the humiliation of being turned away at the door. Now, a calm refusal was actually a decent outcome.
"Listen, Floria. I know what you're doing. You just want to use me to purify the chaotic mist released by the Erebos Box."
But just as the middle-aged mage was about to take his leave, the blonde swordsman, Brandon Kaos, spoke calmly: "Although your mentor has always been at odds with my family, this matter concerns the dignity of the Empire's mages. I don't want to give those guys at the Sky-Piercing White Tower an excuse to mock us."
The middle-aged mage named Floria stopped in his tracks. He turned around, somewhat pleasantly surprised, and said, "Then, Brandon, have you changed your mind? Are you willing to help us?"
"No, of course not. I really don't have time—I'm not lying about that."
Waving his hand, the blonde swordsman glanced at the clock in the hall. His expression softened slightly; he seemed in a good mood, so he patiently explained: "Soon, I'm leaving for the Northern Lands to have a pleasant family trip with my wife and daughters. Your troubles aren't even one ten-thousandth as important as this."
—Family trip?
Floria was momentarily stunned. News of Brandon's marriage had not been widely circulated, and he didn't understand what this term meant. But another, more important sentence diverted the mage's attention and reached his ears: "Although I won't help you, I will recommend another person. He also possesses the purifying power you need—even stronger than mine."
As he said this, Brandon revealed a subtle smile, but the middle-aged mage didn't notice—nor did he care to. He quickly pressed: "Who?"
"A friend of mine. For some reason, he hasn't been answering my communications lately, so I don't know if he has time to help you. But you can try."
Shrugging somewhat regretfully, the blonde swordsman, under Floria's urgent gaze, spoke the name: "Joshua van Radcliffe, the Lord of Moldavia in the Northern Lands—perhaps you already know this name. He is the one I recommend."
"That Dragon-Slaying Count, the man who single-handedly held back the Black Tide?"
Frowning, the middle-aged mage weighed his words, looking hesitant: "I know him, of course I know him. Such astonishing martial feats—His Majesty the Emperor praised him not long ago. But isn't he a warrior?"
The rest of the sentence went unspoken, but Floria's meaning was clear—could someone who didn't understand magic really provide any help to their research?
"Although I was born into a spellcaster family, I am indeed a swordsman. As long as one can purify the black mist of the Erebos Box, it doesn't matter what profession they are."
Unconcerned by the other's lack of trust, Brandon turned decisively and issued his dismissal: "I have no reason to lie to you about this. In terms of purifying dark and chaotic power, Joshua far surpasses me. As long as you can find him and get him to agree to your request, you will not be disappointed."
"Please leave."