City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Inheritance

It was only after the last bandit had disappeared from their view that Fuschia turned around to look at Demi, Wennington, and Venica, “Go to Earl Alice’s territory, she can protect all of you.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere! This is my father’s castle, it has the Archeron cemetery!” Demi said stubbornly.

Fuschia frowned, “They wouldn’t dare mess with the Archeron graveyard, this stubbornness has no meaning!”

Demi forcefully shook her head, “No, I want to stay here. I could die wherever I go. This is Father’s territory, only occupied for a while by these thieves. If I get scared for my life and leave, I’m basically letting them have the place!”

Fuschia was slightly taken aback; she hadn’t thought this young lady would be so knowledgeable.

……

When Richard stepped out of the portal in the Church of the Eternal Dragon, he had no idea about the situation he would be facing. The portal came out in the portal room of the Church, a region where commoners were forbidden.

When Flowsand and Richard walked out, even the priests guarding the place were utterly shocked. These people were supposed to be lost in the myriad planes!

Flowsand didn’t let Richard head back to the island immediately, instead bringing him along to visit high priestess Ferlyn. On one hand, she wanted to register Faelor with the Church of the Eternal Dragon, getting a serial number for the plane. This would strengthen its connection to Norland, lowering both the cost of teleportation and chances of failure. The other was to find out the truth behind how they had disappeared to Faelor.

Ferlyn told Richard that his ceremony’s blessings had been interrupted. However, she didn’t mention who the source of the interruption was, only advising Richard to concern himself more with matters in Faust.

Her words left Richard feeling strange and secretly unsettled. He tried his best to calm his anxious heart, listening to a beautiful cleric in front of him regale him about the recent events in Faust. As he heard more and more, his expression warped.

Gaton was stuck in the Rosie plane, most of his army with him? Wouldn’t that leave all the Archeron lands bare, including island 7-2?

Besides… could he come back at all? And even if he could, when would it be? Endless questions lingered in Richard’s thoughts, growing more passionate and fiery until he felt like something was searing his heart. The mild stings didn’t seem to be much, but he soon found it hard to breathe.

Gaton Archeron… Someone so capable, so carefree, rugged, and bold… How could he sabotaged to the point that there was no news of him left?

He quickly stood up, but then forced himself to slowly take his seat once more. Flowsand was concerned by his nasty complexion, asking, “Richard! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I have no emotional attachments to Gaton,” Richard said nonchalantly, almost no change in his voice. He then added, “I just don’t like when something that belongs to me is taken by someone else.”

Flowsand didn’t believe any of it, but she still nodded seriously.

Richard thought things over for a while before speaking to her, “I need some help.”

She patiently listened to all of his requests and ideas, thinking about them for a while before saying, “It shouldn’t be a problem. However, this is the Church of the Eternal Dragon. If you wish for some help, there needs to be something given in return.”

“I’m prepared.”

She nodded, walking out from the side hall.

Richard suddenly turned to the young cleric the moment Flowsand left, “Can you give me a basin of ice water?”

The young lady looked suspiciously at Richard before turning around and leaving for a moment. When she returned, she had a bronze basin filled with clear water in her hand. Ice was floating on the top.

Richard picked up the basin and moved close to a window that overlooked half of Faust. Although he looked calm, the sight of the island floating in the sky caused the corners of his eyes to twitch gently. He lifted the basin up high, pouring the freezing cold water over his head! The liquid trickled down his forehead to his face, making it down his body to eventually reach his leg. The water took away a bulk of his body’s heat, also easing the twitching of his eyes. It was a way to force himself to calm down.

The cleric behind him was stunned by this scene, covering her mouth.

Richard calmly walked in front of her, gently placing the basin down without making a sound. He then walked to the boxes he had personally carried in from Faelor, opening them. The magic sealing boxes were separated into five drawers, ingots of metal neatly lined up in the first two. They were an ashy silver head on, but looking at them from an angle one could see a myriad of glittering colours.

These were enchanted cloudiron ingots, extremely refined and treated with magic. The treatment had lightened the metal while maintaining its strength, so it was not inferior to black iron. It was a legendary resource, more than ten times the value of a similar volume of gold. Cloudiron was abundant in Faelor, but quite scarce in Norland. Of course, there were other materials that went the other way.

This cloudiron that Richard had brought back to Norland was worth more than a million gold coins!

……

When Flowsand returned to the hall, two great priests and a powerful paladin were following behind. The paladin emitted a faint aura of power, causing Richard to shudder uncontrollably the moment he entered. Richard immediately realised that this was someone almost at the legendary realm, unfathomable strength almost bursting out from his body.

When Flowsand reached Richard, she introduced the people around her, “These two are great priestesses Jacqueline and Noelene. They will be answering your questions about sacrifices and planar passages. And this is Ferdinand, deputy captain of the Eternal Dragon Paladins.”

Richard bowed to them, saying courteously, “Thank you all for helping me.”

Priestess Jacqueline smiled elegantly in response. She looked very young, but she was already level 18. Noelene was the same, while Ferdinand was level 20. There were many people like him who were forever stuck at level 20, unable to break through into the legendary realm. The Church of the Eternal Dragon had many people of such calibre, able to make for an unbelievably powerful force if in Faelor. Such was the difference between the two planes.