Chapter 1170: Fleeing in Disarray, Weide is Punished

As soon as Duolaisen said this, the atmosphere in the venue became even colder and more eerie; almost everyone cast their gaze toward Badijiaer.

Xia Duo was no exception, but based on his brief contact with Badijiaer, the other party did not seem like someone who would easily compromise, let alone apologize to Duolaisen in front of everyone present; that would simply be a slap to his own face.

But contrary to many people's expectations, after hearing Duolaisen's demand for an apology, Badijiaer did not immediately fly into a rage; instead, he stood up, looked at Duolaisen with a calm face, and asked in a peaceful tone:

"Do you really want me to apologize?"

To many, this appearance was the precursor to an explosion of extreme anger, and Duolaisen happened to think so too.

Facing Badijiaer's calm gaze, the corner of Duolaisen's eye twitched involuntarily, and some unpleasant past experiences instantly flooded his mind; subconsciously, he gave the answer that best aligned with his true feelings:

"Never mind, I was just joking! Hehe!"

But as soon as these words left his mouth, he immediately realized that he was now a Great Arcanist, and the other party had truly just insulted him in front of everyone; this reply of his instantly made him look like a clown.

At this moment, Duolaisen had forgotten the main purpose of attending today's Council of Great Arcanists meeting, and not daring to look at the expressions of those in the venue, he threw out a "I have something urgent to attend to" and hurriedly teleported away.

This sequence of behavior was nothing short of a farce.

Seeing this scene, Badijiaer spread his hands to signal that it had nothing to do with him, and then sat down quietly.

He had indeed thought about taking action just now, but he also knew that neither the newly appointed Iolum nor anyone else from the Seven Towers would allow him to do so here; he just hadn't expected Duolaisen to be so cowardly that he would be scared off directly.

……

After Duolaisen left, the atmosphere in the venue became much more harmonious, and the subsequent topics were mostly related to macro policies and plans concerning the Arcane Union, with far fewer disputes between Mage Tower organizations.

"The final topic—"

Having said this, Iolum paused for a moment, looked up to scan the observers on the periphery, and then said: "Observers, please leave first."

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo was about to stand up, but he received a Sending from Iolum: "This matter also concerns you, stay and continue listening!"

With the current layout of the venue, Iolum was at the very back facing the main entrance, while Xia Duo, who was sitting behind him, was even further in; staying in the venue at this moment did not trigger any watching or discussion.

Soon, the rest of the observers all exited, and the main door, which had not been closed until now, was shut at this moment.

Only then did Iolum continue: "The final topic involves multiple aspects; I will first briefly introduce the course of events—

"First, the Seventon Council has proposed to the Arcane Union, demanding the punishment of the Tower of Wisdom for threatening the personal safety of lords and subverting the rule of territories, as well as compensation for related losses, and demanding that Mage Towers return to Mage Towers, and rule return to rule;

"Afterward, Jilan Tower, on behalf of the Rodney Mage Tower, accused the Tower of Wisdom of malicious encroachment; Braun accused Weide of malicious mental control;

"Finally, the Tower of Wisdom accused Braun of maliciously interfering with the operation of a Mage Tower and undermining the consensus of the Union's rulings."

This information was not unfamiliar to the Great Arcanists; just by hearing a brief introduction, they knew the reasons behind it, and only Xia Duo was still somewhat confused.

But he could also infer a thing or two from it; for example, the conflict between Braun and Weide that was widely rumored last year now seemed to have its initial cause in Weide using some kind of mental Spell on him, which caused some consequences.

As for the Tower of Wisdom accusing Braun of disrupting order, it was actually Braun's counterattack against Weide.

Likewise, the demand from the Seventon Council to punish the Tower of Wisdom was likely due to the subversive actions of Weide and his subordinates in the Rodney Territory and the Savile Territory.

Of course, it was mainly the Rodney Territory; the Savile Territory side had not succeeded.

……

"Weide, do you have anything to say?" Iolum asked.

"No."

"Braun, how about you?"

"Neither do I."

In fact, the dispute between Braun and Weide had been roughly resolved, and bringing it to the Arcane Union was just to finalize the nature of the matter and signal that it should end here.

Thus, Iolum finally announced:

"Cancel the resource shares of the Tower of Wisdom for three years, including all Advanced Permission levels for members of the Tower of Wisdom within the Union;

"Cancel Braun's personal Advanced Permission level within the Union for one year;

"Finally, the compensation requested by the Seventon Council totals 200,000 Gold Coins; Weide, you must pay it in full within one month, otherwise the Union will lower the credit rating of the Tower of Wisdom."

Hearing the last sentence, Weide, who had remained calm from the beginning of the meeting until now, showed a cautious expression on his face for the first time.

Even when he heard Iolum mention canceling the Tower of Wisdom's shares for three years, he had not been moved in the slightest, but now, he wore such an expression.

Xia Duo, who had been observing Weide, immediately realized that the reserves of the Tower of Wisdom might be in trouble!

In present-day Netheril, electronic payment had not yet appeared; carrying Gold Coins for large transactions was very inconvenient, and not everyone had a Dimensional Bag, and even if they did, the settlement of large amounts of metal currency was very troublesome.

Thus, there were Gold Coin Exchange Vouchers issued in the name of various entities, similar to paper money on Earth.

Under normal circumstances, whether it was a Mage Tower or a territory, for every Gold Coin Exchange Voucher issued, they needed to prepare an equal amount of Gold Coins, in case those holding the Gold Coin Exchange Vouchers came to redeem them at any time.

Once the Arcane Union announced to the public that it was lowering the credit rating of the Tower of Wisdom, it was almost imaginable that it would inevitably trigger a series of bank runs.

If the Tower of Wisdom's reserves were insufficient, bankruptcy was not impossible.

Of course, the actual situation was likely that the Union would provide a backstop to maintain the overall credit of the Gold Coin Exchange Voucher system.

But even with the Union's backstop, the Tower of Wisdom and even Wide Grand Arcanist would inevitably pay a heavy price.

After all, the Arcane Union did not belong to any one person, but to everyone; who would want to see their own interests damaged?

At that time, there might be a situation where eighteen Mage Tower organizations joined forces to force Weide to make concessions.

But unfortunately, neither Weide himself nor the Arcane Union would let this situation happen, and even the Seven Towers would not allow it.

Regardless of the reality, one still had to leave a Great Arcanist with some dignity.

Otherwise, if a Great Arcanist without a bottom line were forced out, even if they could eventually be suppressed, what a heavy price would Netheril pay?

Regarding this, Xia Duo could only fantasize about the bankruptcy of the Tower of Wisdom in his heart.