Chapter 1246: The Righteous Huo Ke and the Seven Towers

As soon as Iolum finished speaking, a stir rippled through the hall; the Councilors of the Union listening from the periphery dared only to exchange glances, but the Great Arcanists were able to communicate directly and openly via Sending.

Huo Ke, moreover, stared back at the members of the Seven Towers without the slightest restraint, his eyes revealing a sense of gratification; who could have imagined that only a short while ago, he had been trembling in fear of a strike from the Seven Towers that might descend at any moment?

Now that he had gained the upper hand, he immediately vented all the unhappiness in his heart, and it was not merely because of certain unspeakable plans, but rather—

Being able to see the people of the Seven Towers unhappy was his greatest pleasure!

On the other side, Iolum's truthful answer made Badijiaer look somewhat embarrassed; although he had no criticism of Iolum's behavior itself, everyone has emotions, and when it involved himself, his reaction was still very real.

Facing the varied gazes of the crowd, Badijiaer sighed inwardly; he had not expected that the Seven Towers would make no mistakes in the investigation report, yet he was the one caught by the handle on such an issue.

But there was still room for remedy; thinking of this, Badijiaer adjusted his mood, glanced at Iolum, and said slowly to the crowd:

"The main body of the Seville Mythallar has indeed been built, but there are still a few finishing touches yet to be completed; strictly speaking, it is not yet finished, and furthermore, such a major project requires more testing to verify the perfection and stability of its functions!"

"As Master Iolum said, the Mythallar was completed a few days ago, but the final touches, testing, and even adjustments and re-testing cannot be finished in the short term."

After speaking, he paused and fixed his gaze on Iolum, as did everyone else.

To this, Iolum's expression remained unchanged; although he certainly knew this was an excuse found by Badijiaer, in his own heart, he felt such an excuse was very appropriate.

Regardless of what Lord Hawk's true thoughts were, in the current situation where Kelifu had met with an accidental death and public sentiment was unstable, demanding that the Seventon Council lift the restrictions on building Mage Towers was undoubtedly ill-timed!

And what Badijiaer said was, strictly speaking, not wrong; the Seville Mythallar did indeed require final testing, so Iolum did not oppose Badijiaer's explanation just because he had affirmed Lord Hawk's words a moment ago.

Thus, he nodded to Badijiaer and stated clearly to the crowd: "The Seville Mythallar is indeed completed, but subsequent testing and adjustments do indeed require time."

With Iolum's verification, the atmosphere in the hall changed once again, but compared to the undercurrents from before, it had become much more relaxed.

And Badijiaer continued:

"Once the testing is complete, the Seventon Council will make an announcement, at which time the application process for building Mage Towers will be greatly simplified."

"If Lord Hawk still wishes to build a Mage Tower in Seventon by then, I will order the relevant personnel to approve your application immediately."

This still did not explicitly answer whether a tower could be built, but this was already the most sincere answer Badijiaer felt he could give.

Since the completion of the Seville Mythallar, the Seven Towers had been testing the interaction between it and the Mage Towers within its range, trying to find a balance between (Mythallar) order and (Mage Tower) independence.

If this problem could not be solved, the Seven Towers would not easily lift the restrictions on building towers.

With matters having developed to this point, Huo Ke understood that it was no longer realistic to make the members of the Seven Towers promise in public to lift the building restrictions immediately.

But he had not come away empty-handed; at least he had pointed out the fact that the Seville Mythallar was completed, and the Arcane Union, as a dialogue platform complementary to the Seventon Council, possessed Mythallar Permission.

And as a Great Arcanist of the Arcane Union, he could theoretically also possess a certain level of permission and participate in the Mythallar testing.

Huo Ke very much wanted to force the Seven Towers to distribute Mythallar keys to everyone right now, but doing some things too excessively would not benefit him; he had to step on the bottom line without crossing it.

The Seven Towers were enemies, but the Elves were not necessarily friends; after becoming a Great Arcanist, Huo Ke's mindset had already undergone some subtle changes—if he could be a master among men in Netheril, why would he run to the Elves to be a dog?

During this time, he had deeply experienced the various wonders of being a Great Arcanist, but thinking of the matter mentioned by Ambassador Atelan, Huo Ke gritted his teeth and spoke again:

"There is another matter; I presume you all received an invitation from Prince Baside yesterday. I do not know if you went, but I did."

"Prince Baside mentioned that the war situation for Danzo underground is becoming increasingly difficult and sought private assistance from me."

"Then I must ask, how much longer will the negotiations for the Northland Alliance be dragged out? Does it mean that as long as the Alliance is not established, the support for Danzo will never be realized?"

"The Drow race is inherently aggressive and possesses extreme methods like Demon Summoning; you haven't forgotten what happened during the Snow Melting Competition, have you? Do you really have to wait until the Drow clash underground and fight their way to Netheril before you start to regret it?"

"You must know that there is an Underground Passage right there in Zhenisi, and who knows how many are hidden elsewhere; the threat of the Drow is not far from us!"

"The matter of the Northland Alliance negotiations has always been the responsibility of the Seven Towers, and most of those present here also hold the status of Lord; shouldn't you members of the Seven Towers give us an explanation?"

Huo Ke's words were righteous and awe-inspiring, especially when he spoke of the scene when he met Prince Baside, his true feelings were revealed.

Even Badijiaer, who had been at odds with him just a moment ago, could not figure out Huo Ke's true intentions for a moment, but he instinctively felt that there was a problem here.

Did he want to stir up trouble in the process of aiding Danzo? Or did he want to unite everyone to interfere with the Seven Towers' negotiations?

Or was it simply that he had been moved by Prince Baside and done a good deed?

Badijiaer exchanged private thoughts with the other Great Arcanists of the Seven Towers, and they all unanimously felt that Huo Ke could not possibly have good intentions and that there must be some conspiracy.

At the same time, the members of the Seven Towers were not prepared to be led by the nose by Huo Ke forever; although this matter really should be explained, it was of no great consequence if they didn't.

After all, under the current situation, the Northland Alliance negotiations had the greatest impact on Danzo, and the impact on Netheril was not as great as imagined.

And for the various Lords of Netheril, if they had not paid deliberate attention, this matter was almost equivalent to non-existent for them.

What did it matter if the negotiations took a long time? In any case, the one in a hurry now was not Netheril, but Danzo, or even—

Comantho!

Thinking of this, Badijiaer seemed to understand something; he cast a meaningful glance at Huo Ke and said to the crowd: "It is too tiring today, let us stop here. Regarding the Northland Alliance negotiations, the Seventon Council will have its own explanation later."

After speaking, he bowed slightly to Iolum and then was the first to teleport away.

After Badijiaer, the members of the Seven Towers left one after another; at the same time, the doors of the conference hall opened quietly, the hint being so obvious that the Councilors of the Union listening from the periphery also left one after another.

Then came Magna and the others, until finally, only Huo Ke, Iolum, and the Councilor Haichenisi, who was waiting for further Indication from Iolum, remained in the hall.