Chapter 1702: Overbearing and Sinister

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo was silent for a moment, then began to contact Saide.

Setting aside the invisible alliance between him and Zhenna in the Ascension Realm, just considering the business dealings between the Tower of Time and the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce side could not be so perfunctory.

Because Saide was a Senior Arcanist, Xia Duo did not use the common one-way Sending, but directly constructed a real-time communication spell, waiting for the other party to respond.

Before long, the spell's spiritual light flickered and changed, eventually forming a Magic Image with blurry edges and a clear center that appeared in the Study.

A hurried-looking Saide appeared in the image, seemingly having just put down his work to temporarily accept the communication, "Lord Xia Duo, what is the matter that you are looking for me so urgently?"

"Consultant Saide, sorry to disturb you. It is about the matter I had Depake look for you regarding before, do you remember?"

"That matter?"

Saide's expression in the image was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized, "It's the matter of purchasing military supplies from Evereska, right? I remember! I had Ba'erkan handle this matter. He is very proficient in the rules of Elf society, so I am at ease with him handling it."

"Then he just notified Depake that an Elf has made an appointment to meet him tomorrow. Do you know about this?"

"An appointment to meet tomorrow?"

Saide suddenly realized why Xia Duo was looking for him, "Wait a moment, let me ask. I will definitely give Lord Xia Duo a satisfactory explanation."

Following that, Saide in the Magic Image became motionless. After about two or three minutes, the image shook violently, and Saide regained his vitality.

"Lord Xia Duo, sorry to keep you waiting. I just asked Ba'erkan. This matter is complicated to explain, and it also involves Cormanthor."

Cormanthor again? These troublemakers!

Xia Duo had just been annoyed by the Magic Restriction Treaty, and now hearing the name of Cormanthor once again, the fire of ignorance in his heart shot up high.

"Please, Consultant Saide, explain in detail. How did this matter get involved with Cormanthor again?"

"Humans appearing in an Elf city is already sensitive, let alone going to the upper district to scheme. This matter could almost never be conducted in secret. Actually, the Evereska side is very willing to sell military supplies to humans.

"At that time, Ba'erkan had already negotiated the intention of the military purchase with the second son of an Elder of the Evereska Council of Elders. They don't care about the competition between Netheril and Cormanthor. As long as you find the right path and let them profit, they simply won't refuse.

"But after the Cormanthor Ambassador found out about this, the nature of it changed, and the things the Elder's second son promised naturally no longer counted.

"Moreover, in order to strike at the reputation of Netheril, the Cormanthor Ambassador forced that Elder to make a bet with him, using the meeting time being set on the Midsummer Festival to bet on the sincerity of humans.

"As long as the humans' sincerity is there, he will agree to the military purchase; otherwise, he will not."

Speaking to this point, Saide hesitated for a moment and stated his own view: "Their bet has already spread in Evereska. If it is inconvenient for Lord Xia Duo to send people, it can be done in the name of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce. As long as our people go, according to Ba'erkan's words, even if we don't pay, the Cormanthor Ambassador will send those military supplies to us."

"That goes without saying. Anyway, it's not their Cormanthor's stuff. Being generous at others' expense—if it were me, I could send it too!"

Although it was just a joke, Xia Duo had already realized the vicious intentions of Cormanthor.

Not sending people goes without saying; it would directly prove that humans are liars. At the very least, the reputation of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, represented by Ba'erkan, in the Elf World would be affected in the future.

But if one doesn't send people, that is actually even more serious. The Lord of Radiance can almost be said to be the official Faith of Netheril. Even if some Mages, or even some Territories, do not believe in this set, they still have to acknowledge this point.

At least Xia Duo had never seen any Territory dare to openly oppose the Lord of Radiance, and there were almost none that only opposed the Faith.

The reason for this, to a large extent, must be attributed to the existence of the Seven Towers. The Faith of the Lord of Radiance greatly consolidated the legitimacy of the Seventon Council.

And the Doctrine of the Lord of Radiance has also been largely revised by the Seven Towers. Opposing the Doctrine of the Lord of Radiance is almost equivalent to opposing the Seven Towers, opposing the Seventon Council, and opposing Netheril.

And the Midsummer Festival.

Although it is not stipulated in the Doctrine, the sun appears in the sky for the longest time of the year on this day, which is undoubtedly the blessing of the Lord of Radiance.

I don't know when it started, but this day became a carnival; even Slaves do not need to work on this day.

The Midsummer Recruitment of the Tower of Time seems to be a very serious assessment and examination, but in fact, in the past, this was a gift from the Savile Territory to the common people.

Only by receiving this gift does one have the opportunity to learn Magic and have the opportunity to change one's destiny.

Then, undoubtedly, sending people to the Elf Kingdom, which does not pass this Midsummer Festival, on the day of the Midsummer Festival cannot be accepted by the vast majority of Netherese.

At the very least, from the perspective of political correctness, this is hard to be accepted by the public.

Not to mention the possibility of blasphemy, at the very least it also proves that the relevant personnel are not considerate of their subordinates, and can even be said to be harsh.

When Depake just mentioned this to Xia Duo, Xia Duo actually didn't have much feeling in his heart. He wasn't a Netherese, and this day, for him, had no essential difference from any other day, except for being busier.

But in order to take care of Depake's emotions and not make the other party lose heart, he still had to express anger, and even question Saide in front of Depake.

Although he knew that Depake might not care about these things—after all, for a Mage, the Midsummer Festival is actually just like that. If one is happy, one can go out and play; if one is not happy, it is not impossible to just hole up in the Mage Tower and work desperately.

In the past, the Tower of Time would have a holiday every Midsummer Festival, but not to mention Official Mages, even Apprentices had plenty of people who would hole up in the Mage Tower and not go out.

If there are people in the Mage Tower, then there must be people who need to cook. How could it be possible that there is really nothing to do?

But this posture still has to be maintained.

It's just like Xia Duo's hometown, where the Spring Festival is supposed to be a day for the whole family to reunite, but there are always people who, for various reasons, either actively or passively continue to work.

This is the cost of social operation.

But in terms of international reputation, it is not seen that way. If Cormanthor is determined to make trouble from the perspective of political correctness this time, it is definitely a not-so-small disaster.

For the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, perhaps the difficulty of developing the Elf market in the future will increase exponentially.

And for Xia Duo, once he is tainted by Cormanthor, it is also very easy to strike at his reputation in Netheril. Reputation or whatever—usually one cannot see what use it has, but at critical moments, it is very fatal.

For example, Xia Duo had only recently released the Agricultural Book. He had certain expectations for the impact the Agricultural Book could produce, both good and bad.

But if his reputation is damaged, then the good might not necessarily become better, but the bad can almost certainly become worse.

And there is the matter of Buluode. Perhaps Buluode himself would not care about Cormanthor's instigation, but the new residents he applied to recruit from the Seventon Council would not be so wise.

Once they hear that they are going to Daxia Territory, as long as there is a little more hesitation, the number and speed of the residents Xia Duo finally obtains will be greatly reduced.

It really is "sitting at home, disaster comes from the sky!"