Chapter 1746: Foundation and Ease of Advance and Retreat

At this very moment, Adimain, seizing the opportunity, immediately stood out, looked calmly at Badijiaer, and then said composedly:

"Shafeier and Cormanthor are friendly neighbors forged over a millennium; Prince Yibeke only hesitated regarding this proposal, which is clearly aimed at our nation, out of respect for our King.

"As for your inquiry regarding our stance, we express strong opposition to this proposal, but we respect the Alliance charter and the relevant resolutions made in accordance with it."

After this speech, even Badijiaer was stunned. In the intelligence he had received, this Ambassador Adimain was supposed to be extremely savage and arrogant; how had he suddenly become so sharp?

Or could it be—is this the foundation of the Elves?

Thinking of this, Badijiaer's heart could not help but sink. He suddenly regretted that final move, but it was too late for regrets now.

Adimain's words, however, were not finished, as he continued:

"I know that Netheril has been in contact with Magic for less than a millennium and perhaps thinks the Magic Restriction Treaty we proposed earlier was intentionally targeted, but what I must say is that the Magic Net is by no means immutable. The Magic Net of ten thousand years ago and the Magic Net of today may not have changed much in their core rules, but in terms of the speed and efficiency of energy circulation, they are long since not the same thing."

Having said this, Adimain paused slightly, looked at the Illefarn Elves beside the Netheril delegation, and finally let his gaze fall on Mage Tailun, continuing:

"Not just our nation, surely Illefarn also has relevant records; after all, Illefarn is, after all, an ancient nation that personally experienced the prosperous era of Magic ten thousand years ago."

It would have been better if he hadn't said this, but at these words, fire almost erupted in Tailun's eyes. Illefarn did indeed have a long history, but during the Crown War, it had suffered the disaster of the total annihilation of its upper-level Spellcasters.

The current Illefarn is a relatively young nation rebuilt from the ruins by the lower-level Commoners of the original Illefarn. In terms of true Magic foundation, it is far inferior to Cormanthor, which inherited a considerable portion of the legacy of Aryvandaar.

And Aryvandaar was the culprit behind the destruction of the original Illefarn. With Adimain suddenly bringing this up, it would be strange if Tailun had a pleasant expression.

As for Badijiaer, his face did not look good either. Although Adimain did not say it explicitly, his words were permeated with an arrogant air of "you have no foundation and are very ignorant."

Although Badijiaer knew very well that Elves only deliberately emphasize their own nobility when facing equals, if the strength and status were truly inferior to theirs, they would likely only ignore them or show a hypocritical, indistinguishable kindness.

Just like the original Eaerlann, which taught the Netherese Magic so devotedly, even resulting in many cross-species romances.

But once the Netherese abandoned Elven Magic, and Netheril Magic showed considerable potential, the Eaerlann Elves immediately tore off their hypocritical masks.

If it were not for the fact that the original Netherese predecessors were strong enough, and Netheril itself was sufficiently small, perhaps they would never have survived the furious Eaerlann Elves.

Although Badijiaer was annoyed, he did not stand up to refute Adimain. At this moment, Netheril did not have an overwhelming advantage over Cormanthor in any aspect, so saying more would be of no avail.

Even if they surpassed the other party, the other party could still use their past prosperity or even their innate racial advantages to justify themselves, and would rather die than look up to a human.

Regarding the Elves, especially the faces of the Cormanthor Gold Elves, Badijiaer could be said to know them deeply. However, he did not refute, yet Adimain did not stop, instead pressing step by step:

"If Netheril has misunderstandings, lack of understanding, or even opinions regarding Cormanthor, since we are all in the same Alliance, you could have directly brought them up to resolve misunderstandings and enhance understanding through dialogue, rather than forming cliques within the Alliance. Doing so only deepens misunderstandings and is not conducive to the stability of the Alliance."

Upon hearing this, Badijiaer's temper flared up instantly. This was actually something he should have been the one to say; anyone with eyes could see that Cormanthor had been targeting Netheril, not the other way around.

But now, the other party was actually openly reversing black and white. Did they really think everyone else was blind?

But if he insisted on refuting, Badijiaer did not know where to start. He suddenly realized that in the past, when Cormanthor acted, although they were incomparably overbearing in essence, they would often first find a reason that seemed legitimate and could be spoken aloud.

Somehow, Badijiaer suddenly thought of a sentence Lord Xia Duo had said when he went to the Seven Towers to suggest facilitating the Small Nations Alliance—"Only by occupying the moral high ground in everything can one advance and retreat with ease."

Isn't the current situation exactly what this sentence describes?

It's just that it was Cormanthor that used it first!

Taking a deep breath, Badijiaer controlled the anger in his heart. He knew very well that what Netheril needed most now was time for stable development, not to be trapped in endless strife with Cormanthor, including verbal strife.

Right now, Netheril had already won a small victory; there was no need to be too active. They needed to let Cormanthor focus more on the Small Nations Alliance, so as to win more time for Netheril's stable development.

……

Badijiaer's coldness was somewhat beyond Adimain's expectations; after all, in his impression, Badijiaer had a label of being hot-tempered and irritable.

At this moment, the other party clearly ignored his verbal suppression, but after all, he was one of the five poles; if he went any further, he might cause dissatisfaction among the other three nations.

Thinking of this, Adimain could not help but feel a bit disappointed. What he had hoped for most was that Badijiaer would argue with him on the spot, and then involve the matter of Netheril instigating the Small Nations Alliance, drawing the attention and even the vigilance of the other three nations entirely onto Netheril.

But now—

He could only plan for the long term!

……

Next was the confirmation of some details regarding the new agency specializing in the assessment and investigation of Supermagic Events. Although Netheril and other nations had communicated in advance, the interests of the new agency were not so easy to divide.

Whenever interests are involved, there will always be some trouble.

Originally, in Xia Duo's plan, Cormanthor was to be completely excluded from this new agency, and this new agency was to be led by Evereska.

But the fact was that Cormanthor had also gotten involved, and although the head of the new agency was finally given to the Evereska Elves, a multi-person committee was added as a restriction.

It is foreseeable that the interior of this new agency is destined not to be peaceful; it might just be a small Northland Alliance.

Of course, because of the appearance of this specialized agency, the assessment and investigation of Magic Restriction events will at least be clearer than before.

But because the Magic Restriction Treaty itself not only restricts Netheril but is also a restriction on other nations, the new agency, which has direct Permission Level and is more detached from Cormanthor's influence, will likely be more willing to relax the assessment standards, effectively loosening the shackles on Netheril.