Chapter 2126: Fadila, the Invitation of the Grand Emperor

As for the Mairide Family going back on their word and not wanting to bring him into the country, Xia Duo had basically not considered it much; as the saying goes, "Even if the deal doesn't go through, the goodwill remains," so they wouldn't just stand him up without even a polite word.

Therefore, Xia Duo judged that some major event had likely occurred within Calimshan recently, and it involved the Mairide Family, making it impossible for them to even reply to messages at this time.

"Then how about we just go to the Puppet Kingdom first!"

After much deliberation, Xia Duo still decided to temporarily avoid this place of trouble and wait until everything stabilized before deciding; by then, even if the Mairide Family no longer existed, he could enter the country through other channels, so there was no need to be stubborn today.

He was out traveling, not looking for trouble.

Regarding Xia Duo's decision, Niya naturally would not refuse, because since leaving Yinerfalang, the travel itinerary had almost entirely consisted of places Xia Duo wanted to go; although there were overlapping goals with hers, it did not include Calimshan.

But the Puppet Kingdom in the east was, and now that Xia Duo had made this decision, as far as Niya personally was concerned, she was actually quite looking forward to it.

"Then I will return to Hengchun Square first."

"Mm, I will come over in a while."

Since the decision had been made, Xia Duo quickly controlled the Floating City to move, advancing toward the east, but not long after he had set off, 【Wide-Area Detection】 discovered an abnormal target—

Just as it was blocking the path of the Floating City's advance, the high-altitude airflow, which had originally been surging like a river, suddenly showed a trace of turbulence!

But that trace of turbulence did not gradually dissipate like the airflow disturbances encountered in the past; instead, it rapidly expanded, forming an illusory human figure outlined by the flow of air.

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo immediately became vigilant; he was unsure if the Mairide Family had finally received his message and sent someone to welcome him, or if the entity controlling the Mairide Family had received the message and come to clear out the "remnants."

But one thing he was certain of was that the person who came was undoubtedly a Calimshite, and they certainly knew about his sending a message to the Mairide Family; whether they were friend or foe would depend on the upcoming contact.

Since the person who came was blocking the path of the Floating City, it was impossible for Xia Duo to pretend he hadn't seen them, so he directly and openly sent a message to the other party, asking for their identity.

"I am Fadila, sent by the order of Syl Pasha to invite Lord Xia Duo from the North to visit Kalim!"

After the person gave this reply, the illusory figure originally outlined by the airflow rapidly solidified, eventually turning into a middle-aged man wearing a thin-gauze Mage Robe and sporting a handlebar mustache.

And inside the Floating City, Xia Duo was extremely shocked to hear that the other party had come to invite him on the orders of Syl Pasha; "Syl Pasha" was actually the Calimshites' own term, a title and also an identity.

Translated into a context familiar to Xia Duo, it could perhaps be called "His Majesty the Grand Emperor"!

Being noticed by such an existence, Xia Duo did not know if it was a blessing or a curse, but regardless, the other party's attention was not something that could be shifted by his own will.

And right now, the other party was inviting him to the capital of Calimshan, Kalim; should he go or not?

Xia Duo hesitated for a moment, and the Calimshite Envoy who called himself "Fadila" sent another message, "I suspect Lord Xia Duo might have concerns about the Mairide Family losing contact, but the great Syl Pasha had long anticipated this. He asked me to tell you that the Mairide Family matter has nothing to do with you; please feel free to come to Kalim as a guest."

The guarantee from the Grand Emperor of Calimshan made Xia Duo a bit tempted, but he still needed to clarify what exactly had happened to the Mairide Family, to avoid suffering any unprovoked disaster after arriving.

"I wonder if Envoy Fadila can tell me what exactly happened to the Mairide Family recently?"

Regarding this, Fadila did not hide it, "The Mairide Family was involved in the assassination of an Elf Prince. Now, all members of the family are required to 'avoid' the situation in Kalim, waiting for further investigation."

An Elf Prince was assassinated?!

Xia Duo was even more shocked in his heart; the Elf Prince in Fadila's context clearly could not be from the Northern Elf Kingdoms, and he had just come from the North—if it were a Northern Elf Prince, he would have heard about it long ago.

Then there was only one possibility—it was a prince of Kaitemier!

The relations between the Southern Four Kingdoms were very delicate, and the slightest disturbance could trigger a war; now that an Elf Prince had suddenly died, it was likely that a great war could break out between Calimshan and Kaitemier at any time.

As for what kind of outcome the Mairide Family, who were caught in the middle, would face, Xia Duo felt it was likely ominous. Fadila said the Mairide Family was "avoiding" the situation in Kalim, which was actually quite an interesting word; in reality, it was house arrest, just not yet convicted or sentenced.

Once the war went poorly or the losses were heavy, even if it were eventually proven that the Mairide Family had nothing to do with the assassination of the Elf Prince, they would likely be unable to escape the fate of being scapegoats.

Xia Duo was truly hesitant this time; if he had been a little tempted when Fadila mentioned the Grand Emperor's guarantee earlier, now that he heard the other party say the Mairide Family was involved in such a major case, he had the urge to flee immediately.

Of course, he could not just ignore it and leave; Fadila himself might not be able to stop him, but the other party's status as an Envoy of the Grand Emperor of Calimshan made him full of misgivings.

Seeming to sense Xia Duo's hesitation, Fadila sent another message: "The great Syl Pasha is sincerely inviting you to visit Kalim. If Lord Xia Duo has any other questions or concerns, I will be responsible for explaining them, ensuring you come with peace of mind and leave happily!"

Actually, Xia Duo had many questions he wanted to ask, but he was mainly worried that the trip would not go smoothly and he might encounter unprovoked disaster; however, the other party seemed to be truly sincere, which further increased the cost of his refusal.

"A headache!"

Yet Fadila had the attitude of 'whatever problem you have, I will solve it for you immediately,' which put significant pressure on Xia Duo; he knew that if he refused this time, it would likely not be so easy to come to Calimshan in the future.

During his consideration, Xia Duo also tried to inquire about major events in the south through the channels of various Northern countries, but he did not receive any news about the assassination of an Elf Prince.

Instead, news of Calimshan having several major battles with Zhamu Dasi recently appeared frequently in the replies from the North, but this had little to do with his current decision.

In the end, Xia Duo still brought in Niya and Saville to seek their opinions; Niya chose to respect Xia Duo's choice, while Saville expressed that he wanted to go to Calimshan to see.

"Since there is a guarantee from their Syl Pasha, then let's go! At worst, we'll have a fight! I really want to see where the limits of your War Spell actually are!"

Saville's eager-to-try attitude left Xia Duo speechless, but it also diluted his worries about the trip to Kalim.

Or rather, not having explicitly refused already indicated that he was more inclined to agree.