Chapter 2131: Consideration and Participating in the Investigation

But this was still not enough to make Xia Duo change his mind and get involved in such a matter; he had not forgotten that the purpose of this trip was travel, not interfering in the southern war.

Another consideration was that once he participated, would Calimshan demand he use the Floating City to join the war, and would the opposing side of the war target the Floating City as an attack objective?

Although Saville often had the phrase "want to see where the limit of the Floating City is" on his lips, and Xia Duo actually felt a bit of anticipation in his heart, it was just like a child who had just received a new toy, always wanting to play with it a little longer.

If he were truly asked to pull chestnuts from the fire for Calimshan or any of the Southern Four Kingdoms, Xia Duo would be ten thousand times unwilling.

Therefore, just as Talafu had exhausted all his words of persuasion and pleading, Xia Duo asked him these few questions:

"What is the truth about the assassination of Prince Kaitemier? What does the Mairide Family need me to do? If I agree, what can I get?"

This was negotiating specific terms; he believed in the so-called "Calimshan friendship," but he preferred tangible benefits, yet this inquiry of his made Talafu suddenly ecstatic, and he hurriedly confirmed:

"Lord Xia Duo, are you agreeing to this?"

"Of course not!"

Xia Duo immediately extinguished this thought of the other party and pointed out clearly: "I have not agreed to anything. If your answer cannot satisfy me, then I will leave Calimshan immediately."

Since it had reached the point of negotiating terms, Xia Duo naturally would not be naive enough to think that he could still wander around Calimshan territory as if nothing had happened after negotiations broke down, and enjoy the other party's hospitality with peace of mind.

Even if the Calimshan side felt it was okay, he himself felt it was inappropriate; if that were really the case, it would be hard to avoid being misjudged by the opposing side of the war.

When Xia Duo arrived, he had not thought that the domestic and international situation Calimshan was currently facing was so complex and severe; if he had known earlier, he would not have come.

……

Regarding the few questions Xia Duo raised, Talafu answered extremely cautiously: "Regarding the assassination of the Elf Prince, I dare not guarantee that there was absolutely no participation by Calimshan people, but what I can say is that from the great Syl Pasha to every Pasha in the Empire's territory, none have the intention to go to war with the Kaitemier Elves.

"Even for Sannata, the war that has lasted for over two thousand years has long since made the Calimshan people weary and even numb; only a few fanatical war-mongers and those who use war as an excuse are still continuing to advocate for a glorious war of revenge.

"In fact, the benevolent and tolerant Syl Pasha already has the intention to resolve the hatred with the Sannata Dwarves, but considering the inertia of a war lasting over two thousand years, it has not been made public, yet his thoughts are clear to many Pashas and even quite a few Scholars.

"Only with Zhamu Dasi are there contradictions that are difficult to eliminate; the evil Zhamu Dasi will not let go of any inch of surrounding land, regardless of whether that land originally belonged to Calimshan, Sannata, or Kaitemier.

"Therefore, after the incident of the Elf Prince's assassination occurred, many people in the country suspected that this matter was planned by Zhamu Dasi, with the purpose of forcibly breaking the trend of Calimshan wanting to ease relations with its surroundings; in any case, they also have conflicts with Kaitemier and do not care about adding another bit of hatred."

……

Hearing Talafu attribute the assassination of the Elf Prince to the Zhamu Dasi side, Xia Duo felt that while there was certainly no lack of imagination and hatred in it, it absolutely could not be said to be fabricated out of thin air.

Based on the principle of "whoever benefits is a suspect," if Calimshan and Kaitemier went to war, the only one who would benefit would probably be Zhamu Dasi.

Regarding Zhamu Dasi, Xia Duo's perception was very complex; on one hand, it was a different path distinct from the normal Magic system, and he was indeed very interested in that, while on the other hand, Psionic is related to the mind and consciousness, which inevitably makes one feel wary.

The latter—especially after Fadila told him some "interesting stories" about Zhamu Dasi on the way to Kalim—became even more obvious.

Fadila had mentioned that Zhamu Dasi, throughout the entire country, revered Psionic, to the point that it formed a special Psionic Doctrine, and one of the tenets of this doctrine was—

Let all other intelligent creatures embrace Psionic, and for this, even launching a war is worth it!

And this was also something Xia Duo had not known in the past, and there was more than just this! All intelligent creatures conquered by Zhamu Dasi would have their Psionic talent forcibly opened; to the ignorant, this might be a good thing.

But in the eyes of all Spellcasters under the normal Magic system, this is no different from heresy. Psionic concerns the mind and consciousness; how could one let others forcibly bestow it? To some extent, this is almost equivalent to being killed.

Besides this, the more solidified class system in Zhamu Dasi compared to Calimshan goes without saying; it is almost a replica of Calimshan, also divided into Administrator, Warrior, Scholar, Merchant, and Commoner.

However, Xia Duo felt that Calimshan was very likely learning from Zhamu Dasi, rather than the other way around.

The reason Warrior is ranked before Scholar is because the unique Psionic Master of Zhamu Dasi is very skilled in close-quarters combat; in fact, in Fadila's description, everyone from Warrior downwards in Zhamu Dasi can be considered a Commoner.

Or more specifically—farmers who till the land.

The so-called Scholars are nothing but ordinary Clerks; the so-called Merchants are nothing but peddlers traveling between places following orders from above!

Due to the belief in Psionic, the various desires of the people in Zhamu Dasi are actually very low; if it weren't for the expansionist elements in the Doctrine, perhaps they would not be known to the outside world at all.

It is not that there were no peaceful periods between Calimshan and Zhamu Dasi in the past, but the wars continued because negotiations demanding the other side change their Doctrine broke down.

If one does not mention this requirement, it is nothing more than the difference between taking the initiative to attack and being forced to defend.

Everything Talafu mentioned, and even what Calimshan is currently encountering, Xia Duo could actually understand, but understanding does not equal agreement, and even less does it equal acceptance, especially since Talafu had not yet mentioned a key question—

"I believe the Calimshan side has already conducted a very comprehensive investigation into this incident, right! Did you not find any useful clues?"

This question relates to whether the negotiations can continue later; in fact, whether it was Fadila or Talafu, in Xia Duo's view, they both seemed to be consciously avoiding this question, which made him somewhat uneasy.

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But this time he mentioned it proactively, and Talafu could no longer avoid it, having to answer: "There are some clues, but they do not point to Zhamu Dasi; instead, they point to the Mairide Family.

"The great Syl Pasha let the Mairide Family recuse themselves, not only because the incident happened in my family's Territory, but also because of some clues found later.

"But I can guarantee that all members of the Mairide Family, including all servants, did not participate in it; this was also proven in the subsequent investigation. Otherwise, I would not have been allowed to come here to see you."

"Then, who exactly killed the Elf Prince?" Xia Duo asked again; this was also a key question.

"It was my younger brother. No, it should be said that the assassin stole my brother's bloodline and even transformed into his appearance to participate in the activities of receiving the Elf Prince, delivering a fatal blow when the Elf Prince was most relaxed, and afterwards, he committed suicide directly, not even leaving behind a complete corpse!"

Mentioning this, a look of sadness unconsciously flowed from Talafu's eyes; seeing this, Xia Duo guessed a little, but how much effect could an outsider's consolation have in such a matter! It only stirred up more sorrow!