Chapter 763: Compensation/Gift, Finalizing the Agency

Meanwhile in the East, at the same time, under the persistent lobbying of the Eaerlann High Mage Tailun, the mages of various nations finally reached a consensus and decided to launch a surprise attack on the Magic Core built by the Drow on the Surface.

Perhaps because the Dragon Disaster on the Eaerlann border had already been quelled, Cormanthor did not obstruct them this time; after all, the land being ravaged by the Drow was Cormanthor itself, and the Crown King of Cormanthor was also facing immense domestic pressure.

At the final pre-war meeting, the mages of the various nations finalized the surprise attack plan, and everyone was generally satisfied, except for Netheril.

Lander was excluded from the core of the surprise attack and was only responsible for perimeter security; it seemed the Elves were joining forces to exclude humans, as they did not want humans to participate in special operations involving the secrets of the 【Dragon Madness Mythallar】.

After the meeting, Tailun found Lander, immediately expressed his apologies, and then cast a spell to isolate the surroundings before explaining in a heavy tone—

"News has come from home that the Dragon Disaster on the border has not been completely quelled; only those red dragons that had fallen into a state of madness were killed. The green dragon that was unaffected by the dragon madness escaped, and it may return at any time. My country has urged me to ensure the surprise attack on the Drow Magic Core is facilitated as soon as possible."

After explaining, Tailun apologized sincerely once more:

"I am very sorry for not speaking up for you just now, but I, Tailun Er Jinyang, swear in the name of my family that I will certainly share the spoils of this operation with you."

"I know that you, Lander, are looking for information regarding the Mythallar. I obtained a document regarding the Mythallar 【Vafanyamayata】 during my travels in Cormanthor in my early years. I hope this can appease your anger and that this matter will not affect the friendship between our two countries."

As he spoke, Tailun handed a stack of ancient documents, yellowed and shaped like leaves, to Lander.

Looking at the Elf's serious and sincere expression, Lander sighed slightly in his heart; his anger had already dissipated for the most part. He was silent for a moment, then pushed the stack of withered leaves that had been extended toward him back:

"Cormanthor used dishonorable means in this matter. I can understand the difficulties faced by Mage Tailun, and Mage Tailun's sincerity moves me even more. This matter will not become an obstacle to the friendship between our two countries; on the contrary, it makes you and me more certain of the correctness of the friendly exchanges between Netheril and Eaerlann. May the friendship between our two countries remain evergreen."

Lander did indeed want the Mythallar information, but as he had said, Cormanthor was using dishonorable means to sow discord between Netheril and Eaerlann. Under these circumstances, if he took these materials, while it might seem reasonable, it would also bury a variable in the gradually warming relationship between the two countries.

Although Lander was devoted to Magic, he was not entirely ignorant of worldly affairs; otherwise, it would never have been his turn to become the person in charge of Morien Tower.

Opposite him, Tailun seemed somewhat surprised by Lander's refusal of the Mythallar information, but he also sensed the sincerity in Lander's words. He did not accept Lander's refusal and handed the materials over again:

"Just take it as a gift between friends!"

This time, Lander did not refuse; perhaps this was already within his expectations.

Afterward, this man and this Elf discussed the surprise attack operation for a while longer before parting ways.

……

Two days later, while Xia Duo was renovating the Spell Practice Room in the Tower of Time, he suddenly received a message from the External Affairs Mage that the Scarlet Flash Star in the northwestern sky had undergone an anomaly.

He immediately realized that what Mage Poluokan had said when meeting Niya about the changing future situation might have been referring to this—though, of course, not only this.

Xia Duo immediately put down his work and returned to his residence. He could not leave the Tower of Time right now, but the existence of Magic allowed him to see the situation outside without leaving the Tower of Time.

——【Eye of the Sky】

Lying on his bed, Xia Duo cast 【Eye of the Sky】, projecting his Perception entirely into the Perception Field created by the Magic.

Adjusting the angle slightly, he "saw" the King-Slaying Star. At this moment, the King-Slaying Star was vastly different from before. Originally, the King-Slaying Star was just a slightly brighter star that could not compete with the sun; it could only be seen in the slightly darker environment of dusk or dawn.

But at this moment, the sun was about to reach its zenith. Even though it was already autumn and the sunlight was not as intense as in summer, it was still very bright.

It was in such an environment that Xia Duo still clearly "saw" the King-Slaying Star in the northwestern sky. Not only did he see it, but this time it looked larger than before and was no longer flickering.

It was like a scarlet eyeball hanging in the high northwestern sky, staring at the earth, making one feel a chill in their heart and a sense of unease throughout their body at first glance.

Xia Duo only observed for a moment before dispelling the Spell. Afterward, he found Niya, who was still paying attention to the negotiation for the Communication Magic Tool agency, and asked her if she knew about the change in the King-Slaying Star in the northwestern sky.

Niya closed the book in her hand and said in surprise: "I didn't know! What kind of change is it?"

"It looks bigger, and it's not flickering anymore. It looks a bit eerie. Why don't you ask your teacher and see if she knows what's going on?"

Although Xia Duo guessed that it might be that the Magic Core the Drow built on the Surface to control the 【Dragon Madness Mythallar】 had been attacked, he was not entirely sure. Perhaps the Drow were just casting some special Magic!

Niya adjusted the projection window to outside the Tower of Time and aimed it at the northwestern sky. When she saw the constant, unmoving King-Slaying Star that looked like a scarlet eyeball, she also felt a sense of unease.

Switching the "surveillance screen" back to the negotiation scene, Niya breathed a sigh of relief, "I understand, I will contact my teacher as soon as possible!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of "Happy to cooperate" came from the projection window; it turned out that the negotiation between Dailike and Saituosi had finally ended.

At this time, Xia Duo was not in a hurry to urge Niya to contact the Princess, but instead asked: "To what extent did the negotiation go?"

"Just now I heard them say the advance payment is 650 Gold Coins per item, but the agency fee is still 10%. That Saituosi's attitude was very firm; he refused to budge on the agency fee for the past two days. I figured it would be a waste of time to keep talking, so I let Dailike agree to it."

"Sigh—"

Xia Duo let out a long sigh. In fact, their bottom line for negotiation was also around 10%. It would have been better if it could be lower, but if they couldn't lower it, there was no need to waste time.

Fortunately, the advance payment was increased from the previous 500 Gold Coins per item to 650 Gold Coins, which could be considered a small consolation; at the very least, it reduced the capital pressure on the Tower of Time.

"I'm going to renovate the Spell Practice Room. You contact your teacher as soon as possible. It's truly unsettling not to know the reason for the change in the King-Slaying Star."

"Mm!"

……

Returning to the Library Layer, Xia Duo did not start working immediately. Instead, he sent messages to Laidun and the Saier Town Mayor one after another, telling them that the change in the northwestern sky was a normal phenomenon, not to pay special attention to it, and to have them soothe the residents and maintain normal production and living order.