Chapter 378 – Preparation

Ben Lajie’s fall might have been a significant event for the young Princess Liwaqi, but to everyone else, it went completely unnoticed. Thanks to Punk’s use of “Haitzita’s Magic Box” to block divination spells, it was likely that no one in the Thought of Truth yet knew that the corpse of this Senior Mentor had been quietly discarded into the magma of the remote Hoth Mountains. Even for a Master-Level expert, the final outcome after death was no better than that of a traveler freezing to death in the wilderness.

However, Ben Lajie’s death had long been anticipated by Punk, so he wasn’t at all concerned about it triggering an investigation by the Thought of Truth. While Master-Level experts might be considered notable figures at lower tiers, in the eyes of Legendary Experts, they were little different from ants on the ground. Once Punk returned to submit his mission report and pinned everything on the “evil black dragon Ovakain,” the loosely-organized Thought of Truth wouldn’t bother sending anyone to ask further questions.

In fact, at this moment, Punk was calmly pulling storage rings one by one from Ben Lajie’s severed hand at the crater of the “Sleeping Dragon” volcano. Regardless of anything else, Ben Lajie’s death represented a loss of combat power. Before engaging in battle with Ovakain, Punk decided to see if he could find any useful loot on Ben Lajie’s corpse.

Unfortunately, Punk’s hopes were unsurprisingly dashed.

Perhaps because his business ventures had failed so spectacularly, or maybe because Ben Lajie had left most of his wealth in his mage tower rather than carrying it with him, the fat old man had only three storage rings on his hand. Aside from the necklace that had activated the “Gentle Water Shield,” these conspicuously luxurious-looking storage rings were all the loot Punk obtained from killing Ben Lajie.

After carefully examining the three storage rings, their contents left Punk deeply disappointed.

The necklace that activated the “Gentle Water Shield” wasn’t particularly impressive as Master-level magic items went. The spells fixed on it were limited to a “Gentle Water Shield” usable once per day and a “Soothing Treatment” usable twice daily.

Moreover, thanks to the tendency of Faerûn’s mages to add alignment and class restrictions when crafting magic items, both these magical items carried the requirement of “Only usable by Lawful-aligned mages.” For a neutral-chaos aligned spellcaster like Punk to use them would require extensive modifications to the necklace—an effort that would cost more resources than simply creating a better magic item from scratch.

Thus, the necklace was utterly useless to Punk. Its only value lay in exchanging it for gold coins—and he couldn’t even trade it for contribution points within the Thought of Truth, since the item was essentially stolen goods.

As for the contents of the three storage rings beyond this useless necklace, they proved even more worthless. Just look at the kind of junk that unreliable fat old man carried with him:

Extravagant noble robes embroidered with gold and silver? Piles upon piles of specialty foods with no practical value? Carvings and abstract paintings without a trace of enchantment?Alright, Punk had always thought he was poor enough—after all, he had only recently advanced to the Master-Level, so it was normal for him to be strapped for cash… but he never expected that fool Ben Lajie, an Archmage who had lived for three or four thousand years, would be even poorer than him! Considering Ben Lajie still had a debt to pay off before taking on the mission… Punk mused: for a Master-Level Mage to end up in such a state was truly bizarre.

At this point, Punk could only silently toss the Storage Ring full of useless trinkets into the volcano’s crater. Perhaps Ben Lajie’s father had been wrong too—someone like Ben Lajie would surely go bankrupt even if he tried selling apples door-to-door…

“Though the outcome is disappointing… Ben Lajie’s affairs are now settled. Next… it’s time to face Ovakain Acidmaw!”

With a gloomy sigh, he turned and silently gazed toward the direction of the Dragon Roar Kingdom. As Punk’s fighting spirit surged, a sapphire-blue magical radiance ignited in his pupils like icy flames—sinister and terrifying!

Losing Ben Lajie as a Master-Level combatant was certainly troublesome… but Punk remained confident in his preparations and plans. Or rather, things had progressed to this point: what needed destruction was destroyed, grudges that had to be formed were sealed, and those who deserved killing were slain… The moment Ovakain’s “Soul Mark” struck Punk, both he and Ovakain now had only one choice—to fight, until one side fell forever!

——————Break——————

“Your Majesty, in accordance with the proposal of all the Nobles of the Kingdom and the desires of the people of the Maple Leaf Kingdom, we have decided to relinquish the Maple Leaf Kingdom’s independence, acknowledge the sovereign rights of the Dragon Roar Kingdom over the occupied territories, and merge the remaining lands of the Maple Leaf Kingdom into the Mobywise Kingdom. Furthermore, to foster friendship between our Maple Leaf Kingdom and the Mobywise Kingdom, we hope Your Majesty will agree to a marriage alliance with the Third Prince of Mobywise…”

At the foot of the “Sleeping Dragon” volcano, within the dimly lit Temporary Palace, the dozen or so remaining Nobles of the Maple Leaf Kingdom sat encircling Liwaqi to “discuss state affairs.” Though they nominally addressed the little girl in their midst as “Your Majesty,” their demeanor and tone were no different from superiors dictating arrangements to a subordinate.

Amid this oppressive atmosphere, Little Liwaqi showed no trace of sorrow or distress under the indifferent gazes of the Nobles. Deep in the little girl’s pupils lay only a deathly stillness, a symbol of despair.

In her tightly clenched palm, a handful of now-cold ashes slowly trickled down her gauzy dress—hours earlier, the once-joyful little fire elemental bird had abruptly extinguished, turning into a pile of ashes… The clever little Liwaqi instantly understood what this meant.

And because of this, she no longer cared about anything else.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty… are you listening?”

Seeing that Little Liwaqi’s expression remained utterly unchanged despite his lengthy monologue, the leading young Noble waved his hand impatiently at her.”I’m listening… Lord Mapati’s proposal is excellent, I… have no objections”!

The quiet voice slowly emerged from the little princess’s lips, and as her final syllable softly settled, the assembled nobles immediately began murmuring and celebrating in low tones. Liwaqi’s “approval” meant to them that… regardless of what might become of the Maple Leaf Kingdom afterward, these nobles could continue enjoying their “privileged” lives.

Amidst this burgeoning atmosphere of joy, none present noticed—neither the nobles smiling as they sipped wine nor Kakaloute who had soberly recognized reality and stood speechless—that a glistening tear was slowly tracing its way down the cheek of their Queen, the little Princess Liwaqi. Then, like a pearl, the teardrop silently shattered upon the little girl’s pure, smooth hand…

(End of Chapter)