“Are you here to beg from me?”
The Sage King found that when a person was truly speechless, they would often laugh involuntarily.
The Kabbalah Tree of Life was the national treasure of the Heron Empire. It was precisely because of it that the Cassius royal family could produce legendary powerhouses generation after generation.
A single leaf from the Kabbalah Tree of Life had the miraculous effect of enhancing the consumer's life origin.
The so-called life origin was the foundation for a living being to grow stronger, representing the transcendent potential of every life.
The reason the Cassius royal family could produce legendary-tier powerhouses for generations was that they consumed the leaves of the Kabbalah Tree of Life to enhance their life origin. This allowed every bit of their training and cultivation to yield much greater transcendent growth than an ordinary person's.
Furthermore, with each advancement in rank, they could achieve a more significant breakthrough, granting them absolute strength to crush transcendent beings of the same tier.
Such a treasure, capable of enhancing life origin and strengthening the foundation of transcendence, was usually only granted by the Heron Empire to members of the Cassius royal family or to national guardian generals who had made significant contributions to the empire.
Leon, on the other hand, hadn't even set out for Eldenborg to stabilize the situation there yet, and he was already asking for such a treasure as a reward in advance.
“Your Majesty, this is not just a reward, it is an investment.”
Seeing the “speechless enough to laugh” expression on the Sage King's face, Leon patted his chest with sincere earnestness.
“Your Majesty, you have always been wise and far-sighted, diligent in governance, discerning in talent... a man of great vision who understands the significance of investing in talent for the empire's future.”
Leon picked up the copy of the Imperial Truth that the Sage King had placed on the soft chair and continued:
“Look, even the most influential newspaper in Heron has confirmed that I possess the greatest divine talent of this era.”
“Facing an imperial talent destined to become a legendary priest sooner or later, would Your Majesty not be willing to invest early and place a bet on me?”
The Sage King asked with interest, “You have that much confidence that you can advance to a legendary priest?”
“Of course.” Leon's tone was certain. “If even I, who achieved perfect scores in all three assessments, cannot advance to the legendary tier, then... among the young priests of the empire, who else could?”
The Sage King turned his head, his gaze burning as it fixed on Leon, as if using “simple observation” to watch for any slight change in Leon's expression.
Under his scrutiny, Leon's expression remained normal, without a hint of wavering or hesitation.
“Fine. I grant you a leaf from the Kabbalah Tree of Life.”
The Sage King withdrew his gaze and spoke slowly.
It seemed this kid had an unshakable confidence and foundation regarding his inevitable advancement to the legendary tier.
Based on that certainty alone, the Sage King believed that placing this investment on him was not out of the question.
“In three months, one leaf of the Kabbalah Tree of Life will be mature and ready for harvest.”
The Sage King said, “At that time, I need you to send back a message from Eldenborg that I want to hear.”
“Your servant swears on the honor of the Douglas family to resolve the troubles of the empire's Southern Border for Your Majesty,” Leon immediately bowed and said.
Leon knew that since the Sage King had put it that way, the leaf from the Kabbalah Tree of Life was as good as his.
It was just a matter of the southern situation.
The Sage King's tone then shifted. “Do you know that you've become famous in the Nightmare Empire?”
Leon's expression instantly tightened. “Has a vampire Grand Duke targeted me?”
“Correct. Grand Duke Grant of the Nightmare Empire, a legendary-tier arcane thief,” the Sage King said.
“A hundred years ago, when this vampire was still at the Gold rank, he was defeated by Priest Elias, who was only at the Silver rank. Since then, he has been filled with hatred for priests.”
“Over the next twenty years, he faced Priest Elias multiple times, but each time, Priest Elias won despite being the weaker one.”
“Eventually, Priest Elias's strength surpassed Grant's, and during a battle, he severed one of Grant's bat wings, which has yet to recover to this day.”
“Since then, Grant has harbored resentment toward all priests with great divine talent.”
“And you just happen to trigger the fear and jealousy in his heart toward great talent.”
“Your performance in the priest assessment is enough for him to take action personally and nip you in the bud before you can grow.”
Holy crap? An old fossil at least two hundred years old was going to play dirty!?
A dignified legendary-tier arcane thief was going to act against a Silver-rank priest like him?
Weren't vampire Grand Dukes supposed to have the pride of noble blood?
Dammit! Is their “nobility” in punching down from legendary to Silver?
Leon cursed inwardly, but when he raised his head, his face remained calm as he said:
“Hmph! If he dares to come, let him come!”
The Sage King looked at Leon with interest.
Though Leon's expression was solemn, he remained composed, without a trace of panic.
“You aren't afraid?”
Leon gave a respectful bow to the Sage King:
“Your Majesty is a master strategist. Since you know that Grand Duke Grant has targeted your servant, you must have prepared countermeasures long ago.”
“Moreover, you have just granted me a Royal Decree and ordered me to stabilize the southern situation. How could you sit by and watch your servant die at the hands of Grand Duke Grant?”
This kid.
The corners of the Sage King's mouth turned up slightly. This boy usually called himself “I,” but as soon as he wanted something, he immediately switched to “your servant.” He was quite adept at shifting his identity.
The Sage King raised a hand toward Leon and said:
“I have received intelligence that Grant will strike while you are traveling from the capital to Eldenborg.”
“You need not pay it any mind; just act as if you are unaware. I have already ordered General Sophia and Chief Mage Blaise to protect you in secret.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Leon bowed again in gratitude.
...
Walking out of the Holy See, Leon let out a breath.
To be honest, being targeted by a legendary thief brought quite a bit of pressure.
Fortunately, his weight in the Sage King's heart was still sufficient.
Since he had shown extraordinary talent, the Sage King would naturally protect him.
However, for a political animal like the Sage King, protecting him didn't mean isolating him from danger entirely.
Leon speculated that Grand Duke Grant targeting him might even have been encouraged by the Sage King's own push.
Nurturing an imperial genius or striking at an enemy's top combat power—which to choose?
For the Sage King, he naturally wanted both.
But even though Leon guessed the Sage King was using him as bait to lure Grand Duke Grant out, it was hard for him to truly hate the man.
Firstly, because by using him as bait to strike the enemy, the Sage King was objectively protecting him as well.
If even a legendary powerhouse like Grand Duke Grant couldn't kill him and instead fell into an ambush, getting heavily injured or even falling, then other high-tier vampires would have to weigh the risks before trying to move against him.
Secondly... the Sage King had informed him beforehand that Grant was going to move against him.
Informing someone before the fact and explaining it after the fact were two completely different concepts.
The latter was exploitation. Even if Leon knew the Sage King had objectively helped him, he would still feel resentment.
But the former... even if it was also exploitation, it was difficult for Leon to feel resentment toward the Sage King right now.
The way such a pure political animal handled human hearts and events was simply too precise and too subtle.
Just like the tragedy in Soleneum; even though he knew the Sage King had a hand in pushing it forward, he naturally felt hatred and anger whenever he thought of vampires.
His emotions had already been influenced, and even his logic found it hard to correct.
Leon suddenly wondered if the Royal Decree the Sage King promised and the leaf from the Kabbalah Tree of Life... were these also within the Sage King's calculations?
“Dammit! Just you wait! When I reach the legendary tier, I'm definitely going to use my scepter to beat you so hard your own mother won't recognize you, Sage King!”
Leon let out a curse. Despite his significant gains, he still felt the unpleasantness of being schemed against.
When he became strong enough, he would absolutely crack his priest's scepter over the Sage King's dog head and coldly spit out:
“Your level is too low, so just stay down!”
...
Two days later.
Leon bid farewell to his brother Liam and his sister Isabella. He left the Duke's mansion, boarded a carriage, and set off for Eldenborg.
Rate on N.U.
