Countless crows seemed to fly past Lucian's eyes, as if he could already see himself going bankrupt. Although over the past few years he had earned substantial returns from technical investments in the Minerals and Harvest Company and the "Elemental Gift" Company, he had poured every last coin into the construction of the magic tower three months ago, nearly spending more than he earned. Over these past few months, he had clawed his way back into the ranks of the "wealthy" thanks to the Arcane Point rewards from the New Alchemy papers and supplementary rewards for the Light Quantum Hypothesis, along with his annuity income — but compared to the cost of this upgraded ninth-circle ritual spell, the gap was likely still considerable.
The Council's blanket support in materials, potions, and magical resources was of little practical use here — the Pale Hand not gouging him on prices was already a concession born of that business with the demigod lich chasing him.
So Lucian began seriously considering whether to mortgage a loan from his master or from the Holm Mining Consortium Bank, when his monocular lens turned faintly warm.
"Lucian, I just finished the Noble Assembly's session. We sentenced Baron Baladi and stripped him of his title…" Natasha said with some excitement. She had absolutely no sympathy or mercy for the mastermind who had caused such great harm to both Lucian and herself.
Lucian forced down the heartache of his impending bankruptcy and smiled. "From now on, any noble who even thinks about assassinating you will think long and hard about Baron Baladi's fate before putting it into action."
Natasha relayed what had happened in the assembly and her conversation with Katonia in a casual tone, then concluded: "Baron Baladi's fief, I divided into five shares. One goes to Aunt Camille as compensation for her 'fright losses.' Three go toward pacifying and winning over
Lucian was stunned, his mouth falling open before a smile spread across his face, and the words tumbled out: "Natasha, I love you."
This was truly a windfall from the heavens — more than enough to pay for the upgraded "Life Concealment" spell, with a generous surplus to boot.
"Huh?" Natasha had never expected such a response and was completely taken aback.
Lucian didn't try to hide it from her and explained about the upgraded Life Concealment spell.
"That puts my mind at ease. I didn't realize you were such a 'money-grubber.' Good thing I'm a queen and a future Grand Duchess — heh heh," Natasha laughed, mimicking something Lucian had said that morning. "It's a shame that knights, before ascending to the Legendary rank, must maintain unity of body, bloodline, soul, and will. They can't use such methods as a final life-saving measure. The path of the knight is destined to be one of hardship and difficulty."
The Violet family had produced one epic knight; the Hofenberg family had produced two. In terms of experience with knight ascension to the Legendary rank, Natasha far surpassed ordinary knights.
Lucian knew something about this as well. If it weren't so, then
After ending the call, Lucian found his master Fernando looking at him with an amused expression. "What is it, Master?"
Fernando clicked his tongue. "How nice it is to be young. How nice it is to have a queen as a lover."
Lucian awkwardly changed the subject. "Master, does the upgraded Life Concealment spell absolutely require a body part?"
This was the Pale Hand's exclusive ritual, and Lucian didn't know the specifics — only the details of the original Life Concealment spell.
Fernando glared at Lucian. "If I knew the details that well, I could develop it myself. Either way, the original Life Concealment spell only works with a part of a limb."
"For these next few days, just stay put in Arlin. Once the Life Concealment ritual is complete, you can run off wherever you like. Starting next month, discussions about the
"I'll follow whatever arrangements you make, Master." Lucian had no objections. His current goal was to construct the spell model and bring his magical strength to the level of a formidable eighth-circle mage. And the next target was the seventh-circle spell he had been coveting for a long time — "Spell Reversal."
……
Inside the Atom Research Institute's office, Lucian was reviewing papers examined by several of his students, occasionally fine-tuning the final comments.
Lucian flipped through the resumes, roughly forty of them, and smiled. "Not bad — five or six mid-rank mages. Go through them yourself first, then have the Affairs Committee check their backgrounds. During the comprehensive interviews, I'll also use illusions to test them, to prevent Church or organization spies from slipping in."
Since this was a public recruitment for the red-hot Atom Research Institute, those spies would be failing in their duties if they didn't try to sneak in. Lucian was not the least bit careless about this.
Rock nodded in agreement. "The Church's infiltration is formidable. After all, the Council has plenty of disillusioned mages and those nearing the end of their lifespan."
At this point, he seemed to remember something, handed the magazine to Lucian, and lowered his voice: "You know? Lord Oliver and Lady Florenza have dissolved their marriage."
Lucian picked up the magazine and saw it was the tabloid journal *Arlin Impressions*. He flipped through it casually, found the description of the event, and shook his head. "So now all seven Grand Archanists on the Council are single. You really don't know whether to laugh or cry."
After chatting for a while about what Lucian called "gossip," Rock stood up in satisfaction and headed for the door. The moment he opened it, he found himself face to face with a refined, middle-aged gentleman wearing a powdered wig.
"L-Lord Oliver…" Rock's face went white in an instant — he had just been badmouthing him behind his back.
Oliver nodded, passed by Rock, and casually closed the office door behind him.
"Lucian, I've written a play. Take a look and tell me what you think." Oliver glanced at *Arlin Impressions* and said evenly.
Lucian accepted the script with a pained expression and began reading through it. As he read, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he nearly suspected Oliver was a fellow transplant from Earth — it was strikingly similar to Andersen's *The Little Mermaid*, though thankfully the second half diverged in a fundamentally different direction.
Oliver had written about an elegant prince who encountered a mermaid princess at sea. The two fell in love, and the mermaid gave up everything else, swallowed a magic potion, shed her tail, and transformed into an elf-like girl to follow the prince back to his kingdom, vowing to spend their lives together. But later the prince fell in love with a princess from another land, and the heartbroken mermaid returned to the sea.