It was late at night, and Eldrin had long since fallen asleep.
It was a dreamless night, and the deepest sleep allowed his already exhausted body to slowly recover. The powerful magic and energy recovery potion concentrated this process several times.
There is an old saying among the Gray Dwarf tribe: Time is gold. But that refers to the time of ordinary people or those in the secondary planes. The time of people like Eldrin or even Isabella cannot be measured simply with gold, especially their Prime Plane time.
Eldrin knew that he had taken the most important step, so he slept very deeply and peacefully. The depression he had accumulated over the past few days seemed to have been vented in the rush of Ironclad Steed. However, he still did not fully realize the impact that his Runic Construct had brought to other people, and even to the entire Deepblue .
Stevenson's living quarters were larger than Eldrin's, and three floors higher. To outsiders, this not only showed His Highness's favor and attention, but was also a sign of his distinguished status as a descendant of a noble family. Only Stevenson himself knew how much he had to pay to maintain this respectability.
Eldrin's quarters are completely free, while Stevenson has to pay full rent for a larger, more fully-equipped quarters.
Even for Stevenson, who nominally had the full support of the Solam family, the monthly rent of nearly 300,000 imperial gold coins was a heavy burden. Moreover, he had to pay twice as much tuition. Although Duke Solam had paid his tuition for the next few years in one lump sum, the cost of his study at Deepblue was not calculated in this way. Even if it was not amortized monthly according to professional methods, the interest that should have been generated from this huge sum of money would still be a considerable amount.
Solam family could not be invested in Stevenson alone. A large part of the reason why he was able to impress the family council was that the family wanted to have a great Artificer with their own bloodline, which was also the unanimous desire of any slightly ambitious family on the continent. Randolph was originally the candidate, but his stupidity caused him to fail before he even started. Stevenson seized the opportunity to convince the family council that he was not only a Dragonblood Sorcerer, but also had the potential to be an Artificer. His own resources were also more than Randolph's. In recent years, he had begun to participate in family affairs and showed extraordinary talents.
However, the family's investment needs to see a return. Especially after the Randolph incident, the family's patience has become increasingly limited. Duke Solam has already been promoted to Legendary. After consolidating his realm in two or three years at most, it is time for large-scale expansion.
In addition, Stevenson also paid for Minnie's tuition because after the marriage was established, Marquis Nio could not wait to stop paying for all his daughter's expenses.
The war on the front line was indeed tight, and the financial situation of Marquis Nio was on the verge of collapse. Moreover, since the war was mainly burning in the Marquis's homeland, it was still a big question whether the Marquis could hold on until the end of next year. In the final analysis, it was because the Marquis's men were too incompetent. Of course, in Stevenson's mind, the uncle who led the Solam reinforcements should also be included in the list of incompetent people.
The Nio and Solam coalition forces already had an absolute advantage in terms of manpower and were fighting on familiar terrain, but their battle against Alicia dragged on in vain. Not to mention encircling and annihilating or defeating her small army, they had never really defeated her head-on.
This woman had an extremely keen sense of the battlefield, and her use of troops was erratic. Once she found the opponent's weak link and launched an attack, she was as ruthless as thunder. With less than one-third of her opponent's troops, she fought on a terrain that was not very vast and complex, but she dragged the Nio and Solam coalition forces running around and exhausted. Moreover, she destroyed the fields, mines, forests and towns in Nio on a large scale, plundering all the resources, and destroying those that could not be moved. So wherever she went, the Marquis was heartbroken and unable to sleep.
The one-sided weakness of the Nio side also made several great nobles in the surrounding areas ready to make a move, and Solam 's strong intervention also paid a corresponding price. As the war situation became stalemate, most of the gains Solam had obtained from the Marquis of Nio had been lost. If Alicia continued to make trouble like this, it would soon turn into a loss.
The latest news Stevenson received was that the Solam family had decided to negotiate peace with the woman if they could not deal with her within a week . As for the issue of war compensation, Nio could just worry about it .
For more than half a year, Stevenson had already decorated his living area with great taste. But now, the sound of various utensils breaking constantly came from his bedroom area. Stevenson smashed exquisite and elegant artworks against the wall and the ground, and the fragments flew everywhere. Some even passed over Stevenson's face, leaving a few faint bloodstains. The heavy burden, visible or invisible, made him almost breathless. Smashing things could vent a little, but it was only a temporary solution. But now he just wanted to vent, otherwise he would definitely go crazy.
" Malificus again! Malificus again ! They are all a bunch of lunatics! Devils! Guys who deserve to go to hell! Why do they all want to block my way!" Stevenson roared and cursed like crazy, but this was not enough to vent the anger that was pent up in his heart.
However, there was nothing left to smash in the bedroom , except for an ancient vase made of fine gold inlaid with crystals. This was the most cherished collection of a certain emperor in another dimension. Putting aside the immeasurable value of art and time, the fine gold and top-grade magic amethyst alone would be worth more than a million gold coins if they were cut and sold in small quantities. Stevenson himself could not afford such a top-level art treasure. In fact, it was one of the private collections of Duke Solam , and it was placed here to show off Stevenson.
Stevenson's rage was restrained. He could smash ornaments worth thousands of dollars , but as for this thing, he would not dare to touch it even if Eldrin stepped on his face in public.
Minnie stood quietly in the corner, lonely and beautiful . She was at the age of flowers blooming, and her beautiful figure and cold and proud temperament added to her youthful vitality. However, there were also a few thin red lines of cuts on her face and arms. Stevenson's rage also affected her. The flying debris did not recognize anyone.
Seeing Minnie, Stevenson suddenly became angry again. In his eyes, Minnie was not a beautiful girl or a talented magician, but a huge gold coin black hole. Minnie's tuition was only one-fifth of his, but the absolute amount was not small. Although her living area was not as big as Stevenson and Eldrin's, it was not smaller than that of an ordinary magician , so the rent for her living area was even more than her tuition. And these two items did not include the cost of her magic training.
For the Solam family, supporting Minnie was not a problem, but when Stevenson's own expenses reached an alarming figure, adding Minnie's part made it particularly difficult.
On a sinking ship, even the weight of a small stone would make the people on board feel suffocated.
Stevenson knew very well that after mobilizing such a huge investment from Duke Solam , he had no room for failure. The life of a legendary figure would be greatly extended, and in Duke Solam's still long life, there would be no shortage of sons and daughters, and there would be no shortage of talented ones.
Stevenson's enlightenment teacher had told him long ago that geniuses are nothing before they become truly strong. There are countless geniuses born every year on the continent, and only those who have enough resources to support them can grow. Those who don't have resources can only bear a seemingly brilliant and empty title, and that's before they reach adulthood. Because when they grow up, they are really nothing, even worse than ordinary people, and the halo they once had will become a shadow of their lives.
Randolph is a recent example.
Stevenson was extremely eager for success, but equally afraid of failure, because the path he had walked had turned into an Abyss leading directly to hell, and even a small step back would result in him being shattered to pieces.
A mere Dragonblood Sorcerer is not worthy of such a huge amount of funding, and the reputation of being good at socializing is not worth so many gold coins. As for the ability to manage family affairs, as an ancient family that has lasted for more than a hundred generations, there are countless managers. In fact, in order to get this opportunity to become Isabella's inherited Artificer, in addition to the family's and Duke Solam 's personal resources, he also invested a lot of manpower and material resources from his mother's side. Once the family decides to give up, his fate will not be much better than those busy mages outside the Deepblue inner ring area who are only focused on making money.
But on the single-plank bridge leading to Artificer, Eldrin's newly grown figure stood before Stevenson like the Auguston Mountains, the "God's Natural Chasm", standing still.
The marriage contract he made with Minnie on his own initiative added a large amount of money to the bills that Duke Solam needed to pay. Stevenson couldn't be blamed for this. He just acted according to the rules of aristocratic society and made a decision that was most beneficial to his future development under the circumstances at that time, because in addition to his paternal family, his maternal family and his wife's family were also extremely important resources. But who could have imagined that Marquis Nio would be so shameless and heartless that he would directly dump his most outstanding daughter to the Solam family?
So Stevenson almost yelled at Minnie's face: "You! Tell me, what's the use of you now? Apart from paying a large sum of tuition for you every month, how else can you help me! Help me improve in construction, or help me win the favor of the teacher?! Tell me! Now that Eldrin has left me far behind, what do you want me to do?"
Seeing Minnie's silence, Stevenson found it even harder to suppress his emotions. He sneered and said, "I almost forgot that you are still a woman!"
Minnie did not argue or resist. Her expression was calm while she was doing all this. But after she lay down, she turned her face to the side to prevent anyone from seeing the tears that were flowing down her face.
Minnie closed her eyes tightly , not waiting for the expected violent collision. After a while, there was still no movement. She couldn't help but open her eyes and saw Stevenson standing by the bed, holding the neck of a bottle of strong liquor and taking a big sip from time to time. His eyes passed Minnie's body and stared at the Floating Ice Bay outside the window. The harbor in the night was not completely dark. The ubiquitous ice reflected a strange glimmer. There was no sign of any biological activity, and it seemed particularly cold and solemn.
He looked at Minnie and said coldly, "You are a smart woman. Now is not the time for you to be willful or have a bad temper. If I can't become an Artificer, then everything is over. Status, honor, money, power, nothing will happen. You should be very clear about this. Marquis Nio has abandoned you long ago, and your fate is completely tied to me. You should feel lucky, because a noble family with a history like ours still respects formal engagements, so I have no intention of abandoning the engagement for the time being. So, you need to fight for your future now, prove that you are useful to me, to the Solam family, and prove that you are worthy of the monthly expenditure of 500,000 gold coins. If you can't do it, or don't want to do it, then I won't force you, you just get out of Deepblue next month ! I believe that no one would be willing to pay 500,000 gold coins per month for the daughter of a ruined marquis, a woman who has been used by others!" Stevenson yelled the last few words while being slightly drunk.
Minnie stared at the ceiling blankly, not moving.
What Stevenson said was true, and she couldn't lose the support of the Solam family. If she didn't have money, her status would not only plummet, but her situation would be even worse than Elaine's. Because of her former noble status, there would be many more men who wanted to leave something in her body. And her magical talent was simply an insignificant factor at this time.
Isabella's famous saying is: "Gold coins are limited, but geniuses are many."
To be fair, Stevenson has been the one paying the price so far in this engagement.
After a moment, Minnie's eyes finally moved, and she slowly sat up. She still had that icy expression, but the pride and sarcasm in her eyes were gone, replaced by paleness and dark gray. A mocking smile appeared at the corners of Minnie's lips, but this time it was for herself. She landed on the ground, standing naked beside Stevenson, looking out the window like him, and said, "I really don't have the capital to be proud, but I can't really give up everything I have. So I will choose to stand with you, you can treat me as a woman, a partner and a friend, or even a subordinate, but I won't be a plaything."
Stevenson didn't answer, but just narrowed his eyes and stared dangerously at the harsh winter scene outside the window.
Minnie sighed and continued, "Don't you think this is a bit strange? Eldrin has never learned how to draw a complete Runic Construct before. You have Saint Cruz's guidance and use the best materials, but it still took more than half a month and failed a total of 41 times before you made a Runic Construct with a 20% completion rate. How could Eldrin directly make a usable construct plug-in?..."
Minnie's words calmed Stevenson down and he began to think: "You mean that Runic Construct was not made by Eldrin? No, it's impossible! Master Phileas would not lie, because that would be meaningless, and he doesn't need to favor anyone between Solam and Malificus . Runic Construct must have been made by Eldrin himself . But you are right, the whole thing is very strange. We have obtained Eldrin's course schedule a long time ago. According to the course design, this kid will not start learning construct manufacturing until one year later at the earliest. There must be a crucial factor behind the scenes that allows Eldrin to instantly break through the obstacles that countless people cannot break through in their lifetime and make a leap. Now what we need to know is what this key is. Even if I can't use it, it will be inspiring."
Minnie frowned and said, "That's hard."
"It is very difficult. Eldrin has almost no friends and rarely interacts with irrelevant people. The people he interacts with most are the magicians who teach him, and these old guys are almost all inhuman. This is Deepblue , and I can't follow Eldrin to see who he interacts with. Even if I can buy his whereabouts, it will make too much noise." Stevenson frowned involuntarily. Randolph's previous experience was still in front of him. Showing malice towards a student who is also His Highness would definitely not please the teacher.
"Elaine! Maybe we should let her ask, maybe we can get the answer!" Minnie suggested. "After all, she is the only woman who has ever been so close to Eldrin."
Stevenson shook his head and said, "Elaine? What use can she be? I originally thought she was the woman Eldrin liked, otherwise why would the Law Enforcement Mage Corps specifically ban her and not allow her to be with Eldrin? I took the initiative to make Eldrin furious or completely decadent under the blow. If I could stimulate him to use some drastic measures on me, it would be even better. But you can see that all this has no results. Eldrin's study and life patterns have not changed at all, and even emotional reactions are not visible. Is this called love? Moreover, so much time has passed, Eldrin must have lost interest in her a long time ago. How could he tell such an important secret to a woman who is not reliable at all. Now is different from then. If Eldrin knew about what happened between Elaine and me, it might only backfire. After all, those old guys are obviously on his side now! Don't think those old guys are fools!"
Minnie didn't think so. "It never hurts to try. And you don't understand women's minds. You can see that at least Elaine has some thoughts, so she will never tell Eldrin what happened between you, at least not the details. But she must have known for a long time that there is no future with Eldrin. After being used by you, she knows it even more clearly. Since there is no hope, why not use the past relationship to exchange for a large sum of money, as long as the amount of money can exceed her psychological expectations. Women in Fringe District are actually the same. If she really insists , she will not let you succeed so easily."
Stevenson hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded. But he sighed again and said dejectedly: "Even if we know the secret behind it, the gap that has been created is difficult to make up. Although this guy's overall evaluation is only excellent, he is far inferior to me. But evaluation is not everything. At least the talent he has shown now is not much worse than mine. What's more..."
Stevenson smiled bitterly before continuing, "He now has far more resources to use for cultivation than I do."
Minnie was silent.
The truth is, Eldrin's monthly income is not a big secret, as long as people of some status want to know, they can get it. Eldrin's total income is not ridiculously high, but his expenses are much lower than Stevenson. Most of Stevenson's bills are used to pay for his and Minnie's rent and tuition, as well as miscellaneous social expenses. After deducting this part, the money that can be used for course learning, magic experiment materials, and recovery potions is less than half of Eldrin's. These are the expenses that directly affect the progress of magic training. And the production of the primary power Runic Construct emptied almost all of his reserve resources.
Stevenson took another big gulp of the liquor, letting the burning liquid burn from his throat to his chest. He had already vaguely felt that his efforts since entering Deepblue had gone in the wrong direction. He had thought that he had used conspiracy and overt scheme perfectly, using Elaine to attack his opponent mentally, winning over all the people who might be useful to isolate his opponent, and using all his resources to show his talent and strength as an Artificer. But the result was an almost devastating blow to him. Eldrin won this undeclared war with an advance that was two levels higher than his.
Stevenson couldn't help but reflect on whether he had done too much unnecessary work and whether the results would have been different if he had put all his energy and resources directly into learning Artificer from the beginning.
Deepblue is different from the outside world. It does not need public opinion or the reputation of justice. It only needs Isabella's joy and absolute strength.
Minnie looked at the frustrated and discouraged expression of the ambitious man beside her, and suddenly felt a chill in her body, and even her heart began to tighten. Her fingers gently brushed her skin, and what she felt at this time was not humiliation, but a strong chill. If Stevenson gave up, he still had the bloodline of the Dragonblood Sorcerer and a powerful maternal line, but what would she have left?
Minnie hesitated for a long time, then slowly said, "Maybe there is a shortcut in the end, although the possibility is not very high."
"What method?" Stevenson asked hurriedly, his eyes brightening up, like a drowning man suddenly seeing driftwood.
"Find a way to get close to the teacher and gain her favor. I have a feeling that the teacher's mood is becoming more and more unstable recently. This is a good opportunity. Although the teacher is a Legendary Archmage , she is also a woman..."
Stevenson was stunned for a moment, then he understood what Minnie meant, and his eyes gradually brightened. Yes, Legendary Archmage is also a woman, why didn't he think of it before. It turns out that women understand women best.
"You mean, I should find a way to make Isabella my woman?" Stevenson pondered, his face slowly regained its vitality, and he showed the impeccable smile of a nobleman again. Although he lost miserably in Runic Construct, at least in this field, his advantage over Eldrin was overwhelming. In the aristocratic society, such things were not uncommon, and there was no need to blush for it. Although this was an alternative battlefield, its significance and influence were sometimes no less than that of a real battlefield.
Stevenson's eyes flashed with determination. "This is a solution, but the chances of success are slim. We can't pin all our hopes on this! I still have a few people in Deepblue who can be used. If necessary, I will make that guy disappear!"