Chapter 100: 100, Delay Time_l
Translator: 549690339
After the negotiation ended, Su Yu’s mission log was updated.
“Ding! [Goldfinch Empire’s Glory (12/100)] is completed, and experience points
X500 have been gained.”
“The next round of the mission will start in 60 minutes. Stay tuned.”
“Is that it?”
Leaving Wolf Howl Castle, Su Yu was riding Dima down the high street in the affluent district, stretching lazily.
But his mind was still rehashing and analyzing the negotiation that just took place.
Although the negotiation seemed foolish and ludicrous, having hardly begun before it had to be paused due to special reasons.
However, Su Yu knew that hidden beneath the negotiation table was an incredibly complex game of wits.
Moreover, there were no losers in this game. All three parties involved achieved their objectives.
Why do I say that?
It’s simple.
The princess, Duke Seifer, and Duke Landilus each had different goals, but they all surprisingly agreed on one approach – to delay time.
All three parties were stalling for time.
Let’s start with the princess.
On the surface, the princess appeared to be the one most eager to reach an agreement. She rushed all the way to Maple City only to negotiate as quickly as possible.
But Su Yu knew she was just stalling.
In fact, the princess didn’t want to reach an agreement with the rebels. She was using the negotiation as an excuse to buy time for the king, her father, to gather his army and also buy time for her own covert plans and secret traps.
Then there’s Duke Anzu Seifer.
Duke Seifer wanted to extend the negotiation period as much as possible, preferably until the royal army was fully gathered.
This way, Catter’s forces wouldn’t be able to invade from the south, so he’d have achieved his goal – not going to war with the royal family, but instead consolidating the territories he had already occupied.
Duke Seifer was thinking even further ahead, however:
Despite the Goldfinch Empire being the strongest human kingdom in the world, there are two other human empires out there.
If they were to eliminate the royal family completely as Landilus planned, the Empire would be severely weakened, and the other two empires might be tempted to strike.
So, he came up with the idea to stall.
Moving on to the last power faction – Duke Landilus, he was also playing for time.
Landilus’s first attack plan against the princess had failed, but they could still launch a second one!
A second assault on the princess was already brewing.
They only needed ample time to prepare. The longer the Princess stayed in Maple City, the more time they had to plan their attack.
That’s why the envoy was late to arrive.
All three parties wanted to prolong the negotiation, hence the ridiculous situation at the negotiation table – hardly a few words were exchanged before a postponement was announced.
As Su Yu analyzed carefully, he soon figured out the whole course of events.
But after all, he was just a player, and analyzing these things didn’t do him much good.
He couldn’t get involved in this high-level scheming. It was best to just focus on completing his missions.
With an hour to kill, Su Yu went to the market to select some quality fodder for Dima.
Once Dima had eaten and drunk her fill, Su Yu rode her to the training zone to level up.
The level 20-25 training zone in Maple City was on the frosty cliffs to the east.
Though the monsters here were quite rare, Su Yu spotted a familiar face – the
Hydra.
[Frost Hydra IV20]
HP: 1750
Attack power: 48
Skills: [Frost Breath], [Ferocious Bite], [Frost Skin (Passive)]
Description: Hydra, with multiple heads, voracious mouths, flits and flops, never resting.
Apart from the [Frost Hydra], there were also the [Cliff Hydra IV22] and the [Rock Hydra IV23] in this area.
The last time he encountered hydras was when he went into the Zanga Marsh with Tina.
This made Su Yu secretly admire the survival skills of the hydra clan.
“Hydras really can survive in any condition! They can live in swamps, withstand the cold cliffs, and it seems there even exists a [Flame Hydra] in lava. What a formidable race!”
Su Yu gave a mental thumbs-up to the hydras.
But that didn’t hinder his training, Su Yu stashed Dima’s horse tag into his backpack and started leveling up.
After reaching level 20, the rate of monster spawns in the wild dwindled. On top of that, the overall attributes of the monsters increased, so Su Yu’s leveling speed wasn’t as fast as when he was at a lower level.
But Su Yu didn’t mind. Every little bit helps after all.
Besides, he wasn’t too familiar with Maple City, so other than leveling up, he didn’t have much else to do.
About 40 minutes later, an armoured NPC guard came riding up to the edge of the leveling zone.
The guard looked around and quickly spotted Su Yu, who was casting spells at a hydra. He hastily waved, “Master Nemesis, it’s me, Keerderon!”
It was Keerderon, the princess’s personal guard, who had asked around and finally found Su Yu in the training zone.
“Oh, it’s you!”
After taking care of the Sphinx in front of him, Su Yu turned to him: “What brings you here so late? Is there a Lark Street in Maple City too? Do you want to take me there?”
Su Yu had long heard of the Lark Street in Golden Sparrow City, but it wasn’t open to players.
He’d heard that he might be able to get in if an NPC took him, hence the question.
“Ha! No way.” Keerderon shook his head awkwardly: “We’re in Maple City on official business, we can’t go to such frivolous amusement places… The princess has sent me to see you, she has an important matter to discuss with you!”
“Oh? The princess wishes to see me?” Su Yu was somewhat surprised.
It was already 10 0’clock at night, and the idea that the princess wanted to see him… couldn’t be…
However, remembering the princess was only 14 years old, Su Yu immediately felt a giant censorship beast glaring at him from behind.
With a serious face, he said, “Since it is the princess’s request, we should set off immediately!”
“Alright, I’ll lead the way.” Keerderon turned his horse around.
About ten minutes later, Su Yu and Keerderon returned to Maple City and arrived at the residence provided for Princess Alyssa.
The residence Duke Seifer had provided for the princess was a large, beautiful estate.
Even though it was already 10 p.m., the estate was still brightly lit.
Eye-catching rare flowers, sculptures, ponds, and fountains were everywhere.
Various servants and maids came and went in the estate, but these people were most likely Duke Seifer’s spies.
Upon entering the estate, Keerderon did not look around and walked straight towards the deepest part of the estate.
Su Yu naturally followed closely.
In a large hall deep in the estate, Su Yu saw Princess Alyssa again.
At the same time, Su Yu’s quest log was updated again:
“Ding! Your main questline has been updated! [Goldfinch Empire’s Glory (13/100)].”
“Task requirement: Understand [Princess Alyssa]’s worries and fulfill her request.”
“Task Reward: Random award according to task completion..”