Suddenly, Linley walked over. He watched the soldiers train while heading towards Gates and Boone.
“Lord, what do you think?” Gates asked proudly.
Linley nodded with satisfaction. “Very good. Oh, right. When do you plan to begin attacking the nearby cities?” Linley didn’t know a single thing about military tactics. The only thing he knew was that unless things came to a critical juncture, there was no need for him to get involved.
Boone laughed heartily. “Lord, we haven’t attacked anybody yet, but some people from the nearby cities have already surrendered to us and promised that they would undermine their cities from the inside.”
“Oh, is that so?” Linley laughed as well.
Gates hurriedly said, “Of course, how could we make this up? Lord, think about it. After the power of we five brothers spread across the Anarchic Lands, many of the nearby cities are terrified of us. In order to deal with those cities, after all, we don’t even need to mobilize our armies. Just by ourselves, we five brothers can slaughter our path into those cities and easily take victory.”
Linley laughed again.
To this sort of small city, a single expert could decide everything. For example, the city army of Blackdirt City numbered only a few thousand people. A warrior of the ninth rank could easily kill that many people. Alternately, he could directly kill the leader and force the rest to surrender!
Attacking a duchy, however, was different.
Each duchy had perhaps around a hundred thousand soldiers. Similarly, if in the future, they were to fight against the Radiant Church, perhaps the enemy would have a huge number of soldiers. Against this sort of human wave tactics, how many people could a single expert kill? However, a magus in this sort of situation would be extremely useful.
But as long as there were no Saint-level magi about, when two armies engaged in wide-scale warfare against each other, the quality and the ability of each armies’ soldiers was of paramount importance.
“What are you training them in?” Linley frowned as he looked at these scattered squads.
Boone explained, “Lord, this is the training of a medium-sized brigade. Each battalion is split into a brigade of three hundred people who will train together. Each brigade has a captain and six lieutenants who are in charge of supervising and training. This is a very effective way of training.”
Gates and Boone had trained soldiers before in the Eighteen Northern Duchies. They knew what the best methods were.
After coming to Blackdirt City and learning what the situation was, Linley returned to Mt. Blackraven.
Like an ephemeral blue trail of smoke, Linley wisped back into the depths of Mt. Blackraven. Linley currently lived in the center of a beautiful lake in Mt. Blackraven, which had several boulders in the center covering several dozen square meters. Linley had found those boulders from elsewhere in Mt. Blackraven, then with his sword, chopped them flat, then moved them to the center of the lake to serve as his base.
In the center of the lake, the boulders were only half a meter or so higher than the surface of the lake. There, atop those boulders, Linley had built himself a wooden house.
“Bebe, what are you up to?” Linley walked atop the water, gracefully arriving at the center of the lake. But when he did so, Linley suddenly discovered that Bebe was digging at the side of one of the boulders.
“Boss!” Bebe turned his head and chortled at Linley, while at the same time his sharp little claws continued to swipe at the edge of the rocks, sending debris everywhere. “I’m making a flight of stairs. I’m going to make a few stairs over here. That way, in the future when I get into the water, I can choose to either rest on the stairs, or lie in the water. That’ll be so comfortable. Boss, aren’t I, Bebe, simply the smartest?”
Linley began to laugh.
“Slash, slash.” Swiping with his claws, Bebe gradually dug out the six steps of stairs, with each step roughly ten centimeters high, with the last one in the water itself. Bebe sat his rear down on the bottommost step, happily whacking the water with his four limbs.
Linley chuckled. Seeing the stones lying around the lake, Linley waved a single hand…
“Whoosh!” A sudden wind began to howl, and a terrifying tornado appeared, picking up a human-sized boulder and depositing it in front of Linley. The beautiful surroundings of Mt. Blackraven had made Linley feel very peaceful, and he couldn’t help but think about the person who was in his heart.
Linley’s lips quirked upwards slightly, a hint of a smile on his face.
With a flip of his hand, he withdrew his straight chisel and began to carve the sculpture. Pieces of rock flew everywhere. Slowly… a human-sized model began to appear from within the boulder. Bebe, his small claws resting on the stairs, raised his head to stare at the sculpture.
“Oh ho, Boss, you’re carving a woman? Haha, I know, it has to be Delia!” Bebe snickered.
But Linley was totally absorbed in his carving. His straight chisel flashed as fast as lightning, carrying with it the soft, gentle grace of the wind. Having already reached the grandmaster level of sculpting, Linley was now perfectly capable of carving anything he desired.
Linley was entirely focused on his carving, and the details began to appear…
From morning until three in the afternoon of the next day. After having spent more than a day and a night, Linley finally put down his straight chisel.
“Whew.” Linley lightly exhaled, blowing the fine dust off from the sculpture. The woman he had sculpted possessed a unique, heroic aura. In particular, her eyes… they made the stone sculpture look as though it was truly alive.
Linley looked at the sculpture with satisfaction, then turned to stare towards the southwest. In his heart, he thought to himself, “Delia, you should have received my letter by now.”
52
Two Letters
Although Linley’s first love had ended in failure and caused Linley to develop an aversion towards love, Delia’s repeated actions, since the time they had known each other as children, had forced Linley to admit… that he enjoyed being together with Delia. He enjoyed that sort of warm, intimate feeling.
At the Institute, Linley already knew how Delia felt about him.
He knew that Delia was waiting for him to make the first move, but after his first love had failed, Linley’s heart had become knotted, and he simply couldn’t.
Far away, in the imperial capital of the Yulan continent, although the sun was high in the sky, the world was still extremely cold. Delia was wearing an expensive, thick robe as she sat in her courtyard, enjoying the rays of the sun. In her hands was a letter that Linley had sent her. This letter had come to her via the high-speed information network of the Dawson Conglomerate.
Holding the letter in her hands, Delia couldn’t help but laugh, laugh with great joy.
“Delia, what are you looking at?” a thick, heavy sound rang out. It was the Worldbear, Hatton. Hatton’s adorable bear eyes stared at the letter in Delia’s hands. “C’mon, Delia, lemme see it. Let Big Yellow be happy with you.”
The Worldbear, Hatton, was on exceedingly close terms with Delia.
As soon as Delia saw Hatton, she immediately hid the letter away, wrinkling her nose and snorting at him. “Big Yellow, are you causing trouble again? Where’s Teacher? Why aren’t you by Teacher’s side?”
The Worldbear shook his head. “Master is engaging in closed door meditation training. He won’t be coming out for the next ten days or half a month. He doesn’t need me by his side right now. So, Big Yellow has come to find Delia.” The Worldbear beamed at Delia.
Delia was in a fine mood today as well, and so she continued jesting with the Worldbear for a while.
“Delia, that letter is from Linley, right?” the Worldbear suddenly asked in a lowered voice.
Delia glanced with vexation at him, but she still nodded. Delia’s eyes were filled with irrepressible excitement. Linley’s letter had clearly detailed how his life had been, and had also told Delia t
hat he was currently in Blackdirt City, in the Anarchic Lands. He even gave Delia clear instructions on how to get there.
Although Linley didn’t explicitly say that he wanted Delia to come visit him, just based on how carefully he described the route to the city, his intentions were quite clear.
“That silly man. He’s always trying to hide his intentions. If he wants me to go, he should say so.” Delia both laughed and cursed him in her heart.
Delia was in such a mood that just sitting there by herself, she would start giggling. The Worldbear, next to Delia, continually chatted with her as well.
“Delia, tomorrow is the Yulan Festival. Will you go back tonight?” the Worldbear, Hatton, asked softly.
Delia, hearing these words, couldn’t help but frown. Letting out a sigh, she said, “Yeah. Tonight, the entire clan will be coming together. Ugh… I really don’t want to go back.” During this period of time, each of the two times Delia had gone back, her clansmen had exhorted her to forget about Linley.
However…
Was that possible?
When Delia had believed Linley dead, she had even made up her mind to never marry. Ten full years had passed like that. Now that she knew Linley was alive, and would soon set up his own dominion, how could she give him up now?
That night.
All of the important members of the Leon clan were in attendance at this banquet. Nearly a hundred important clan members happily chatted and toasted each other, and this noble procession naturally included the clan leader, Dylla Leon. Not only was Dylla Leon himself quite accomplished, his two children were incredible as well.
Dixie was a magus of the eighth rank, and the personal disciple of the High Priest.
Delia had reached the seventh rank years ago, and was the disciple of the Saint-level Grand Magus, Master Longhaus.
These two children truly were extremely amazing.
Today, although Delia didn’t put on much makeup, the combination of her noble, aristocratic bearing and her natural good looks made Delia appear more dazzling than any of the young noble ladies. Only, Delia headed to a corner of the main hall with her wine goblet in hand.
A middle-aged person walked towards Dylla Leon with goblet in hand, glancing at Delia. Laughing, he said, “Big Brother, Delia truly is growing more and more beautiful. Quite a few young noblemen in the imperial capital have been smitten by her.”
Dylla Leon laughed calmly.
“Big Brother, the son of Prince Reed has always been enamored of Delia. Do you think there is a chance that the two of them…”
Dylla Leon shook his head. “Third Brother, there’s nothing to discuss. If Delia was willing to accept marrying one of the nobles of the imperial capital, then she would have done so many years earlier. As for now… it’s best if you don’t say anything. Later, I’ll let my wife go speak with her.”
There had been quite a few people who had raised this issue with Dylla Leon during this banquet.
This was because, clearly, Delia was young, beautiful, and talented, and was the disciple of a Grand Magus Saint. She also had the backing of the powerful Leon clan… such a perfect woman had countless suitors.
Delia sat there quietly in the corner.
“Little sister.” A handsome young man, standing 1.8 meters tall with utterly straight golden hair that fell to his shoulders, walked over to her.
Raising her head up, Delia revealed a smile on her face. “Big Brother.” The person who had come was Delia’s older sibling, Dixie. Just like back at the Ernst Institute, Dixie remained as cold and indifferent to others as ever. But towards his little sister, Dixie was filled with affection.
Dixie sat down opposite from Delia.
“What is it? You seem to be in a bad mood?” Dixie smiled as he spoke.
Delia shook her head resignedly. “Big Brother, you are always training by the side of the High Priest. You don’t know much about my affairs.”
“Does it have to do with Linley?” Dixie asked.
Delia laughed as she tossed him a glance. “Big Brother, you are quite clever. But both father and mother are somewhat opposed to me being together with him. I’ve been vexed about this… after all, I don’t want the relationship with the family to become too stiff.”
Dixie nodded. He understood how his sister felt. He had watched Delia grow up, and Dixie knew very well… that although Delia was a very determined, resolute girl, in the depths of her heart, she was somewhat mentally reliant on her family members.
“Most likely tonight, mother will come over and chat with me yet again about how promising this young man is, or how promising that young man is.” Delia laughed bitterly.
Every time she came back, her parents would always raise this issue with her.
Dixie frowned. “Those wastrel sons of those rich nobles still want to marry you? Linley has acted improperly as well. He should have openly come to the imperial capital and proposed to you long ago! If he did so, I would definitely support him.” In his heart, Dixie actually quite admired Linley.
After all, Linley was someone who was an even greater genius than he himself was.
“Propose to me?” Delia was startled, but then she burst into laughter.
Delia thought back to that night at the town of Wushan and how she had kissed Linley. That look of utter shock and panic on Linley’s face. Even despite her best subtle efforts, she wasn’t able to get Linley to summon the courage to say that he loved her. How could he possibly come to the imperial capital to propose to her?”
“Big Brother, Linley is very different from how you imagine him.” Delia laughed.
Delia was in a fairly good mood while her Big Brother was with her during the banquet. Unfortunately, after the banquet was over, she chatted with her parents for a time, and afterwards, her mood became terrible once again. Her parents tirelessly tried to persuade her.
She hated being pressured like this.
On the day of the Yulan Festival, Delia came to the headquarters of the Dawson Conglomerate in the Yulan Empire’s imperial capital.
“Miss Delia.” The supervisor here knew Delia by sight.
“I’d like to trouble you, sir, to help deliver this letter to Linley.” Delia handed over a letter.
The supervisor immediately nodded. “Please don’t worry. I will definitely make sure that this letter is delivered to Master Linley’s hands.” The Dawson Conglomerate was extremely efficient in carrying out any tasks related to Linley. The same day, they sent a flying magical beast out with the letter away from the imperial capital.
After the blizzard had ambushed them last night, this morning, when Linley left his room, he discovered that Mt. Blackraven was now covered with a layer of silver ‘ornaments’. Some snow was drifting about on the surface of the lake. As the warm rays of the morning sun began to shine down from the east, the snow covering the trees and the boulders reflected the light dazzlingly.
“Whew.” Taking a deep breath and sensing the fresh air after the blizzard, Linley allowed a smile to appear on his face.
Bebe appeared from within the wooden room as well. Rubbing the sleep from his little eyes, Bebe’s four little paws left behind marks in the snow as he walked.
“Lord, Lord!” that loud voice rang out from afar, causing some of the snow on the trees to be shaken loose. Turning, Linley saw a huge figure rush towards him at high speed. With each step, the man moved over ten meters. With a mighty leap from the lake’s edge, the man flew over seventy or eighty meters before landing on the flat boulder in the center of the lake.
“Gates, why’d you run over here in such a rush?” Linley laughed.
Gates chortled. “To handle your affairs, of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t rush over here so quickly.”
“My affairs?” Linley was clearly rather puzzled.
“Look, see!” Gates took out a letter from his clothes. “This is Miss Delia’s letter. The Dawson Conglomerate’s men just delivered it to Blackdirt City. Haha, those people from the Dawson Cong
lomerate have decided to just go ahead and set up a branch office in Blackdirt City.”
“Delia’s?”
Linley immediately accepted the letter. After opening it, he began to read it. At this time, Bebe growled towards Gates, “Gates, big guy, step aside. Don’t try to sneak any peeks at the letter between Delia and my Boss.”
“Got it, got it.” Gates didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
What Gates did know, however, was that he didn’t dare to offend this terrifying fellow, Bebe. Even the Saint-level magical beast Haeru admitted he was no match for Bebe. How would he, Gates, dare to offend him?
Linley was reading the letter very carefully.
“To the most esteemed Master Linley,
Greetings and happy reading!
You’ve been quite impressive lately. You’ve already taken over Blackdirt City… but Blackdirt City is just a small city. Given your status as the venerable Master Linley, I’m sure that you can’t possibly expect me to come over after you took over a single tiny city such as Blackdirt, can you? Wouldn’t that be rather embarrassing for you?
I’ve come to the decision that I must wait for you to, at the very least, found your own duchy within the Anarchic Lands before heading over there. Otherwise… hrmph, I won’t see you.
As for your questions regarding how my life is? My life isn’t bad. I’m just quietly spending my time with my Teacher in training. My grandmother is doing much better now. There’s no need for you to worry about my affairs. It’s best if you spend your time worrying about the Anarchic Lands and your training.
Remember that I’m waiting for you to set up your duchy.
The day that your duchy is founded is the day I will leave the Yulan Empire. This is our appointment!
However… be careful. Don’t exhaust yourself. I have all the time in the world, and I’ll wait for you to found your duchy! I’ll wait to see you!
Baruch Rising_Book 3 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 41
