Chapter 48

At this moment, Duke Gels was praying with genuine devotion.

He thanked the mayor of Qishui City, Aurel.

It was Aurel who chose to accept and help the two children without exposing too much of their strength.

He did not think of controlling or imprisoning them.

Duke Gels knew that at that time, Nalasha was indeed very powerful, and the little girl selling water had good relationships with people.

But she absolutely did not reach a level that would make people feel fear and dread.

At that time, she only revealed the strength of a Grand Mage, capable of instantly casting a few spells.

But even so, Mayor Aurel of Qishui City treated her like family, without any hints or calculations.

That was why Nalasha and her brother Gong Sun Murong came to the capital.

That was why he also treated them kindly.

The best was his granddaughter Lucia, who disregarded the difference in status and did not care about the propriety of following others around for good things to eat.

She was very straightforward, enjoying playing with Nalasha and eating the food made by Gong Sun Murong.

She also helped her good partner to the best of her ability, even when she was sulking with the Duke.

So now, those in the family who said that Lucia did not act like a true princess and diminished the royal dignity, would they dare to say it again?

If even Gong Sun Murong and Nalasha do not have the qualifications to be friends with the Ninth Princess, who does?

It was too terrifying, too comforting, and even a bit nostalgic.

Duke Gels finally showed a natural smile on his face as he reminisced.

He had once participated in a battle scene like the one in the image, when he was young.

At that time, he was a dual-cultivator of a Level 4 Grand Mage and a Level 8, Rank 1 Warrior.

To others, he was already very powerful.

But in that battle, he could only hide behind and provide support and defense.

In that battle, all the spells were cast instantly, and all the warriors' figures were flashing.

No one stopped to communicate, and there were no incantations.

The battlefield was filled with countless alternating lights and countless figures darting about, with people dying and falling at any moment.

That was the Guardian Battle of Lances Kent Continent fifty-seven years ago, with the enemy coming from another continent.

However, this battle was not publicized, and it was not allowed to be spread.

At that time, he was insignificant.

Many years had passed, and he had become a Geomancer, a hidden Geomancer in the duchy.

But today, seeing this image, he realized that he was still insignificant in front of Nalasha and her brother Murong.

This was a true battle, where every means was used.

Ambushes, calculations, poison, and overwhelming attacks.

It seemed to recreate that Guardian Battle.

Yes, overwhelming, even though there were only two of them.

Ha, when these two people were selling water in the desert, some still felt sorry for them, their strength hidden so deeply.

Fortunately, these two children had good character, never initiating attacks on people around them, and treating their servants very well.

He had never heard of a noble lady playing and playing games with a servant's child, but Nalasha did.

They could have relied on their status to have the school teachers personally teach them, but they insisted on bringing gifts to seek instruction.

There was a feeling that the two of them seemed to have no other family, only the two of them, with different surnames.

What made them happy was having an estate and many family members.

Not how powerful they were or how many people they had killed.

It seemed they had no family, no relatives, which made them seem very pitiful.

From the situation, it seemed that if you treated them well, they would treat you well, and if you treated them badly, they would find a way to get rid of you, simple and direct, their thoughts were very pure.

Duke Gels thought about this, thinking a lot.

Then he looked at Nalasha and Gong Sun Murong with even more affection, truly a pair of good children.

As for the heavily damaged Mitchell Empire, what did it have to do with him? Who made them secretly connect the Soul Lake to someone else's pond?

"Grandpa, Grandpa, I want a set of spell equipment too, Grandpa, say something."

Lucia's voice woke Duke Gels.

He hurriedly coaxed her: "Okay, okay, Grandpa will make it for you, but it can't compare to Nalasha's. Nalasha's spell set is of such high grade, so high that it can't be seen."

"I want the same!" Lucia pouted.

The battle scene she saw made her yearn. Nalasha was clearly being suppressed, but after changing a set of jewelry, she was able to suppress the enemy. Who wouldn't want such equipment?

Nalasha blinked and came over to comfort Lucia: "You can't use mine. Try it, only I can use it."

She took off a bracelet and put it on Lucia's wrist.

Lucia opened her big eyes and felt it, pouted, and said dejectedly: "Can't use it, no reaction, am I so stupid?"

"It's not suitable, shall we make our own? I'll provide the materials, and we'll make it according to this design, okay?" Nalasha continued to comfort her.

"Okay!" Lucia finally agreed.

Duke Gels looked at Nalasha with gratitude, wanting to say some encouraging, praising, and grateful words, but stopped.

He understood that those words were useless, and it was better to do something in action.

So he said: "We should return to the academy and meet the partners you will be working with. I have put you on the list of academy competitors. If you win, you will benefit, and the duchy will also benefit. As the Duke, I will gain a lot of benefits.

Will you participate? If not, I'll remove your names. If you do, prepare, and we'll leave in ten days. It will be spring when we get there."

"Okay." Gong Sun Murong agreed. He would break through to the fourth level of Fuxi's technique in a few days, then learn spells and battle qi, which would be perfect for the competition, and he would have someone to practice with.

"Okay!" Nalasha, who always followed her brother, of course, would not object.

"Let's go back. No one is allowed to talk about what happened today." Duke Gels instructed, leading the group toward the spellcraft ship.

******

The people qualified to watch the image looked at each other.

Thinking, even if I said it, who would believe me?

Telling others that a four-year-old girl and a boy under fifteen years old

attacked the Mitchell Empire's army, causing heavy losses.

Destroyed countless battle spellcraft ships of the Mitchell Empire.

Even captured a Level 3 and a Level 4 Geomancer from the Mitchell Empire.

Would anyone believe this?

This combat power was absolutely the best among all the nobles in the duchy.

What about the strength of this marquis or that marquis's family? A joke, all a joke.

They haven't provoked the Gong Sun family, but if they did, they would know how weak their family's strength was.

"Really, don't say anything, unless you want to make Nalasha sad." Isabelle also warned.

She had already planned to spread more unbelievable news, like mermaids appearing, the Water God visiting, etc.

Using the same tactics as Mayor Aurel of Qishui City, to confuse people's vision, exaggerate and amplify, thus protecting Nalasha and Gong Sun Murong in another form.

Of course, the current task was to direct people to defend the passage.

It had to be said that the Mitchell Empire was determined, they had drained the water from Virginia Lake.

But their side could not similarly drain the water from the Soul Lake.

Not that they didn't want to, but they couldn't.

The Soul Lake was connected to too many places.

In the past, to uncover the secrets of the Soul Lake, they tried draining it, but as soon as they drained it, other places would replenish it.

The current measure was to defend near the passage.

But that was a realm where only Grand Mages could survive.

Or send battle spellcraft ships to guard.

Isabelle felt more and more helpless.

More and more amazed by the strength of Gong Sun Murong and Nalasha.

The nobles with the sunflower emblem?

Indeed, they become stronger when faced with stronger opponents.

Isabelle used her imagination to arrange the defense team.

At least the metallurgy bombs had a place to be used, thrown there irregularly, believing it could delay for some time.

******

Duke Gels, on the spellcraft ship heading back to the capital, was not idle.

He had already sent a message to the Rexkla Empire, hoping the empire would send reinforcements as soon as possible.

It wasn't that he lacked the courage or attitude to bear the pressure.

It was just that the enemy he faced was too powerful.

He was just the Duke of a duchy under the Rexkla Empire.

Not the emperor of the empire.

On the other side of the passage was an opposing empire.

He felt he had done a lot.

He had killed the spies and cleaned up the others.

He had already destroyed a battle spellcraft ship of the Mitchell Empire.

Now Nalasha and Gong Sun Murong had gone to cause massive destruction.

The Mitchell Empire suffered heavy losses.

As a subordinate duchy, doing to this extent was already very good.

Had the recent small-scale skirmishes between the Rexkla Empire and the Mitchell Empire on the border achieved as much as Nalasha and her brother?

Duke Gels thought about this and felt the reasons were sufficient.

However, he still issued a war levy to the city lords he trusted.

He needed the border city lords to send teams to defend against possible attacks from the Mitchell Empire.

Especially Qishui City, he gave the city the right to recruit immigrants freely and promised to provide 500,000 gold coins worth of supplies.

He would immediately send a transport spellcraft ship to help Qishui City develop.

He canceled all taxes and tributes for Qishui City for three years.

But he required Qishui City to send a team of 2,000 adventurers, including their families, that he could absolutely trust.

He said the capital had already built houses for them in the northwest, from two-story to six-story, and would help arrange jobs for them.

Clearly, the empty houses he mentioned were the ones left over from the estate built by Nalasha and Gong Sun Murong.

Just built, partially resettled, and the rest not yet sold.

"Someone has to live there, right?" Duke Gels smiled awkwardly, explaining to the owners, Nalasha and Gong Sun Murong.

The two had a calm and serene expression but remained silent.

Lucia looked around: "Grandpa, do you think this is good? Why do I feel you are bullying honest people? My good friend Nalasha, should they be bullied because they are weak?"

"Please retract your last statement. Are they weak? Princess Lucia, lying is not a quality a noble should have." Duke Gels was in a good mood and could still joke.

"Hehe!" Nalasha couldn't help but laugh and said: "Okay, it's best to find some adventurers I am familiar with. Our estate is open, the front lawn and the back entertainment area are open to everyone.

The condition is that they must not harm my family and must not litter. We will prepare public restrooms. If I see anyone urinating or defecating anywhere, I will deal with them severely."

This was considered an acknowledgment of Duke Gels' plan.

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