Compensation

With the nuisances taken care of, Richard chose a random priestess and started the ceremony. Things ended up going very smoothly, with three top-tier offerings strengthening Faelor’s passage until one only needed 300 gold’s worth in magic crystals to pass through. He also widened it enough for beings like the hive of life to pass through, and extended the current time differential for thirty more years. Two more offerings were used for crafting materials and legendary equipment.

He saw three designs from the Mystic’s Set and two from the Scarlet Knight series during the process, but at this point they weren’t worth it at all. In terms of higher-end power, he had no lack of runes. What his subordinates needed was good legendary equipment; if they were all armed well, the weakest of them could defeat saints with ease and the strongest would be able to contend against legends.

In the end, he got everything he wanted from the ceremony with no surprises. As he left, the rest of the priestesses in the Church seemed much more enthusiastic, their attitudes completely changed to the point that some of them even looked eager to climb into his bed. The one lucky enough to host the ceremony was now completely flush, saying that she would do anything to repay him.

Of course, this only made sense when he had just given up five top-tier offerings for no reason. This was a huge amount that they hadn’t seen in forever, helping them understand how their leader had been done away with so easily. In hindsight, the issue seemed just like a joke. For her banishment to take two marks off his hourglass was a glowing appraisal.

Now, the rest of the priestesses had put aside their egoes and hoped to entice him. If he so much as pointed at them randomly, they’d be able to work a little less diligently for thirty years. When Richard ignored them and left for Prince Tumen’s residence, they all glared at the lucky girl and wondered just what he had seen in her. 

Was it her fair skin, her long legs, her big breasts, her pert rear?

 They would never realise that he’d truly just picked her at random.

……

“Did the ceremony go well?” Prince Tumen asked as they met. He had already been waiting in the study.

Richard smiled, “I had five top-tier offerings. There was no way I wouldn’t get what I wanted.”

“Five… I must say, I truly am envious of your kind!”

“What’s the point? No matter how many I have, I still needed your channels to get in. Speaking of, they don’t seem to be as good as they were chalked up to be,” Richard’s gaze suddenly sharpened. No matter how arrogant the grand priestess was, she definitely wouldn’t have tried to banish someone coming through the Prince unless he let her.

Tumen himself didn’t seem unnerved by the question at all, smiling gently, “I’d heard that you possess a title from the Eternal Dragon, and it is quite high as well. It should be impossible for mere priestesses to bully you.”

“So you were trying to test the power of my title.”

“You can put it that way.”

“And what do you get out of that?”

The Prince poured him a cup of tea, “Knowledge. I get to confirm a title’s usefulness. While I can’t get blessings I want with my current abilities, hopefully I’ll be able to make enough offerings to be granted one myself. All this while, we believed it was best to just trade for what we wanted.”

Tumen was talking about an issue that many powerhouses and rich families faced. The more powerful one became, the more difficult it was to get what they wanted from a single offerings. Some rich families intentionally let weaker subordinates make the offerings on their behalf, but this meant the grace would go to the family that had actually performed the ceremony instead of their masters. The more one used this loophole, the worse their own blessings became. The Eternal Dragon wouldn’t suddenly shortchange them, but it grew near impossible to get the things they wanted. In some extreme cases, warriors would end up being blessed with magic abilities. In the end, many rich families and powerhouses chose to sell their offerings instead, using the guaranteed funds to buy the things they desired.

Seeing the great power Richard acquired with his title, Prince Tumen finally understood the point of persisting. The Eternal Dragon wouldn’t let anyone profit off him, but nor would they lose out. So long as one put in the effort, there would eventually be results. Tumen definitely wouldn’t find it difficult to gather enough offerings, so he would get a title soon enough. 

But that meant nothing to Richard himself. He stared at the Prince indifferently, “Your Highness, I had to drain the divine grace of a grand priestess and a dozen paladins. The Eternal Dragon is fair, and I had to give up just as much grace as I took away.”

“That was not what I intended.”

“Then your subordinates were foolish and misunderstood you.”

“But you dealt with the matter a little too zealously,” Prince Tumen chuckled.

“Mm, I agree. Honestly, I should have just punched her face in. That would have been better.”

Hearing that, Tumen’s expression turned awkward. Sometimes, respect and honour were far more important than some amount of wealth. Given the grand priestess’s attitude, a punch to her face would have been no different from death.

“You truly are… resolute, Your Grace. Tell you what, I did deal with things inappropriately myself. As compensation, I will build a fort wherever you want in Azan and station 30,000 troops there for a year. Once that time is over, I will hand it over. I believe this will help in your present circumstances.”

It was impossible for the prince to be unaware of the Sacred Tree Empire’s plans. He was effectively using his own status to assure the Archerons’ safety for a year. Richard could just place the fort at the border, making any offense equivalent to attacking the Millennial Empire.

However, Richard shook his head, “No need for that.”

The rejection left Tumen surprised. He stared at Richard for a long while before speaking, “It seems many are still underestimating the Archerons.”

“They always do.”

“So what do you need? Equipment, materials, land, soldiers, planes?”

“A look at your ingredient warehouse would be nice. I could choose something from there.”

“Hmm… That will do,” Tumen nodded.

The Prince’s collection was commensurate with his status, and he opened up his treasury completely. Richard felt like he was seeing a list of blessings from the Eternal Dragon when he first entered; a two-headed dragon’s heart, a five-headed hydra’s heads, a chimera corpse, hearts of elemental lords, an odd metal that could absorb mana and grow, a liquid ore that could change its shape at will… every one was on the level of a lesser demon lord’s heart.

In the end, he chose a tree of life seed from the elven era as compensation, also buying three heads from the five-headed hydra. He had already eaten an egg before and gained terrifying regeneration abilities, so he thought the price of two top-tier offerings was fair. The hydra bloodline was amongst the most powerful in all of Norland, gaining an extra head with each bloodline evolution. Six-headed hydras were already at the level of abyssal archlords, and there were rumours of the progenitor somewhere deep in the void with a full seven.

This purchase was a part of Prince Tumen’s plans. He wanted Richard to spend the offerings he hadn’t, which would help him get to a title that much faster.

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