Chapter 101: Queen Sophia

Realizing the importance of the matter, Chris glanced at the mercenaries and adventurers over there and saw no one paying attention to their conversation. So he used wind messaging to tell Donald, “Blue-patterned gold? Is this a magic ore mine?”
Seeing Donald nod slightly, surprise appeared in Chris’s eyes. No one understood the significance and value of a magic metal mine better than a mage.
He then asked, “What do you plan to do?”
Donald didn’t reply using messaging magic. Using a minor spell now would also be a strain on his mental state. He called Uther over and instructed, “The terrain here is good—easy to defend and hard to attack, with plenty of space. After clearing it out, we can build one or two manors. If we can fully take control of this place, I’ll report to the nobility council and His Majesty the King, asking that it be granted to you as a fiefdom under the pretext of expanding territory, allowing you to become a true hereditary knight.” Donald deliberately spoke loudly enough for the adventurers and mercenaries resting over there to hear. Many adventurers exclaimed in shock.
A knightly fiefdom! Many of them had the strength to meet the standards but hadn’t received proper knightly training and thus couldn’t pass the knightly exams. In their youth, they had dreamed of becoming respected knightly lords, ideally owning their own fiefdom.
The common adventurers with bronze-level strength were the most affected. They had worked hard to become bronze-level fighters but, failing the knightly exams, couldn’t gain recognition from the nobles. At best, they could work as enforcers or guards for nobles or join the army to seek promotion.
Some of these bronze-level fighters were unwilling to give up, so they chose to continue as adventurers, honing their skills in hopes of becoming silver-level fighters one day. Even without passing the knightly exams, they could then easily gain their own status. There were precedents for this—Sir Brewster, one of the three silver-level fighters in the North County and the commander of the Giantstone City garrison, was the best example.
Ignoring the adventurers’ reactions, Donald continued, “I’ve left two griffins to guard it, so we shouldn’t have to worry about magical beasts taking it over in the short term! Go back and discuss this with William. Send a team to handle it. Ideally, we should open a path from here to beneath Dalaran, connecting the fiefdoms together!”
“As you command, my lord!”

From the moment it was created, Uther’s soul already bore Donald’s imprint. Whether Donald treated him well or not, he would remain utterly loyal to his master. Donald was actually planning to turn this place into a secret base to extract the minerals there privately. After all, it was far from his own territory. If news of the Blue-Striped Gold Demon Mines spread, other nobles would surely come to compete for them, and the Celt royal family would definitely not stand idly by—perhaps even trying to take it all for themselves. Thus, keeping the existence of the Blue-Striped Gold Demon Mines a secret was crucial, which is why Donald didn’t want outsiders to know about it. Turning this place into a new territory for the kingdom and then granting it to Uther was undoubtedly the perfect pretext. It would not only keep the secrets of the minerals but also allow him to gain more territory—truly a win-win plan. The major nobles wouldn’t compete for this remote wasteland, and those who might want to couldn’t afford to. The only potential obstacle was Viscount Macbeth, but he operated through the royal capital, with Catherine acting as a liaison and the queen’s support behind him. If nothing went wrong, the Ansel family would also back him in the capital. So, there was a 90% chance of success! Once this place officially became Uther’s fief, it would fall under the Merlina family’s domain. By then, even if the Blue-Striped Gold Mines were mined openly, no one would dare to defy the kingdom’s laws—at least not openly. However, Donald didn’t want to be too ostentatious; keeping wealth hidden and amassing it quietly was the best way to survive in this other world. Back in Dusk Town, William immediately distributed rewards to all the adventurers and mercenaries who participated in the mission, based on their achievements. Those who received rewards were overjoyed. Aside from the twenty-odd orcs eliminated by Donald in a single storm-like attack, the remaining orcs were dealt with as follows: the two mercenary groups each killed three bronze-ranked male orcs. Their leaders and several bronze-level warriors joined forces to eliminate six of the orc leaders’ guards and killed the orc wizards as well. The remaining dozen orcs were taken care of by the four mages—Chris, Moray, Dina, and Russell. Though Chris only made a few casual moves, he killed the most orcs, second only to Donald.

As for the other adventurers whose abilities were at the black iron level, only two groups were lucky enough to surround and kill two weaker female orcs, earning them an additional 100 gold sols as reward. However, these adventurers, who received no other rewards, did not feel it was unfair, as the three potions they already had were a huge gain. Regarding the high-level magical equipment promised earlier, since both mercenary squads had performed exceptionally well, Donald decided to be fair by combining their merits and awarding one piece of magical equipment to each squad. Donald presented several magic items of similar levels for the two captains to choose from. In the end, the Bloodstone Mercenaries selected the orc gloves that appeared at the previous auction, while the Northwind Mercenaries chose the Shadow Cloak, which granted its user the ability to teleport in darkness at night. To Donald, these two items were merely ordinary equipment that could be obtained for gold sols, but for mercenaries like them, such long-lasting magical equipment was extremely precious and rare. Since the cost price Donald had promised for selling potions and other items had not yet been prepared, the adventurers who received rewards and the two mercenary squads planned to stay in Dalaran for a while. To deal with this orc tribe, Donald had spent nearly 3,000 gold sols in total, but he would have paid ten times more without hesitation. The yield from a magic metal mine, even if it contained little valuable auxiliary material, was at least equivalent in value to an equal amount of silver ore. Moreover, it was a rare and precious blue-veined magic gold mine; if its reserves were abundant, it might even be possible to exchange it for a duchy’s territory from kingdoms dominated by mages like Lady Lin and Gardrel! Therefore, without delay, Donald planned to fly personally to the royal capital to meet the lady countess. Before teleporting to the Orc’s Nest Valley, he built two arrow towers at the valley entrance to guard the exit and summoned two Ancient Guardians in the form of ancient trees to hide nearby. Then, Donald rode a griffin back to his territory, gave instructions to William and the others, and boarded a airship heading toward Kosovo. He originally planned to discuss matters with the lady countess, let her prepare in advance, stay overnight, and then leave. There were many affairs to attend to in his territory, especially the magic mines in the Orc’s Nest that needed his attention! However, upon arriving in the royal capital before nightfall and meeting Cather at the agreed location, she said, “Donald, my dear, the Queen wishes to see you!” “The Queen wants to see me?”

Donald was stunned upon hearing this.
“Did Her Majesty the Queen not say why?”
Catherine gave no explanation, only smiling and saying, “You’ll know when you see Her Majesty!”
“Really, she won’t say?”
Donald lunged forward, but the countess quickly turned and ran away, leaving behind her silver-bell-like laughter.
But with Donald’s skills, the countess was no match for him—he caught her in a few steps and deliberately tickled her until she begged for mercy, at which point he revealed Her Majesty’s intention.
It turned out the mother-in-law wanted to meet her son-in-law!
After hearing what the countess said, Donald immediately understood the queen’s meaning. Queen Sophia and Catherine had always been like sisters, with Sophia being a few years older than Catherine, so she could be considered Catherine’s only relative and elder in Celt. It wasn’t bad for her to want to meet her future son-in-law.
Understanding this, Donald followed Catherine onto the palace carriage and headed toward the palace.
By the time they arrived, it was already dark, and magic crystal lamps illuminated every corner of the palace, making the already magnificent complex resemble a temple of gods from a dream.
Although they were made of energy-less blank crystals, just these magic crystal lamps cost thousands of gold sols per year—more than some nobles with limited incomes could earn in a whole year.
After entering the inner palace and passing through several buildings, Catherine led Donald to the queen’s palace.
Donald had seen their queen of Celt more than once before. He had met her twice during the award ceremony and celebration banquet beside the king, but those were both public occasions. This was their first close interaction.
So Donald formally bowed to this ruler of a nation.
The queen said nothing, only gazing at Donald with her beautiful, water-like eyes.
Sophia Cardoch, now nearly forty, showed no signs of aging. Her beauty remained intact, as if time had stopped for her ten years ago. Her mature charm carried an astonishing allure; if it were a teenage boy, he might not be able to resist just from those glances.
Donald raised his head to meet her gaze, his expression calm, showing no signs of guilt or timidity, which pleased the queen greatly, proving that Donald was likely an honest and upright person.

Then the beautiful Queen Sophia smiled and said, “There’s no need for formalities! Catherine is like my sister—don’t bully her, or I won’t spare you!” Her smile was as pleasing as a springtime bloom, and only then did Donald relax his restraint, smiling at the woman beside him. “I barely have time to care for her—how could I possibly bully her?” The barriers between men and women in this world weren’t as strict as they were during the Ming and Qing dynasties in his past life; otherwise, summoning a young man secretly at night could have led to the queen’s death on charges of adultery.
“Is that so? I heard that many noble families in the capital plan to marry their daughters to you!” Seeing the queen’s teasing expression, even Donald found it hard to maintain his composure.
He replied awkwardly, “Your Majesty, you’re joking. Others’ plans are their own—I just need to do my best!”
Satisfied with Donald’s ambiguous answer, Sophia dropped her playful tone and said seriously, “There are two reasons why I wanted to see you this time. First, I want to confirm your character—I already have a pretty good idea. The second is to discuss your future with Catherine!” Hearing this, Donald immediately focused, ready to hear what the queen had to say.