Chapter 298: Blake? Jack

After dealing with that guy Lassalle, Duri gave Donald a sorry smile before turning back with a normal expression, his face glowing with warmth—though a trace of anger remained in his eyes. He then said to everyone, “Allow me to introduce you to our hereditary baron of the Celt Kingdom, the lord of Dalaran and Emerald Dream, as well as an honorary member of the Elven Council—Baron Donald Merlinna, the Golden Archmage.” “You’re a Golden Archmage?”
The lead Silver Priest exclaimed in shock.
As if to prove Duri’s words, the pressure from Golden Archmage Donald enveloped the three of them without restraint. Though the leading priest was protected by divine power, he was still just a Silver Priest. In a life-or-death situation, he might be able to unleash golden-level combat strength, but at that cost, his soul would likely return to the embrace of the gods—using power beyond one’s rank came at an extremely high price!
If the Silver Priest was like this, the two Bronze Priests behind him were even worse off. Fortunately, most of the pressure fell on the first priest, so they didn’t collapse under it and do anything embarrassing.
“How is that possible?” Most of those present couldn’t believe it. Such a young Golden Archmage—what a genius! Perhaps he just looked young; in reality, he might be much older than he appeared.
Even that was astonishing. The youngest human Golden Archmage recorded in history had reached that rank at thirty-two. Someone like Vincent, who became a Golden Archmage in his thirty-something, was already considered a genius among geniuses.
Donald, on the other hand, seemed to be in his twenties at most—perhaps no older than twenty-five, unless he had blood from another race in his veins. Given his appearance, which was far more handsome than that of ordinary humans, it was quite possible.
Donald was unaware of the shock and thoughts in these people’s minds. Even if he had known, he would have simply laughed it off.
On the continent, it wasn’t very common to find someone holding noble titles across multiple countries and regions. Yet it wasn’t unheard of either. For example, King Gadré owned his own private knightly domain within the Solon Commercial Alliance Nation. Though small in size, it was a famous royal resort estate on the continent.

Generally, nobles who hold multiple titles and lands are formally addressed as something like “Baron of X and Knight of Y,” along with titles related to their lands and families. For example, Donald could be called “Baron Merlin of Dalaran and the Emerald Dream, Lord of the Kingdom of Thalassia.” However, usually, only the highest title is used, or simply “baron” is sufficient. Such a situation indicates that one’s family is quite powerful and owns multiple lands, but it only earns them respect from other nobles. Yet, for someone like Donald, titles such as “Grand Mage” and “Honorary Member of the Elven Council” are enough to intimidate all forces below the ranks of high nobles. It should be noted that aside from religious nations like the Land of Dawn, Sendel, in any country on the continent, a “Golden Power” holds a status equal to that of the king. If they are also land-owning nobles, then no matter how small their lands may be, their status is certainly on par with, or even higher than, that of high nobles. As for the title of “Honorary Member of the Elven Council,” the lower-ranking nobles and officials clearly didn’t pay much attention to it, but the supreme leader of Peace Harbor and the priests of the Sea God Church understood its significance. Prince Duri continued, “This is Merlin’s teacher, our Thalassian’s famous alchemist, Grand Mage Mesel!” With Donald, such a young Grand Mage, already present, another older Golden Power didn’t cause much excitement among others. But since there were two such Golden Powers among Duri’s group, it seemed his mission was determined to succeed. The Sea God Church had only been officially established for half a year; it had previously been a loose faith organization, and its true god was a newly promoted demi-god in recent years. It could grant up to fifth-level divine spells, but due to its expertise in the maritime realm, its influence was limited. In the Sea God Church, those who became silver priests were already skilled professionals who gained divine powers after embracing the Sea God. Originally, with the outbreak of the Gadré disaster, this newly formed church wanted to make a big impact, so it came uninvited as part of the first wave of reinforcements, aiming to establish a foothold in the Gadré coastal cities led by Peace Harbor, so as to expand into the regions along the Fallen Star Bay where the influence of the Pantheon of Gods was weak—especially in the prosperous port city of Leyton Harbor—to spread its teachings.

After all, there was only one Agricultural Goddess Church in the Celt region. In the minds of its upper ranks, it should be much easier to gain followers there than in the central and southern parts of the continent, which had already been largely dominated by the Gods’ Church. Donald knew little about these matters, having only heard some stories about the Sea God Bassetdo. If he had known about the Sea God Church’s plans, he would surely have been pessimistic—after all, Starfall Bay had legendary dragon sea lords like Nozdorm! As high-ranking clergy of the Sea God Church, who focused primarily on maritime affairs, they could easily recognize the uniqueness of that magic ship. If their church could possess such a vessel, it would greatly strengthen them, allowing them to establish a solid foothold along the continent’s coasts more quickly and earn the favor of the true gods. After all, the fishermen who relied on the sea for a living and the sailors on merchant ships were excellent candidates for future Sea God believers. Yet, it had been too long since a Sea God appeared among the human gods, and many now worshipped other true gods or even those sea lords that resembled monsters! Unfortunately, their plans were completely disrupted after two Golden Warriors emerged on the other side. Though blessed by the light of true gods, they dared not confront those two Golden Warriors head-on, as they would surely be defeated. Moreover, those warriors came from kingdoms with weak forces among the few major gods’ churches on the continent. Even if their church wanted to retaliate later, it was unlikely to succeed. Thus, with the mediation of the nobles in Peace Harbor, the three priests from the Sea God Church stepped down and stopped mentioning the previous contract. Dorei was also happy with this outcome, as he had an important purpose for his visit and didn’t want to cause trouble. With all three parties chatting amicably, after the three from the Sea God Church left, Donald and the others were arranged by Peace Harbor’s authorities to stay in a mansion designed to accommodate visiting nobles. This mansion had a small military camp outside, perfect for soldiers to rest. With constant movement in Peace Harbor and many onlookers, Donald didn’t notice that two people in plain clothes changed expressions when they heard the second prince mention his name. When they left, those two followed the crowd in a hurry. With hundreds of people marching, it wasn’t as convenient as with just a few individuals. The soldiers, having been at sea for three days, also needed time to rest to regain their strength. So, it would likely be tomorrow before they could set off after Dorei finished making arrangements.

In the evening, the high-ranking officials of Peace Harbor arranged a banquet for the people from Thalassia. As the two most prominent members of the delegation and nobles themselves, Donald had to attend this banquet. The two masters of magic disliked such superficial noble gatherings, so Donald arranged for them to rest in the comfortable rooms of his own mansion, while he placed the soldiers from Dalaran in the barracks, instructing that supplies should not be spared and that their meals should be as good as those during training. Then he set off with his men to attend the banquet and taste Gadrin’s cuisine.

Although these powerful individuals could go without food for ten days or even half a month, their regular routines over the years had made their bodies accustomed to eating at set times, and they still felt hungry when it was time to eat. Especially the skilled swordsmen, who required a lot of energy, could not endure a day without meat; otherwise, their stomachs would growl loudly, causing embarrassment!

So, in the afternoon, they ate some snacks to stave off hunger until evening.

Just as the banquet began, after Donald had eaten quite a bit of food and was satisfied, and planning to leave early to rest after dealing with the nobles of Peace Harbor, a young noble with a distinctive appearance approached him and handed him a bundle of something. After completing his task, the young noble quickly became close to a local noble lady.

The young noble, with a well-proportioned figure and a handsome appearance mixed with a unique, charming aura, quickly caught the noble lady’s attention and captivated her, unaware that he had become a tool for someone else’s purposes.

With Donald’s skills, he naturally noticed the other person’s intent to approach him. But since he sensed no hostility, and even if the other person dared to attempt an assassination in front of everyone, he was confident he could handle it, he simply took the item handed to him in a discreet manner.

Curious, he opened it and found a rolled-up piece of parchment with a few brief words written on it: “Meet outside the port at the beginning of the Silver Moon.”

Donald frowned, recognizing the handwriting as very familiar. Suddenly remembering something, he calmly took out from his storage space the warning note he had received long ago after an assassination attempt, from the person signed as Black Jack, the alleged leader of the Black Knight Brotherhood. Comparing the two, the handwriting was exactly the same, clearly written by the same person.

Upon reading this, Donald couldn’t help but look toward the young noble, who happened to be looking at him as well, nodding politely at him—clearly an excellent noble who had received aristocratic education since childhood. The leader of this band of thieves was indeed resourceful; he had managed to slip into such a banquet effortlessly and even appeared in a very conspicuous manner, strutting around in front of everyone. However, when he saw that guy dancing gracefully with a noble lady whose beauty could rival that of some pig-like animal, Donald shook his head, feeling a strange sense of amusement. In reality, it was just the man dancing alone; the noble lady, who was likely heavier than tall men like Carlisle standing beside him, couldn’t dance at all and could only twist her hefty body in place, gazing affectionately at her handsome prince. The “young noble” understood what Donald was thinking upon seeing his expression and could only smile helplessly. Seeing her prince’s “melancholic” smile, the noble “pig-like” lady’s heart fluttered wildly, her eyes filled with adoration, as if she wanted to find a secluded place right away to comfort him.