“Ahem, I’ll talk to Watson later.”
The astrologer was a little embarrassed by Nightingale’s skepticism. Watson, in his opinion, was a bright young man. He expected Watson would take advantage of the winter to raise the price of supplies and earn a fortune, but he did not anticipate Watson to help the refugees for free.
It was good to be kind in that world, but one had to act within one’s abilities. More than a million people lived along the border, including those who made it through the winter; the remaining refugees were at least hundreds of thousands.
Watson had no with that because the castle only housed tens of thousands of immigrants. The situation would be different if that number were multiplied by ten.
“My disciple is usually quite smart, but why is he so stupid now? Does he believe he can support that many people with the wealth of Blackmoon Castle?” the astrologer muttered to himself as he walked up to Watson, who was giving a speech in front of the refugees. He continued to say to himself, “No, I have to persuade him.”
“Master, you’re back.”
Watson turned his head as he heard footsteps and smiled sweetly at the astrologer. Then he pointed at the astrologer and said to the refugees in front of him, “This is my master, the well-known astrologer from the Holy Dragon Kingdom’s capital. Blackmoon Castle will be completely protected under his protection! If anyone wishes to leave, I may request my master to send you to other safe locations for free. Aside from that—”
“One moment.”
The astrologer interrupted him with a frown. He heard those refugees discussed amongst themselves.
“That is the legendary astrologer; he looks more intelligent than I imagined.”
The astrologer is a big shot in the capital. How would we dare to let him escort us?”
The astrologer’s expression eased a little.
Even the refugees knew that he was of noble status and could not be compelled to act. If he did not stop Watson, he would probably arrange many more troublesome tasks for him.
“What’s wrong, Master? I haven’t finished my words yet! Don’t worry, the jobs I’ve arranged for you are all small favors. Master, you won’t refuse these small requests, right?”
Watson blinked, and his eyes flickered.
The astrologer’s frown softened; he realized Watson was acting sweet on purpose. He clapped his hands and said, “I have something important to tell you later. It’s related to the refugees. Before that, I’ll first give you the things I brought from Fairy Castle.”
Nightingale and a few Shadow Guards from Fairy Castle immediately moved the treasure chest toward Watson and opened it; there were many shiny armor and weapons in it. The first chest had 100 items, all of which were gold-tier weapons; the light made it hard for people to open their eyes. The next chest had 1,000 silver-tier equipment, and in the last chest, there were bottles of various potions. No one knew the purpose of those potions.
The Shadow Guards swallowed their saliva when they saw those items. As Shadow Guards, they did not have any complete gold-tier equipment on them, let alone the gold-tier medicine in the last few boxes. They were life-saving items, so they were even more precious.
After the astrologer revealed the items, he stroked his beard and waited for Watson’s exclamations and praises. He had worked hard to bring Watson so many good things, so the young boy would definitely be very grateful to him. It was an excellent opportunity for him to use those items to persuade Watson about how tough it was to gather supplies and feed the immigrants.
However…
“Are those the only items you brought back, Master?” Watson rummaged through the crates, his lips twisted in displeasure.
“Only? What do you mean? Watson, those items are worth more than 200,000 gold coins. Are those not enough to satisfy you?” The astrologer’s hand stopped, and his expression froze.
“I can’t say that I am not content; I can only say I am generally satisfied. Now that all Blackmoon Castle guards have been upgraded to gold-tier, silver-tier equipment is no longer useful to them; they don’t even use them as tools for training!”
Watson sighed. “Only the 100 gold-tier weapons and armor are adequate. However, the quality is not up to my expectations!”
Watson realized he had gone too far when he noticed the astrologer seemed aggrieved, so he quickly changed his words. “Of course, these things are from Fairy Castle. It has nothing to do with you, Master. If you want to blame someone, blame Fairy Castle’s owner for being too stingy.”
“That’s right. Sylvan gave me too few things, and I’m his teacher.”
Since Watson had graciously prepared an excuse for him and that the astrologer had taken the correct course, it was better for Watson to blame Sylvan than him. At the same time, he grumbled quietly in his heart.
Watson’s appetite had grown stronger after he had not seen his master for a few days. He was no longer interested in silver-tier equipment. He was not impressed with gold-tier items. Fortunately, before he left, he had asked Sylvan for the five Song of the Nibelungs rings. Otherwise, he would lose face in front of his disciple.
With that in mind, he took out the rings he had prepared and handed them to Watson.
“Those were only casual gifts; the most important ones are these five platinum-tier rings. It was not easy for me to get them from Sylvan.”
“Praise me quickly,” the astrologer murmured as he stroked his beard again. Watson was not interested in silver or gold-tier equipment, but platinum-tier equipment should be able to move his heart.
However, Watson’s following words caused him to freeze once again.
“Master, why did you give me defective platinum-tier equipment? Did you split them and not give me the complete one? I was a little excited as I thought you were going to give me five platinum-tier equipment. But it looks like these five rings are only half of a complete set of equipment. Isn’t it a little stingy to split a gift into numerous parts and give it away?”
[Platinum-tier tool: Song of Nibelungenlied (five rings)]
[Effect: can defend against platinum-tier attacks. It is said that that ring is a precious treasure left behind by a lost civilization. A complete set includes ten rings and can trigger a special skill called the Symphony of Fate. However, if the rings are incomplete, you will not be able to use that skill. Instead, each ring will have an independent skill.]
[Additional effects: Song of Courage (increases all attributes attack power by 500%, and removes pain or fatigue during combat), Song of Wisdom (increases thinking power by 500%), Song of Glory (increases charm, leadership, and eloquence by 500%), song of Fortitude (increases defense by 500%), Song of freedom (increases speed by 500%).]
[Additional skills: Alchemy Fusion (rings are made from high-end alchemy. Each additional ring that you master will increase all of the above effects by 100%), Symphony of Fate (all rings combined will allow you to make a wish. The wish will follow the principle of equivalent exchange and can only be used once a day. Since you do not have all of the rings, you can not use them at the moment.)]
Watson sighed as he read the information on the rings. One might say that he had two platinum-tier items. He was very familiar with that level of equipment. He knew that the Nibelungenlied rings’ ability could be increased, and its effect was mediocre. The rings’ true power was in its Symphony of Fate skill.
In the end, he could not use that ability.
“The border count is too stingy. He knew that those rings are not powerful when separated, yet he still gave them to me. It’s obvious that he wants to give them a gift, but he’s not willing to do that.”
Watson fiddled with the five rings in his hand; those rings represented five virtues—courage, wisdom, glory, perseverance, and freedom. They could be used separately. For example, if he gave them to five people, they could increase their speed, strength, and defense. Those rings could help those who were fast but weak in attack, strong in attack but weak in defense; it could complement their shortcomings.
“But that won’t do much. Why don’t I fuse these rings and see if I can improve their attributes?”
Since the border count was so stingy, he would not stand on ceremony.
With that thought in mind, Watson activated the system fusion on the five rings in his hand. The five rings collided in a dazzling light and turned into a golden, simple ring with an ouroboros engraved on it; the shape was like an upside-down number eight, and it was very mysterious.
