novelraw Chapter 174: Keken's Thoughts
Chapter 174: Keken's Thoughts
Saint-Nazareth had many districts. Most of them had their original purposes roughly stipulated at the beginning of their design; this was a story from the Gryphon Party's ruling period.
At that time, according to the plan, centered around the Golden Palace, they planned out rings of residential areas expanding outward layer by layer according to status and wealth from high to low.
Less than four kilometers east of the Golden Palace was Naris Lake, which was the largest saltwater lake in all of Naris, as well as the private territory of the royal family.
The name of the Naris nation actually didn't come from any ancient texts or legends, but rather from this largest saltwater lake within Naris's borders.
The ancestors of Godolin I were sinners exiled to Naris Lake by the empire that stretched across the entire West Continent, the [Central Empire]. They lived for generations on this border of the West Continent, which was considered barbaric at the time.
It lasted until the birth of Godolin I, who was like a favored son of heaven. At the mere age of twenty-five, he rose up with his followers and set off the war of resistance against the Central Empire.
He raised his army and continuously advanced east from Naris Lake, conquering all the small nations along the way, routing the Central Empire's army, annexing the Central Empire's capital, Holy Cassel, and fought all the way to Kadu, the origin of magic and religion. There, he was enfeoffed with the surname Godolin, which meant [God's Precept].
Yes, ancient Naris was once an extremely massive nation.
However, precisely because it was extremely massive, ever since Godolin I passed away, the closer to the border regions, the weaker the central government's control became. The Godolin royal family even watched helplessly as the territories their ancestors had painstakingly conquered were made independent one piece at a time.
It continued until the era of Godolin V, when the largest war of independence in history, the Schwari rebellion, occurred.Since ancient times, Schwari had possessed its own culture and traditions. During the Central Empire period, it was also an allied nation with autonomous rights. However, yielding to the majesty of Godolin I, they were forced to submit to Naris, living under the nation's shadow for two hundred years.
But starting from the era of Godolin III, Naris's control gradually began to weaken.
Seeing Naris's insufficient control, many heroes were rising at once within Schwari's borders, and eventually, during the era of Godolin V, the entire territory was unified by a snake-slaying farmer, proclaiming themselves the "Sun Empire."
The imperial army, symbolizing the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, advanced triumphantly all the way toward the direction of Saint-Nazareth, ultimately conquering the capital of Naris.
Godolin V, the king at the time, was a fatuous coward. He could even tolerate his wife and son being captured and insulted by the Sun Knights, and could even sign a treaty acknowledging their independence with Schwari with a smiling face.
The place where the treaty was signed back then was the area where the Petrie Family currently resided, named the "Haselogan District," because the merchant group family that covered Godolin V's return to Saint-Nazareth back then was the Petrie Family.
Right at this moment, it was a beautiful night. On the second floor of a three-story villa in the Haselogan District, Keken's two wives had just finished washing up. Wearing translucent silk nightgowns, the conservative Kadu sisters with black hair and black eyes displayed their boldest appearance in front of their lover. This was currently the popular husband-slaying outfit in Naris.
It could be seen that the effect was very good; Keken's eyes were completely fixed.
"Heh, where did you guys buy these clothes?"
Hearing their husband's question, Dora and Laura covered their mouths and giggled. One of them went to the side of the room to light a touch of Kadu aromatherapy. A little bit of faint fragrance instantly rushed to the tip of the nose, making one's lower abdomen run hot.
Kadu loved making aromatherapy very much, and the varieties were numerous. There were ceremonial aromatherapies exclusively for making sacrifices and worshipping the Mother Goddess, and of course, there were also private aromatherapies for nourishing the body and accelerating attack speed.
Although the effect of this functional aromatherapy used at night couldn't compare to Dragon Blood, compared to Dragon Blood, the efficacy of this aromatherapy was milder and wouldn't harm the body. Gentlemen who understood the value of a slow and steady stream would favor this item.
"These clothes were recommended to us by Mrs. Berlinst. She is a Naris expert; the restaurant we took you to eat at previously was also recommended by her."
"These clothes are truly shameful, but as long as you like them."
The two blushing sisters gently reached out and massaged Keken's scalp, waiting for the aromatherapy's efficacy to take effect.
"Oh, goodness, no wonder that guy Berlinst has so many children. His wife isn't pretty and even likes to use money to gamble. Previously, I was still wondering how they slept together at night. With these clothes, if you said you were angels beside the Mother Goddess, I would believe it. This is really... really too sexy."
"Behave yourself."
"Haha, Sister, quickly stop him from defiling Lord Mother Goddess..."
Playfully, the two sisters used pillows to gently swat Keken's head. Keken was made intolerably hot and restless. Seeing that he couldn't hold back and wanted to launch an offensive, the bedroom telephone suddenly rang at this moment.
"Ring ring ring~"
Keken's expression stiffened slightly. Interrupted while casting a spell, he shot a glance at the wives beside him, and then rather impatiently walked to the telephone and picked up the receiver.
"Hello, who is this? Oh... Oh! Mr. Fisher."
Keken's expression changed slightly. He gently stuck out his index finger and made a silencing gesture in front of his lips. Both wives understandingly laid on their sides on the bed, watching Keken sit down by the window.
Fisher's voice sounded from inside, asking.
"Keken, are you asleep?"
"Not yet, not yet, the time is still early right now. Is there something the matter?"
If it were an ordinary person, he would have already spoken up to drive them away long ago. But towards Fisher, he was still very respectful, so naturally he didn't show the slightest bit of impatience.
After a little brief exchange of pleasantries, Fisher straightforwardly asked about the charity gala this weekend. And just as Fisher guessed, this matter was exactly what Keken was in charge of.
"Yes, I am in charge of this matter. Do you want..."
"Here's the thing, I want to donate one hundred thousand Narios to the Petrie Bank. I wonder if I can enter the charity banquet this weekend; I have a special matter I need to do."
He paused on the "special matter." Keken's thoughts gradually scattered. The people attending at that time would include the prince, and the venue was held at the Healing House. The thing Fisher wanted to do was either related to the prince or the Healing House...
Regarding royal matters, he himself was involved with Elizabeth, so naturally he wouldn't go too far. Then the biggest possibility was the Healing House.
Behind the Healing House was the Nazarene Development Company. If anything happened, they couldn't come looking for him, and moreover, he was going through the formal donation process to enter the banquet...
Thinking to this point, Keken spoke.
"Oh, wait a moment, let me think."
Smelling that desire-stimulating aromatherapy, it was indeed a bit difficult to think about serious matters right now. Keken struggled to push the window open a bit, dispersing that aromatherapy against the night breeze. After thinking for a while, he then said.
"One hundred thousand Narios naturally meets the threshold to enter that banquet. But if it's Mr. Fisher, I suggest only donating fifty thousand Narios. When the time comes, I can give you a special quota. With your fame, you merely need to arrive at the charity banquet... Do you need to conceal your identity?"
Fisher hadn't expected Keken to be so understanding. After thinking about it, he smiled and said.
"I need to be somewhat concealed."
"In that case, using the internal Petrie Bank channels, you only need to donate seventy thousand. Er, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but the amount that truly reaches the charity cause is only seventy percent of the original donation amount. Thirty percent is retained in the foundation's accounts. I'll pull some strings; you only need to donate seventy percent of the original amount, which is seventy thousand Ores."
Holding a quill, Keken rapidly flashed through all the details of how to operate this in his mind, and then said this to Fisher.
Nighttime conversations wouldn't be too long, plus both of them spoke very straightforwardly.
After Fisher's side confirmed a few more matters with Keken, this conversation also reached its end.
"Around Thursday the day after tomorrow, I will send you the invitation letter to enter the Healing House in the name of the Naris Petrie Bank. If you want more concealment, you can also enter with me through my dedicated channel entrance. At that time, you can bring a female companion or servant..."
"It's fine, it's fine, no trouble at all. Just remember to transfer seventy thousand Narios to this account tomorrow."
"Mhm mhm, no bother, no bother. Okay, okay, that's it, goodnight, Mr. Fisher."
After confirming the details with Fisher, Keken put down the receiver, and excitedly wrote a few words on paper, wearing an extremely happy expression.
Behind him, the two sisters Laura and Dora exchanged a glance, extremely puzzled by Keken's behavior. Thus, they asked their husband with some confusion.
"Is that the scholar Fisher Benavides?"
After Keken finished recording, he closed the doors and windows, and took a deep breath of the aromatherapy placed in the corner of the room. Subsequently, he hurriedly ran to the two sisters' sides. With one arm around each lady, he nodded and said.
"That's right, it's exactly the one who came to our door in the Southern Continent before, the senior from the Royal Academy."
Dora tapped her chin, turned sideways, and asked.
"Why would you help him like this? As far as I know, he is only a scholar. Even if he has some relationship with Her Highness Elizabeth, it's nowhere near settled after all. In other words, even if he eventually becomes Her Highness Elizabeth's husband, he can't help with the Petrie Bank's matters. You know, the Princess's husband must strictly keep away from the parliament and other entrepreneurs..."
Keken smiled, reaching out to tap his wife's head, and said with a smile.
"Well... first of all, Fisher himself is already an outstanding talent. He previously designed a self-proving circle head for the soul. The magicians of the Magic Association and the Development Company wanted to design a few magic spells related to the soul to make money, but couldn't write them at all. And when they write letters to Fisher, he won't reply. He never cooperates with those commercial companies."
"Making him owe us a bit more favors won't be a loss no matter what. If push comes to shove, we could ask him for a few magic patents later and we'd make a huge profit. After all, he's Helson's student."
"But the most crucial part isn't even this."
As he spoke, Keken sat up somewhat excitedly, saying to the ladies behind him.
"I was afraid you guys would worry, so I didn't tell you at the time. Actually, in the Southern Continent, I once led a small column of troops to watch that group of Dragon-kin from the Southern Branch fight the Western Branch Tribe..."
"What? Watching others fight? Why would you run so far without saying a word to us, and specifically to watch Dragon-kin combat?! Weren't you afraid of being caught by that group of demi-humans? Truly..."
The two wives were somewhat angered by their husband's concealment, narrowly avoiding reaching out to twist his ears.
Because previously, Keken had originally told the two of them that the red Dragon-kin of that Southern Branch Tribe was very special; it should be said that she was dangerous.
To still lean in to watch while knowing she was so dangerous; this made the two of them extremely puzzled.
Facing his wives' questioning, Keken smiled and explained.
"Alas, it was extremely dangerous at the time. I even suspected that red Dragon-kin had already discovered us, just that she couldn't be bothered to deal with us. I stood on the mountain holding binoculars, watching their two armies face off. You know the combat abilities of the Dragon-kin; their fighting was already very outrageous to begin with, and that red Dragon-kin from the Southern Branch Tribe was even more of a heavyweight..."
"She single-handedly carved her way into the central army of the Western Branch Tribe, caught the opposing leader who was supervising the battle, and brought him back. With a casual wave of her hand, a swath of Dragon-kin would fall, and she even captured all those resisting Dragon-kin soldiers. One look and you could tell this kind of monster isn't to be trifled with. Having such intelligence and ability, given another few years, it's estimated the entire Southern Continent will fall securely into her pocket..."
After hearing this, the two ladies were somewhat worried. Looking at Keken, they asked.
"Those city lords didn't listen to your suggestion; aren't you worried?"
"Heh, even if she ruthlessly exterminates completely the rest of those stupid pigs and drives them out of the Southern Continent, what does that have to do with us? The West Continent hasn't been peaceful lately either. By the time they finish establishing order over their own domestic affairs and go deal with the Southern Continent, their side will have already developed long ago. It's just that I hold a skeptical attitude toward whether that Dragon-kin will attack the West Continent."
"I gathered a lot of intel; you two don't know, but that red Dragon-kin's war chariot was actually Fisher Benavides's carriage! That carriage wasn't meant to be used as a war chariot at all. She cherishes that carriage to an extreme degree, bringing it along wherever she goes during the war. Still don't understand? The relationship between that Dragon-kin and Fisher is not simple..."
"Even in the most extreme case, later on we can completely change an identity, for instance, merchants heading there to cooperate. As long as our relationship with Fisher is good, in the Southern Continent, or rather, with that red Dragon-kin, there will always be one extra opportunity."
"I couldn't care less about the job at the Petrie Bank arranged by my old man; what's the point of always resting on past laurels here? My future is in the Southern Continent. Only when I can open the Petrie Bank in the Southern Continent will it be considered true ability. Just you wait and see! Although the time might be a bit long, overall I'm still full of confidence toward the future."
The two wives completely couldn't understand Keken's strategies and thoughts, but toward their own husband, they still silently supported him. They could see his reluctant appearance when working under his father's arrangements; that unhappy look was obvious to everyone.
Therefore, they smiled, stroking Keken's body and said.
"I know, Mr. Grand Strategist. The incense is already thick..."
"You've talked for half a day without moving your body once; do you still want a baby or not?"
Keken chuckled. He gently turned off the bedside lamp, and then with a low roar, he headed towards the battlefield.