Chapter 275: Let Them Keep Talking

For a moment, nobody in the First Legion answered Lady Vaust. They were too busy looking at one another.

Then someone laughed, and the whole group broke.

“Does she honestly think we’ve lost?”

“I want to see her face when our name comes up.”

“She’ll find someone else to blame. Her family always does.”

Seraphine glanced from the Channel to the finished Temple overhead. “We should be safely inside the top hundred. Even if this really is a smaller version, the top ten isn’t out of reach.”

The thought made their laughter sweeter. They had spent three days fighting for this result. Across the Channel, their enemies were congratulating themselves on a victory that had never happened.

Rowan was almost bouncing on his heels.

“Cassian. Please tell me I can answer her.”

“Still can’t leave her alone?” Cassian smiled. “Go on. You two were getting along so well.”

“You mean it?”

“Settlement’s begun. There’s nothing left to hide.”

Only a handful of Lords could speak in the All-Races Champions Channel. Private messages between rival Legions were blocked as well. Keeping their Temple’s progress secret had been surprisingly easy. The one enemy that knew exactly what Cassian could do—the Divine Legion—had already been expelled.

Rowan needed no further encouragement.

[Rowan Ashford: Is that the best your illustrious family can manage? Your great-grandfather survived by running away and groveling before the Spirit World’s evil gods. Without their protection, he would have been executed. Some ancestry to boast about.]

[Nerissa Vaust: You miserable commoner. How dare you insult our Emperor!]

Darian grinned. “That touched a nerve. Keep going.”

[Rowan Ashford: Since you’re so interested in our result, here’s a preview. Cassian has taken us into the top hundred. The top ten is still possible. Save that question about regret. We’ll ask you again when the list is finished.]

The replies came faster than he could read them.

Inside the Second Legion, Lords who had just been arguing among themselves found something new to agree on. Rowan had lost his mind. A few of those with permission to speak carried that judgment into the public Channel.

[Nerissa Vaust: Top hundred? Has failure damaged your head?]

Malcolm had endured so much abuse lately that the chance to direct it at someone else was irresistible.

[Malcolm: If this is the sort of fool Cassian keeps around, what does that say about Cassian?]

[Walter Norman: Lord Cassian, please restrain your people. The Homeworld has embarrassed itself enough in this contest.]

Other races joined them. Apparently the Homeworld’s civil quarrels were no longer its most entertaining feature. Now its defeated Lords were declaring themselves champions.

[Being weak is understandable. Not knowing you’re weak is harder to excuse.]

[How can anyone announce that in public?]

Even Verena tried to intervene.

[Verena: Lord Cassian, you can withdraw their posting rights. It might be wise to do so before this goes any further.]

[Vespera: Cassian has some ability. The rest of them are making fools of themselves.]

Cassian ignored the insults. The Bloodkin commander’s appearance gave him something much more useful to work with.

[Cassian Vale: Lady Vespera, I’ve been meaning to thank you properly. We may have begun as opponents, but you’ve been an enormous help to us. I won’t forget it.]

At Blood Throne’s Temple, Vespera frowned at the message.

She had attacked Mount Celestia, forcing the Angels to leave the Second Homeworld Legion alone. But the two Human Legions were enemies. Why should the First Legion’s commander thank her for helping the Second?

Perhaps Cassian wanted to put their own quarrel behind them.

That explanation pleased her. He was the greatest newcomer in War Realm Seventy-Seven, after all. A public acknowledgment from him meant something.

[Vespera: We were each acting for our own Legion. You needn’t make so much of it.]

Cassian’s smile widened.

When the Divines heard about this exchange, they would have an even harder time believing Blood Throne had nothing to do with him. She had practically accepted his thanks in front of every race.

Rowan, meanwhile, had finished with the crowd.

[Rowan Ashford: Remember what you’re saying. All of it. Some of you seem to need the same lesson more than once.]

He left their replies unanswered and returned to the First Legion’s private Channel.

“That felt wonderful.”

——

The ranking reached its hundred-and-first entry without naming them.

A cheer rose around the Temple. Whatever happened next, the First Legion had secured a place among the top hundred.

“The Homeworld hasn’t done this in a century!”

“They still think we’ve failed. Imagine what happens when they see us on that scroll!”

“Hurry up and show it. I want the Western Alliance and the Black Banner watching.”

Cassian was watching too, though the next familiar name belonged to someone else.

[97th — Florentia Realm | Elves]

[Provincial rewards: Map area +100%; Resource Index +100%; Aether concentration +100%; wild creature resources +100%; chance of wild Buildings appearing +100%.]

Florentia had done well.

Its place also showed why the All-Races Rankings could not tell anyone exactly how a contest like this would end. Humans and Elves stood in the thousands on that larger list. Bloodkin, Angels, and Demons stood in the hundreds; the Divines were among the top hundred. By that measure alone, none of them should have been favorites for first place here.

But those rankings measured the strength of entire races. Power in one body was only part of that.

Dragons and Phoenixes were born Mythic, yet a thousand years might pass before either race produced enough new Lords to fill a single Province. That scarcity could leave them below the Divines overall.

The Eternals were more extreme still. Immortal from birth, with SS Aptitude, an Eternal Lord needed no equipment to hunt creatures fifty Levels above itself. A Legendary monster scarcely presented a challenge. Even its Lord’s Heart came with a Mythic Troop Building.

Such a Lord might be born only once in ten thousand years. Across the Homeworld’s recorded history, spanning tens of thousands of years, its people had encountered just one Eternal being.

The race stood at twenty-third.

In an ordinary newcomer sector, the most formidable opponents were usually the familiar ones: Divines, Void Insects, Logicians, and Angels. Those were the races everyone had prepared to face.

[Cassian Vale: Congratulations, Florentia. Perhaps we’ll meet again in the outer battlefields.]

Their civilizations already had diplomatic ties. There was no harm in keeping the relationship friendly.

[Verena: Thank you, Lord Cassian. I’m sure the absence of a Legion reward won’t hold someone like you back for long.]

He let the polite consolation pass. She would understand soon enough.

Before the conversation ended, Verena addressed the wider Channel.

[Verena: While so many of us are here, Florentia is looking for a Lord we’ve nicknamed the Divine Farmer. We don’t know the seller’s real name. A fixed quantity of Legendary Moonfruit and Amethyst Grapes appears in the Worlds Market every day.]

[Verena: We want to discuss cooperation. There is no hostile intent. Anyone with useful information can contact our authorities in the Homeworld. We will pay generously for a reliable lead.]

Cassian stopped smiling quite so openly.

Daily quantities. Legendary produce. Those particular fruits.

She was looking for him.

What did the Elves want with his farming business?

“Oh, I know that seller!” Darian said.

Cassian’s gaze snapped toward him. He ran through the possible mistakes he might have made. The Market hid identities, but perhaps something else had given him away.

Verena answered immediately.

[Verena: Lord Darian, who is it?]

[Darian Frost: I buy fruit from that shop all the time. Excellent stuff. The listings match your description.]

[Verena: Yes, but who owns the shop?]

[Darian Frost: How would I know? I buy the fruit.]

Cassian could almost hear the silence at the other end.

Darian was still the customer who had bought Cassian’s own produce and sent it back to him as a gift. Nothing had changed there.

One part of Verena’s announcement did deserve an answer, however.

[Cassian Vale: When you say you’ll pay generously, what sort of reward do you mean?]

[Verena: Do you have information? If it leads us to the seller, the payment starts at ten billion Aether.]

Ten billion, as a starting point.

[Cassian Vale: Thank you. That answers my question. Unfortunately, I don’t know who it is either.]

If he ever ran short of money, perhaps his memory would improve. Florentia maintained an embassy in the Homeworld. He knew where to find them.

Verena rolled her eyes. First Darian, now Cassian. Was every Lord from that world determined to waste her time?

The Legion’s failure must have affected them more than they wanted to admit. That was the only explanation she could find.

She waited a while longer, hoping someone more helpful would speak up. No useful lead appeared. Still, there might be Lords who preferred to contact her after leaving Fivefold Heaven.

The search yielded nothing, and the next names appeared on the ranking scroll.