"Your Excellency is too modest. Since you are so frank, I will also speak the truth," Unas paused, "This is all guided by the Holy Light. The voice of the Holy Light tells me that you can be trusted."
These charlatan-like claims left Rhonin skeptical. In his view, Holy Light was merely a magical energy, not fundamentally different from Arcane.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Fode quickly said, "Regardless, Knight Unas is willing to trust you, sir, and you are willing to intervene and mediate this matter. We don't need to consider other issues now. Gentlemen, Modera is here."
When Rhonin appeared, Modera knew that this battle was doomed. Although this newly appointed young man had no power base, he was at least nominally her leader, and every Dalaran citizen had to respect him on the surface.
"Lord Rhonin, you actually have time to come? I heard that the Luoaoting Magic Circle you're overseeing is at a critical stage."
"Ms. Modera's information is probably wrong. The Magic Circle has encountered a problem and is currently at a standstill. I just came out for some fresh air; perhaps I can find some new inspiration."
Rhonin's relationship with Modera was far from friendly, even more distant than that between colleagues, because he was intentionally isolated by the Council of Six.
After Antonidas Archmage killed by Arthas, the position of leader of Dalaran remained vacant for a long time. The power of the various core council members was relatively even, and none of them had any hope of winning over the hearts and minds of the people.
Rhonin was actually an unpopular figure, so being sent to rescue the Red Dragon Queen was an extremely dangerous mission. As one councilman put it, "Maybe we'll get lucky, Deathwing will swallow Rhonin whole and choke to death, thus permanently eliminating two menaces."
However, Rhonin ultimately rescued the Red Dragon Queen from the Dragonmaw Clan and played a crucial role in defeating Deathwing, becoming a well-deserved hero.
His qualifications were not actually sufficient for him to take the throne, but Dalaran in crisis needed heroes and leaders. The young new face foreshadowed the rebirth of the city of mages, and his marriage to Vereesa Windrunner also garnered the support of many High Elves. Thus, a new leader of Dalaran was born.
Having married Elf beauty and reached the pinnacle of his life, the newly appointed Rhonin naturally wanted to make his mark, but he soon discovered that the matters or plans he wanted to promote were difficult to get passed by the council smoothly.
Those old guys who actually held real power only saw him as a figurehead; they weren't genuinely loyal to his leadership.
Having realized this, Rhonin turned his attention to researching new defensive barriers, while secretly developing his own power. No matter where you are, a leader without a foundation is always powerless.
When Arnold Hearthstone returned to town and found him, recounting the entire situation in the Spider Forest, Rhonin was overjoyed, seeing it as a good opportunity to increase his influence. Therefore, he readily agreed to mediate.
Unas and Modera had just fought a battle, and now that they were face to face, there was some lingering resentment between them. However, the casualties on both sides were insignificant, consisting of Giant Spiders or Golems, and no life-or-death enmity had been formed. The magical power displayed by the Paladin also made Modera put aside her contempt. With Rhonin's mediation, she nodded and agreed to negotiate again.
"I want to see Archmage Merlin's letters, notes, and corpse. Knight Unas, I heard you were going to hand them all over to me. I wonder if you still think so?" Rhonin had only heard one side of the story from Master Fode disciple, so his first request was to see the evidence.
"No problem, we'll find a quiet place, and you can review all the evidence."
The group landed in an open area. Modera erected a barrier to isolate sound and images, Unas first took out Merlin's frozen body and head.
The gruesome sight of the dismembered corpse and Merlin's youthful face came into view. Modera and Rhonin both took a few steps closer to examine the body carefully.
Unas then handed Merlin's handwritten experimental records to Rhonin for review. After carefully reading through them, Ronin sighed, "I can't believe how low the hero of yesteryear has fallen. I refuse to believe what I'm seeing."
"Heh, Lord Rhonin, don't be so quick to condemn. This corpse is not Archmage Merlin at all, and the so-called experimental notes cannot be definitively attributed to anyone. Isn't it inappropriate for you to make such a 'corrupted' statement so soon?" Modera completely denied the irrefutable evidence before her, which was blatant lying.
"I've read historical records that contain images of Merlin in his youth; his height, build, facial features, and hair color all match this corpse," said Rhonin, a renowned genius mage known for his photographic memory. "Lady Modera can verify this in the Dalaran Library, and the jewelry around the corpse's neck is indeed the Ebola Necklace, Merlin's signature item."
The magical necklace capable of unleashing Absolute Defense Shield is also one of the legends surrounding Merlin, and this is the most direct evidence of that.
"As for the lab notes, neither of us are handwriting experts. We can take them back to Dalaran for authentication, and then everything will be clear."
"No! These things tarnish the reputation of Archmage Merlin; we must not let more people know about them."
"So what are Ms. Modera's plans?"
"Destroy everything," Modera indeed intended to cover up the truth, and she even stated her terms in exchange. "Knight Unas, hand over the letter and the ruins of the Mage Tower, and I will no longer pursue the matter of your accidental killing of Master Merlin. Let this matter be buried in the dust. Apart from those who already know, I don't want anyone else to know."
She had already made concessions and didn't mention demanding Shadra's conditions. If the whole thing could really be covered up, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for Unas. He thought about it and was about to agree when Rhonin sneered and started an attack.
"When scandals occur, all you do is cover them up—that's your consistent corrupt practice! The new Dalaran great heroes can fall into evil; this is the best warning to all mages. I have decided to make this public!"
As a mediator, Rhonin should have quelled the dispute as quickly as possible, but he wanted to escalate the situation further, which surprised both Fode and Unas.
Modera's voice was chillingly cold, "Do you know the consequences of doing this?"
Publicly revealing this matter would offend a large number of people associated with Merlin, especially the conservative forces represented by Modera, but Rhonin didn't care. The conservative forces were already distancing themselves from him; what he wanted to win over were the young, more righteous newcomers.
"What consequences? Please advise, Ms. Modera."
"The council will not approve of your actions. You will become the enemy of all mages. I will be the first to impeach you. You will be dismissed and banished, never to set foot near Dalaran."
"That's alarmist! Here's irrefutable evidence. I don't believe Dalaran lacks fairness and justice!"
"You can try, but I advise you to think it over carefully. You're going against the entire Kirin Tor; you're destined to fail!"
Modera stormed off. She couldn't use force against Rhonin, so she went back to find the other councilors and put pressure on the young bastard together.
In a green glow, most of the mages in the sky followed Modera back to the city. Only the three in the Thorn of the Rose did not leave. They stayed behind as spatial locators, so that having people in both Dalaran and Spider Forest would allow them to open Portals at any time.
Unas didn't know what to say. Although the problem wasn't completely solved, Rhonin had shifted the main issue away from the problem, so inviting him over wasn't a bad choice.
"I didn't expect you to be even more upright than I imagined. Since you're willing to make this public, I will definitely support you to the end."
"Knight Unas, could you also deliver Merlin's letter to me?"
Unas took out all the letters. "Most of them are ordinary letters, normal correspondence between friends. Only a few are written in cipher, and even the names of the correspondents are unreadable. My mages can't decipher them, so I'm handing them over to you."
Rhonin quickly glanced through it, then shook his head. "This kind of cipher requires specific symbols or letters as a code to decipher; it cannot be cracked in a short time."
Fode interrupted, "Sir, are you really going to conduct a public investigation into this matter? I'm afraid..."
"Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility for any consequences. Besides, this can also be considered a test. If it really doesn't work out, I won't force myself to."
Rhonin was not an unrealistic idealist. This was a challenge he launched against the conservative forces, which would allow him to see more clearly who could be his allies and who was an obstacle. Whether or not the scandal was actually made public was not so important. If the pressure was too great, he was also prepared to compromise.
"That's good." Fode was slightly relieved of his worries; if things escalated, he would be the one most likely to be affected.
"I believe the council will soon summon me for a meeting. I must return now, Knight Unas. You have entrusted me with your trust, and I will not let you down. Farewell."
"Goodbye." Unas had no further advice to offer, only hoping that Rhonin would be as reliable as he was in the story and could resolve the problem properly.
Rhonin used his Hearthstone to return to town in a flash of light; it seems every mage in Dalaran possesses this magical magic stone.
Unas bowed slightly to Fode apprentice, saying, "Thank you both for your help this time; otherwise, we might have already been defeated by Modera."
This is, of course, a humble statement. As the strongest fighter on his side, he has never personally gone into battle. If he were to risk taking a few Fireballs and Frostbolt and fly or ride Blue Dragon to charge over, he could definitely disrupt the opponent's spellcasting to a great extent. However, the risk is too great, and there is no need to do so unless it is a critical moment.
"It was nothing, Knight Unas, no need for such formalities."
"I plan to leave this place. Could you please tell those female mages that the Mage Tower ruins and the two underground levels now belong to them?"
This place is a hotbed of conflict. The female mages consider Merlin's ruins a treasure trove, but it's not of much use to Unas, who has already decided to retreat to Fairy Lake.
"No problem, we'll stay here and wait for the outcome of the parliamentary discussions."
The master and apprentice rode their Gryphons to find three members of the Thorn of the Rose, while Unas and the Blue Dragon flew back. As they passed the Golem group, he discovered that a Dalaran mage was still there, fiddling with the damaged Golems.
He quickly had the Blue Dragon land and greeted the man, "Hello, are you the maintenance worker for these Golems?"
"No, no, I am the Golem Master Pino. All these constructs are my designs. How dare you call me a repairman?" The old man with messy hair glared and puffed out his beard, looking nothing like a design master.
"So it's Master Pino! I've heard so much about you. I've heard you're the greatest Golem master in Dalaran." Unas boasted, having never heard of this man before.
"Nonsense, nonsense! Only the dead are described as the greatest. Do you even know how to talk?"
This old man has a really strange temper. Unas never expected that he could flatter someone so badly. "How could that be? In my mind, 'greatest' means 'most powerful' or 'most famous,' not 'cursing you to die.'"
Such harsh words, surprisingly, did not offend the other party. Pino nodded, "That's more like it."
"Since you are the designer of these Golems, may I ask how much Golem cost?"
"Cost estimate? What are you trying to do? That's my trade secret." Pino immediately became sensitive.
"So this guy has the habits of a businessman," Unas quickly corrected himself. "I misspoke. If I wanted to buy these Golems, how much would they cost?"
"You want to buy them?" Pino wasn't very interested. He'd heard that people in this poor, remote place couldn't even get enough to eat, so how much money could they possibly have? But he still quoted a price with practiced ease. "These are all T40 models, which can be equipped with various external devices and are suitable for combat in any terrain. The price is three thousand gold coins per unit, but I can offer a discount if you buy in bulk."
At only 3,000, it costs more than 20 times less than the cost of the Thaurissan Iron Golem. However, the Iron Golem has the ability to launch long-range lightning attacks and is much more durable. 3,000 is actually not cheap. 100 units would cost 300,000, which is enough to equip 100 or 200 heavy troops.
Unas inquired about these things mainly to build connections and acquire some technology. The Thorium Brotherhood promised to help him design a cheap and easy-to-use golem, but they haven't come up with a feasible design yet. The Golem master in Dalaran might be able to provide some technical support.
"Only three thousand? That's cheap! I recently seized some golems made by the Dark Iron Dwarves; each one costs eighty thousand gold."
"What? It's so expensive? You're not kidding me, are you?"
"How could that be? You can see them as soon as you get to my stronghold in the Canyon. The former king of the Dark Iron Dwarves spent most of the kingdom's treasury to build them, and their combat power is absolutely commensurate with their cost. Your T40s probably won't even get close before they're electrocuted."
Pino's curiosity was indeed piqued. "Those puppets can unleash lightning? I definitely want to see for myself."
You are welcome anytime.
"Oh dear, not yet," Pino scratched his messy hair. "That old hag ran off without a word, leaving me here to look after the Golem. She hasn't even settled her accounts yet; she's not going to try and renege on them, is she..."
After bidding farewell to the muttering Golem master, Unas and the Blue Dragon returned to the ruins of the Mage Tower. The members of the Mage Corps were all Meditation or resting. Magic power could be replenished with gems, but the expended mental energy could only be slowly restored. This battle had taken a heavy toll on them.
Unas woke them up one by one, "Let's rest after we reach Fairy Lake. Now, everyone, let's set off immediately."