Something Unsavory

White Flower City, Fran was packing her things, preparing to leave the city again for several days, when a servant knocked on the door and said:

"My lord, another mage has come to see you."

Fran found it strange. Logically speaking, she had already shown Lucy and the others what she was going to do, so they shouldn't have bothered her at this time unless it was absolutely necessary.

She shook her head, still unable to understand why they had come, but there was no harm in listening.

"Bring her in, I'll wait for her here."

After a while, Lucy pushed open the door and came in. She saw Fran sitting in the middle of the room, and a chair had been placed opposite Fran.

Lucy walked over, pulled out a chair, sat down, and then got straight to the point:

"I apologize for bothering you, Master Lai, but due to a mistake at our last meeting, I forgot to convey some things to you."

"You may have already wondered why the person in charge of Grey Soil Province would travel all this way here. I will explain it to you now."

"This is a matter for our Transmutation School..."

Lucy paused for a moment, then continued:

"A Second Order Mage from the Ocean Society commissioned me to do this; she needs a complete set of First Order living land Magic Creature."

"I think you, Master Lai, are also aware that the rules of the Ocean Society prohibit members from using materials other than those from Ocean Magic Creature..."

"But even so, it's nothing. Even I know that this regulation of the Ocean Society is not well implemented."

Fran smiled knowingly. She knew why Lucy had come to see her at this time; it turned out that Lucy was worried that Fran's plans might conflict with what she was doing.

"Of the First Order Magic Creature that required me to hunt, the Magic Creature could be dealt with through the Adventurers Guild, but there was one that I absolutely could not handle."

"She asked me to hunt an Earth Spirit."

Earth Spirit are creatures that are randomly born in a territory. They can be born on any piece of land at any time. These creatures coexist with the land, and their strength is generally below that of formal Profession, with a small number reaching higher Order.

"Oh, Earth Spirit, I remember that this is Magic Creature that no mage is allowed to hunt even in the Alliance."

Fran had come across a description of the Earth Spirit Magic Creature while browsing through books on Magic Creature materials in her search for suitable Tier 2 materials.

There is a large notice above indicating that this Magic Creature is protected by the Alliance, and no mage may use, sell, or hunt Magic Creature; violators will be punished by the Investigator.

"Yes, I know what happens if a Earth Spirit leaves the land it was born in, or if Earth Spirit is killed, but the reward I'm receiving is a bit too much."

When Earth Spirit leaves the land from which it was born, or dies, it is as if that land has been devastated. All the plants on it wither, the soil becomes loose and hot, and gradually turns black.

Generally speaking, a piece of land that can Earth Spirit must at least be a small mountain.

And this is merely the minimum standard for the Earth Spirit; Earth Spirit born under these conditions might not even be able to defeat a mere apprentice Profession.

Lucy's mission was to hunt a First Order Earth Spirit, a level of Earth Spirit that already carries significant weight. If any the Alliance mage were to violate this...

"I remember the Alliance stipulated that, under the pretext of protecting the land, mages who violated such regulations would be imprisoned for at least three years, right?"

Fran countered with a question, Lucy lowered her head somewhat awkwardly, saying nothing. From this, Fran could tell that the mage from the Ocean Society had indeed given a large amount.

Hunting Earth Spirit is said to take at least three years, but that's the option with the least consequences.

If the departure of the Earth Spirit causes drastic changes in the local environment, triggering a crisis that threatens the Alliance, then the sentence will be much more severe than just three years.

According to what Fran read in that book, the most severe punishment was for a mage who hunted Ocean Earth Spirit.

After he hunted down the Earth Spirit, a huge vortex suddenly appeared in the surrounding area, affecting the Alliance port's shipping lanes, which happened to be during a critical period of strategic resource allocation.

He was executed on the spot for interfering with the Battle Mage Corps' allocation of critical resources, without even having time to wait.

It's worth noting that even Caleb, the former administrator of Gede Town, who murdered a fellow mage and caused extremely negative consequences, was not executed on the spot, but was allowed to go through the proper procedures three months later.

Of course, if Caleb had some power, he could have postponed this for a longer period of time, but Fran had already heard the execution announcement.

Turning the perspective back, Fran genuinely admired Lucy for daring to hunt Earth Spirit, a type of Magic Creature. She never expected a mage to go to such lengths for money.

This isn't because this Earth Spirit is located in the Antir region and can be hunted at will; at most, it will only face a three-year imprisonment.

The mage who hunted sea Earth Spirit earlier thought the same thing, and then he met his tragic end.

After all, Earth Spirit are Magic Creature that involve too much trouble. The Alliance isn't just wasting its time trying to discipline mages; the best option is to directly stop mages from killing Earth Spirit.

No one knows exactly what kind of land a First Order Earth Spirit occupies, or whether its land extends laterally once it reaches the ground.

Nobody knows for sure, especially since after the Earth Spirit dies, the land where it once stood will begin to spawn monsters that are not usually encountered— Demon from the Abyss.

Therefore, almost all factions on this continent forbid their members from killing Earth Spirit, because they have almost all suffered losses from doing so.

Fortunately, not every piece of land will give birth to such a Earth Spirit; the number of Earth Spirit is relatively small. Otherwise, it would be quite difficult for the various forces on the continent to enforce this rule.

"Oh... I think you should have prepared a way to cover it up by now."

Fran looked at Lucy and spoke slowly.

"Yes, Master Lai, I was prepared long ago. If you mind, I will not be your enemy."

Lucy began to slowly recount her actions.

"Duke Theodore demanded the Territory Destroyer from me, an alchemical device capable of directly disrupting Territory Resonance."

"I think you also know that this device can cause enormous damage to the entire land when it's in operation, although not as drastic as Earth Spirit..."

"But since the land was damaged, the Earth Spirit also died, which is a very reasonable reason, isn't it?"

Although Lucy didn't continue, Fran understood what Lucy would do next.

It's simply a matter of Duke Theodore's men activating this Territory Destroyer, and then Duke Theodore will bear the consequences.

As for Lucy, she probably already had various methods prepared, such as regulations regarding the management of Territory Destroyer. She probably already made arrangements to ensure that she only made some minor mistakes in this regard.

Moreover, there's Maeve, the mage who's close to Count Ian. Fran is certain that if the investigation goes too far, Lucy will definitely push Maeve out to take the blame, accusing her of betraying the Alliance's important equipment for just ten Gold Coin.

In any case, this matter will ultimately fall on Lucy's shoulders, and she will probably receive a minor punishment and a temporary suspension. At least with a little maneuvering, this matter can be resolved.

Fran blinked. After learning Lucy's purpose, her first reaction was definitely to stop her.

After all, she's still here. With such a big incident, they'll definitely investigate this new mage. And the investigation might be quite serious, discovering that there's no such person as Lai among the Second Order Mage.

Even though she will have the Antir Region occupation permit obtained from the Alliance, she will still inevitably face some trouble.

Moreover, Lucy's actions have resulted in the Earth Spirit being taken away, causing one-fifth of the land in the entire White Flower Territory to rot, which is something Fran cannot allow.

But Fran couldn't shake off Lucy's unease. She couldn't believe that Lucy had made so many arrangements and then abandoned them just because she didn't want to be her enemy.

If Fran were in the other person's shoes, she would never give up. She knew that what she was doing was actually quite sensitive, and she was willing to bet that the other party would not dare to cause her trouble because they were worried about the experiment being discovered.

So, what should she do now? Fran's eyes darted around as she looked at Lucy, Lucy very nervous, as if she would have to give up if Fran opened her mouth.

"I don't mind you doing that."

Upon hearing this answer, Lucy immediately beamed with joy and almost stood up.

Fran then added:

"My experiment will take about a month to complete, so at least during that time, you cannot do anything to disturb it."

Lucy paused for a moment, mentally assessing the situation, before finally speaking:

"Very well, thank you, Lord Lai. I will continue with my business after your experiment is complete."

"That's good. Hopefully, there won't be any disputes between us."

After Fran finished speaking, their conversation temporarily ended. Watching the happy Lucy leave, Fran's face remained expressionless.

"Killing her would be too much trouble; after all, she's the person in charge of the Grey Soil Province..."

Fran first rejected the simplest approach, which was to deal with the person who raised the question.

Then she thought about why Duke Theodore had to use the Territory Destroyer.

"Under pressure from the Kingdom of Lorinvik, in order to gain a glimmer of hope... therefore, she will likely provide financial assistance to the Kingdom of Lorinvik..."

Lucy didn't even need to communicate with the Kingdom of Lorinvik; the relationship between the Transmutation School and Duke Theodore alone was enough for her to obtain crucial information and turn it into an advantage for the Kingdom of Lorinvik.

Fran turned and looked out the window at the castle where Lord Finley lived.

"Then all I need to do is offer Duke Theodore a little help, right?" Fran smiled.