Elan's Request

Within Flying Eagle City, the town, having just experienced a major battle, was shrouded in a somber atmosphere.

The residents of the city were completely baffled as to why the enemy would use such a loud attack, one that was not only loud but also incredibly powerful.

Many misfired shells landed in the city, and after the explosions, all that could be seen were wooden houses reduced to rubble.

Furthermore, the sturdy city wall in the distance had been bombarded several times, with half of it collapsing inwards, which made the residents inside even more fearful.

The final outcome of the battle was also a foregone conclusion. Their lord failed to protect them, so the city's inhabitants were filled with despair when they saw the enemy marching in through the collapsed city walls.

After all, when a defending town is breached, the only fate that its inhabitants can face is becoming the target of the enemy's looting.

This was also true of the Duke of Duke Theodore's army when attacking lords who did not agree with him; his soldiers and knights needed Spoils of War to vent the stress accumulated from the battles.

Similarly, Fran's followers naturally needed to immediately begin proselytizing among these people, as they knew that the more people they proselytized, the more power they could gain, just like the Knight Master.

Elan and his apprentices lingered outside the city for quite a while before finally walking along the collapsed city wall into Flying Eagle City.

The three apprentices were particularly interested in the city walls that had been blasted apart by cannons, so they were very interested in the rubble that was almost completely shattered.

But Elan was clearly not interested in that; he was more interested in Fran's methods and what Fran's men would do after entering the city.

To be honest, Elan had no idea things would turn out this way. He originally thought Fran was planning to use weapons with a longer range to wear down Flying Eagle City.

But he never expected that Fran really wanted to take over the town, and so quickly.

After capturing the town, he began to worry about the Fran had gathered. No matter how he looked at it, their fighting strength seemed abnormal!

Could this be due to the use of some very special power, like the Abyss?

Elan only felt slightly relieved after he entered the town and saw that the believers were simply gathering the people together and then starting to talk at length.

Thankfully, no one suddenly transformed into Demon's head and swallowed the inhabitants whole.

He knew that the Demon couldn't resist, and as long as they didn't borrow the power of the Abyss, there was still room for maneuver within the Alliance's laws.

At least Harbos could protect Fran by virtue of his status.

But Fran, why go to such lengths to conquer Flying Eagle City? It just doesn't make sense.

This question has appeared in Elan's mind many times, and to this day, Elan has not found a reasonable answer.

What are your thoughts on those weapons?

Fran's voice suddenly appeared in Elan's ears. His body trembled for a moment, then he turned around and saw Fran gathered around three apprentices.

The three apprentices seemed to have a lot of questions, and several times when Kahn tried to ask a question, the other two apprentices beat him to it...

Elan rolled up his sleeves, calmed himself, and walked towards Fran.

"Excuse me, fellow apprentices, I have something to ask you. Please leave now, and come back later if you have any questions."

Upon seeing that it was Elan, the three apprentices lowered their heads, paused slightly, and then complied with Elan's request.

After the three apprentices left, Elan looked at Fran, who was smiling, and asked in a deep voice:

"Why are you attacking Flying Eagle City?"

Elan had many doubts about the weapons Fran had conjured, believing that they might have borrowed some special power.

However, he still asked the essential question: what was the real reason why Fran absolutely needed to take Flying Eagle City?

Fran smiled, knowing that Elan would have such doubts after being sent here to protect the apprentices.

Fran pulled a white sheet of paper from her waist and handed it directly to Elan.

Elan immediately noticed the Alliance's seal on the document, indicating that it had been reviewed by the Alliance.

Given Elan's First Order Mage Mental Power, it would normally take him very little time to read through the contents of this document, but this time it took him a considerable amount of time.

It's so long that even a literate person would have read through it long ago.

Elan looked up in horror, his words filled with barely suppressed shock.

"You applied to the Alliance to occupy the entire Antir..."

"Yes, Elan, now you know why I wanted to take over this place, and why I made you do so much hard labor?"

Looking at Fran's matter-of-fact expression, Elan remained silent for a moment before asking:

"This is a special application approved by the Alliance; even Second Order Mage usually can't get it approved. How did you manage to do it?"

Fran smiled and said slowly:

"This is a small award I received through my own hard work, and the Alliance approved my application because of it."

Elan frowned. He was somewhat skeptical of Fran's words. After all, those awards that the Alliance would consider were not easy to obtain, let alone for Fran, First Order Mage who had only recently been promoted.

But then he remembered Fran's Talent for creating spells. Even as an apprentice, she could create two spells within months. With a little burst of inspiration, wouldn't it be...?

So Fran's explanation is still possible, but there's one thing Elan can't find a reasonable explanation for at all: why?

Why did you do that?

As the old saying goes, there's a reason why Antir has remained peacefully near the Alliance without any mages daring to disturb him.

Lacking valuable resources, with a large population and even a problem of feeding them, and with the lord's strong inertia, there's no way to complete the transformation without taking some tough measures.

What reason would it be for a mage to throw themselves into this deep pit, expend so much effort, only to find that the Alliance won't reward them for expanding the Alliance's territory?

The Alliance will only reward the Alliance if the expanded territory aligns with its interests. Otherwise, it would be unreasonable for the Alliance to have to use resources to reward them simply for expanding their territory.

Fran didn't answer the question directly. She thought about it for a moment and knew that her excuse of recruiting laborers wouldn't be convincing to Elan.

Even if you establish Base Camp and build factories on them, requiring a large labor force to participate in production, there is absolutely no reason to conquer the entire Antir.

After all, once we take over White Flower Territory, we'll have a base of operations, and White Flower Territory is large enough that we can establish a foothold there.

Then, why not recruit a large number of civilians from within the Alliance or from Antir's side?

Why occupy the entirety of Antir?

Forget about expanding the scale; even Fran herself didn't believe this excuse. If she could, she wouldn't want to build a whole bunch of railways for transportation.

After all, building factories just tens of meters away from each other is the most correct decision to expand the scale.

However, Fran came to Antir not merely to find a place to establish her factory; she also had two other missions.

The first thing is naturally to help the Lord of Radiance spread his followers. Deity exist in this world, and there are quite a few of them.

This means that anywhere outside the Alliance is likely the territory of some Deity, Fran has no intention of helping the Lord of Radiance seize territory.

Moreover, she didn't want to go that far, away from the Alliance; that would be far too dangerous.

Therefore, she could only choose Antir as the starting point for spreading her faith.

The second task, as for the Territory Mage's experiment, was to conduct experiments.

Fran licked her lips, thought for a moment, and realized that it seemed like she could talk to Elan about this.

"Come with me first."

Fran beckoned Elan to follow, and the two of them made their way through the crowded square to the lord's castle, where Anna was already directing the believers on how to dismantle it.

"Anna, tell them to stop, I have some things to do."

Anna glanced back, having no objection to Fran's request. After all, Fran often made unreasonable demands, so it was normal for her to be interrupted and have to switch to other tasks.

But why was there another mage following Fran this time? Anna knew that this was Fran mage Fran was very close to.

But hadn't she heard that the closer the relationship between these sorcerers, the less likely they were to let the other person see them during experiments?

Anna didn't dwell on this point, so she simply stopped the believers who were attacking and let Fran lead Elan inside.

Fran stopped in the middle of the castle's hall, while Elan looked at Fran with great curiosity, wondering why Fran had brought him here.

The decorations here were very ordinary and old-fashioned. Elan only glanced at them briefly before his gaze fell directly on Fran.

At this moment, Fran opened her palm, and the surrounding Mental Power fluctuated. An invisible magic cone appeared in Fran's hand.

Elan knew from this appearance that a spell was about to be cast, and his gaze began to turn towards the model that Fran was about to use to cast the spell.

Just when he thought it was a spell created by Fran herself or some kind of special spell, the scene he witnessed left him completely stunned.

He sensed that he also knew this spell, but because the space for its application was too limited, he hadn't used it much.

But no matter what, this can't possibly be in Fran's hands. She's not a mage of the Law School; how could she possibly know that spell?!

Fran used the [Self-Establishment Decree], a spell that grants the user the blessing of territory.