Regarding this ability that could help soone improve their attributes, Sherfilia didn’t press for details. For one, she was a maid, and that position wasn’t suitable for prying into her mistress’s secrets. For another, Sherfilia preferred to discover things herself through constant practice and experintation rather than by asking questions.
Before long, they arrived at the City Lord's Mansion.
The guards posted at the mansion gate saw Lin Mo and imdiately greeted him warmly.
Everyone knew by now that this was the young man who would be the future husband of their young mistress, Finnie. On top of that, Lin Mo’s pleasant personality and friendly manner had earned him a very good reputation among the guards.
Lin Mo smiled back and exchanged a few casual words with them before heading straight for Lady Behira’s study.
He knocked on the door, and soon Lady Behira’s voice ca from inside: “Co in.”
Lin Mo pushed the door open. This ti Lady Behira wasn’t busy;
she was leisurely sipping tea.
Beside her, Sherfilia’s mother, lissa, had just poured a cup of tea. When she saw Lin Mo, she gave him a nod, then exchanged a glance with Sherfilia standing behind Lin Mo. A single look between mother and daughter conveyed a great deal.
It seed everything was progressing smoothly.
“Please sit.”
lissa placed a chair opposite the desk. Lin Mo didn’t hesitate and sat down;
the cup lissa had just poured happened to be beside his hand.
“You probably guessed why I had Sherfilia invite you here.”
Compared to the anxious Lady Behira from before, she now looked noticeably more relaxed;
the worry had left her face, and her complexion looked much better.
Yet her eyes still held deep thought and calculation, like a strategist planning from behind the scenes.
“The goblins finally made a move?”
“That’s right.”
Lady Behira nodded. “Just last night, the goblins suddenly launched a large-scale assault on Lania City.”
“How’s the battle going?”
Lin Mo was genuinely curious about this. After all, the day they had held off the goblin assault had been difficult. Lania City had prepared far less than Silverstream City—could they hold their ground?
“Based on current intelligence, losses are quite severe. The prepared frontlines were shattered twice that night, but it’s not so easy for the goblins to break into the city…”
Lin Mo thought for a mont. “The Lawrence Family has conserved their forces very well.”
When the goblin disaster first broke out, Silverstream City had taken an active rescue stance, frequently diverting guards from the city and nearby towns to assist the hardest-hit areas. Those asures saved many lives and reduced losses from the goblin disaster, but they also cost Silverstream many of its guards.
Lania City, by contrast, had acted differently. This disaster may well have been orchestrated by them, so they naturally didn’t care about ordinary people’s lives.
As a result, the villages and towns under Lania City’s control suffered terribly. But because the nobles and their lackeys stood by and did nothing, the number of Lania’s guards didn’t decrease. So when the goblins turned traitor, they could still hold the city for a short ti.
“But the reason is probably more than that…”
lissa continued, “Have you ever wondered, when you weren’t present, why the Behira family went to such lengths to deliberately cultivate those goblins?”
“In your view, aside from causing trouble for Lania City, there’s hardly any profit for our side. Letting those goblins multiply on such a small scale and even actively assisting them… even killing a student from the Magic Academy who saw through it? That’s sothing a border city lord without guts wouldn’t do.”
“You see, there must be soone higher up behind the Behira and Lawrence families, right?”
Lady Behira nodded, showing admiration in her eyes.
In that world, raw talent was precious, but when soone paired talent with sound reasoning and intelligence, that was an even greater boon.
She grew increasingly satisfied with this son-in-law who had seemingly fallen from the sky.
Her many efforts to help him had not been in vain.
“What you guessed is basically correct… The Lawrence Family indeed has a larger tiger behind them.” Through tracing various clues and with the help of Flora’s teacher, Archmage Elvith, we have now identified that person’s identity.
“That person is one of the Doria Kingdom’s six dukes—Sted Morin!”
“The Morin family is a famous alchemical house in the Doria Kingdom, monopolizing more than fifty percent of the kingdom’s alchemical business. Alchemy shops in big cities like the capital and Fargard City all have to sign contracts with the Morin family, surrender part of their profits, and follow a set of rules to secure their local foothold.”
“Otherwise, the Morin family will use all kinds of ans to make your shop go under…”
It sounded more like organized cri than nobility.
Lin Mo ntally scoffed but kept thinking.
An alchemical house…
“So that’s why they allowed and cultivated the goblins—probably for alchemy?”
“The Golden Egg!”
A voice suddenly called from outside, and the person pushed the door open. It was Shachel, the owner of the alchemy shop Lin Mo visited frequently.
If he rembered correctly, she had an unusually close relationship with Lady Behira. Finnie also called her Aunt Shachel.
“So…”
“The Golden Egg? What is that?” Lin Mo asked, curious.
“This is sothing even few alchemists know about,” Shachel said seriously. “The na ‘Golden Egg’ cos from a discovery made centuries ago by a legendary master alchemist studying goblins. Through a series of experints, he noticed that the goblin bloodline had an astonishingly high level of activity and compatibility…”
“That’s why goblins can breed with almost any other species and produce offspring with increasingly powerful bloodlines… As the research continued, the master also discovered that when a goblin’s bloodline reached a certain high level, its newly ford embryos would exhibit a ‘surging’ phenonon.”
“This ‘surging’ trait ans you can extract that intensely active blood with relatively little loss and apply it to alchemical processes. As for what such highly active blood does…”
She raised her head and spoke each word deliberately: “The surging high-activity blood is sowhat similar to the descriptions in ancient alchemical records analyzing the blood of long-lived species.”
Lin Mo’s expression imdiately turned serious.
I see…
So it’s related to longevity, even immortality?
If that were true, it would drive the powerful to madness.
Madam Shachel continued, “Ancient research into the blood of long-lived species and its compatibility with humans was a hot topic. Unfortunately, although that blood sustained continual activity and high potency, it also had extrely high stability.”
“That stability made it almost impossible to alter by any external ans. After thousands of years and countless experints by masters and grandmaster alchemists, they concluded that the long-lived species’ blood couldn’t be utilized by humans.”
“So that line of research was shelved—until a few centuries ago when that legendary grandmaster alchemist accidentally discovered sothing special in high-tier goblin bloodlines.”
“These high-level goblins had blood that, while highly active, was also extrely unstable. That instability allowed it to be altered and evolved into even higher-grade bloodlines.”
“And because newly ford embryos showed this ‘surging’ trait, in so asure it could beco a usable form of ‘long-lived species blood’ for alchemical purposes!”
Lady Behira’s face grew grave. “In other words, it’s possible to use alchemy to change bloodline properties, making them compatible with human blood and ultimately extending life.”
“That’s right.”
Shachel nodded. “Though the activity level in high-tier goblin blood is still far below that of true long-lived species and unlikely to grant immortality, with successful research it could still extend lifespan to so extent.”
“So this is the reason they put the populace at risk and intentionally let goblins breed?”
Lady Behira’s face went ashen. Her palm pressed hard on the table, and fine cracks spidered across the surface.
“Absurd! They’d sacrifice so many innocent lives for such a slim possibility?!”
“What an unreasonable bunch…”
Shachel was equally angry. “There’s already a Goblin Kingdom in the Chaotic Domain. If they had gone and taken care of it properly to obtain high-tier goblin embryos for research, nobody would have complained. But to do it with these thods—despicable!”
“So, what do we do now?”
Lin Mo looked to Lady Behira.
“I’ve been investigating the cause of the goblin betrayal,” Lady Behira said calmly. “Although we don’t have definitive evidence yet, based on what Shachel just said, it’s highly likely connected to the so-called ‘Golden Egg.’”
Lady Behira analyzed the situation coolly. “‘Golden Egg,’ as the na suggests, is an embryo that contains a gold-level goblin bloodline. If such a thing exists now, it ans a pseudo-gold-level goblin has already appeared among the goblin population in Roland Forest. Only such a being could produce a ‘Golden Egg,’ which also implies the number of silver-level goblins in their ranks is far greater than the three we previously encountered!”
“But that pseudo-gold-level goblin has never shown itself before…”
“I think it didn’t want to be used as a pawn by the Lawrence Family either.”
Although the goblins in Roland Forest had grown large thanks in large part to the Lawrence Family’s tacit approval and assistance, the goblins were not grateful for it.
“They would hastily attack Silverstream City under unreasonable circumstances partly because the Secret Realm had been exposed, which might bring the kingdom’s forces to eradicate them later. Another reason is likely that the Lawrence Family held leverage over them—sothing to blackmail them with.”
“And that leverage is the so-called Golden Egg!”
Lin Mo picked up the lead. “So the goblins turned against the Lawrences and attacked them because the Golden Egg returned to their hands.”
“Although we don’t know exactly what happened… this deduction is probably correct.”
“But… how did the Lawrence Family obtain the Golden Egg in the first place?”
Lin Mo asked, puzzled.
“Perhaps it involved that necromancer?” Shachel guessed.
“That’s certainly possible.”
“In short, this is roughly the situation. So what should we do?” Shachel looked to Lady Behira.
Lady Behira didn’t answer directly. Instead she said, “Previously I arranged for people to conduct a carpet search of areas around Silverstream City. We can now confirm that within a large swath of land around the city, there are no large-scale goblin groups and no signs of undead activity.”
“In other words, this operation won’t leave us with hidden worries.”
Lin Mo nodded;
no wonder she was a good leader—she thought of everything.
“Regardless, the people of Lania City are innocent. We won’t stand idly by while goblins slaughter the kingdom’s civilians. The Lawrence Family must face justice!”
Madam Shachel clapped her hands. “Good, well said… The potions my fellow alchemists and I have been preparing in town aren’t used up yet. We’ve been working nonstop, and for this operation they can continue to supply discounted potions. As for my place, you can send people to take charge.”
“Thank you!”
Lady Behira thanked her sincerely.
“What’s there to thank?” Shachel smiled. “You’ve grown—becoming a leader who can handle things on her own. But you don’t have to shoulder everything alone. Co to to discuss things anyti.”
“Mm…” A smile appeared on Lady Behira’s face. “I understand, Aunt Shachel—”
“Tch.”
Shachel stuck out her tongue. “Even you call that, no wonder little Finnie likes to call ‘grandma,’ and I’m not much older than you.”
“Twelve years old, not that young anymore…”
Madam Shachel rolled her eyes and stopped arguing, then turned her gaze back to Lin Mo. “Before you set out, co by my shop. This ti rember to bring Finnie.”
“All right.”
Lin Mo nodded. “I will, for sure.”
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