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In truth, if not for his excuse to leave, Colin had no desire to meet with the chairman of the Mage Council.

To Colin, this old mage was too politically insensitive and somewhat myopic about the current state of affairs.

Perhaps it was because he spent too much time immersed in arcane research, and thus neglected other areas.

“Good day, Viscount Angler!”

“Good day, Mr. Ernest.” Colin greeted jovially, his eyes roaming around, seemingly appreciating the sprawling scenery of the fields.

Ernest didn’t mind Colin’s slightly impolite behavior, instead, he asked, “May I have the honor to see the Duke?”

“I’m sorry, but the Duke is indisposed at the moment. You could speak to me about any request you have, and I will relay it for you.”

Ernest sighed, seemingly understanding Vera’s stance.

After joining the Lord of Glory, she would likely distance herself from the Mage Council, and his mage status would no longer yield privileged treatment in the North Territory.

However, for the future of the Mage Council, Ernest still wanted to give it a try.

“Viscount, I came here today hoping that the Duke, recalling the good old days, could relax the restrictions on mages, allowing us to travel freely in the North Territory as we did before.”

Colin was already aware of the restrictions Ernest referred to against mages, and of course, these were the disastrous consequences of Mr. Ji’s sacrificial ritual at Fallen Eagle City.

Since the casting conditions for the forbidden spell “Eyes of Judgment” became publicly known, the entire Empire’s hostility towards mages suddenly heightened. Every lord in the Empire became worried that their territories would become targets of the mages’ sacrificial rituals.

As a result, the lords of the Empire unanimously issued prohibitions against mages, strictly forbidding any mage from entering the cities under their jurisdiction.

Of course, it wouldn’t be difficult for mages to disguise themselves as ordinary people and blend into the Empire’s cities, as not every city guard could accurately spot a mage from a crowd.

However, this has caused significant trouble for the mages.

The question then arises as to why mages would want to enter the cities of the Empire.

Theoretically, since the Mage Council doesn’t worship the Lord of Glory, they are naturally enemies of the Empire. But in reality, they cannot do without the Empire.

To become a mage, one must possess arcane talents, but such talents are extremely rare, approximately one in ten or even a hundred thousand. Hence, it’s exceedingly difficult to find mage apprentices. If they relied solely on the population of Yevir, the mages’ lineage probably would have been lost a long time ago.

Therefore, even though the mages despise the Empire, they always find themselves having to come to the Empire to find these talents.

To detect an individual’s arcane talent, a test spell must be cast, but the arcane fluctuations produced by this spell would reveal the mages’ location.

This is why it doesn’t work for mages to blend into the city disguised as ordinary people. They would have to keep casting the test spell to find their apprentices, which in turn would attract the city defense force…

In the currently tense situation, every lord is highly sensitive to any arcane fluctuation in their city. The moment anything is detected, elite troops are immediately dispatched to search and capture the culprit. Those mages who infiltrate the city are then promptly executed without hesitation.

And that’s why Ernest was panicking.

“I’m sorry, Sir Ernest, but I cannot accept your proposal. The reasons are clear to you. Vera will not put her citizens in danger either.”

Colin rejected the proposal without hesitation. The fate of the mages was of no concern to him.

Ernest spoke again frantically, “Viscount Angler, the Mage Council has now listed the ‘Blade of Judgment’ as a Forbidden Spell. Please believe us, we absolutely have no intention of sacrificing innocent citizens.

If you still have concerns, we can restrict the rank of mages entering the North Territory to below the third order. They absolutely do not have the ability to cast forbidden spells.”

“Moreover, if they engage in any misconduct, our city defense force can easily capture them.”

Colin shrugged and still shook his head: “Sorry, this will still offend the lords of the North Territory.”

Ernest sensed a slight softening in Colin’s tone and eagerly threw out a bait:

“Viscount, do you want to know who the high-level mage was who cast the spell that blew up the mountain cliff in Shadow Gorge, blocking the retreat of the Dark Cavalry?”

Colin’s face changed slightly, finally showing some interest.

Frankly, if Ernest still thought that the old friendship between Vera and the mages was enough to open the North Territory’s door wide to the mages, that would be naive. However, fortunately, the other party finally woke up and understood that only by offering what the North Territory wants, can there be room for negotiation.

“Tell me his name, and the relevant evidence proving his involvement in the conspiracy against the Dark Cavalry. After I confirm it, I could agree to allow mages below the third rank to freely visit the North Territory.”

A smile finally appeared on Ernest’s face, and his stern expression relaxed. He didn’t hesitate at all, immediately saying:

“Viscount, the person in question, is the duke’s teacher—Mage Cusius!”

“Cusius?” Colin raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised by this answer.

But then he felt it was indeed possible. After all, when Mr. Ji was sacrificing Fallen Eagle City, he had arranged for Mage Cusius to guard the city’s outskirts to prevent potential disruptions. In other words, these two men had conspired together a long time ago.

Mr. Ji, when plotting against the Dark Cavalry, would logically have arranged for Mage Cusius to go to Shadow Gorge and cooperate with the Eastern Territory.

“Yes, it’s Cusius. Viscount, if you don’t believe it, you can send people to the Eastern Territory to investigate. The Pegasus Army was the one lying in ambush in Shadow Gorge. Although most of them died at the hands of the Dark Cavalry, some wounded soldiers returned to White Dew City early.

These people have seen Cusius, so it wouldn’t be difficult for you to verify.”

“Cusius…haha!” Colin sneered, thinking about this mage who had actively approached to become the arcane advisor of the St. Hilde family. If Cusius knew that Marquis Garcia whom he conspired against is the biological father of Vera, he would probably regret showing up at their doorstep.

Colin never had a particularly good impression of this guy, and with such a reason, he certainly wouldn’t show any mercy.

“Thank you for the information, Mr. Ernest! I’ll discuss the issue of letting some mages into the North Territory to find apprentices with Vera.

Of course, to avoid causing unease among the North Territory lords, you must change your method of selecting apprentices. I hope you can understand this.

After I discuss a feasible plan with Vera, I’ll contact you.”

Upon hearing this, Ernest was overjoyed and thanked hastily.

After the Chairman of the Mage Council left, Colin stood in place, plunged into deep thought.

He suddenly felt that Yevir might be a viable ally.

Firstly, mages are naturally enemies of the Church, and an enemy’s enemy can be a friend.

Similarly, Yevir is a significant threat to the Eastern Territory. On this issue, their position is again in line with the North Territory.

Furthermore, Colin already reckoned he had a handle on the Mage Council’s most pressing issue—the search for successors. Hence, winning over the mages seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

As for the issue of faith, which the Imperial nobles generally wary of, it was a non-issue for Colin. He himself didn’t have much reverence for the Lord of Glory and he even misused His name to develop the Bloodline, so he certainly didn’t mind cooperating with the faithless mages.

As for whether this action would provoke opposition from the North Territory Lords, Colin didn’t really care.

On the contrary, he was curious to see how many North Territory Lords would oppose Vera’s proposal to remove the ban on some mages, and how many would be hypocritical about it.

Colin could also take this opportunity to thoroughly cleanse the North Territory’s interior.