Chapter 273: Contribution

"Sir Ofran, don't hesitate and just tell me the conditions, whether I can do it or not is my problem."

"Okay..." Hearing this, Ofran knew that he had to be careful with his words. On one side was the wealthy Mafa Merlin, while on the other side was the unyielding Elder Council. Ofran thought for a few minutes before coming up with a solution.

Delaying...

He would first give Mafa Merlin an extremely hard condition to stall for time before taking advantage of that time to find another method to make Mafa Merlin return to the family.

This was very important for the Merlin Family.

If the wealth of the Gilded Rose was properly used, it could let the power of the Merlin Family reach a whole new level.

Moreover, the Gilded Rose wasn't just wealthy...

From the information William sent, the Gilded Rose had resources, skill, and talent. And the affiliated mercenary group that appeared out of nowhere had a shocking force of 50 Great Mages. Even in Okland, that would be considered a pretty decent fighting force.

With their amazing wealth, even the Merlin Family might not be able to keep up with them if they had the time to develop.

Only those blind old geezers would push away stranded offspring that controlled such a force. Any other faction would already have been begging for him to enter their Ancestral Land.

As he thought of that, Ofran composed himself. "The Merlin Ancestral Land is different from the ones from other Families and Clans. Only the core children can enter, and as for the others, they would have to be strong competitors for the Patriarch position to have the right..."

"..." William forgot to breathe and almost choked before Lin Yun even said anything.

'Are you joking?

'Who in the Merlin Family doesn't know the conditions to enter the Ancestral Land? What do you mean competitor for the Patriarch position? You are lying through your teeth! And it normally wouldn't much that you are lying... But you are creating huge problems for yourself...

'Isn't there enough chaos with Aube, Leon, and Ross competing for the position? You are making it worse... What if Cousin believes you? This is no joke...

'If he truly believes it, then Aube, Leon, and Ross won't survive. With his temperament, he will most likely get rid of these people so that he could become the successor himself. Many could die because of your casual lie, will you be able to live with this?'

William couldn't help shivering as he thought of that. He looked desperately at Ofran, hoping this old man would retract his words.

Fortunately...

Although Ofran hadn't noticed William's meaningful glance, he hesitated after finishing his sentence and added, "Naturally, if you can make a great contribution to the Merlin Family, you'll also be able to enter the Ancestral Land..."

"Pheew..." Hearing those words, William sighed in relief. 'Thank god, thank god you reacted in time...'

And sure enough, Lin Yun didn't even think about it and directly asked, "What is considered a great contribution?"

"It's very simple," Ofran said with a relaxed expression. "A few hundred years ago, Okland had a Charlotte Family. Although this Charlotte Family's strength and heritage were a lot inferior to that of the Merlin Family, a genius suddenly appeared. That man was named Fussen Charlotte. He became a Great Mage at 18, a High Mage at 25, and he was one step away from advancing to the Archmage realm at 33..."

"And then?"

"Then, the Charlotte Family rose with this genius and felt that they could rival the Merlin Family. They kept provoking us, and even publicly declared that Fussen Charlotte would reach the Heaven realm before fifty and would wipe the Merlin Family and the Watson Family at that time..."

"That's certainly some ambition.."

"It was, the Charlotte Family's ambitions were great, but those were just words. At the time, Fussen Charlotte was truly a genius among geniuses, progressing at a rapid pace on the path of magic. But the Merlin Family and the Watson Family had their own geniuses too."

"What was the outcome?"

"The outcome..." Ofran smiled at Lin Yun. "He ended up being killed by a Merlin during a hunt and fell before becoming an Archmage. The High Mage who killed him was Santon Merlin, one of the three Heaven Rank Mages of the Merlin Family in the past five hundred years. But Santon had only been a child of a side branch when he killed Fussen Charlotte. His Merlin blood was very thin, and it was only after he killed Fussen Charlotte that he was allowed to enter the Ancestral Land. Three years later, he became an Archmage, and twenty years later, he reached the Heaven realm and became a genuine Heaven Rank powerhouse. If you are interested, you can read his story in the secret tome of the family. The account of Santon's life is very detailed and it is a very interesting story..."

"Okay, I understand." Lin Yun nodded before asking, "Who is the most outstanding genius of the Watson Family at the moment?"

"It's Stan Watson, he is 38 years old and an 8th Rank High Mage. He is similar to Fussen Charlotte," Ofran subconsciously answered, before doubtfully asking, "Why are you asking?"

"Nothing, I was just asking. Anyway, Sir Ofran, it's time we take our leave..." Lin Yun didn't wait for Ofran's answer and immediately left with William.

"Eh?" Ofran didn't manage to react, standing there in a daze as the two of them hurried away. He only recovered a minute later and exclaimed, "Hey! I wasn't done talking!"

Unfortunately for him, they were already gone, so they could no longer hear him.

"As temperamental as Judd," Ofran mumbled to himself before sinking into contemplation.

'What is that Mafa planning? Why didn't he seem worried as he left with William? Could it be...

'No way!'

As his thoughts reached that point, Ofran suddenly felt scared.

'No way, no way... Did he ask me who the most outstanding member of the Watson Family was so that he could do something like Santon? Getting rid of an opposing Family's most outstanding genius?'

Ofran felt a little numb...

'This... This can't be real?

'That story was only to show that it was difficult to enter the Ancestral Land. Santon had to get rid of the most outstanding member of the Charlotte Family to it, so since you also want to gain access, then you just need to make a similarly large contribution...'

Ofran was only giving a suggestion.

'With the wealth of the Gilded Rose, as long as you gave a small share to the Merlin Family, or if you shared the techniques and resources you had available, then the contribution would be sufficient.'

Ofran hadn't planned on making him kill Stan Watson...

Stan Watson was an 8th Rank High Mage that was apparently close to reaching the 9th Rank. He would be a peak High Mage then. Whether it was his mana storage or his power, they would be at an astounding level.

Moreover, as he'd said, Stan Watson was the most outstanding member of the Watson Family, so he was heavily guarded. Having a few High Mages guarding him at all times was quite normal, and there might even be an Archmage. This was no joke. Let alone Mafa and William, even Ofran, as an Archmage, wouldn't dare to attack Stan Watson.

He was the jewel of the Watson Family.

The few Heaven Mages of the Watson Family might even be paying attention to Stan's growth discreetly. Let alone killing such an important person, just attacking him would be enough to invite terrible trouble.

'Shit...' Ofran inwardly cursed. 'What should I do?'

"Link, come here." Since this was a big matter, Ofran couldn't think of another way.

Following Ofran's shout, a black silhouette appeared in the originally empty studio. "What is your command, Master?"

This black silhouette's face was hidden by a hood and seemed to be half-merged with the shadows, making his appearance difficult to make out. From his voice, one could guess that this was a middle-aged man, perhaps in his forties.

"Link, I have to trouble you with something, did you see the two kids who just left? Please watch over them for me. If you find out... If you find out that they plan on killing Stan Watson, then please find a way to stop them."

"Understood." The black silhouette named Link nodded before blending into the shadows. If not for his words, no one would notice his existence.

Ofran sighed in relief after Link disappeared.

'With Link watching over them, there shouldn't be any problem.'

In the Merlin Family, Ofran was the only one who knew that Link had been working for the Family for five hundred years.

The first master that Link followed was Santon Merlin, the one who killed Fussen Charlotte. After Santon Merlin, Link never left the Merlin Family and followed Santon's will, obeying the Merlin Patriarch's orders.

And Link's existence became a secret only known by the leader of the Merlin Family.