Chapter 319

"Damn, these barbarian have become too cunning!" Rudolph's face was gloomy: "Make sure to contact our informants in the military to see what their decision would be. I want to know what choice they will make. The barbarians should have made plans for a long time if they have broken into the fortress. Their aim shouldn't be so simple. In addition prepare a carriage immediately, I have to go to consortium for a meeting."

"Yes." Butler replied.

Another room in the castle.

A bedroom which was more thank hundred square meters. The four meter wide bed inside the room was decorated with pink mosquito nets. There was a servant by the bed with a stick. A man and a woman sat by the table near the bed. The woman had a huge paper card in her hand.

There was a law book in her other hand. She will stop to rest and read the book.

...

Mel family.

A gorgeous office.

A dark red carpet spread to every corner of the room. There were pale gold curtains with butterfly designs on them covering the windows. The sun rays that shined reflected the pattern of butterflies on the carpet. A light breeze would blow curtains from time to time. Above the room there was a portrait of a famous actress once upon a time. But now it was replaced with a massive map. The map had a large square on it referring to outline of the entire giant wall. The center of the map was colored in dark gray tone. There were four areas which seemed to look like sewage drains. They represented three areas and the inner wall. In addition to those areas garbage dump was drawn on the map too. In comparison to the other areas garbage dump wasn't isolated.

You could vaguely able to see contours of various regions. There were small black spots with symbols marked on them in the periphery of this area. After this area the rest of the region was marked in crimson color. That area was the wilderness.

There were thick lines outside the wilderness representing giant wall. There were large number of areas circled outside the giant wall. There were small numbers written on each area.

A slender girl with golden hair which fell onto her shoulders like a waterfall sat by the chair in front of the magnificent map. She had a different temperament in comparison to other aristocratic ladies. She seemed like a capable person. She was wearing a black skirt with dark red clothing on top.

Normally, her father would be sitting in this position but right now she was occupying the seat.

She was Mel family's miss Sarah.

"Miss, the barbarians have broken through the fort. The military should be encircling the area, right?" A maid with big eyes standing next to her whispered. Her dress was different from ordinary mais as her clothing seemed more neutral. She had short brown hair. At first glance you would mistake her for a slim handsome boy. However her big bulging chest betrayed her sex.

Sarah looked at the small map in front of her: "Although military can focus their forces to push them back but then barbarians would take the opportunity to attack other fortresses. It is a tactic by the barbarians."

"Barbarians should have knowledge about the environment. How can they be so crafty?" The maid was puzzled.

Sarah slowly said: "Attacking others is in human nature. We are like beasts who are born to hunt. In the long term if they don't grow and increase then they will be eliminated from the map. Moreover they have taken advantage of the prayer day for the invasion. It seems they have smart and capable leaders. I'm afraid the war will be a long one. Damned soldiers, it was just a fortress!"

The maid saw the angry expression on Sarah's face. She didn't have fear but was worried for Sarah: "If the war gets protracted then the losses of our consortium will be too big. The Red Maple mountains are behind the fortress. The barbarians are bound to invade the mountains. The terrain over there is so that it is very easy to defend but hard to attack. It is the first stronghold invaded by the barbarians. If the war is delayed the foundation of our consortium will be shaken. We will lose our foothold in competition with Scott consortium."

Sarah looked at her and smiled: "All these years that you have spent by my side hasn't been gone to waste. You have good eyes!"

The maid was startled: "It's because young lady has nurtured me well."

Sarah smiled: "Then let's take this opportunity to test your knowledge. So what do you think we should do?"

The maid looked back at her: "Miss you have said that the mining industry is the battleground between our consortium and the Scott consortium. Moreover the Red Maple mountains are the financial foundation of the Mellon consortium so we can't lose it. The only way is that we can temporarily load the military with war supplies and share their burdens. This way they can drive out the barbarians and end the war. We can take our time to collect the debts. However even if the military doesn't pay it back then they will owe us. It would be much more convenient for our consortium if military owed us for services."

Sarah smiled: "You little devil! The idea is pretty good. "

The maid's eyes lit up: "It because of your teachings."

Sarah took back her eyes: "The idea is good but not feasible. The other consortia and the military can think of this method too. So it won't be effective. Moreover you are underestimating the military's background and heritage. If they really want to then they can expel these barbarians in an instant."

The maid was startled: "that ... ... Why then military doesn't act? The military's reputation will be lost if the barbarians swept so... "

"Lisa, you are still not experienced enough." Sarah gently tapped her fingers on the table: "Every consortia including the military are enemies. You better remember this! If we are born in this world then the confrontation is inevitable. So unless it is a critical moment we won't expose our most valuable cards. Fame and reputation? If we are not willing then the eyes of the masses won't see."

The maid called Lisa was startled. She bowed: "Miss you are smart!"

"At least I'm better than my brother." Sarah's eyes lit up: "He only knows how to follow the Holy Church. What's the use of being a Knight of Light? A lackey!"

Lisa's face slightly changed as she didn't dare to say anything.

"Make the preparation. I can't wait to attend the meeting and see the discussion about how they are going to solve the problem of mines in the Red Maple mountains. If uncle Rudolph can't come up with proper solutions then the Burong family will lose a lot because of those mines. And if they lose in this stage how can they stand on equal footing with Mel family? If not because of Rudolph's short-sightedness then the most talented architect in the history of the Temple, Dean, would have belonged to our consortium now. We would have already unified the economic powers within the three regions. Sleazy guy!" Sarah said in a cold tone.

Lisa nodded as she sneaked a glance at her but she didn't say anything.

...

...

Temple of Elements.

Dudian showed his identity medal and went through bunch of procedures. Finally he received his own senior architect medal. In addition he was given 50,000 gold coins as a gift. Although the money wasn't much for him as he could get more than 500,000 gold coins from the sales of lightning rod. But as a bonus it was a very good money.

In addition to the bonus he was given a new place in a different castle. He would have a separate floor for research. Moreover the floors upstairs and downstairs wouldn't be occupied by anyone else so there wouldn't be anyone to interfere with him.

Dudian hired few staff members from the Temple and led back to his room. They packed the letters from the ground and brought the other tools that belonged to him. As they went out the people saw Dudian's new medal. They knew that he was moving out. All of them looked at him with envy. Few of them wanted to take this opportunity to pave a way for future relationship but Dudian politely declined.

Dudian came to the 13th castle in accordance with the instructions. He reported at the door and saw a similar figure who noticed him too. Both of them were startled. The person had a stiff smiled on her face: "I've heard that you have advanced to senior architect. Congratulations!"

Tiffany didn't expect to meet the boy so soon. The last time she had failed when both of the pleaded in court. The crossbow invented by the boy was criticized by her but it had won very high awards. It wasn't just better than her own works but even her teacher's three star snake crossbow was inferior to boy's invention. This had deeply affected her but the most profound reflection that he got from the boy was his word about tribute to the teacher.

She had painstakingly researched her new invention and was in a stage where she made the finishing touches. However she once more heard the uproar produced by the outstanding invention of the boy. Moreover it was a cross-faction invention which made him into a rare double-faction architect. In addition the boy had reached the status of senior architect and was on equal footing with her. Even more unexpectedly the latter was assigned to the same castle with her!

Dudian didn't expect to meet the woman in this castle. Actually the matter between them which had happened wasn't taken into his heart. It was like a wind which had passed already: "I didn't think that you would be in here. It seems that we will be neighbors in the future."

Tiffany's heart loosened as she saw the relaxed smile on Dudian's face. She didn't know how to respond if Dudian held anger against her because of the original problem between them. Tiffany smiled as the problem hanging in her heart fell: "I was at ninth castle but was moved to here. I didn't think that I would meet you. If you need any help in the future then let me know."

"Thanks." Dudian smiled.

Senior architects were people with lots of connections so it was better to have them as friends rather than enemies.

Tiffany saw the huge baggage carried by the staff of the Temple who stood behind Dudian: "You have just come over so which building you have been assigned? I'll take you over."

"Don't worry, I'll find myself. You are busy. "

"It's alright." Tiffany replied.

Dudian no longer refused and told her the name of the building. Tiffany helped her with handling formalities and got the keys to the building.

Dudian bid farewell to Tiffany and checked the various floors of the building. There were some scattered furniture. He was too lazy to organize them as he saw this place as a temporary foothold. His goal was much higher!

...

...

At dusk.

Dudian went to the back to his castle he saw Ryan family servant waiting for him in the castle. The person explained things to Dudian which made him to rush out of his castle to Ryan family.

Two hours later Dudian appeared on the second floor of the Ryan castle. Old Fulin and Sander were present in the study room.

"I have just heard." Old Fulin spoke in a low tone: "Barbarians have broken through a fort. Their aim seems to be the Red Maple mountains behind the fortress. If the military doesn't act fast enough then they will be able to enter the Red Maple mountains. If they are slow to react then it will be a long war."

Dudian's eyes lit up as he contemplated: "Which Lord owns the Red Maple mountains? Which consortium they are affiliated with?"

"It is the site of Mellon consortium." Old Fulin replied.

Dudian was startled.

Old Fulin and Sander stood quietly.

Dudian raised his head after a moment: "How much do you know about barbarians?"

Old Fulin asked: "Do you want to help? It's not something that we can intervene with. The barbarians are fierce and they are led by a brave and skilled military advisor. Moreover there are blood barbarians in their rows. They are as fierce as hunters. Especially when they are mad their strength and powers are greatly enhanced."

Dudian's eyes lit up as he stood silent.

He stood up after a moment: "Mellon will be checking to see our recent actions. You don't get involved in anything as I'll handle this matter."

Old Fulin looked at him: "We will rely on you."

Dudian nodded slightly as he put on his coat. Old Fulin wanted to go downstairs but was stopped by Dudian: "Let Master Sander send me off. You should rest."

Old Fulin hesitated but nodded his head at the end.

Dudian commanded the coachman to go to a nearby hotel after leaving the Ryan family: "It's late we should sleep here." He rented two rooms. One for himself and the second for coachman.

Dudian slowly opened the window and went out as the night got darker.

******

Lisa is the girl from the Meishan orphanage.