His Attitude Isn't Important

Dorman narrowed his eyes as he confirmed, "What you mean is… The wood-spirit magical experiment?

Dorothy nodded anxiously.

Dorman began to look serious.

Being the wood-spirit magic's leading authority in the Queville Empire—who was also known as the Son of the Forest—Dorman had a much higher status than some grand mage instructors, even though his magic accomplishments were only at the mage instructor's level.

Most of the wood-spirit magic in the Queville Empire had been created by him.

Someone had even boldly foretold that if Dorman could advance and become a grand mage instructor, he might give the final push to move the wood-spirit magic from the special system to the common system!

From this, one could see how accomplished he was in wood-spirit magic.

And Dorothy, she had seen enough to know what was good since she was his favorite granddaughter, even if she wasn't very accomplished in wood-spirit magic.

If it could shock her that much, he could already deduce how groundbreaking Ajaf's magical experiment was to her!

His granddaughter's behavior attempted to convey the importance of this magical experiment, even at the risk of offending Ajaf.

—If he could take part in it, given his wood-spirit magic attainments, he could benefit from it and advance to the grand mage instructor's realm if he could glean new insights.

Nobody knew that Dorman's research in wood-spirit magic had been stuck for a long time.

If it weren't for the constraints of his clan, empire and family, he would have left long before to search for a breakthrough in faraway lands.

Such a chance for a breakthrough may very well have just appeared.

Dorman stood up and started to pace around in the study with an excited look.

It sounded rather unbelievable, but he still had been unable to find out Ajaf's identity.

One had to know that his accomplishments in wood-spirit magic had enabled him to create a great personal relationship network in the empire.

Even magical deities were quite respectful to him.

He could say that his status in the Queville Empire was as stable as a rock.

Even so, he still couldn't find out about Ajaf's identity. That truly worried him.

Especially after having seen his granddaughter being forced to take part in Ajaf's magical experiment. Hence, he decided to send that dead egg.

Dorman felt an intense relief after looking at his granddaughter's reaction just then.

He had taken the right precautions!

He suspected Ajaf most probably was a wood-spirit mage who was even more accomplished in magic than he was!

Even if he wasn't, he could also possess magical knowledge that was completely different from that of the Queville Empire.

That was also why Dandell the Magical Deity favored him so much, although keeping his identity a secret.

Dorman's body began to tremble slightly when he thought of that. He was both hesitant and excited.

He was hesitant because he wondered, what if that man took over his leading status in the Empire's wood-spirit magic arena?

He was excited because there was a chance for him to advance further in the wood-spirit magic arena where he had been stuck for a while.

Dorman took a deep breath and waved his hand. "I got it. You can go first!"

"Yes."

Dorothy didn't attempt to persuade him further. Her Grandfather had obviously taken a decision since he had pondered for quite some time.

After his granddaughter left, Dorman summoned his personal butler and murmured in a low voice.

The butler nodded and left with his orders.

He asked the butler to check on the attitudes of the other mage apprentices who had also taken part in the magical experiment. Although the confidentiality contract had rendered them unable to leak any secrets, it couldn't restrain their emotions.

His granddaughter Dorothy was just a mage apprentice after all, so it was possible she could have misjudged the situation.

Hence, he had to gather more information before making the final decision.

…

At the same time, the entire Felix School of Magic, no, the entire magical community in Willis City was asking about Ajaf's magical experiment.

It was because his experiment was simply too high-profile so it was impossible not to attract attention.

However, followed by the return of the mage apprentices from the magical experiment, many people started to curse at him after their attempts to find out!

Ajaf actually made all the mage apprentices sign a confidentiality contract?!

Damn him. This move of his had shocked countless people.

However, everybody's curiosity had only gotten stronger even as they reproached his actions.

The reason for this was, because all the mage apprentices who had taken part in the magical experiment had a disbelieving and shocked look in their eyes whenever they were asked about it.

According to some mage apprentices, who had divulged what they could in private, it was an experiment that involved the power of the deities.

Once this news was leaked out, it instantly caused a great furor in Willis City.

Some people finally understood why Dandell the Magical Deity had given his all to support Ajaf in his experiment.

Of course, there were also some people who snorted at the idea!

"What nonsensical power of the deities! A bunch of country bumpkins. It's pure nonsense!"

"I've sent someone to sound things out. There were no new species being created, no unknown plants appeared, flesh-and-blood magic wasn't involved and divine skills weren't involved, either. This should be just a regular wood-spirit magic experiment."

In a mansion's great hall, the members of the "Willis Magic Plantation Federation" had gathered to discuss the situation.

Even though breaking through the confidentiality contract wasn't easy, advanced mages like them were still able to derive the experiment's objective and contents by process of elimination.

And just because of this, they acted dismissively when the mage apprentices mentioned something about the power of the deities.

That was quite normal. Some mage apprentices who were fortunate enough to take part in the great mage instructors' experiments would almost always show some abnormal mental conditions when they returned home.

People always overestimated things they were unfamiliar with.

Take peasants for example; mage apprentices were just like big shots in their eyes.

Mage apprentices who went out on missions would sometimes even be considered deities by some ignorant villagers.

However, were mage apprentices indeed that formidable?

Obviously not.

They were simply considered as free laborers in the eyes of mage instructors.

The members of the "Willis Magic Plantation Federation" had gathered together again specifically to discuss how to snatch their free laborers back.

A member pulled the discussion back to reality again. "Dandell is obviously siding with Ajaf. Are we simply going to give up?"

Everyone's expressions darkened upon hearing that.

They had gone as a group to pressurize Dandell the Magical Deity the day before.

However, the moment Dandell saw them he said, "All of you came just at the right time. I also have something to ask you."

Then, he turned the Empire's official website, went into the complaints' page and began asking them as he pointed to a bunch of anonymous complaints.

After taking a closer look, almost half of the complaints were about them snatching and taking all the fertile lands.

All of them began to look embarrassed upon seeing that.

Magical plants required the most fertile lands, especially the ones whose growth were hastened by magic; they would deplete the lands' fertility at an unusually fast rate.

A piece of fertile land could only be used to plant magical plants for three to five years. They would be useless afterward.

Magic plantation owners needed to keep buying fertile lands, or exchange the infertile lands away because of this reason.

If they said they didn't extort or force people in the process was obviously impossible.

As they faced the magical deity's interrogation, all the plantation owners could only resort to push the blame onto their subordinates and promise to settle the problems once they returned.

Who among them had the courage to pressurize him after that interruption?

They could only escape while feeling embarrassed.

All of them started to regain their wits after they got back.

Dandell had not mentioned the peasants' complaints before, deliberately choosing that time to bring that up. He was obviously using that to favor Ajaf and put them in their place.

Everyone was annoyed when they figured it out.

One of them asked suddenly, "Oh yes. Where's Anthony?"

"He said something happened at home and he couldn't make it," another replied.

Something flashed across everyone's eyes upon hearing that.

Anthony had always been close to Dandell. He was obviously afraid of Dandell and thus he had deliberately found an excuse to sit that meeting out.

Or, one could say he was completely in Dandell's camp and wouldn't go against his orders, even if those orders would hinder personal interests of his.

"I suggest we go talk to Ajaf. It shouldn't affect him too much to share half of the 400 mage apprentices with us, as there are simply too many of them," someone suggested.

"What if he's unwilling to compromise?"

"Ah. I don't believe he would dare to annoy all of us, would he?"

"His attitude is not important. Lord Dandell's attitude is the most important one. Can't you people see it? Isn't Lord Dandell eyeing our plantations?"

"This…"

"Let's just give up some profits. Or else we'll suffer a greater loss if this continues on."

"Sigh. I guess that's all we can do now."