Chapter 57: The Banquet in Valencia (Part Two)

The major guilds were inevitably deeply disappointed, but for them to openly fall out with Landia solely over this matter would be unwise and yield more losses than gains. After all, peddling external intelligence was merely one of the guilds' means to amass wealth, and not even the primary one. Moreover, a newspaper did not actually exert all that much influence on the specialized information concerning each guild's core domains. Truly confidential information remained beyond the reach of the press and firmly within their grasp.

Conversely, certain individuals, much like Panner, quickly realized that these novel innovations could be turned to their own advantage. The Thieves' Guild, for instance, reacted with great alacrity, promptly publishing a newspaper of their own dedicated to advertisements for antiques and secondhand goods—a field no one understood better than they. Naturally, the guild cemented itself as the premier middleman for buying and selling such items, skillfully steering public demand through the pages of the paper. Of course, as a disingenuous and perfunctory cover, this commercial newspaper run by the Thieves' Guild would still feature a secondary section earnestly introducing readers to various subjects, such as authenticating antiques and rare treasures, or evaluating different classes of secondhand goods. This inadvertently broadened the horizons of citizens who had previously been entirely ignorant of such matters. Yet, for veterans like Crow, who had often collaborated with the Thieves' Guild in the past, the coded language hidden within the paper's commercial listings always revealed precisely what the guild was currently in need of.

Despite such drawbacks—such as the Thieves' Guild brazenly exploiting the newspaper—Landia's original objective was largely achieved. Utilizing this emerging medium, the government firmly resisted the tyranny of the Church, projected its resolve, rallied public support, clarified its policies, and continued to deal blows to the Church from the standpoint of public opinion. Even a newspaper operated by the Thieves' Guild could not avoid dedicating column inches to the recent developments regarding the Church and Landia.

However, the diffusion of this influence to the surrounding regions was relatively slow. While daily newspapers could be purchased right here in Valencia, territories outside the city had to rely on post roads to receive weekly digests. This created an asymmetry in information gathering; readers in other regions often perused news that was already a week old by the time it arrived via the courier routes.

Naturally, what concerned Crow was something else entirely. He had placed a personal advertisement in the paper, searching for Wei Wuji with a brief description of his appearance, promising a reward for valid information. Furthermore, he had no intention of paying this reward out of his own pocket, as someone else desired Wei Wuji's whereabouts far more than he did.

Alas, no news of Wei Wuji had surfaced thus far. Crow could only shake his head, casually fold the newspaper away, and stroll forward. Tonight, he was attending a banquet by invitation at the estate of Lord Fahrenheit.

Given Crow's standing, he would normally have possessed no qualification to attend such a gathering—unless he had previously accepted Fahrenheit's clandestine recruitment overtures. Fortunately, however, a newly risen high-ranking figure had specifically designated him to be in charge of her reception and escort.

"You are late."

The speaker was a girl of breathtaking beauty, whose exceptionally striking feature was a pair of long, graceful legs. She extended her hand toward him. Crow was momentarily startled, failing to react in time, before he heard a playful, reproachful huff from the Princess of the Ocean: "Hey, you really are an ill-mannered fellow. Aren't men supposed to wrap their arms around their waists first so a lady can take hold? I even reached out my hand first, and you just stood there."

Only then did Crow snap out of his reverie. Helen, the princess of the Fae, turned her displeasure into smiles, slipping her hand into the crook of Crow's arm, which he promptly bent into a loop at his waist. The two of them walked into the venue in an intimate posture.

"Have you found him?" Helen asked in a low voice.

"No," Crow replied with a touch of embarrassment.

"You surely didn't try your best. I've fulfilled everything I promised you," Helen said with a hint of displeasure. During the negotiations between the Fae and Landia, the Princess had indeed exerted considerable effort.

At present, the Fae and Landia found themselves in a cooperative alliance. The Fae actively harassed the shipping lanes of the Golden Rose on the high seas, severely disrupting the maritime trade routes of the Golden Rose and several eastern city-states, rendering the majority of the Golden Rose fleet unable to leave major ports. In return, the Fae reaped massive benefits. Previously, they had held little interest in plundering human merchant vessels, as even if they captured cargo, they had nowhere to fence or consume it.

Now, however, things were different. According to the secret agreement struck between the Fae and Landia, Landia not only paid a handsome bounty to the Fae for keeping the Golden Rose in check and pledged to absorb the Fae's spoils of war, but—more importantly—enabled the elite Fae clans to spend their earnings within Landia's borders.

Having experienced the Fae occupation of Herldasin some time ago, the Fae, who had always roamed the boundless seas with a sense of superiority, abruptly discovered that the land possessed an abundance of fascinating wonders. While they still maintained that the ocean was far more bountiful, they were forced to concede that the world created by humans using far scarcer resources was vastly more colorful. Take, for instance, the culinary delicacies or the exquisite blades. The exact same seashells that the Fae would leave encrusted with seaweed could, after human craftsmanship, become so breathtakingly beautiful that even the Fae themselves failed to recognize them.

The relationship between the Fae and Landia required a permanent resident ambassador on land to liaise between the two parties, and Princess Helen had volunteered—or rather, relentlessly badgered her older brother, Crown Prince Philip, until she secured this plum assignment. After careful consideration, Philip truly believed his younger sister was the most suitable candidate. It was impossible for him or the aging Emperor to reside permanently on land; the ocean remained their fundamental foundation. As for appointing anyone else from the higher clans as ambassador, it risked inciting discontent among the other factions. Thus, only Helen fit the role: she was of supreme royal blood, yet possessed nothing more than a noble lineage.

Therefore, acting as the bridge between the ocean and the land was a role perfectly tailored to her. It would neither cause Landia to feel slighted nor provoke internal unrest among the clans. Moreover, Helen herself was utterly eager to serve as this emissary. Philip harbored slight misgivings regarding this eagerness, but weighing the aforementioned factors, he ultimately decided to let her take the post. Although his sister lacked experience, Philip was confident that with the backing of the Fae Empire, no one would dare bully her. Furthermore, as an adult Siren who remained perpetually idle, it was high time she found some serious work to do.

Once Philip gave his consent, he personally penned a formal letter of state, and General Pompey himself escorted Helen back to Herldasin, arriving in Valencia under the guard of a detachment of Fae soldiers. Naturally, General Pompey could only watch with lingering reluctance as the little princess—whom he regarded like a younger sister—departed; Helen had adamantly refused to let him accompany her, largely because his colossal physique made discretion impossible.

And so, the little princess remained in Valencia as the emissary of the Fae. She grew increasingly enamored with earthly trinkets, even secretly hunting down terrestrial books to read because she wished to understand this world more deeply and swiftly.

It was precisely because of the little princess's status as a rising celebrity in Valencia that Crow, serving as her dance partner, had been granted the rare opportunity to attend the private residence of Lord Fahrenheit.