Chapter 77: Negotiations Continue

When George’s body lost its balance and tipped forward slightly, he just woke from his daze and felt something was wrong. Using the agile skills from years of training, George immediately prepared to stabilize his stance by controlling all his muscles.

Just as George, who almost fell, steadied himself, he felt a truly huge change happening to his body. Yes, it was a feeling. Although he still could not specify the changes exactly, this feeling told him he was right. ‘It looks like I have become much stronger. I will test the specific details when I get back.’ ‘Eh! There are so many System messages here, but unfortunately, this is not the right time or place to check them.’ Suddenly, System messages flooded his thoughts like a screen refresh, confusing George’s thinking and almost causing a ‘system crash’.

Virginia, the High Priest standing beside George, noticed the former was lost in thought and quickly spoke up: “Lord Bolerum, the blessing has ended. Shall we continue to discuss the specific details of our cooperation?”

This remark pulled George out of his messy, tangled thoughts. He suppressed his curiosity and temporarily sealed these thoughts deep in his mind. Then he pointed around and replied, “Is it here?”

“Of course not. The specific content of the cooperation cannot be known by too many people before it is officially announced. Although we believe all the Clergy within our Temple are reliable and no information leaks will occur, to make the other party in the cooperation feel completely at ease, this rule has been set for a long time.” High Priest Virginia immediately cleared up George’s doubt, then lowered his voice and said, “But every time the cooperation partner emphasizes confidentiality, I feel a bit sorry for those few low-level Priests. I went through the same thing back then. That feeling of not being trusted is really terrible.”

‘Wow! This old fox really knows how to handle things. He even didn’t forget to influence my emotional tendency in this situation. Is this a pity card or a sacrifice card this time? I must find a reason to get past this now and also block this line of reasoning. That way, at least I can stay quiet until the next suitable opportunity arises.’ George did not immediately reply to High Priest Virginia’s words.

‘Perhaps this is a passable excuse.’ After searching his mind, George felt he had a reasonable excuse and spoke up, “Compromising with reality is not a bad thing. And I believe the Clergy of the Lord of Justice are trustworthy. I think those cooperation partners are more worried about these inexperienced newbies being threatened by opponents. Anyway, once they fall into enemy hands, what happens is no longer up to them. Have you ever counted the change in the number of low-level Clergy attacked before and after this rule was issued?”

George’s explanation blocked all the words High Priest Virginia was about to say next. After a long while, the young Priests around, under the command of Deacon Gavin, began to leave the Great Hall to attend to their daily tasks.

Finally catching his breath or reorganizing his thoughts, High Priest Virginia finally spoke with a sigh: “Uh! There is actually a reason for this? It seems the wisdom of our ancestors is not something we can underestimate!”

‘Who knows if you are telling the truth or not. In all these words, you didn’t even use a single word to define whether you really understand what just happened! Besides, my excuse was just made up to get past you; it just looks related. Do you know something I don’t?’ While complaining in his heart, George spoke on the surface without showing any emotion: “If there were no such deep meaning, how could the wise Lord of Justice have promoted it so widely? Besides, you yourself said that as a rule, it has existed for such a long time. If there were really anything inappropriate, the Church members with ideas back then would have modified it long ago.”

“You are right. I was just too focused on the possible psychological changes of those new people and didn’t consider the safety hazards. It looks like Karada, this overly peaceful city, has indeed lowered my alertness. I didn’t expect to make a fool of myself in front of you, an outsider, after such an important event.” High Priest Virginia’s self-mockery worked well, and the slight awkwardness caused by the conversation disappeared.

“You are also concerned about your subordinates, right?” Although George agreed verbally and made an expression of understanding, he warned himself secretly in his heart, ‘Be careful not to be misled by this old fox. Who knows if his actions are just an act?’

Earlier, the avatar of the Lord of Justice had made it clear to George. The knowledge and ideas George provided had already been fully paid for in the blessing just now. There would be no special treatment in the series of cooperations between Bolerum Territory and the Church later on. So George had to fight bare-handed and try his best to secure terms favorable to his side.

Cooperation between two organizations is always about using every means and relying on one’s own skills. Originally, according to George’s plan, he intended to use the volume he gave earlier to catch the attention of the Law believers and use it as a chip in the cooperation negotiation. Any knowledge about perfecting the legal framework is precious to the believers of the Lord of Justice, and they cannot be forced to refuse.

Unfortunately, plans change faster than expected. George did not expect that such knowledge would be so effective that it directly attracted the Lord of Justice himself. This made the knowledge, which was originally a chip for trade between the Church and Bolerum Territory, become goods traded between George and that Prince.

Without this major support, if George wants to achieve the planned cooperation without paying too much extra cost, he must endure long and mentally exhausting negotiations like a tug-of-war.

However, George did not regret this at all. Relatively speaking, he even thought he made a huge profit. Take the effect produced by the blessing, for example. If one went to a Mage to use the Magic of Permanence to stabilize a similar effect, based on Bolerum Territory’s surplus from last year, even with the most basic quote, it would take more than ten years to gather that much money.

Perhaps some people would not believe it, but take the ability of Mental Shield that George finally bargained for with the Lord of Justice. As an 8th-level Abjuration spell, it requires at least a Bronze-tier Mage to cast. And to stabilize it using the Magic of Permanence, at least a Legendary Mage would be needed.

The main reason why permanent Magic Items are so rare at this stage is the Soul loss during the manufacturing process. In other words, every time a permanent Magic Item is made, it causes direct damage to the creator’s strength. This loss is irreversible to some extent and can only be improved through self-cultivation. Perhaps with previous experience, the process of recovering to the original strength will be shortened. But unless there is a huge benefit or a very deep emotional bond, who in this world where strength brings status and money would damage their own strength for others?

The same spell stabilization has the same problem as making Magic Items. And since it can directly act on the human body, the degree of Soul loss is even more severe compared to Magic Items with usage restrictions.

If a Legendary Mage were willing to stabilize the Mental Shield for George, he would probably waste between half a year to a year and a half in terms of strength improvement. This does not even count the loss of spell materials during the casting. One can imagine what price needs to be paid to achieve the goal.

However, although this ability is the most high-end among many abilities, others might not be as good individually, but the total value added up is still higher than it.

There is another point. Unlike those Magic Items and Magic Stabilization, the Blessing of Order grants mostly supernatural and extraordinary abilities. These effects are not affected by Dispel Magic or Greater Dispel Magic at all. Even the ‘Mage Dispel’, known as the peak of Abjuration, can suppress supernatural abilities but has no effect on extraordinary abilities. It can be said to be a choice for a moment and a benefit for a lifetime.

As for the two relatively restrictive conditions: the need to unlock abilities step by step as strength increases, and the requirement to always maintain a Lawful alignment, these are nothing compared to the benefits they bring. Especially the latter is not a restriction at all for George, who traveled from a lawful society and is a cultivator himself. Because “The Dao” itself is also a rule, a kind of order.

What George paid was the legal knowledge from his previous world, which was useful but not crucial for him, combined with some experience and insights he gained as a Lord over these few years. It is useful because it helps with the construction, development, and stability maintenance of the Territory.

It is said to be not very useful because, in terms of the external environment of this world, anything that does not help improve personal strength has limited use. Using these things that are not very useful to George to exchange for a huge improvement in his own strength is definitely a good deal. Moreover, as a special form of wealth, knowledge does not disappear when paid; he can still continue to use it.

Of course, he could also use this knowledge to launch large-scale reforms, which might bring a lot of benefits. However, pioneers of reform easily touch the interests of many vested interest groups, and most of them cannot enjoy a peaceful old age. Pioneers like Shang Yang, Wang Mang, Wang Anshi, and Tan Sitong have awakened later generations with their own examples. If you do not have the diamond drill, do not take on the porcelain work.