Chapter 419: Winning Over

What constitutes a high-quality talent?

To Ronin, it felt as though all five individuals standing before him at this moment were peak talents.

Not only was each of them immensely powerful, but they also possessed their own distinct specialties, ranging from shipbuilding and seafaring to a knack for intelligence work.

Even Sophia, who hadn't introduced herself much, surely possessed extraordinary qualities given her position as the group's leader and her title of "Your Highness."

Now that this group had come to the continent of Orlanth seeking support and wanting cooperation, was there a possibility that the object of their cooperation could become the Northern Wu Territory, and by extension, Ronin himself?

Just imagine such a formidable five-person squad joining the Northern Wu Territory; it would truly be like adding wings to a tiger for Ronin.

However, Sophia's objectives were highly defined; they did not wish to see a mere count of the Northern Wu Territory, but rather the King of the Kingdom of Alduin, and they were waiting for Ronin simply to have a familiar face introduce them.

"You have arrived at the perfect time!"

Ronin smiled slightly and said, "In just over ten days, it will be the Kingdom of Alduin's decennial founding celebration, and I will be heading there myself. If you wish to go to Golden Feather City, you can come with me. Naturally, I will also introduce you to His Majesty Bruno."

He gestured with his hands open, looking somewhat embarrassed, "To be quite frank with you all, my future wife is actually His Majesty's youngest daughter, Princess Blanche. However, this matter has not yet been disclosed to the public, so I must ask you all to keep it a secret."

Sophia and the others froze for a moment; they had not expected that the pier where they accidentally docked and the lord they happened to meet would possess such a powerful background.

It seemed their long wait had been worthwhile.

"Then we truly owe you our deepest thanks, Count Ronin!"

"It is all on my way, you need not be so polite." Ronin said with a smile, "You mentioned just now that you wished to cooperate with the King. I wonder how you intend to cooperate?"

This question caused the smile on Sophia's face to slowly fade, replaced instead by a look of contemplation.

She was weighing whether or not to disclose the details of the cooperation to Ronin.

After all, their ultimate goal was to obtain reinforcements from the Continent of Stars, and the more the better, so there was no need to hide this purpose.

Except the situation was different now; the Continent of Stars did not possess a legendary-tier mage.

Under these circumstances, even if they obtained reinforcements from the Continent of Stars, they would be unable to return to the Crescent Continent.

If they could not return, then it would all be for naught.

Therefore, what Sophia was considering now was: what exactly could they cooperate on with the Kingdom of Alduin?

"As you said, Mephistopheles is currently hiding within the borders of the Kingdom of Alduin. We can assist the King in eliminating the minions of Salonas."

She paused, then added, "Not limited to Mephistopheles alone, but also the minions of the other two lords; we can provide intelligence support and combat assistance as well."

"In that case, rather than cooperating with the King, it would be better to cooperate with me."

"You?"

Sophia's brow furrowed as she looked Ronin up and down, a sense of vigilance already quietly rising in her heart.

Anilu, standing beside her, spoke directly the words that were inconvenient for Sophia to say: "Lord Count, we naturally wish to cooperate with the strongest power. Could it be that your territory is stronger than the Kingdom of Alduin?"

Ronin smiled faintly, "The royal family does not have a legendary-tier mage."

Sophia's eyes lit up, "Do you mean that the Northern Wu Territory does?"

Ronin shook his head, glancing at Anilu and the others, "Sophia, if it is convenient, I would like to speak with you alone next."

Sophia hesitated for a moment.

Anilu quickly interjected to stop it, "Your Highness, this is highly inappropriate."

The others conveyed roughly the same sentiment; clearly, they did not yet trust Ronin enough.

Sophia's hesitation was only brief, and she then smiled, "All of you may step outside. I believe it is very safe here."

Seeing this, Anilu and the other three surprisingly said no more and retreated directly from the room.

From this, it was also evident that Sophia held absolute leadership; so long as she made a decision, no one else would question it.

"Elrond, you step out as well."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Elrond bowed and withdrew.

"This subordinate of yours seems to be a formidable mage."

"Yes, he is a Great Mage of the light attribute. My grandfather fully recovered precisely because of Elrond's 'Purification of Evil' magic."

Sophia was somewhat surprised.

The intelligence Hamon had gathered from Horse Pasture City indicated that Sky Knights, Great Mages, and experts of higher tiers were rare, so how did a single earldom possess an eighth-tier Great Mage, and one who was a follower of the young man before her?

"The light attribute does indeed counter the power of the witch soul."

Though slightly puzzled, Sophia did not feel immense shock; after all, she herself was a Great Mage.

"If a legendary-tier light attribute mage were present, perhaps we could cross the Sea of Storms more easily and evade the corrosion of the nightmare miasma."

"If there were a sage-tier light mage, perhaps they could completely resolve the pollution of the Sea of Storms for us."

Oh?

Ronin quietly noted this information down and smiled, "Then Elrond will have to work hard."

Sophia brought the topic back, "So, does the Northern Wu Territory have a legendary mage?"

"Of course not!" Ronin shook his head.

"Then I am quite curious, what is it you wish to discuss with me alone?"

"You just introduced the situation of the Crescent Continent. The human race and the servants of the demon gods have been at war for many years, and now you have clearly begun to fall into a disadvantageous position. What you need is not only top-tier powerhouses, but also more middle- and lower-tier personnel. To put it simply, the human population is insufficient."

Sophia nodded, signaling Ronin to continue.

"Meanwhile, the Continent of Orlanth, which is the Continent of Stars you spoke of, is divided into two kingdoms with constant conflicts. If our people go to the Crescent Continent, then the Kingdom of Tricia will surely seize the opportunity to attack."

He paused, then continued, "According to the intelligence I recently obtained, the Kingdom of Tricia is in great chaos because of an organization called the 'Holy Storm'. This suddenly appearing mysterious organization is highly likely to be the minions of the other two lords you mentioned."

Sophia understood a little now.

"So you want us to help you campaign against the Kingdom of Tricia, which would both eliminate the minions of the Storm Lord and the Flame Lord, while also helping you secure military merit and even expand your territory?"

She knew deeply how attractive her small squad was in a continent barren of combat power.

It was perfectly logical for Ronin to want them to cooperate with him.

"Only, cooperating with you is still inferior to cooperating with the Kingdom of Alduin. At least they are stronger."

Ronin shook his head, "But they cannot give you what you want. The royal family does not have a legendary mage."

"But you don't have one either, do you?" Sophia was very curious about what this young count actually wanted to say.

Ronin held back no longer, and his spiritual power emanated completely from his body.

As a fellow Great Mage, Sophia instantly felt Ronin's immense spiritual power.

"You are a Great Mage?"

She was exceedingly shocked. According to the intelligence, she knew the young count before her had only just passed his nineteenth birthday.

Nineteen years old, an eighth-tier Great Mage?

This talent, even if placed within the City of Dawn, would be the absolute peak among the peak.

"And that's not all."

Ronin rose to his feet with a soft laugh and stepped directly into the empty air, manipulating his battle qi to walk aloft across the drawing room.

"Silver Moon rank!"

For the first time, Sophia’s face betrayed utter shock, "You are not just a Grand Mage, but a Silver Moon Knight as well!"

Dual mastery of magic and martial arts was rare, yet it was not entirely unheard of.

If nothing else, her own guard commander, Anilu, pursued both paths.

Yet even with Anilu's exceptional talent, at thirty-one she remained merely a Meteor Knight and a Chief Mage.

At nineteen, Ronin had already surpassed Anilu by a vast margin.

Ronin smiled and said, "Though the Northern Territory of Wu does not yet possess a Legendary Mage, I am absolutely certain that I will become one within ten years at the very latest."

He looked straight into Sophia's eyes, "If you are willing to aid me, that timeframe will be even shorter."