Returning to the villa, Xiao Xun relayed Zhao Yu-man's request to Mu Jia-he.
Mu Jia-he snorted, "It’s obvious. It must be about this matter. Other groups would have difficulty, so she has to come to me."
Xiao Xun asked cautiously, "Then, do you plan to help her?"
Mu Jia-he looked at Xiao Xun, "And do you want me to help?"
Xiao Xun was momentarily speechless. "This, you are the boss, you have the ability. I've only met her a few times, we're not familiar. At most, I'm just a messenger."
Mu Jia-he's lips curved upwards. "Since we're not familiar, then I won't help."
Xiao Xun touched his nose with his index finger. "But I've already accepted her money, this..."
Mu Jia-he flipped her long eyelashes upwards. "I heard you're worth over a billion. Do you even care about the money from Millennium Group?"
Xiao Xun looked troubled. "This isn't about money. It's mainly because... she has actually helped me quite a bit."
Mu Jia-he, who already knew, waved her hand. "Fine! This favor goes to you. However, I can't help for free."
Xiao Xun's eyes lit up. "Then what do you plan to do?"
"I want thirty percent of Millennium Group's shares, without debt."
"How much is thirty percent of the shares?"
"It doesn't matter. I said I want it, not that I'm buying it."
Xiao Xun looked at Mu Jia-he's overbearing demeanor. "Isn't thirty percent too much?"
Mu Jia-he's originally stern face suddenly became full of smiles as she hugged Xiao Xun's neck. "Don't worry, she'll agree."
Xiao Xun had no choice. Since he couldn't help Zhao Yu-man himself, he had to rely on Mu Jia-he.
"Alright! I'll tell her."
The two returned to the other world and, under Duke Horton's presidency, attended the High Priest's funeral.
Xiao Xun stood beside Selespeiss, watching the royalty and ministers pay their respects and offer condolences. He asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, have the murderers who assassinated the Prime Minister and the High Priest been caught yet?"
Selespeiss stared into the distance with a blank expression. "The assassins might not be from the Winterlands. They have no precedent or habit of assassination. Of course, it's even less likely to be the beast race. They just suffered a defeat and aren't in a state to provoke further conflict."
Xiao Xun pondered for a long time. "But given the current situation, besides the Winterlands and the beast race, who else has the power to strike at Saint Roman's two top figures?"
Selespeiss extended her hand and cast a spatial defense domain. "Do you think the court is that harmonious? As far as I know, there are two factions, the 'hawks' and the 'doves.' Their opinions are not unified, so such incidents are inevitable."
"Then, which faction did the Prime Minister and the High Priest belong to?"
Selespeiss sighed. "The Prime Minister might have leaned towards the hawks, but not entirely. At least regarding the invasion of the beastmen, he advocated for war. However, on the matter of the Winterlands, he chose to advocate for peace. This incident also displeased both factions. And my teacher's death was likely a plan by the war faction, because the High Priest died unnaturally, and if your country doesn't mobilize all its forces to avenge him, it will receive divine punishment."
Looking at the haggard Empress, Xiao Xun felt a pang of sympathy. Both factions had their reasons, and the art of kingship was all about balance.
Due to the great victory on the front lines, Vincent was rushing back to the capital, and Selespeiss would be able to discuss the next steps with him.
At this moment, Xiao Xun was looking at a map on the wall. "Your Majesty, is this all of Saint Roman's territory?"
Selespeiss got up and looked, nodding. "That's right. There might be slight deviations, but broadly speaking, it's as it is now."
Xiao Xun walked to the map. "It's bordered by the sea on two sides, mountains on one, and a vast plain on the other. This position is excellent! Both offensive and defensive."
Selespeiss let out a long sigh and walked to Xiao Xun's side. "Can you even read a map? This is a vast plain, and that's the Ten Thousand Mountains you visited before, not small hills. On two sides are vast oceans, with nowhere to retreat. How can you defend?"
Xiao Xun placed a hand on the map and tapped several places. "Precisely because there's nowhere to retreat, we can occupy advantageous terrain, defend key passes, and engage in delaying tactics based on the terrain, then counter-attack. As long as we understand the enemy's tactics and attack patterns, when they're out of options, we can strike with all our might and defeat them."
Selespeiss looked at him with disdain. "You make it sound so reasonable. Why don't I make you the empire's commander and let you lead the national army to win this war? How about that?"
Xiao Xun patted his chest. "Great! No problem."
Selespeiss looked at him expressionlessly. "You should think carefully. This isn't you leading a bunch of people to fight barbarians. The Winterlands have a much deeper cultural heritage. Their emperor has reached the eighth generation with Tytalar, and they have countless famous generals and strategists. Moreover, their combat strength, under equal conditions, is stronger than any of our troops."
Xiao Xun said indignantly, "We'll face whatever comes. No matter how powerful the Winterlands are, they are still flesh and blood. I could defeat the Xuanjia Divine Soldiers, said to be the best in the world, so defeating the Winterlands should be no problem."
Selespeiss shook her head helplessly. She knew that arguing like this was useless.
Seeing Selespeiss's distrust, Xiao Xun immediately took her hand and placed it on his chest. "No problem."
He didn't know why he did that, and Selespeiss didn't pull her hand away, only saying faintly, "Alright, I believe you."
Selespeiss was working, and Xiao Xun stayed by her side.
It wasn't until noon that the castle's kitchen sent food to the Fire Shield Divine King's Palace.
Xiao Xun was pleasantly surprised to see they had made dumplings.
"Your Majesty, food is essential. Please eat something. They've made dumplings."
Selespeiss didn't even look up and waved her hand. "Not hungry, take it away."
Xiao Xun handed the dumplings to Aries standing nearby. He thought, if she didn't eat, how could he have the nerve to eat?
Xiao Xun watched the busy people and suddenly felt like he had nothing to do, standing there like a clown.
So he pushed the door open and went out. The corridor outside was full of staff and guards, and of course, Aries carrying dumplings.
The moment he stepped out, all eyes turned to him.
But upon seeing it was him, everyone shifted their gaze back to their tasks, except for Aries.
Xiao Xun reached out, picked up the plate of dumplings Aries was holding, and ate one. Although the taste was still lacking, it was getting closer to the flavor of his world. The earthy taste was almost gone, and the jelly-like texture was also much reduced.
After eating three or four dumplings, he said to Aries, "You take care of 'destroying' the rest."
"Yes."
Aries raised his hand and used spatial magic to 'annihilate' the remaining dumplings on the plate. Looking at the惨不忍睹 dumplings, Xiao Xun recalled the High Priest's words in the video: 'They are all single-minded and execute without question, with no interrogatives.'
Xiao Xun patted Aries on the shoulder. He couldn't tell him that his meaning of 'destroying' was to eat. If he ever encountered danger, and asked Aries to 'destroy' an enemy, Aries would charge forward... The thought sent a chill down his spine.
Xiao Xun felt time pass incredibly slowly for the first time. "Aries, under what circumstances can I use spatial magic anytime like you?"
"I achieved enlightenment at the age of three. My teacher said my magical talent was too poor, so I could only rely on diligent cultivation. It wasn't until I was eight that I mastered space magic freely."
Xiao Xun was amazed. Mastering such profound magic in five years was still considered poor.
"Then can you teach me your space magic?" Xiao Xun looked at him expectantly.
Aries nodded and actually cast a spell in public, extending both hands.
Xiao Xun imitated him and extended his hands.
Then Aries drew a circle in the air. Xiao Xun watched Aries's hand movements and drew a circle.
Aries's hands moved back and forth like flowing water. Finally, with his palms forward, a hexagonal magic circle appeared before him.
Xiao Xun imitated Aries's hand movements, moving back and forth, and finally brought his palms forward, but nothing appeared.
Aries's hands seemed slow, but Xiao Xun couldn't replicate those movements. Even if he could, he wouldn't achieve Aries's results.
Xiao Xun tried to mobilize his body's chaotic magic several times, but each attempt was worse than the last. Finally, Xiao Xun gestured wildly and gave up.
"By the way, are there any magic spells that involve reciting incantations or relying on external forces to cast?"
Aries nodded. "Yes, but we call them witchcraft or arcane arts."