"Why is there a decline?"

The old man made a perplexed sound.

Everything was proceeding as planned, no matter what actions the conservatives took, they couldn’t stop it; everything was on the right path.

Recently, there was even the good news of the Sain Dungeon expanding to the Warrior Country.

Indeed, the appearance of the Sain Dungeon in the Warrior Country was exceptional news for the old man, simply because of the presence of Lake Lienia and the Reyalucaria Magic Academy.

The old man believed that with the appearance of the Sain Dungeon, the concentration of magic belief within the Warrior Country would surely continue to rise, possibly reaching a new peak.

"Where did the error occur, or is there a problem with my improved magic? It’s unreasonable for there to be such a significant decline...."

His heart ached somewhat, as the extent of the decline was equivalent to more than six months of effort at the initial phase of the plan.

No matter how much he contemplated, he couldn’t figure out that the Sain Dungeon, which he longed for, was the cause of this result.

"I must investigate, can’t let a good thing go bad."

The old man drew a few magic runes in the air, intending to convey the message of investigating these anomalies to his disciples outside, who were out promoting his improved magic, but for now, spreading magic could be slowed down a bit.

At this moment, the crystal ball on his desk vibrated, and the old man glanced at it before opening it.

The crystal ball glowed, projecting a real-time transmitted figure in front of him.

Luxurious attire, dignified expression, the person being projected was none other than Banto, the current King of the Warrior Country!

"Master Younka, your place is still as dim as ever."

Banto glanced around, directly addressing the identity of the old man, the Court Great Magic Sage of the Warrior Country.

Younka nodded slightly, continuing to draw runes to inform his disciples, showing no overly enthusiastic attitude towards the king.

Banto evidently knew the other’s personality and didn’t engage in extra pleasantries, getting straight to the point.

"The War Festival is approaching, Master, how is the production of your ’Magic Encyclopedia’?"

"Time is a bit tight, but at least before the festival starts, I can complete its prototype."

The eyes of Younka’s luminous stone mask emitted light, his voice was filled with a sense of enthrallment, sounding somewhat muffled from under the mask.

"When it truly matures, everyone will be able to learn all magic, and people will be able to utilize magic to accomplish anything."

Banto was unreactive to his grand vision, as he had heard it countless times; this was nearly a daily occurrence since he began collaborating with Younka.

"You better hurry, my father, and his stubborn faction are also preparing, swearing to use this festival to halt the reform." Banto’s mind conjured the image of his father Fred, frowning and sighing at the same time.

"If we could tell the old king everything we know, in his wisdom, he would surely abandon this futile struggle against us, but unfortunately, we cannot tell him."

Younka had already dispatched the task of finding the source of the anomaly. He finally raised his head to look at Banto.

"As long as the warrior talents of newborns keep declining, the reform will surely continue; we don’t actually have to concern ourselves with this War Festival, the plan will eventually be achieved."

"The diminishing warrior talent in newborns cannot sustain our nation’s traditions; it’s like a vicious curse or a driving force for us to move forward. To this day, I still don’t fully understand the pros and cons of this matter."

Banto’s tone carried negative emotions, but then he changed his stance, asserting with undeniable force:

"’Achieving’ and ’victory’ can mean the same thing, but I desire the latter more; this War Festival must be our victory."

His gaze seemed to be fiercely ablaze.

"Alright, alright..."

Younka was quite exhausted from continuous sleepless work; he didn’t inform Banto about the anomaly he just perceived but shifted topics and asked:

"How is the old king’s mission to the Yanor Kingdom going? Have our watchers sent any messages back?"

He was naturally referring to the mission old king Fred sent to the Yanor Kingdom to study the warrior spirit.

Talking about this, Banto’s expression seemed a bit odd; he organized his thoughts before speaking:

"The watchers sent a message back saying... never mind, I’ll give you the letter, see for yourself."

Before long, an attendant knocked on the door of the Mage Tower, delivering the letter. With a curious mind, Younka opened it to take a look; he was genuinely curious about how the other nation would teach the so-called warrior spirit.

In his view, the so-called warrior spirit was just like recklessly charging towards the enemy, swinging the sword desperately.

However, upon truly seeing the contents of the letter, even he, who had witnessed much, couldn’t help but be stunned.

[On the first day entering the Yanor Kingdom, King Ainz III prepared a lavish banquet for the mission, the level of hospitality completely unlike welcoming a country they were at war with just a few years ago]

[Princess Selene personally received the mission, and the king seemed to have assigned her the task of explaining the customs of the Yanor Kingdom, but she kept talking about a warrior named Ornstein, and then... the whole day passed]

[The first day, listening to Princess Selene talk about Ornstein]

[The second day, listening to Princess Selene talk about Ornstein]

[The third day, she continued to talk about Ornstein, someone protested, so she began talking about the Four Knights Under King...]

[The fourth day, the mission protested strongly, so the princess started showing footage regarding the Sain Dungeon]

[On the fourth, fifth, and sixth day, watching the images made my eyes hurt so much... but the content is indeed heart-stirring]

[On the seventh day, we finally welcomed actual combat. I never expected the King to dispatch several adventurers to compete with us. Their way of fighting... (a large portion is damaged)]

[Damn it, this cannot be called warrior spirit! Their speed is too fast!]

[On the eighth day, on the day I am writing to you, Prince Temude suddenly arrived with his two young dragon friends and joined the envoy. I am watching the Prince’s every move, hoping he won’t do anything outrageous.]

"This..." Younka hesitated for a moment and asked, "Who is this Princess Selene?"

He knows who Ornstein is; the backstory is crystal clear to him. What puzzles him is:

Ornstein has just that little bit of story content, so how did Selene manage to talk about it continuously for three days and still seem like she hasn’t had enough?

It’s practically divine.

"Why did the third Prince also run to the Yanor Kingdom? Wasn’t he still in the sanatorium...?"

"He’s been well for a long time; he’s tough-skinned and thick-fleshed." Banto’s expression was a bit unsightly.

Prince Temude not only ran to the Yanor Kingdom himself, but he also took his two hospital buddies, Uffie’s two dragon clan disciples, with him.

No wonder Uffie has been looking at the sky in confusion lately. She had clearly sent the news of her return to her disciples, so why have those two dragons not come to see her?

Turns out they ran away to have fun!

"It’s practically like a farce," Younka reviewed the letter again and gave his assessment, "There’s no longer any need to worry about what kind of threat this envoy can pose; they’re fundamentally not worth fearing."

"Indeed."

Banto snickered.

"Not worth fearing."

————————————

In the Warrior Country, Black Stone City, Lord Mansion.

Because Lanle appeared in Black Stone City, Count Gehard directly allocated his most luxurious mansion for him to temporarily stay, thus it became the Prince’s temporary residence.

Since Prince Lanle is staying here, naturally his entourage also resides nearby so they won’t leave the Prince behind.

Among these entourage members is, of course, Edgar.

As a disciple of the court’s great magic sage Younka, he not only possessed quite a luxurious residence but also had a decent magic workshop, the highest standard on the island.

Since acquiring a demon brought back by Uffie’s group, he had been staying in the magic workshop for days, focusing entirely on his research without taking a single step outside, uninterested in external affairs.

In the magic workshop, the feeble cries of the demon echoed frequently, with hot blood occasionally splashing onto the ground, only to be swiftly cleaned by an automatic cleaning magic.

At this moment, Edgar was tinkering with the demon bound to a cross.

"A demon transformed from human by the Fallen Demon Egg," his fingers were stained with blood, so he pushed his glasses with his palm, "No matter how many times I research, I can’t tell the difference between them and real demons. The Fallen Demon Egg is truly a mystical object. When will I get to see one in person?"

He removed his gloves, casually cast a healing magic on the demon, and opened a notebook to jot down some notes. The text on it was magically encrypted, invisible to anyone without a password.

It’s more of a casual journal for when inspiration strikes, with content mostly disconnected, such as:

Three demons have been captured; the rest are too fast to track.

"I didn’t expect original demons to actually exist near Black Stone City; this might allow me to shift the blame."

He was probably referring to Dorian. He smiled when he mentioned this, but upon seeing the pile of luminous stones on his desk, his smile faded, and he wrote in the notebook:

No matter how much I research luminous stones, I can’t make any progress. Maybe I should consider a change in research direction, perhaps... Should I try looking at the sky?

Since luminous stones are meteors, maybe the sky is somehow connected to them?

Edgar stretched, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He exclaimed to himself in surprise:

"My teacher sent me a message?"

A moment later, after reading the information transmitted by Younka, he nodded and said, "It’s incredible that something has reoccurred that made people fall in love with combat skills again. This indeed requires proper investigation. Besides, I haven’t gone out in a long time either."

He wanted to breathe the fresh air he hadn’t enjoyed in a long time, and conveniently check on the theatrical farce of adventurers surrounding Sain Dungeon, so he left the magic workshop he’d resided in for quite some time.

"Have you heard of Benar? It’s said that more than half the people entering Sain Dungeon now are going there to learn combat skills from him."

"How could I not have heard? If I didn’t have duty today, I would have gone too. After learning, I’d love to study the heroes’ combat skills in Glory Dungeon; that was my childhood dream."

Just as he stepped out, he overheard the conversation of two soldiers on guard.

"Eh?"

What did he just hear, combat skills?

Edgar raised an eyebrow and walked over cheerfully, asking:

"Gentlemen, what are you discussing?"