Surviving The Fourth Calamity
Chapter 1022 - 816: Pre-War Preparations in the Land of Conspiracy
CHAPTER 1022: CHAPTER 816: PRE-WAR PREPARATIONS IN THE LAND OF CONSPIRACY
Vila happily watched the little fairies who were showing her great respect, thinking about how many gifts she could receive at the festival’s final moment... that was the time for the Queen to receive gifts.
Vila’s act of weaving the Starfire Garland already proved her intention to aspire for the Queen’s position... Any little fairy willing to attend the festival would certainly follow the traditions of a normal celebration.
The nobility could present their gifts themselves, while the commoners could request the Queen’s steward to present their gifts to her, and the Queen would personally open the gift. Her gift would be judged by the Queen and all the attending fairies, and the opinions of these judges would greatly affect the social status of the giver.
If the gift surprised and delighted her, the giver might receive a small token of appreciation from the Queen; if the gift was deemed mundane and uninteresting, that fairy might find themselves the subject of ridicule, or worse.
Vila did not have her own steward yet, so she had the Little Flower Fairies who had just been leading the dance each open a small reception house... These were mushroom toy houses that Vila purchased from the Undead Tribe: colorful little mushrooms scattered all over the open space, previously used for taking in registrations from little fairies who came from all over to participate in the performances.
These cute little houses, which for the Undead Tribe who favored Alchemy Products were merely practice items during a transitional period, largely remained in their own bags to rot: while they could slightly increase space, the addition of Space Crystal Powder did not have a significant effect... the 10 cm tall mushroom houses could at best become 1 square meter inside.
But for little fairies, they were perfectly suitable... So after discovering the purchasing enthusiasm of the little fairies, the Undead Tribe began mass-producing these houses, which had no use other than for increasing craftsmanship skills.
Previously, only people who liked playing with dollhouses would learn this boring recipe... even the Undead Tribe who liked to keep small animals wouldn’t let their pets live in such small houses.
No one expected that on Toril there would actually be buyers!
The Undead Tribe quickly cleared out their inventory, and although the price wasn’t high, at least it was profitable... When doing business with NPCs, the pricing was set by the Temporal Artifact, unless it was an item rare enough to be auctioned, the Undead Tribe had to follow the rules strictly.
And for the little fairies, ten portions of nectar could be exchanged for a portable little house, unbelievably worthwhile... When not in use, the house could be turned into a tiny mushroom less than 1 cm long.
When not in use, they could put it in their little bags... Each colorful mushroom already showed the restraint of these little fairies.
Now there were long lines in front of these mushroom houses... many little fairies decided to present gifts to this newly appointed Queen, which Vila watched with excitement... she was so popular!
Vila, lost in her imagination about the gifts she was about to receive, didn’t notice, but Hill, watching from the side, saw the excited eyes of those little fairies on the big screen.
They saw an opportunity for advancement appearing before their eyes.
In this festival, many performing little fairies registered themselves... Vila having stayed in Agleya for a long time, although still possessing the little fairy’s persistence towards noble bloodlines, was much fairer in action.
Therefore, these performing little fairies registered themselves rather than being recommended by the nobility... as long as they successfully gained the Queen’s favor, the never-fading Starfire Garland would belong to them!
A day when a commoner little fairy could receive such a high reward!
The little fairies’ eyes were almost brimming with tears as they looked at Vila... but the Flower Fairy Queen, in whom they placed their high hopes, continued to indulge in her dreams... Hill could see at a glance that Vila was already daydreaming far away.
Clearly, the performance in front of her was quite good... Although this bard’s tone was a bit flat and the story content was a bit dull, at least the singing was quite melodious... It was obvious that he had modified the content of his singing after arriving in Agleya, and his performance style was clearly hymnal singing.
He wasn’t as clever as the previous one... although Vila had requested them to minimize singing praises of the Fairy Queen, the first Fairy Queen... the creator of the Ice Dragon Throne could still be sung about, at least the content was interesting and exciting enough to overshadow the overly sacred tone.
Otherwise, it really would rely solely on vocal strength, and this guy wasn’t at that level.
It wasn’t surprising that Vila got distracted... Hill thought silently to himself, he would have been the same... Fortunately, next year when Vila hosts the Four Seasons Festival in Kalinsan, she would hear hymns sung about herself.
For a little fairy, being able to choose to leave a comfortable environment and rebuild the natural cycle in places where forests and rivers were almost destroyed, Vila, whether successful or not, would become the main character in the hymns.
Even though most of the little fairies would still think her actions were a bit silly... deep down, they still admired such a strong-willed being.
After all, such a strong individual had only appeared once in the long life of the little fairies, and that was the first Queen who founded the Fairy Kingdom.
After the Bard left, the remaining performers seemed to realize what kinds of performances were not favored... More and more light and nimble dances appeared, while the Bards chose to sing various hometown tunes... Although the melodies weren’t considered elegant to a certain extent, their audience was happier listening to them.
Vila also clapped her hands on the throne with satisfaction... which brought about the ecstatic expressions on those Bards’ faces.
She didn’t quite understand what was happening... but in front of the enthusiasm of the people, of course, she had to nod modestly... The little fairy felt extremely proud inside, and she was more confident about her future... Was Titania as popular as her?
Vila, who had hardly participated in the Four Seasons Festival organized by the Joyous Court, probably never thought about how approachable she was in the eyes of these little fairy commoners... If there was a Queen like this, their future would surely not be trampled under the nobles’ feet again, right?
If the little fairy nobles felt the ground was dirty, they would actually have the commoners lie down to make a carpet for them... Although, respecting the tradition of bloodlines, commoners mostly dared not resist, but it did not mean they were willing.
The difference between Vila and Titania was too significant... You know, the Joyous Court, which always pursued elegance, would not allow these Bards to use such crude tunes to praise the Queen; many nobles even considered it an insult for Queen of Titania to hear those little tunes.
But for little fairies who were used to singing freely in the forest, they were more skilled in these hometown tunes... They were not court poets; who would be idle enough to sing hymns to the animals in the forest?
Looking at the Flower Fairy Queen in front, tapping along with the tunes, many little fairies who had been rolling in the mud for tens of thousands of years finally felt they found hope for a good life.
"How many little fairies do you think will stay in your Agleya?" Celene seemed to have noticed too, "After housing them for so long, probably this time, they’ll all follow Vila!
Amanata really took advantage this time!"
"I estimate the Fairy Spirits and some Brown Immortals might stay, maybe a few Pixies." Hill said indifferently, "I have no demands on the little fairies! Just as long as they don’t cause trouble... These few Pixies in Agleya may still like to make people lose their way, but they wouldn’t trap anyone for too long.
If there was an urgent matter, just calling their names would get you released... I actually quite like their perennial childlike personality."
"Amanata better take more advantages... anyone’s will do, especially from that Tethyr next door." Shaer coldly interjected.
Tethyr is a country in the western Ferun, located north of Kalinsan. It’s the typical country of nobility... Clearly, this is the kind of place where Followers of Shaer have the most promising development potential.
Hill silently recalled Tethyr, known as the Land of Intrigue... After undergoing twenty years of civil war, it’s now ruled by Queen Zalanda Star Rinalduen and King Hadrale III... These two could be considered relatively wise rulers, especially the King, who once worked as Elminster’s clerk incognito.
But after all, it’s a country that has just recovered from war, filled with compromises and confrontations within Tethyr... They can’t even stretch a hand to the tumultuous neighboring Kalinsan, where the Royal Family is nearly wiped out.
That juicy piece of meat next door, yet because of being shackled, they can’t drive away the stinging bees crawling on the meat to scoop it into their palm... only to watch as a person holding a flame tool came by, roasting the bees while grilling the meat... The nobles of Tethyr must be restless now, right?
But even though they can’t deploy troops, they have plenty of resources and money; Hill could understand Shaer’s words, that these nobles were probably already prepared for paid economic aid after the Kalinsan fight becomes unsustainable... Even if some responded to Acerber’s call and joined the war willingly, the one who summoned them, whether truly Acerber or not, still had to pay these people.
Moreover, both the Followers of Acerber and the devoted followers of the Sun God Amanata must do one thing: they themselves must become the backbone of this battle... Otherwise, what right do they have to proclaim Amanata’s justice and glory!
But the Toril people have always been realistic, and after all, the wars in this world never directly involved the commoners... No matter who wins or loses, ordinary people still live so miserably... So, a Commander who can’t offer bounties would only get an empty barrack.
Now it depends on whether the followers of Amanata have the capability to win this war on their own.
Once they got the money from the Tethyr nobles... taking others’ money isn’t just a saying.