Wise walked to the horse carriage outside of the castle to choose his team of retainers he had in his mind. A team of guards followed him automatically to protect him. and a healer to ensure that his whole body was not hurt because Wise could not feel it himself.
The first retainer Wise chose was his teacher, Emerald the father of the Dragon Division. Emerald had taught him since he was three. Emerald was only a level one practitioner who had very low compatibility with any profession, but that did not make him an unimportant person. He was a genius trapped by his very low talent.
With his low talent, he used to be stuck in the early stage of the apprentice level. However, that did not make him fall into despair. He crawled his way out to seek a glimmer of hope for his breakthrough. After ten years of study, he learned that the bottleneck that had plagued him for ten years was because he did not know well enough about his body and the world’s principles and laws.
He studied his body and magic extensively for thirty years and dived into innumerable professions. He got all his profession into the early stage of apprentice level. With all the bits of knowledge he gathered during this time, he managed to find a way to break through to the middle stage of the apprentice level. Then he gathered all the knowledge he needed to reach the late stage of the apprentice level. He repeated the process again and again until he reached level one. In total, he spent fifty years from the early stage of apprentice level to level one. It was a miracle for a very low talent to reach level one. Normally very low talent could only reach the early stage of apprentice level.
Emerald could not have reached all those achievements alone. Russel Argetlam helped and sponsored him when he was in the darkest days of his life after seeing his potential. The investment in Emerald was opposed by Russel’s family and subordinates at first. However, he insisted on investing in Emerald against all odds. The investment which took a long time went great, almost too great even.
To repay Russel’s kindness, all of the data generated in his research he voluntarily donated to Russel. Russel who used to be a minor noble marginalized in the army was allocated only low-level talented soldiers to spite him. Later he used this data to improve his subordinates' power dramatically which was later known as the strongest army division in the Orknay Kingdom, the Dragon Division.
With his contributions, Emerald was honored as the father Dragon Division. He was the most valuable member of Russel's subordinate. After the founding of the Argetlam Kingdom, he was appointed as the Kingdom’s prime minister for ten years before he resigned. He was too tired to manage a country and it was not his passion. Later, he spent his time teaching Wise, enjoying his life, and pursuing more knowledge. He was not young anymore after all.
Wise could not force his teacher to follow him in his test. He can only bet his luck on a bait he prepared. Emerald had a high position in the kingdom and was his father’s most reliable man after all. Only if Emerald joined voluntarily that Wise’s plan could go more smoothly.
After the convoy had arrived at Emerald’s house, Wise got off the carriage and ordered his guards to wait. He knocked on the gate and waited respectfully. A minute later, a servant opened the gate and invited the little prince to come inside the house. Wise walked in while admiring his teacher's small house. Emerald’s house and garden were neat and beautiful with fishes swimming around in a small pond. However, the house was small for someone in his position because he was so fair and honest when he served as prime minister.
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Wise met Emerald in the living room. He was an old man who looked like he was in his sixties even though he was nineties. He was draped in white aristocratic clothing. He had a scholarly look on him. His eyes were shining with wisdom. His hair and beard were white but it did not make him less graceful. Although he was old, his body was still straight like a javelin before the war. Wise greeted his teacher respectfully and handed over the fruit he brought as a small gift. After being asked to sit down and drink a cup of tea, Emerald asked him what brought him here.
He knew that his teacher did not like chit-chat, so he stated his purpose: “Teacher, the purpose of my visit is to invite you to join me in my test from my father to make Desert Marigold Regency prosperous. My father set a time limit of one year.”
“Interesting. Your father sends you to rule a regency even though you are still six. It seems that he is in a hurry. However, I’m too old for all the hustle and bustle. I retired to get away from that after all, I need to conduct some research to break through, I have very low-level talent after all. And you had inherited all knowledge I know. You don’t need me to come with you.” Emerald stated his answer with an uninterested look on his face, which made sense. His teacher was ninety-five years old now and the limit of level one was one hundred and twenty years old. To prolong his life, he needed to either break through to level two or eat some life-prolonging treasure.
“teacher, let me explain the plan first before deciding whether to refuse my invitation,” Wise said insistently, with a determined face not fitting for his age. He continued: “Teacher, let me ask you. In your mind, what is the reason that has hindered this kingdom from being prosperous?”
“The demon beast’s horde from the north is the main reason. Using my data to build the army, we have a strong army enough to contend against them. Not only we could not find enough men for the army, but also could not get more money for the war. the Kingdom's financials were stretched to the brink of bankruptcy several times in these thirteen years every time they attacked us. The noble houses always squeeze the kingdom to dry before contributing to the financial needs of the army and the kingdom, even though we fight for them. they always ask for something five to ten times the value they contributed. They always say that your father is not the legitimate king behind our back, because your father is not a royal family descendant. Why do you ask this obvious question?” Emerald was confused by Wise’s question. He worked hard to find the solution in his tenure as prime minister. However, it was all for naught.
“What if I have a solution for the demon beast’s horde and the financial needs of the kingdom? More than that, I also have a solution for our problem regarding people's prosperity and the troubles made by nobles.” Wise began to outline his plan. Emerald’s eyes started showing some interest. However, it was not enough to make him join the plan.
“You are great if you can find the solution for all that mess. But you can do it alone without involving me. You inherited all my knowledge after all, why do you need me?” Emerald asked Wise back doubtfully.
“What if the plan I have not only can make the teacher’s research achieve more in less time but also hopefully can improve your realm? But there is a catch, you need to be involved in this plan.” Wise kept convincing his teacher and drew a carrot to hang the teacher’s appetite.
Emerald’s eyes shined brightly instantly. Now he was really interested in this plan. He was in his twilight years with little to no hope of breaking through after all. If he managed to break through to the level two practitioner in one of his professions, he would prolong his life for eighty years. No man who did not want to live longer after all?