The Vastness of Magical Destiny
Chapter 320: Volume 5 Lord’s Path - 9 Gift

Chapter 320: Volume 5 Lord’s Path Chapter 9 Gift

"Your Highness Princess Vero, please allow me to represent the 170,000 citizens of Caucasus in offering our sincere blessings for your birthday. We are fortunate to witness another year of growth in joyful times for Princess Vero, to behold the radiant beauty of the kingdom’s most renowned beauty devoted to Your Highness. I think my friends and I, upon returning to Caucasus, to Homer, will have one more subject of envy to brag about to our dear ones." Komer had not used such deadly flattering language to deceive a naive girl in several years. Images of his ridiculous past endeavors of womanizing seemed to flicker before his eyes once again. Was it absurd? Komer didn’t know; perhaps that was just the exuberance of youth, the proof that the prime of youth burned brightly upon him.

While he poured a continuous flow of praise to the silver-haired girl, blushing with a mix of shyness and delight like an elf, Komer, following the standard Nicosia Nobility etiquette, knelt on one knee to request a kiss on the girl’s fingers. Perhaps moved by Komer’s sincerity and eloquent language, the girl, her face flushed with happiness, removed her thin, cicada-wing like white glove to accept Komer’s blessing.

Seeing the happy and joyous expression on Princess Vero’s face, Knight Sate beside her was filled with jealousy and unease. He hadn’t expected that his opponent, caught off-guard in such a situation, could still attend to his idol with such composure. He didn’t believe the other party could pull off any tricks at this time, and blabbering was not enough to conceal the true colors of these country bumpkins at such an occasion.

"Heh, Your Baron, we all admire your eloquence. Like us, Princess Vero is awaiting your special gift, and we believe it will be the most dazzling jewel at the banquet held in her honor." Striving to control the rising urge to kill within his chest, Knight Sate failed to notice the confusion and puzzlement on the faces of the two young knights beside him. At that moment, he only wanted to tightly snare his opponent; if Komer could not present a gift or brought out any item that failed to be precious and unique, he would unleash the most venomous and filthy words upon the man still pretending in front of him.

"Oh, thank you for the reminder, Knight Sate," Komer politely nodded to the expectant young man beside him, and then calmly retrieved his so-called gift from his embrace.

A pale cyan-colored small ring. The style of the ring was simple and unadorned, devoid of any pattern or decoration, yet when placed in Komer’s palm, it emitted a gentle greenish hue, like a sprouting young shoot suddenly growing from the center of his palm, silent and unassuming, yet distinctly vibrant.

The gathered nobles focused their eyes on Komer’s palm. Such a rudimentary and plain ring, could it really be considered a special, precious, and unique gift?

Bursts of laughter erupted from the nobles around, eventually becoming unrestrained throughout the grand hall, mocking and scoffing incessantly, "Country bumpkin, is this your gift? A ring not even worth a Gold Shield, without even a gift box? Your Baron, I seriously doubt how you came by your title. Is the title of Baron in the Homer region so worthless?"

"Heh, the Wilderness is full of rude people, to think they’d try to deceive us Galleians with this kind of market stall trash at Princess Vero’s birthday. Do you really think we Galleians can’t recognize quality?"

"A bunch of swindlers, Duke, I suggest we thoroughly investigate the origin and background of these fellows. For all we know, those swindlers active in Phoenix City could be them. I’ve heard that those swindlers also parade around as nobility, blatant fraudsters!"

Righteous indignation on his face, Knight Sate took a fierce step forward, glaring at Komer, "Your Baron, your behavior is a great disrespect to Princess Vero and an insult to our entire Galleian noble class. If you cannot provide us with a reasonable explanation, I will take it as a provocation against the Galleian nobility, and I shall formally challenge you to a duel!"

The people following close behind Komer had already turned pale with shock and unease, except for Hozer, who continued to follow Komer closely and retain his composure. Hozer, experienced in the ways of commerce, believed that there must be a reason this inscrutable lord dared to reject an ancestral treasure and instead offer such a ring. Although Hozer could not discern anything magical about this very ordinary-looking ring made of common jade, he trusted that the lord had the means to turn the situation to his advantage, as easily as flipping his hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet for a moment. I understand your respect for Princess Vero, but I truly do not understand why my offering of such a precious gift, most suitable for a young girl, has invoked such criticism from all of you. Is it that no one in Galle takes this seriously, or is this intentional provocation? I am truly unable to determine at this moment and would like to hear a reasonable explanation from all of you," Komer said, waving his hand gently. The clamor of the crowd quieted down, either consciously or unconsciously, and the gaze of the nobles, who had been cursing under their breath, returned to Komer.

Seeing his beloved daughter command the atmosphere in a way he never could, Sate was both angry and anxious. This fellow was no ordinary rogue or trickster; a ring offered so casually without even simple packaging claimed to be a meticulously prepared gift? He was interested to see how this man would spin a pile of cow dung into a flower.

"Your baron, since you say so, please forgive us for our short-sightedness and lack of insight. Would you kindly enlighten us as to how this ring is of ancient heritage, of extraordinary provenance, and of immeasurable value?" Sate’s face, already ashen, was twisted with impatience and a fierce light gleamed in his eyes. If Komer did not provide him a satisfactory answer, he was quite likely to use this opportunity to challenge Komer to a duel and kill him in one blow.

"Of course, this is a ring, but it’s certainly not an ordinary one. As a birthday gift for Princess Vero, everyone should be aware that I would not present some cheap trinket, as some shortsighted folks suggested. This is a Magic Ring, with abilities that could be beneficial to many. Naturally, Princess Vero would be the main beneficiary. Here, I would like to see if any of the experts present recognize this ring and could recount its glorious, legendary history?"

Komer felt as though he was being cornered; the ring was one of the items he had obtained from a strange thief. Unlike the other trinkets stored in a brocade pouch, Komer could sense the Wood Magic power contained within the ring. Moreover, its ancient style suggested it was a very old artifact. Komer had once sent the ring to a top Magic equipment shop in the Royal City of Jazair for an evaluation while on his way there. Unfortunately, the chief appraisal master was not present that day, and the other ordinary appraisers were only able to vaguely determine that it was an extremely valuable piece of Wood Magic equipment, greatly assisting Mages in controlling Wood Magic. The specific details, however, remained unknown.

By speaking as he did now, he was testing to see if anyone could recognize the item. If nobody could identify it, he could just brazenly make up a story, claiming it was a Sacred Object left behind by the Goddess of Nature or perhaps the Forest Goddess. He could even splice in some historical knowledge acquired from the last emperor of the Dark Empire to fabricate a tale, freshly baking this Magic Ring with a glorious history and unlimited value. If his deception were to be exposed later, he reasoned that it wouldn’t matter much; he rarely visited Galle, and he was already saddled with many notoriety. Adding the label of a swindler to his name would be inconsequential, as long as he could get through the current situation.

Once again, everyone’s gaze converged on Komer’s palm, where the motionless, greenish ring lay. A Magic Ring? Those were items specifically used by Mages and certainly valuable, but not all Magic tools and Magic equipment were worth a fortune. Although most of the nobles were not well-versed in Magic, it did not mean they were all ignorant. It appeared unlikely that this prop was the so-called treasure of inestimable value.

The greenish ring remained still in his palm, and no one could see what was extraordinary about it. It’s best to keep silent about things one doesn’t understand to avoid embarrassment, especially something like Magic tools which cannot be easily appraised for their true worth by appearance alone. However, the two young knights standing next to Sate frowned slightly. Relying on their own sensory abilities, they could feel the Magic elements coursing through the ring Komer described as immensely valuable. Indeed, it was a Magic Ring, but its specific effects and legendary history were not something they could know.

For Knight Sate, however, whose head was clouded with fury, there wasn’t much room left to think. He too became aware of the Magic properties of the ring in Komer’s hand. Yet, this did not mean much; a simple Magic Ring with some protective features was only worth a few hundred Gold Shields in a Magic shop, hardly the priceless treasure claimed. To Princess Vero, such a meaningless ring represented nothing more than a deception under the guise of Magic, a mere attempt to muddle through. Sate was sure this was Komer’s ploy and was determined not to let this detestable impostor deceive everyone so easily. This was an affront to Princess Vero, and he felt compelled to expose the scheme and ensure these fraudsters received their due punishment.

"Mr. Mundell, you are an authority in the Magic community of the Galle Region. The baron here claims his ring to be of extraordinary value, boasting a grand and legendary history. I would like to request your expertise to appraise it for us, and maybe share the tale of this treasure’s legendary past," Sate called out, raising his voice with the resolve to see this matter through to the end. He could not let this sly bumpkin manipulate everyone here and disgrace Princess Vero. He must unveil the scam and ensure these scoundrels face punishment.