This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 635 - 559: The Young Man with Boundless Prospects

Chapter 635: Chapter 559: The Young Man with Boundless Prospects

The little inferior demon who had entered the city not long ago had now changed into proper attire and stood in front of Melina, speaking vividly about the Clerk of the Second Layer of Hell.

Amberser had not shown himself, only listening to the description of the little demon through the Magic Mirror.

Once he had spoken enough, Amberser had Melina send the little demon back.

"Father, your enemy has actually become a Clerk of the Second Layer of Hell... That position sounds very significant!"

Previously, Amberser had reminded Melina never to offend those bearing three specific names; Melina had thought her father was being overly cautious.

But the first one showed up with exactly such an identity.

The master of the Second Layer of Hell was Disparte, the Steel Duke, famously averse to showing his face, preferring to hide in his steel fortress as if he didn’t care about anything.

Yet, there was never any chaos in the Second Layer of Hell, unlike the First Layer of Hell with its betrayals and counter-attacks. In a Hell where no one is truly good, the ability to discreetly maintain an entire layer of Hell illuminated the capabilities of this Steel Duke.

To become the chief clerk of Disparte, this Salvador must be outstanding, considering also the era; Amberser himself was only a few centuries old, his enemy’s time in Hell couldn’t have exceeded that.

To rise from a mere little demon to the Clerk of the Second Layer of Hell in just a few centuries? How remarkable was that?

Amberser also remarked, "Salvador being a clerk poses no problem at all. In handling administrative affairs, he might be the most capable person I have ever seen. Do you know what he did when he was still in the Prime Material Plane?"

Curious, Melina asked, "Was he a human lord?"

Amberser shook his head, then said, "When I knew him, he was a clerk at the Bureau of Judicial Review in the Laine Empire. If he hadn’t encountered me, he might have become the youngest Supreme Decree in the Laine Empire."

Melina blinked in confusion and said, "Supreme Decree... doesn’t sound all that impressive."

Amberser awkwardly said to his daughter, "Melina, you really underestimate people, don’t you? The Laine Empire was once very powerful, being a Supreme Decree was equivalent to the position of an Imperial Chancellor!"

"But... all right, father, please continue."

Melina didn’t know how to explain it, but in her brief life of just over a year, the Supreme Decree really seemed a bit undistinguished, not to mention that there were clerks every three hundred years who had the chance to become Supreme Decree.

But since her father said he was very capable, he must truly be so. It would be best for her to not express an opinion.

Amberser himself realized Melina’s exposure was a bit too vast; she was born a legend, her mother the Undead Queen of Gloomyland, her early views filled with countless undead servants, and acquaintances all mighty beings from the Elegy Poetry Society, and later experiences all with deities.

In the few battles she had fought, she faced either Rose’s Chosen One or puppets created by Zariel. She had also witnessed the battle of the Magic Dragon Tyrant, and recently had even ventured into Hell to become a Lord over a vast territory there.

Laid out like this, her experiences indeed completely overshadowed Salvador, with even Amberser himself unable to match up. In his first ten years after crossing over, he had been a lowly commoner worried about not having enough to eat.

This was not the life experience a normal child should have. It was just that Melina was quite naive; otherwise, anyone else would have long since been used to looking down on others.

Still, Amberser felt the need to remind Melina of Salvador’s impressive abilities.

"It was probably over three hundred years ago; my memory has gaps, many details are unclear, but I remember that by then, I had mastered the Power of Destiny, becoming an official Diviner Mage, just having spent all my savings on a Youth Potion, feeling rejuvenated and spirited, just like now..."

As Amberser spoke, he gradually became lost in his memories.

Having spent all his resources on a Youth Potion, transforming from an elderly man back to a young fellow, Amberser strode toward Laine, eager to see for himself what this sacred nation, desired by all humans, was like.

That was when he met the young Salvador.

Salvador, a graduate of the Ryan Theological College, was a bona fide devout believer. At a young age, he was already a High Priest, and becoming a legend was just a matter of course. From the Theological College, he was sent directly to the Bureau of Judicial Review as a clerk. Within three years, he had mastered imperial law and won the favor of the then Supreme Decree.

However, the Bureau of Judicial Review was very averse to nepotism; even if they favored this young man, the Supreme Decree at the time decided to follow tradition and send Salvador elsewhere.

After working in a district court for over a decade, rising from a mere Confession Priest to a regional bishop was nearly enough to return to the Bureau of Judicial Review in the Imperial Capital and become the assistant to the Supreme Decree, and then smoothly succeed the position without any major mistakes.

Given Salvador’s age at the time, he had the chance to become the youngest Supreme Decree.

Unfortunately, in his second year of being posted abroad, he met Amberser.

It was a dispute between humans and a foreign race; at that time, the Laine Empire hadn’t fully gone to war with the Dwarf Kingdom, and there were still occasional trades.

However, the human supremacy ideology in Laine had already become deeply entrenched, so instances of humans bullying members of other races were common.

The dwarven traders came to conduct business, only to be arrested, have all their property confiscated, and sentenced to thirty years of hard labor on the charge of insulting the Lord of the Dawn in their language.

Amberser, who had accompanied the dwarven trader, understood the whole situation. Actually, it all started when the dwarf entered the city and, faced with discrimination, could not help but exclaim, "Is the doctrine of the Lord of the Dawn to teach mankind to discriminate against other races? Does this even qualify as justice and light?"

Though these words weren’t particularly harsh, to the fanatical Laine people, it was blasphemy against their Deity.

Amberser had never seen such fanatical faith before, but he still wanted to save the man.

As he inquired around, he heard about Salvador.

This priest apparently had a deep background and wielded significant influence in this border city, and his intervention might allow for a possible reduction in the sentence.

As a Diviner Mage, it wasn’t difficult for Amberser to encounter Salvador; the two met on a very ordinary afternoon in a small tavern.

The priest didn’t drink, but Salvador liked to sit quietly in the tavern, observing the everyday lives of the city’s commoners, sometimes also hearing news he wouldn’t expect.

Thus, Amberser sat beside him, seizing the opportunity to strike a conversation.

Salvador was surprised by Amberser’s insights and more curious about what a Diviner Mage was, whereas Amberser also admired this high-ranking yet unpretentious priest. Perhaps because both were intelligent, they enjoyed their conversation, and a friendship began to form.

Amberser understood that a casual acquaintance didn’t warrant deep conversations, so he couldn’t ask Salvador to release the dwarven trader right after their chat.

So, he spent some time genuinely befriending the priest, and after about half a year, Amberser even teamed up with Salvador to resolve several crises in the town.

The Laine border city was never short of trouble, with beings like god-headed people, goblins, undead... saying they had to fight a small battle every couple of days was no exaggeration.

Amberser’s prophetic abilities helped Salvador resolve many troubles, enough to consider them comrades in arms. More than once, Salvador invited Amberser to become a follower of the Lord of the Dawn and even suggested he join the Divine College in the Ryan Royal City to further his studies.

Seeing that their relationship was solid enough, Amberser prepared to bring up the matter of the dwarven trader.

But unexpectedly, Salvador broached a subject first, uttering what was, at the time, nearly heretical blasphemy.

"Don’t you think that Laine’s faith in the Lord of the Dawn has become too fanatical and has started to veer towards extremism? If this continues, it won’t be long before they become the enemy of the entire world."

This was over three hundred years ago, when Laine was the most powerful empire on earth and had not yet reached the point of global antagonism, yet Salvador had already foreseen this future.

Amberser was shocked. How could this future Supreme Decree dare to say such things? If word got out, it wouldn’t just ruin his prospects—it was certain to cause major trouble.

But Amberser very much agreed with Salvador’s words; he was human too, but because he didn’t worship the Lord of the Dawn, he still faced much outrageous prejudice in the city.

"I want to change all this, starting with your friend’s case," Salvador had said then.

Recounting this, Amberser told Melina, "That’s what he said at the time."

Melina quickly asked, "What happened next? Weren’t you friends? How did you become enemies?"

Amberser said resignedly, "Because while he spoke of ending this fanaticism, he didn’t realize that he himself was part of it, and his madness was deeper than others’."