273 Contribution (1/2)
”Sir Ofran, don't hesitate and just tell me the conditions, whether I can do it or not is my problem.”
”Okay…” Hearing this, Ofran knew that he had to be careful with his words. On one side was the wealthy Mafa Merlin, while on the other side was the unyielding Elder Council. Ofran thought for a few minutes before coming up with a solution.
Delaying...
He would first give Mafa Merlin an extremely hard condition to stall for time before taking advantage of that time to find another method to make Mafa Merlin return to the family.
This was very important for the Merlin Family.
If the wealth of the Gilded Rose was properly used, it could let the power of the Merlin Family reach a whole new level.
Moreover, the Gilded Rose wasn't just wealthy...
From the information William sent, the Gilded Rose had resources, skill, and talent. And the affiliated mercenary group that appeared out of nowhere had a shocking force of 50 Great Mages. Even in Okland, that would be considered a pretty decent fighting force.
With their amazing wealth, even the Merlin Family might not be able to keep up with them if they had the time to develop.
Only those blind old geezers would push away stranded offspring that controlled such a force. Any other faction would already have been begging for him to enter their Ancestral Land.
As he thought of that, Ofran composed himself. ”The Merlin Ancestral Land is different from the ones from other Families and Clans. Only the core children can enter, and as for the others, they would have to be strong competitors for the Patriarch position to have the right…”
”...” William forgot to breathe and almost choked before Lin Yun even said anything.
'Are you joking?
'Who in the Merlin Family doesn't know the conditions to enter the Ancestral Land? What do you mean competitor for the Patriarch position? You are lying through your teeth! And it normally wouldn't much that you are lying… But you are creating huge problems for yourself…
'Isn't there enough chaos with Aube, Leon, and Ross competing for the position? You are making it worse… What if Cousin believes you? This is no joke…
'If he truly believes it, then Aube, Leon, and Ross won't survive. With his temperament, he will most likely get rid of these people so that he could become the successor himself. Many could die because of your casual lie, will you be able to live with this?'
William couldn't help shivering as he thought of that. He looked desperately at Ofran, hoping this old man would retract his words.
Fortunately...
Although Ofran hadn't noticed William's meaningful glance, he hesitated after finishing his sentence and added, ”Naturally, if you can make a great contribution to the Merlin Family, you'll also be able to enter the Ancestral Land…”
”Pheew…” Hearing those words, William sighed in relief. 'Thank god, thank god you reacted in time…'
And sure enough, Lin Yun didn't even think about it and directly asked, ”What is considered a great contribution?”
”It's very simple,” Ofran said with a relaxed expression. ”A few hundred years ago, Okland had a Charlotte Family. Although this Charlotte Family's strength and heritage were a lot inferior to that of the Merlin Family, a genius suddenly appeared. That man was named Fussen Charlotte. He became a Great Mage at 18, a High Mage at 25, and he was one step away from advancing to the Archmage realm at 33…”
”And then?”
”Then, the Charlotte Family rose with this genius and felt that they could rival the Merlin Family. They kept provoking us, and even publicly declared that Fussen Charlotte would reach the Heaven realm before fifty and would wipe the Merlin Family and the Watson Family at that time…”
”That's certainly some ambition..”
”It was, the Charlotte Family's ambitions were great, but those were just words. At the time, Fussen Charlotte was truly a genius among geniuses, progressing at a rapid pace on the path of magic. But the Merlin Family and the Watson Family had their own geniuses too.”
”What was the outcome?”
”The outcome…” Ofran smiled at Lin Yun. ”He ended up being killed by a Merlin during a hunt and fell before becoming an Archmage. The High Mage who killed him was Santon Merlin, one of the three Heaven Rank Mages of the Merlin Family in the past five hundred years. But Santon had only been a child of a side branch when he killed Fussen Charlotte. His Merlin blood was very thin, and it was only after he killed Fussen Charlotte that he was allowed to enter the Ancestral Land. Three years later, he became an Archmage, and twenty years later, he reached the Heaven realm and became a genuine Heaven Rank powerhouse. If you are interested, you can read his story in the secret tome of the family. The account of Santon's life is very detailed and it is a very interesting story…”
”Okay, I understand.” Lin Yun nodded before asking, ”Who is the most outstanding genius of the Watson Family at the moment?”
”It's Stan Watson, he is 38 years old and an 8th Rank High Mage. He is similar to Fussen Charlotte,” Ofran subconsciously answered, before doubtfully asking, ”Why are you asking?”