A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 275 Mission to the Ovi Empire

The Ovi Empire was ruled by forty-two legendary electors and the emperor of the empire.

Jiang Shuzhou and his group are here to reach a peace agreement with the Aovi Empire.

In short, it is a non-aggression pact.

The specific details have been agreed upon, and we are just waiting for the Emperor to sign the contract.

Since the new emperor Mideas did not complete his coronation or inherit his father's legendary strength, Jiang Shuzhou and the others came here on one hand to represent the alliance at the coronation ceremony, and on the other hand to hand over the contract to Mideas.

This time, it was an old friend who came.

"Hey? Isn't this Princess Rosemary? Long time no see!"

"I don't live as carefree a life as you, Master Navis."

Compared to Jiang Shuzhou, Rosemary hasn't changed much.

However, he had a few more guards by his side, who seemed to be his confidants.

This woman caused trouble in Mahablay before, secretly hoarding Abyss Pus. Jiang Shuzhou thought she was going to do something big, which scared him so much that he ran away overnight. But more than a year has passed and nothing has happened.

How have you been feeling lately?

"It's nothing. My fourth brother is ruthless. Apart from me, all the princes and princesses were mysteriously killed."

Rosemary clutched her chest, her face filled with fear.

"Hehe, you're still alive? I think you're not so bad after all."

Jiang Shuzhou wasn't buying it.

"Are you here to attend the coronation ceremony?"

"I guess so."

"You'd better watch this coronation ceremony closely; my fourth brother has made it incredibly magnificent."

Rosemary said meaningfully.

Jiang Shuzhou frowned. What did this woman mean?

The Elector has already chosen sides; he's the Crown Prince, the heir apparent. Judging from Rosemary's words, could there be a reversal?

"Then I look forward to your performance."

Jiang Shuzhou is a puppet this time, so he can do whatever he wants to die. As long as he can see a good show, even if he dies, it will be worth the ticket price.

Rosemary smiled slightly, swayed her hips, and left.

Isn't she the one who's supposed to be welcoming us?

Soon, the people who were truly there to greet them arrived.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Zibel."

A free-spirited blond man walked over.

Looking at this person, Jiang Shuzhou, Morris, and Trank all had one thought pop into their minds.

What kind of deformed melons and cracked dates are these?

Jiang Shuzhou was speechless.

Judging from his senses, he was a mid-level warrior, nothing special.

"Trunk".

"Maurice".

"Navis".

Jiang Shuzhou and the others then introduced themselves.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I will now lead the way to our greatest city, Caesar's City!"

His tone was frivolous, lacking any respect, and brimming with arrogance.

Jiang Shuzhou's evaluation of the empire dropped another point.

Many things can be seen very clearly from here.

This empire is doomed to perish sooner or later; it's surprising how perfunctory it is towards Jiang Shuzhou and the others.

The Ovi Empire is considered an old power. Compared to the Mage Alliance, which was only established a few hundred years ago, the Ovi Empire has a history of tens of thousands of years.

But that's all there is to it. The Empire is currently the weakest of the three major powers, meaning that neither the Alliance of Saints nor the Alliance of Mages can do anything to the other. To prevent the other two from joining forces to attack one of them, the Ovi Empire has been spared any trouble.

Otherwise, the league would have already given them talent shows and ruined the country.

Jiang Shuzhou and the others didn't say anything, after all, it was the other party's territory, but their attitude towards Qi Beier was obviously much colder.

Along the way, Jiang Shuzhou and his companions witnessed what true misery was.

In the rice paddies, the farmers, their faces ashen, stared at the rice stalks.

The grains of rice were not very plump, which clearly indicated a poor harvest.

As Jiang Shuzhou was traveling, an old woman rushed over, crying, and kowtowed to Jiang Shuzhou and the others.

"Please, men, save my child! We're starving! I haven't eaten for two whole days. I have a child, he..."

The old woman began to complain.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Whose fault is it if you can't pay your taxes?"

Zibel waved his hand, and several soldiers stepped forward, grabbed the old woman, and prepared to throw her aside.

"Sigh, never mind, here's the money."

Morris, being young, couldn't stand these things, so he took out ten gold coins and gave them to the old woman.

"If you spend this money sparingly, it'll be enough for you to live on."

The old woman looked at the ten gold coins in her hand, her eyes glistening with tears of excitement.

"Thank you, sir! I will never forget your great kindness!"

Then she ran away like a madwoman, talking as she ran.

"We're rich now! We won't go hungry anymore!"

Watching the old woman leave, Jiang Shuzhou shook his head.

This guy is doomed.

Ten gold coins might be nothing more than spare change for mages like Jiang Shuzhou; they could easily have a whole bunch of them.

But for these ordinary people, this is a huge sum of money.

Keep in mind that the annual living expenses for a family of three are only two gold coins, and that's assuming they live comfortably.

If you make do, one gold coin is enough to cover your expenses for a year.

She received ten years' worth of money, and everyone around heard it. What will become of this old woman?

Most of them were robbed or extorted.

The cause of this was the empire's distorted tax system.

The tax-farming system of the All Saints Alliance is already at its peak, but the Empire still has many experts here.

A 30% tax rate, plus a whole host of other exorbitant taxes and levies.

In total, an individual has to pay 80% of the taxes.

How could anyone possibly survive like this?

They couldn't rebel, after all, the noble lords were truly courageous. Their ancestors had entered the pass with the Knight King, and when they were conquering the world, they had endured all the hardships of their lives.

The younger generation is now just enjoying themselves.

By simply using an alliance, any unrest among these civilians can be firmly suppressed.

Although Jiang Shuzhou knew the person was definitely gone, he wouldn't tell Morris. After all, he was still young, and if he heard about this, he might do something rash.

Besides, let's make him feel that good deeds are rewarded.

Don't let your child's resolve crumble and they become despondent.

"Behave yourselves, protect them well, and don't let these shady characters get close to us."

Having learned his lesson the hard way, Ziber now opted for a strict quarantine to prevent anyone from doing the same thing again.

"Alright, let's go. We've already done our good deed, so let's not cause any more trouble."

Jiang Shuzhou offered a word of advice to Morris, who still wanted to continue giving alms, telling him to stop.

If this continues, another bloodbath will probably break out here.

Those who know you're doing a good deed will think you're organizing a PUBG tournament; those who don't will think you're doing something virtuous.

The winner gets coins from other players, while being eliminated means death.

That's pretty good. Maybe I could organize one?

Jiang Shuzhou began to ponder.