Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Soon, the deserted street was left with only Ronan and the butler facing off.

Ronan took up his sword and shield. The butler was taken aback at first, then smiled. "No wonder you've pushed us to this point in less than a day. It turns out it's Mr. Artes."

“As a civil servant, it’s a real failure that I’ve become famous,” Ronan said self-deprecatingly. “I’m still too young and too naive. I need to learn something from the butlers, like that old proverb: be smarter than them, but don’t let them know it.”

The butler sighed. "Alas, my mission has failed. How about we chat for a few minutes and then go our separate ways?"

“Sure,” Ronan agreed. “But you have to tell me how Mayor Ares managed to transport the copper inland so quietly.”

“I’m sorry, my oath is loyalty, and I will never reveal my master’s secrets,” the butler said. “How about another condition?”

"Silent magic brings silence to magic?" Ronan smiled. "What a coincidence, I am also loyal, so the conditions cannot be changed."

“It seems there’s no point in negotiating.” The butler said, taking a stance and grabbing at the air. A white spear made of condensed yet dissipating magic power appeared in his hand.

Sword and shield against spear, the battle begins.

The butler's spear danced in a dazzling display, sometimes like a supple whip, attacking from all sorts of unpredictable angles, and sometimes like a cannon, launching a fierce, straight-line bombardment from the front.

Ronan's moves were so simple and unadorned that they were almost robotic.

Ronan had none of those kinds of moves: sweeping slashes, rapid charges, powerful leaping strikes, or desperate, targeted blows.

There are only three actions: shield block, longsword thrust, and roll dodge.

If the butler is a kaleidoscope of offensive moves in the realm of spears, always with more unusual and exquisite techniques to come, then Ronan is a turtle that can launch hidden weapons, letting you attack, and then occasionally stabbing you with a sword from the shadows.

A few minutes later, Ronan was unharmed except for some sweat on his forehead, while the butler had five or six bloody holes pierced by Ronan's sword tip.

The butler is immune to magic, but Ronan's sword is not just a magical weapon.

The butler stepped back, saying, "With such honed skills, are you really a civil servant?"

"Aren't civil servants the best at following procedures?" Ronan retorted. "But you, how did a butler develop such skills? Do you, like me, enjoy slacking off at work?"

Just as Ronan made his sarcastic remark, the butler launched his most ferocious attack since the start of the battle. The spear, condensed with magic, flew from his hand and transformed into a magical tornado that hurtled towards Ronan.

In an instant, sand and dirt flew wildly, carving a deep trench across the ground, just as the magic tornado struck Ronan's "Shield of Loyalty." The violent explosion shattered the doors and windows of houses on both sides of the street. Ronan, who was bracing himself with his shield, was also forced back by the impact, until his boots left two mud tracks more than three meters long on the ground before he finally stopped.

Ronan moved the shield away, and the butler had already vanished without a trace.

"This attack wiped out nine units of my defensive energy. You truly deserve to be called a second-tier mage."

This blow wiped out most of his hard-earned savings of the past six months.

His "Shield of Loyalty" is continuously upgraded by fulfilling promises made to those he is loyal to. On one hand, his physical and magical defense will slowly increase accordingly. On the other hand, he can accumulate defensive energy that can completely neutralize magical attacks. The energy increases by one unit depending on the situation after fulfilling a promise. Winston, that good-for-nothing, can only bring one unit of energy increase most of the time, and three or four units on rare occasions.

Although Winston could only give a small amount at a time, he loved to cause trouble, so over the past five years, Ronan's "Shield of Loyalty" had accumulated seventy-six units of defensive energy.

"Fortunately, the mayor has made a big enough mess this time, so she should be able to make up for some of it, otherwise I would have lost money."

Taking a breath, Ronan put away his sword and shield.

He dashed into a corner of the nearby alley, and two minutes later, Ronan caught up with the fleeing butler.

He was running breathlessly, clutching the bloody hole in his chest, when he stopped running the moment he sensed Ronan.

Ronan approached the butler. "It's the same question as before. Please answer me. Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'm a law-abiding civil servant."

The butler staggered to the side of a house, leaning against the wall. "That attack didn't even affect your mobility. Are you really a second-tier like me?"

Chapter Seventeen: Lies, Truth, Even a Fool Wouldn't Believe It

The butler had fought against several second-tier mages before, and he had lost before, but he had never lost so miserably, especially in the close-quarters combat that he was most proud of.

What puzzled him even more was that his all-out magical attack, enhanced with penetrating and corrosive effects, had not caused Ronan the slightest harm.

He has exhausted his magic power and is still bleeding, so he has no chance to escape.

“Of course I’m Tier 2, I just arrived yesterday,” Ronan replied, and as he spoke, a magic-encased iron nail suddenly popped out.

Caught off guard, the butler's right knee was nailed directly into it. The butler only hissed and half of his face twisted violently, but he did not utter a sound of pain.

The butler even gave a mocking smile, saying, "You think you can get his secrets from me? Impossible."

Ronan chuckled and said, "That wasn't torture; it just further reduced your mobility. I don't want to waste time tracking you again."

Before he could finish speaking, the iron nail was already in the air. The butler instinctively dodged, but unfortunately, his right knee was injured and his mobility was greatly reduced. Although the nail did not hit his knee, it still hit his left calf.

"Where did you get so many nails from?" the butler said irritably.

"We picked them at the hotel; that's called maximizing utilization," Ronan replied jokingly.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Ronan unleashed a powerful kick at the opponent's knee, where the nail had been driven into it.

This resulted in a fracture of the butler's right kneecap.

The butler could no longer hold on, and he slid off the wall like a sandstorm, falling to the ground, but he gritted his teeth and didn't cry out.

Seeing this scene, Ronan couldn't help but regret his leniency. He hadn't even cried out when his knee was cracked. This was no ordinary person. He couldn't hesitate any longer and had to strike hard.

Ronan thrust his sword towards the butler's crotch. Although he missed, the butler was so frightened that his face turned deathly pale and his body convulsed.

“If this sword misses, the next one might not. If you really don’t want to talk, I really don’t have time to waste with you. You will be one of the important witnesses. I don’t want to kill you, but losing a part shouldn’t have much of an impact, right?” Ronan said. “Don’t try to fool me. People who use the Oath of Heaven magic will suffer the backlash if they break their oath.”

That's the downside of a divine oath. First of all, the oath you make isn't something you can just make however you want; it's something given to you by the gods. Once you accept it, breaking it will bring backlash.

Ronan may also be loyal, but they are fundamentally different. Ronan is a master of fate magic, which emphasizes making choices. Loyalty is just a minor rule for him. Even if he violates his own rule of loyalty, at most his magic power and magic strength will drop slightly.

Moreover, for Ronan, the rules, like moral bottom lines, are flexible.

But you can't take the butler's oath lightly.

"Tell me, I'll tell you." The butler, who had been so assertive just moments before, immediately softened. It was clear that he had unhesitatingly chosen his penis over magic. "It's teleportation. The Heidi people can use certain stones to activate certain ruins for teleportation. As for the specifics, I... uhhh! I don't know anything else!"

Before he could finish speaking, the butler screamed and roared in agony.

Then, at the moment of that scream, the butler suddenly sprang up and threw a punch at Ronan. He knew very well that after being injured, he had no chance of winning against Ronan head-on. The only chance to turn the tide was to launch a surprise attack when Ronan thought everything was over and his mentality was completely relaxed.

However, his punch, imbued with a great deal of magical power, landed squarely on the shield.

Ronan didn't raise his shield; he simply summoned it in front of him to block the punch.

The butler showed no surprise at the failed raid; instead, he revealed a sinister smile, because this was exactly what he wanted.

Ronan's caution was entirely within his expectations.

Magic adhered, his fist and the shield, which was a manifestation of magic, stuck together tightly. He pulled and swung it backward, throwing the shield aside, and at the same time, he threw a punch at Ronan with his other hand.

This time, the damned shield was gone, and the unguarded Ronan had no room to dodge.

Bang! It was the sound of a fist slamming into a body, causing bones to crack and flesh to explode.

The next moment, the butler collapsed.

In that split second, just before the butler's fist hit Ronan, Ronan's fist struck his chin first. Instantly, the butler's jaw shattered, his brain concussed, and blood gushed from his mouth. If it weren't for the extraordinary physique afforded by a true mage, he would have been dead from that punch.

Ronan took a few steps back, shaking his hand. Although he had covered it with magic, he was still seriously injured in that attack. "I knew it. How could a sworn mage casually utter his oath? If keeping the secrets of the person you are loyal to is your oath, would Mayor Ares have dared to send you to block my way?"

The butler's timing and acting were both excellent, but unfortunately, Ronan never believed his promise from the beginning: "My oath is to be loyal and never reveal my master's secrets."

At this moment, the butler collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

"While what you just said is certainly not entirely the truth, it couldn't have been entirely a lie either."

Ronan looked at the unconscious butler and said.

He's a liar, doesn't he know that lies have to have some degree of truth to them?

Most of the mysteries have been solved.

Why is copper smuggling possible? Because it can be teleported. It's possible to sink the item at sea to an underwater ruin and then teleport it to a ruin outside White Star City.

Why should they be able to take the Seapipers to foreign lands? It's because they can teleport. There are countless Seapiper ruins, not just on the southern coast of the kingdom. In this region, which is similar to the Mediterranean, there are Seapiper ruins in many places, and most of them can be found in the northern part of the Vena Federation.

Ronan could even guess what Allais was planning to do at this very moment.

Ares is most likely planning to run away with the money and a small number of Haidi people.

"But the most crucial question remains unresolved: what are the Haidi people planning?"

Even now, Ronan still can't figure this out.

Do you think the Haidi people and Ares could live a better life than they do now if they ran off to the Vena Federation to seek refuge with a city lord or state leader? Only a fool would think that.

Especially since the Haidi people under Ronan's rule also participated, even though their lives had already improved significantly, not even a fool would do such a thing.

A dozen minutes later, Ronan arrived at the settlement of the Seaflies in White Star City, a place called Conch Bay, named after the conch shells that the Seaflies used to make conch whistles.

At the entrance to the town of Conch Bay, Dinia and Agustina stood there, with a large number of Seapiper people lying dead in front of them.

Could it be that Dinia scared the Heidi people to death?

Ronan rushed forward in concern, only to find that no one was dead. The first dozen or so people in the front row were middle-aged men groaning in pain, with muskets in their hands. Behind them was a large group of elderly people, all of whom had collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

This is how the same thing?

Chapter Eighteen: Running Away, Running Away, Running Away at Sea

“Ronan, you’re too slow,” Agustina said with a hint of teasing.

Ronan didn't bother with this unreliable woman at all and went straight to Dinia, asking, "What happened?"

“Several Heidi men with guns wouldn’t let us in, and behind them were hundreds of old men who sat in silence, blocking the road, saying that if we wanted to go in, we would have to step over their corpses. I had no choice but to break the fingers of the men with guns so that the old men behind them could fall asleep,” Dinia explained the situation.

It seems this is Ares's real method of obstruction: using an old man to block the road. However, Ares doesn't seem to know Dinia well enough. Dinia is indeed not the type to attack an old man casually, but ordinary people simply cannot withstand her paralyzing mushrooms.

Wait a minute! Ronan suddenly realized something was wrong.

Dinia asked, "How did things go on your end? What did you gain? I didn't let you face that butler alone to give you a chance to prove yourself; it was just to make things easier for you."

Ronan really wanted to retort, "I told you to come over here, not to stand here dazed. Haven't you noticed something so obvious?"

“Intelligence,” Dinia said.

"Let's talk as we go. We need to get out to sea as soon as possible," Ronan said. The team's average intelligence seemed to drop whenever he was away. The two of them hadn't even realized that something was wrong. The Seapipers blocking the road consisted of only a dozen or so middle-aged men and a large group of elderly people. Where were the young people? Were they dead?

If he didn't die, then he must have run away.

The three of them made their way through the crowd into the town and headed straight for the port. Along the way, Ronan explained the intelligence they had gathered and the conclusions of his analysis.

Then, Ronan pointed out the key point: the only people blocking the road were middle-aged and elderly.

Dinia instantly realized, "Chase!"

Continuing towards the harbor, as expected, the houses along the way were eerily quiet. Many houses were empty, with even the doors removed. However, many houses still had their doors and windows tightly closed, indicating that there were people inside. This was normal, as there was no time to organize everyone to escape in such a rush, and besides, there weren't enough boats.

Judging from the situation, at least two or three thousand people have left.

The three arrived at the harbor, but there wasn't a single boat, not even a small sampan.

“They shouldn’t have gone far,” Agustina said.

"Ales decided to flee immediately after the banquet, which was only two hours ago. It would take at least half an hour for him to send someone to inform the Seapiper people of Conch Bay. Although the Seapiper people had been preparing to flee, it would still take at least an hour to board the ship. Therefore, their ship had been on the move for at most half an hour."

Ronan gave a rough timeframe.

This was the case in an era with underdeveloped communication; all information had to be transmitted through people, and even a small place like Baixing City could not provide instant feedback.

Dinia looked at Agustina, "Tina, get ready."

“Understood, Commander,” Agustina replied loudly.

“Next, imbue your feet with magic, and don’t change your running rhythm. Don’t worry, I will match your rhythm,” Dinia said to Ronan.

What does this mean? Ronan was a little confused for a moment.

While Ronan was distracted, Dinia had already started, rushing towards the beach and leaping onto the sea. Just as her boots were about to touch the water, a bunch of mushrooms the size of an arm appeared on the surface. Her shoes, imbued with a certain amount of magic, stepped on the mushrooms to gain momentum and take her next step. Just as she was about to step into the water, the mushrooms reappeared. She continued to move forward, and the mushrooms kept appearing under her feet, extending and extending.

And so, she began to run on the sea.

Agustina was the same, running on the sea surface, stepping on mushrooms.

Ronan understood now; so that's how it works.

Ronan gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and rushed towards the sea. For the first few dozen seconds, he was still very nervous, worried that he would fall into the water. But after a few dozen seconds, he realized that as long as he kept his pace steady, there was no risk of falling into the water. However, he still couldn't help but look down from time to time.

Gradually, Ronan was finally able to stop looking at his feet.

"Haha, you have a good mentality," Agustina praised with a smile. "I fell into the water after only a few steps the first time I did it."

“It’s probably because I grew up by the sea,” Ronan replied, now even having the energy to speak.

After running for a while, Ronan had almost completely adapted.

"Madam, just how many variations of your mushroom magic are there?" Ronan asked curiously.

Dinia said, "Paralysis, Berserk, Parasite, Toughness, Deformation, five in total. This one is a mushroom after it has grown to gigantic size."