Water Mage in the Flame Realm-Chapter 432 - 412: Returning Kindness with Kindness

Chapter 432: Chapter 412: Returning Kindness with Kindness

The Warm Fire Commerce Association has never understood why the Southern Retreat Land is always unwilling to accept the olive branch extended by the commerce association, always harboring a sense of distrust?

In the eyes of the Warm Fire Commerce Association: it is normal for you not to trust those bastards from the Magic Guild, but we are not the same as the Magic Guild.

However, from the standpoint of the humanoid but non-human races of the Retreat Land: whether it’s the Magic Guild or the Warm Fire Commerce Association, in the end, they are all "human beings."

The dispute between the Guild and the Commerce Association, as seen by the Retreat Land, looks more like internal strife among the human race.

Why get involved then?

Of course, it is clear to anyone with discernment that there are good and bad people in both the Guild and the Commerce Association.

The Retreat Land also knows that the Magic Guild is a group of downright scoundrels, while the Warm Fire Commerce Association is generally more positive.

But the Warm Fire Commerce Association has one trait that the Retreat Land has always disliked, which is that the commerce association loves talking about money, business, and terms too much.

The races of the Retreat Land particularly hate discussing this!

This innate distrust of humans, coupled with the dislike of the commerce association’s excessive business nature, are the two factors that add up to the real reason why the Retreat Land has always resisted establishing a friendly relationship with the Warm Fire Commerce Association.

And now, Anya says that the enlightenment is completely free, requiring not even a penny.

These words are like a carnivorous animal saying: Sorry, I’m a vegetarian! to the envoys of the Retreat Land.

"Free, free of charge...? Lord Anya, are you sure?" The envoy looked at Anya, still with an expression of disbelief in her own ears.

She quickly became wary: "If there’s no charge, are there any other conditions attached?"

No matter how wary she was, in history, there was once a time when the Retreat Land was infinitely close to establishing a stable cooperative relationship with the Warm Fire Commerce Association, but it ultimately fell apart due to various attached conditions.

Anya shook her head: "There are no special conditions. If there must be one, it’s just what I mentioned earlier, you have to tell us in advance when you come to our Wildfire Territory."

"That’s all?"

"That’s all."

Anya’s face became paler, she was a bit unable to hold on, really needing some rest.

So this meeting between the two parties quickly had to end due to Anya’s physical condition.

The envoy remained uncertain about Anya’s promise of "free of charge."

With a try-it-and-see attitude, the next day she brought in a group of her people from the Retreat Land. This time, she strictly followed Anya’s requirements, reporting every step of the way.

The result was... indeed free!

All the alien races passed through the Gates of Enlightenment without paying a penny and were even warmly received by the Wildfire Territory.

"Impossible, how can this be? Isn’t the lord of the Wildfire Territory, Andrew, the live-in son-in-law of the Warm Fire Commerce Association? All the crows in the world are just as black, that Warm Fire Commerce Association is cunning as hell, and the Wildfire Lord is closely associated with that commerce association, how can they be so generous?"

The envoy was still unwilling to believe that there could be such a good thing in the world.

She seemed to have a grudge against Anya, the Wildfire Territory, and the reportedly missing Wildfire Lord Andrew. The following day, she brought back her clansmen for enlightenment, and this time, the number tripled!

Her thinking was simple: Didn’t you say it was free? Fine, then I’m not going to be polite! I want to see how long you can keep up this free pretense!

Contrary to this, the Wildfire Territory still treated them incredibly courteously and graciously, with no particular changes.

The envoy thus continued bringing more people!

This time, the number of people increased tenfold!

Indeed, this time, there was a change in attitude from the Wildfire Territory, as a representative came to say: "Ah, you brought quite a lot of people this time..."

The envoy sneered internally: "Here it comes, here it comes! The next sentence should be something like, ’With so many people, it can’t be completely free,’ right?"

Yet, she heard the other party say: "Lord Anya said that your people can spread out a bit. We have eight Gates of Enlightenment in our Wildfire Territory, so don’t crowd at this one South Gate."

After a pause, the person added, "With eight Gates of Enlightenment, even if your number increases tenfold, it’s not a problem. Is transportation inconvenient, and you can’t bring too many people at once? How about tomorrow we send a convoy from our Wildfire Territory to help you bring people over?"

The envoy: "??"

Under the scorching midday sun of the Inner Sea Desert, the envoy’s face felt feverishly hot, and she struggled to maintain a proper smile affably without losing composure.

But inside, she was completely shaken!

"What’s going on? Just what is going on?" The envoy’s heart screamed, "Is this really a territory established by humans? The innately greedy humans capable of such generosity and grace? The Lord of the Wildfire Territory... could the lord and the Warm Fire Commerce Association not be—"

"Oh, by the way." The representative sent by Anya said, "Lord Anya heard you referred to our territory’s Lord Andrew as the ’live-in son-in-law’ of the Warm Fire Commerce Association yesterday?"

The envoy tensed up and quickly said: "No malice. I have no opinions whatsoever of any live-in son-in-law! I like live-in sons-in-law!"

The representative shook his head and said: "Whether you have opinions is your business, nothing we can control. However, what you said does not align with the facts, and that’s the key. Lord Anya asked me to convey this: please stop commenting on our lord. If there is a condition for free use of the Gates of Enlightenment, that would be it."

"... Understood! So, so sorry."

That night, the envoy returned to the Retreat Land and reported the latest situation to the twelve elders of the Elder Council.

By the early morning of the next day, the three Earth Fire Scholars of the Magic Guild launched a surprise attack on the Dragon’s Nest, a place they had voluntarily abandoned, causing First Crimson Knight Peter to die in battle and President Beiru to suffer serious injuries!

The situation on the battlefield changed dramatically, and the pressure on the Wildfire Territory increased sharply.

Anya ordered the whole territory to enter wartime status, with everyone required to assist in supporting the front lines, ensuring logistical work and supply tasks must be secured.

However, how could a single Wildfire Territory alone bear all the logistical support responsibilities during the Second Twin Fire War that swept through the entire Flame Realm?

Anya was so busy and overwhelmed that she temporarily almost forgot about Andrew’s disappearance.

Still, I felt increasingly powerless.

Just then, the envoy from the Retirement Land once again brought people to the Wildfire Territory, but this time, they didn’t go through any of the Eight Gates of Enlightenment.

Because the foreign race coming to the Wildfire Territory this time wasn’t after enlightenment.

"Is there anything we can help with?"

The envoy asked An Ya, who was shocked at the time, "There’s no merit without reward; we’ve been walking through those Gates of Enlightenment freely, and it’s a bit embarrassing for us. The elders mean to say: If you need help with anything, just say the word, and we’ll do our best to help within our abilities! Like your Gates of Enlightenment, our assistance is free too, haha!" They said with a playful wink.

Sometimes, things in this world are just this miraculous.

The Warm Fire Commerce Association had painstakingly tried to win over the Retirement Land for years, but to no avail.

An Ya never thought about wooing them, yet ended up having the foreign races from the Retirement Land voluntarily offer a helping hand!

Relying solely on the Wildfire Territory and the Inner Sea Desert was indeed insufficient to support the front lines.

But adding the Southern Retreat Land changed everything completely!

The foreign races’ "Superpower Magic" isn’t strong in frontal combat but excels in logistics, support, treatment, enhancement, as well as stealth, reconnaissance... far more advantageous than any Human Race Magic!

That’s why when Andrew used Water Magic to treat a large number of wounded at the Warm Fire Temple, he was mistakenly thought to be from the Southern Retreat Land!

After the three Earth Fire Scholars raided the Dragon’s Nest and killed Peter, they retreated back to the Scholar’s Fortress.

In anger, the Warm Fire Commerce Association surrounded the entire Scholar’s Fortress.

In such a situation, if a swift decision can be made, it would undoubtedly be more beneficial for the Warm Fire Commerce Association.

But if it drags on, the more it’s dragged out, the harder it becomes for the Commerce Association’s stretched lines.

Under these circumstances, the rapidly rising Wildfire Territory, combined with the rich underlying strength of the Southern Retreat Land, jointly supported the Commerce Association’s logistics and supply lines.

This finally forced the three Earth Fire Scholars, overwhelmed by the continuous pressure, to decide to target the Wildfire Territory, determined to first cut off the Commerce Association’s supply support!

——At this point, the influx of information from the Wildfire Territory into Andrew’s mind finally slowed down.

Andrew had finally "read" through what had happened in the Wildfire Territory during his absence, understanding why it had become this way.

"Amazing, truly amazing!" Andrew found it all incredible, "I never expected An Ya sis to make friends with the humanoid races from the Retirement Land in this manner!"

Yes, making friends.

Andrew felt that this description was most accurate.

It’s not assimilation, not even cooperation.

It’s returning to the simplest communication and interaction between people, treating others as you’d like to be treated!

Then he thought: "The current situation is really tense! Without the unexpected strong aid from the Retirement Land, once the rear supply lines falter, the front lines are likely to collapse soon.

This second Twin Flame War has truly come to the point where both sides are in a life-and-death struggle. Compared to this, the first Twin Flame War was merely child’s play."

Raising his eyes again to look at the Wildfire Territory before him, Andrew stepped forward, disappearing into the canopy of the Water Tower Tree Shire.

The next moment, he appeared directly in a room inside a simple building next to the central Magic Laboratory at the heart of the Wildfire Territory.

This building was the very spot when Andrew initially traversed to the Flame Realm, his first "landing point."

Back then, this building was affected by a nearby Magic Laboratory explosion and caught fire.

Andrew rescued young Sophie from the fire, which was the first time he activated the Water God Mark (then in the form of the Tear of the Water God), and started the Fire Extinguishing Upgrade Method.

Later, when Andrew became the head of the Wildfire Territory, the building was rebuilt.

By rights, Andrew should have lived in the central Magic Laboratory.

But Andrew always felt a bit above it all, seemingly separated from everyone else in the Wildfire Territory, so he continued living in the small building beside the laboratory.

Later, this building became the office and residence for Andrew, An Ya, Ivan, and Barbara, who were involved in the development of the Wildfire Territory at that time, as well as all the management team.

Employed by An Ya there at the moment was her office.

"The Wildfire Territory owes its current state greatly to An Ya sis!" Andrew thought.

For An Ya, admiration had grown into compassion and tenderness.

Seeing her behind her desk by the window, diligently handling the mountain of territorial affairs, there was no trace of sadness or fatigue on her face, partly because the war was pressing, leaving no time for it.

Another reason was that she had adjusted her mindset: even if there’s only a chance of one in ten thousand, if he’s not dead but returns alive, then at least I want him to see a thriving Wildfire Territory and a positive, sunny Territory Administrator!

This is An Ya’s current mindset.

Watching An Ya like this, Andrew felt a strong urge to go forward and hug her. He wanted to tell her he wasn’t dead, that he wouldn’t vanish again, and most importantly, thank her for everything she’d done for the Wildfire Territory!

The urge was so strong, yet Andrew forcibly suppressed it.

He heard An Ya say, "Is there a problem? If so, come in."

With a creak, the door opened, and an incredibly handsome young man walked in, but unlike the usual courteous greetings as ’An Ya Lord,’ his lips slightly curled in a smile, seeming somewhat mischievous.

It was Tiago.