Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 229 - Ancient Artifact Warehouse

The Magic Association was an organization that had existed for a very long time, and since its inception, it had been responsible for certifying numerous spells and protecting the rights of those who created them.

However, as numerous magic towers emerged, it gradually lost its authority, and eventually reached a situation where its reputation became nominal.

In such a situation, the Felix family, one of the Twelve Families, stepped forward to support the Magic Association.

Thanks to the support of the Felix family, the association was able to regain its past authority. Furthermore, it firmly regained the value and trust in magic registration that had faded.

The association was fully revived, and the Felix family, which played a pivotal role in the association’s revival, gained strong influence within the Magic Association.

“Well, our Felix family has been supporting the Magic Association for a long time. Because of this, we received various rights from the association.”

At the moment, many personnel in the association were connected to Felix. Even the previous Association President was openly granting favors to the Felix family.

“The same goes for the replacement of the Association President. When I heard about it, I was really surprised…”

Unlike earlier, the messengers from the Felix family showed an extremely cautious attitude.

It was quite a bewildering development for the messengers. Originally, this wasn’t a situation that warranted such an attitude.

Ethan glanced at Yerica while listening to the messengers’ story, and she nodded. She had decided to fully entrust it to Ethan, believing he would handle it well.

“Your name?”

“It’s Albado Merde, Lord Ethan.”

Ethan’s widely spread reputation and the golden plaque given by Hansen. These two things worked definitively.

‘It seems they don’t know that I saved Felix’s heirs.’

“Albado, let’s talk sensibly. You’ve been sponsoring the Magic Association from Felix, so you must know, right? About the unreasonable things the association was doing.”

“By unreasonable things, you mean…”

“I mean corruption.”

When Ethan cut him off, cold sweat trickled down Albado’s forehead. Ethan, who possessed Hansen’s golden plaque, could literally be considered an honored guest of the Felix family.

Of course, setting aside the golden plaque, they could take a strong stance regarding this matter.

No matter how honored a guest Ethan might be, he couldn’t stand above the will of the family.

This matter was directly ordered by a high-ranking member of the family, so they could appeal to that authority.

But even though they had come to a conclusion, they couldn’t move right away.

This was because Ethan was not an opponent they could deal with carelessly.

It wasn’t just because he had the golden plaque.

Hansen had said that Ethan would become a great figure commanding the continent at any time, so the Felix family should maintain a good relationship with Ethan.

Moreover, this was said at a grand meeting led by the Felix lord, and Albado, who was present at that meeting, clearly remembered these words.

Hansen’s voice carried quite strong weight within the Felix family.

Since Hansen had so strongly emphasized this, all officials working in the Felix family were aware of Ethan Whiskers.

In addition, there was the report they had received just before coming here.

For some unknown reason, it was said that the Duke Felix had made a big fuss, and after that, he had ordered that if they met Mr. Ethan Whiskers, they should immediately escort him respectfully.

“That’s not corruption, but…”

“Legal favors, well, something like that. I know. But… is that really just a favor?”

At Ethan’s words, Albado quickly wiped away the sweat dripping with his sleeve.

Ethan had completely taken control of the atmosphere in this space.

“I’m not here to judge right or wrong.”

As Ethan leaned back in his chair and spoke, Albado, who had been unconsciously holding his breath, took a short deep breath.

“The previous Association President committed corruption, and the association’s management wasn’t very good either. The new Association President here has resolved all of that. So, shouldn’t Felix’s side be grateful and give some kind of reward?”

At Ethan’s words, Albado couldn’t open his mouth to say anything.

There are procedures in work. Any work should be resolved according to the proper procedures.

Yerica’s actions were actions that ignored procedures and furthermore, were a challenge to the Felix family who sponsored the association.

But he couldn’t refute Ethan’s words.

The aura emanating from Ethan. And the tremendous mana emitted by the new Association President Yerica, who was silently looking this way, kept pressuring him.

“Ugh.”

It was to the point where he could hardly breathe. Just how strong were these people?

Albado was a 7th circle magician. This meant he had the ability to handle the Magic Association matter alone.

Nevertheless, he felt completely flattened in front of these two people.

“Yerica.”

“Yes, I went a bit too far. I’m sorry, messengers of Felix.”

“Huff… huff…”

The two who had accompanied Albado also breathed heavily.

“I, I don’t know about rewards, but I will make sure to convey this situation to the superiors as it is.”

The situation was currently unfavorable for the messengers.

If they couldn’t turn the situation around, it was best to take a step back.

“Then it would be good to go together.”

“…Pardon?”

Albado’s expression hardened for a moment.

“As it happens, I have some business with the Felix family. Let’s go back together, messengers.”

***

It was an extremely uncomfortable journey.

Throughout the journey, Albado and the two messengers were busy sneaking glances at Ethan.

Ethan didn’t say anything. He didn’t even explain why he was going to the Felix family.

He just said he had some business.

As a guest with a golden plaque, he could visit the Felix territory anytime.

“Um, Lord Ethan, could we know why you’re going to the Felix territory? If it’s because of this association matter, we will make sure to handle it properly. We also knew that the previous Association President was crossing the line. But because of the long-standing relationship…”

“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to hold you accountable for that matter.”

In fact, Felix’s messengers were not at fault in this matter.

Also, the Felix family was not included among the three families of the Twelve Families that were Yerica’s targets for revenge.

With those words, Ethan didn’t open his mouth anymore.

‘There’s not much time. I’ll handle the business in Felix territory quickly.’

Yerica was left behind as she needed to finish the association’s work and prepare for her inauguration as Association President.

Yerica was Ethan’s bodyguard before being the Association President of the Magic Association. As she would have to frequently leave the association depending on the situation, she needed to appoint a competent and credible deputy after her official inauguration.

Yerica had already captivated all the magicians of the Magic Association. She didn’t need Ethan to teach her anymore about judging people.

As there was no need to worry about Yerica’s work anymore, Ethan headed to Felix territory with the messengers with a light heart.

The Felix territory was a much larger land than Prochet, which he had visited before.

It was incomparably larger than the Whiskers territory, and the walls surrounding the territory rose high into the sky.

When they arrived at the entrance that seemed to embody the word ‘magnificent’, the two messengers except Albado quickly ran ahead.

“We’ll immediately notify them that Lord Ethan has visited.”

Not long after the two messengers ran ahead, the gates of the territory opened.

Kugugugugung-!

Bam-bam bam-.

Beyond the gate, Felix’s knights were lined up on both sides, waiting. They saluted Ethan by raising their swords along with the sound of trumpets.

‘…Isn’t this too grand?’

Ethan walked naturally between them.

At the end of the path were Kai Felix and Rohai Felix. Rohai looked to be in good spirits, seeming to have recovered his health.

“Welcome! Teacher Ethan!”

Kai Felix came forward and extended his hand to Ethan.

“Isn’t this too much of a welcome?”

“You’re our territory’s most important guest, this is not enough. Father will be out soon. He was really grateful when he heard about this matter. And… I also had a separate conversation. Of course, it’s not settled yet.”

Unlike his words, Kai’s expression looked bright.

Duke Felix, who had been imposing traditions on Kai until now. It’s unlikely that things would be resolved easily.

But seeing Rohai Felix come out together, it seemed their conversation was already over.

Above all, since he had taken a step forward on his own, Kai would be able to walk as he wished from now on.

“I was so out of it that I couldn’t even express my gratitude properly. I’m Rohai Felix, Mr. Ethan Whiskers.”

“I’m Ethan Whiskers.”

Rohai Felix greeted with a smile.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Ethan. I heard everything from Kai. If it weren’t for you, we brothers would have been helplessly killed by those Moon Followers.”

“Actually, we were going to invite Teacher Ethan first, but…”

It was natural for Kai to be curious, as Ethan had come before they could even invite him.

“It seems there are various things to talk about.”

Ethan took out the golden plaque from his chest and handed it to Rohai.

“I also received this from Mr. Hansen, and it seems we need to have a separate conversation about the Magic Association matter.”

“Oh! So you had business with our family! Whatever that business is, we’ll make sure to resolve everything for you. What wouldn’t we do for the savior of our lives?”

Rohai said with a laugh.

“Now, shall we go, Mr. Ethan?”

Meanwhile, Albado, who was behind, repeatedly went over whether he had made any mistakes on the way here.

Seeing the two heirs of Felix warmly welcoming Ethan, if he had made any mistake, it wouldn’t just be overlooked.

Fortunately, there was nothing that could be a problem. Albado was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief at that fact.

At the same time, he inwardly praised himself for making an accurate assessment of the situation as soon as he saw Ethan.

***

“Mr. Ethan Whiskers, as the father of two sons, I’m truly grateful for this matter. If it weren’t for you… I can’t even dare to imagine what would have happened.”

Duke Felix was a man of huge build. His black hair was mixed with white, and below it, his ash-gray beard was grown thick.

“Thank you, truly thank you.”

Duke Felix bowed his head and expressed his gratitude. Rohai and Kai were greatly surprised at this sight. They had never seen the Duke bow his head even once before.

“I will definitely deal with those Moon Followers myself. I’ll dry up their roots completely.”

Duke Felix’s eyes flashed. As he said, it seemed he could kill someone with just his gaze.

“I, Strader Felix, don’t just express gratitude with words. I will definitely compensate for this matter. What do you want?”

Duke Strader Felix looked at Ethan. He had heard about him earlier through Hansen.

The man who revived the death-filled Prochet.

Hansen had emphasized, with his face turning red and veins popping, that they must maintain a good relationship with that man.

Since Hansen had rarely spoken in such a strong tone, Duke Felix had remembered this in his mind.

But who would have thought that this Ethan Whiskers would save his two sons from danger?

Of course, Ethan Whiskers in person didn’t look as great as Hansen had said.

Rather, he gave a fragile impression.

But contrary to appearances, he had a strong presence. Duke Felix focused on this point.

He had met countless strong individuals and fought with them.

Among them, renowned strong ones had the same presence as Ethan Whiskers.

The Three Gods who existed above the heads of the Twelve Families.

The Emperor of the Holy Empire, the Emperor of the Demon Empire, and the Tower Master of the Sword Tower.

Strader had met all of them and remembered their extraordinary presence.

And among them, he remembered the one whose impression was most similar.

‘He’s similar to the Sword Tower Master.’

When his thoughts reached this point, he suddenly became interested. He was curious about what kind of compensation this person with a presence reminiscent of the Sword Tower Master would desire.

He could grant almost anything.

Since he had saved Kai and Rohai’s lives, he was willing to grant everything even if the request was a bit excessive.

“I heard that the Felix family has a warehouse where treasures are collected.”

“Hmm! Good choice. Yes, our family possesses numerous treasures. I’ll open the treasure warehouse for you. Take whatever you want!”

Ethan shook his head.

“Not just any treasure warehouse. Please open the treasure warehouse where ancient artifacts are gathered.”