Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 262 Talking about feelings is too formal.

The Queen's bedroom.

Sophia stared blankly at the row of open boxes in front of Murphy.

Ivan, Ras, Sophie, Felipe, Azir...

Now all they have left are bloody heads.

"You really did it," the Queen said, still seemingly in disbelief. "When I learned of Azir's betrayal, I almost thought I was going to lose you."

Murphy smiled and said, "I'm pretty lucky."

The Queen stood before the heads for a long time before having them all taken away. "As agreed, you can continue to advance your plans with the Muggle government, and Alkaim will not interfere with any of your actions."

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty," Murphy said. "However, I have one more request."

The Empress stared at him for a while, a blush rising on her snow-white cheeks. "Please speak."

Now that all the other suitors have either been persuaded to back down by Ivan or have been killed, only Murphy is left. If he really proposes to me, should I accept or not?

"Before I arrived, the British Ministry of Magic sent me a letter of credence, hoping to establish diplomatic relations with Alkaid. If possible, the Ministry hopes to engage in trade and various forms of interaction and cooperation with Alkaid," Murphy said.

Talking about feelings is too formal; let's get down to business.

"The British Ministry of Magic?" The Queen paused for a moment, "Is this also your intention?"

Murphy nodded. "Your Majesty, you know what I want to do."

"In the future, under the guidance of the Muggle government, the Kingdom of Su will comprehensively carry out research on magical technology. This matter will profoundly affect the global wizarding world, and it is foreseeable that the Kingdom of Su will face enormous international pressure in the future. And most of the magical resources I can draw upon come from Britain."

"Therefore, magical cooperation between the Soviet Union and Britain is necessary and urgent in order to resist external pressure in the future."

"I hope Your Majesty will grant this request."

Sophia frowned. "Soviet Union is Soviet Union. Alkaim and the Muggle government of Soviet Union are two different things. Alkaim has been isolated from Muggle society for nearly a century and has little interaction with other magical societies. We don't want to get involved in international affairs."

"But, Your Majesty, Alkaim is the only magical government within the territory of Su. No one separates Su from Alkaim. To wizards from other countries, Su is Alkaim, and Alkaim is Su."

Sophia then realized that she seemed to have fallen into Murphy's trap.

Previously, she was focused on regaining power and hadn't given much thought to what Murphy wanted to do in the State of Su. But now, she realized that if he wanted to conduct magical technology research in the State of Su using the Muggle government, it would definitely be a violation of the secrecy laws.

When wizards from other countries investigate, do you think they'll let Alkaim off the hook?

"Ahem, Mr. Murphy, are you threatening us?" Lady Jaga, who had been standing behind the Queen since the beginning, finally spoke.

After Murphy was freed from the Duke's mansion, he went to the ancestral tombs and helped Lady Jaga kill Felipe Carlos.

Murphy waited quite a while before making his move, only appearing when Mrs. Jaga and Felipe were almost finished fighting. And when he did, he unleashed a barrage of Muggle bombs, hoping to "accidentally" take down Mrs. Jaga as well.

Unfortunately, although the old woman looked like she was about to die, she still managed to survive several rounds of Murphy's indiscriminate area-of-effect attacks.

With this old lady present, Murphy maintained considerable restraint and politeness in front of the Queen.

"Of course not, Mrs. Jaga," Murphy said, looking completely innocent. "This is advice that's better for both of us in the future."

"What if we don't agree?" Sofia was a little angry.

Murphy did say he wanted to break the Wizarding Secrecy Act, but because Alkaim had always been isolated from the outside world, she hadn't really considered the impact this would have on her.

She certainly bears responsibility for not considering things properly, but the bigger problem probably lies in Murphy's half-finished statement. He hadn't mentioned it at all before, and only brought it up now, after she had already agreed not to interfere with Murphy's actions.

This immediately brought to Sofia's mind what Azir had once told her—to work with someone like that is tantamount to serving yourself at the dinner table.

"I apologize, Your Majesty, for not explaining the implications to you earlier," Murphy said. "However, as I have told you, the collapse of the Wizarding Secrecy Act is inevitable. My actions in the Kingdom of Su will accelerate this process, and these are all foreseeable events. Based on this, cooperation is truly more beneficial to both sides."

"Of course I can't force you to agree to any conditions, but the wizarding world in the future may not be so peaceful anymore. I still very much hope to have an ally like Alkaim."

"In the end, you still want to drag Alkaim onto your chariot," said Lady Jaga. "The British Ministry of Magic alone is not enough to fight the entire wizarding world, so you want to drag us into it as well."

That was indeed Murphy's idea.

His involvement in the Empress's power struggle was partly due to this consideration.

The British Ministry of Magic is already under his control to some extent, but what he wants to do in the Soviet Union is to completely undermine the Wizarding Secrecy Act. No matter how closed off the Soviet Union is, such a huge operation cannot be kept secret. When that happens, the pressure he will face will be unimaginable.

The British Ministry of Magic, which he had just infiltrated, would hardly be able to withstand such pressure. He needed Alkaim, this pure wizarding city, which would be his important reliance in holding off the International Confederation of Wizards.

"Change is not what Alkaim wants," the Queen said. "We just want to live in isolation."

"But change has come, and it will sweep everything away," Murphy said. "No one can live outside their environment, and no wizard can truly live in isolation."

"To fight the tide will only lead to destruction, but to go with it will allow you to ride the waves and gain the upper hand. Your Majesty, don't you wish for Alkaid to become even stronger in your hands?"

For a moment, the Queen wavered. She looked at Lady Jaga and asked for her opinion.

The latter hesitated for a moment, looked at the Queen, then at Murphy, and suddenly said, "We can agree to your request. But we have one condition."

Murphy had a bad feeling. "Go ahead."

Lady Jaga stepped forward. "Al-Kaim has been isolated from the outside world for nearly a century. To venture out into the outside world rashly would be very risky for us. Moreover, the Queen is still young and has just eliminated a traitor like Ivan. It is a time when she needs to reorganize the country and recuperate."

"At this time, it is not advisable to take risks for a foreigner."

"But if the other party becomes one of our own, things are different."

As Mrs. Jaga spoke, she stared at Murphy, "If you want the two countries to form an alliance, that's fine."

"But you must marry Her Majesty the Queen."

(End of this chapter)