This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

At first, Nege was a little confused because the orcs had other allies, some human nations that were not on good terms with the Black Forest Empire. In addition, Ramon had black-robed advisors around him who hated the empire and even the entire human race. Many of the technologies that Ramon asked the elves for could actually be provided by these allies.

Ramon privately offered a heartfelt explanation to his son regarding his doubts.

"There's a saying among humans: don't put all your eggs in one basket. Humans can't be trusted, and elves even less so, but their coexistence creates a balance of power—that's what 'politics' is all about. If orcs want to truly become powerful, they must learn to use their brains!"

Neg kept Ramon's words in mind, which is why he has been able to endure until now.

After nearly losing control of his blood pressure again, Neg found a secluded corner and used his self-taught "deep breathing technique" to lower his blood pressure. But before his heart rate could return to normal, a shrill scream, inhuman and agonizing, suddenly came from a tent not far away. Neg then felt a strong chill wash over him. This terrifying energy shock almost froze him in place, nearly causing him to suffocate.

When he finally came to his senses, he saw a group of elves running towards the tent where the incident had occurred, their faces filled with panic, as if something terrible had happened.

Chapter 173: Fame and Reputation

A massive crisis that could have paralyzed the entire territory was resolved quickly before it could erupt because it was discovered early.

The people within the territory were completely unaware of this. Those who felt unwell due to the curse quickly recovered their usual vitality after the curse was broken, attributing it to slight fatigue and never considering the evil aspect of a "curse".

After successfully countering the curse, Dick, though unsure of the extent of the sorcerer's suffering, could vaguely sense that the man was located far to the north of Ragug, undoubtedly within orc territory.

Dick almost immediately guessed one possibility.

The orcs and elves have become allied.

Dick was neither surprised nor familiar with this situation; it was a common strategy for the weak to band together against the strong. During the Elven dynasty, humans also formed alliances with the dwarves.

Rather, the fact that they only managed to hook up with him now shows how inefficient they are.

Last autumn, before Dick was granted a title, he returned to the capital to report to his family. Seeing the turbulent political scene in the capital, a storm brewing, he secretly stirred things up. He impersonated a high-ranking member of the Dead Tree Party and gave their agents in the empire an assassination list, which stirred up a hornet's nest.

Because Dick tipped them off from both sides, the assassinations of several cabinet officials failed. The higher-ups quickly discovered that the assassins were the elves of the Dead Tree Party, and in their fury, they launched a full-scale manhunt for the Dead Tree Party within the Empire, resulting in heavy losses for the organization's members.

After receiving his investiture, Dick ran off back north in a flash.

Clearly! Although the Dead Tree Party suffered heavy losses, it was not completely wiped out, and they have likely already deduced that Dick was framing them, but they have no evidence, and the Empire doesn't care whether they are innocent or not.

To prevent similar incidents from happening again, Dick instructed Tia's intelligence agency to establish a special security department to deal with special disasters such as curses. At the same time, he also shared some intelligence with the Northern Alliance's allies, so that they could also be wary of this type of "terrorist attack".

For some time afterward, the newly established security department kept a close watch on any activity within the territory, but the anticipated second wave of attacks never came. It seemed that the first wave of attacks had been deflected, making the other side realize that Ragug was already on guard against the curse, so they stopped using the same tactics.

June arrived in the blink of an eye, and Laguge entered the most comfortable period of the year in terms of climate. The permanent population also exceeded 200,000, and the territory was full of vitality, as if all things were thriving.

The populations of the other six lords in the Northern Alliance have also increased to varying degrees. The combined population of the seven lords has exceeded one million and continues to grow.

According to Hongyu Zhitong's estimate, as long as they remain stable internally and avoid any major chaos, the population of Lagug will double again by the end of the year, reaching 400,000.

However, the overall population of the region north of the Central Mountain Range is declining.

Especially in the northwest, many small territories have become almost no-man's lands, with lords and subjects either dead or having fled.

Lords with even a little power began to expand their armies in order to protect themselves. No one knew whether the orcs would make a comeback and turn it into a large-scale event once a year, or even more than once.

Some people still pinned their hopes on aid from the central government, believing that with so many people dying in the north, the empire would not stand idly by, and that the heavenly army must already be on its way.

However, as news from the capital reached the north, people were disappointed to find that the empire was indeed going to war, but not to avenge the north; instead, it was setting its sights on other human nations in the south.

After all, in the eyes of the nobles in the capital, the orcs in the northern wilderness were only a minor threat and not worth worrying about at all. Moreover, sending troops into the wilderness for expeditions would be extremely costly, and the army's food, drink and sanitation would depend on supplies from the rear, so the logistical pressure would be enormous. Furthermore, the orc tribes were dirt poor, and it would be a losing proposition to go to great lengths to fight them. It would be much more profitable to fight the human kingdoms in the south.

As for the disaster that struck the north last year, the imperial high command only symbolically reduced taxes for the north for the next two years, while relaxing some restrictions on the size and equipment of the private armies of the northern lords.

To put it bluntly, the empire is leaving the northerners to figure out their own solutions.

What? You poor, stingy northerners, do you dare to rebel?

Given the severely weakened state of the northern region, their anger was indeed limited to a few moments. The north is a backward region, with the population south of the mountains being five times that of the north, and the economic output conservatively estimated to be twenty times greater! So it's no wonder that the capital city doesn't take the north seriously.

But Dick was not desperate about this seemingly insurmountable size gap, because the northerners were being forced to band together due to real survival pressures. In contrast, in the wealthy south of the empire, the nobles in the central region were divided into factions, and the intensity of factional strife was comparable to that of the late Ming Dynasty on the other side of the world.

Regarding the affairs in the south, Dick is currently only keeping an eye on them but will never actively get involved. Laguge is now in a rare period of rapid development, and with the improvement of the grassroots bureaucratic system, many things no longer require Dick and high-level people like Ruby Eyes to do them personally. The people below can do it themselves, so Dick's workload has actually decreased and become a little easier than before.

Dick took advantage of the extra free time to teach Xiao Ai magic. The master and apprentice often taught each other magic until dawn, and the girl mastered more and more techniques.

"Master, are you really having proper classes and studying?"

“Rita, why would you ask that? I am the youngest Saint-level mage in history, and Xiao Ai’s talent is also top-notch. She can already conjure fireballs in less than half a year since she started learning magic. Doesn’t that prove that I taught her well and that she studied very hard?”

"Then why is Miss Ai's shirt buttoned wrong? When I came here thirty minutes ago, her clothes were perfectly neat. And my nose isn't acting up, the smell in this room..."

"Stop talking, I admit I did it."

"You shameless, lewd teacher!"

Inside the castle's study, Dick, like a schoolboy who had made a mistake, was scolded by Rita and dared not utter a sound. Little Ai, on the other hand, hurriedly tried to re-button her mis-buttoned uniform, but in her haste, she accidentally popped the button off her uniform again.

Out of a sense of ritual and personal preference, Dick asked Xiao Ai to wear her own JK uniform when she attended his magic class.

Although Xiao Ai would say "really" and puff out her cheeks to pretend to be angry, she would eventually say "I really can't do anything with you" and obediently let her fake young teacher get what he wanted.

The two were in class just now, and at the beginning they were indeed practicing making fireballs. However, Xiao Ai's current level has just reached the threshold of a novice mage, and her total magic power is not very high. So after she ran out of magic power, she spent the second half of the class making other things to replenish her magic power, which was caught by Rita.

However, Rita did not come here specifically to catch the "food thief." Instead, her subordinates reported that a group of visitors had arrived at the gate and wanted to see Lord Dick.

Dick wasn't surprised, because since the Orc War, he had made a name for himself in the North through sheer strength, and visitors flocked to him seeking an audience. Dick had no choice but to have his men screen the visitors first. If he were to personally receive everyone who came, he wouldn't have anything else to do.

So Dick calmly asked casually.

"Who is this?"

"A group of elves."

"?"

Chapter 174: Door-to-Door Sales

"Who? What kind of elf are you?"

"They claim to be from the Duchy of Emerald Crown, and there are about thirty of them. They are right at the castle gate. You can use your surveillance magic to take a look and you'll see."

Dick raised his hand and waved it gently, and a magical screen appeared out of thin air in front of him, displaying a picture of the castle's main gate.

The surveillance magic's official name is "Eye of the Spy," and its function is indeed similar to a surveillance camera. The caster can remotely view the surrounding area through a pre-set mark. Dick set up many such marks around his castle, but this magic does not have an early warning function.

In the scene, a group of richly dressed elves stands at the castle gate, accompanied by five carriages and twenty guards riding giant stags. Leading them is a middle-aged elf in green robes, who appears both humble and cultured, completely devoid of any haughty arrogance.

To Dick's slight surprise, the moment he activated the spying eye at the main entrance, the other party sensed it almost immediately, looked up, and then immediately nodded respectfully in greeting.

Dick's spying eye wasn't deliberately hidden, so it wasn't difficult to find. However, the other party's reaction speed showed that he was extremely sensitive to magical fluctuations, definitely at a high level.

"interesting……"

After receiving Dick's nod of permission, the middle-aged elf who had requested an audience was led to the reception room. Accompanying him into the castle were two female elves who alighted from a carriage. One was dressed as a young lady, wearing a magnificent sky-blue evening gown; the other was simply dressed and was presumably the young lady's maid.

The elves are all known for their handsome men and beautiful women, and the blonde young lady's beauty stands out even among elves. She is estimated to be around two hundred years old, which is equivalent to fifteen or sixteen years old for a human, essentially considered an adult.

What bothered Dick was that this elven lady's ears were not the sharp, stiff cartilaginous ears of pure-blooded elves, but rather fleshy ears that were more rounded and upturned, just like Dick's. This indicated that she was also a mixed-blood elf with human blood.

Upon seeing the timid and somewhat reluctant half-elf young lady, and considering their identity as members of the Emerald Crown Duchy, Dick already knew their purpose before they could even speak.

In the final days of the once-powerful Elven dynasty, which was beset by internal and external troubles, not all elves had the backbone to choose to perish with their nation.

Some elves chose to flee, hiding like the Deadwood Party in hopes of a future comeback, while others, in order to survive, were willing to grovel before the humans they once despised.

However, the human nations, considering their own interests, did not exterminate the elves who had voluntarily surrendered. Instead, they divided them into three small principalities: Emerald Crown, Tree Sea, and Stream River.

How small were these three principalities? Their combined population was less than one million, and they did not border each other.

Of the three elven puppet kingdoms, the Emerald Crown is the largest, with a population of nearly 500,000. However, their nominal "territory (reservation)" is located within the territory of the Blacksem Empire, and is tightly "protected" from all sides by nearly 80 million Blacksem people.

You can just say they were moved but dared not move.

It took the elves of the Emerald Crown Duchy a thousand years to adapt to their fall from world dominance to being kept as "pets" by humans.

The first Grand Duke, the former elven noble who led the surrender to the human army, was assassinated more than 500 years ago by the restorationists hidden among his subordinates. The second Grand Duke was instigated to rebel by the Dryad Party more than 300 years ago, but was ruthlessly suppressed by the imperial army. The Dryad Party, who had promised to stand with them through thick and thin, abandoned them and ran away at the crucial moment.

Therefore, under the current third-generation Grand Duke, the elves of the Emerald Crown Duchy have completely abandoned their unrealistic ideas of restoring their kingdom and have instead actively chosen to integrate with the human race.

The third Grand Duke himself set an example by actively intermarrying with humans, and even married off his sisters, aunts, and still-attractive great-aunts to the princes and nobles of the empire.

Although this third-generation Grand Duke slid to his knees completely, he also saw through the hypocrisy of the human race.

If the human race really reveres pure blood, then what about the imperial family, which has to intermarry with the Dragon Sleep Valley family every few generations just to bring in that tiny bit of dragon blood?

To put it bluntly, they use the excuse of "impure bloodline" to discriminate against half-elves of mixed blood, but beneath this deliberate discrimination lies a hidden jealousy that is difficult to express.

It's important to understand that humans are the "universal plug" of this world; when they pair up with any race, they can give birth to a hybrid child who possesses the advantages of both races.

Therefore, offspring of humans and elves will inherit the beauty, longevity, and outstanding magical talent of elves, as well as fertility that is slightly inferior to humans but far superior to that of pure-blooded elves.

Therefore, the Jade Grand Duke's goal is to transform his people from elves to half-elves, eventually integrating them completely into the Blackforest Empire over several or even a dozen generations. Their descendants may even become the new elite in future human society due to the advantages bestowed upon them by their bloodline.

Just as Dick had suspected, the elven delegation before them had come seeking a marriage alliance.

They learned that a very young, newly promoted Saint-level powerhouse had emerged in the northern part of the empire. Not only did he possess the title of Earl of the empire, but he himself was also a half-elf. Upon hearing this, the current Grand Duke was overjoyed and, without even bothering to send a letter of inquiry beforehand, directly sent his most beautiful daughter over.

The most striking feature is its "impatient" nature!

The elven duke on the other side probably thought that Dick, also a half-elf, would gladly accept this wonderful marriage offered to him, but little did he know that Dick had no intention of forming a marriage alliance with any power. In any case, he had no shortage of good girls who were devoted to him, and there was no need to bring an "unstable factor" into his home.

So when faced with the elf who came to his door to sell him a beautiful wife, Dick could only give an awkward but polite smile and try to politely refuse her with words that were as unhurtful as possible.

“Your Excellency, are you really not going to reconsider? Our Miss Ferrina is renowned as the most beautiful woman in the Duchy, and her mother is also of extraordinary birth, from the prestigious Imperial Rocket family. She would never disgrace the bloodline of your Best family.”

The elven butler, who was in charge of the negotiations, was still trying his best to promote the idea. He knew that the nobles of the empire valued bloodlines the most, because bloodlines meant inheritance rights, or what was called "claims."

Sometimes it doesn't matter if they're not from the direct line, because the direct line isn't always the direct line. All sorts of unexpected things can happen, and there's also the method of "adoption." So many lower- and middle-class nobles are happy to expand their family's "bloodline pool," because they might just find a lucky break someday.

But Dick was clearly not one of those traditional nobles, and his attitude remained unwavering in the face of their persuasion... I don't want it, please go back!

Perhaps it was Dick's firm refusal that made the already reluctant elf lady feel humiliated. She, who had remained silent until now, finally couldn't hold back any longer and exploded.

"What...what do you mean?! What is it about me that makes me unworthy of you?"

Chapter 175: The World's Diversity

The young lady's sudden outburst silenced the reception room.

Dick was only slightly taken aback, thinking to himself that this guy really had a temper, while the butler in charge of the negotiations suddenly changed his expression, and sweat was visibly pouring down his fair forehead.

Putting aside the fact that Dick is a hereditary earl of the empire and a local lord with fiefdoms, his personal strength as a Saint-level mage is such that few dare to look down on him anymore. Yet his young mistress slammed her fist on the table in front of such a true powerhouse—how could he not panic?

In fact, there was a reason why the butler was so apprehensive.

Before he came to Lagug, the Jade Duke also had doubts, thinking that the rumors in the north were a bit exaggerated. How could there be a Saint-level expert who was only in his early twenties?

So, while sending his daughter over for a marriage alliance, he also sent his butler, who was a high-level mage, to investigate the true nature of this Dick Best.

The Grand Duke gave the steward a magic ring. This item would judge the strength of others around him based on the wearer's own strength. If someone was weaker than the wearer, the ring would not react. However, if there was someone stronger than the wearer within its detection range, the ring would start to heat up, alerting the wearer to be cautious.

Ever since entering Dick's castle, this ring has become more than just warm; it's scalding hot!

This secretly alarmed the elf butler, because it meant that Dick was not only a genuine Saint-level expert, but there might be more than one Saint-level expert in the castle.

So when they actually met, the butler acted extremely humble in front of Dick, and at the same time tried his best to make the marriage happen. Even when faced with Dick's repeated rejections, he showed no intention of backing down, as if he was determined to send his young lady off no matter what.

This made the young elven lady, who hadn't had a chance to discuss things with the butler, feel very uncomfortable. On one hand, they were trying to send her away, and on the other hand, they were determined not to push her away, as if she, the most beautiful woman in the duchy, was some kind of worthless trash that everyone hated. So, in a fit of anger, she slammed her hand on the table.

After slamming her hand on the table, the elven young lady named Ferrina was actually panicked, but since things had come to this point, she could only pretend to be calm. Unfortunately, her trembling hands betrayed her true feelings.

However, Felina wasn't afraid of Dick, but rather the short-haired gray human maid standing beside her.

The other person maintained a perfectly polite smile throughout, but the seemingly unintentional glances they gave her made her feel uneasy all over.

Fortunately, Dick wasn't angry about it; instead, he smiled and said...

"Please don't misunderstand, this is not a matter of whether we are worthy of each other, and I have absolutely no intention of looking down on you, Miss. It's just that I don't want to get married right now, especially not through an arranged marriage."

Dick initially wanted to phrase things more tactfully, but halfway through, he felt that a straightforward and direct approach would be more likely to discourage the other party, so he bluntly stated that he did not want a marriage alliance.

In fact, over the past few months, many nobles have taken the initiative to request marriage alliances with Dick, mostly lords from the northern regions, as well as some wealthy merchants.

But these people all followed established etiquette, first sending messengers to inquire, or subtly inviting Dick to the ball so that their daughters, dressed in their finest attire, could have a romantic "chance encounter," but without exception, Dick replied with a letter of refusal.

This is the first case of someone like Jade Prince sending his daughter over right away.

Seeing Dick's resolute stance, the elven steward was momentarily speechless, but he clearly wasn't ready to give up. Instead, he asked Dick for permission to stay in Lagug for a while. Although Dick had refused the marriage alliance, surely he wouldn't refuse to do business with the Emerald Crown Duchy? Therefore, they wanted to scout out the area to see if there were any goods they wanted to buy or sell.

"Of course, that's no problem. I'm happy to make more friends."

Dick stood up and politely shook hands with the other party, saying he would arrange accommodations for them.

The large hotel in Lagog, designed specifically for entertaining foreign guests, is still under construction, but there are many clean, detached houses near the castle.

As for the castle, I'm sorry, it's currently under renovation and not suitable for receiving VIPs.