Status Quo

  Damn it...

  Malchi stumbled up from the ground, reeling with decay, spiritual confusion and physical shock three times over, feeling as if he had been crushed from soul to body.

  He should be grateful that Penny Si?n didn't want to take lives - after all, Si?n herself admitted she didn't have the capital to openly kill her colleagues without being punished, otherwise the last spell would not have been a battering ram but lightning bolts or fire arrows.

  However, the red-robed mage with a scar on his forehead did not seem grateful, but instead remembered this junior red robe more deeply in his heart. He reluctantly cast a spell to clear away the negative energy from his body. Gnashing his teeth, he considered whether to launch a fear spell at the gate of the Wogin Temple, but hesitated, thinking that this might be an affront to a deity. As he hesitated, his knight had already come over to support him:

  "Sir, Andesika is inside."

  "Mr. Andesiga?" Maruchi's face twitched slightly, then anger was replaced by contemplation: "The Mr. Andesiga of the Exchange?"

  "Yes." Sir Sel replied respectfully.

  Parade Andesika, Ringmaster of the Illusionary Arts, Chief Executive of Sanofen Exchange and confidant to Governor Zazaha.

  Ma Er thought for a moment, feeling that he had no face to go in and pay his respects. His hatred for Pan Ni Xian increased by several layers, and a sinister look appeared on his face: "Let's go back and investigate the origin of that little guy earlier. This account will be settled slowly."

  Cersei nodded and escorted the red-robed mage out of the exchange.

  ……

  "Oh, don't be tense, the winner is not to blame, and nothing big happened anyway?" In the temple, the old man with a red robe embroidered with white lines smiled, looking very kind, but Penny detected a ferocious mark from the tear-shaped text at the corner of his eyes - this kind of mark came from some kind of dangerous curse.

  So he didn't expect this old man to be a harmless person anymore.

  "But it seems he's quite familiar with Hughes: 'But I'm really surprised, little Hughes, you've actually taken office.'"

  "I'm Parad's uncle, assistant to Xi'en." Hughes smiled and Penny immediately understood that the two were familiar with each other, so she put her mind at ease. However, in the next moment, she saw the old man's gaze pointing over, full of doubt: "Oh, Lady Fortune's blessing, you can even get Hughes' pursuit. You know, Hughes' family has used many methods to make him leave Eternal Eye, but he didn't. Junior, you're not simple at all."

  "You're overpraising me." Panni said humbly: "I'm just an ordinary Red Cloak."

  "Ordinary? The place you're working at is not ordinary." Parades Andesiga stroked his beard, sizing up Penny from head to toe: "How about it? Want to be transferred to a quieter place?"

  "Sir, we hope to make some achievements in the place where we will take office. If you have any concerns..." Panni bowed his head slightly, while thinking wildly, it seems that this law master does not want Hewlett and him to adventure together.

  In fact, Andesite, who was under the control of his strength, although not in a high position in the Law Association, was a very astute person. Although his attainments in law were mediocre, he was a master of interpersonal relationships and had few real enemies within the association. When he saw Hughes, he conceived the idea of transferring him to a safe place.

  This can win over Fokker's big shots once and for all.

  "I have no concerns." Hughes furrowed his brow, he wasn't slow-witted either, and understood Parady's thoughts. He directly said to the old man: "Sir, I understand your meaning."

  "Oh? I guess I overstepped. "Andersi raised an eyebrow: "However, Hughes, that place is indeed very dangerous, you should know many people are considering giving up on it."

  "Hmm... if it's just going to be a dull existence stuck in one place as an utterly ordinary bureaucrat, I'd rather stay with the All-Seeing Eye." Hughes patted Penny on the shoulder: "Besides, I trust my partner."

  "Oh..." Andes looked at Penny with a hint of realization, noticing the confidence that shone through her normally calm and collected expression, and a hint of curiosity flickered in her eyes: "I thought you didn't know anything and just rushed into that place."

  "Thank you, sir, for your concern about Hughes and me. We are making an effort to deal with the situation there, and I don't want to give up easily until we get results." Penny said respectfully.

  "What's the result? Hmm..." Andres' expression turned serious: "What kind of result are you looking for?"

  "At least let the government get enough governing power there."

  "There are not only mountain bandits and unmanageable civilians, but also the Mulan people from the south, but I don't know what you have." Andesi said with a smile.

  "No matter how difficult, we must try. The Red Cloak should not avoid the struggle." Panni hesitated for a moment, and his tone changed, becoming serious and then relaxed: "The worst result is just using the teleportation scroll to run away."

  The old man burst out laughing and finally patted Penny's shoulder: "Not bad, has the guts, actually has such determination. Little Hughes, this companion of yours is quite interesting, I'm starting to understand why you're willing to leave that research institute for him."

  Deep down, Sel is appreciative of the courage to fight against difficulties. If there's still some cunning and wisdom in that courage, then it's a model Red Robe Master.

  Of course, there must be enough cruelty and ferocity. However, the old man did not pay attention to those things.

  "I also believe in my own eyesight." Hughes' expression also showed some complacent meaning, as if he was very proud of Penny.

  Pang Ni heard this and secretly felt a little embarrassed.

  "Oh... it's getting late, I should report back to Lord City now. If you need anything, find a way to notify me." The old man took another glance at Panni and Hughes before turning around and leaving.

  "It seems he's quite close to you." Penny glanced at Hughes: "He's being so affectionate with you, doesn't seem like an enemy of Fokker's."

  "Of course, Dalamos and Fokal weren't exactly allies on the same front line, but they got along well enough. The old man was a good guy - at least within the Mages' Guild." Hughes nodded.

  "Not entirely on the same front line?" Penny mumbled, her face gradually showing a puzzled expression: "How many fronts are there in the Mages Association?"

  He was deeply curious about the political situation in Sel.

  "It all depends on the interests of each family's network...". Hughes glanced at Penny: "It won't hurt to tell you, friend. It's better for you to know early on. Outside of Ser, the Fokal and Rhim families have a large number of trade outposts. They tend to handle internal and external political issues in a gentle manner so as not to affect legitimate trade. These are Ser's...you could say, gentle faction."

  Penny nodded thoughtfully, recalling Hughes' birthplace and the Rheims family's reputation in the Magisterium.

  "While Odysseiron once held the military department of Ser, to this day their family still has a huge influence in the military department - don't be blinded by their temporary weakness, as long as they are willing, a war can reclaim their original position in the military department. They mainly engage in slave trade, so they need wars even more, therefore they always hope for wars with the outside world. In history, half of Ser's external invasions were initiated by them, so they are typical hardliners."

  Upon hearing this, Panni's heart broke out in a cold sweat, because he quickly associated it with the destructive things he had done in Beidi and the consequences that followed, and it seemed that he had already made an enemy of this family.

  "In fact, the terms 'moderate' and 'hardliner' are just labels that have been imposed. In reality...". Hughes didn't notice Penny's expression and continued: "The Rhyme family also has supporters of a hardline policy, and among the Odysseus there are people who love peace, but because these kinds of people are in the minority within their own families and are ostracized, they cannot interfere with the political stance of their families. However, when within a family the two factions or even more interest groups have roughly equal power, then a middle-of-the-road faction emerges."

  "Moderates? Including Dalamos, Vras and Boiral?" Hughes said. Penni frowned: "Is the internal conflict within Vras very sharp?"

  "No, no, no...... In fact, there isn't much intense conflict within the Vras family. It's just that their main contradiction with the current Mages Association doesn't have much to do with them - the Vras' main strength comes from their intelligence agency and the thieves' guild under their control. To a certain extent, whoever holds power has to rely on them, but conversely... any family may harbor malicious intentions towards them."

  Penny nodded, recalling the debate on Mount Sel. It seemed that both sides were trying to deprive Fulas of his power, so it wasn't surprising: "What about the other two?"

  "Also, the other two... because of the hundred years of operation by the Death Spirit Chief, almost everyone inside Dalamos basically submits to his will." Houston paused: "You should know that Sel was once completely controlled by Lord Sazastan, so their stance is this lord's power and position."

  "Are you saying that whether it's the moderates or the hardliners, as long as whichever faction is in power is more beneficial to Lord Sazastan solidifying his position, he'll support whichever faction?" Panni somewhat understood.

  Hues nodded in approval: "Not bad, not bad. So now the moderate faction has his support, it's also because the hardliners and the Boirel family have been too harsh on him for a while."

  "It's a devil of an affair. Does Bouvard also oppose him?"

  "Oh... the Bouvard family's stance is quite special, how to put it... " Hughes furrowed his brow, as if organizing his words: "You know, they are one of the oldest noble families with Sel qualifications, and their main power lies within the Red Robe Mages' institution."

  Panny nodded, this common sense every red robe mage knew.

  "They have a family motto," Hughes' expression turned serious: "It's that no matter what position the members of the family are in, as long as the balance of power is severely disrupted or on the verge of complete collapse, they will do everything in their power to prevent it; In fact, for nearly two hundred years, this family has been at odds with Lord Sazastan."

  "So that's how it is." Penny suddenly enlightened, then her expression gradually turned serious: "......so complicated."

  He sighed.

  If it weren't for Hughes' explanation, he still wouldn't know about these things, the different stances of these families collectively formed the struggles and conflicts outside of Serene.

  Walking among them, slightly careless, will be crushed to pieces.

  He now has a feeling of walking on thin ice.

  Everything that needed to be said had been said, and Hughes fell silent as well, seeing Penny's somber expression.

  "Mr. Xi'en, your pig iron is ready." The blacksmith walked over, followed by several burly men pushing a cart loaded with neatly stacked pig iron blocks.

  "Thanks a lot." Penny put away the iron blocks one by one with her magic bag, and expressed gratitude: "But you're sure you don't need payment?"

  "Money? We've already received it." The pastor was taken aback for a moment, then smiled: "Look at the divine favor the goddess has bestowed upon you..."

  Penny looked puzzled as he took out the check returned by the pastor, his pupils dilating slightly because the shining '50000' had changed to '49100', shocking him not because the pastor had given him a discount of 100 gold coins, but because this thing actually worked like a bank card.

  An idea suddenly entered his mind.

  Wogou entrusted him to think of a way to expand the church's influence, isn't this a ready-made measure?

  He bowed his head in contemplation for a while, then walked up to the goddess's statue and began to pray.