Battle of the Two Cities: Begins with the Mage

"Ms. Laxana, what do you think is the essential difference between Noxus and Demacia?"

Seraphine opened the curtains of the carriage and looked out the window.

It was only now that Laxanna's expression softened a lot.

It's not that she has made a decision, but that this matter is pressed in her heart again.

She has never been one to make choices ahead of time. On the contrary, she is more suitable to do things decisively to make the results less bad when faced with changes.

"Essential?"

Laxana thought for a while and answered:

"Demacia cares more about the lives of ordinary people."

It has to be said that this is a standard answer, and it is also a stereotype of two countries.

She didn't know the intention of Seraphine's question, but she keenly found that the rhythm of the dialogue was being controlled by the other party.

With her current situation, the best thing to do is to remain the same.

"That's right!"

Unexpectedly, Seraphine responded with a chuckle:

"Demacia really cares more about the lives of ordinary people, not just their lives, but also their human rights."

She stared at the puzzled Laxana and continued:

"The means of check and balance between nobles are them. In order to attack opponents, civilians are the best weapons for nobles at the negotiating table."

Seraphine's words silenced Laxana.

Essentially, the planning of the parade is at the top, and the means used are not different from what Seraphine said.

Taking advantage of Demacian citizens is no different to outsiders than actually caring for them.

Even in some rumors in Xiongdu recently, there are problems mentioned by Seraphine.

Is the crown guard for justice or for the top. This is also the question that all Demacian nobles are thinking about.

Seraphine raised the corners of her mouth slightly and asked:

"Ms. Laxana, what do you think Noxus cares more about?"

She has loved verbal communication since the beginning, so that she can change other perceptions, even without the aid of singing.

It's just that on the day of her apprenticeship, she realized one thing when faced with Wei and Jinx, who started fighting whenever they disagreed.

The premise of verbal persuasion is that others are willing to listen to you.

A stinky little girl, who cares?

And Empire and Ryan gave her this stage.

With this layer of identity, she can freely use what she is best at.

As long as it doesn't go against her original intention, she is willing to be a lobbyist for the empire.

What's more, standing in her position and what she has done can bring Demacia a better future.

Facing Seraphine's question, Laxana didn't think for too long, but said directly:

"Strength and interests!"

She had read too much of Noxus lately, and knew it very well.

"What do the Demacian nobles believe in?" Seraphine asked.

Laxana frowned in displeasure, not wanting to answer the question.

Although she didn't know what Seraphine was going to do, the question was undoubtedly revealing Demacia's scars.

Even if... this is indeed a fact that already exists.

"Benefits and strengths!" Seraphine replied with a smile.

She looked like she was waiting for Laksana's correction.

The two answers seemed identical, but neither Laxana nor Seraphine understood the difference.

The interests of the Demacian nobles come first, and they choose whether to back down according to their strength.

Noxus' strength is the priority, and the corresponding strength will be dispatched according to the interests.

There was a hint of enlightenment on Laxana's face, and she understood a little what Seraphine meant.

Because of the difference between Demacian nobles and Noxus, and because of the relationship between Demacian commoners and nobles, Noxus is saying that they can use their strength to break up Demacia.

And this kind of power is not even just force.

Deterrence by force, political oppression, checks and balances on education, culture, and economy.

Thinking of Noxus' recent moves, Laxanna understood why.

"Why bring this up?" Laksana couldn't help asking.

Noxus, although she was using clear plans, shouldn't be talking so much about her enemy.

Seraphine has a smile on her lips, and she now looks like Ryan in Piltover's time.

"Laxana, we're friends. Demacia has always had two choices, hasn't it?"

One is to be completely annexed by Noxus, and the other is to remain independent and actually assimilated by Noxus.

"No." Laxana shook her head firmly, "We have another choice."

At this moment, the hesitation in her eyes seemed to dissipate, as if she had decided on something that was still hesitant before.

"Well, I also hope to see you have different fates."

Seraphine didn't tangle on this topic, but diverted the topic with an implicit smile, talking about some customs of Demacia.

There will always be people who feel like they are fighting against their fate and can ultimately win.

But the victory of this kind of struggle is not the expected result...

The corner of Seraphine's eyes glanced at the magic book on Laxana's lap inadvertently, and her expression flashed a trace of complexity.

"Fortress of Dawn, here we come!"

As soon as she and Laxana got off the carriage, Seraphine heard a lot of interesting soul voices.

Today, there are only eight officials who preside over the meeting, and Jarvan III was not present due to physical reasons.

"A 14-year-old girl who was despised from Noxus."

This sentence comes from one of the eight officials, a woman from the Light Shield family, Eleanor Light Shield.

"The messenger here is this girl, and I don't know if we can decide whether to buy or sell. We have hoarded a lot of resources here, and there is no problem with exchanging weapons or Trefary gold coins."

This is the voice of Chancellor Bristol, and Seraphine has figured out how to deal with this person.

"Seraphine...Let's leave it to the Crownguard and Light Shield to deal with it. It's best if I don't show up."

From the voice of Grantham, the Executive Secretary, Seraphine found that this was an old fox who did not want to offend on three sides.

But this kind of person is often the most compromising.

Except for the three most impressive, Grand Marshal Tiana and Foreign Minister Adair were relatively unremarkable, and they just wanted to fight for interests on the basis of protecting their own families.

On the way to the parliament hall, seeing Seraphine shaking her head slightly, Laxana asked curiously:

"Did Miss Seraphine dislike architecture?"

She had heard that the Trifali Chamber of the Immortal Citadel was different from Dawn Castle.

It is said that it is a floating building suspended in the sky, the height second only to the floating castle, which symbolizes the rights of the Trifali Council.

Seraphine shook her head and smiled: "Just a little sigh, none of the eight officials are dedicated to the country."

Laxana's footsteps paused, and she was silent for a while before answering, "Not everyone is Trifali's three council presidents."

After speaking, she also sighed and walked in.

Almost every Trifali council president has tied the interests of the empire to himself.

This is also the fundamental difference between Noxus and Demacia.

The Empire, while being Noxian, is also an extension of the will of the Trifali Council.

But Demacia is just Demacia for everyone.

Even a light shield cannot represent the will of Demacia.

Led by Laxana, Seraphine stood on the stage and floated into the parliament hall with her head held high.

As soon as she entered the hall, Seraphine's stage slowly floated upwards until it was level with the Eight Great Officials, and then she spoke loudly:

"Seraphine, the messenger of the Noxian Exchange Mission, on behalf of the Noxian Empire, is here to communicate with Demacia."

When her voice fell, Laxana raised her head slightly in surprise.

This was the first time she had seen Seraphine so full of energy. Even when the carriage communicated with her before, it was more of an inducement, far from the aura that shocked the Quartet.

However, Seraphine's aura was taken for granted by the other seven eight officials.

In their eyes, this is the true Noxian.

After Laxana returned to the position belonging to the Minister of Magic, Tiana sat at the top of the eight officials with a solemn expression:

"Welcome to the Noxus Exchange Group, Demacia has always been a country of equality and justice..."

After Tiana's very formulaic opening, Seraphine also acted as an envoy and communicated verbally without any cowardice.

The two each represent the most powerful forces in the two Runeterra.

But the two people who were evenly matched in words made the other eight officials look a lot more dignified.

Seraphine's words are arrogant and controlled, facing Tiana's hidden clichés, but they can silently avoid them.

In their eyes, although the girl in front of her still has the arrogance of a Noxian, her ability is indeed extremely outstanding, not even weaker than Laxana.

The minds of the eight officials are complicated.

For hundreds of years, Demacia has had only one character like Laxana.

But compared to that, Seraphine was younger, and seemed to be... born into a family that was inferior to Laxana.

After some conversation, Tiana stopped talking, but swept the rest of the people vaguely.

She started like this to prevent the other eight officials from despising Seraphine too much. She clearly knew that the thoughts of herself and others were invisible in front of the other party.

If Laxana hadn't been able to protect them from magic, she wouldn't have agreed to meet Seraphine at all.

This person is far more dangerous to the country than Seraphine who relies on her strength.

Looking at the eight officials in front of her, Seraphine said bluntly: "This time, I represent the will of Noxus, and there are two things that need to be implemented."

"But it doesn't matter." Tiana said on behalf of Demacia.

Noxus came with good intentions, and they would not have refused as long as the demands were not excessive.

"One, I heard that Demacia has abolished the ban on magic. The Empire and Demacia are allied, adhering to the principle of mutual assistance. Under the deliberations of the Trifaris Council, I will lead the students of the Magic Department of the War College to come here to exchange magic experience."

Hearing this sentence, some of the eight officials frowned and looked at Laxana.

They had heard about this before, and they also knew about Zhanzheng Academy and Rune Magic.

This exchange meeting will undoubtedly strengthen the Ministry of Magic led by Laxana.

It's good news for Demacia, of course, but it's not good news for a family that is hostile to the Crown Guard.

Especially for Eleanor, if Jarvan sat in the position of Minister of Magic, she would be even more delighted.

And because Jarvan III was getting weaker and weaker, she had to give up her position to create a stage for Jarvan, even though she knew she should do so early on, she was still unwilling.

In Demacia, citizens will not accept gratuitous changes of positions, it is better that she orchestrates an operation that will weaken the Crownguard family, and Jarvan quells the problem.

In this way, she can make her next step logically and at the same time pave the way for Jia Wen to follow.

However, the visit of the Noxus exchange group may change this matter.

Seraphine glanced at Eleanor vaguely, and the corners of her mouth raised a slight arc.

She and Laxana agreed on the specific itinerary of the exchange group.

The magic book collection of the Magic Seeker Legion once, and the current magic department collection, will be open to Seraphine and others.

But at the same time, Seraphine also instructs mages in the Department of Magic.

Although the average age of the wizards in the magic department is much older than the junior wizards and Seraphine, they are far less talented and knowledgeable than the junior wizards.

Magical awakenings are random and unpredictable unless a wizard specifically tests awakenings.

A person with a talent for magic may never wake up in his lifetime, or he might wake up in the next second.

Demacia is different from Noxus, which has become a desert due to the extraction of magical elements, which also affects the magical talents of babies born there.

Unless the parents are wizards, it is difficult for newborns to have magical gifts.

But this is not the case in Demacia. Because the world rune has been in the forbidden forest for a long time, even if there is a forbidden stone, it will subtly affect the land and the environment.

Newborns born here have a high probability of possessing magical talents. Although they are not very strong, they are unusually large.

This is also the reason why the ban has become more and more influential in Demacia over time.

Of course, most of the gifted mages ended up being sold or exiled to Noxus and became a member of the mages.

And these people, born with hatred for Demacia, were grateful for Noxus who had embraced them.

After finalizing the specific matters of the exchange group with Laxana, Seraphine's expression seemed to ease a lot, which also made the eight officials smile.

Immediately afterwards, Seraphine made Noxus' second request:

"Regarding the mages who were once imprisoned by the ban, Demacia has not restored their status. According to the previous treaty signed by the two countries, Noxus can accept them."

She finished speaking in a hurry, letting her eyes swept across the eight officials with different expressions, her tone and expression revealed no doubt.

For this matter, both sides are not surprised.

Seraphine will mention this matter, and it is also expected by the eight officials. They have also discussed and formulated a plan before.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Bristow, considered it for a while, and said with an embarrassed expression on his face:

"In principle, this matter should be in accordance with the requirements of Noxus, but in the treaty, we also signed a free trade agreement. Regarding this aspect, is there any difference in the ratio of Demacian supplies to Trefary gold coins? Reasonable."

What he meant, Seraphine knew, was to increase the price of Demacia's export resources, or to extract a certain amount of transaction tax to provide profit.

In the previous trade treaty, Demacia never imagined that the amount of money would be so huge after the official trade between the two countries.

Therefore, without thinking at all, Jarvan agreed to the zero transaction tax regulations for both parties.

But now, Demacia not only lost a lot of money because of this, but resources and money continued to flow out of Noxus.

These are terms that have been negotiated before, and they won't be able to change them until they reach an agreement with Noxus.

After all ~www.readwn.com~ Demacia is not dominant, they are the weaker side.

"What the Minister of Bristol said..." Seraphine hesitated, "The price is determined by market supply and demand, and the transaction tax is determined by the treaty."

After a long while, she seemed to think of something and said seriously:

"The Empire can accept that Demacia will include the transaction tax in the pricing if the price remains the same."

"This is impossible!"

Bristow responded quickly, disregarding the noble etiquette and loudly rejecting.

The same price plus transaction tax is equivalent to compressing the profit they sell.

Most of the trade with Noxus is provided by nobles.

If he agrees, he may become the hero of the country, but he will definitely become the public enemy of all nobles.

If it weren't for the current shortage of Demacia's treasury, the tension in the internal supply chain, and the large amount of trade profits entering the pockets of the nobles, he would not have mentioned this matter.