Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Dark Realm, Owlape Territory, Moonpraise Capital, Mulias Royal Palace, Royal Cabinet

“Grand Vizier, forgive me for interrupting, but has the Demon Merchant Code explained how a True Evil was capable of becoming a Devil Merchant? After all, having a Devil Merchant Token doesn’t mean even a mongrel can become a Devil Merchant.”

Her Highness cut in, interrupting the Grand Vizier’s proceedings, as she felt that without properly clarifying this part, neither she nor His Highness nor any minister in the room could continue to listen to the proceedings wholeheartedly.

The Grand Vizier seemed to agree with her, as he nodded and briefly explained, “Your Highness, I have personally checked with the Demon Merchant Code. It had confirmed that the True Evil that became a Devil Merchant had met the minimum intelligence required to join the Demon Merchant Code as a Devil Merchant. I tried to gather more information regarding it, but the Demon Merchant Code refused to reveal any further information despite the vast amount of offerings we were prepared to offer.”

“That’s new,” His Highness said, finding the behavior of the Demon Merchant Code strange.

On the surface, it looked like no matter how greedy the Demon Merchant Code was, it wouldn’t put its own Demon/Devil Merchant in danger, but they forgot that the Demon Merchant Code had a price for everything.

“Try again,” His Highness ordered the Grand Vizier, adding, “This time, offer the Ruler-class relic with remnant Primordial Pathways it has been asking for.”

The Grand Vizier nodded. Though surprised that His Highness was willing to part with such a Primordial Relic, he summoned his Devil Merchant Codex to negotiate with the Demon Merchant Code without showing his astonishment on his face or in his eyes.

A beat later, the confident look on the Grand Vizier’s face was replaced with utter disbelief, causing the Empyreans and the ministers to frown.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I have failed you once again,” the Grand Vizier said with a deep bow.

“Enough with politeness. Tell us what the Demon Merchant Code exactly said,” Her Highness asked impatiently, wondering how the Demon Merchant Code could resist its greed for the Primordial Relic. It had been hounding them for it for a millennium now. And now that they were willing to offer it for a piece of information, it refused. She couldn’t believe it.

The Grand Vizier hesitated, but feeling the fierce gaze of both the Empyreans, he reluctantly said, “Your Highness, it said that the information was worth far more than anything our race can offer.”

Boom!

The big black throne exploded from the insane intent sense of the Owlape Empyrean as his body hovered above the dusty remains of the once prestigious throne revered and feared by many throughout the Dark Realm.

“Are you sure it said those exact words?” the Owlape Empyrean asked, feeling like their race hadn’t suffered a far worse shame than today.

“I am afraid those were the exact words of the Demon Merchant Code, Your Highness,” the Grand Vizier said, getting on his knees and banging his head on the floor, as if it were he who had brought such shame to their glorious race.

All the feathers on the backs of the Empyrean and his ministers stood in rage. They felt that the Demon Merchant Code was playing with them, as what could be more precious than a Primordial Relic?

Yes, the Realm of True Evil was full of wonders that most of the Dark Races couldn’t even imagine in their dreams, but having explored the realm for long enough, they knew that the Realm of True Evil didn’t have anything close to a Primordial Relic, even if its Primordial Pathways were bruised and barely holding up. Let alone a True Evil that managed to become a Devil Merchant.

“Calm down, my love.” Her Highness wasn’t as enraged as the rest. Instead, she looked at the kowtowing Grand Vizier and remarked, “Now that you have decided to offer the Primordial Relic to the Demon Merchant Code anyway, how about we offer it to the Demon Merchant Code to find our prince?”

As soon as Her Highness spoke her mind, the feathers standing at the back of each Owlape in the room settled down immediately. Though finding their Crown Prince was important and even took priority, none of them thought it was worth offering up a Primordial Relic.

Besides, the Crown Prince was strong. It was simply too difficult for even the strongest among the Dark Realm to kill him. Also, as long as he chose to escape, no one could stop him. After all, he was the son of Her Highness, whose swiftness was unrivaled in the Myriad Realm.

Not receiving a reply for long, Her Highness, the Empyrean Queen, lashed out, “Now you know why I punish him even though it’s your incompetence.”

“Grand Vizier, I am ordering you to offer the Primordial Relic to the Demon Merchant Code and find my son.” As Her Highness ordered the Grand Vizier, the silver feathers on her face stood up and trembled with sheer rage learning that the entire cabinet treated the Primordial Relic as more important than her son, their Crown Prince.

What enraged her most was that her husband not only agreed with them, he would rather go hungry for a few more days than offer up the relic and find their son sooner so he could extinguish his hunger, even though he had been fasting since the disappearance of their son.

“Love, we will find Mamas soon. Please don’t make things difficult right in the middle of a proceeding.”

As soon as the Owlape Empyrean said those words, his intent sense was immediately crushed by the immense, concentrated intent sense of the Owlape Empyrean Queen. If not for the cabinet of ministers assembled, she would not have hesitated to get physical with him.

His Highness didn’t care about the rage of his wife. She might hit, but she still wouldn’t go ahead with it without his permission.

“I’m telling you right now, either one of you incompetent ministers offer the relic to the Demon Merchant Code in exchange for the whereabouts of my son, or I will become a Devil Merchant myself,” the Empyrean Queen threatened the cabinet.

His Highness clicked his tongue in annoyance, while the ministers held their heads as low as possible, not daring to meet the gaze of Her Highness.

The main maid of the Empyrean Queen quickly came to the Queen’s side to calm her anger, seeing the annoyance of the Empyrean. Whispering, “Your Highness, please calm down. If you become a Devil Merchant to find the Crown Prince, you will not only lose your title but fail to achieve anything and make an opening for the main clans to finally threaten the Crown Prince’s position. Please, don’t be irrational and think calmly. This isn’t worth it.”

Unlike in the low-level races, clans, and factions, where all the Empyreans, rulers, and leaders were Devil Merchants, the Empyreans of the Owlape Royal Family were forbidden from being a part of the Demon Merchant Code.

To the rest of the Dark Realm, the Demon Merchant Code might be this convenient ancient spell, but the true Ruler-class races like them knew better.

Even the Librarian and his kin, who were famously known to have many branches of their Infinity Library across the inter-realm city, were not Devil or Demon Merchants. They had their own arrangements with the Demon Merchant Code.

In fact, the rules of the Mulias Royal Family were so strict about their Empyreans not being related to the Demon Merchant Code that if the Empyrean or the Queen were to join the Demon Merchant Code after gaining their title and authority, they were to be immediately stripped of their title and authority and replaced.

So, if Her Highness were to become a Devil Merchant so that she could offer the Primordial Relic to the Demon Merchant Code to find the location of her son, she would have achieved nothing but lose her title and authority as the Empyrean Queen, as she would lose access to the Primordial Relic the moment she became a Devil Merchant, having lost her title and authority.

That was to say, not only would she be losing everything without succeeding in finding her son, but she would also be making a new Empyrean Queen who would sire a new prince, who could potentially threaten the political standing of the current missing Crown Prince.

The main maid was right, but what she didn’t know was that the Empyrean Queen hadn’t just now thought of offering the Primordial Relic to the Demon Merchant Code for her son’s location. She had decided long ago, when the Demon Merchant Code demanded the Primordial Relic in exchange for helping her find her son, but just like now, His Highness and the cabinet refused, claiming that the Primordial Relic was a strategic resource and they couldn’t waste it like this when the Crown Prince might not actually be missing but on one of his long trips.

She didn’t agree with them because even though her son would disappear for a long time, she could always sense him no matter where in the Myriad Realm he was. But now, even the best diviners in their race weren’t able to find the Crown Prince. Yet, they had the audacity to say that the Crown Prince might just be enjoying himself and show up when he had had enough.

The Empyrean and the cabinet decided despite her protest. It was then that she had forced her husband to give her his word. And her husband had assured her, giving his word to her, that he wouldn’t rest or eat until he found their son.

It had been days since then, and she still hadn’t heard from her son or received any information about him. She took the Primordial Relic from the royal treasury, planning to coerce her main maid into offering it to the Demon Merchant Code in exchange for information about her son’s location.

But just as she was about to find the main maid, the maid rushed to find her, informing her that the entire royal family, branch families, and the ministers were in an uproar after learning that a Devil Merchant native to the Realm of True Evil had been recruited and had used the Demon Merchant Code to leave that realm. And the Empyrean had called a cabinet meeting.

Then here she was, threatening a roomful of people who didn’t seem to care about her or her son as much as they cared about a random Devil Merchant native to the Realm of True Evil or the Primordial Relic.

It was not that she didn’t understand the seriousness of this situation, but she felt that they were not prioritizing finding her son enough. Her maternal instincts told her that her son was in serious trouble. Yes, he was born with divine muscles that were strong enough to shatter mountains despite being a newborn. She remembered more than anyone, as she remembered the complications that came with them. If not for proper treatment, those muscles would have been the death of her son. And it was because of that treatment that her son unfairly gained the label Deviant Devil across the Myriad Realm.

“Fine,” Her Highness said to her main maid, but then she glanced at each and every minister before her gaze rested on her husband. Locking eyes with him, she warned, “You have two more days. If you don’t find my son by then, I don’t know what I will do.”

“He is my son too. I care about him just as much. Trust me, we will find him,” His Highness assured his wife. Family rules aside, he loved her more than his son, so for her sake, he would turn the entire Myriad Realm upside down if that was what it took to find their son. Then, he signaled the Grand Vizier to continue with the proceedings.

However, he and his ministers all failed to notice that Her Highness, the Empyrean Queen’s, eyes narrowed with resolve. She seemed to have a plan of her own having decided to take the matters of finding her son in her own hands instead of trusting her husband and his incompetent ministers.

Novel Raider: The First Fiction Summoner