Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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"Long time no see, Ronan," the Duke greeted warmly, opening his arms as he walked toward Ronan.

"Long time no see, Vincent," Ronan said with the same enthusiasm.

The next second, Vincent, Duke of Loire, hugged Ronan and whispered in his ear, "A female mage will cause you trouble in a moment. Ignore her. We'll find a way to handle this for you."

"Thank you," Ronan replied with gratitude.

Although the Duke probably already knew about this and came specifically to do someone a favor, I still have to thank him.

The Duke of Loire led Ronan to a group of people. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think this distinguished guest needs no introduction. He has an ambiguous relationship with that lady, and as the Queen's husband, he can make officials tremble with fear with just a few moves. Our Mr. Ronan Artes."

A series of applause erupted.

After the applause ended, it was time for insincere pleasantries. Ronan went around to various nobles who took out their glasses to offer a toast, first introducing themselves and then offering their greetings. Ronan politely returned a few words in return.

Finally, a woman appeared in front of Ronan.

In fact, Ronan had noticed her long ago. It was hard not to notice this woman dressed in all black. In the Kingdom of Fas these days, unless it was for a funeral, no woman would wear all black. On such occasions, women usually dressed more brightly, with tight-fitting tops to accentuate their breasts, gorgeous long skirts, high heels, and colorful stockings.

And this woman was dressed all in black, how could she not stand out?

The woman took out a gold coin. The design on the coin was a hand holding a triangle with an eye on it. The design was called the "Hand of the Mage," and the coin was called the "Mage Coin."

This item is a symbol of a mage's honor.

When Ronan first arrived in the capital and encountered Ambrina's suitor, the man pulled out a gold coin like this and challenged him to a duel.

At this moment, the same scenario unfolded.

However, the other party is a woman, which is awkward. There is no gender discrimination among mages, after all, strength speaks for itself, but most mages are men, and almost no women have reached the top in thousands of years.

If a woman challenges you to a duel, it's not good to refuse, and it's not good to accept either. If you win, it's dishonorable; if you lose, you'll lose face.

Duke Vincent of Loire was shocked. His hand, which was playing with his beard, froze in mid-air. This duel was not part of his script. Then, the Duke was so angry that he trembled all over. The duel was clearly something this woman had decided on her own. Her father was the Lord of the White Tower, one of the three giants, so she could do whatever she wanted.

Marcus smiled knowingly. He'd heard Ronan had a very close relationship with the principal, and with Dinia involved, things were definitely going to get interesting.

Ronan could tell from the Duke of Loire's expression that the matter was out of his control.

“Duel between mages can result in death,” Ronan said.

“You killed my husband, and there is no other way to avenge him,” the woman replied. “If you refuse now, then I will have no choice but to arrange this duel.”

"Your husband? Who is he?" Ronan asked curiously.

He hasn't killed anyone recently; the last time he killed someone was last year, and that was in self-defense. This woman's husband was probably one of them back then.

Chapter 391 Duel, is that all? I can call for backup too.

A sudden challenge to a duel left everyone bewildered.

The nobles attending the gathering each had their own purposes. Those with ability and ideas wanted to find out from Ronan the inside story about the sale of the Royal Chamber of Commerce's assets, or ask if the "land-for-shares" deal was going to happen, and if so, what the process would be.

The incompetent and unambitious nobles were just trying to make a name for themselves with Ronan. If Ronan and the other nobles could reveal some small money-making opportunities, that would be even better.

However, whether they were capable or not, nobles had some improper needs in addition to their proper ones. The parties hosted by the Duke of Loire were never short of women, and since there were no noble ladies, it was very convenient to have fun. In addition to famous actors and singers from major theater companies, there were also actresses from some small theater companies. Of course, there were also wives of some frivolous civil servants and women from all walks of life who wanted to get ahead.

The woman in black's commotion and disruption really spoiled everyone's fun.

We've already chosen the people and they've taken the pills, and you give me this?

“Madam, this is not proper of you,” a nobleman stepped forward and said.

The woman in black turned her head to look at the male nobleman who had spoken, and asked disdainfully, "Does a piece of trash like you have any right to speak?"

"Can I speak?" Duke Vincent of Loire asked through gritted teeth, he was nearly driven mad with anger.

The woman in black didn't speak directly, but instead said, "Duke, do you know that in that era that truly belonged to nobles, you were not qualified to inherit the title? Can you use the Freigo family's summoning magic? Of course you can speak, but that's all you can do."

The era she spoke of that truly belonged to the nobility was actually an era in which magicians and nobles were roughly equivalent.

In that era, large families typically practiced summoning magic, which was hereditary. Although a father might not have it, a son might, but to ensure that each generation of heirs had combat capabilities, only those who inherited summoning magic could inherit the title.

Vincent, the Duke of Loire, was someone who did not inherit the summoning magic, but he was the eldest son, while his son did, so he inherited the title.

Ronan remained silent, searching his memory for a long time but finding no information about the woman.

However, he remembered a sentence from Dinia: in the entire kingdom, she was the only female mage of the fifth rank or above.

Trust is all that matters.

Ronan suddenly spoke up, "I accept your challenge to a duel."

Instantly, all eyes turned to them. Those who knew Ronan and the woman in black remained silent, waiting for the drama to unfold, such as Marcus.

The others were simply too surprised that Ronan would agree to the duel. Putting aside the fact that this woman looked like she had no regard for her life and was not easy to deal with, even if they were sure to win, there would be trouble afterward. This woman clearly had a powerful backer, and a very high one at that. Otherwise, how could she dare to challenge Ronan to a duel and even publicly mock the Duke of Loire?

"Very good, right here."

As the woman spoke, her magic exploded.

People around immediately scattered, quickly fleeing in all directions to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

"Although it's meaningless, I'm still curious, who exactly is your husband? I killed a few magicians last year, but they didn't seem to have any powerful backers."

Ronan remembered the assassination attempt he had suffered on his way back from the north very clearly. None of the third- or fourth-tier mages, when they were begging for mercy, said anything like "My wife is so-and-so".

“You don’t need to know.” As the woman spoke, magic began to unfold.

In an instant, four strange things appeared, with human-shaped upper bodies but no facial features, and lower bodies resembling vortices. These four things, neither human nor non-human, were composed of flames, water, mud, and lightning tornadoes, respectively.

Although it has a bit of an elemental magic feel to it, this should be summoning magic.

Judging from the magical aura emanating from her, she is a fourth-tier cultivator.

"What a crazy person. But sometimes, it's people like you who set the stage for a new chapter in the grand drama of history." Ronan was already standing on the floating shield, in mid-air, and had already made up his mind to kill this woman.

It wasn't because this woman wanted to kill him, nor because she provoked him or embarrassed him, nor because she was mentally unstable and not killing her might cause endless trouble.

Ronan's idea was very simple: this woman had powerful backing, right? Perfect. It would be best to kill the younger one to lure the older one out. If they could negotiate, they could; if not, they could kill her again.

The battle begins. The earth elemental sinks into the ground, the water elemental stands still and sprays water arrows, and the fire and lightning elementals fly into the air at the same time, attacking Ronan from both sides.

Ronan donned his armor, accelerating at full speed, braving the damage, breaking through the fire and lightning elements, and charging directly towards his main body.

When fighting a summoner, you should always attack the main body first.

The moment he landed, his shield sliced ​​through the swamp created by earth elementals, and Ronan drew his sword.

Just as Ronan's sword was about to strike, the woman suddenly vanished.

This was entirely within Ronan's expectations. Summoning mages usually need a skill that combines with their summoned creatures, but she didn't disappear instantly; instead, she merged with the elements.

He swung his longsword, which spun and lunged at the water elemental that had merged with the woman.

"You've been tricked." Just then, a woman's voice suddenly appeared, and at the same time, a mudslide that shot into the sky was like the gaping maw of a giant monster, about to swallow Ronan whole.

She knew very well that Ronan, with his sword and shield armor, was a master of both offense and defense, but this defense was not all-encompassing. If she could create a moment when he was without a sword in his hand, without a shield on his feet, and with his armor damaged, and then seize that moment, it would be enough to severely injure Ronan and then disable his magic.

And at this moment, she did it.

But the next moment, instead of the real feeling of Ronan being swallowed up, she felt only a sharp pain as if her whole body was being pierced by a sword.

When the mudslide cleared, the truth was revealed: several round shields, like tortoise shells, encased Ronan inside, and a longsword emerged from the gaps in the shields.

At this point, Ronan was like a spiky ball.

Shields and longswords scattered, and Ronan stepped onto one of the shields. "Is this all your summons are? They don't even meet the standards of a fourth-tier summon. Is it because they were split into four and can freely switch and fuse that they've become so useless?"

The woman broke free from her fusion with the earth element, blood visibly seeping from her body. "You're not a fourth-tier being."

"Isn't this something you should have known all along?" Ronan said, both amused and exasperated. "Alright, enough talk, it's time to send you to heaven."

Ronan stood still, unleashing ten pairs of swords and shields, each targeting a different elemental summon and the woman's true form.

Two pairs of swords and shields are not enough to threaten elemental summons, but they are just enough to keep them at bay.

Ronan's tactics are a standard, safe approach: if you have more magic, just wear them down.

Once the enemy had exhausted themselves, Ronan concentrated his power and delivered a fatal blow.

"That's about it." Just as Ronan felt that it was about time, an unusual magical force rapidly approached.

Shake people?

You think Ronan can't call for reinforcements? Think again. Nobody can call for reinforcements faster than him.

Chapter 392 The speed at which they called for help led to a mix-up with the wrong person, resulting in a farce.

While Ronan was being challenged to a duel at a party, Dinia was reviewing documents in the Minister of the Interior's office.

Although Ronan was in charge of the sale of the Royal Chamber of Commerce's assets, he would always combine a report recording the previous situation, a log summarizing the current progress, and a plan for the future into a single document and submit it to his superiors.

Ronan had more than one superior, including his boss and lover, Interior Minister Dinia, as well as the head of the civil service, the Prime Minister and his drinking buddy, Mr. Alexander, and his only wife, Queen Ambrina, the leader of the country.

The Prime Minister doesn't have time to look at the documents Ronan sent; he has many other things to deal with.

Ambrina doesn't read documents much to begin with, let alone when she's having lunch. She gets hungry quickly but has a poor appetite, so she eats seven meals a day, but only a little bit at each meal.

Only Dinya had the time and inclination to read the documents Ronan presented.

Just then, Dinia's earlobe suddenly started to shake, causing the ruby ​​earring to shake violently as well.

This is an alarm.

She implanted a parasitic organism in Ronan, so that Ronan could notify her at any time as long as they weren't too far apart.

Dinia kicked off her slippers, put on her boots, buttoned up her unbuttoned coat, opened the window, and a large-caliber bullet-shaped red mushroom sprouted from her hand. She then threw the bullet mushroom, which disappeared with a whoosh. A second later, the mushroom was more than 300 meters away from the window. As the bullet mushroom began to fall, Dinia emerged from it and landed steadily on the roof of a second-floor house. Then, she threw out another bullet-shaped red mushroom.

The red dot teleported in the air, and soon a red fleshy cocoon appeared on Ronan's shoulder, from which Dinia emerged.

"I always said I'm the fastest at calling in players."

Ronan said with a smile.

Dinia glanced at the woman dressed in black not far away with surprise, and then sensed the unusual magic.

Soon, between Ronan, Dinia, and the woman in black, a powerful gust of wind descended from the sky and slammed into the ground, creating a whirlwind that spread outwards. If it weren't for the group of nobles who were also magicians casting spells, the other non-magicians would have been blown away like grass and saplings.

The storm subsided, revealing a young man and an old man.

The young man had curly, messy short hair, dark circles under his eyes, pale skin, and a slightly thin build. He looked languid, as if he might fall asleep at any moment, and his hands were weakly gripping the back handles of a wheelchair.

On the paper in the wheelchair, the old man has a thick head of long white hair, and an even thicker white beard. He is tall but not thin, old but energetic, and wearing a dark purple robe. Sitting there, he is simply the perfect embodiment of the word "magician".

Dinia whispered in Ronan's ear, "This is Ursel Artes, the Lord of the White Tower, one of the three giants of the kingdom's magic world. He shares your surname. What's even more interesting is that I looked it up, and he is actually related to you. Your great-great-great-grandfather was his brother."

Ronan just gave an awkward smile after hearing that.

Ronan sheathed his sword and shield, then slowly stepped forward and extended his hand to the old man in the wheelchair. "Ronan Artes, greetings."

Dinia covered her face with one hand and grabbed Ronan's outstretched hand with the other, pulling it upwards and pointing it at the standing young man.

Then, the lazy, curly-haired young man reached out and shook hands with Ronan, saying somewhat indistinctly, "Hello."

Ronan was also surprised; the dazed young man standing there was actually the master of the White Tower.

“The white-bearded old man is his summoned creature,” Dinia said.

"Uh, um, she's right," the young man stammered in affirmation.

As a mage, Ronan had certainly heard of the Lord of the White Tower, but this person was very mysterious, and even his name was unclear. Moreover, there were many strange rumors about him. Some people said he was a summoning mage, while others said he was an elemental mage, which was simply outrageous.

Are there even magicians whose categories can't be distinguished?

But at this moment, Ronan began to understand why this situation had arisen.

Ursel's summoned creature is a "person" who can use elemental magic.

That's why he just admitted his mistake.

At that moment, the woman in black walked over and said, "Father."

The short-haired, curly-haired young man, Ussel, scratched his neck and looked at Ronan. "This is number six, uh, my daughter from my sixth wife. Although she's of little use to me now, she still played a crucial role at a certain stage. I beg you, don't hurt her."

The old man, who looked like a young man but whose age was unknown, spoke in a tone that was not cold but rather full of emotion and affection. However, it was not the fatherly love of a father for his daughter, but more like the love of an old knight for a weapon that had once accompanied him.

“He killed my husband,” the woman in black said.

“Oh.” Ussel’s reaction was very calm, then he turned to Ronan again and asked, “Can you promise me you won’t kill her?”

"If you can promise to ensure she won't bother me again, then of course it's no problem."

Ronan replied in this way.

“Although I can live a long time, there are still so many things I haven’t figured out. But I can’t waste my time on such a boring and meaningless thing as disciplining my children. I can’t make that promise,” Ussel said, taking out a pocket watch and flipping it open to check the time. “Thank you for your help.”

Ronan sensed that communicating with this old man, Geniusel, was exceptionally tiring.