Chapter Seventy-Four: I Don’t Want Money

“It was just a joke!” Chu Tian said with utmost seriousness.

Then, instead of paying any more attention to Kuyata and Best, he turned to Dio. Raising his eyes to the sky, he exclaimed, “Praise the Goddess of Life! Dio, my student, there is one thing you must remember forever...”

“Teacher, I will remember it!” Dio had no idea what Chu Tian was about to do. In the past, after treating someone, the teacher had never once refused gold, so why now? Still, Dio, who revered his master with proper deference, widened his eyes and listened with grave attention.

“The Goddess said that priests are human too, and humans need gold. But a priest must never forget his country!” Chu Tian clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the heavens, full of the noble spirit of loyalty to his nation. His voice, like his expression, trembled with sudden fervor. “When I treat other magical beasts, I do charge some gold, because that gold belongs to private nobles! But Sir Kuyata is the Empire’s greatest military force! He is the guardian beast of our Caesar!”

As he spoke, Chu Tian pointed at Kuyata, his expression growing even more impassioned. “For decades, Sir Kuyata has fought and bled for the Empire. His wounds were suffered for the Empire; his blood was shed for the Empire. If I were to take money from him, I would be taking money from the Empire itself!”

Dio’s eyes were already sparkling wildly, and Best looked at Chu Tian as though seeing him for the first time. Kuyata, meanwhile, was so moved he nearly broke down completely, as if he had found a soulmate. “Your... Your Highness, serving the Empire is what I ought to do...”

“The Empire is about to launch its great war of vengeance, and Sir Kuyata must once again step onto a battlefield full of flashing blades and countless dangers. Yet now, at this very moment, he has fallen ill...” Chu Tian wore a look of deep sorrow.

He sighed. “Without Sir Kuyata, I cannot even imagine what this war would become. On the battlefield, Kuyata is the symbol of Caesar’s invincibility! He is the guarantee of our victory! And yet he is sick. As an ordinary priest of the Empire, healing the Empire’s ultimate force is my inescapable duty!”

The more Chu Tian spoke, the more agitated he became. Lowering his head as if in penitence, he said, “At a time like this, if I still demanded money from Sir Kuyata, then I would not deserve to be a priest of Caesar! I would not deserve to believe in the great Goddess of Life...”

At last, Chu Tian patted Dio on the shoulder and said with earnest solemnity, “So! As the heir to the ancient priestly arts, you must remember this: no matter when, you are always a priest of the Caesar Empire!”

Dio nodded fiercely and said with unwavering resolve, “Teacher, I will remember your teachings!”

A flush crept up around Dio’s eyes. This was his great teacher indeed!

Best also stepped forward and bowed his head before Chu Tian, saying in a deep voice, “Your Highness, I’m sorry. I have always misunderstood you. Now I believe it. You, like His Highness Anthony, are the Empire’s greatest priests!”

Chu Tian was taken aback by this. He had only wanted to swindle Kuyata a little. How had even the beast minister been moved? He forced a laugh. “Sir Kuyata, there is one more thing I need to discuss with you...”

At last, after so much rambling, the great swindler Chu Tian finally revealed his true purpose.

“You have quite a few relatives and friends, don’t you?”

“That’s right! My people live in the Sunset Mountains, and there are about ten thousand of them!” Kuyata had already been moved by Chu Tian’s patriotism and medical skill, and so he told him everything without hesitation. “However, among our clan, I am the only magical beast of the ninth rank. The rest are mostly middle- and lower-ranked.”

Ten thousand?

Chu Tian nearly saw endless bovine bezoars raining down into his hands. Although the odds of producing a bezoar were very low, if ten thousand cattle yielded even a dozen, that would be enough. And given Kuyata’s size, his kin might not be quite as large as he was, but they certainly would not be small!

“Praise the Goddess of Life,” Chu Tian said with feigned compassion. “Then among your people, is there also someone who has fallen ill with the same disease as you?”

“How did Your Highness know?” Kuyata was utterly astonished. Frowning, he looked at Chu Tian. “My illness appeared only after I was attacked by the dragon elders. But my people were never attacked, yet some of them have suffered from this very disease as well!”

Kuyata’s attitude toward Chu Tian was beginning to shift from fear to admiration. The ability to foresee things was not something just anyone possessed.

“Actually...” Chu Tian hesitated theatrically, as though in a terrible dilemma. “Ah, I suppose I should tell you after all...”

“Your Highness, what is it?” Kuyata was anxious now. What could make a ninth-rank ancient holy priest hesitate like this? Could this disease really be harming all of his people? “Please, just say it directly!”

Seeing that Kuyata’s curiosity had already been hooked, Chu Tian narrowed his eyes and said haltingly, “You know, the Dragon Emperor once gave me a book recording the ancient priestly arts. According to what is written there, I fear... I fear...”

“Damn it, fear what?” Kuyata’s bull eyes widened. Chu Tian’s long-winded manner irritated him again, and his thick arm rose at once. But the instant his anger flared, he remembered the terrifying golden radiance in his foolishly large head, and he quickly softened. “Cough, cough. Your Highness, please don’t be angry. I mean only that if you have something to say, then say it plainly. There’s no need to worry about anything...”

“Ah.” Chu Tian sighed again, took Kuyata’s hands in his own, and gazed at him with solemn gravity. “According to the records in that book, you and your entire clan have contracted a deadly disease!”

“What!?” Kuyata clenched his iron fists and stared at Chu Tian, speaking quickly. “You mean my people are all in danger?”

“Praise the Goddess of Life. Yes, indeed,” Chu Tian said slowly, nodding. “In truth, this illness very likely dates back to ancient times and was passed down from your ancestors. And ordinary priestly arts simply cannot cure it!”

On this point, Chu Tian was not lying. The principle behind priestly arts on the Phantom Beast Continent was to stimulate life potential, so even if priestly arts were effective, they would only accelerate the formation of gallstones!

“That’s right. My people have also had other priests treat them before,” Kuyata said, nodding his massive head repeatedly to show his agreement. “It truly did no good at all!”

“Yes, that’s exactly it.” Chu Tian’s expression shifted again into one of pained distress. “Sir Kuyata, your strength is great, so at most this disease can cause you some suffering. But it can spread to others as well. By then, your people...”

Even if Kuyata were a fool, he now understood Chu Tian’s meaning. He was a ninth-rank magical beast, so this illness could not do much to him. But what about his middle- and lower-ranked clansmen?

“Your Highness, you must save my people!” Kuyata seized Chu Tian by the shoulders, tears and pleas pouring from him all at once. “As long as Your Highness heals my people, I can give you all my family’s property!”

Magical beasts, like humans, had their own families or clans. As the leader of the giant bull clan in the Sunset Mountains, Kuyata worked himself so hard precisely for the sake of his people. Now that they were in serious trouble according to Chu Tian’s description, Kuyata would be willing to beg even at the cost of his whole fortune!

“Hmph! What do you take me for?” Chu Tian’s face turned cold. He snorted and shoved Kuyata away, saying icily, “If you mention money to me again, then I won’t care whether your people live or die!”

Kuyata was stunned by this. He asked blankly, “Then what does Your Highness want?”

“Ahh...” To swindle Kuyata, Chu Tian had already sighed so many times he had lost count. “I said it before, Sir Kuyata, you are fighting for the Empire! And as the Empire’s chief court priest, how could I let you go to the battlefield with worries in your heart?”

To heighten the atmosphere, Chu Tian had originally meant to pat Kuyata on the shoulder. Only then did he realize that he simply could not reach, so he settled for taking Kuyata’s hand instead.

“Rest assured. Starting tomorrow, have your clansmen come to the imperial capital in batches, and I will examine them one by one!”

“Your... Your Highness...” Kuyata was so moved he no longer knew what to say. He suddenly wrapped Chu Tian in a great embrace and choked out, “We... we giant bull clan will remember Your Highness’s kindness forever...”

The moment Chu Tian was hugged, gooseflesh broke out all over him. Being held in the arms of a muscular man over six feet tall, while that same muscular man was crying and sniveling all over him, was not a pleasant experience at all.

He wriggled free from the beastly embrace and continued, “However, your people are too numerous. How about this: I’ll rent several zeppelin airships from the Pampas family and transport a few hundred at a time. What do you think?”

“No, no! How could I possibly use Your Highness’s gold?!” Kuyata was not entirely foolish after all. The glorious Lord Vladino was examining his clansmen free of charge, so how could he possibly let the prince spend money on transport? “I’ll pay for the zeppelin rentals myself!”

“Mm, that will do!” Chu Tian readily accepted Kuyata’s suggestion this time, without the slightest hesitation. “Also, I’m about to join the war myself, so it will not be possible to examine everyone all at once...”

“That’s fine!” Kuyata’s huge head bobbed. “Your Highness can examine the rest after the war ends!”

Heh. Praise the Goddess of Life. This time, I’ve struck gold, Chu Tian thought with dark amusement. Kuyata, I praise you. What a fine bull you are. Not only are you paying for my bezoars yourself, you’re also going to serve as my bodyguard for free!

Ever since Emperor Rudolf III had issued Chu Tian the order to prepare for war, Chu Tian had known that, as the Empire’s strongest priest, he would certainly be sent out with the army. So he had no choice but to think about his own safety.

Apache was formidable, but not in peak condition. As for the Reis Empire, they had a sacred dragon knight whose master and mount were both ninth rank!

If Chu Tian faced Clins alone, or even just his mount, Apache might not be able to beat them, but he could at least escort Chu Tian to safety. Yet the problem was that those two were one and the same!

In that case, Chu Tian would need more preparations.

That was why he insisted on continuing Kuyata’s treatment after the war. On the one hand, it was to swindle a few more bezoars. On the other hand, so long as even one giant bull remained unexamined, Kuyata would not dare let Chu Tian die. He would have to protect Chu Tian’s safety on the battlefield.

With Kuyata and Apache together, and with Hummer and NMD added into the mix, they ought to be able to hold off Clins at least, right?

Heh. That was Chu Tian’s true objective all along. Money could be ignored, but his life absolutely had to be preserved.