Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Return to Rothschild

In the western part of the Sea of Clouds, less than a thousand kilometers from the Sky Arena’s busiest floating island, lay an enormous floating island along the warm currents.

This island was once home to a rich vein of azure crystals, earning it the name Green Crystal Floating Island.

Though the crystals had long been mined out, the island remained prosperous. The pollution from mining had been cleared away, replaced by lush greenery bought at sky-high prices across the Sea of Clouds. Artificial rock formations and shimmering crystal springs now decorated the landscape, transforming it entirely.

This was the ancestral home of the Rothschild family—the most low-profile yet wealthiest faction in the Sea of Clouds.

Recently, however, an uneasy tension had settled over the verdant island.

Lady Victoria Rothschild hadn’t been seen for months.

Her last reported whereabouts placed her at the Monsoon Fleet, where she’d begun selling a shipment of costly refined sperm whale spices. Shortly after, she vanished without a trace. Even the Rothschild Guild’s higher-ups couldn’t reach her.

Though they knew she traveled with Mr. Blade—a formidable fighter from the Sky Arena’s hundredth floor, famed for his flying skills and solo destruction of a Tiger Shark-class Skyship—her prolonged absence stirred worry.

Her rivals wasted no time spreading rumors. Cutting off contact violated guild protocols, yet the leadership stayed silent and made little effort to find her. Whispers grew that Victoria had fallen from power, abandoned by her guild, casting an icy pall over Green Crystal Floating Island.

Her two brothers even began scheming to seize control of their sister’s enterprises.

Amid this turmoil, an unremarkable Arrow Fish Skyship docked quietly at the island’s harbor. When guards approached for inspection, they froze—the passenger was the missing Victoria Rothschild herself.

News of her return swept through the island like a sudden gale. But rather than clearing the air, it deepened the mystery.

Before Victoria could step far from the skyship, an order arrived from the Rothschild Guild’s board.

A white-haired elder bowed deeply. “Lady Victoria, the board summons you to the council chamber.” His gaze flicked pointedly to the black-haired youth beside her.

At Level 62, this man—the board chairman and personal steward to Victoria’s father—outmatched even old steward Lund in power.

“Let’s go, Midi,” Victoria said brightly, looping her arm through his with practiced ease. Time spent with Avril, the beguiling dark elf assassin, had taught her a trick or two.

Midi sighed inwardly. He’d come to support her, and aloofness would undermine their act. Still, he resolved to set boundaries with Avril later—no more seduction lessons.

To the white-haired elder and onlookers, the sight was staggering. Since when did the famously aloof Victoria, who scorned every suitor, cling to a man like any lovestruck noble girl?

The black-haired youth was none other than Blade from the Sky Arena. Though his personal power proved formidable and rumors spoke of mysterious flying skills, he remained merely a Lower Realm human with insufficient level. What qualifications did he possess to earn Victoria’s favor?

Under the crowd’s astonished gazes, the young pair boarded the carriage and departed swiftly.

They soon reached an opulent mansion at the heart of Green Crystal Floating Island – the core location of Rothschild Guild’s headquarters.

As an outsider, Midi lacked qualification to enter the assembly hall. He waited outside while Victoria alone faced the fourteen board members and chairman.

"Stay calm. I’ll be right here," Midi said casually by the carriage. "Shout my name if trouble arises. I’ll storm in and beat them all up."

Though not loud, his words carried clearly to the guild guards. Their expressions shifted dramatically. Even the Level 62 white-haired elder’s composure cracked, his mouth twitching slightly.

To threaten the board at Rothschild Guild’s entrance! Such audacity!

Only Victoria laughed quietly. The girl understood – this bravado aimed to ease her tension rather than declare intent.

Despite thorough preparations and an unimaginable trump card, any eighteen-year-old would feel nervous facing such political combat. Yet under Midi’s faintly amused gaze, Victoria found her anxieties dissolving.

I’ll seize control of Rothschild Guild with my own hands.

With renewed determination, Victoria strode into the hall.

"Report your recent activities to the board," commanded the cold voice of the heavens-born man seated at the head – her father Cadilan Rothschild.

Victoria sighed inwardly at the stranger before her. This imposing figure bore little resemblance to the doting father of her childhood.

Everything changed when her business talents eclipsed his brilliance. Suspicion replaced affection. She’d naively believed excelling would please him, until that fateful investment two years prior.

When Cadilan’s blunder cost millions in Crystal Coins, Victoria’s intervention salvaged the crisis. Instead of pride, her father responded with icy indifference… then assassination attempts.

The guild still saw their rising genius. Only Victoria knew her father now stood with her mediocre brothers. Without his approval, how could those siblings deploy eight Skyships to intercept her?

Emerging from bitter memories, Victoria retorted: "Weekly reports detail my ventures’ profits – all thriving, especially the Monsoon Fleet’s spice trade windfall. What requires clarification?"

"Enough evasion," Cadilan frowned. "Explain your disappearance."

"I conducted confidential transactions," she countered. "Guild rules permit this when accounts show no losses."

"And the Narwhal?" Cadilan pressed. "Our most advanced Skyship – where is it?"

Victoria paused. The guild-owned vessel lay destroyed by a Magic Griffin warship.

"It crashed."

"What?!"

Shocked murmurs swept the boardroom. Fourteen directors and the chairman stared in disbelief.