Watching boxes of supplies being loaded onto the carriages, Maiev Shadowsong was very surprised.
"It seems Prince Farodis thinks highly of Mage Gale."
Garrosh agreed with her, "Indeed, the entire Nathalas Academy is working to help Mage Gale. It seems Mage Gale has a high prestige here."
Nasa was even more to the point, "This Mage Gale is truly generous. He wrote IOUs for every single supply. Isn't he afraid that Sin'dorei will default on the debt? And then he'll have to repay these debts?"
Hearing this, Maiev paused, then smiled and said, "How could Her Majesty default? You know this is a right she granted to Gale."
Garrosh was slightly worried, "I'm just afraid someone will interfere…"
Maiev thought of the attacked logistics team and also became inexplicably worried.
She had always been outspoken, but as she slowly walked to Gale's side, she still hesitated.
Gale saw her looking as if she wanted to speak but couldn't, and couldn't help but tease her, "What? Our Iron Lady actually has moments when she doesn't know what to say?"
"Don't call me Iron Lady!" Maiev glared at him.
Iron Lady was a nickname Gale gave Maiev on the way. Maiev disliked it greatly, but the Priests found it very fitting because Maiev was indeed a very strong-willed person. Even Garrosh thought the nickname was appropriate and would occasionally use it to joke with Maiev.
Gale smiled and shrugged, "Alright, alright, the Iron Lady is angry."
Maiev was helpless; she was now somewhat accustomed to being called Iron Lady. She didn't want others to call her that, she just wasn't used to being given nicknames, which was a normal human reaction. But after being called it for several days, she had gradually gotten used to it, even feeling that being called Iron Lady seemed to be fine.
The power of habit is terrifying.
"You spent so much money, won't there be a problem?"
"What problem?" Gale asked, puzzled.
Maiev: "Someone in Sin'dorei wants to harm you. If they find an excuse not to let the Queen pay for these expenses, won't you have to pay all these debts yourself?"
Gale nodded, "There is indeed such a risk."
"Then you still want to do this?"
Gale spread his hands, pointing at the supplies and said, "But if I don't do this, the soldiers on the Heda'shal front line won't receive supplies, and then the war will surely fail. At that time, as the quartermaster, I will bear the greatest responsibility."
Maiev opened her mouth. She wanted to say that the attack on the logistics team wasn't Gale's responsibility. But thinking of the nobles' political maneuvering, even if Gale wasn't sentenced to death, he wouldn't escape severe punishment.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but start to sympathize with Gale.
Gale smiled, "Quickly put away that look. Money is an external thing; if it's gone, you can earn more. Besides, Her Majesty the Queen is wise and mighty; she will compensate me."
Maiev felt relieved, "Indeed, Her Majesty will not mistreat you!"
The surrounding Kaldorei also laughed. How could Her Majesty mistreat a meritorious official like Mage Gale?
Seeing everyone's reaction, Gale finally genuinely smiled. Everyone in the Kaldorei Empire believed that Azshara would not default, and only then would Azshara not default, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to silence public opinion.
To be honest, Gale actually hoped Azshara would default, so the Kaldorei would sympathize with him, earning him more prestige.
Although Azshara was narcissistic, she had a very true saying.
If Gale and Azshara were born in the same era, then it would not be Azshara who ascended the throne, but Gale.
When it came to winning hearts, Azshara was far inferior to Gale. In Gale's view, Azshara was a charlatan who used miracles to deceive people. Without the help of Savis and other nobles, she couldn't manage the Kaldorei Empire at all.
This was also why the Kaldorei Empire began to decline after the High Elves' mindset shifted, believing themselves to be superior to commoners.
Filled with confidence in Azshara, the Kaldorei worked with even greater enthusiasm. The people of Nathalas Academy were willing to help Gale, not only because of Gale's considerable prestige and status, but more importantly because Gale offered 10% higher compensation than the market price.
Don't underestimate this 10%; it adds up with large quantities. Besides the supplies from the Forging Factory, Gale purchased a total of over 50,000 gold coins worth of supplies, so an extra 10% profit meant an additional 5,000-plus gold coins.
The entire Nathalas Academy's annual transaction volume was only around tens of thousands of gold coins. This time, the extra profit was half of the transaction volume, so naturally, both mages and merchants were highly enthusiastic.
A money offensive is the best way to win people's hearts!
In less than half a month, all supplies were ready.
Maiev greatly admired Gale; she had never seen anyone with such organizational ability. One must know that the people who came to transport the supplies were not Gale's subordinates, yet Gale could command them as if they were his own limbs, his talent shining like a luminous pearl.
In the last few days, Garrosh, leveraging Maiev's status, stayed by Gale's side, learning his command methods.
To ensure the safety of the supplies, High Priestess Dyganna dispatched Maiev to lead two hundred Priests as a logistics team, and Grand Magister Elisande also sent Captain Ravencrest to lead one hundred Suramar Guardians to help.
Captain Ravencrest came from Black Rook Hold in the northwest and was a powerful warrior. Garrosh was his subordinate and had a good relationship with him. He also admired Garrosh's military talent and intended to cultivate Garrosh.
Captain Ravencrest also greatly admired Gale's command ability, because Gale seemed to know all the supplies like the back of his hand, even having already set which carriage would carry what kind of supplies. When the supplies arrived, Gale would directly tell them which numbered carriage to go to and where to place them.
A day in advance, Maiev had Nasa depart with the scouts.
Only after receiving the all-clear signal from Nasa did Maiev allow the convoy to set off, passing through Shal'Aran and successfully reaching Suramar City.
The Suramar region is mountainous, and the Trolls are temporarily unable to infiltrate west of Suramar City. However, heading north from Suramar City required extra caution, especially when entering the Crimson Thicket. There was a Vrykul village called Jarvik on the eastern side of the Crimson Thicket, near the river.
Given the Vrykul's current attitude towards the Trolls, it was not impossible for Trolls to infiltrate Jarvik by following the river.
Gale strongly suspected that the Trolls who attacked the logistics team had infiltrated from Jarvik.
Therefore, as soon as they entered the Crimson Thicket, Maiev became vigilant. Even with Nasa's reconnaissance, she still had Ravencrest send people to search along both sides of the road.
Soon, the effect of this approach became apparent.
A scream rang out, and the entire convoy immediately stopped.
Maiev lowered her iron mask, covering her beautiful face.
"Prepare for battle!"