The Bardi Empire's capital was probably the city with the longest history out of all the mega empires out there. It was the country's origin, and even the empire was named after it. That's right, the name of the Bardi Empire's capital was Bardi.
In order to distinguish it from the country's name, the Bardi people would habitually refer to their capital as the capital. Outsiders would also refer to it as the Bardi Empire's capital.
The Bardi Empire's capital covered an area of nearly a thousand square kilometers, including several dozen small and medium-sized satellite cities. There were even rivers and mountains. If someone wanted to walk from the city to the capital to meet Emperor Orloss, they would need to prepare enough food and tents to last them for half a month.
The largest district in the capital wasn't the Dilo District where the royal palace was located. That district was far too heavily guarded. Orloss, who had made so many enemies, had turned that district into the number one military district in the Bardi Empire. Not to mention, all the princes who often fought amongst themselves lived there. Anyone with even the slightest bit of political sensitivity wouldn't choose to go there.
During the day, all the carriages on the wide roads would have the family emblem of a certain noble or official. If anyone stayed here for too long, a patrolling Knight would come over.
Even so, the rate of major crimes occurring here was still the highest in the entire Bardi Empire. As Emperor Orloss, who was "too old" and "eager to see a truly qualified successor," remained silent about the princes' infighting and killing each other, as if he was tacitly approving of it, this district became even more chaotic.
Princes often had the support of gangs, major merchants, and nobles, so they wouldn't personally take action. This made assassins and spies the most common jobs here, and it was already a habit for those in this profession to kill off any witnesses. Thus, it became an unspoken rule of the Bardi Empire's capital to never enter the Dilo District, which was commonly known as the royal palace, after sunset.
As a result, a rather strange situation occurred. During the day, the streets here would be packed with people and carriages, but at night, the streets would be completely empty. However, black-clothed individuals and cloaked individuals would still be on the roofs of various houses, and they would even greet each other.
"Oh, isn't this the Fourth Prince's Grand Knight Karma? Where are you going this time? "
"Of course it's because Lord Thirteen recently recruited another archmage. I heard that he's so powerful that he's affecting the balance of power. My boss wants me to test him out, and if he's weak, I'll directly kill him. If he's really powerful, I'll teach him the rules of our profession."
"What a coincidence, my mission is also the same. Let's go together. "
"Of course, there will be plenty of rewards for completing the quest in a team. Why would you want to do it alone? Isn't that a little silly? By the way, I heard that guy has some skills. Do you have any information on him? Let's share. "
A black-cloaked man and a grey-cloaked man started chatting. Looking at how they agreed to go and farm bosses together, they were practically a pair of good friends.
However, outsiders would probably never imagine that the black-clothed man's left eye had been blinded by the grey-cloaked man. In that battle, the grey-cloaked man had also lost his left pinky and middle fingers. Not only were they not friends, they were mortal enemies who had been fighting each other just yesterday.
"Let's go together!"
"Together!"
"Take turns on him!"
The two of them turned around and saw a Black Cloak, a Red Cloak, and a Purple Mask. It seemed like the party of five was about to be filled up. Tonight, they were going to fight the Instance Dungeon Boss.
And these members of Xinran's team, who had been fighting each other like crazy yesterday, had become companions today. Perhaps tomorrow, they would see the corpses of half of their members in the gutter, and it was likely that these temporary teammates would be the cause of half of their members' deaths. After all, every thug with a bit of "fame" would have a tempting bounty on them.
Third-rate assassins, gangsters, bodyguards of wealthy businessmen, unruly deserters, and even hooligans and black market fighters could be seen here. You could probably see all the underworld forces that you could think of.
As the emperor's "death" drew closer and closer, the degree of acquiescence became more and more relaxed. In fact, even the Knight Patrol Squadron was withdrawn at night. The result was that the competition between the princes had become white-hot and obvious. They spent large amounts of money to hire thugs, regardless of their background or strength. As long as they could complete their mission and survive, they were naturally good dogs that were worth spending money on.
Yes, good dogs. The people in other parts of the capital called this increasingly brutal internal conflict within the royal family "dog fights." The princes stood on high platforms and tossed gold coins at the people below them to kill each other. Wasn't this the same as the dog fights that were popular in certain regions?
And yet, this "dog fight" involved more and more people, to the point where it seemed like it was going to engulf the entire capital.
"… There's no sign of life at all. Holy Light's healing is completely ineffective. He could die at any moment."
This was secretly leaked by a certain royal physician. And on the afternoon that he received a large sum of gold coins as a reward, he was taken away by the Royal Knight Squadron and executed on the same night.
The healing effect of Holy Light, in the end, was to return the victim to a "normal" state. That was why it was effective against external injuries and ordinary poisoned wounds. However, it was practically useless against reconstructing a limb after it had been severed for a period of time. That was because Holy Light would judge that the person was already in a normal state, so how could it change again?
And for "dead" people like the undead who were filled with negative energy, Holy Light, which could return the victim to a "normal" state, would naturally be their mortal enemy.
For the same reason, if someone died of old age due to their life force failing, their normal state would be that they were on the verge of death. They would be hanging on to their last breath with medicine. Of course, Holy Light would be completely useless. Blindly using Holy Light to activate the last of the victim's life force would only cause them to die even faster.
From a certain standpoint, when Holy Light was no longer effective on an elderly or sick person, it would be a death notice in a different sense. Although the Bardi royal knights had acted quite quickly and immediately destroyed the source of this information and blocked the spread of this information, this also proved the veracity of this piece of information in a way.
And so, while all the princes and princes were in a frenzy of joy and madness, the various nobles and important figures of various industries in the Bardi Empire could no longer just sit back and watch the dogs fight.
After all, it was obvious that a new emperor was about to succeed to the throne. It was now time for them to place their bets and personally take the throne. The rewards of helping an emperor ascend to the throne would be enough to make any merchant bet their entire family's wealth and life. And for the nobles, this was also a huge gamble. If they won, their status and title would explosively increase, and they might even gain great power. But if they lost … Actually, it wouldn't matter much to the major nobles. They would just be greatly disliked by the new emperor. However, the major nobles with large territories would actually be less likely to be hated by the new emperor. As long as they didn't make a deep grudge against the new emperor, they could just obediently scram back to their territories and hide like turtles. It would be fine for them to keep their tails between their legs in the future.
When the major nobles, merchants, and even the leaders of the military and civil service all took action, although the current emperor was still alive and the country was still relatively stable on the surface, if the entire upper echelons took action as well, the internal situation would be in complete chaos.
Fortunately, with Emperor Orloss's ruthless methods and prestige, the nobles still didn't dare to tear apart the layer of paper on the surface and limit the chaos to the royal palace … How was this possible? If chaos could really be controlled, then the Chaos Faction would have made peace with the Order Faction long ago.
Although the nobles said that they couldn't affect the citizens of other places, the major merchants would use their merchant guilds to attack their competitors. This would cause the entire market to violently fluctuate. The gray factions under the control of the nobles would take action. Just a small thug would be able to cause chaos in an entire alley, and not to mention the fact that a single move by the military would cause half a city's citizens to be in a state of panic and unable to sleep.
The citizens were no idiots. This was especially so when murders happened every few days, or when a noble who had been doing quite well in the past was suddenly found dead on the streets. Rumors would naturally spread like wildfire.
At some unknown point in time, the news that Emperor Orloss was about to die was no longer a secret. Even though the ordinary citizens could understand why Emperor Orloss was using such a special method to find a suitable successor, how could the ordinary citizens hope for a peaceful life like this to continue, especially since they were currently in the midst of war?
That's right, war was currently in the middle of a chaotic war against multiple countries.
The so-called vanguard of the Holy War had already been half-destroyed by the rampaging dragons. However, they still existed within the Bardi Empire's borders. It was as if the common people had forgotten about them.
Meanwhile, there was good news for Nightrain City's defensive line. Due to a certain person's outrageous actions, the Undead Lords and their armies that were close to Davi had all been wiped out. Until a new undead leader arrived or was appointed, as well as until the Undead Lords who hadn't participated in the allied armies had finished shirking their responsibilities, Nightrain City's defensive line would be temporarily stabilized.
Once the Contract Heroes on the western battlefront had time to spare, they would naturally be able to reinforce the eastern battlefront. Nightrain City would enter a period of stability, and it was only during this period that the dragon knight Archduke Karwenz dared to go about his own business.
As for the final target of war … the Mage Country!
That's right, they were still at war. At least on the surface, the Mage Country had used a forbidden spell to destroy one of Bardi's fortresses. Dragon Knight and archmages from both sides were still fighting on the frontlines. Since there was no agreement on paper yet, it was only natural that both sides were still at war.
In fact, since the Mage Country had won all the battles in the Bardi Empire, many citizens who had lost their loved ones in the fortresses raised flags and asked their rulers to help them attack the Mage Country. Not only that, there were also people who used propaganda against the Mage Country to vent the citizens' anxiety and fear. This made the citizens even more hostile towards the Mage Country.
As for an actual attack? Even if the Mage Country didn't know the true situation, just the fact that the successor to the Mage Country's crown had yet to be decided meant that none of the major figures were willing to waste their energy on such a thankless task. And in such a precarious situation, Cher's arrival here as the Mage Country's ambassador naturally attracted a lot of attention.
It wasn't enough for a capital city to only be a political center. The Kaso District was the center of commerce and education. It was more than three times the size of the royal palace district. In the thirty-some years since Orloss took the throne, the Kaso District had become increasingly prosperous. In the past, merchants from various countries would gather there. It was also the most prosperous district in the Bardi Empire. In order to avoid conflicts that would make people feel helpless, especially when a certain prince colluded with a foreign spy to murder his own brother and failed, all diplomatic embassies were moved to the business district near the royal palace district.
When considering the current situation, Cher's arrival was indeed quite low-key. She used the cover of night to secretly enter a hotel. However, her status made it impossible for her to keep a low profile.
A horse-drawn carriage with the Mage Country's emblem would travel between the business district and the royal palace district several times a day, and the carriage would stop at a hotel for foreign envoys to stay in. Naturally, even ordinary citizens would learn that an enemy country's ambassador had arrived.
And so, the city's rotten eggs and rotten fruits were sold out …
From the Bardi citizens' perspective, this was quite easy to understand. They also needed a way to vent their dissatisfaction. And so, every time the horse-drawn carriage passed through the city, it would be like whack-a-mole. Some youths who weren't satisfied even chased the carriage all the way to the hotel. Although the guards at the hotel's entrance wouldn't let them in, they would simply toss some harmless rotten fruits at them. The guards, who were just as displeased with the Mage Country, would pretend that they didn't see anything. The end result was that "cannons" could be heard outside, and no one dared to go near the windows of the hotel.
Even in such a situation, the other members of the Mage Country's envoy group were quite calm. However, Cher, as the ambassador, was quite confused.
"Why are you all so calm?"
"Answer: We're used to being scammed."
Roland's old subordinates were already used to being scammed. However, Cher was filled with frustration.
"Even though I'm just an ordinary mage working in the Bardi Empire's disciplinary department, and I didn't even pass the archmage assessment, I was mysteriously appointed as an ambassador by my superiors, I was sent to a hostile capital, I had a secret agreement, but I couldn't announce it. My temporary residence's windows were all destroyed, and it was so cold at night. Every day, the old emperor there would ask me to discuss official matters with him, but I was forced to play chess with him. Not only that, the emperor's chess skills were so terrible, and he always reneged on his moves …"
If it weren't for the fact that the Bardi Empire and the Bardi Empire's relationship was such that a war might really break out, Cher would have been unable to restrain herself long ago.
"How could I possibly restrain myself! I've had enough! I'm done! "
Alright then, Cher, who didn't have a good temper, was already furious. However, what she couldn't restrain the most was …
"Even though we agreed that I'm only a puppet ambassador on the surface, and that Vice Ambassador Roland should be in charge of all the work, why did he disappear right after we left!? In the end, all the work fell to me! I've already had enough trouble on my way here, and now there's so much to do! How can someone be so irresponsible? "
"… Such a familiar roar of anger, such a familiar complaint."
Kolos had a sympathetic expression as she looked at Cher, who was now in a state of anxiety. It seemed that anyone who spent a lot of time with Roland would come here for several days every month.
"… I've seen my past self."
Lilith fell into deep thought as she looked at the chaos outside the window. Was the "past self" she mentioned referring to the royal princess who was viewed as an enemy by the Bardi Empire's citizens, or the pitiful Internal Affairs Head Steward who had been constantly busy all day after her superiors gave her countless jobs in Sulfur Mountain City and had no hope for her colleagues at all?
"Relax, Sister Cher. Teacher will probably arrive soon. He probably won't forget such a major incident … probably."
As Cher's disciple, Cohen still had to protect his teacher's honor. However, when he thought about how unreliable his teacher was, he ended up revealing his lack of confidence in his teacher.
"What a chaotic place, I …"
"Miss Yawen, His Highness Roland told me that this is an ancient empire in the mortal world. They're slow to react to new things and are arrogant. Their prejudice against the Dark Elves hasn't changed at all. According to ancient customs, the Bardi Empire will first burn down the Dark Elves in the city before investigating them. Judging from this, the Bardi Empire is basically a group of uncivilized barbarians who have no sympathy whatsoever …"
Eaglestorm started talking non-stop. However, Momo, who had been transferred over to help Yawen due to a lack of manpower, was looking at him with anticipation.
"Did he expect this situation? Did he mention me? Did he say what he wanted me to do? "
"… Fine, I'll get straight to the point. 'If they want to enforce the law on the streets, tell them that this isn't their territory. Pretending to be law enforcers and harming others is also a serious crime. They should know what it's like for law enforcers to break the law.'"
"He even thought of that, but he didn't think of our current situation?"
The Law Faction's restless members calmed down after hearing Roland's message. However, the most troublesome one was the current ambassador of the Mage Country, who was about to go insane from the pressure. She had just played three hours of crappy chess against a lousy chess player who kept reneging on his moves. She had even been baptized by an "eggstorm" on the way back. Her rationality was on the verge of collapsing. Now that she heard Roland's name, she immediately exploded.
"I've had enough! I don't want to be the ambassador anymore! I'm returning to the mortal world right now! "
Cohen, who still had a bit of a conscience, hesitated for a moment before finally persuading Roland.
"… Then Sister Shirley, you should first say goodbye to His Majesty Emperor Roland. That means that our carriage will have to pass through the city again. I don't know if they still have any ammunition. There's a shortage of fruits here every day. Right, it's almost nightfall. Those strange creatures running around on the roofs are about to come out again. It's highly likely that our carriage will be ambushed. Sister Shirley, do you intend to wear a mask as well? Actually, I still have some leftover masks from last time … "
"Little Cohen! Has anyone ever told you that you're just as annoying as your master!? "
Alright then, the ambassador had completely exploded. However …
"Cough, cough." Eaglestorm, who was the elder here, cleared his throat and looked at Shirley with a sympathetic gaze.
"His Highness Roland's exact words are: 'If Shirley refuses to take on this responsibility, then tell her that she can forget about receiving any research funding for the next fifty years. She'll fail all her research evaluations, and there's also the daily task of cleaning toilets that her superiors must do. That's right, this is bullying. You're welcome to complain about your superiors when you return to the headquarters. Yep, just complain to Roland, who just took over as the head of the Discipline Department. He's your superior's superior's superior's superior's superior. '"
"Damned Roland! I even thought that you were a good person! "
Alright, this was still such a familiar roar, causing everyone present to involuntarily sink into their memories.
"… If Roland was a God who hated Divine Concepts, then with his power of making others hate him, he should be a Main God by now."
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