The next morning, the White Principality.
A clear day.
Though the sky was clear, the streets lacked the liveliness a sunny day should have.
Ever since the Regent Sirius suddenly announced a Martial Law Decree last month, the entire Duchy had become somewhat somber.
But martial law wasn’t something that had happened for the first time.
Before the last Leviathan and Monster Tide arrived, the Duchy had also issued a Martial Law Decree once.
The people of the Duchy understood that so-called martial law meant the nobility were preparing for the next Monster Tide invasion.
But the only difference was—
The last Martial Law Decree was announced only one month before the Monster Tide arrived.
This time, it was announced a full year in advance.
“What do you think those higher-ups are messing with all day?”
As soon as the words fell, a middle-aged man who looked like a fisherman took a huge gulp of beer.
This damned Martial Law Decree prevented him from going out to fish early in the morning. He could only be permitted to set sail after noon, and he absolutely had to return before the sun dipped below the horizon in the afternoon.
“This is fucking winter! The noble lords have no common sense at all if they don’t fish! How long is it from afternoon to sunset? The boats can’t even go out very far. How many fish do they expect us to catch? It’s so damn annoying!”
Bam!
The man suddenly stood up and slammed his wooden mug onto the table, causing many people in the tavern to look over.
For a moment, the first floor of the tavern was eerily quiet.
“White God above! Don’t you dare spout such nonsense! Walls have ears!”
His companion at the opposite table clearly couldn’t bear to hear the middle-aged man talk like this and immediately pushed him back down onto his chair.
“…Damn.”
One naturally couldn’t afford to offend the nobility. Even if the man had endless grievances, hearing this, he didn’t dare say anything more.
“Besides, didn’t Lord Sirius successfully repel the Monster Tide and Leviathan’s attack last time? If those above give such orders, they must have their reasons.
Also, if we can’t catch fish, and the merchant caravans entering the Duchy are gradually decreasing, what will the noble lords eat? Where will the tax revenue come from?
Don’t think about these things. Drink! Isn’t it Mother’s Day today? Just think of it as taking a day off for yourself. Go back later and make something nice for your old lady.
Come on, drink!”
“To the Duchy, to Lord Sirius!”
“To the Duchy, to Lord Sirius!”
Although the middle-aged man frowned, he still clinked glasses with his companion.
Amidst the clinking of cups, the first floor of the tavern became lively once again.
“You heard it, didn’t you, Mr. Sebas?
It’s as if the people of the Duchy have already forgotten that this Regent is originally just a Marquis, forgotten who truly founded this country.
But even so, personally, I still favor Miss Elena.
After all, whether she’s a Witch or not doesn’t matter at all. As long as she can contribute to resisting the Monster Tide, that’s good. Although public sentiment is naturally a problem, the Empire’s laws are still there.”
Sebas did not reply.
The elderly butler just looked at the people drinking below. Though his eyes held a slight haze, his gaze remained sharp.
“Now then, let’s return to the main topic.”
In the private room on the second floor, the tavern owner, holding a cigarette in his mouth, pushed a stack of papers in front of Sebas.
“This is all the information I could gather here, Mr. Sebas.”
But Sebas’s gaze still looked down through the second-floor window, at those fishermen drinking.
And besides the fishermen, there were also some farmers, merchants, adventurers, and the like.
Looking at these people, Sebas’s brow was tightly furrowed.
“Mr. Sebas is quite concerned about the people’s livelihood? I also have reports on the recent living conditions of the Duchy’s people here. I can give you a discount?”
“…”
Sebas did not respond.
But the elderly butler turned back and began flipping through the intelligence in front of him, page by page.
Seeing this, the tavern owner just smiled, then lit his pipe.
“Mr. Sebas, as you can see now, Marquis Sirius—
has not been in the Duchy for a month.”
Watching Sebas’s tightly furrowed brow, the tavern owner took a puff from his pipe, the tip glowing momentarily like a breath.
“But if you want to ask where the Marquis went? No one knows anymore.
However, I must add this, lest our years of cooperation create a rift—not being able to trace Sirius’s whereabouts isn’t a matter of adding more money.
There are some things in this world that, unless you’re a deity, we mere humans truly are helpless against.”
Amidst the rising white smoke, the owner smiled and glanced at the ceiling.
“…It’s enough.”
Sebas gathered the intelligence in front of him, then placed a cloth bag containing money on the table before the tavern owner.
“Take care, Mr. Sebas. If there’s new information, I’ll have someone notify you.”
After seeing the elderly butler off, the tavern owner tapped on the chair beside him.
Then, from the shadows of the room, a figure clad in a black robe emerged.
“I still don’t quite understand. You say your Black God Church has cooperation with Sirius, so why sell out Sirius’s information?
Or is your doctrine just like that?
If so, then I can understand why the White God Holy Church holds a dominant position throughout the Empire.
You know, ‘betrayal’ is also something merchants despise most.”
The black-robed man said nothing.
He just walked to the tavern owner’s table, placed a new stack of materials, and headed for the door.
“Hey, wait.
Your Black God Church acting like this now… is it indeed for the Witch of the House of Duke White?”
Witch.
As soon as these two words came out, the black-robed man froze.
Then he sneered.
“Witch… that’s what you ignorant ones call the Chosen of God.
Fine, fine. Compared to so-called ‘Saintess,’ the title ‘Witch’ is more fitting for one who has received the Black God’s blessing.
But you cannot see, beside the one blessed by the Black God, what a noble existence there is…”
Leaving such an incomprehensible remark, the black-robed man left.
—
Ai’er suddenly remembered something she did as a child:
Sitting in a car speeding on the highway, rolling down the window, and sticking her head out.
The fierce airflow would make it impossible to breathe, make her voice carry a strange echo, but that thrill of speeding could surge into her heart all at once.
That feeling was like flying through the air.
So Ai’er was very curious—what would it feel like if she rolled down the window on an airplane?
Would that be the true meaning of ‘soaring with excitement’?
But unfortunately, before Ai’er became a girl, she never got to experience what it felt like to ride on an airplane.
So Ai’er’s former idea of “using a heavily insulated thermos to smash a plane window during flight” ultimately never came to fruition.
It was truly a pity; otherwise, Ai’er would have definitely left a bold and colorful mark in the history of civil aviation.
But even so, Ai’er had fantasized more than once—
If she could roll down the window on an airplane…
Wouldn’t it be thrilling?
“This is way too thrilling, QAQ!! Mommy, I want to go home!!!”
Like a meteor streaking across the sky, held in Elena’s embrace, the two were flying at extreme speed towards the Duchy.
Although Elena had Wind Magic deployed in front of the two of them, but—
It wasn’t until today that Ai’er realized something important.
That was…
she was afraid of heights.
“Ai, Ai’er… stop squirming, it tickles.”
“I can’t take it anymore, QAQ! I really can’t take it anymore, QAQ!!
Let me down, please let me down, QAQ!!
How much longer until we arrive, aaaaaaaaaah, QAQ!!!!”