Badge in Azure
Chapter 100: The Worries of the Empire Part 1

The city possessed a long history, but the streets were extremely smooth. There were not any gaps nor holes in the roads, and the horse carriage was unusually stable as it traveled on the road. Viscountess Lex had just recovered. The sounds of the chimes from the clock had created the biggest impact on her, and she displayed some faint signs of having had a breakthrough.

The promotion of a mage was usually gentle and cumulative. Viscountess Lex still needed at least one month before she could find the opportunity to advance to a Grade 6 mage.

Even so, the methods used by the Qin Empire were very well known. All the mages in the city would be promoted, and only the Descension spell cast by the Holy See was comparable to it. The Descension spell was displayed once just before the pope died. However, the magic clock in the Holy Rock City only needed to accumulate ten years of power before it could cast this spell.

Saleen had just been promoted recently and his magic chords were already larger than the rest of the mages of the same grade as him, so it was difficult for him to advance. Saleen had lost a golden opportunity this time around. Otherwise, with the magnitude of his mental power, Saleen would not even have needed a resting period and his promotion would have been guaranteed.

"Saleen, are you better now?" Viscountess Lex took a glance at Saleen, who was leaning against Nailisi.

"I am much better now."

"Get down from the carriage, lest other people get jealous."

Saleen nodded his head. If I was a sorcerer, I couldn’t care less about what other people think, Saleen thought to himself. Aye, even though Saleen knew what he wanted to be in the future, he still had to bow down to reality in the end. Saleen jumped off of the slow-moving carriage and got back onto a war horse again. Additionally, Saleen saw fifty combat mages who were very cheerful and excited. He could not help but marvel at the strength of the empire.

The emperor must have been more powerful than a sorcerer even if he did not practice his skills. For this round of promotions, five combat mages and eight lifestyle mages had been promoted and the viscountess would thus have one more batch of mage masters.

It was easy to groom low-level mages. But it was the dream of every member of the noble families to be able to attract a mage master into their team.

The streets of Holy Rock City were very straight and the houses on both sides of the street were covered in flowers and greenery. It was already close to June, so there was a refreshing fragrance on the streets. Saleen analyzed the plants he saw on the streets, and discovered that many of them could be used to manufacture magic medicine.

The palace could be seen from afar. Everyone began to dismount from their horses, as nobody was allowed to travel on horseback within the palace. It was not clear how much space the palace occupied, as the white structure spanned several miles. Parts of the structure were made from white rock, while others had been covered with magic powder, concealing the original colors.

The giant palace doors were a huge tower by themselves, rising all the way into the clouds. Because the body of the tower was simply too enormous, it looked like the fortress that had once belonged to the Fourth Dynasty. The viscountess’s convoy stopped, and a palace eunuch came out to become the new messenger leading the way. At this point, Viscountess Lex alighted from the carriage.

"Viscountess, His Majesty is waiting for you in the great hall." The palace eunuch was a fair-skinned man. He spoke in a reserved manner and had an air of arrogance about him. Saleen did not like the eunuch. People like him would have definitely been castrated in the Cloudflow Empire. Unbeknownst to Saleen himself, he had long regarded Viscountess Lex as his family.

Viscountess Lex ignored the way the eunuch treated her. After all, it was natural for them to form factions as these eunuchs were mostly children of aristocrats. If he had been capable, he would have been a swordsman in the palace. But obviously he was not, so there was no point in being angry with him.

"Lead the way." The viscountess’s voice was cold, literally frosty, and her body started to emit cold air. The eunuch shivered and nearly slipped. Saleen secretly chuckled. Lex was, after all, a Grade 5 mage. It had been quite ignorant of that eunuch to try and play tricks around the viscountess.

"The rest of you shall follow him," the eunuch said while gesturing to Saleen and the others. They were to be led by another eunuch.

Viscountess Lex looked back and said, "Those few of you shall come with me. The combat mages shall go and take a break."

She had completely disregarded the instructions of the palace eunuch. Viscountess Lex allowed the Bitter Water Army soldiers and combat mages to rest, while the lifestyle mages would follow her. The eunuch wanted to rebut Viscountess Lex, but he saw Faerun, who was clad in black robes, staring at him coldly.

Viscountess Lex had her doubts. Why did her father want to meet her in the great hall? That was a place for politics and governance. If father wanted to confer a title upon her, then she would need to do a walkabout in the upper house. Royal knighthoods could be easily conferred, but more than half of the cities surrounding the Bitter Water Prefecture were currently under the control of the lower house.

A reason and an agenda would be required in order to snatch those cities back.

The eunuch stopped being disrespectful when he saw Faerun staring at him, and obediently led Viscountess Lex and the rest of the people towards the inner palace. He had thought that since the viscountess was so young, it would be easy to step over her, but the eunuch had not realized that there would be a sorcerer beside the viscountess.

The patterns within the palace were more stringent compared to the city outside. The corners of almost every building had lines which corresponded to the arrangement of a magic formula. Saleen noticed these details and felt powerless. No matter how strong a person was, he could never be stronger than an entire country. Even if a Grade 9 sorcerer came to wreak havoc here, he would not be able to cause much damage given the type settings in this palace.

On the way to the great hall, the group met two teams of soldiers patrolling the grounds. These soldiers wore magic armor and were quite imposing. Although they did not possess the aura that the soldiers in the small town had, they were not weaklings either. They were at least beginner swordmasters. Saleen knew very well that it was impossible for everyone in the palace to be a swordmaster, but he was still on guard.

The soldiers wearing magic armor would definitely not have a problem defeating a low-level mage, and these were only the patrolling soldiers. The whole empire was surely filled with unassuming experts.

Saleen had thought about what to expect countless of times. But when he finally entered the great hall, everything that he saw was still greatly above his expectations.

The great hall looked majestic from the outside. But inside the great hall, the space was at least twice of what it looked like from the exterior. Furthermore, the architecture of the great hall fully imitated the style of the First Dynasty. There were colossal stone beams and the ceiling seemed to reach the skies. There was a magic array that was spinning from the ceiling, allowing equal amounts of sunlight to shine into the great hall.

The whole space seemed transparent and spacious, without any unnecessary fittings. There were many giant sculptures on the stone beams. They looked majestic and were in clad in ancient clothes. Saleen did not realize that these sculptures were actually the sculptures of past emperors. And the current emperor would carry out his duty of managing the empire diligently and faithfully under the watchful eyes of these past emperors.

In the center of the great hall was a gigantic table. Usually, nobles from the upper house would be seated at this table, managing one-third of the Qin Empire’s land.

Now, there was only a single person at the table. He was seated in a wide chair, with an arm on the armrest. He had a pair of wise eyes, and he looked over thirty years old. He had fairly average looks, with thick eyebrows and a short mustache on his chin.

This man was simply seated right there. There was nothing else in the great hall that could have attracted any more looks. Saleen could not stand it and looked at the man, and he could not take his gaze off of him.

The middle-aged man did not give off any sort of power, and yet Saleen had the urge to worship him.

He was at the center of this great hall, and he was also the center of the whole of the Qin Empire. The Qin Emperor had helmed the throne for the past thirty years, and yet he still looked so youthful.

"Lex, my daughter, you are back."

The Qin Emperor stood up. He wore a cotton robe, and looked like a hermit scholar. A tinge of hurt flashed in his eyes as Viscountess Lex could not control herself and started walking over before stopping in front of him.

"Father, I am back." Viscountess Lex seemed slightly choked. She very much wanted to hug her father, but she knew that there were many hidden pairs of eyes in this great hall, and her every move would eventually reach the streets.

"Lex, I should have kept you by my side…"

"Father!" Viscountess Lex quickly interrupted her father, as she knew that the stability of the empire would be affected if certain words were spoken.

"It’s alright. Your brother is much better now. When I am done settling your affairs, I will make him Crown Prince."

The emperor did not become overwhelmed with emotions from his daughter’s homecoming. After a short pause, he continued, "Faerun, all these people are your students?"

Faerun was slightly agitated. When he had first left, he had only been an average Grade 3 mage, but he was already a sorcerer now. It seemed like that the emperor had surpassed his own limits as well. He must have successfully mastered all the royal secrets by now.

Ten years had passed by in an instant. Faerun had thought that he would never return to the imperial capital when he left with the viscountess. The words the emperor had said at that point in time were still ringing in his ears…

"They are all the viscountess’s lifestyle mages. I am in charge of commanding them," Faerun answered respectfully after quickly suppressing his emotions.

The Qin Emperor frowned and said, "Lex, the mages should enjoy freedom. How could you let them wait on you? I don’t care about the other nobles, but you are my daughter. You should understand how this empire was built."

The Qin Emperor was straightforward and honest. He was not pretentious at all.

Viscountess Lex blinked, but she did not attempt to talk back to him. She knew that her father was saying this as to placate other people. Many nobles were displeased with her doings in the Bitter Water Prefecture. Grooming a large number of mages had posed a threat to these nobles.

"Figo!" the Qin Emperor raised his voice and a warrior responded. The warrior came out and stopped beside the emperor.

This warrior wore a set of elaborate armor, but he was not the kind of person who dressed well without possessing real capabilities. Saleen actually saw the ice island rock on his armor. This small rock could not even be bought for tens of thousands of gold coins. He did not wear any helmet, and a long sword hung by his waist. This handsome warrior looked less than thirty years old.

"Bring Faerun and these mages to my storage building and let each of them pick a set of equipment for themselves."

Figo was a little astonished, but he did not say anything. He simply bowed and led Faerun and the others out of the great hall. Saleen knew that the emperor just wanted to have some alone time with his daughter so he needed to make up a reason to get the rest of the people to leave. But judging by the viscountess appearance, there must have been some more experts that he had not discovered. When the viscountess finally became emperor, it would be like she was imprisoned.

The good thing was that the emperor was generous, and Saleen could get some treasures. The emperor’s storage building must have had some good items in it, right? Since the Qin Empire was a magic empire, the equipment for mages should not be too lousy.

Figo walked ahead with light footsteps. He recognized Faerun. When Faerun had left for the Bitter Water Prefecture, he had only been a mere palace swordsman. By the time they met again, they had already become exceptional experts in their own fields.

Back at the great hall, the viscountess sat down at the table. Only the viscountess and her father were there.

"Lex, even though I regret my decision, I am still extremely proud of your achievements." The Qin Emperor did not look too good, and his face was filled with worry.

"Father, did something happen?" Viscountess Lex might have had a lot to say, but when she saw her father so worried and speaking so oddly, she began to get worried too.