"Is this your first time coming to Xiaya?" Mas asked as he looked at Richard.
Richard nodded: "Yes."
"That's it, sir." Mas said, "Xia Ya's situation should be a little different from what you think. Although it is indeed your first time here, there were many people paying attention to you before you came. I'm afraid If they know you are here, they will definitely visit you. I can help you keep away some people with insufficient status, but some people with high status cannot do anything. After all, I am just a servant with a slightly stronger ability in the final analysis. "
Before he came, someone was paying attention to him... probably related to the black-faced old man Oscar...
Blinking, Richard looked at Mas and asked, "Who is the noble person you mentioned?"
"This..." Mas opened and closed his mouth a few times, spread his hands and said with some embarrassment, "Sir, it's really hard to say, but I can tell you one thing, that is, there are people from the royal family."
"A member of the royal family?" Richard raised his eyebrows.
…
Soon, in the afternoon, what Maas said was confirmed.
Not long after he stayed in the residence, Richard saw the only remaining servant running in from the door and nervously reported that the eldest prince of the Soma Alliance royal family was visiting.
Then, Richard met the eldest prince in the living room on the first floor of the stone building.
The eldest prince was about thirty years old. He was very calm and polite. He talked for a long time without saying the purpose of the visit. He just left a bunch of gifts and left.
Not long after the eldest prince left, the servant ran in and reported that the second prince of the Soma Alliance royal family was visiting.
The second prince was younger, in his mid-twenties, and was a little less calm and more enthusiastic than the eldest prince. After being polite for a long time, he left a pile of gifts that were not inferior to those of the eldest prince and left just as quickly.
Richard was wondering if it was time for the third prince to visit according to this sequence. As a result, the servant reported that the fourth prince of the Soma Alliance royal family had arrived.
The fourth prince is younger, 23 or 24 years old, a bit unruly, and seems to be unconvinced by everyone, but he shows restraint when meeting. After the other party said some polite words to the eldest prince and the second prince, he left the gift and left again.
Next, Richard received many visits from royal family members and officials, and the gifts he received almost filled the storage room of Shilou.
Until the end, he never understood why these people visited him.
…
When night came, Richard finally saw the black-faced old man Oscar who came, and Richard asked his doubts.
"Why did so many people visit me today, Mr. Oscar, I think I need an explanation."
After hearing this, Oscar first smiled slightly, then sighed softly, and said with emotion: "This is politics."
"Um?"
"Although you have been away from home, you have made a huge contribution to the entire Soma Alliance by giving us the list of the Southern Freedom Alliance of the Truth Society. His Majesty the Emperor has expressed his concern for you many times. In this way, you Naturally, it will be noticed by many caring people. It would be fine if you didn't come to Xiaya, but when you come and are exposed to the light, then naturally all kinds of people will come looking for you."
"Is that just that?" Richard glanced at Oscar, who had dark cheeks. He didn't completely believe what he said, and said slightly suspiciously: "Why do I think there are other reasons? In our previous communication, I mentioned to you Yes, I don’t like to get involved in politics. I think if you are willing, you can arrange for me to be in a private place where I will not be disturbed. Now, from my point of view, it is more like Mr. Oscar, you are deliberately letting me Identity exposed.”
"What good will this do to me?" Oscar blinked and asked seriously.
"This is something you have to ask yourself, Mr. Oscar." Richard said.
"Okay, okay, let's talk about something else." Oscar changed the subject, glanced at Richard and said, "To be honest, according to my guess, I thought you would wait for a while before coming to Xia Ya. , I didn’t expect it to come so soon.”
"That's because, in addition to you wanting to meet with me in person to talk about something, I also happen to want to meet with you to talk about something."
"You want to find me too?" Oscar became interested and asked, "What's the matter?"
"I want to borrow some books from the Soma Alliance Royal Library." Richard said the purpose directly without hiding it.
"Why?" Oscar frowned and asked.
"In order to do some research." Richard said, without telling all the truth, but gave a general reason, "I got some very ancient texts that need to be deciphered, and a wizard friend of mine told me that only the Royal Book Some of the books in the library can help..."
After listening to Richard's long speech, Oscar nodded: "Is that so?"
Oscar did not agree directly, but thought for a while and said: "Although it may disappoint you, I still have to tell you that the difficulty of this matter is higher than you expected. I guess you want to use the way I proposed to you in the first place. One of the three requirements you promised in exchange for the right to borrow books, right
To be honest, there is nothing wrong with this. If you want books not from the Royal Library, but from my private collection, I can give them all to you, but not the Royal Library.
Because, in name, the Royal Library only belongs to His Majesty the Emperor. Unless permission is obtained from His Majesty the Emperor, no one has the right to enter, let alone borrow anything from it. You have to understand that the Royal Library is not just a library, it also contains many treasures and secret documents.
In this case, I can't make any promises to you here. I can only give you an answer after asking His Majesty the Emperor. But, to be honest, there is no need for me to ask His Majesty the Emperor. You can ask His Majesty the Emperor yourself. "
At the end of the sentence, Oscar looked at Richard.
"Shall I ask myself?" Richard raised his eyebrows, feeling that there was something in Oscar's words.
"Yes, you can ask yourself." Oscar smiled slightly, "I can tell you now that the main purpose of inviting you to Xiaya to meet this time is not what I want to talk to you, but what His Majesty wants to talk to you about. What are you talking about? His Majesty has been wanting to thank you since you gave that list last year and wanted to meet you and get to know you."
Richard squinted his eyes after hearing this, feeling that things were not as simple as they seemed.
There are many ways for an emperor to thank him. It doesn't necessarily have to be in person, at least it doesn't have to be such a grand meeting, so that almost the entire royal family and senior officials of the Soma Alliance know about it.
As far as he knew, the current Emperor of the Alliance was very thoughtful and had never done anything meaningless. This time he made no secret of meeting him, so he had to consider it carefully.
From the many people who visited him during the day, it can be seen from the side that the Alliance Emperor has some ideas. The specific content cannot be speculated, but at least he wants to have some connection with Alliance politics.
And this is something he doesn't want at all.
From the beginning, he was quite resistant to politics. In his view, politics is a struggle with people. And people, from a scientific perspective, are extremely unstable. They may be extremely loyal one day, but they may directly betray them tomorrow. Moreover, even if you invest a lot of energy and time in politics and win, it doesn't mean much. Because he has almost no need for what he gets from political victory, and politics cannot give him what he needs.
For him, the biggest role of politics is to consume time. Rather than wasting time on politics, it is better to stay away from politics and study more.
He thought so much in his mind but did not say it out loud. Looking at Oscar, Richard pursed his lips and asked, "His Majesty the Emperor really wants to see me? When?"
"Well, I originally made the reservation for a week later because I thought you wouldn't come so early." Oscar said, "But since you are here, if there are no problems, we can meet tomorrow afternoon."
"Tomorrow afternoon? So soon?"
"Yes, okay?"
"Okay." Richard nodded without refusing. On the one hand, he was asking for books about the Royal Library. On the other hand, perhaps the most powerful person in the entire continent wanted to see him, so he still had to give him face. In addition, he also wanted to see what His Majesty the Emperor wanted to talk to him about and what his purpose was.
"Okay, I'll have someone send a carriage to pick you up tomorrow afternoon." Oscar made a decision after hearing what he said.
Richard nodded and said nothing more.
…