Starfall 835, March 17, the imperial capital of Sanshan Holy City, it was snowing in the evening.
The new year has arrived and passed under the falling white snow. The streets of the imperial capital are quiet. Except for a few people cleaning the snow in front of the door, there is only the clanking of armors of patrolling patrols.
But unlike this quiet environment, in the first year after the dragon disaster ended and the signs of the falling star first appeared, the entire world fell into a craze about 'exploration'.
Although ordinary civilians may not know it, all high-ranking executives or powerful professionals can learn from the ruins around the world and the classics hidden in the deepest parts of the library that the entire Mycroft world is actually A civilization reborn from the wreckage after the end of the world. After the end of that era called Glory, countless survivors walked out of the shelter. They stared blankly at the world that had long since changed, and then fought against endless waves of monsters.
835 years have passed. The ancestors who once fought for a piece of land for their people in the wilderness can be pleased to see that humans now occupy most of the world again. Except for the central Black Forest, which is so vast that no one has explored the center, this Most of the world's land is owned by humans, while other races either merged with humans or moved to distant lands, struggling hard on isolated islands or deep mountains.
When the cross-world portal technology was developed, there were mages in the White Tower who proudly claimed that they already knew everything about Mycroft Continent. What humans need now is to explore new places outside the void. World, this arrogant but passionate declaration was indeed approved by many people at the time, but now, the situation is very different from that then.
The underground world discovered by the Roman Principality, the hiding place of the five-color dragon clan overseas, and the ancient large-scale urban ruins discovered around the eastern plains. These novel discoveries all prove that this world is still shrouded in many fogs. Not to mention other things, Fish The deep sea where humans live and the underground cavities that even the dwarves have not fully explored are vast unknown areas.
There are actually many shortcomings in the cross-world teleportation circle. Being hit by reality, the ambitious mages finally bowed their heads and had to admit this. Under this craze, many small countries have begun to move towards themselves. The surrounding black forests and mountains are undergoing large-scale expansion campaigns, and they have gained a lot of resources due to the discovery of the underground world. The Roman Principality, which is currently expanding and developing rapidly, is the example they are trying to imitate, while other major forces are currently watching calmly, but in private However, many teams were also sent out for tentative exploration. The Radcliffe family was allowed to expand their territory towards the Great Ajax Mountains as part of this experiment.
In the imperial capital, on the central commercial avenue leading to the Morlay Palace, a group of soldiers wearing black and blue light armor walked quickly through the busy city. The well-made armor did not make any noise except for the clanking sound caused by the collision of the foot armor with the ground. Many Citizens and traders focused their attention on these soldiers, then shrugged, lowered their heads, and stopped paying attention.
Those are the Queen's personal soldiers.
In recent days, not only the queen, but also many nobles living in the imperial capital have often sent their cronies back and forth in and out of the city, as if they were trying to find out some news. Logically speaking, this kind of behavior would be okay if it was in their own territory, but It would be too much to go too far in the imperial capital. This is the city where His Majesty the Emperor lives. Even the Queen must not allow her own guards to come and go in a swaggering manner.
But I don’t know why, the always majestic Emperor didn’t say anything. No, it’s not so much that he said nothing, it’s better to say that he didn’t react at all. This especially confused the people. However, the top will cover up the news, and the bottom will naturally find ways to find out. People who have relatives and friends working in the Morlai Palace have received some dark news intermittently. Regardless of whether the news is true or false, one thing can be confirmed - Since His Majesty the Emperor presided over the celebrations on New Year's Day, no one has seen him in the Palace of Morlaix.
-This is really incredible!
Everyone who heard the news exclaimed without exception. They all understood the seriousness of this matter and did not doubt the authenticity of the news.
You must know that the royal family of the Northern Empire is different from the kings of the traditional kingdoms in the Western Mountains. The Morlai Palace is not the private residence of the royal family. It also contains the Royal Court, the Imperial Library and various public facilities. As long as permission is obtained , even ordinary citizens can enter, just like the Imperial Great Library, which is open to the outside world for one or two days every year, and you can read it freely as long as you pay.
In addition, His Majesty the Emperor never lives in the deep palace. He often goes to the streets alone to inspect, and occasionally tastes folk snacks. This is almost the practice of the emperor of the Northern Empire. Almost all the people in the imperial capital Well-known restaurants have slogans saying that a certain generation of emperors dined here. They never deliberately avoided the crowds, but wandered around according to their own preferences.
If it is said that it is normal for ordinary people not to see the emperor for several months, but the attendants in the palace cannot see the emperor for several months in the Morlay Palace, it only means that if His Majesty is not seriously injured, he can only He was lying ill in the palace, or his Majesty left the imperial capital and did not return for a long time.
Everyone prefers the latter.
It was probably because His Majesty the Emperor had not returned for several months that the Queen and the nobles became a little unable to restrain themselves and began to inquire about the news, right? The mysterious disappearance of the leader of a country was concealed for three months. It was really thanks to the fact that it was winter that nothing major happened, but now that the matter has come to an end, it is really hard to suppress the anger.
In the Morlay Palace, in the Delphi Palace where the Queen lives, guards wearing black and blue light armor and covering their faces walked quickly along the avenue. Most of them stayed in the palace. In front of the gate, only the leader passed the guard's inspection and entered the palace.
The palace was quiet and deserted, with only a few maids here and there cleaning the dust. This was because neither the emperor nor the queen of this generation of Diamond royal family liked the feeling of being served by many attendants, and preferred to do it themselves. The guards seemed to come here frequently, so a maid temporarily put down her work and silently led him to an open-air garden inside the palace. In the garden, a slender woman was doing some digital work. Viewing flowers in the company of a noble lady.
Although it is winter now, the interior of the palace is as warm as spring because of the magic circle. There is a humidity and light adjustment array around the open-air garden, allowing any flower to bloom at any time.
The magic circle consumes a lot of money, because it involves the elves' natural ability to promote plant growth, so it consumes dozens of magic crystals every day, and each magic crystal can allow the civilians of the imperial capital to live peacefully for several months. It sounds very luxurious, but to the empress, who has no other hobbies except admiring flowers, and the most noble woman in the empire, it is nothing. She can even bear the word simplicity.
The maid asked the guards to stay at the entrance of the garden, while she cautiously stepped forward to pay her respects. The slender woman in the center of the garden also discovered the round-mouthed guards, so she dismissed the ladies around her and asked the maid to go back and inform.
This tall leader was different from his men. The armor on his body was not green and black, but pure black. After being informed by the maid, the black-armored warrior quickly came to the woman under the guidance of the other party. He respectfully He knelt down on one knee and saluted, lowered his head and said: "Queen Edna..."
"Stop talking nonsense, Gurnis, and tell me what you found."
The beautiful woman named Edna lowered her head slightly, sighed tiredly, and asked the maid to arrange her loosened silver hair. Her eyes were a rare light golden color, and her pupils were slightly smaller than those of ordinary humans. There are differences, but it is very similar to the golden dragon among the metal dragons. This means that the queen's ancestors may have dragon blood, or they may simply be a golden dragon.
Hearing the urgency in his master's words, the black-armored warrior named Genis immediately replied bluntly: "His Majesty the Emperor secretly inspected the southern fortress group with Master Nostradamus three months ago. Governor Seres, who was guarding the southern province, met once, and then he went to the three "Starfall Lands" in the south. A month had passed since the next time he appeared. On the east side of the Silent Sand, a group of merchants had been there. I’ve seen his back from a distance.”
Speaking of this, the warrior's tone contained a hint of disdain: "I think His Majesty the Emperor should have specially let them see this. Otherwise, how could ordinary merchants detect His Majesty's whereabouts?"
"Southern Fortress, Silent Sand... What is your Majesty going there to do..."
After hearing the news, the queen in a light-colored dress frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, she continued to order: "Continue."
Genis continued: "Then His Majesty's whereabouts were extremely strange. He was still on the western border, and the next day he had arrived deep in the black forest in the eastern wilderness. We integrated a lot of information, and we can only say that it should be Master Nostradamus's time and space magic has been improved, and he can perform short-term continental teleportation. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why His Majesty's position could change so quickly... But in the past month, His Majesty and the Master have completely disappeared. They were never seen again.”
"Teleporting around the entire empire, they must be looking for something... In the Land of Starfall, is Israel interested in those things that fell from the boundless heaven?"
Edna turned her head and looked at the flowers beside her. She whispered to herself with a puzzled expression: "Obviously they are already legendary, but those things from the previous era cannot be his help at all - no, neither You can't say that, if that's the reason for his sudden recovery!" The words suddenly stopped, and the queen turned to look at the black-armored warrior who was still kneeling respectfully on the ground: "Gennis, guess what, His Majesty and Nostradamus Where should Master Si be now, so that we can’t find him even though we searched the entire empire?”
The queen's tone was soft, as if she was just asking a simple question, but Genis knew that if he couldn't answer, he would definitely be punished. However, the black-armored warrior had already made up his mind, and he immediately reported: "My subordinates guess , His Majesty and the Master should be in the Void Star Observation Station now! Therefore, every move of the Queen, you and the nobles in March after he left, should be in His Majesty's eyes!"
"Really? It's true."
This answer did not surprise Edna. She raised her head slightly and looked up at the sky. The queen curled her lips and made a helpless expression: "When will he do something like this... It's obviously just an elimination." A warrior who knows nothing but fighting and is not romantic at all."
While the lady was complaining, the maid and the black-armored warrior remained motionless as if they were deaf, and then Edna said with some boredom: "Forget it, I didn't have time to do anything anyway - Gurness , cancel the operation, His Majesty the Emperor doesn’t mind us women engaging in palace struggles, but that doesn’t mean we can actually take action.”
"Yes!" The black-armored warrior responded immediately, and then he was led out of the garden by the maid, while Queen Edna stood quietly in the garden alone, wondering what she was thinking.
"The situation has changed, my dear. Although I don't know when you healed your hidden wounds and when you took a step further, I know that your thoughts have not changed. You still don't want to be bound to the throne. You want to Go to higher and farther places.”
Picking a flower casually, it looked slender and weak, but a bright golden light suddenly ignited in the hands of the queen, who was just an ordinary person. Under the illumination of this golden light, the originally delicate violet flower suddenly began to squirm violently. , not long after, this flower turned into a small tree man. Queen Edna bent down and placed the tree man with a small flower on its head on the ground, then patted its head and said to herself He said: "But before you leave, you still support the second prince Dimoore who is most like you... Now is no longer the age of war. The empire does not need someone who is so like you, who is so cool, and who grows up and becomes more powerful." A strong man who can continue to suppress all nobles for hundreds of years becomes the emperor."
I don't need someone who is not my son to be emperor.
There was no trace of worry on the Queen's face. She was Israel's wife when he was fighting in all directions and conquering the orcs. This seemingly weak woman is calmer and calmer than most men, and she is also more skillful than most women. .
But at this time, facing the general trend of the legendary strong man, even if she has all kinds of plans, it is meaningless. If Israel still has only a few years of life as before, then Edna can naturally wait until she My dear Majesty has passed away, but now it is no longer possible.
Thinking of this, she was silent for a long time. The changes in the empire's situation in the past two years were far beyond her imagination. Unlike Israel, who could travel at will, Edna, as the queen, could only stay in the palace. She was just walking around the imperial capital, so there was a lot of information that she could only wait for others to report. After she knew it, it was already too late to react. For example, the Earl of Northland became a legend. She had not heard any news before that. After everyone announced the news, it was too late to build a good relationship.
However, I heard that he is preparing to accept a disciple recently
Suddenly thinking of this, the queen smiled slightly. She seemed to have thought of a good idea, so she softly said to the tree people under her: "Where is the seventh prince?"
"Tell him there's an opportunity like never before."
,
(End of chapter)