Two survivors of the Old Empire wandered the streets. Lucanus noticed Cassius following closely behind and had no desire to seek any secret information. For Lucanus, the current state of An Zhu Royal City was the best information available.
Population, prices, number of factories—these seemingly trivial matters were the focus of Lucanus’s attention.
Thanks to the influx of production equipment from the Northern Border, An Zhu Royal City’s economy and industry had prospered immensely in a short time. The roads were becoming increasingly crowded, but most were merely busy workers.
Lucanus saw a laborer hurrying along with a very young child and stopped their path, crouching down to ask, “Hello, little one, what are you going to do?”
The child, carrying a ladder taller than himself along with some tools, had a face covered in dust and dirt, but upon seeing Lucanus offer candies, he grinned widely.
The worker accompanying the child was quite displeased. After seeing the child being stopped by Lucanus, he urgently said, “Don’t block the way, we still have to clean the earl’s chimney!”
However, when the worker looked at Cassius behind Lucanus, his attitude softened. Although he didn’t know Cassius, it was clear from his attire that he was not to be trifled with in the strictly hierarchical An Zhu.
“Your Excellency, we are going to clean the earl’s chimney, please do not hinder our work.”
“Oh? Does that mean this little child also has to go and clean the chimney with you?”
After handing the candies to the child, Lucanus began to perform magic tricks like a professional jester while inquiring about the worker beside the child.
Since Lucanus’s questions were not classified information, Cassius did not step forward to intervene.
“Yes, only such a small child is suitable for going inside to clean chimneys.”
Lucanus nodded, with a smile that seemed to be carved on his face. After pretending to think for a moment, he asked, “But I remember that the Northern Border sells specialized tools for cleaning chimneys? Is there none here?”
Seeing that Lucanus did not seem like a local and kept mentioning the Northern Border—a term used back in Cape—the worker guessed that Lucanus might be a merchant from the Cape Northern Border who had befriended the nobles of An Zhu and was looking to do business. Thus, he explained, “Your Excellency, there used to be merchants selling those items, but no one here bought them.”
“The tools for cleaning chimneys from the Northern Border are indeed very convenient, but it’s cheaper to let children go in to clean.”
“If you buy a few batches of children, the money combined might only be enough to buy one set of equipment from the Northern Border.”
After hearing the worker’s explanation, Lucanus revealed a look of apparent realization, saying, “Oh, I see, thank you, brother. Otherwise, I might have gone bankrupt.”
When he heard Lucanus say that, the worker waved his hands warmly, “No need to thank me, it’s only right. I’m quite curious, don’t you have children over in Cape? Why go through the trouble of getting these tools?”
This worker did not receive an answer, and Lucanus did not stop him any longer. Instead, he even apologized for holding up the man’s time and waved goodbye to the child beside the worker.
“Cassius.”
Facing the direction of the departing worker and child, Lucanus asked Cassius, “Is our homeland also like this?”
“I can’t remember clearly, Lucanus, these things won’t be recorded in history books. I’ve forgotten…”
…..
Caron had recently been summoned by Alberto increasingly often. Fortunately, Alberto did not intend to follow the warnings from the Tower to send Caron back.
Caron was not surprised by this outcome. Although he was curious about what his colleagues were doing in the Eastern Border of Cape, the activation of Supremacy Magic had already helped the Demon Clan successfully occupy the Eastern Border, which was sufficient.
Although the Tower’s prohibitions had begun to emerge gradually, Caron believed no human could truly resist such temptation; what’s more, this was not temptation, but a threat.
Some small kingdoms on this continent were even planning to take large risks, believing that if they could create Supremacy Magic, they would have the means to challenge these great nations.
As for how the Tower would treat those countries engaging with Supremacy Magic, the Avar Kingdom was unconcerned about that.
However, to keep a low profile recently, Alberto had granted Caron leave, and Caron took this opportunity to head to the port to meet an old acquaintance from the Avar Kingdom.
“Osiris has already been confirmed dead. The Demon Clan only mentioned that Osiris accidentally got caught up in using Supremacy Magic and has requested the King to send two more people capable of using Supremacy Magic over.”
While waiting, the professional beside Caron was telling him about the recent gathered intelligence.
Whether Osiris really died due to a lack of skill was not important. By virtue of Osiris’s death, the Avar Kingdom gained an important landing port.
Moreover, it seemed the Avar Kingdom had intentions of engaging in deep cooperation with the Demon Clan.
“As for Altan, there hasn’t been any news for a long time; he seems to have forgotten his mission.”
Given the subsequent establishment of communication points between the Tower and the Cape Northern Border, it seemed Altan was in grave danger. From Altan’s previous social media postings, it might be that he was living better than anyone else.
As for other small kingdoms, the Avar Kingdom did not care about their attitudes toward Supremacy Magic, but rather about how deeply their guests infiltrated these small nations.
While the two discussed the current situation on the continent, a guest ship that could only be described as dazzling with golden light docked beside the port. The massive dragon statue made of pure gold at the ship’s bow sparkled under the sunlight, dazzling and eye-catching.
As the gangplank was lowered from the ship, an elderly man dressed in a black coat and with white hair descended. The old man bore several obvious scars on his face and had a fierce expression, seemingly looking down on everything in this world.
Alberto had indeed not opened the port for the Avar Kingdom, nor had he been stingy to not allow even the small boat used to send guests. This old man had just hurried over from An Zhu’s dock.
“What a barren land; in terms of magic density, it’s not bad…”
The old man looked around, muttering to himself before finally turning his gaze to Caron and his companion.
“I’ve heard that you have not yet dealt with the king of this country?”
The substantial pressure weighed down on Caron, making it difficult for him to breathe.
“Your Excellency, the people on this continent are more rational than imagined. Except for the Demon Clan, nobody has used Supremacy Magic yet. I believe, soon, the king of this country will too.”
The old man seemed uninterested in Caron’s response and continued to ask, “Which of these two countries are descendants of that initial one?”
“Both… both claim to be heirs of the Old Empire…”
“Hmph, what nonsense Old Empire. If it hasn’t been destroyed, it’s lucky for them!”
The old man’s voice was filled with rage, which made Caron and his companion unable to lift their heads under the powerful aura.
“In my opinion, why bother with all these calculations? Since there’s already a port, just land and launch a strong attack! Destroy these two countries together and seek out those elves, find the Tower, and settle accounts with my former kin!”
The old man seemed to have held a grudge for a long time, droning on without pause since stepping onto this land, while Caron could only keep his head bowed.
“I’ve heard that my former kin have organized something called the Glittering Trade Alliance. It’s laughable; dragons are actually starting to do business with humans in earnest. I would say they’ve already been domesticated by humans!”
