Chapter 525: 3. Like the Sun
“Clang. Clang.”
In this cramped and simple wooden house restaurant, the Shivali girl Ingrid propped her face up with one hand, staring in astonishment at the gentleman beside her who was indulging in a hearty meal.
Before Fisher, tables were piled high with countless porcelain plates, and this was after the pig folk chef had already taken away some plates earlier.
Fisher leisurely used the utensils provided by the restaurant, elegantly cutting the food into bite-sized pieces, yet this did not slow his eating speed at all. To Ingrid, even the hardest bones from animals seemed as fragile as paper under his knife and fork.
This familiar motion made Ingrid increasingly certain that the man before her was not a local human from the Southern Continent, but a gentleman from the Western Continent.
Gentleman or not, Ingrid couldn’t help but feel a bit stiff in her expression upon witnessing this. After a brief pause, she asked, “How long has it been since you last had a meal?”
Fisher glanced at her, not embarrassed at all. Since the girl had something to ask of him, even if he didn’t comply with her request, he could still offer her much greater value in magic than the meal. It was better to enjoy a good meal first.
He slowly set down his knife and fork and touched his now perfectly flat abdomen. From the large hole in his clothing, it was clear that his waist had completely returned to its original state, though Renee’s power had vanished entirely.
Where did Renee go?
He once had a Hart Bird in his wallet that was used to contact Renee, but when they reunited earlier, that Hart Bird had already flown away. At that moment, both Fisher and Renee were lost in the joy of reunion and forgot to have her send another Hart Bird. Without that postcard to contact Renee, Fisher’s view of the wallet felt trivial, and he lost it during his time in the Holy Realm.
On his face, he took a napkin to wipe his lips, not answering the girl’s earlier question, and instead said, “Shall we talk outside?”
Ingrid pressed her lips together, then took out several one-hundred Nali bills from her pocket and tossed them onto the table. She then stood up and left the narrow restaurant first, casually telling the pig folk in Dragon Court language, “No need to look for change.”
“Hey, take care, you two.”
Fisher briefly glanced at the pig folk, whose eyes sparkled as if they found treasure when collecting the Nali bills, then stood up after a moment and followed the girl out of the restaurant.
It was noon in the Southern Continent, the sun shining brightly in the sky. A gentle breeze passed through the wilderness, lifting Fisher’s long black hair slightly.
On the street, because no other subhumans came to watch after Fisher looked at them, this already not very lively town seemed to consist of just him and the girl.
Upon exiting, Ingrid was standing in the middle of the road at the door, looking up and gazing into the distance, where Fisher turned to see her staring at the smoke rising in the far distance.
That place seemed to be a factory.
Hearing the sound of Fisher exiting, Ingrid, who was about to lift her camera for a photo, turned her head and gritted her teeth at Fisher, saying, “Old man, where did you come from? You ate so much, that’s a week’s worth of food for me!”
Old man?
Although the girl in front of him did look quite young, probably not even twenty, and he indeed was in his thirties, it still seemed odd for him to be addressed that way.
Tang Zeming Asuka, who is younger than you, doesn’t call me that.
Fisher thought this unconsciously. But running his fingers through his long hair and his unkempt beard, he did not deny her address and simply said, “I’m fine, half full.”
“Heh.”
“Just right, I have some questions I want to ask you.”
“Wait, shouldn’t I be the one asking you? I just treated you to a meal.”
“Please go ahead.”
Ingrid glanced around at the quiet surroundings, then beckoned Fisher with her hand as they walked forward while she asked, “How long have you been here, old man?”
“Just arrived.”
“Just arrived? What does that mean, have you only been here a few days?”
“About that.”
Ingrid rubbed her beret on her head, pouted, and said, “I was hoping you could tell me something about that factory over there. I couldn’t get anything in Dragon Court City, and I’ve asked all the locals here, but they all keep quiet about that factory. I thought as a Westerner…”
This town was not big, and Ingrid walked quickly, and before they knew it, they had nearly reached the edge.
At last, Ingrid, clearly frustrated, covered her head with her hands and squatted on the ground, looking unwillingly toward the factory emitting smoke, all while not bothering to care that Fisher ate her food and spent quite a bit of her money.
This girl must come from a well-off family.
Old man Fisher glanced at the smoking factory surrounded by a tall city wall in the distance and couldn’t help but ask, “What does that factory produce?”
“I don’t know. I just know that this land has been rented to Nali by the New Dragon Court. The legal authority here is directly under the Golden Palace and the Exploration Company. They have built quite a few factories, similar in nature to the Nali consulate next to the Dragon Palace in Dragon Court City.”
Fisher squinted, increasingly feeling that something was off. He recalled the new-style Nali bills she had taken out earlier and couldn’t help but ask, “Ingrid, what year is it this year?”
“Old man, which calendar are you using?”
“Nali.”
Ingrid raised her head to look at him and couldn’t help but mumble, “You’re Nali? Why do you look like an old relic… This year has just begun. Let me think… it’s just right, it’s the fifth year of Empress Elizabeth.”
Fisher’s gaze involuntarily shifted slightly, then he turned to look at Ingrid in disbelief, even Emhart in his arms peeked out in shock, looking at Ingrid the same way.
You need to know that when Fisher just left this era, Elizabeth had only been on the throne for about half a year. Now that he’s returned, she had already been on the throne for five years. This meant he had missed a whole four and a half years of his own time?!
“How is this possible?”
“Old man! What’s that thing in your arms? It’s so ugly.”
Ingrid, seeing Fisher looking very astonished, wanted to say something, but was immediately frightened by Emhart in his arms.
At first, she thought it was some kind of spiritual being hidden in Fisher’s embrace, but upon close inspection, she realized it was a book with eyes and a mouth!
“Repeat that again, you believe in the great Sir Book!”
Ingrid gaped and hurriedly lifted her camera hanging around her neck, pointing it at the book that was yelling at her and clicking the shutter.
“Click!”
In an instant, Emhart’s view was filled with white light. Scared, he quickly shrank back into Fisher’s embrace and shouted in a quacking voice, “Ah! It’s witchcraft! Fisher! My eyes! This girl practices witchcraft!”
“Emhart, we returned to the wrong time; we shouldn’t have…”
Fisher gave Emhart a comforting pat on the back, feeling a bit of a headache as he spoke.
But Emhart, squinting his eyes which were still dazed from the flash, poked his head out, interrupting Fisher, and said firmly, “It’s definitely Baemon’s fault! That guy is causing trouble!”
“No, it might be my fault.”
Fisher glanced at his fully healed waist, and there was already a hint of speculation in his mind.
Leaving the power Renee had given him in Tree Continent was, to put it mildly, a mistake. That power being extracted and then re-sealed into his body could very likely have altered the direction and strength of its influence on the threads of fate. That’s why he couldn’t accurately return to where he should be.
This analysis made sense because the power at that time was entirely out of control. Although it eventually calmed down for unknown reasons, it certainly wasn’t the same as before; otherwise, it wouldn’t have shifted from his chest to his waist.
But Emhart only believed Fisher had been brainwashed by that bad woman Baemon.
Fisher turned to Ingrid, who looked incredulous, and asked, “Tell me what happened after Elizabeth’s six months on the throne up until now.”
“Hey, old man, it was me who treated you, and now you…”
“Tell me, and in return, I’ll take you into that factory.”
Ingrid’s eyes, hidden behind her sunglasses, brightened slightly, and then she stood up, cleared her throat lightly, and said to Fisher, “Deal! Wait, hold on, didn’t you just arrive in the Southern Continent a few days ago? You wouldn’t know anything about the Western Continent. Where have you been before? The Northern Region? Drifting at sea?”
“Let’s get to the point.”
Ingrid glanced at the curious Emhart hiding in Fisher’s arms and continued, “Well, actually, your empress isn’t much to talk about. Right now, she is one of the top figures in the Western Continent, or even in the entire world. Under her leadership, Nali is doing very well… um, I can’t describe it, but honestly, the difference compared to before is significant, even from my perspective as a Shivali person, it’s quite enviable.”
She counted the events that had occurred.
Ingrid knew quite a bit about domestic affairs in Nali, but only generally.
She knew that Elizabeth’s reforms in the economic system had become a model for the Western Continent and the Northern Region. It seemed that she appointed many emerging officials, adopting examination selection and assessment systems, changing the original title of the Golden Palace based on surnames to a name-based succession, allowing the image of each monarch to completely break away from the Godlin family’s shadows.
Therefore, now Elizabeth Godlin’s formal titles could be “Empress Elizabeth,” “Elizabeth I,” but more people preferred to call her “Empress of the Sun,” or “Golden Empress.”
With the reformed system, Nali had burst forth with astonishing vitality in a short time; various new technologies and magical achievements were frequently seen, but many pieces of information and data had not been made public. Ingrid didn’t know the specific internal situation.
She could only catch glimpses of the empire’s current state, like the sun rising, from the increasing number of Nali factories, the growing wealth of Nali citizens and merchants, and the ever-strengthening diplomatic and military power.
After stabilizing its own home front, Elizabeth’s ambitions for external expansion quickly became apparent.
Toward the old and tangled neighbor Shivali, Elizabeth’s economic and military strategies became increasingly aggressive. Over the past four and a half years, although there had been no open war, anyone with sharp eyes could see that the Shivali empress had been gradually losing ground in her game with Elizabeth.
Regarding the contested territories that had been ambiguously in dispute between the two countries for over a century, Elizabeth had only reclaimed one piece, and that happened to be the most historically disputed territory between Nali and Shivali.
Nali troops were stationed there, while Shivali could only watch from within its borders.
Moreover, Elizabeth completely separated the church and the magic association, which were nominally attached to Cardu, and established institutions completely controlled by Nali itself. Originally, Elizabeth personally invited Heilson to be the first president, but he declined due to old age. Not long after, this legendary magic master announced his retirement and went into complete seclusion.
In summary, the current Western Continent has entirely transformed into a territory dominated by Nali.
Of course, there would be problems within and outside Nali regarding Elizabeth’s reign; some had certain dissatisfaction with Elizabeth, but this dissatisfaction was mainly due to her near-absolute power, rather than her actions or achievements.
Those who resent her curse her, labeling her as a “dictator” or “tyrant”; those who love her praise her, referring to her as a “sage” or “sun.”
The long-accumulated and nearly formed constitutional monarchy was completely distorted by Elizabeth’s power on the day her moderate brother passed away. Perhaps in the future, someone will summarize and reflect on the current nominally existent system and phenomena of Nali, but clearly, Elizabeth does not care about these.
All she wants is the present and now, like the rising sun of Nali.
Fisher listened expressionlessly. During the missed four and a half years, the changes in the Western Continent were too significant, but just as she had said when he left, when she bloodily seized power from her brother, she would do better than Dexter.
Fisher wasn’t sure if Elizabeth was satisfied with the current situation, but from Ingrid’s shocked and sighing tone, it seemed many people in the Western Continent were astonished.
“Old man. Old man.”
Fisher was slightly taken aback, but Ingrid’s call brought him back from his thoughts. She raised an eyebrow helplessly and asked him, “Are you still listening?”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“How about it? Have you found a sense of home after a long absence?”
“A little.”
“Wow, how strange. Every time Nali people in Dragon Court City talk about their empress and domestic affairs, they all have proud expressions, but you hardly show any emotion. Hey, old man, could it be that you are a fugitive expelled by Nali who snuck into the Southern Continent?”
You know, it’s a bit true, from a certain point of view.
Fisher chuckled helplessly and shook his head, then asked, “What about the Dragon Court? Who’s the leader here? And what’s going on with that Dragon Court City you mentioned earlier?”
Ingrid was slightly taken aback and then pouted as she said, “Who else could it be? It’s the Green Dragon King Isel.”
Fisher frowned and couldn’t help but ask, “Have you heard of someone named Raphael?”
Even now, Fisher still felt a bit uneasy about his unexpected prolonged absence. For the current era, where myths have faded and the longevity race is rare, four and a half years is no short time. Many secular matters would have changed. Perhaps for the Whale Folk like Jasmine, who can sleep for decades, it might not matter, but for Raphael, fighting in the Southern Continent, and Valentina, sleeping in the Northern Region, it was a different story.
Especially when Fisher learned that the leader of the newly established Dragon Court was someone he had never heard of before, he grew increasingly worried about Raphael’s current situation.
Unexpectedly, Ingrid, who had previously had a relaxed expression, changed her face upon hearing Fisher mention “that name,” as if she had recalled something frightening.
“What does that name represent?”
“Of course, it does. I heard about it before coming to the Southern Continent. Though I haven’t seen her in person, she is said to be an extremely violent and bloody dragon race, known for her crimson scales. She is the leader of a violent resistance organization, opposed to the current Dragon Court, and seems to also claim herself to be part of the Dragon Court, but who knows who is the true one.”
“And that dragon is famous for brutally slaying many humans.”
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(End of this chapter)
