The moment Jacob took the sceptre, he formally inherited the throne of the Star Empire and became the new emperor of this thousand-year-old realm, Jacob I.
The imperial capital cheered, the citizens gazing at the light screens filling the sky and shouting with genuine joy.
On the second floor of a tavern, the old emperor sat by the window, dressed in an outrageously flashy style. His loyal old bodyguard sat opposite him, the table laid with small dishes and fine wine. Having faked his death and abdicated, the former Emperor Charles had now completely let himself go. His clothes would have qualified as utterly non-mainstream in Yechui’s original world, constantly drawing stares and hushed comments from others in the tavern. However, since the old emperor had shaved off his beard and changed his hairstyle, his appearance and aura now differed vastly from the once bloated yet supremely dignified monarch. Over the past few days, as he wandered through the capital’s various taverns, restaurants, and certain unmentionable establishments with his bodyguard, astonishingly, no one had recognised his true identity.
This fact filled old Charles with great satisfaction.
“Heh heh, now that I’ve seen Jacob officially ascend the throne, I can rest easy.” Holding a glass of wine, old Charles gazed at the light screen in the sky and spoke with a touch of sentiment and relief. Then he smacked his lips and remarked on the display, “Yechui really knows how to put on a show.”
“Jacob is his friend. With him at the helm, the empire will face the Church without worry,” the old bodyguard said cheerfully. After a pause, he asked, “Where shall we go next, old Charles?”
One could tell that, having grown used to addressing him as His Majesty, calling him by name as old Charles wished still felt awkward; his voice sounded rather stiff.
“The affairs of the capital are settled. I have rarely left the capital these past years, so next, let us travel throughout the empire for a while. Along the way, we might even resolve a few matters.” Old Charles put down his wine glass, stood up from the table, and casually tossed a few gold coins onto it. “The food and drink were excellent. A reward is in order.”
“Old Charles, you are now just an ordinary travelling merchant. You don’t have endless gold coins to throw around…” the bodyguard hurriedly said with a troubled expression.
“Er…”
Somewhat sheepishly, old Charles picked the gold coins back up, leaving only one. When the bodyguard shook his head, he changed it to a silver coin. The bodyguard still shook his head, so he swapped the silver for several coppers. Only then did the bodyguard nod.
“Right then, let us set off!”
…
The coronation ceremony of Jacob I, new emperor of the Star Empire, officially concluded. Although many incidents had occurred along the way, thanks to Yechui’s security team maintaining order, nothing unexpected happened, and there were even some new gains. The outcome was excellent.
After leaving the Garden of Stars, envoys from other empires and various distinguished guests were escorted to the banquet hall, a massive stone chamber that could seat three hundred people. A feast celebrating the new emperor’s ascension would be held there. At this point, Yechui’s security duties were no longer required. In truth, the seven-star mission he had accepted from Prince Geller had now been perfectly completed.
The pay for this mission was not high, but the rewards were immense: those one hundred guest slots had earned Yechui nearly fifty thousand gold coins, a genuine fortune. Moreover, upon completion, his guild would immediately rise from five-star to six-star status. Counting from the founding of the Casual Magic Guild, even including the nine months of temporal displacement in the Buried Sword Land, less than two years had passed. To reach six-star level in two years was probably an unprecedented miracle on the Castro continent.
The speed of this rise was truly as casual as the guild’s name suggested…
Yechui did not attend the banquet. Of course, Green, Lesa, Xiles, Guni, and Shalume attended in his stead, while he and Debbie took this opportunity to visit the imperial prison.
Yechui wanted to interrogate the Tide Empire envoy while there was time and find out exactly what had happened in the Tide Empire.
Yechui still held no noble title or official position, nor did he have any power base to manage, yet within the palace he possessed invisible authority. This stemmed from his strength and the great deeds he had accomplished.
The emperor himself had once been his little brother. Who would dare obstruct him even slightly inside the palace?
Apart from someone like the hopelessly chuunibyou Seventh Princess Mia, everyone showed Yechui sincere respect.
The imperial prison was somewhat dim, located underground beneath the palace, heavily guarded and protected by powerful magic arrays. However, since it was the imperial prison, those confined here were no ordinary people; all possessed exalted status. Thus, apart from the lack of sunlight, conditions inside were quite good. Each prisoner had dedicated maids and a private kitchen. Aside from restricted freedom and no sunlight, the service here actually surpassed that of many inns and waystations outside.
Led by a jailer, Yechui arrived outside the cell holding the Tide Empire envoy.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Lance was there.
Lance had been responsible for escorting the envoy. Upon seeing Yechui, a trace of concealed anger flickered across his face. Yechui understood perfectly; his girlfriend had just been blown up by Yechui, so anger was only natural.
Yet Lance clearly had strong self-control. He quickly adopted a respectful expression and bowed to Yechui.
“Lance, are you alright… I’m very sorry,” Yechui said after a moment’s thought.
“You already knew there was something wrong with Nima, didn’t you?” Lance asked in a low voice.
“The first time I saw her, I noticed the problem. She was a follower deceived by a bishop,” Yechui admitted.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Lance’s voice rose slightly. “I’m the one who deserves blame. Nima was only able to enter the ceremony because of me. If anything had happened, it would have been entirely my responsibility!”
Yechui and Debbie were momentarily stunned, then suddenly understood. Lance’s earlier anger was not because Yechui had blown up his girlfriend, but because he felt he had failed in his duty. Raised by Prince Geller from childhood, he was utterly devoted to his responsibilities. This time he had committed such a grave error. Though Prince Geller had not blamed him, Lance could not forgive himself.
“You don’t need to blame yourself…” Yechui hurriedly comforted him. “The reason you made this mistake is probably because Nima received some method from the bishop to deceive you. The core ability of believers is fooling people. It’s understandable that you were taken in…” After a pause, Yechui took out a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to Lance.
“What is this?”
“The whereabouts of the bishop who deceived Nima,” Yechui replied. Over recent days, he naturally had not allowed that black-robed bishop to move freely in the capital, so he had secretly investigated and pinpointed the bishop’s location. He had also learned that the bishop was injured, very likely by Eliza earlier. To avoid alerting him, Yechui had not moved to capture him yet, planning to deal with him after the ceremony.
Now was the perfect time to hand this task to Lance.
“If you feel you made a mistake, go capture this bishop. He is injured and probably hasn’t had time to flee. Redeem your error with him!” Yechui continued.
“I will definitely complete this mission!” Lance declared firmly, clutching the paper and departing with a cold expression.
Watching Lance leave, Yechui shook his head, then had the jailer open the cell door. He and Debbie walked inside.
In the somewhat dim cell, the Tide Empire envoy sat dejectedly on the bed. Only after Yechui and Debbie entered and he peered through the faint light for a while did he recognise them. Trembling, he stood up. “President Yechui…”
“You were coerced,” Yechui said directly, sitting down on a stool in the cell. Debbie sat beside him. Yechui continued, “What exactly happened in the Tide Empire? Why did Iraq and Jamil try to assassinate Jacob? You were supposed to be our allies. Have you now turned towards the Church?”
“Civil war has recently broken out in the Tide Empire. The Church has completely taken control…” the envoy said, trembling. “My family is being held by Iraq’s clan, so I had to do what they ordered…”
Since arriving as envoy to the Star Empire, this man had always appeared calm and composed. Even knowing he would certainly die (Iraq and Jamil had planned to kill the new emperor but had no intention of taking him with them when they fled), he had not revealed the slightest flaw, all for the safety of his family. He was willing to trade his life for theirs.
When Jamil and Iraq failed, he had collapsed to the ground as if terrified, because he knew that with their failure, his family’s safety could no longer be guaranteed.
He did not fear death, only harm coming to his family.
Understanding this, Yechui silently admired the old man’s resolve. With a grave expression he asked, “The Tide Empire is an island nation. The Church’s influence has always struggled to reach inside; they could not spread their faith and their power was very weak. How have they suddenly managed to control the Tide Empire now?”
“The Church has long tried to enter the Tide Empire but failed. However, one month ago, when the Star Empire declared war on the Church, the Church succeeded in breaking through the Tide Empire’s blockade. They entered the country, contacted several clans, and overthrew the government…” the envoy said sorrowfully. “Because the Tide Empire is an island nation with poor external communication, and because of the Church’s deliberate actions, the outside world has known nothing of these events for the past month.”
“But how exactly did they manage it?” Debbie asked curiously.
The envoy raised his head, looked at the two of them and said, “Have you… heard of the five great pirate fleets that operate in the waters around the Tide Empire?”
“Pirate fleets!?” Yechui and Debbie exclaimed in surprise.
“The five great pirate fleets are the [Bloodbeard] Pirates, the [Watchers] Pirates, the [Black Sail] Pirates, the [Ocean Goddess] Pirates, and the [Missionary] Pirates…” the envoy slowly explained. “The reason the Church was able to invade the Tide Empire lies with these pirate fleets.”
