Volume 2, Chapter 29 – Welcoming the Guests

Translator Note

I may or may not have forgotten to unlock a chapter. I don’t remember really.

I’ll unlock one either way just to be safe.

At the same time, inside the Crown Prince’s office in the Sky Dome Imperial Palace.

“This, Ye Xiuhu and the others… damn it!”

Looking at the shattered soul gems on the desk, a terrifying rage suddenly erupted in Xue Tian’ao’s eyes! The angry blonde man couldn’t help but raise his hand and strike, instantly smashing the entire blue sandalwood table into powder! The golden magic power that suddenly exploded also took the guards around the office by surprise, and those with weaker strength even couldn’t help but kneel directly on the ground.

Seeing this situation, Talovise, who was helping handle documents nearby, couldn’t help but tremble all over as she hurried to Xue Tian’ao’s side, patted his shoulder, and comforted him in a soft voice.

“Calm down, Tian’ao. What happened?”

“My good brothers are dead.”

“What? How could this be??”

“Sigh. To find the Chosen Maiden as quickly as possible, I sent Ye Xiuhu and the others with the unmanned reconnaissance drones I made to help search near the Deepwinter Forest. As a result, just now, their soul gems shattered.”

“Did they… encounter an Abyssal Demon?”

“Probably. Traces of pollution appeared on both of their soul gems. However, while Amok’s gem shattered, there were no traces of pollution.”

“Tian’ao, are you suspecting? Was Amok… killed by someone?”

“Hehe, it’s very likely. I don’t believe my people would die in an accident for no reason…”

At this point, a dazzling pale golden light and bursts of chilling killing intent suddenly erupted from Xue Tian’ao’s azure eyes.

‘Who dares to lay a hand on my people?’

“Tian… Tian’ao…”

Seeing Xue Tian’ao’s angry appearance, Talovise couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache for him.

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However, she was also very clear about her man’s character.

He did not emphasize birthright, ignored the noble system and the institution of slavery, and appointed people based on merit.

Ye Xiuhu was a partner Xue Tian’ao had met during his inspections among the people while working as an adventurer. Although Ye Xiuhu was born a poor peasant, after Xue Tian’ao understood his talents, he still made an exception to recruit him into the Royal Knight Corps and broke precedent to grant him the title of Knight.

One must know that in the Snownight Empire, the title of ‘Knight’ could only be obtained by nobles. Back then, to help Ye Xiuhu, Xue Tian’ao had even been subjected to corporal punishment by His Majesty.

In fact, it wasn’t just Ye Xiuhu; many others had been promoted by Xue Tian’ao. To show their gratitude, they were also extremely loyal to him.

Similarly, in return, Xue Tian’ao was never stingy with these partners and truly seemed to treat them as brothers from the bottom of his heart.

Now that his brothers had died mysteriously and tragically, it was only natural for Xue Tian’ao to be furious.

After letting out a long sigh in her heart, Talovise slowly walked out of the office and closed the door. As the woman who had accompanied Xue Tian’ao for a long time, Talovise knew very well that her man needed to calm down alone right now.

However, did Ye Xiuhu and the others really die?

They encountered an Abyssal Demon, and one of them was even killed by a human.

In the Northern Frontier, could the people who would strike against Amok be the Duke Family? They were already at odds with the imperial family and found Tian’ao even more eyesore…

Perhaps this is a good idea.

‘Regardless of whether they actually did it or not, this can be used as an excuse. Once the matters in the imperial capital are settled, I’ll use this excuse to take a knife to the Duke Family.’

Killing an envoy sent by the imperial family is a capital crime.

‘The empire must achieve centralization.’

Thinking of this, Talovise couldn’t help but reveal a glamorous smile.

Thinking this way, Talovise walked out of the Crown Prince’s palace.

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Just as her front foot stepped out of the palace gates, the purple-haired woman’s brows furrowed slightly. Then, she revealed a signature elegant smile and looked toward the blonde woman wearing white-gold magical robes nearby.

This woman was the Fourth Princess of the Snownight Empire, Fengling Valedyn.

“Oh? Her Highness the Princess? Why have you come?”

Regarding Talovise’s greeting, Fengling only gave a cold laugh.

“Why did my royal brother suddenly lose his temper?”

“Sigh.”

Talovise was used to the Princess’s attitude and didn’t care much. Instead, she waved her hand helplessly.

“It’s nothing, just that Ye Xiuhu and the others died.”

“Dead? Dead in the Northern Frontier? How did they die?”

“Who knows?”

“Then, do they have news of the Chosen Maiden yet?”

“Not yet.”

“There’s still nothing…”

Hearing this answer, Fengling showed a trace of unease. However, this emotion was quickly hidden by her. Subsequently, Fengling spoke slowly.

“In that case, I will make a trip to the Northern Frontier.”

“Hmm? You, Your Highness?”

“Yes. To avoid war with the Red Lotus Leaf Empire and the Ashurmos Church, we must ensure the safety of the Chosen Maiden as soon as possible. I will personally lead a team to search for her. It just so happens that the Fourth Army Corps has just withdrawn from the southern border, so there is no shortage of manpower.”

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“Even so, there’s no need to trouble Your Highness. We can handle these matters.”

“Aren’t you and my brother still busy with negotiations? Just focus on your work. Leave the task of finding the Chosen Maiden to me.”

As she spoke, ignoring Talovise’s opposition, Fengling turned and walked away on her own, not giving the purple-haired woman any face at all.

To this, Talovise could only smile helplessly and speak slowly toward Fengling’s back.

“Princess, if you find the Chosen Maiden, remember to bring her back. The Crown Prince has been looking forward to it for a long time.”

“…”

Hearing these words, Fengling clearly trembled all over, and her footsteps paused for a moment as a ball of anger seemed to build in her heart because of that sentence.

But soon, the Fourth Princess regained her composure and continued to walk forward silently without replying to Talovise’s words.

On the other side, watching the receding golden figure, Talovise narrowed her eyes slightly and revealed a meaningful smile.

One day later.

Northern Frontier of the Snownight Empire, the main city of Windward City.

At the city gate, dozens of members of the Blizzard Knight Order and a hundred-man team composed of soldiers from various fortresses had already gathered here in a grand manner. Of course, now that the Abyssal Demon crisis was temporarily resolved, their purpose for gathering here was not to go to the front lines, but to welcome guests.

As the Blizzard Knight Order and other units near Windward City gradually regained their combat effectiveness, the defense of Fort Garros also began to gradually return to the control of Marquis Xiumu. The Blackrose Family, who had been temporarily guarding the place, began to withdraw from Fort Garros one after another after completing the handover tasks. Although the Blackrose Family had a purpose for defending Fort Garros, it was an indisputable fact that they bore the risk of facing the Abyssal Demon swarm’s attacks.

For this reason, as the Marquis of the Northern Frontier, Xiumu naturally needed to show the hospitality of a host and express his gratitude to the Blackrose Family.

Consequently, there was the current reception party.

As a member of a collateral branch of the Duke Family, Benjamin Duke of the younger generation had received instructions from Marquis Xiumu today to replace the busy Marquis at the city gate to welcome the VIPs and take charge of entertaining the guests from the Blackrose Family.

Of course, he wasn’t entertaining the entire Autumn Legion, but only certain special individuals.

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In truth, Benjamin detested such a job.

Not to mention that the work of entertaining was inherently boring and devoid of fun, the fact that the objects of hospitality were people from the Sadik Empire made Benjamin extremely disgruntled. After all, decades ago, the Snownight Empire and the Sadik Empire had faced each other on the battlefield for a long time.

There was a blood feud between the two sides.

As a person of the Snownight Empire, he truly had no good feelings toward a family of the Sadik Empire. Furthermore, the purpose of these people coming to support was for the Garatmo Ice Crystal Mine!

“Sigh, how annoying.”

Benjamin, dressed in heavy armor, couldn’t help but sigh and complain.

Right now, Benjamin had only one thought in his head, and that was to quickly end this so-called reception.

Thus, under Benjamin’s impatient gaze, the solid and heavy city gates slowly opened.

Accompanied by the fluttering banners of the Blackrose Family, dozens of knights clad in black-gold armor and draped in white cloaks stepped into Windward City with an imposing and orderly gait.

Clearly there were only dozens of people, but every individual had a solemn expression and sharp gaze. The aura they radiated caused the surrounding reception party and the watching residents to suddenly tremble. A terrifying murderous intent abruptly suppressed the other units at the city gate, and a sense of natural authority struck them.

If just their aura was like this, the combat power of this team could only be imagined.

“Hehe, that’s all it is,” Benjamin snorted coldly, pretending to be calm as he felt the powerful aura washing over him.

However, just as he let out that ‘disdainful’ snort, this young representative of the Duke Family couldn’t help but notice a special existence within the knight order.

The moment he saw that black-haired figure, Benjamin’s eyes suddenly shrank.

‘Who… who is she?!’

Is she a member of the Blackrose Family?

In an instant, Benjamin held his breath. His gaze and attention had already been captured by the black-haired girl in the center of the knight order.