Chapter 30: Trouble Comes from the Mouth

In the history of the Empire, "disaster stemming from a careless word" was not an uncommon occurrence.

The death of Manuel VI, the great "Thunder" Emperor, was an extraordinary tale eagerly gossiped about in the streets for centuries. At the tail end of the Battle of the Apocalypse, thanks to the selfless sacrifices of Count Olaf, the "Light of the Empire," and a host of other heroes, Imperial Humans finally turned the tide in their epic war against the Demon Race and seized the upper hand!

The newly crowned Emperor, Manuel VI, riding on the sharp vigor and boundless ambition of youth, personally led the army into battle. In just six short months, he not only reclaimed five previously fallen duchies but even pushed the frontlines deep into Demon Race territory. A grand play of utter annihilation and vengeance was about to unfold!

However, the problem arose during a victory banquet following a battle.

Before the age of thirty, the young Emperor Manuel VI had already married twelve wives. The two of highest status, hailing from illustrious noble houses, were both crowned as queens. Manuel VI, however, heavily favored the younger, petite queen from the Roselle Family of the Rose Courtyard, while largely neglecting Queen Mendoza from the Mendoza family of the High Mountain Courtyard. This had already stirred a degree of resentment within Imperial noble circles.

Although both queens were peerless beauties carefully selected from the nobility, such court marriages were inevitably political in nature. The Emperor’s blatant favoritism undeniably tipped the scales of power within the aristocracy.

Unfortunately, at that postwar victory banquet, His Majesty Manuel—having just achieved a massive triumph and stripped off his bloodstained armor—downed a gallon of strong liquor and became completely intoxicated.

Having lost all self-control and political tact, the Emperor not only held the Roselle queen in a relentless, affectionate embrace but also publicly announced that he would make his favorite "little girl" the sole queen of the Empire. Then, under the blazing, furious gaze of Queen Mendoza, he carried the Roselle queen off to bed.

The end of the story was simple. That very night, consumed by jealousy, Queen Mendoza crept into Manuel VI’s bedchamber in the dark, Short Sword in hand, and rewarded the pair of lovebirds in bed with a stab each.

Afterward, not only was Queen Mendoza hanged for murdering her emperor and husband, but the entire High Mountain Courtyard’s Mendoza family was also implicated. Their status plummeted, and they were reduced to a glorious surname found only in history books.

Yet, what made later historians sigh in utter regret was not the precipitous fall of the Mendoza family, but rather how Manuel VI’s unexpected death entirely derailed the previously smooth-sailing southern campaign. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely eradicate the Demon Race ended with a hasty retreat, leaving humanity to gaze southward with eternal regret.

Desperate to handle internal political turmoil, the Empire was forced to sign a peace treaty with the Demon Race. This established a new status quo where the Demon Race and humanity divided the continent evenly between north and south, a division that persisted to this day.

Aside from "creeps who obsess over little girls meet bad ends" and "harem bloodbaths are no joke," the famous historical event of "Queen Mendoza’s Regicide" offered one more lesson to later generations: "Always be careful with what you say."

Regrettably, most members of the Igor Family Guard Team had spent their childhoods diligently practicing martial arts and had never taken a history class in school.

While Alice Comstock was earnestly searching the table for a Magic Storage Crystal, Tom Lawrence and Chris Mann were a short distance away, absentmindedly rummaging around while trading banter.

The two rascals’ topics of conversation shifted from Duke Vincent Igor’s baffling treason charges to the current Emperor’s sexual orientation. Finally, seeing that the Lord was far enough away to not hear them, that bastard Lawrence slyly brought up Lord Eliot Igor’s love life.

According to Lawrence, he had heard a relative from Academy City mention a rumor from a friend who taught there. It was said that their esteemed Lord Eliot Igor had once been quite the playboy in Academy City—strolling through gardens of women, not only failing to remain untouched, but actively plucking every flower until the bushes were left entirely bare! As a handsome young man and the sole heir to a Duke, Lord Eliot had supposedly helped countless lovestruck maidens of Academy City through their lonely nights—whether in their dreams or in their beds.

Young Chris, who had never even held a girl’s hand, was so thoroughly captivated by Lawrence’s tall tales that his imagination ran wild and he swallowed hard.

Then, Lawrence’s topic grew increasingly brazen. The veteran military slacker assured the inexperienced Chris that even though the Lord seemed to have turned over a new leaf recently, becoming a responsible and reliable model lord who cared for his subjects, a leopard never changed its spots! Lawrence boldly predicted that if their convoy managed to escape the infected zone, within a month, either the maid Anjie Rendall or their Captain Alice Comstock—if not both—would be dragged off to warm the bed of their wolf-hearted Lord!

Tom Lawrence completely forgot that Captain Alice, just like the rest of them, was now an undead without body heat, rendering her completely incapable of warming a bed.

Finally, acting like a senior mentor, Lawrence patted Chris on the shoulder and earnestly advised the young lad: while he was still young, he should learn from the Lord’s fine example and hurry up to woo some girls and find himself a wife, for time was fleeting and youth easily passed.

At this point, to strengthen his argument, Lawrence tilted his head in thought and quickly found a negative example. The middle-aged guard pointed at the statue of Adrian in the center of the hall, speaking with bitter exasperation.

"Chris, look at Mr. Simon Adrian here. Handsome, dashing, and even an esteemed eighth-tier Grand Mage. But what happened in the end? Didn’t he die all alone in an experiment? He probably died a virgin, too!"

Chris nodded in deep agreement, but then he noticed that Lawrence’s gaze had gone unfocused and his expression had stiffened. Chris hurriedly turned his head, following Lawrence’s line of sight, and instantly froze on the spot.

The previously motionless statue of Adrian, upon hearing Lawrence utter the word "virgin," suddenly jolted into motion accompanied by a piercing, metallic hum. Adrian’s bronze face twisted, gradually morphing into an expression of dangerous, explosive fury as he locked his eyes dead onto the bewildered Lawrence. Following that, the bronze figure raised its long Magic Staff high into the air, exactly like a living person!

To his horror, Chris realized that the round Gemstone head atop the Magic Staff had, at some unknown point, transformed into a bronze blade as gleaming and clear as autumn water!

Before the two guards could react, the bronze statue of Adrian swung its arm, slashing the polearm violently toward them with a sharp whistle through the air!

Adrian’s exasperated, furious roar echoed through the hall.

"Did my virginity cost you your daily bread?!"

Xiahou Yan, who had just turned around upon hearing the commotion, watched in dumbfounded shock alongside Master Laurie as the upper half of his guard, Tom Lawrence, flew past his eyes in a spray of blood.