Chapter 334

[Oh ruler of the five lands and three thousand rivers. The grand ritual of the black wolf has been completed.]

[Bring the vessel of Sigmat. Calmly, carefully. No scars should remain on the soul.]

At Lavirata’s words, the priest carefully brought a vessel adorned with lapis lazuli. A faint turquoise light seeped from the vessel, crafted from carved magic stones.

Lavirata slowly caressed the surface of the vessel, whispering an incantation. After paying respects to the ancient priests and rulers, she tilted the vessel over the Vessel of Creation.

-Whoosh!

Blue flames poured out from within the vessel, illuminating the dark hall. The flowing flames, like waves, seeped into the intricate magic circuit engravings on the surface of the vessel. Soon, Lavirata bowed her head over the vessel, where the flickering flames lingered.

[It’s almost done. The essence of the soul is being projected, and the body is beginning to take shape.]

[It’s an astonishing speed, Great Sun.]

[Yes. An astonishing speed indeed. I only hope it appears as fully as it is fast.]

The state inside the vessel was faintly projected onto the outer pottery. Blue magic floated inside, showing a fixed soul and a body slowly assembling.

It looked like a branch. Thin, busily extending like a vine. But Lavirata, remembering Fernandez from his lifetime, could easily envision his form over that shape.

Fibers connected, forming beautiful curves. Soon, fibers met to form muscles, and bones began to grow within. Overall, it looked like an anatomical chart from the priests’ laboratory.

[Truly, it’s astonishing. This speed and accuracy…]

It was a perfect understanding of the body. Beyond simply moving muscles and driving joints, it meant fully understanding the position and role of blood vessels, the endocrine system, internal organs, and their movements and driving environments.

Faijashi Wildcast, the vast wisdom of a long-time dark mage, combined with Fernandez Sernerd’s experience of directly tuning the most perfect condition and utilizing the body to its limits. His soul fully remembered the best limits of his body.

Thus, the body was growing at twice the speed of the previous grand rituals that revived ordinary people. It was as if his soul was eagerly quenching its thirst for its own flesh.

[The ritual has been long and arduous. Please rest.]

[Haha, even you speak as if you were alive. It’s done. I will personally guard this place until he is completely stable.]

[Even if Your Majesty does not need sleep, the grand ritual consumes mental energy. It has already been five days.]

[Excessive worry is disloyalty. Enough of the formalities, tell me about the progress at the Sun Plaza.]

[Ah, you mean the construction of the statue.]

Lavirata let out a soft laugh. A tickling sensation arose from deep within her heart. She wanted to wake him up soon and show him the sight.

[Yes, the construction of the statue.]

[It will be an unprecedented grand sculpture in Ibalis. Even outside the highest city walls of Ibalis, the form of the statue will be visible, Great Sun. The people are all rushing to construct it with one heart and one mind.]

[Will it proceed as planned?]

[If you command it, we are ready to bow towards the Jade Palace at any moment.]

[Good. Very good.]

Lavirata smiled softly and looked down at the Vessel of Creation.

[So, just rise fully. I have prepared so much for you. This is the first wish I have for you.]

* * *

An era of peace had begun. From the highest nobles to the poorest peasants. No one dared to oppose it. The long war had ended, and almost all nations were busy recovering from the loss of their war efforts.

Except for a few, a very small number of individuals, everyone felt this way. Among those who did not, there was one.

Rene Philippa de Carvelier. A hero who suddenly drew her sword to avenge her fallen father, slaying the corrupt emperor and saving the empire. She was the war sovereign who, following in her father’s footsteps from the 50-year war, personally crushed the empire’s fragmentation and the barbarians of the southwest.

“Your Majesty, Count Tremule of the Palace requests an audience.”

“Let him in.”

The half-destroyed imperial palace was hastily being rebuilt, but the emperor had ordered her personal office to be completed last. While the palace’s exterior was directly tied to the imperial authority and could not be delayed, the emperor’s personal space had no such need.

Thus, Rene’s office felt starkly inorganic. The walls, not yet wallpapered, had unsightly structures protruding, and the unfinished, uneven floor was roughly covered with a carpet.

Piled high with documents on an old desk, Rene lifted her tired eyes to look at the door. Soon, the door opened, and a soft dress fluttered.

“Count Tremule of the Palace. Why haven’t you returned to your territory?”

“Is that the first thing you say upon seeing my face, Your Majesty?”

“Your visit must be for one of two reasons, so do I need to hear more? Unfortunately, neither is ready yet.”

Her radiant golden hair swayed and scattered. The Countess, who had slightly bowed her head, slowly raised her face. Her large eyes were weighed down with sorrow.

“Your brother and your husband, both still not found. You haven’t even held the wedding yet, so it’s hard to call him your husband. Shouldn’t you finish the work your brother left behind?”

“I was ignorant of ruling my territory all my life, and now you want me to boast of being a Countess overnight, Your Majesty?”

“I am not so idle as to indulge your complaints.”

“I am not so worthless as to be treated poorly.”

Everiz sat down across from the emperor without hesitation. Considering that the previous emperor was the Duke of Tremule, and that he was the one who killed Rene’s father…








It was quite a strange picture, if you thought about it.

Two family heads, each having killed the other’s father, now faced each other. Rene suddenly remembered this fact and, looking at the innocent noblewoman across from her, let out a small laugh.

She took out a teacup, poured some warm tea, and slowly sank into the sofa.

“So, Everiz. Why did you come today? I really don’t know.”

“Robert, that boy, wasn’t the type to die so easily. He must be somewhere out there.”

“How many women do you think will say that after the war ends? If we were to gather statistics, it would take all our administrative resources over a year to compile.”

“Don’t talk like that. I mean it. Robert is alive. I won’t inherit the countship. This isn’t the life I wanted.”

“The life you wanted? Do you think anyone here is living the life they wanted, Everiz?”

Rene’s eyes, which had been sighing, turned cold.

“If you think the life I wanted was to ascend the throne and read through piles of documents, you’re sorely mistaken. The two people I truly loved were both killed by demons within a year. Do you think this is the life I wanted?”

Her father and her lover. Both had been killed by demons and disappeared. The only thing they had in common was that neither left a body behind, which meant she was robbed of even the last chance to mourn and let go.

So now, Rene spent her days in solitude, and even that solitude was buried under the countless tasks of dealing with the Empire’s accumulated ills. From a distance, the Emperor might seem like the greatest noble above all, but once seated on the throne, the realization was that they were merely a cog in the Empire’s machine.

If they chose to neglect their duties and indulge in corruption and luxury, they could. That was the peculiarity of the Emperor’s position. An Emperor who neglected their duties would inevitably lead to the Empire’s downfall, but ironically, the Empire’s success or failure had nothing to do with the Emperor’s own happiness.

“The amount of paperwork that comes to me in a day is this much, and the documents I’ve processed since ascending the throne now fill more than half of the archives. Do you know what those documents, which must pass through layers of approval, contain? Who died where and how many. What incidents occurred in which regions, how many starved, and how many potential deaths there are.”

“Rene…”

“Starvation. Murder. Drowning. Explosions. Thousands of deaths occur on this land every day. And these are just the important ones that I have to see personally. In reality, it’s probably ten times that.”

Rene let out a deep sigh and pushed the report aside. She buried her head in her hands and leaned over the desk.

“Now, I see their deaths as numbers. Is that normal?”

“It’s normal.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You’re doing well, Rene Philippa de Carvellier.”

“Then, to pretty up these deaths, should I open the Imperial treasury and pour out resources?”

An era of peace had dawned. The Empire remained solid, and the Imperial authority reigned supreme on the absolute loyalty of the nobles. From the small kingdoms in the east to the tribal alliances in the far west. All the subjects of the Empire never doubted the Imperial sun.

To maintain that image. The Empire opened its coffers even as its roots withered and famine and poverty spread. It was like pouring water on a dry field in a drought. Outsiders might marvel at the still shimmering water surface amidst the severe drought, but the farmers knew. This was just a fleeting moment.

Tomorrow, the bottom would be revealed. Tomorrow, the cracked soil of the dry fields would split, and the roots of the grass would be exposed. So, what Rene had to do was always the same.

To delay that tomorrow from ever coming. To lose sleep worrying, to lock herself in her office from dawn till late at night handling affairs, to hold meetings every morning and evening to gather reports from all over.

To become a cog in the Empire’s machine. And, to have no heart. To become numb to people’s deaths, to see the words in reports as mere ink stains. To completely erase her own feelings and stamp the dry red seal of approval on reports.

That was the virtue of a ruler. But that wasn’t life. Not the life she had wanted.

“Robert… Robert Benitier de la Tremule, the Count of the Palace, has fallen in battle. That man was no ordinary figure, and if he hadn’t died, he would have surely returned to fulfill his duties. The fact that there’s been no report so far means it’s better to assume he’s dead.”

“But, we need to send Iron Side to the wilderness.”

“We can’t mobilize a department already struggling with a manpower shortage for a vain hope.”

“It’s not a vain hope, Rene. Robert, Fernandez, and perhaps even more possibilities were seen.”

Rene looked up at the woman sitting across from her.

“Everiz…?”

It wasn’t the image of the whimsical, immature noble girl she knew. There was something else, an indescribable presence, a radiant figure.

She rubbed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened her eyes and looked straight ahead, all she saw was the ordinary Everiz.

Was she too tired? She shook her head and briefly touched the teacup. Then, a man’s voice echoed in her mind.

‘She is more than she appears.’

Fernandez. When he returned from the ruined Imperial Palace with an Inquisition Officer and that noble girl, he had said something. At the time, she had taken it as merely political, and since then, Everiz’s words and actions had been nothing more than those of a naive noble girl…

Though she knew it was a vain hope, she couldn’t help but wonder. As the Emperor, she shouldn’t indulge in such sentiments, but desperate people are quick to believe in superstitions.

She touched the teacup for a moment and then suddenly spoke.

“I’ll send Lord Guiren as regent. For three months.”

“Rene?”

“I can’t give you more than that. We lack the manpower and resources. I’ll recall the external forces sent to the Kirzat region and place them under you, Everiz. The Tremule Counts have been their masters for a long time, so they won’t object.”

“Really… Thank you so much!”

Everiz, her eyes brimming with emotion, tightly grasped Rene’s hand. Rene nodded lightly and gestured with her chin. Everiz bowed repeatedly and left the office.

The moment she was alone, Rene let out a deep sigh and sank into her chair. She pulled out a rosary she had received directly from the Pope from the drawer under the desk and rolled it in her hand. She wasn’t a devout believer, but she hoped that something blessed by the Pope himself might have some divine power.

“Is this a sign? Those of you out there, please answer me. Is he really alive?”

The gods remained silent. As always. Rene smiled coldly and put the rosary down. It was time to return to her routine. To the numbers game for the dead.