When Your Brother Made It Big but Had No Gift to Give, Just Give Him a Child

"Yo, Emperor Lothar isn't wearing the Emperor's Sword. Looks like you really called it."

Amid the lively yet solemn ceremony, Archbishop Nali immediately noticed that Lothar, who had appeared in black-and-gold ceremonial armor, held nothing in his hands.

She nudged Diakum and whispered.

"Be serious. Don't talk. We're seated at the head table; everyone else is watching."

Diakum maintained the compassionate smile befitting a saint and replied through spiritual perception.

"I told you long ago: without that sword, Lothar was still Lothar. But without Lothar, that sword could only become a legend symbolizing authority and power.

My emperor friend is not the sort of man too stingy with treasures to give them away. He knows that giving away that sword would instantly grant the Strom'kar Empire an absolutely devout and steadfast ally. For at least the next hundred years, the relationship between both sides would remain unbreakable.

For humans, a hundred years is enough time to cultivate a tradition of unity."

"That's true."

Nali nodded and said, "Back then, Emperor Thoradin never wanted Strom'kar to become the 'Emperor's Sword.' He said so himself: a sword must not decide who becomes emperor. Since one is the leader of humanity, one should use one's own personal charisma to unite everyone.

In this magical world, unity is not some intangible thing either."

No one else knew of their conversation, but Archbishop Nali was not the only one who had noticed that the Emperor's Sword was not in Lothar's hand. Some human nobles began whispering among themselves, believing that this did not conform to tradition.

Yet the true pillars of the empire, Dick among them, did not care about this at all. The Empire's "Four Great Guardians" had all met Emperor Thoradin, and they knew his stance on the matter.

Perhaps not allowing the