Rumors naturally contained exaggerations, but there was no doubt that this Lord was not someone to be trifled with. Everyone waited with reverence and devoted themselves to preparing the Entry Ceremony, hoping the Lord would be in a good mood when he saw it.
Seeing that more than half of the festive decorations had been hung and the streets were nearly cleaned, the gathered officials, influential figures, and Wizards relaxed slightly and began conversing in low voices.
"Hey, have you heard? Our Lord is called Charlie, Charlie Austin."
"You got it wrong. His name is Richard Austin. He had never been famous before, but shortly before that great war, the late Alliance Emperor suddenly received him. Within days of that meeting, he became the army's second-in-command. After the victory, he was granted all of Shalin as his Fief."
"Wow, you're really well-informed."
"Ha, not really. I just have a friend in Xia Ya who told me all of this."
"A friend in Xia Ya? Right, I heard Xia Ya has been in chaos lately. After the Emperor died, the First Prince was assassinated too, wasn't he? So who is the new Emperor now?"
"That... I don't know. I only know Xia Ya really is having a hard time. My friend said..."
As everyone continued discussing, a middle-aged man in a green robe stood calmly among the crowd, seemingly deaf to everything around him. Suddenly sensing something, he reached into his robes and pulled out a palm-sized diamond-shaped crystal. A flash of red light flickered within it.
After looking at it, the green-robed man's expression immediately turned solemn. He announced loudly, "My apprentice has just sent word. The Lord's carriage has already passed Red Valley Town, so the Lord will arrive here very soon."
"Ah, what?!" Startled, a round, fat man