July 3, Holy Spring City.
The layout of Holy Spring City resembled an extravagant wedding cake—or perhaps a champagne tower. The kind of moat found outside the city also existed within it in three identical "copies."
Waterfalls and moats divided Holy Spring City into four concentric rings, with the center standing higher than the outer areas. It was said that this construction method had been modeled after the elves' Theocracy, though another claim held that it was the elves who had copied them.
The Third Ring was the original Parthian Royal City. Even throughout the entire Parthian Ancient Kingdom, it could be called the most magnificent, prosperous, peaceful, and beautiful place of all.
As for the Fourth Ring, it was a new residence built only a few hundred years ago.
It stood even higher than the original royal palace. That was where Parthia's Grand Vizier, the Good Lord of Holy Spring City, lived.
In the Parthian language, vizier meant "assistant" or "helper." It was equivalent to the chancellor or prime minister of Avalon or Iris.
Throughout the history of the Parthian Ancient Kingdom, there had been several Grand Viziers. They held the monarch's highest-ranking seal, could summon the other ministers and viziers to meetings, and could make all decisions on behalf of the Parthian King... In other words, they were prime ministers who governed entirely in the monarch's stead.
Although they nominally held only authority as regents, that authority could be revoked only by the Parthian monarch himself. Thus, it could also be regarded as permanent authorization—or as the authority of a regent.
When the last Parthian monarch disappeared, the Grand Vizier he had appointed was that generation's "Aymar Nur"—the Good Lord of Holy Spring City. At the time, his position could also be considered that of the capital's mayor.