Chapter 174
How can there be a next time?
Magana wanted to refuse, but she had already made the promise, so she could only silently accept it.
"Next time, I, the Grand Duke, will teach you properly next time."
After saying that, he couldn't wait to head down the mountain.
"My Grand Duke, wait for me!"
The descent was swift, and we were back at the campsite in less than ten minutes.
At that moment, they encountered the Iron-Blooded Army returning from the battle outside.
When Everson saw it was Magana, he quickly ran over to report on the battle. The Iron Blood Army had fought bravely and the Western Territory Army was in high spirits. However, before he could finish speaking, Magana threw him out on the grounds that he had stepped on her shadow with his right foot.
"Go report to Ryan!"
Everson got up from the ground, scratched his head, and looked at Ryan was following behind him with a puzzled expression.
"Brother Ryan, what's wrong with the Grand Duke?"
"She was probably not satisfied with your fight. She thought you would be back soon, but it took you so long."
"Ah? I see. I understand. Tomorrow I'll increase the training intensity for the Iron Blood Army!"
Ryan looked at the big guy and thought to himself, "Increasing your training is not as good as letting the Grand Duke beat you up a few more times. You got your extraordinary level by being beaten up by the Grand Duke, didn't you?"
Believe it or not, Everson recently advanced to the Fifth Tier Transcendent, and he is incredibly strong, making him a formidable force on the battlefield.
In terms of rank, Everson is actually relatively low among the four legion commanders, but he was promoted to vice legion commander by Magana as early as the third rank, and then became the first legion commander at the Fourth Tier. In addition to his professional growth potential advantage, this is also inseparable from his honest and loyal character.
Sure enough, the Grand Duke was right when she said she liked to believe but disliked betrayal. Someone like Everson could be betrayed by anyone, but he definitely wouldn't.
Ryan patted him on the shoulder and said, "Good luck."
"Hey! Ryan, I have something to report!"
"Let's transfer it tomorrow, and wait for Grand Duke to join us."
Ryan waved his hand and walked back to his residence.
Today's harvest was pretty good. Although I didn't manage to achieve the "carry him to the sprint" achievement, the actual walkthrough storyline is inherently difficult, and it involves a subordinate arguing with their superior, so it's not as easy as getting to the stomach in one step.
Haste makes Grand Duke.
After a quick wash, Ryan lay back down on the bed.
Empress Online, launch!
The first thing you see is Avril fighting evil spirits alone.
Thanks to Janus, evil spirits spawned in the camp at night. However, the military camp has a strong sense of discipline, so she sneaked out and found a spot where no one was clicking on the spawn point.
In the short time that followed, Avril had already reached level five.
"You can reach level 10 in one night, but there are too few monsters in this area, so it's best not to wander around just to be safe."
Ryan didn't want Avril to be discovered secretly leveling up and then be kicked out of the Moonlight Knight Order or punished in other ways. Anyway, it would only be two or three days, so there was no rush.
I checked on the other characters and found that none of them were asleep, even though it was late at night.
Okay, I'll work harder on my alt account. If I work Alts harder, I can finally relax.
Ryan fell asleep immediately.
The next day, Everson indeed came to report to him.
Ryan had originally planned to invite the Grand Duke to listen, but he discovered that the Grand Duke wasn't in the tent and no one knew where he had gone.
It wasn't until noon that Ryan saw Magana return from outside.
"My Grand Duke, I have something to tell you..."
"Ah, Ryan, I'm very busy right now, very busy."
Magana turned and went into her tent.
"?"
What's going on?
Ryan was puzzled. Was he really that busy?
Over the next two days, Ryan discovered that the Grand Duke was really busy, especially when he was around him.
He had just finished giving instructions to his subordinates when, as soon as he walked over, the Grand Duke vanished on the spot, disappearing without a trace.
It's confirmed; the Grand Duke is avoiding him.
However, by the third day, there was no way to hide anymore, as today was the day 'Vainay' would take the throne.
Early in the morning, the entire Baron was enveloped in a lively atmosphere. Under the arrangement of the Minister of the Interior, Ina, the news of the new emperor's ascension to the throne spread from Baron and instantly swept across the entire Augustus Empire.
Now that things have come to this, naturally no one dares to doubt 'Vainay's' qualifications. At present, apart from Magana, no force in the entire empire can threaten her. And since that engagement banquet, Magana has been rumored to be a spy that 'Vainay' has been cultivating for many years.
Ryan swore to himself that he didn't spread this rumor. He wasn't stupid; Magana was clearly older than 'Vainay'! And she was being trained by the Heavenly Gang.
But some people just believed it. There's nothing we can do about it. People don't believe the truth, but they're eager to believe the lies. That's strange.
Ryan was initially worried that Magana would wonder how Ina could have risen so quickly, but she didn't care about Ina at all. Instead, she was thinking that after Vainay took office, she should return to the Western Territory, because the situation on the Great Plains had been quite turbulent recently, with repeated attempts to invade the Southern Territory from Kells. Fortunately, Vainay had already dispatched troops to garrison there in advance.
If Magana had to choose between fighting the barbarians and fighting the 'Vainay', she would choose to fight the barbarians without hesitation.
Fighting the 'Vainay' is driven by ambition, while fighting the barbarians is driven by righteousness.
But fighting the barbarians is not easy. Ryan's previous plan was feasible. He had also done a lot of research these days and found that although the Western barbarians were very hostile to other races and countries, they were particularly fond of Gilded Merchant Group.
There's no other reason than that the Gilded Merchant Group always brought back a large amount of daily necessities when they went to the grasslands, which greatly alleviated the living pressure of the nomadic peoples in the west.
Magana was naturally furious at this situation, but there was nothing she could do. The Gilded Merchant Group was a force that traveled through the Order, roaming the entire continent. To them, there was no hostile relationship; they were all business partners.
As long as you also abide by the contractual agreement, you can become their friend.
In addition, their power is extremely large and they have many treasures, so basically no one would want to be their enemy.
Ryan's idea was to get a Gilded Merchant identity and take a trip to the Great Plains.
Of course, to be on the safe side, it's best to send Alts. As long as we can take the first step in encouraging the Western Barbarians to build a city and establish a country, the rest will be much easier.
The inauguration ceremony went very smoothly.
When 'Vainay' appeared before everyone dressed in imperial robes, even Ryan was stunned for a moment. Indeed, clothes make the man, and different characters are suited to different outfits to accentuate their temperament.
The 'Vainay' is born with nobility; when she wears the Emperor's robes, the sense of holiness and nobility is immediately amplified.
At this moment, on the huge altar in front of the castle, 'Vainay' walked step by step to the highest point and activated the sacrificial ritual that had been prepared in advance.
All around, the Singer who belonged to the Sun God began to chant.
"... This is dedicated to the great Heross, the goddess of all light and life, may His radiance forever shine upon the skies of the Augustus Empire!"
While the Sun God Heross was worshipped by some of the empire's subjects, the Old Emperor never promoted faith in gods during his reign, so its influence was limited. However, Ryan felt there was nothing wrong with believing in gods, because gods truly existed in this world.
Since the Son of the Sun follow the Faith Path the Sun God, Ryan couldn't possibly give up this advantage. So he simply promoted it at the national level. After all, even if you don't venerate the Sun God, people will still worship Janus as the Gate of Janus expands its power.
Since we're going to believe one of them anyway, let Ryan decide.
As for promoting atheism, Ryan has no intention of doing so. People need some kind of faith to keep them going in the darkness, don't they?
Life is still tough.
Governing the empire is a long and arduous task; this is only the first step in a long march.
After the ceremony ended, all the nobles who participated left in an orderly manner.
"Earl Ryan, stay here. I have something to discuss with you," 'Vainay' said.
All eyes turned to Ryan.
Magana asked warily, "What do you want with Ryan?"
'Vainay' chuckled, "Don't worry, it's just about the matter of supplying the Western Territory Frontier that we discussed last time, and my decision to support you, Duke, in your fight against the Western Barbarians to the greatest extent possible... Or perhaps you would like to join us for a chat about the details?"
"Forget it, you can talk to Ryan about this."
So that's what it was. Magana immediately stopped caring. 'Vainay' had mentioned it before, but she was too lazy to talk about it. Mainly, she wasn't good at negotiating, so she might as well leave it to Ryan to handle.
There's a saying, what's it again? "Professional tasks should be handled by professionals."
"Ryan, be careful not to fall for her trap," Magana whispered.
Ryan gave an OK sign. "Don't worry, Your Grand Duke, I'm very shrewd."
Soon the crowd dispersed, and Ryan followed 'Vainay' into the castle.
On the way, Ina called away all the maids and guards around her, and the two walked all the way into the castle and entered Vainay's bedroom.
"Tsk tsk~ The Empress's residence is indeed different."
This was Ryan's first time in the 'Vainay' room. Not to mention how luxurious the decoration was, the room itself was huge, almost like a living room.
"You can stay here once Magana returns to the Western Territory." 'Vainay' said, and began to take off her imperial robes.
This thing looks nice, but it's too complicated, and it's not very convenient to move around in once you put it on.
"Hey, wait a minute, just like this, just like this." Ryan hurriedly called out to her.
'Vainay' tilted her head slightly.
That's all?
What's the meaning?
She quickly understood what it meant.
Ryan finally understood why so many people in his previous life liked the allure of uniforms.
He lay on the bed, his thoughts seemingly drifting into the clouds, until he reached a high point and then landed, whereupon he collapsed, lying sprawled out, not wanting to move an inch.
'Vainay' quickly headed towards the bathroom.
The sound of rushing water filled the air.
When she finished washing up and came out, Ryan had already regained his energy and was sitting up against the headboard.
His strength has improved a lot recently, and he feels that he is about to reach the peak of the Second Tier Transcendent state. He urgently needs the next fragment to advance.
As his strength increases, his physical fitness will also be enhanced. Ryan can do this kind of work eight times a night!
"... We need to get supplies to the Western Territory as soon as possible, otherwise the western barbarians will invade the empire more and more frequently in winter, and the empire's citizens on the border will suffer the most."
"In the Kingdom of Lotte, Wildea has already begun to take action. I sent Shally to find Amabena. Once everything is ready, we will publicly announce the alliance between the Kingdom of Lotte and the Augustus Empire tomorrow."
"Once the alliance is formed, the Northern Coalition will never let it go. The construction of the Holy Blood Legion needs to be accelerated. If we have 50,000 Holy Blood Army, then the mere Northern Coalition will have nothing to worry about."
Inside the room, Ryan discussed the upcoming plans.
Becoming the 'emperor' is just the beginning.
I learned from Avril that Wildea has been expanding the Moonlight Knight Order for the past two years. The size of the external knight order is only 50,000, but the actual number is far more than that.
A conservative estimate is that it will definitely double.
With so many people led by Moonlight Knight, in terms of sheer strength, they are even stronger than Augustus's previous Imperial Army.
Elvian is an ambitious person. She has been secretly controlling the member states of the Northern Coalition until now, when the overall situation is settled. Her military strength has grown steadily over the years.
On the other hand, Augustus's side was constantly embroiled in internal strife, and the situation was far less optimistic than it appeared.
"I've already arranged for Ina to do it."
Halfway through the conversation, the two began to have a deeper exchange.
'Vainay' was still wearing the imperial robe, and the ornaments swayed with her body, making a series of crisp sounds.
Amidst the crisp tinkling sounds, 'Vainay' said, "Once the Kingdom of Lotte forms an alliance, I will send the Imperial Army stationed in the Eastern Territory to relieve the pressure on the Holy Blood Legion. Shally needs to return, firstly to assume the position of High Lord, and secondly, it would be best if she recruited the Holy Blood Army herself."
"... good."
Whew~
Ryan also maintained a rhythmic movement.