A steady, gentle set of footsteps came from the stairs. A youth clad in a moon-white alchemical robe, along with an Iron Folk officer standing guard behind him, slowly appeared before the waiting crowd.
He was slender, clearly the sort who spent all day in an alchemical laboratory and scarcely left home twice a year. His appearance, moreover, made everyone present pause in shock. For a moment, they could not quite understand why they had come to this gloomy, dilapidated Layan Castle—were they here to listen to that Ascender claiming to be the lord of Layan Territory speak, or to attend some grand aristocratic banquet?
It was a presence capable of changing the atmosphere in an instant.
The white-haired youth stood halfway up the stairs, his cyan eyes calmly overlooking the merchant association presidents, shop owners, guard captains, tax officers, and others whose expressions all differed. These people, once among the most powerful in Layan City aside from the lord himself, had now gathered here with unease in their hearts, awaiting his words and judgment.
"I am Ian, your new lord."
Ian spoke simply. Invisible ripples stirred damp air and echoed throughout the castle hall, changing the expressions of several Ascenders—they sensed the circulation of their Origin Matter beginning to stagnate. This was a sign that an Ascender vastly stronger than them was demonstrating his control over the surrounding spiritual energy field.
—This young man, who looked barely grown, was actually a Second Energy Level Ascender?!
What had Layan Territory done to deserve a genius like this as its lord?!
Before they could recover from their shock, Ian's next words left them frozen. "I do not know how Baron Layan managed you, but I have a terrible temper—especially when I find grain merchants hoarding food in Layan Territory during wartime."