Landen Gallop's official title was still Court Count, and the Empire recognized him as a Silver Knight and Junior Archmage. Yet this noble had cursed a high-ranking civil servant right in front of the Finance Department's chief secretary.
Before Landen had even left the Finance Department building, Jacob Shubin's misfortune had spread throughout the entire department and had even reached the highest echelons of the bureaucracy.
Less than ten minutes after he left, Hanfei Abobi, the Empire's Chief Civil Official, found Frank Douglas, chief secretary of the Finance Department, and asked him for the details.
The two Legends had tried to persuade Landen to change his mind before the incident escalated further—before the Emperor himself, or the God Emperor, learned of it. But Landen had gone straight to the palace without a word, and met with the Emperor before they could find him.
"How did that kid get past all the layers of paperwork and enter the palace directly?"
Lord Hanfei was in a foul mood. In his view, no one should be allowed to interfere with the entire bureaucratic system. Yet a border noble had not only challenged the bureaucracy's authority in public, but had also chosen an angle from which it was almost impossible to retaliate: blasphemy.
"I heard he got into the palace's Magic Furnace control room on the grounds that he was maintaining the furnace. When His Majesty heard about it, he summoned him directly," Frank muttered.
Frank looked just as grim. After all, Landen had cursed his subordinate right in front of him. Worse, Landen had already demonstrated extraordinary ties to the Goddess of Wealth and the Goddess of the Magic Web. The Finance Department really couldn't afford to provoke him carelessly in the future.
"First he curses an imperial official, then he meets with