In the blink of an eye, September had arrived. Dimaria Yuhuashi passed through the Heart Reed Teleportation Array and arrived at Mind Castle.
Mind Island, where Mind Castle stood, had already become a bustling port. Great numbers of ships gathered here to dock, while countless serfs loaded and unloaded cargo. Flame Island's products were shipped from here to Iron Ridge, Eagle, and other countries, while foreign supplies converged here before being sent onward to Flame Island.
However, all goods entering and leaving were subject to strict quarantine standards, lest spies such as rats sneak in under cover of darkness.
"What a magnificent miracle, no matter how many times I pass through it." Dimaria looked at the pitch-black magic gate behind him and sighed silently.
Thinking of the mission that had brought him away from Flame Island this time, he felt somewhat conflicted again.
As the former Raging Wave Marquis, he had been born in the Eagle Kingdom and had once drunk and made merry with Adonis Moonlight Silver, King of Eagle. Now, after being captured, he had defected to the Flame Kingdom and served as Vice Chairman of the Development Committee, which meant he held power over the entire kingdom.
This feeling far surpassed what he had enjoyed in the past.
But now, in the name of an envoy from the Flame Kingdom, he would travel to the Sapphire Grand Duchy to discuss this year's Pioneer Order with Anthony Sapphire, the Sapphire Duke.
They would follow last year's precedent: the Sapphire Dragon would lead the charge, invading the Eagle Kingdom to plunder its population.
The Sapphire Grand Duchy, which had voluntarily lowered its rank, still belonged to the Iron Ridge Kingdom as a vassal state. With that title hanging over it, the Pioneer Order was as natural and justified as