What Are You Really Trying to Do?

The emperor of the Graycastle Empire stared at the images on the Magic Net and fell silent.

Overnight, the Technology God Church seemed to have grown vastly stronger yet again.

He already felt increasingly powerless in the face of its growing military strength and influence.

But there was nothing he could do.

He had even sent members of the royal family to study at Rost Academy, approved the Ultra-High-Speed Rail Transit System proposal, and invested a vast sum of money...

As for other industries, he had embraced them wholesale. Magitech Vehicle factories, steel mills, garment factories, textile mills... Far too many things had already begun taking root in the Graycastle Empire.

He admitted that these factories had greatly increased the empire's prosperity and trade.

Tax revenue was soaring, too.

Even the number of people dying in winter was falling rapidly.

It seemed everyone could find a relatively well-paying job.

Everything seemed to be thriving.

The Technology God Church had brought countless good things.

The empire was bursting with unprecedented vitality.

Yet for all that, the emperor felt as though a sword of Damocles hung over his head.

It was as if everything he had was in someone else's grip.

As if he could lose his life at any moment.

As if the fate of the Graycastle Empire was gradually slipping beyond his control.

The Graycastle Empire was humanity's mightiest empire.

It possessed the legendary Mage Legion and Knight Legion.

Its mages alone numbered in the tens of thousands.

They could also cast combined spells whose power was beyond anything even a legendary mage could counter.

Within the empire, everything—from agriculture to crafts, from ordinary people to the churches—stood at the pinnacle of the continent.

As its ruler, any decision he made could shape the future of the entire continent.

He