Li Chen felt that several key pieces had already been placed on the Great Luo Dynasty's chessboard, and the situation was unlikely to undergo any fundamental change in the short term.
The cooperation between his two "disciples," Matvei and Sergei, needed time to ripen, while Ivan's and Romanov's responses still needed watching.
That being the case, he, the player moving the pieces, had no need to rush toward success.
On this journey with Lyudmila, his ostensible purpose was to travel incognito, posing as an ordinary wizard to test whether her lineage deserved the Witch God's grace. In truth, it was also an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of life among Daluo's common people.
He was in no hurry to make contact with Lyudmila's lineage. Instead, he intended to observe the Maple Leaf Fief and its surroundings first.
He needed to understand the people's true circumstances. What exactly did they think of this protracted war? How much reverence did they still hold for the muddleheaded, abdicated Emperor Ivan?
Did they worship or fear the mysterious Witch Ancestor who had risen so suddenly? And how did they judge Sergei, the newly appointed Grand Duke who commanded a powerful army and straddled the line between good and evil?
As the player moving the pieces, he could not simply sit among the clouds and make moves based on his own imaginings. He had to enter the world of ordinary people and listen to their truest voices.
If he descended upon this place in his supreme identity as the Witch Ancestor, wherever he went, he would find nothing but flattery and trembling fear. He would never reach the truth.
Just now, for instance, he and Lyudmila merely stood beside a street crowded with all manner of people, yet he could already feel countless eyes