"Are you sure it's okay?" Reivan raised a brow as he looked at the blonde beauty beside him. "If you're coming just so I'm not alone, you don't have to worry. Zee's always there and I didn't give Dom any spirit dew today, since I wanted him awake just in case."
Gwendolyn shook her head impassively. "There are no issues, Your Highness. It was about time for me to check in on what's happening over in Lageton anyway."
"If you say so, then alright. Let's go."
Not really having any qualms with Gwen accompanying him on his trip to the republic, Reivan led the way through the palace.
To make things more convenient for him—who was going to be commuting from the royal palace and Lageton—a teleportation gate had been set up in one of the palace's underground chambers. With the plans to make him the "ruler" of a puppet state, said teleportation gate was obviously set to be erected in his palace.
'Right. I'm going to have a palace of my own...'
Once his brother's children grew up, Reivan planned to move out of the palace and live in a mansion somewhere. He had enough money for it because of the "allowance" he saved up from being a literal prince,and because he got a fairly big cut of whatever Ouroboros earned. A mansion or two was chump change, so this wasn't much of an issue. Besides, with Zouros in tow, he could fly to the palace and visit his relatives any time he wanted.
Now, those plans were somewhat irrelevant because he was getting a palace of his own. It wasn't in Aizen though, but a palace was a palace. Hell, the engineers working on it were responsible for the maintenance of the royal palace in Aizen, so his palace would probably have plenty of similarities.
It was also preemptively being made to have a very expansive rear area to house all of the concubines he was slated to have and the children he would undoubtedly father.
'There's no way I'm letting them stay in Lageton though. It'd make it far too easy for imperial assassins to get at them with how many there are. And besides...'
Even with his new palace, Reivan still had a bunch of mansions constructed in various locations around the kingdom. He would have his concubines live there, preferably close to the concubine's hometown. With their sheer number, it was virtually impossible to spend a lot of time with any of them so he wanted them to at least be somewhere familiar.
Also, he didn't think it was a good idea to keep that many women—who may or may not come to foster romantic feelings for him—together in one place, so separating them seemed like a wise decision. He had read his fair share of cultivation novels and knew just how dirty conflicts between women could become.
'Ah, I'm getting way over my head.'
It was a problem for his future self, but Reivan didn't think it was a bad idea to prepare.
His eventual relationship problems aside, teleportation gates were going to be a big part of his lifestyle from now on. The way things worked with Aizen's teleportation gates, each one could connect with any of the others. So he could install one in every location relevant to him and reach it in no time at all. That would allow him the leeway to juggle his relationships and his official duties.
They were a bit costly in terms of energy, but worst case scenario, he'd personally spend some time near the Outland portal to hunt for crystals.
'Oh, we're here.'
Reivan snapped out of his idle musings when he realized that they were already standing before one of the teleportation gates within the royal palace.
As a gate connecting a relatively less secure area to the heart of the kingdom, Ascendants were naturally guarding the gate. Four of them, to be exact. Since they were in full armor, he couldn't quite tell if they were male or female without using [Supreme Insight], but either way, they all looked very dependable standing there like metal statues.
"Don't mind us. We're just passing through." Reivan smiled and gestured for them not to make a fuss, then nodded toward a knight to the side, who moved to activate the circular gate. Once the swirling spatial fluctuations within the ring seemed to stabilize, Reivan turned to Gwen and cleared his throat. "Ladies first."
Gwen nodded before saluting to the knights in the room. Just before she stepped toward the gate, however, she turned to Reivan as if she'd just remembered something. "Your Highness, please remember to turn on your temperature-neutralizing artifact before stepping through."
"Of course. I won't forget, but is it really that bad? You know I can cool myself down, right? And my body's strong enough to shrug off heat anyway."
"Even so. Please."
Seeing how serious she was about it, Reivan made a show of turning it on in front of her. The artifact in question was a cloak with a jeweled ornament to pin it to the body. As for its effect, it neutralized temperatures that went too high on either end of the spectrum.
Too hot or too cold? The artifact would counteract it and help keep the wearer nice and snug.
‘Neat.’
"It's on." Reivan flicked the jeweled pin, catching the very quiet humming it produced as the artifact’s enchantment activated.
This type of artifact had apparently been around for more than a thousand years, yet didn't undergo much change. Which was somewhat understandable. It wasn't very popular in the kingdom though because the climate was relatively mild, with summers not being too hot and winters not being all that cold.
“Excellent,” Gwen said, satisfied as she turned around and disappeared through the gate.
Once the gate stopped fluctuating from someone passing through it, Reivan followed her and opened his eyes to an underground chamber much like the one he’d just been in.
Except he instantly felt how different the air was, even when he was undoubtedly indoors.
“What in the…” Reivan looked around and saw another four knights, though these ones were mortals due to the agreement with Argonia.
Different from the ones on the other side, these knights weren’t wearing their full suits of armor but their knight uniforms instead. Hanging from their shoulders were cloaks similar to the one he was wearing. Being guards of such an important location, it would have been correct to chastise them, but Reivan held his tongue.
How could he scold them when it was obviously sweltering hot?
The surroundings itself seemed warped from the sheer heat around them. Being a vehement hater of hot weather in his past life, Reivan would have been the first to complain if he wasn’t wearing an artifact that mitigated temperatures like this. He hadn't been here for a minute and beads of sweat were already forming on his arms.
“The average temperature has been measured at fifty degrees Celsius, Your Highness,” Gwen answered the question he was about to ask. “Though it’s a bit lower here, being underground among other reasons.”
“Fifty…!? There's no way that's true...” Reivan was momentarily stunned by the number. Not because it was high, but because he and any decently-trained knight shouldn’t be affected by such a low number. It didn’t take long for him to realize the reason. “Is it because a Transcendent caused it? Is that why I can feel it more vividly?”
Gwen nodded solemnly as she led the way up a long flight of stone stairs. “That is what we assume. Even those with the fire attribute feel uncomfortable.”
“Good lord… Wait, then isn't the general populace in danger? Temperatures that high aren’t sustainable for ordinary people.”
“We have preemptively declared martial law and gathered the citizens in certain areas where we have knights with ice or fire attributes to manipulate the temperatures to more manageable levels. There is also medicine prepared just in case they collapse anyway. I’ve managed to consult with Sir Rolf, and he said that it should die down in a few months.”
“Months? You have got you kidding me...”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Reivan massaged the space between his brows. This state of affairs is supposed to last months? Why was he getting married when the affairs in the nation he would supposedly rule were this bad? Wasn't this a lot more important, given how many lives were at stake?
He wasn’t exactly the most scholarly hospital patient in the world, but back when he was glued to a bed, Reivan remembered a novel mentioning that the maximum temperature a human could tolerate was forty to fifty celsius. At which point, death was all but a certainty.
‘Shit. Are people dropping like flies as we speak?’
“There is no need to be alarmed, Your Highness.” Gwen looked back and assured him with an even tone and an expression that conveyed how everything was business as usual. “Very soon, we will have plenty of helpers and the situation will improve.”
“How soon, if I may ask?”
“A day or two. Negotiations with the battlemage remnants have been finalized by my proxies here. Though they were helping out even before that, now we can unify our efforts and achieve better results.”
Gwen then told him about a few things she found out from her subordinates' findings—which were part of the reason why she wanted to return today in the first place.
According to people who had been in Lageton from the very beginning, the heatwave wasn’t this bad at the start. It had presumably spread outward from somewhere in the middle of the republic, where old man Rolf fought the elf and the red dragon.
At the beginning, there was just ashfall from the dormant volcanoes that the dragon’s presence apparently caused to erupt—which was freaky to Reivan because he didn't know it was possible to cause natural disasters unnaturally. The heat had followed from a different direction, and while it blew the ash toward the sea, it also caused a whole host of other problems that weren’t just heat-related.
The remnant battlemages had taken the initiative to help out the settlements that they could, which just happened to be concentrated around the west and southwestern part of what used to be the republic. That also just so happened to be the area Aizen planned to include in the vassal nation. In other words, the battlemages spared from the empire’s witch hunt helped the kingdom’s interests by saving all the Arkhanians. All that was left was to absorb both the battlemages and the territories they had saved from doom.
Sadly, not all the battlemages came with the recruiters to Lageton, stubbornly staying where they were to protect the people in the area.
Reivan sighed in relief before his attention snapped back to national interests. “About the recruited battlemages… Are the conditions the same as we talked about?”
“Affirmative.”
“Excellent. There should be Ascendants among them though…?”
“They aren’t covered by the treaty, which places them all in immense danger. So they’ve accepted the kingdom’s asylum for now. All that’s left are the mortal battlemages from the Tower and the majority of four clans that are apparently quite important among battlemages. The Four Great Magus Clans, I believe they are called.”
“Ah, I’ve actually heard about them. Didn’t make much contact since I didn't explore the Upper Cities nor did I have anyone from their families to interact with.”
“Perhaps it is for the best, so you don’t let anything slip. In any case, I scheduled for you to meet every person of importance sometime after your wedding. Specifically, when you officially move into your residence here in Lageton. But if you have time…”
“I planned to return by tomorrow morning, so I don’t think so.” Reivan thought back to Elsamina.
It was a shame, but he couldn't spend more than a day here. He’d made a promise with Helen, who had magnanimously permitted him to visit Elsamina fully knowing what they’d do when they were reunited after months of not seeing each other. Starting their marriage with a broken vow didn’t seem wise, in any case, so he was committed to fulfilling it.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“How’s the residence, by the way?” he asked to change the topic.
Gwen shook her head. “From what I’ve been told, it isn’t finished yet. The climate isn’t making things any easier, but it should be done by the time you officially move in. The basic structure is finished, but the enchantments will take some time. Not to mention furnishing it.”
When the two of them made it out of the staircase, Reivan scanned the surroundings and saw nothing but stone walls until Gwen easily flipped one of the walls around like a rotating door. They came out to what was obviously an office made to look very similar to the one he had at the palace.
“This is to be your office, Your Highness.”
“Uh-huh. Looks just like the one I had back home.”
“Should I have refrained?”
Reivan shook his head with a smile. “No. I like it better this way.”
“That’s good to hear.” Gwen nodded, before gesturing toward the rotating wall. “By the way, there were other staircases in the underground chamber, each one leading to a different part of the palace. So you won’t have to worry about people constantly filling in and out of your office, Your Highness. You can also use those other routes if you wish. I will show you where all of them are once you officially move in. Even the secret ones.”
“For emergency escapes, huh? Sounds promising. Anyway, we should get to it.”
“Indeed.”
With a mental nudging through their bond, Reivan summoned Dom, the powerful spirit beast he’d made a contract with at the Sanctuary. In energy-saving mode, Dom appeared as a normal-sized adult wolf. It was the largest energy-saving form Reivan had ever seen from a spirit beast since most of them became small enough to appear as realistic stuffed toys.
Dom still had those three golden horns that looked a lot like the prongs of a crown though, so nobody would ever mistake him as an ordinary wolf. The arrogant mutt had been in a constant state of sleep because it took one of his spirit dew pills every time it woke up. Reivan had made expressly sure that Dom would be awake for now though.
And it wasn’t just because of personal security reasons.
“Alright.” he turned to Dom and gave the wolf’s head a pat. "You know what to do."
Snorting, yet still obediently following, Dom closed his eyes and seemingly focused on nothing. In response, both Reivan and Gwen looked through the window on the far side of the room to catch any changes.
But nothing happened, and Dom’s ears slumped both in disappointment and frustration.
“Don’t worry about it too much. It was a longshot anyway,” Reivan assured. “Sure, you have the ability to change the weather, but you can’t go against adversaries of higher realms. It seems this heatwave really is some kind of delayed weather effect. In which case, we can't really do anything about it but endure.”
Dom still looked a bit upset, so against his better judgment, Reivan gave it some spirit dew pills and set it back into his soul when it fell asleep.
“It is unfortunate that it didn’t work,” Gwen remarked from beside him. Surprisingly, she truly looked disappointed at the results. “I was hoping it would be enough to remedy the situation in Lageton. It would have been amazing material for propaganda as well.”
“Ah, well. We can’t have everything.”
“Indeed. I suppose we’ll just have to make do with what we have.”
“That's the plan, it seems. I’m counting on you, Gwen.”
“Of course. I shall do my utmost.” Gwen saluted again, crisp and brimming with confidence. “With that out of the way, I believe this is where we part ways for now.”
Reivan nodded. “Stay safe out there.”
“Yes. Please return to the motherland without me tomorrow. I plan to stay here for two or three days before going back.”
“Noted. I’ll be fine on my own, so don’t worry.”
Even though he had to leave behind any items made by Ascendants and above—including the Sword Star's bell and Saintess Frey's blessing—because it would break treaty, Reivan was confident enough in his own strength to at least run away from anything the empire could throw his way.
Seemingly satisfied, Gwen stepped out of the office and disappeared off to who knew where.
Left alone, Reivan found his feet carrying him toward the window. Peering outside revealed mostly barren streets and the sad state of a once lively city. Lageton had truly fallen from grace, though he supposed that was the case for most of the republic. In fact, Lageton was probably among the places that are better off.
The only silver lining was how the infrastructure looked to be somewhat serviceable. There was some minor damage here and there because of the shockwaves brought upon by a spirit king’s struggle against the Tower, but what remained of that damage was insignificant enough to be ignored in light of the current situation.
Basically, as long as the people endured until the climate stabilized, then the people could regain some measure of normalcy.
“Fuck,” Reivan cursed, despite the optimism he was trying to muster. Looking down at his arm, beads of sweat were forming on his bare skin despite all the measures he was taking against heat. He could even feel his armpits moisten. Hell, even places down there were starting to feel steamy.
‘This seriously ain’t your average fifty-degree weather.’
Sure, it was hot. But it felt as if any resistance was being nullified so he could well and truly feel it. He didn’t need to be told that this was some Transcendent bullshit because it made no sense—and that was reason enough to assume a Transcendent did it.
“How the fuck are we going to get through this though…?” Reivan unconsciously asked aloud. “Food self-sufficiency is practically impossible.”
Lageton didn’t have many fields around it given how it was in Eastern Arkhan—which was a region that focused on industrial endeavors—but what little it did have probably wasn’t doing so well considering the ashfall and the heatwave that followed. The city was right next to the sea, so fishing should have been an option but the ash from various volcanic eruptions contaminated the sea. And besides, the heat also didn’t do the fish near the shores any favors, as countless marine creatures floated up to the surface as inedible corpses.
Even monster fish weren’t fairing any better.
‘If we want to fish, we’ll have to go really far offshore. And that’s big monster territory. Krakens and Dagons probably start showing up.’
Of course, he didn’t actually know if Dagons existed here, but giant squids definitely did. They tasted great with soy sauce or grilled with salt. A restaurant in Starwater even served them raw, like sushi. It was amazing. Picky as he was, he’d give it a solid eight out of ten.
Reivan cleared his throat, realizing he probably shouldn’t be thinking of such leisurely things when so many people were suffering over here. The contrast to the peace in Aizen was staggering.
In any case, it was apparent that Lageton would be entirely dependent on the kingdom's aid for the foreseeable future, given their atrocious food situation. Water too, since mages couldn’t make drinkable water. As if that wasn't enough, all sources of freshwater in the vicinity had either evaporated or were contaminated with ash.
‘I suppose one silver lining is how the monster populations have been mostly wiped out.’
The only ones that remained were probably those with the fire attribute, which were rare since Arkhan hadn’t been a desert or peppered with active volcanoes before the cataclysmic events that changed everything.
“Ugh, guess we'll just have to try our best.” Reivan’s shoulder slumped as he opened the window and flinched upon being blasted with the blistering heat outside. He waved it away with a gust of frosty air before jumping down and landing on Zee’s giant body.
Once up in the sky, Reivan got an even better view of the current Lageton and his eyes widened.
There were a number of things that weren’t there before.
First was the castle he’d just left, placed on the eastern edge of Lageton. Just as he had been informed, there were going to be multiple district-sized areas around his main palace for him to house his concubines and children, just in case they ever wanted to live with him. People with Aizenian features were bustling around it and presumably applying the finishing touches to the soon-to-be ruler’s residence. Technically, they shouldn’t have done it yet since there was supposed to be a farce where he would run for governor, but nobody in Lageton had it in them to chastise the people handing out food.
That seemed like a really good way to go hungry, after all. No threats were made, of course, but people simply used their common sense and actively stopped any idiots from saying anything stupid to the kind foreigners who had all the food.
Second, was the literal Spirit Tower planted smack dab in the middle of Lageton. There was supposed to be a government building there, but that was no longer the case.
‘The old man really stole the Tower and ran off. Un-fucking-believable. Who even does that? Who just steals a building...!?’
Reivan didn’t know how a structure as large as the Spirit Tower could be stolen, but the Sword Star had done it. The old man must have had a history of banditry because this was just crazy.
And third on his list of new sights were the four floating islands that were collectively known as the Upper City in Vel Ayala. They weren’t in Vel Ayala now, that was for sure. Each of the four islands was still chained to the Tower, just as Reivan remembered them.
‘Crazy old man. He didn’t know where all the important stuff was, so he just stole the whole place. That’s nuts.’
Needless to say, Aizen’s knights had already sacked the place and took everything of value back to the capital.
The biggest piece of loot was undoubtedly The Sanctuary—a portion of the spirit world that Sage King Antonnel apparently ripped out for his own purposes. It had been hard to move because it was so delicate, but they had managed.
Now, the next generation of knights was going to have spirit beasts as companions to grow alongside with. That obviously meant that mages would not have this benefit anymore—essentially dissolving the term "battlemage"—but to the victor goes the spoils.
‘Only problem is how to make more of those orbs.’
Since the Ascendant battlemages joined, the kingdom now knew how the orbs were made. The thing was, the material could only be harvested once a year and in limited amounts.
Of course, there was also the brute force method of sending an army of knights over and just hoping most of them attract a spirit beast without the need for an orb. Spirit beasts seemed to like elementalists, after all. And all knights with an attribute trained as elementalists.
In any case, this whole tragedy had some good and bad points; the Sage King was no more and the kingdom found yet another way to strengthen itself.
“So big…” Reivan spent a moment looking at the tower that had lost its status as a Transcendent’s domain upon the Sage King’s death. It was certainly still a majestic piece of architecture, but it was also a giant target with sub-optimal defensive capabilities.
Palaces were superior. And he wasn’t just being biased as someone who had lived in one for almost twenty years.
‘Okay, maybe I am a bit biased.’
Zouros seemed unaffected by the high temperature as he flew through the cityscape with Reivan on his back. Rather, his serpentine companion seemed to like it for some reason.
Eventually, they made it to an expansive estate that didn’t even try to hide its affiliation with Ouroboros—flying proudly on both sides of the entrance, there were literally banners depicting a golden serpent forming a ring as it ate its own tail on a black and purple background.
“Heh. Guess there's no reason to hide it anymore,” Reivan remarked with amusement. He then tapped the giant winged snake he was riding and pointed at the banners. “Look, Zee. That's you.”
Its tongue peeked out for a moment before protests reached Reivan’s mind. The sassy serpent disagreed with him because its scales were black, while the banner had a golden serpent on it. No wings on the banner either.
‘You’re so particular about these things, but sure. It’s not you. Happy?’
Zouros’ enormous head bobbed up and down as it rolled in the air and let Reivan fall to his doom.
Or not. Reivan gracefully landed on the estate’s courtyard.
Immediately, he could feel countless people's attention focus on him. But the shrunken Zouros draped over his shoulders and his appearance must have been enough. The knights tasked to protect Elsa knew him and his disguises, after all, so there would be no problems with him dropping in like this. One of them even appeared before him and saluted.
“Your Highness.” The female knight with a blonde ponytail and charming freckles spread around her nose saluted. “Lady Elsamina is currently resting in one of the private lounges.”
“Thank you.” Reivan tapped Zouros on the snout and it rubbed its head on his cheek before retreating back into his soul. He then used [Reality Falsification] to transform into the man Elsamina thought of as her lover. “Would you mind leading the way?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
The walk was short, and Reivan arrived before a large pool of water that seemed made for swimming. They were on the second floor, so the extravagance was not lost on him. Also, the room’s roof opened up to let sunlight illuminate the intricately designed chamber, creating a picturesque scene that could easily belong in a painting.
Reivan couldn’t care less about the water, the hole in the roof, or the paintings.
There was a beautiful whitewood sofa next to the pool, and a bombshell of a woman was fanning herself as she wore what looked like a very thin white toga. It made her seem even more like some Greek goddess. And she may indeed have been the reincarnation of one. At least, he would believe it if someone told him that.
“Ugh, why is it so hot~!?” Elsamina complained as she swept aside the strands of red hair that clung to her sweaty forehead. “I feel like even my eyes are sweating… and it’s so disgusting… I don't want to do anything today...”
She still had yet to notice him, revealing a childish slovenliness he didn't get to see very often. Her eyes were closed and he wasn’t exactly stomping on the ground as he walked toward her, so it made sense she hadn’t noticed yet.
‘So she had this side too, hm? Also, she’s poison to the eyes. My goodness...’
Since Elsamina was soon to be his wife anyway, Reivan felt it was his divine privilege to ogle her in her misshapen state. Her fair white skin glistened with sweat and the way strands of her luscious red hair clung to her neck held an irresistible allure. Not to mention how her toga had gotten a bit see-through from either water or sweat.
It was strange. He’d already seen every nook and cranny of her body. Yet seeing her in wet clothes turned him on a lot more than he cared to admit.
‘Well, maybe it’s also because we haven’t seen each other in a while.’
Some part of him knew that he was a giant pervert, so it was natural for him to get excited over such a sight. And why wouldn’t he?
Growing more impatient, he couldn’t even think of a way to prank her. So he just tapped her on the shoulder and snapped his fingers. Shards of ice that released chilling winds appeared around them, counteracting the heat that filled the chamber.
That must have felt fantastic because Elsamina released a soft gasp of pleasure that sent his internal patience meter crashing down. He really wanted to just take her then and there, but he controlled himself. There was a process to these things.
“Honey, I’m back,” Reivan announced, his mind already thinking of all the things he was going to do in the limited time he had before he needed to return.
As expected, his fiancee’s eyes popped open and her jaw slackened in shock at the sound of his voice. “Ken! It’s you!”
He chuckled, satisfied by her surprise. “Missed me?”
"What a silly question—of course I did." Elsa stood up and embraced him, which wasn't very comfortable given how sopping wet she was and how he was also a bit sweaty underneath all his clothes.
Then she froze.
"Since when have you been here?"
Reivan chuckled, intent on dodging the question.