Isaac was blown away by what he saw and stood still for a long time admiring the meadows and large gardens that the Upper Town abounded.

After several minutes of silence, the sound of horse footsteps was heard before a carriage appeared and new royal guards came to a halt.

As soon as they arrived, they all knelt down and bowed their heads before a tall man in silver armor approached.

- "Welcome back among us, Excellency" he announced.

- "Nice to see you again, Frederic" Zachary answered with a smile before turning to Isaac. "He's my personal guard captain. He's going to escort us, you'll have all the time in the world to visit the Upper Town. For now, we have to go to the Palace," he said afterward.

Without wasting time, the group walked towards the coach before the guards came to stop Rebecca and Artiel.

Isaac turned when he heard the two apprentices start to retort and was about to come forward when Zachary came to put a hand on his shoulder.

- "They weren't invited to the Palace," he said before looking at Frederic. "They are my guest of honor's servants. Treat them with respect. Take them to my mansion and tell Damien to take care of them and prepare living quarters for them."

Frederic nodded and motioned for the three apprentices to walk towards two horses while the escort set off.

All the way, Isaac stayed at the window and looked at everything that passed in front of him. The view was sublime and unlike the rest of the city, the Upper Town seemed almost empty. From time to time, you could see people, dressed in cloth outfits far too extravagant according to Isaac, walking around.

In their wake were servants struggling to meet the slightest demands of their master.

- "The Upper Town is reserved for the Nobles, the Upper Aristocracy, the High Clergy. All visitors must receive the King's approval to enter the premises" Zachary explained.

The restrictions were a bit overboard for Isaac's taste but relatively logical. The Upper Town was a bit like the Elysée Palace or the White House.

This explained why there weren't many people. Isaac understood why Zachary had told him that Lower Town was where most things happened.

- "And the cathedral? Who goes there? Only the Nobles?" asked Isaac.

- "No, not only the Nobles. The Church has also authorized its most fervent members to live in convents and abbeys. They pray there and maintain the places" replied Zachary.

- "You told me about Divine Lands earlier. Can you tell me a little more?"

- "The Clergy have their own lands called the Holy Lands or Divine Lands. The Cathedral is on holy land, but there is another much larger cathedral which serves as a place of penance and pilgrimage for the people. The Pope goes there twice a year."

- "A holy land?"

Zachary turned his gaze to the cathedral.

- "The Cathedral is one of the most famous places of the Church but not the only one. In all, there are three places under the complete control of the Church, the King has no authority there: The Central Cathedral, the Holy Land and the Tomb of Solus "he said before stopping.

- "Solus… the god?" Isaac asked in amazement.

Wasn't Solus a god? Was he mortal before he became a god or was he killed and then reincarnated? Isaac waited patiently for an answer. Zachary turned his gaze to Isaac with a small smile.

- "The name is confusing. An ancient legend says that one day a huge red dragon threatened to destroy the entire kingdom. To avoid this catastrophe, Solus himself incarnated, slaughtered the beast before returning to heaven. The last place he walked and where the beast was buried was called the Tomb of Solus, "Zachary explained.

- "So it is the tomb of a dragon," said Isaac thinking.

- "Correct. But the access is reserved to the Papacy only. It is a holy land and the Kingship has no power so if you want to go take a look, I can’t help you" replied Zachary.

Isaac looked up, a little puzzled and confused.

- "You are an Archmage aren't you? Even if you are politically attached to the Royalty, the Clergy are not afraid of you? You are literally a walking atomic bomb, right?"

Zachary laughed slightly before answering.

- "I consider myself gifted and I could probably storm the place and take control of it. Even if the Cardinals fear me, I fear the Pope just as much" he replied.

- "The Pope? Why so?"

- "Technically speaking the Pope could be qualified as Archmage in terms of energy. The protective barrier of the capital is able to resist my most powerful spell and it is held by the energy of the believers of the Church" said Zachary before stopping.

Isaac nodded to let him know he understood.

- "According to rumors, Desterixis has an energy that exceeds that of the believers in the capital. Put that in perspective, he is technically superior to me."

- "You haven't tried to fight him?"

- "And destroy the capital?" Zachary replied, arching an eyebrow. "What's more, I've never met him. I've never had a reason to meet him, most of the time I see Cardinals or Grand Pontiffs but that's all," Zachary added calmly.

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Isaac just shrugged his shoulders. It was true that if two Archmages were to fight, people without magic would probably have no chance of survival.

Isaac nodded in response.

- "What about the Royal Academy?" he asked.

- "It is in the big districts of the lower town" replied Zachary.

- "Not in the Upper Town? I would have thought they would put the capital's jewel here."

- "The Academy accepts both Nobles and Commoners. The Upper Town is reserved for Nobles."

- "Ah… yes," said Isaac, remembering what Zachary had told him earlier. "Still, where is the Upper Town? The interior of the walls almost looks like the countryside," Isaac asked, looking around.

Zachary then came to point out the perimeter walls and the many buildings that dotted his base containing restaurants and shops of all kinds.

- "These are the Rich Quarters. The Upper Town is made up of the manors and gardens bordering the lake. It is not really a town but it is what it is called since it is the place where most of the High Nobility has their main residence” he explained.

Isaac came and thought for a few seconds.

- "What is the difference between the High Nobility and the Nobility?" he asked a little confused.

- "Technically, there is no High Nobility. It is an unwritten rule which divides the Nobility into two groups based on the purity of blood. The High Nobility includes the King and the Dukes as well as their children, brothers, sisters, direct nephews, and nieces. "

Isaac looked out again towards the Palace in the center of the lake.

As they approached, the tall towers made him dizzier and dizzier. What did the people of this world have to build such tall buildings?

But if we were to compare, Earth didn't have a dragon or a giant to fight. What is more, there were many possibilities in magic that were unfeasible with Earth technology.

As they continued to advance, Isaac's attention was directed to statues placed along the shore of the lake. There were many of them spread all over the Upper Town and along the path they had just crossed.

All of them looked alike and represented a man with a tunic carved in white marble just like the Palace and the Cathedral. The man was staring up at the sky with a spear in his right hand pointing in the same direction as his gaze.

At first, Isaac thought it was decoration, but upon closer inspection, he felt strange energy emanate from it.

A faint, barely palpable trace of mana. Thinking at first that it was natural mana current, his thought changed dramatically when he arrived in front of the statues positioned on the sides of the bridge.

Unlike those found in the outer gardens, the statues on the bridge had a sort of aura surrounding them. A golden aura that surprised Isaac.

Zachary quickly noticed Isaac's interest and stepped forward to look out before he understood.

- "They have been blessed by the Pope and contain sacred relics" he explained.

- "But why ?" Isaac asked in surprise.

Why had they blessed statues placed randomly in the Upper Town? He would have understood if they had been placed inside the Palace or in the Cathedral, but outside?

Zachary didn't know what to say and shrugged, plunging Isaac into a long, deep thought.

- "I never had the opportunity to dismantle them and see inside. They are property of the Church since they contain sacred relics" Zachary explained.

- "I have the impression that the Church is plotting something. Religious regimes have never been able to confine themselves to religion on Earth, I do not see why there would be a difference here. Crusades, conquests, and machinations are numerous."

- "Just like Royalty. At the end of the day, they're a bit the same" Zachary replied with a chuckle.

Isaac could only concede this point.

- "At least here, the power is balanced. With centuries of history and almost the entire population as believers, it is difficult to oppose the Church. What is more, with the political tensions between the King and the Duchies, the Royalty cannot afford to anger it" Zachary replied.

- "But what does the King have that counterbalances?" asked Isaac.

- "They have me" Zachary replied, laughing. "And the Order of Knights, mages and the Army. And although the Church exercises great influence over the people, the Kingship possesses a power that the Papacy cannot obtain without abandoning its fundamental texts."

- "Which is?"

- "Theologically speaking, the King is the one who has been chosen to lead the kingdom while the Church is only the representative of Solus. To question the authority of the King would be to question the place of the Church and lead to questioning its deepest foundations, "Zachary explained before stopping.

It was logical reasoning for theologians. After all, the Church could not be composed only of corrupted and greedy people. Many are the members who are devout believers. If the hierarchical top of the Church were to act so that the foundations of their religion were to be questioned, the consequences could have a major impact and cause division within the Church itself.

The Papacy had much more to lose than the King at this point.

While Isaac was thinking, the coach passed the gates of the Palace and entered a large courtyard. More precisely a garden overlooking a large entrance in front of which was a row of twenty soldiers in golden armor behind a fountain placed in the center.

As soon as they arrived, the soldiers marched and came to surround the coach before a red carpet was rolled out by the maids.

After a few seconds, a butler approached the door and opened it before inviting Zachary and Isaac out. Zachary came to smile at the butler before turning to Isaac, indicating to him to follow him.

- "Be careful with the step. We will go up to the throne room" Zachary started going down.

Around, maids were lined up with the soldiers behind and bowed as the Magus arrived.

- "Normally, foreigners have to kneel before the presence of the King but as an Archmage, you just have to tilt your head slightly forward like me" Zachary explained.

The doors of the Palace opened revealing an immense hall bordered by immense columns. Pictures were hung and a huge glass chandelier hung from the ceiling.

The floor was carved in a slightly red stone and drawings had been traced and then varnished, making the parquet shine slightly.

- "For the first part, you will not speak. I will give you a sign to introduce yourself. Your first name, your Archmage title, and your origin will suffice" Zachary continued.

Isaac was blown away by the details of the architecture. There was no room for a single flat surface. Every corner had been carved, painted, or decorated with objects or patterns of all kinds.

He nodded reflexively but still listened to what his colleague was explaining to him. Etiquette had to be strict to meet the King and he knew that.

- "What should I say about my origin?" asked Isaac intrigued.

- "Just answer them that you have lived all your life in the sanctuary" Zachary answered calmly.

Isaac nodded as he continued to walk while admiring the interior architecture.

Several minutes passed during which they took the corridors, halls, stairs, and rooms of all kinds. Actually, Isaac was already lost at the end of the second bend and had given up on trying to hold back.

He preferred to memorize runes rather than the plan of the Palace. Nevertheless, he quickly recognized their destination when they arrived in front of a huge red door embroidered with golden threads.

The view was sublime and the door was too well made to be anything other than the door to a throne room. The number of guards positioned in front also gave clues. In all, about twenty guards were stationed in front.

Zachary stopped in front of the door before turning to Isaac. The two of them took a deep breath and then exhaled to calm down a bit before Isaac came over to nod.

Zachary nodded in turn before motioning for the soldiers to open. Without waiting, five soldiers came out of the formation and came to start pulling the doors to open them to the outside before a man's voice came to resound.

- "His Excellency, the Magus of the Court, Archmage Zachary Kol, and his Guest of Honor, the Elven Archmage Isaac."

Once the doors opened, the two Archmages took a few steps forward and finally entered the throne room.