--
Mission Completed(1):
Leave Kriegshan and enter the world of Raal.
Rewards:
+ $204 Thalers
General Class (LV.2) Meter: [10.4%] → [10.8%]
Swordsman Class (LV.1) Meter: [45%] → [85%]
--
Julius already has three hundred and fifty-nine Thalers in his pocket just from two finished missions as Skoltor was calculating the other reward statistics. He sat at one of the six chairs in a humongous hall, illuminated by the pine trees that were set up at the entrance to the hall and each corner. The dynasty’s display of color was displayed according to the maroon columns with the bright red overtaking the ceiling and walls of the hall.
It was unique in that it acted like caffeine, as he felt more energetic from briefly viewing it.
Earlier
At first, before he sat down, Julius encountered two bodyguards suited up like the bar butlers. On the one hand, security protocols were in place. He speculated they have not got the premise of him being a ‘very important guest’ as Empress Cai stated. Unfortunately, it got ugly between the three as the two bodyguards took offense to the sight with their eyes sharp like a tiger, eyeing Julius. A short temper fused with Julius tossed away the two bodyguards outside with the grasp of their suit, each taking the fold.
Julius handled them like large packets of oranges with the whiff of movement as he braced his knees followed by a twist of his torso to generate torque. He threw one at a time when his arm felt fired up, sending them crashing along the door frame. Ironically, it was right at their postage spots. The door frame left two heavily dented marks at the left and right jamb. The damage spread to the walls. Luckily, after being told it was a double-layered wall, only the interior side was affected.
Initiative wise they did their job, but the rest was poor for somebody like him to knock them out with a throw. That was when Empress Cai came back opening the door before being confronted by her two knocked-out bodyguards at her footsteps.
He could tell she almost lost her spark with all these unfortunate conflicts shoved into her face one after the other. Daiyu was behind her and with her notable strength, dragged the two away from sight. The door abruptly shut as Julius watched in confusion. When he sat down, he could hear muffled screaming and yells. Lucky me. Julius thought, sighing and slumping on his back onto the chair.
The next minute, Daiyu came back with a tray of two cups and a teapot. She placed it on his table to the left of the chair’s armrest. Her attention turned to Julius, looking directly at him. He got an impression from her pure brown eyes. The mysterious scent that his smell caught through his nose. His hatred for perfumes still went strong, but this scent made him want to contradict his belief. Very earthy. Aromatic. Not artificial. Julius noticed his head didn’t get strained which was surprising.
“Tea?” She asked.
“Thanks,” Julius replied. The two turned to the tray. He watched her grasp the handle of the teapot and poured out the green liquid into a ceramic cup. Green tea, perfect. They must have the same preferences as I do. He silently gazed at Daiyu’s fit. Compared to Empress Cai who was more flamboyant in her choice of colors, Daiyu was more towards darker colors. Her formal dress also has dragon vinyl but to a lesser degree. So far, she was the first one to wear high boots with leggings, all laced up.
She caught his attention, prompting him to look back at her.
No response or reactionary expressions came from Daiyu related to it. “The Empress will be coming shortly. Enjoy the tea, Mr. Julius.”
Julius grabbed it and took a sip. He let the boiling liquid ooze his taste buds before swallowing it down. He hadn’t realized till taking the first sip, how cool of a climate Longyue was. No sweat or heat sensitivity with his heavy clothes. In turn, he continued to enjoy the fresh green tea.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
28.2
Five Minutes later.
The Empress returned to the hall, pacing along the walkway. Daiyu came back once again, closing the door and bringing herself inside. Empress Cai headed to her throne seat behind the grand table. She walked up the elevated platform, climbing the little stairs on the side. Sitting herself down, Empress Cai scooted her seat up closer to the table. Daiyu then sat down right across from Julius, and the two exchanged stares once more.
“Let’s get started,” Empress Cai muttered, pulling out a folder and opening it flat on the table. She turned to Julius. “We have an hour at most to ourselves, so I wanted to get this out of the way before the next meeting. In the meantime, Julius, I appointed you as a representative for the Cai Family and my disciple at this time.”
Julius breaks off the quiet stare with Daiyu, turning right at Empress Cai expressing his sudden role. “Hold on, we’ve only just met moments ago.”
“Yes, but the encounter outside when you arrived can’t go unnoticed. Especially the stress I had to deal with certain people who I don’t have good work relations with. Too much talk to handle.”
Julius sighed. “Typical politics. Nothing new. I’ve been there before.”
“Hmm…That is the other reason. Your unknown history, powerful qi, and escaping Underground Kriegshan. It’s enough for me to make this decision. I hope in the end our interactions will give us some information and understanding of each other. In exchange, I’ll tell you the premises, fair?”
She was nice enough to give him the basic hospitality. Daiyu offered him green tea before her arrival and Empress Cai’s coordinating attitude brought him in. Licht got a good impression of her hence he trusted her enough to move forward. While the rest was a disorder and messy. The tempered individuals within her group of guards that he had to put two down and the bodyguard’s incident brought up different questions. The Chief of Operations experience piqued his interest in the dynasty's governence, and the desire to know about the world of Raal in order to search for the relics and his culprit. Julius then nodded, accepting the exchange. “What do you want to know?”
“Who trained you?” Empress Cai asked bluntly.
Would Xavier count? It was only around a month. I don’t think that counts for how far I am now. Julius shook his head. “It’s me alone. I don’t have any proper experience from someone who’s experienced this.”
“Then how did you obtain such high qi? Nobody ever had that at such a rank with no master training. Specifically, rank two.”
“Well, Underground Kriegshan has another layer beneath where an illegal tournament takes place. Putting it in simple terms, I got trapped under there in a time distortion for one year which was only thirty minutes out here.” Julius paused. “The ones that came along with me are who I met who wanted to leave underground Kriegshan and decided to follow with me.”
Empress Cai took out a paper from the folder, appearing to read off from it. “I don’t know if you are well aware that this planet has been under an entire conflict for a long while now with no progress. Many nationalities put the blame on Kriegshan for instigating this. When you brought up Underground Kriegshan, I need to know.”
Julius grimaced, recalling those documents from Lord Buhne’s office. “Oh, I know. Before I blew up the illegal tournament, there was an office of the one who led the entire fiasco. Me and the others got a full picture of the situation despite the heavy redaction. Somebody from your empire has been illegally barging secret intel in exchange for money.”
Slam!
“What?!” Empress Cai yelled, jolting up from her seat.
“My lady,” Daiyu muttered, trying to calm her down.
Julius scratched his head. “You have to ask Solomon later; we have the documents packed up in the bags. As I mentioned, most of it is redacted, so I don’t know what other information you can gather. Unless the empire has a team of analysts, then my bets are off.”
“I’m going to request to receive them before the end of the day. Effective immediately…Who else has read those papers other than you and your friend Solomon.”
“Me and Solomon were the only ones to fully read the entire thing. Anyone else only got a brief were the ones that came along,” Julius replied.
Empress Cai slowly sat down, taking a sip of her water. She was clearly upset; Only to figure out why the drop in reserves made sense, much to her frustration. The conversation switched, moving on to Julius’ new role.
“Ok, so you’ve people that don’t work well. In turn, stuff doesn’t get done. From the sound of it, The Empress doesn’t have every single authority or am I missing something?”
She remained quiet upon Julius’s question.
Hmm, this is getting interesting. Julius thought, realizing the behind-the-scenes seemed more layered and complicated. “You know what, forget that part. What about explaining about me being your disciple first?”
“Long story,” Empress Cai said.
Julius poured another cup of green tea, taking a mild sip. “Can’t be when we have the time…this tea is superb. No worries, short or not, I’ll listen.”
“Fine… I guess I’ll tell you.”