Chapter 1 In Transit to the Monastery

Inside the car, Lan Qi leaned back in the soft leather seat, waiting for the journey to Saint Creith Monastery.

"If possible, Professor Landry, during your time teaching at Saint Creith Monastery, please try to minimize contact with the military. You are a talent carefully selected by the headmaster. If you mistakenly get involved with the military intelligence, it won't be good for you or the school."

Secretary Nera glanced at him in the rearview mirror and muttered softly.

Headmaster Violet was already swamped with work in the capital. If she had to negotiate with Marshal Hecintos, the First Military God, over the issues of a subordinate, it would be a considerable problem.

"Don't worry, Chief Nikola had some misunderstandings about me at first. I think once he investigates the cause and effect of the accident, he will soon clear up those misunderstandings."

Lan Qi nodded with a normal expression, took a thick *History of the Creith Empire* from his briefcase, and opened it on his lap.

"But Miss Nera, why are you so averse to the Special Affairs Division? I can see that it's not just a matter of business for you; you personally loathe them as well?"

He wondered for a moment and then inquired.

During his time at Saint Creith Monastery, there would probably be many school affairs, and when he couldn't see Headmaster Violet, he would be dealing with this headmaster's secretary.

"Would you like dogs raised by the nobles of the capital?"

Nera snorted coldly and asked rhetorically.

"Ahem, is it really okay for Miss Nera to say that?"

Lan Qi couldn't help but cough lightly. He didn't expect the seemingly dignified and polite headmaster's secretary to be so blunt.

"There's no problem. You can speak freely at Saint Creith Monastery. It has been a sacred place since ancient times."

Nera smiled slightly.

"To me, small animals are just small animals, regardless of whether they are wild or raised by someone, or who raised them."

Lan Qi ultimately answered in this way, regarding Secretary Nera's previous question.

"It seems Professor Landry is a centrist."

Nera looked ahead at the road and came to a conclusion.

"Isn't that supposed to be normal?"

Back in Lan Qi's hometown, the difference between nobles and commoners wasn't that big. Nobles were just richer, and they didn't have many special privileges. Even a duchess had to face discrimination all day long.

His current identity, Landry, as a remote noble, might not necessarily understand the capital, Brildar. After all, Landry was coming to the capital from the border for the first time, so he could just act naturally.

"Once Professor Landry arrives at Saint Creith Monastery, he will understand the clear distinctions between factions. The vast majority of people who appear neutral actually have thoughts in their minds; they just won't easily reveal them."

Nera tapped the steering wheel with her fingertip and said lightly,

"I really hate those powerful people in the capital, and I hate the guys who act as their dogs even more. Of course, Professor Landry, that doesn't include you, because you don't seem to have that kind of worldly air about you."

She spoke more clearly, which could also improve her work efficiency.

As Landry, a fallen noble from a remote area of the empire, he was qualified to join any side, mainly depending on which side he thought he belonged to.

Lan Qi smiled without saying a word and turned another page of the book on his lap.

Nera, as the headmaster's secretary, should have been a neutral party, but because she expressed her thoughts relatively bluntly, it reassured the headmaster and allowed her to be kept by her side.

Outside the car window, the ancient capital with a thousand years of history shone with the light of bygone days in the gradually setting sun.

"Lan Qi, why is the conflict between nobles and commoners in the empire so great?"

Queen Card Talia seemed to have dozed off for a while, but now she was awake again, asking questions in Lan Qi's mind when she didn't understand.

After coming to the Creith Empire, she didn't need to show herself and didn't have an identity. Most of the time, she was Lan Qi's magic card and summoned creature, so she didn't need to do too much homework. When Lan Qi was reading materials every day in the Botson Kingdom, she was lying on the sofa eating snacks and occasionally sleeping.

In fact, after arriving in the Creith Empire and hearing about the country's actual internal situation, she became curious again.

Originally, Lan Qi wouldn't have been involved in the issue of commoners and nobles in the capital so quickly. His original identity, Lovia, was a commoner from the northern border with no clear stance.

But Landry's identity was very subtle.

After he went to Saint Creith Monastery, it seemed that he would inevitably have to face this issue.

To help Hyperion rescue Mikaia, he would have to find the Blood Clan's underground city, Blood Moon City, hidden beneath Brildar, the capital of Creith, as Lan Qi said.

And if he wanted to get the specific coordinates of Blood Moon City, he would have to start by investigating the people within the empire who were associated with the Blood Clan. In this process, interactions with important figures in the empire would certainly be numerous, and among them, there might be noble factions and commoner factions.

"Many years ago, the rights of the nobles in the Creith Empire were too great, to the point where they could do whatever they wanted. Most of the power, wealth, and even media resources were in the hands of the nobles."

Lan Qi flipped through the book in his hand and explained to Talia in his mind,

"In addition to oppressing and exploiting the common people, some nobles even began to treat commoners as less than human, killing them as they pleased and robbing them as they pleased."

Lan Qi didn't know why Landry's suitcase contained a *History of the Creith Empire*, but the content written on it did overlap with what he was currently saying, except that the history book had beautified these aspects accordingly.

"Won't that cause problems?"

Talia wondered if even the demons wouldn't do that. Although the demons had the intention to kill, they would kill when they should kill, but they wouldn't care about your status or position; they would only care about whether they could kill you or not.

This could also be called a kind of equality with demonic characteristics.

"At that time, this kind of extreme disregard for human life by the nobles continued to escape punishment, finally igniting emotions."

Lan Qi continued,

"Speaking of which, Talia, did you know that the conflict between the current Creith nobles and the common people can be described as very intense? It is said that in addition to some commoners who are very hostile to the nobles, there are even nobles who are hostile to the commoners."

Lan Qi suddenly turned the topic back to the present and asked her.

"Why is that?"

Talia didn't understand why Lan Qi mentioned the current contradictions at the same time as telling half of the past incidents.

"Because a large-scale riot really happened in the Botswana province of the Creith Empire many years ago, and many nobles were killed. That day is called 'Bloodshed Day.'"

Lan Qi explained.

"Desperate and furious commoners, armed and organized, rushed into the noble residences to burn, kill, and loot. In the homes of the nobles who were captured, the men were killed directly, and the women were left worse than dead."

"And those noble descendants who were lucky enough to escape and survive inherited their families, the psychological shadows remained in their memories, and they placed their hatred on all commoners."

It wasn't until the emperor established a charter, restraining the nobles, appeasing the common people, investigating the nobles involved, and punishing the rioters, that the completely erupted conflict was resolved at that time.

For a long time afterward, the conflict between the nobles and commoners of the Creith Empire improved.

But that was only temporary.

As the huge disaster left behind by "Bloodshed Day" slowly fermented - the seeds of hatred began to take root and sprout, the internal contradictions of the Creith Empire have rapidly intensified in recent years.

Lan Qi closed the history book and roughly finished telling Talia about the contradictions between the noble and commoner factions in the current Creith Empire.

"Wouldn't it be better for us if the contradictions are greater? After all, we are here to cause damage inside the empire."

Talia tentatively asked, tempting him like a demon living in his heart.

She believed that Lan Qi was very good at fanning the flames, and with her demonic voice and gentle embrace, she could perfectly help Lan Qi do bad things.

"That's not the best way to solve the problem."

Lan Qi showed a long-lost look of compassion.

It was as if he saw the suffering of the people and didn't want them to become even more miserable.

"...Then what do you want to do?"

Talia was puzzled.

"I want to make the Creith Empire great again, to become a holy country that doesn't need war."

Lan Qi pondered slightly and murmured.

"...What the hell."

Talia occasionally couldn't understand Lan Qi's self-talk.

But she was too lazy to care. Now she was just a poet of love, following Lan Qi to complete the secret mission of a spy in the empire, and then she would gloriously return to the kingdom. Just thinking about being able to accept commendations made her quite happy.

When the special car slowed down after driving for dozens of minutes, Lan Qi already knew that he had finally arrived at Saint Creith Monastery.

The autumn sunset dyed the sky into a magnificent orange-red, maple leaves danced lightly in the breeze, rustling and undulating, the shadows of the trees mottled, the air was filled with the dryness and mellowness unique to autumn, mixed with the faint fragrance of osmanthus and the scent of earth.

The vehicle had unknowingly driven into a vast piece of land, with trees neatly arranged on both sides of the road. Looking from a distance, the scale of the buildings, like mountain ranges, was very large, and it was even difficult to estimate the true area of ​​the school with the naked eye.

What Saint Creith Monastery is most praised for is its affiliated magic school, where the elites of the Creith Empire receive comprehensive education, training, studying knowledge, and tempering their will, eventually growing into the pillars of the empire.

The towering spires pierced the sky, matched with intricate window lattices, the walls were covered with colorful ivy, and monks in white robes occasionally stood by the door.

Along the way, Lan Qi passed through many places. The monastery itself consisted of buildings such as churches, bishop's halls, knight order residences, parks, and libraries, while the school buildings occupied another corner, with several areas for teaching buildings, villas, training grounds, restaurants, and auditoriums.

It can be said that it had become a small and complete city-state.

Until Secretary Nera's vehicle stopped in front of a certain building.

Seemingly to confirm Lan Qi's thoughts, the car door had been opened by the guards of the monastery.

The unique sense of tranquility and peace of the monastery came over him.

"Professor Landry, we have reached our destination."

Secretary Nera's words made Lan Qi turn his gaze to the outside of the window.

Saint Creith Grand Monastery has a long history of thousands of years. Its predecessor was the ruins of the Temple of the Moon Goddess, an ancient building that existed before the founding of the Creith Empire.

On the evolution of the Southern Continent, it has extremely high historical value and research significance.

Hundreds of years ago, there was no such behemoth as the Creith Empire in the southern part of the Southern Continent.

There were three major territories on this land: the Seros Empire, the Elsea Sanctuary, and the Wensi Free Federation.

The Seros Empire, named after its founding emperor, Seros I, was a monarchical autocratic country with a long history and military strengths, advocating force, advocating the divine right of kings, and the supreme imperial power, and was also the predecessor of the Creith Empire.

The Elsea Sanctuary worshiped the Moon Goddess Elsea and believed that this land was blessed by the moon god. Therefore, the devout people named the country the Elsea Holy Kingdom, and the royal power and the theocratic power were inseparable.

The Wensi region, where the Wensi Free Federation was located, was fertile and rich in resources, and was known as the "granary" of the southern part of the Southern Continent.

The local lords formed a relatively loose alliance for their common interests, each governing its own territory.

The Brildar region, where Saint Creith Monastery was located, was at the center of these three forces.

The neutral holy land of Brildar was not only a stage for the competition of various countries, but also an important weight to maintain the power balance of the three countries.

The Brildar Moon God Monastery has always been neutral, following the duties of the priests of the Moon God Temple. No matter what the conflicts between the three countries were, this would be a place to stop the war, but in secret, several forces were vying to infiltrate, trying to incorporate it into their sphere of influence.

The Seros Empire coveted the monastery's solid defenses and rich resources, the Elsea Sanctuary hoped to use the monastery's religious influence to consolidate its rule, and the Wensi Free Federation, although slightly weaker, was also secretly wooing the monastery to check and balance the other two countries.

In the end, the war broke out.

The flames of war even spread to Brildar, but the priests of the God of Healing and the Silver Moon always adhered to love and were always helping the homeless.

After a long war, finally an outstanding person ruled the entire southern part of this continent, ended this disaster, and created the Creith Empire, the largest empire in the history of the Southern Continent, almost occupying two-fifths of the entire Southern Continent.

Therefore, in the integration and revival stage of the Creith Empire, many countries in the northern part of the Southern Continent began to fear this country, thus creating the prototype of the Alliance of the Kingdom United Council.

Fortunately, both the rulers and the people of the Creith Empire remembered the pain brought by that long war and actively established diplomatic relations with the kingdoms in the north, so that there was a hundred years of peace in the Southern Continent later.

The Moon God Monastery witnessed the change of dynasties, the competition of heroes, and the arrival of peace.

The long-lasting disputes between the three countries also came to an end here and opened a new chapter in the Creith Empire. The capital was chosen in the Brildar region, where the three territories used to converge, hence the name of the current Brildar City.

In order to commemorate that great unified battle and the noble character of the Moon God Temple, the Moon God Monastery located in the capital of the new empire was renovated and expanded, became Saint Creith Monastery, and continued to cultivate talents for the Creith Empire.

Nevertheless, this also led to the fact that later and even now, the nobles of the Creith Empire were divided into three ideologies: the imperial power faction, which inherited the will of the Seros Empire, the theocratic faction, which inherited the will of the Elsea Sanctuary, and the democratic faction, which inherited the Wensi Free Federation.

Saint Creith Monastery is led by the High Priest, and each generation is held by the direct descendants of the High Priest.

The current High Priest and Headmaster is Violet, a powerful woman who is also conferred as the Sixth Military God of the empire, holding the Seat of Aquamarine.

"Please come with me, let me take you to visit the main hall of the monastery first, and then lead you to meet Headmaster Violet."

After getting out of the car, Secretary Nera put her hands on her abdomen again, returned to her original standing posture, bowed slightly to him, and said.

Lan Qi nodded lightly, and Secretary Nera turned around to lead the way.