Chapter 1 The Imperial Capital of Heluo, The Administrative Building of the Redmond Emperor

The Redmund Administration Building stands majestically on the northernmost side of the Proto’s Royal Academy of Magic in the imperial capital, Heluo.

A thin layer of almost transparent tree leaves gently adheres to its windows, allowing the morning sunlight to filter through, casting soft and warm golden threads throughout the room.

The entire office is filled with the fragrance of spring flowers wafting in from outside, a gift from time and nature.

The room feels much emptier than before.

Many documents have been cleared from the bookshelves, resembling an office about to be vacated by its owner.

Lanci sits alone in his spacious office, his gaze fixed on an ancient Proto’s text.

It's rare to see the diligent headmaster so leisurely whiling away the time in his office.

More than ten days have passed since the Proto’s Archpriest election that caused such a great disturbance.

These next few days will also be his last in the Proto’s Empire.

"Hello."

With a soft knock, the door slowly opens, and a fragrant aroma wafts in.

Pranai, dressed in a neat Proto’s-style suit, carries a tray as he elegantly enters Lanci’s office.

"Heluo linden blossom tea, please enjoy."

He gently places a classically patterned teacup in the perfect spot beside Lanci's hand.

Lanci closes the heavy tome in his hand, places it next to the desk, and raises the teacup to take a sip.

Pranai seems to have added a little honey, salt, and lemon juice to the linden blossom tea, eliminating any sourness and leaving only a refreshing taste that perfectly matches his current mood.

"Pranai, thank you. You're still bothering to accompany me, even though we're leaving in a couple of days."

Lanci responds softly, a relaxed expression appearing on his face as he leans back in his office chair.

The three Great Demons have had less work recently, with only one serving as the headmaster's secretary at the Proto’s Royal Academy of Magic each day, leaving the other two free to enjoy the imperial capital, Heluo.

Lanci will be taking them away from the Northern Continent in a few days, so they see this as a rare Northern Continent vacation.

If it were the Guardian, Antanas, accompanying Lanci, she would chatter endlessly, like having a sparrow nearby.

The Law-Breaker, Xinuola, would be quite quiet but exceptionally reserved, and calling her name suddenly might startle her into taking two steps back.

Only interacting with Pranai of Truth is the most natural, as his work ethic and etiquette are impeccable.

Today, it happens to be Pranai's turn to be the secretary.

"No."

Pranai shakes his head.

"No matter how long I spend with you, I am happy to do so."

A slightly ambiguous smile plays on his handsome face.

Demonic smiles are often like this.

It's hard to tell if they're genuine or not.

But in any case, being around a demon who smiles is always more comfortable than being around one who never does.

"Is there someone you are thinking about, Your Majesty?"

Pranai observes the satisfied expression on Lanci's face as he sips his tea and asks.

"Guess."

Lanci is free today anyway.

"Talia?"

Pranai replies.

"......?"

Lanci is stunned, unsure why Pranai guessed correctly. He looks up at Pranai.

"There are probably only three women you might be thinking of, but the expressions you have when thinking of them are different. If there is a hint of faint mockery in your smile, it's unlikely to be the Second Princess, whom you respect most, and it's also unlikely to be Miss Sigrid, so it's most likely Talia."

Pranai explains to Lanci.

In fact, he has noticed that if his deductions are correct, the frequency with which the king thinks of Talia is unusually high, almost every day, even several times a day.

Although it may not be love, it feels like the king and Talia are like a pair of rivals.

The only thing Pranai is worried about is that, given Talia's temper, the king might be in a bit of danger, and sooner or later, she will figure out what the king is thinking.

But it should be fine.

The king is strong and is unlikely to mess things up.

Pranai can't imagine a scene where Talia and the king explode together.

"..."

Lanci drinks his flower tea in silence.

He never imagined that Pranai could deduce this.

Lanci quickly adjusts his thoughts and decides to think about something happy. He clears his throat and asks Pranai again:

"Guess who I'm thinking about now?"

"Miss Sigrid?"

Pranai thinks for a moment and asks.

"How did you deduce that?"

Lanci looks at the glass of the bookshelf, looking at the expression reflected in it, not understanding where the flaw was.

"This time, it's very obvious. Actually, there is no need for deduction because you're smiling very naturally."

Pranai replies with a smile.

Sometimes, people's smiles are imperceptible to themselves.

It's just that Pranai never thought that the king would show this kind of expression that looks very much like a human.

"Is that so?"

Lanci continues to sip his tea.

Pranai guessed correctly both times.

Of course, it may also be that Talia and Sigrid are too different in comparison.

No matter how you look at it, Sigrid is a woman who would be incredibly popular.

Lanci hasn't seen Sigrid in over a week.

The Archpriest election ended with the defeat and death of Duke Morodian.

Several powerful individuals joined forces in Heluo to successfully intercept and eliminate Duke Morodian.

Although the Duke Morodian's pursuit battle that day brought about some city destruction, it was less than expected.

Duke Morodian did not want to give the Proto’s Empire any chance to capture him.

Correspondingly, if they had to try to forcibly capture Duke Morodian, an eighth-order supreme expert with the Primal Stone Tablet, putting aside the unpredictable chance of success, if the battle lines were drawn out, Heluo would probably no longer exist.

After Duke Morodian was executed, Sigrid, at the request of the Great Sage Isis, assisted the Proto’s Imperial military in beginning a series of urgent northern investigations.

In addition, Sigrid became a true partner of the Proto’s Empire as she wished as part of the Overheaven Church, and her future affairs became even busier.

The last time Lanci saw her was on the afternoon of the Archpriest election. She found Lanci, told him to wait for her, and then left with the Great Sage Isis.

After that time.

The Proto’s Empire news was all over the place.

However, during this period of great attention, Lanci rejected all interviews, expressing his desire to gradually fade himself from the stage of Heluo through his attitude.

So, he resumed his daily work at the Proto’s Royal Academy of Magic.

Great Priest Loring became the object of people's praise...

Even the Heluo Broadcasting Company had a Proto’s Archpriest election scoring segment, and the interloping Great Priest Loring became the only person to receive a 10-point rating from hundreds of thousands of citizens, and many people began to describe him as the reincarnation of the benevolent and holy emperor.

Lanci remembers that Loring also admired this ancient emperor quite a bit. If he heard others describing him like this, he would definitely be very happy.

Now, although the Proto’s Empire still chooses to cooperate deeply with the Resurrection Church, or more accurately, with the Overheaven branch.

But this country has also strangely become less hostile to the Church of the Goddess of Fate, and from the common people to the nobles, they treat the priests of the Church of the Goddess of Fate with the highest respect.

"You don't seem to have much work today?"

Pranai sees Lanci finish his tea leisurely and pours him another cup.

"Yeah, I've basically finished all the work I need to do, so I can prepare for our trip back to the Southern Continent."

Lanci takes the teacup, places it by his hand, says thank you, and replies,

"After returning to the Southern Continent, your main task will be to protect Hyperion, who lives in the Cat Boss Restaurant. For example, if you see anyone causing trouble in the restaurant, help stop them. Of course, eating and running is absolutely not allowed."

There was a situation where an assassin chased her to the Cat Boss Restaurant and was stopped by Talia.

The vampires and the Resurrection Church in the Southern Continent seem to have a reason to kill Hyperion, and her death omen will only grow stronger.

Although bringing her to the Northern Continent for half a year may have temporarily avoided one or two more death crises.

However, the accumulated death omens will not disappear; they will strike all at once.

Lanci thinks about it and still feels uneasy.

With four Great Demons in the Cat Boss Restaurant in the future, they should be able to protect Hyperion.

And give her a sense of home.

Hyperion had already returned to Milford Territory in the Northwestern Province via the magic-powered rail train a few days ago.

Before returning to the Southern Continent, she has to go to Gedaria, the royal capital of the Aseltan Kingdom, to report the process and results of this mission to her teacher, the Ice Witch, after which the Church of the Goddess of Fate will arrange her return route.

Even if they couldn't bring Antanas back to the Aseltan Kingdom, correspondingly, the Proto’s Empire no longer has a tendency to go to war, and these two giant nations on the southern coast of the Northern Continent are preparing for peace talks.

In about a week, Hyperion will take a boat from the border of the Aseltan Kingdom to the southern coast of the Proto’s Empire.

Lanci will also meet up with Hyperion at the agreed time, along with Cat Boss and the Great Demons, and together, they will take a boat back to the Southern Continent.

Seems like it's taken a bit longer...

Lanci looks at the calendar and ponders.

By the time he and Hyperion return, the semester at the Iterite Academy might almost be over.

When Dean Loring approved the topic and stamped it, he said that the two of them could delay their return for a maximum of two months, and if they exceeded that time limit, they would risk being expelled.

The two-month extension, plus the three-and-a-half-month vacation, adds up to five-and-a-half months of topic approval time. Normally, even a trip to the Northern Continent for exploration would be enough.

In reality, including the round trip, they estimate it will take almost half a year.

However, he and Hyperion slightly overachieved on this topic, so Dean Loring should be able to understand.

"Understood. You can reassure the restaurant owner about the restaurant's security."

Pranai salutes and responds.

"Speaking of which, will all seven Great Demons ever gather at the Cat Boss Restaurant one day? It's already more than half."

Lanci rests his chin in his hand and can't help but think.

It is said that there were seven Great Demons who survived the Demon World, and now four of them have settled into peaceful lives.

If possible, Lanci hopes to find all of Talia's friends.

She would be very happy.

"First of all, Almis of Ice and Snow is unlikely to run to a restaurant next to a school. That guy is already the Goddess-Chosen Saint of the Church of the Goddess of Fate. She probably won't be free enough to put down her official duties and make a special trip to the Southern Continent for sightseeing."

Pranai shakes his head,

"As for the remaining two Great Demons, there is no clue at all."

"Who exactly was the last Great Demon?"

Lanci sips his tea and asks thoughtfully.

The Ice Witch said that she herself was an anti-war faction, and Talia and her younger sister, Ifatia, were a war-refusal faction. Besides the three conservative factions in the Imperial Prison, there was also a pro-surrender faction.

"He was the weakest general back then, mainly responsible for intelligence work in the rear. Although his relationship with us was not bad, his true identity is unknown. No demon has ever seen his true face, and even his name may be fake."

Pranai seems to get a headache just thinking about that demon.

"Wouldn't that make him the strongest of all the surviving Great Demons?"

Lanci asks in surprise.

He is a general, after all, not a civil official.

"If Princess Ifatia didn't slack off, she might be stronger than him. The Second Princess has an exaggerated talent, but asking her to study or work is more painful than killing her."

Pranai sighs.

"..."

Lanci thinks it's quite cruel.

The Second Princess has no interest, while the First Princess has no talent.

But it doesn't matter!

The First Princess still has her merits.

Her appetite is good, which means she is healthy and will definitely live a long life. He recently inquired about Talia's real age from Antanas and discovered that her eight hundredth birthday is coming up soon, so he must celebrate it properly.

"..."

Pranai was originally going to say something, but he decided against it.

(End of chapter)